Posts by Scully

80

Forum cleanup and archive

by Simon in

i mentioned i was cleaning the forum archive when i bumped this thread by oompa:.

damm i miss jwd...this place will always be jwd to me.... rather than turn that into a discussion of the archive, i'll answer slimboyfat's concern here.. the things i'm clearing up are either:.

time specific and non jw related (e.g.

Scully

Simon:

I'm also resurrecting things too. Like Jebus but with less water-walking and water-winery happening.

What!!?? No wine!! Appalling.. just appalling.

80

Forum cleanup and archive

by Simon in

i mentioned i was cleaning the forum archive when i bumped this thread by oompa:.

damm i miss jwd...this place will always be jwd to me.... rather than turn that into a discussion of the archive, i'll answer slimboyfat's concern here.. the things i'm clearing up are either:.

time specific and non jw related (e.g.

Scully

What's kind of sad from my point of view is the "Best of" section with all those dead links to the old JWD format.

27

will a judicial comittee allow you to face your accusers

by label licker in

jw
friends

we were told today, yes!

our accusers will be there.

is it true?

Scully

Bring a lawyer who is interested in these defamatory allegations against you. Watch them crap their pants.

72

Apostate: From 279 Facebook friends to 81 overnight... thanks MOM!

by sosoconfused in

the drama continues, i log on to facebook this morning and notice that i have about 20 some odd personal messages from people calling me an apostate to they will return to me when i return to jehovah.. all of this based upon my brother informing others that i have "apostate thoughts".

my mother also encourage long-time famil friends to "unfriend" me because i have taken my stand on the side of satan... wow.

don't you just love this international brotherhood.

Scully

Wow, that's a better method than the old "I'm cleaning out my FB account over the next 2 weeks, let me know if I should keep you or cut you loose" status updates.

Mind you, I don't have enough JW contacts to make it worthwhile.

Your mother is a piece of work. Remember what I said about her sitting on your face and shitting down your throat?? It continues....

52

A Cry for Help

by Thoughtless in

i have been lurking here for months now, and i just decided to post here and actually interact with this community.

i have a very specific/unordinary life, so i will not divulge too much information to protect my privacy.

i am a baptized publisher who is under the age of 25 who attends college, and i do have responsiblities within the congregation.

Scully

Thoughtless:

I lost out of 60K scholarship because my mom refused to jump on boat.

That's atrocious. If you got bilked of 60K in any other circumstance, you'd have grounds for legal action. Yet, your adoptive parents - who are legally required to do what is in your best interests - can get away with this crap because they belong to a religion that looks down its nose at higher education.

If you can stick this JW thing out until you finish your education and keep your mouth shut about your doubts and beliefs that the WTS is a false religion, you'll be in a better position to be on your own. If your parents are helping pay your way, that's the route I'd take, because they could easily yank your funding out from under you if they think you're becoming Apostate™.

There are a quite a few of us who have caught up on getting their education - Laverite is one of these folks. I don't consider my educational track to be all that impressive, but I started nursing school in my 30s and have been working in a specialty that I love for the last 15 years. I was on the fence as a JW when I started college - had lots of doubts and saw many false teachings and got tons of flak from JWs (the usual Armageddon™ is Right Around The Corner™ - don't waste your time on school!! etc.) and in the meantime learned a lot about critical thinking and propaganda. By the time I graduated I was convinced that leaving the JWs was the right thing to do, for myself and my family.

That doesn't mean I went around rocking the boat with all the JWs I knew. I still have family in the JWs and although the relationship is strained, because I've not poked the beehive with a stick, I haven't yet been stung in retaliation.

Have you thought of trying to reconnect with your birth parents? You may have a family that you don't know yet who would love to reconnect with you. They could make the difference between being alone among JWs and having a family that loves you unconditionally.

62

My mother continues with these creepy letters

by sosoconfused in

as i continue to post these letters just to let people see what they can expect through a fade, i hope they are not annoying anyone.. if so please let me know and i will no longer post them.

however i think these letters help you to see how cultish and crazy this religion causes people to become:.

evening <name removed>,.

Scully

Mother:

It is with a heavy heart that I reply to your letter on behalf of myself and my wife and children, as the head of my family. Confrontation is not an easy thing for me to do, yet it is sometimes both the necessary and the healthy response when emotional blackmail and toxic manipulation is at play.

