Posts by Seeker4

70

Most Ex-JWs R Not Active in the Anti-JW Community. Maybe 1%? Any thoughts?

by Seeker4 in

yesterday i called a family on the west coast that were in my congregation 18 years ago.

between parents, kids and marriage partners, there were six of them who had been witnesses.

they have all faded, and have had nothing to do with the witnesses for at least 15 year or more.. yet, none of them is in any way active even in looking at the ex-jw sites online.

Seeker4

Welcome 1914! and 8675309.

I was out in San Diego a couple of months ago. Loved it.

I'm sure many would agree that you should just leave religion alone if you don't like it. Live and let live and all that.

Others feel that religion, like any other group or person making extraordinary claims, should be challenged to put up or shut up. Its basic premises should be questioned and where lacking, exposed. That's my feeling. There's a ton of crap in this world, and lovers of truth and reason are the ones standing up against it. It's true in the medical field, in the sciences and pseudo-sciences, everywhere.

If you make a claim, you ought to be able to provide some proof or evidence to back it up. Religion should be no exception. Anything that you base your life on, that can be a matter of life and death and that can dramatically affect the quality of your life and therefore the lives of people around you, ought to be subject to scrutiny and questioning, and ought to be able to defend itself.

When parents can refuse livegiving proven medical treatment for a child, or tell their children not to go to college, or not to believe in accepted science, on the basis of a supernatural religious belief, they need to be called to task and asked to defend their views. And where those views and their reasoning is full of shit, someone ought to say so, loud and clear.

S4

18

JEALOUSY! Have you ever suffered from it?

by nicolaou in

did you ever have a partner who sucked the joy out of your relationship because of their jealousy?

have you ever felt jealous?

surely we can all feel jealousy, it's just that the triggers are set differently for everyone.. i'll admit to having been jealous at times, my own insecurities got the better of me, but jealousy is truly corrosive and anyone who intentionally sets out to make their partner feel jealous needs a good smack on the bum!.

Seeker4

Nic -

Yeah, I have those insane moments. I hate myself for them, and when sane, realize that my jealousy is totally unfounded.

My partner and I talk about it, and I realize that it comes from my own insecurity and try to deal with that. She gives me no reason for jealousy. I find not overdrinking is a huge help in keeping the insanity at bay.

S4

23

in the beginning... When did you realise it was the truth ?

by AlphaOmega in

jw
friends

sorry to do this... and apologies to minimus for pinching his posting style .

a jw friend of mine was speaking about the moment that witnesses "realise that it's the truth".

they didn't say anymore... so i guess that they feel there is a pattern ??.

Seeker4

Yeah, I was absorbed in it too. It was something I could sink a very active and aggresive intelligence into in my pre-teen and teen years.

But, I also have to say that I had a pretty accurate assessment of the fact that WTS theology had some serious holes in it. I remember stating to another brother something to the effect of I could easily see this system going on for another 20 years, and this was when I was in my early 20s and it was prior to 1975.

He reacted as though I were an apostate!

Well, here it is 30-plus years later and I was right - and now I am an apostate!

S4

43

What sends you over the edge?

by restrangled in

jw
friends

there was a recent thread on spelling, sentence structure, etc., that was legitimate, but probably made other's feel stupid.. my question is, what is your personal pet peeve?.

i've got a problem with poor construction inside my home...i hate the trim work, some cut too short so it looks like mouse holes over the floor.

i had my kitchen redone and the layout was so unusual that i can't open a fridge door unless i pull it forward or push it back to open a drawer.

Seeker4

For those whose pet peeve involved too many items in the 10 items or less line at the supermarket, I very highly reccomend a movie called, Ten Items or Less. It's a wonderful, independent film starring Morgan Friedman in a terrific role.

Now, my pet peeves? I've got a couple.

When driving, it's when people stop when they come to a yield sign - yet there is no traffic!! There is an intersection of three roads on my way to work, and my road merges with one of them. There is a yield sign there, but you can easily see if any traffic is coming in the other lanes and whether or not you're going to have to yield. But I swear, if there is someone ahead of me at the intersection, they will stop at the yield sign then turn around to look over their left shoulder to see if there is any traffic. I've almost rear ended a couple of those idiots there. Christ, it's pretty simple: yield means yield if necessary, stop means stop.

The other pet peeve is to be watching TV with someone, they flick to a new show, you've both been watching it for about 10 seconds, and they start asking you questions about it as though you've been watching it for hours. Both my ex-wife and current partner do it.

