Posts by schnell

13

REAL Community service now allowed?

by ab.ortega in

at watchtowers website there is an undated article under "helping the community" relating how in 2015, jw's from russia participated in the 'springtime beautification of the city'.

it is not stated but more than likely this had to do with preparations for some assembly or something.

a group of witness going out to clean the community just for goodwill - i don't see it happening.

schnell

*shrug*

As soon as they help out in a food drive or something, let me know.

12

Do you feel regret?

by HereIgo in

to help me move on after leaving the org and to maintain my sanity, i have worked on not regretting the time i spent in it.

granted, i have only been out 6 years and was 22 when i left, i still was an active jw from age 16-22. those were prime times of my youth that i will never get back.

i wanted to play high school football and basketball but couldn't.

I feel like a fool for defending it for so long. I feel angry, fucking ANGRY, that my family has been led to believe that we have one or two anointed relatives in heaven right now, and that so few of them want to open their eyes and see the truth for what it is.

*sigh* Yes, I feel regret. I wanted to study computer science at university. I wonder what would have happened if I had, especially considering that I was baptized and indoctrinated even then.

Oh well. There is no TARDIS or flux capacitor to go back and change all that. It's a human experience. You and I are still young, Herelgo. Maybe I'm just fundamentally optimist, but screw it. We'll be fine.

I'm having a look at University of the People, BTW. It's a start.

21

The physical effects of Cognitive Dissonance

by stuckinarut2 in

most of us here have gone through, or are going through the various stages "cognitive dissonance".. this is a term used to describe a situation where our minds, and hearts just know that something is "not quite right", and therefore we find ourselves in a muddle trying to reconcile the things we know with the things we are hearing or being told.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cognitive_dissonance.

so just wondering, how many of you found yourselves (or still find yourselves) becoming phyiscally ill in some way during the time of fading?.

i know that when i look back, for several years even before i was awake to the many issues and facts about the society, i would feel ill at assemblies or conventions.

schnell

Then came the fateful day in 1995 when they had their changed teaching on Generation. I felt like I got sucker-punched and I knew it was really OVER.....from that point forward it was in my mind that I somehow had to make my exit from the Witness religion. Once I started planning, I don't believe I ever felt sick to my stomach after that.

I have a friend who confided with me about just that. He's an older man, been in the truth for years, and that very change among many other things almost made him leave. Now, I was 10 in 1995, but I don't think I ever heard much about this change in all the years since. So when he told me about that, it essentially was a new idea... And he just added fuel to the fire for me. That is complete BS.

Interestingly, Bart Ehrman wrote in "Jesus, Interrupted" that as "this generation" passed, and by that he meant what the apocalyptic Christians then understood it to be, decades went by and it became necessary to reinterpret the gospels. That's why the resurrection and earthly new world morphed into the afterlife of heaven and hell. That's why mainstream Christianity doesn't discuss or believe it. It also means we're not nearly the first sect to be caught by this.

21

The physical effects of Cognitive Dissonance

by stuckinarut2 in

most of us here have gone through, or are going through the various stages "cognitive dissonance".. this is a term used to describe a situation where our minds, and hearts just know that something is "not quite right", and therefore we find ourselves in a muddle trying to reconcile the things we know with the things we are hearing or being told.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cognitive_dissonance.

so just wondering, how many of you found yourselves (or still find yourselves) becoming phyiscally ill in some way during the time of fading?.

i know that when i look back, for several years even before i was awake to the many issues and facts about the society, i would feel ill at assemblies or conventions.

schnell

I can't tell you how many times I had to explain cognitive dissonance to various elders and JWs because they had no clue.

Yes, I've felt it. Strongly.

I was baptized at 14. A recent Watchtower about "youths" getting baptized (and boy is it always nice when they're called "youths") while they're still young made me ill, and I left at the half. A bunch of kids were commenting at that study, and I think they're all baptized now. They're kids. They have no idea about the world around them or about the veracity of what they're being taught. They have no idea what being baptized for the rest of your life really entails.

I actually quit the school recently after being assigned the demonstration to say that we suffer because of Adam and Eve. No. No, I am not teaching that. That is not why we suffer today, and no credible Bible scholar would agree with the WT on this. No, I've decided to put my intellectual honesty before my religious affiliation, for my own health and sanity.

