Posts by Distracted

12

Recovery From The Jehovah's Witnesses - A Guide

by pale.emperor in

hey guys.

a friend online asked me about my recovery and how i managed to recover relatively easily from watchtower indoctrination.

although i think a major part of it is acquainting oneself with information about the watchtower and it's history, a lot of it (for me at least) was an inner game.

Distracted

That was so thoughtful, helpful, and well-written. It should be pinned somewhere so people could see it first thing!

41

Watchtower Doctrines JWs most commonly don't believe

by Diogenesister in

there was a recent thread on another site where posters maintained that many of the *most* long-standing jw's don't believe at least one official watchtower doctrine.

i've even read reports from bethelites saying they've heard bethel overseers say they don't believe some watchtower theology.

this made me think - i believe there are a few official doctrines that are common for many jw's to be either in denial about or simply not really believe ( often one and the same thing).. i'd say these are pretty high in the ranking:.

Distracted

I remember they used to say that resurrected people (to an earthly resurrection) probably(?) won't be able to marry, have sex, or produce offspring. They would be like the angels. I'm sure people had problems with that one, especially if they lost a mate in death.The literature did not hold out any hope for a differing view on that point.

15

Just sittin' and mindin' my own business...

by Distracted in

i was sitting at a local city event enjoying watching an activity.

a friendly looking woman dressed in blue jeans and a floppy hippy looking top came and sat down besides me.

she notices i am sketching and says she likes to do this too.

Distracted

I was sitting at a local city event enjoying watching an activity. A friendly looking woman dressed in blue jeans and a floppy hippy looking top came and sat down besides me. She notices I am sketching and says she likes to do this too. She was so nice and humble seeming I did something I never do. I gave her my name and phone number in case she wanted to do some urban sketching with a local group I belong to.

Then she abruptly gives me a business card and tells me she gives free bible study lessons with her phone number on it. Sure enough it had JW.org on it. A few seconds later she was gone.

I felt sort of used. I know they used to call that incidental witnessing or informal, who knows what they are calling it now. It bothers me for a several reasons. First she pretended to be interested in something that I doubt now that she has any true interest in, to start a conversation. Dishonest. Soon as she got my contact info, she launches into her real reason for talking to me. Third, it distracted me from enjoying the event, and fourth, she made no effort at all in discussing any useful topic or conversing with me further. It was as shallow as it could get. I remember when I was a JW, I did try to bring up something interesting. Is this the way Witnesses roll now?

I felt so depressed I got up and left. On my way out, I spotted formally dressed Witnesses with a lit cart at one of the entrances. At least that is honest.

105

Subliminal images - why and who are the individuals behind it?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i remember about 5 years ago reading on another site about subliminal images in wt literature.

i honestly thought it a load of bs until i checked out one glaringly obvious image of a creepy skull in clouds within the knowledge book.

i was shocked and even showed my wife at the time who thought it was creepy.. so my question is why?

Distracted

I think that is true LongHairGal. I was a serious JW when the article with that picture came out. I slightly remembered it when I saw it on a website about subliminal images, and the subliminal part became glaringly evident to me. I was raised as a JW and I think I got my scary and abusive father entangled with Jehovah in my mind so when I really saw that picture, a lot of things clicked for me. They want you to always be uneasy and afraid underneath a veneer of peace and friendliness. A lot of double-think goes on to be a witness. To paraphrase George Carlin 'you're going to die a horrible grisly death at Armageddon if you don't fall in line.... But HE [God] LOVES you....And he needs money!'

You must love your neighbor as yourself, but if they engage in some critical thinking they are evil and must be avoided at all costs!

For some people who were raised in functional loving families, and fine emotionally, this whole subject is distasteful and tends to be avoided. But for some of us who experienced abuse and trauma, these pictures and any hidden messages in them, can be triggers for painful emotions. I found it somewhat freeing to realize how much my mind was being unconsciously mucked with.