Wow. I feel better already. I think I'm going to be a better person after this!

S4

27

Comment by Greg Stafford to a Question

by Gordy in

the following is a comment from greg stafford.

if anyone has already posted this i apologise.

did do a search but couldn't find it.. http://www.elihubooks.com/lampstand/watchtower.htm.

Seeker4

I've heard and read some of Greg's stuff for years.

I would tend to think that, though Greg considers himself still a JW, his views would be considered apostate and it would be hard for me to believe that he is not disfellowshipped. Greg's views are so public, they must have DFed him by this time. His views on blood transfusions alone - as much sense as they make - are grounds to kick him out.

Does anyone know his status?

And I have to agree. Scholar or not, he's polishing the brass on a sinking ship.

S4

24

I don't want to Die in this system!!

by Save My Soul in

i have noticed many of my parents friends are slowly passing away.

the daughter of a po told me he became inactive a year before his death because he never thought he would die in this system.

he started smoking and watching porn as well.

Seeker4

I've seen and done some serious crying at Witness funerals, but I do have to admit they are often among the worst funerals you'll ever attend for the reasons just listed.

S4

38

so let me get this straight

by 4digitcode in

i have been on here for only the past 3 days or so....so i don't really know how it goes.. this is an 'apostate' site right?.

so today i've learned that there is just the ol' regular apostate and an 'active' apostate.. but are there actually active witnesses on this site as well??.

because i just saw a topic about someone asking for advice on how to do a talk?.

Seeker4

Welcome, 4DC.

Former long time elder, Pioneer, assembly overseer and Pioneer School instructor here.

Now I'm just a simple atheist, rationalist and free thinker making my living as a writer.

Love this site. It can be pretty rough and tumble on here at times when we evolutionist, anti-conspiracy thinkers bang heads on the great playing fields of the free and open debate of ideas with creationists and conspiracy nuts.

But once the battle is over, we dust each other off and go down to the corner pub for a beer or two, where we buy those poor losers a round! (Ha - joking there!)

The open debate of ideas based on evidence, logic and merit. What a (non-JW) concept!! Welcome!

S4

42

How Were Intelligent "Sisters" Treated In Your Congregation?

by minimus in

jw
friends

as a rule, i believe jehovah's witnesses treat females as sub par to the menfolk.

i knew a lot of women in the hall that were smarter than their mates.

they begrudgingly got respect from most of the elders.

Seeker4

I knew a few elders who felt they had a responsibility to kind of put intelligent sisters in their place

Unfortunately, those sisters are, for the most part, still in the congregation. Wait. I do know a few, once I thought about it, who are out now! All right!!

S4

31

Do You Still Call It "The Truth"? "The Brothers" etc.

by minimus in

jw
friends

"when i was in the truth....".

"since i left the truth"..... do you still find yourself using jw terminology?.

Seeker4

Brother or sister doesn't bother me very much.

But, The Turth?? Man, I refused to use that term when I was still a JW!

Even now, when I'm talking to my ex-wife, and she'll say somebody has left the truth, I'll say, "Oh, you mean they stopped being one of JWs!"

S4

14

Who is the next most powerful/dominant member of the GB after Jaracz?

by yaddayadda in

jw
friends

for some reason there is a consensus on the board that teddy jaracz is currently the most dominant, powerful member of the gb.

i'm not quite sure where that view comes from, but assuming it is true, my question is: who will replace him when he finally dies?

jaracz is 82, recently had a heart attack, but evidently he is well again and still very energetic so he will probably be around for quite a few years yet.

Seeker4

deaconbluz,

I knew both Chitty and Greenlees. I heard enough from a variety of sources to give considerab le credence to the reasons they were removed from the GB.

With Greenlees, it was not homosexuality, but pedophilia, the touching of a boy in a family that he frequently stayed with. If you research it, I think you'll find there are some threads about it on JWD presenting some testimony. Also, I had a close friend who was a Bethelite when Greenlees left Bethel. This brother is still a JW elder. He told me the same story that I've heard on here.

Chitty I'm not so sure of - but he seemed to have a close companion/roommate that was with him for decades. My personal guess - they were probably a homosexual couple without the sex. There's info on that here as well.

And let's hope Sam Herd is not going to be the new driving force on the GB. A talk posted on here that he gave last year was a travesty.

S4