Your being a messenger between my daughter and her cousin stops RIGHT NOW. The girls certainly have every right to communicate over the phone and by letter and it would be my fondest wish for their friendship to continue to grow and blossom, but you will not insinuate yourself into the position of go-between. I certainly do not wish to hinder their friendship as cousins, but I respect my brother's right as the head of his household to limit contact between the girls - that is HIS decision, not mine. YOU NEED TO STAY OUT OF IT. Do you remember the scripture at 1 Peter 4:15? "let none of you suffer as a ... busybody in other people's matters".Let me be frank with you Mother. I would dearly love for my children to have a loving, caring, respectful relationship with their grandparents, however, your meddling, toxic manipulation and emotional blackmail makes it very difficult to believe that a relationship between you and my children would be mentally and emotionally healthy for them. We want them to grow up to be reasonable, thoughtful individuals, they don't deserve to be mentally abused with thoughts of the devil and demons waiting to pounce on them for thinking outside the box. We don't want them to be terrorized with fears of Armageddon or being destroyed by Jehovah for making mistakes. THAT is the reason your contact with the children has been limited. YOU use every opportunity we have afforded you to turn our own children against us, to teach them that we are evil and following Satan, and that Jehovah hates us. Why on earth would we want our children exposed to that kind of hate mongering? What if our worldly relatives had done that to us when we were children, mother? Would you and dad have tolerated that blatant disrespect for your parenting of us?

I hesitated to discuss my doubts with you and dad, because deep in my heart I knew you would not give me the benefit of the doubt and allow me to do my own research and come to my own conclusions. It was not and never has been my intention to behave like an apostate to undermine your faith or the faith of anyone else. The Bible itself says that we should be diligent in "testing whether you are in the faith" (2Cor 13:5) - that is a Christian requirement - does that mean the Society should be exempt from being questioned or "tested" when their publications seem to contradict the laws of love from Jesus? I am only doing as my Bible-trained conscience directs, and you seem to take offense at this?? Can you see why I would hesitate to disclose my thoughts to anyone, particularly when someone I thought to have unconditional love and regard for me, twists my intentions around and tries to damage the relationship I have with MY CHILD in the process, with scare tactics and lies about her father and mother "following Satan"? Could you be any more insulting and hateful?

For whatever it's worth, my facial hair is my business. I have NEVER understood this petty and ridiculous "requirement" for Witnesses. Is it that it's the JW equivalent of what circumcision and having long sideburns was for Jews? A way of identifying other JWs? Well, I have news for you - we aren't Jews and Jesus' sacrifice released humankind from bondage to the Law of Moses. Should we therefore allow ourselves to come under the bondage of other men? If we are supposed to be "imitators of Christ" and Jesus himself had a beard, then what is the big deal??

Please clarify, if you wouldn't mind, how Jehovah can even HAVE a "perfect organization" when it is being led by "imperfect men". Isn't that kind of like saying that we have to trust the Space Program to get a rocket launched when it becomes apparent that it is being led by The Three Stooges.

Also, please clarify, if you can, why Jehovah would bless people with individual talents - for music or science or art or medicine - and then expect these individuals to ignore their God-given talents that would benefit their lives with immense personal satisfaction and happiness, not to mention the joy that they could bring to others who benefit from the development of their talents? What is so wrong with someone pursuing their talents and getting the formal education to develop those talents to their full potential? How many JWs "put Kingdom interests first" and are now suffering financially or are depressed because they could have pursued their education and feel they've been toiling at jobs they hate or that bring them no satisfaction while waiting for Armageddon to come? People have been waiting for over a hundred years!! People have no pension savings, no financial security, nothing to fall back on if something bad happens to them or their family. How is this a LOVING arrangement?

You say that dad has shared my "issues" with my brother and sister. This offends me. You are both gossiping about me and my family, tearing me down, and making me out to be an apostate. You are destroying relationships that you ought to be trying to salvage at any cost. How is that LOVING?

Quite frankly, mother, if it is your choice to commit suicide by refusing blood transfusions, I'm the last person in the world that will stop you. Please make sure to include me as your second surrogate.

You asked me how Jehovah feels about what is happening. I hope he would feel that I'm using the brain that he gave me, and following the directions in the scriptures to "make sure of all things ... hold fast to what is fine" and following the leadings of the conscience he blessed me with. I have a family to think about, children of my own - and I want to be perfectly certain that the choices I make are for their long term benefit, where ever the chips may fall.

You, Dad and the Society have done a bang up job of proving to me that all other religions are false, but I have to prove to myself that the Society is better than all other religions, because "imperfect men" as you acknowledge are running things, and all of the teachings have to hinge on the perfect law of Love that Jesus said would identify his true followers. [You don't even practice that law of love yourselves, considering how you shower affection on my brother as the favorite - he could do no wrong in your eyes, and yet I'm the one you choose to take the harshest measures with, time and time again. Sometimes you both make me feel that you would have been better off had I not been born.]

Until that happens, I would only feel comfortable if our conversations focused on day-to-day mundane things rather than on spiritual discussions. I refuse to be drawn into a discussion of that nature when anything I say is going to be held against me and twisted like a knife in the heart. I can't trust you on that level. I hope you understand. If you cannot respect that simple request, then our relationship has to be put on hold until you can, as much as it pains my heart to do so.