105

Subliminal images - why and who are the individuals behind it?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i remember about 5 years ago reading on another site about subliminal images in wt literature.

i honestly thought it a load of bs until i checked out one glaringly obvious image of a creepy skull in clouds within the knowledge book.

i was shocked and even showed my wife at the time who thought it was creepy.. so my question is why?

Distracted

Found a larger image of the aforementioned illustration. It is from the February 15, 1990 WT.

105

Subliminal images - why and who are the individuals behind it?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i remember about 5 years ago reading on another site about subliminal images in wt literature.

i honestly thought it a load of bs until i checked out one glaringly obvious image of a creepy skull in clouds within the knowledge book.

i was shocked and even showed my wife at the time who thought it was creepy.. so my question is why?

Distracted

The first time I saw this image on a website I checked my bound WT volumes and it really was there -- wasn't altered in any way. I don't see how anyone who looks at this image closely could not see the subliminal skull/monster face with the name JAH in its teeth. (There is something amuck with the character's physiology too, especially the neck and forearm facing the viewer, not sure what that is about.) I realized then that a lot of the artwork is meant to keep Witnesses in a state of fear and unease. I remember when I was child and having to study the Paradise book. I don't know if it had any subliminals in it, but some of the pictures did scare me and they are stuck in my psyche.

Note the ugly jarring colors in this illustration too. Very hot and intense blaring light effects.This color combination has been used in other WT illustrations. Colors are chosen to set a mood and do have psychological effects on people. Pattern and design are also chosen to have certain effects on the viewer by professional artists. I have a BA in fine art and I paint. I know sometimes you can do unintentional things that are suggestive but they wouldn't be this calculated and blatant.

10

"50 Years a Watchtower Slave" Chapter 5 Part B

by new boy in

one thing they never talked about at the assemblies was how many predictions they made in the pass about the so called end of the world.

predictions that never came to be.

i didn’t know it at the time and most jehovah’s witnesses didn’t know that charles russell (1852-1916), the founder, believed that christ had secretly arrived in the year 1874 and that he would establish the kingdom of god on earth in october 1914 russell based this prophecy on his studies of the bible and the great pyramid.

Distracted

When 1975 came around, the witnesses I knew had heard enough that they thought "no one knows the day or the hour." It is true, however, that 1975 was talked about and speculated on frequently. including the idea that Adam was created on a certain year and the sabbath resting of God would enter into it's last millenium of the 7th 7,000 year long day. (Witnesses used to believe that the creative days in Genesis were 7K years long). But then we were cautioned to realize there could have been several years before Eve was created (and Adam/Eve sinned) so things were still extremely urgent but not necessarily immediate. And this was a loving thing from Jehovah to allow us more time to engage in our lifesaving preaching work.

Only a few that I knew personally in the area actually did highly irrational things. My congregation was made up of a lot of stable older people though, probably already inured to the date setting and disappointments. I was a teen so I was actually relieved when it didn't come then. 'Fraid I would be destroyed for having a few impure thoughts. LOL. I remember telling my non-witness Dad that he needn't bother saving for us to go to college because we wouldn't need it. My first huge mistake.

Even so, we were thinking that Armageddon could come at anytime after that year. This whole thing does quite a number on a person's head. I still have relatives buying this garbled nonsense hook, line and sinker. It's so much easier than facing up to the very real problems humans need to acknowledge and to do something about them. Or facing up to their own mortality.

ETA There are sources that say the year 1975 specifically appeared in 1966 WT and Kingdom Ministries, in talks, etc... http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/1975.php but mostly it was alluded to by other phrasing. Maybe the society realizes now that a hint can go a long way when it comes to Witnesses speculating.

10

"50 Years a Watchtower Slave" Chapter 5 Part B

by new boy in

one thing they never talked about at the assemblies was how many predictions they made in the pass about the so called end of the world.

predictions that never came to be.

i didn’t know it at the time and most jehovah’s witnesses didn’t know that charles russell (1852-1916), the founder, believed that christ had secretly arrived in the year 1874 and that he would establish the kingdom of god on earth in october 1914 russell based this prophecy on his studies of the bible and the great pyramid.