22

Summer Regional Convention

by miss.ives01 in

has anyone attended the sunday program of the summer regional convention, remain loyal to jehovah?.

i have been very concerned about the tone of discussion surrounding sundays program.

i went to friday and sat., not sunday.

schnell

I didn't go. My mom lent us her login to watch it online and so my wife and I downloaded the convention to my wife's laptop.

It seems rather weird to me that they'd sell Bethel to Trump's son in law, and then turn right around and use the fear of fascism to pass off dramas of a police state in "the great tribulation".

"Any Witnesses in here?!" Yes, because we're that important.

And holy crap, was that sister's experience at work entirely sexist. Yup, watch your coworkers ladies, or they'll make you question your husband's dominance.

And oh God the porn one! No! God no, you don't have to make a video with some dude with a dumb look on his face as he looks at porn on his phone. Just no!

38

What Were Your Elders Real World Jobs?

by pale.emperor in

we all know that education is severely demonized in this religion.

and that the elders are appointed based on how many meetings they attend, hours they put in on the ministry and general attitude to other elders (as apposed to, you know, actual theological training and counseling) - so my question is, what were your elders occupations outside the kingdom hall?.

in my old congregation our elders consisted of:.

schnell

I know a few wealthy enough elders here, but most of them weren't so fortunate. My brother tells me he's trying to go part time in his construction business, despite his competition.

What gets me is how much your average JW has saved for retirement.

15

Worship of Men and Emphasis on Titles

by HereIgo in

i remember a few years back at a circuit assembly, a few bros were introducing themselves to the co, they made sure to mention that they were an ms or an elder from such and such cong.

i was also an ms, but was the only one that introduced themselves by just my first name.

i was so irritated and blown away at the arrogance by these bros, trying to impress men with titles!

schnell

I hear you. This was one of my early complaints about announcing new pioneers, etc.

I once had a special pioneer tell me after a couple beers that at Gilead, everyone was there to meet girls. -_-

Funny thing is when "Paul" wrote Timothy about elders and servants (or whatever church hierarchy nomenclature you prefer) that's evidence that it wasn't written by Paul. No, Paul died before 70 CE, and there was probably no hierarchy in the congregation yet. They were awaiting the end of times, as far as they understood it. When you're in for the long haul, that's when you get organized. That's when you get titles.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

I guess they'll have to catch me then. It won't be too hard. My ex-sister-in-law came to our door a couple weeks ago with the sister she studied with. She asked if we're okay, and offered us magazines. We are not on good terms, because she is nuts. I asked them to leave, and I'm sure that made it back to somebody. *shrug*

Just today, my best man messaged me and said he's worried about losing me to the world. I asked him, is that us-and-them mentality healthy? After a back and forth about staying separate from the world and how we're not the only organization that does this, he still refused to answer. I wasn't rude, wasn't mean, I just asked if it's healthy. I told him, "If it is, you can say yes. Hopefully you can easily say yes." He warned me not to bring this up again with him or his brother or our friends. In his head, I know he knows the answer.

I'm sure that got back to someone too.

Probably no one has handled me about this more than my wife and mother. My wife admits a lot of the things I'm saying are right, like the us-and-them mentality against "the world". My mom admits, unbelievably, that SHE DOESN'T CARE if the details are all wrong (thus this isn't the truth) because she wants the new system. I'm really not sure how much of our conversations she carries back to the elder and his wife whom she's buddies with.

Anyway, no tortious action against me yet. If it happens, it happens.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

How could I forget the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius?

Stoicism, now that's a legitimate philosophy to fill the void after religion.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

Oh, I'm sure they won't read it, and I could summarize everything with a list of other books you could read to get the same thing....

Like this:

"30 Years a Watchtower Slave" by Schnell

"The Hero With a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins (especially hilarious when he brings up "Life: How Did It Get Here?")

"The Bible Unearthed" by Finkelstein and Silberman

"Forged" by Bart D. Ehrman

"Spooky Science: Debunking the Pseudoscience of the Afterlife" by John Grant

The Ken Ham vs Bill Nye debate on Youtube and anything from Potholer54 or Matt Dillahunty.

And pretty much anything by Alan Watts.