62

My mother continues with these creepy letters

by sosoconfused in

as i continue to post these letters just to let people see what they can expect through a fade, i hope they are not annoying anyone.. if so please let me know and i will no longer post them.

however i think these letters help you to see how cultish and crazy this religion causes people to become:.

evening <name removed>,.

Scully

I hear ya, ((((Josie)))).

But playing the victim is her choice too. She chooses to be a toxic bully, and then claims her feelings are hurt when people don't want anything to do with her. Well, duh.

It isn't rocket science.

62

My mother continues with these creepy letters

by sosoconfused in

as i continue to post these letters just to let people see what they can expect through a fade, i hope they are not annoying anyone.. if so please let me know and i will no longer post them.

however i think these letters help you to see how cultish and crazy this religion causes people to become:.

evening <name removed>,.

Scully

wasblind:

If that don't make a person say " I'm not gonna take this anymore " I don't know what will

Sorry for the visual...

But seriously, if you know that someone in your life is toxic and has the pattern of "shitting a guilt trip down your throat", you have other options.

Keep your mouth shut.
Don't swallow what you know to be shit.
Don't give them the opportunity to sit on your face to begin with because you know how it's going to end. Cut off communication if you can't find another form of resolution.

62

My mother continues with these creepy letters

by sosoconfused in

as i continue to post these letters just to let people see what they can expect through a fade, i hope they are not annoying anyone.. if so please let me know and i will no longer post them.

however i think these letters help you to see how cultish and crazy this religion causes people to become:.

evening <name removed>,.

Scully

Holy crap, that letter reeks of toxic emotional blackmail. It's butt-ugly, man. There is no respect for you, your wife, your children, your parenting style or anything. Imagine her sitting on your face and shitting a guilt trip down your throat - that's what that letter is.

81

Friend gets "scriptural divorce" over wifes transgressions before they got married...

by sosoconfused in

so i have a friend in a congregation in new jersey who recently called me to tell me that he got a divorce.

nothing surprising there at first but it is the fact of when it happened.

his wife began pioneering april 1, and after about three weeks she came to him and told him that about 4 years she had engaged in loose conduct (fondling the penis and the guy kissing her breasts) during a time that she was inactive.

Scully

Okay, I'm looking at the 1991 Edition of Pay Attention to Yourselves and All the Flock, pages 92-94

Sexual misconduct, including adultery, fornication, and other forms of "por.nei'a."

Uncleanness includes an intentional momentary touching of sexual parts or caressing of breasts. (1 Thess. 4:7, 8; 1 Tim. 5 :1, 2) Such minor uncleanness can be handled at the discretion of an elder or two; it does not require a judicial hearing. There is a need for strong counsel, admonition, and assistance to help the individual to maintain chaste conduct in the future. If not corrected, such conduct may escalate in gravity and by frequent repetition become loose conduct.

Loose conduct is a shocking, flagrant disregard for Jehovah's moral standards. (Gal. 5:19; w83 3/15 p. 31; w73 9/15 pp. 574-6) It may include the willful practice of heavy petting or the fondling of breasts. The nature, circumstances, and actual extent of what has occurred may indicate loose conduct, which would require judicial action.

Such practices can easily lead to por.nei'a . "Por.nei'a" involves immoral use of the genitals of at least one human (whether in a natural or a perverted way), and there must have been another party to the immorality - a human of either sex or a beast; willing participation incurs guilt and requires judicial action . It is not a casual touching of the sex organs between persons but involves the manipulation of the genitals. (w83 6/1 pp. 23-6 ; w83 3/15 pp. 30-1) It includes oral and anal sex or mutual masturbation between persons not married to each other, homosexuality, lesbianism, fornication, adultery, incest, and bestiality. (Lev. 20:10, 13, 15, 16 ; Rom. 1:24, 26, 27, 32; 1 Cor. 6:9, 10)

Also included are sexual abuse of children, including practices involving a catamite (a boy kept for purposes of sexual perversion). (Deut . 23:17, 18, Ref. Bi., ftns.)

Victims of sexual abuse need to be treated with extreme thoughtfulness and kindness . Elders should always do what they reasonably can to protect children from further abuse ; follow the Society's directives on such matters. (g85 1/22 p. 8)

Self-abuse, or masturbation, is not "por.nei'a," nor would one who was raped be guilty of por.nei'a. (w83 3/15 p. 30; w74 3/1 p. 160; it-1 pp. 862-4 ; tp p. 144) The term por.nei'a lays emphasis on both the lewd nature and the intent of the person's conduct, and it embraces all illicit sexual activity characteristic of that found in a house of prostitution.

Copulation (as in penetration) is not necessary to constitute por.nei'a, and neither is sexual climax.

In borderline cases, it is the responsibility of the judicial committee to weigh carefully the Scriptures and the particular facts in the case to determine whether por.nei'a was involved. This responsibility should not be taken lightly, especially when Scriptural freedom to remarry is involved. (Mal . 2:16a )