Distracted

I found the 120 yr prediction quoted here: http://www.quotes-watchtower.co.uk/2034.html Somewhere, I have read that they have backed off of this date of 2034 because it's too far away to create urgency in the minds of believers and recruits, and also, it gives them plausible deniability.

Here is a pretty good article about the quandary that the WT is currently in: https://jwsrefined.com/2012/12/16/generation/

41

That One Defining Moment That Changed Your Life.

by new boy in

it seems that many times in life there is a moment or an action that changes your whole world.

it could be just a look that someone gives you.. many times it can be something rather small.

something hardly noticeable by anyone but you.

Distracted

A gradual awakening:

My husband was disfellowshiped after a period of craziness that was probably due to a serious health condition. He died shortly thereafter. Even though he had helped build numerous kingdom halls and did many other good works, no brothers would or could give a funeral service. Even though he left behind several small children and me.

Being taken advantage of by brothers, who were M.S.s or Elders, who wanted to buy my mate's tools and equipment on time. Eventually they didn't want to keep paying the monthly amounts agreed upon. Being told by pompous P.O. to just forget it, probably because I was a mere sister. Can you imagine him telling a brother that? I couldn't. When I got smart and sold a large item through a want ad for full cash payment and no haggling or other craziness, the P.O. said, why didn't you tell me you were selling it?...I would have bought it. Yeah, right.

When my child and some elder's children got in trouble together, mine was scapegoated as the instigator. Then having to watch my child be excluded while the cohorts just got a finger wag, at a time when the thirteen year old needed emotional and social support the most.

Going back to school and learning some helpful facts and opening my mind to various points of view that I never heard before.

Being in a library and coming across a slim volume on Apocalyptic movements. Sitting down and reading the whole thing. It told of the Millerites and how they looked to Christ's coming. When it didn't come, they sat another date. When that didn't come, they said Jesus's coming or parousia was evidently invisible. Feeling something inside me explode like a mushroom cloud. You see, as a third generation witness, I had always believed in the "gradually revealed light" explanations of the Bible Students/JW group. That when Jesus didn't come in 1914 or thereabouts, the leaders were inspired to know that his coming was invisible and was indicative of future events. Amazed to realize they ripped this off from an earlier group. (If anyone knows of a specific WT article that spells this out, I would be glad to hear of it. I know references probably do exist that say God gave them this specific new light as evidence of his support.)

It's funny what things impress us. I know a lot of other former witnesses say it was the blood doctrine or the scandal about the U.N. or the child abuse scandal. All those things are important, but the thing that really helped me personally see the light(!) was that little fifth-grade level book on religion.

I have had other epiphanies over the years that freed me up and helped shape me into an agnostic. I do believe in divine love and light that guides us if we allow it to. I used to wonder why I was put in the family I was and indoctrinated into such a religion, then guided to leave it. Very strange life I've had.

I know this post has several negative aspects, but I am grateful for some things that came about by being raised a witness. I did know some kindly witnesses who gave me a lot of support in my youth and throughout my life when I needed it. Being a witness helped me to avoid getting addicted to smoking or drugs.... I feel somewhat appreciative of the discipline and bible knowledge I acquired that helped me in other studies.

13

What is the Latest JW Teaching on the Last Days and 1914

by Distracted in

i was just wondering what the witnesses are saying now about the last days and how they know armageddon is real close, etc.

what is the latest teaching about 1914?

Distracted

When I was wavering, I ran across a slim volume at the library on apocalyptic or adventist sects. It was an informative book and I don't think the writers had any particular agenda. It told the story of the Millerites and how the Witnesses and the Seventh Day Adventists sprung from them. I couldn't put it down. Very informative.

The thing that really got me was that when Miller's dates didn't go like he thought, he or one of his followers came up with the doctrine of Christ's presence or parousia and they also called this "new light." This shocked me because this was always taught in the Watchtower as a divine insight the Bible Students leadership come up with and was a proof that God was leading the organization. It turns out they just stole these ideas from the Millerites.

Thank you all for your answers and comments. Very helpful.