"I read Franz's book. He seemed to feel that they were believers but so self-important and pig-headed that they didn't really look out for the little man. It was all about control."
I agree with this, and I found Losch's comment that Awakened quoted very interesting. I really think that they have to know that a good deal of WTS teachings are full of holes you can drive a truck through. They also know that changing things will create a tsunami among the friends - so they have to "wait for the proper time." Yet they go on teaching what they know is a badly flawed doctrine.
There is a very high degree of arrogance that allows a person to believe that, out of six billion people, God has chosen you to be one of his 14 or 16 or whatever number Governing Body. Wow, how special does that make you?
So you have true believers with a high level of self-importance and arrogance, you have a very comfortable lifestyle with lots of travel and excitement, you have the delusion that you're being guided by God himself, and you have a willingness to be at least partially dishonest in order to maintain your control. You see, it's good to protect the poor, helpless sheep. Control, at whatever the cost.
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Seeker4
JoinedPosts by Seeker4
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33
Is the GB crooked or just misguided?
by easyreader1970 ini ask myself this from time to time.
is the governing body operating seriously out of the belief that they are god's only channel to mankind?
or are they deliberately scamming people?
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Seeker4
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Who predicted something awful to happen in the month of May?
by inkling indidn't a recent poster (last month) predict horrible events to happen this month?.
i wonder if the cyclone counts.... .
[inkling].
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Seeker4
bttt
I'm calling ya on this one, winnower!
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Why do many of us keep refering to IT as "THE TRUTH"?
by ldrnomo inbecause that was the name the borg placed on it's religion, "the truth" it seems to be stuck with many of us.
i am making a concious effort to not refer to it as "the truth".. it is not the truth, it is not the way, and it is definitley not the life!.
so let's stop it people!.
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Seeker4
I'm with Galilleo. I stopped using the term when I was an active JW! There were even phrases in the Kingdom songs I refused to sing. I NEVER use it anymore. I agree - it's like nails on a chalkboard to hear it.
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Personal Experience I've Never Shared - I Hope it Helps Some Here !
by flipper ino. k. how do i start ?
i will preface the start of this first by saying this happened many years ago - in 1985 when i had just become a new father myself to my dear son flipper junior, i'll call him.
when i explain this to you, some of this may appear comical, in fact, now that i overcame it years ago, i can laugh at it, but when you see the totality of the story- when it happened then to me- it was no laughing matter.
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Seeker4
I've never understood that kind of crap - or towel snapping in locker rooms, nuggies, etc. etc. All seemed pretty stupid to me.
Were they drunk??
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Any gay former JWs out there?
by BenV inhey, don't want to frizz any reconditioned christian straight people here -- so if gay stuff bothers you, please go to the next post.
thanks.. i've started a group for gay disfellowshipped, da-d, or missing-in-action jws.
thought we could share a few stark-raving post-jw survival stories.
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Seeker4
Not gay, but the friend of many a gay JW who eventually broke out. And one or two who jumped back in!! Good god!
I had four close JW friends who eventually climbed out of the closet - after fathering 10 kids amongst them. I wish them and you Ben all the best in the world. And you are definitely welcome here.
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"Even if it isn't true" - how many of you heard this one recently?
by hamsterbait ini remember first hearing it after the generation change of 95.. a sister answered up at the wt and said "even if armageddon isn't coming, its still the best way to live.".
i have heard others say: "even if it isn't true, it's still the best way of life.".
my mother said it a few weeks ago!
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Seeker4
The most hardnosed elder I've ever known, Claude Burkett, Bethelite, an elder at 23, Special Pioneer, served in ME, VT and NY, said this to me, probably in the early 1980s or late 70s:
"Even if this isn't the truth, it's still the best way of life."
So, I have a feeling this is part of Witness culture, some sort of buried sub-plot!
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Who predicted something awful to happen in the month of May?
by inkling indidn't a recent poster (last month) predict horrible events to happen this month?.
i wonder if the cyclone counts.... .
[inkling].
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Seeker4
Winnower:
You said Wall Street would collapse in May! Don't start back pedaling!! You're starting to sound like the WTS.
Don't go giving us all that shit about all the things May has seen happen or how the term is used - you can do that for every single goddamn month on the calendar. We've got several thousand years of history and guess what- something bad has likely happened in every month and every day of the year. You're being "told" all this, eh??? Who's telling you? You sound just like every other false prophet who thought he had a special connection with whatever is telling you all this.
My word to you is either Wall Street goes down by the end of May or you confess you don't know crap and then shut the fuck up and get on some meds to handle those voices.
If I sound a little angry, it's just that I'm sick of this type of idiocy and the havoc it can wreak on people.
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Real Estate/Travel Agent
by reneeisorym ini'm sorry to aggrivate you about my life choices all of the time.
you guys just always give the best advice.
you understand and don't look down on me for being a little behind in my career due to being a jw until i was 23.. so i'm like the rest of you with a high school diploma only because of that stupid religion.
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Seeker4
I have a friend who had his own travel agency - he went out of business because of the Internet. Most people today make all their own arrangements online. I know I do - and I can find better deals than I got going through an agent.
Real estate. The market is shit right now, but I know some people with great success. I've thought of it as a career at times myself! If you love dealing with people, and can do it openly and honestly, you can really do well right now. There are some serious changes occuring in the real estate field, and it could be pretty exciting.
But, if you've got some time to prepare, really give this some thought.
About 12 years ago I was working in my JW business - cleaning offices of course! - and hated it. One evening at work I just asked myself, "If I could change my life and do one thing I'd really enjoy, what would it be?"
I'd always wanted to be a writer, that was an absolute passion since I was a kid, and I always had a huge interest and curiosity about people. Right off the answer came back, "I'd love to spend my working life writing about and telling the stories of people who have a passion for what they do." My wife and I walked away from the cleaning business, I took a job working nights and wrote days, got hired by first one local paper, then by the state's biggest and best daily, and today I'm a newspaper editor and magazine writer, who also does photography to go with my articles, another interest of mine. I have to write and edit a lot of stuff of minimal interest, but the majority of writing I do is exactly what I told myself I would love to do.
Don't hesitate to really open this up and give it some thought. Good luck!
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Seeker4
Can't pick a favorite guitarist. I play, and I enjoy so many other players. All of the above I enjoy. Glad someone mentioned Gary Moore - one of the best, for sure, but underrated.
Two weeks ago I got to spend an evening with Vernon Reid, the creator of Living Color and rated 66th, I think, in Rolling Stones top 100 guitarists of all time. We had dinner together, discussed Hendrix and a bunch of stuff, and essentially hung out for a few hours. The next night I got to see him perform. A great, great player.
Other guitarists I've actually got to hang out with and really enjoy include Tommy Castro, who was discovered by Carlos Santana, and Sonny Landreth, who performed at Eric Clapton's Chicago fundraiser concert last year. Sonny plays for John Hiatt, among others,and is a great slide guitarist.
There are so many more!!
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Looking for Old Friends
by Wordly Andre ini'm going to start this topic, i know some of us know people who have left before we did, and have lost touch.
so i'll go first, i am looking for jennifer n. of lancaster/palmdale ca area, she had a son and i use to hang out with margie.
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Seeker4
Thanks, WAndre.
Ernie was an elder, had an affair. Got DFed. He and his wife tried, but couldn't make it. They divorced. He's remarried now and living in Las Vegas. Seems happy enough.
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