Posts by problemaddict

6

Scientology is a Lot Like Watchtower in Breaking Up Family

by OnTheWayOut in

i saw this on facebook and knew it should be here.

while i am confident that my jw loved ones wouldn't take a look at it, maybe someone here can show it to their jw's and they will see how shunning family is awful when they are looking at a situation exactly like that of watchtower.. a report at http://jehovahswitnessreport.com/blog/scientology-and-watchtower-strange-bedfellows.

mentions this abc good morning america story:.

problemaddict

OTWO, read "Going Clear". It was a well written, entertaining, and thorough look into Scientologys history, its connection to Hollywood, and more. I would highly recommend it.

When i read it, it was immediately clear that "disconnection" and "disfellowshipping" are the same thing. In fact DFing might be a bit worse. I am not sure how JW's are not getting the same treatment. There are so many more of them! But Scientology has the hollywood factor I suppose.

In the report you linked, they even call Rinder and Mathburn (read the book i recommended), APOSTATES.

Its quite interesting.

7

Grand daughter of deceased Governing body member Guy Pierce mentions being shunned

by Watchtower-Free in

over on jwsurvey.org .

http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/governing-body-member-guy-pierce-dies-of-massive-stroke.

.

problemaddict

Her longest comments are below.....sounds like Guy knew the blood ban was a weak point for them as well. At least that is what I took from it.

Honestly, I appreciate all of the warm thoughts. But George is right in a way for sure. I do see the secrecy and have heard of the corruption, whether he had a direct part in it or if he made those choices with the others, or if he was only following orders, they only know. This is why everybody posting on here has a right to say, because there has been allot of things that has happened in the past and the present. One thing that was mentioned was the blood issue, this is one thing that we as a family have been through, my niece was 5 at the time, we almost lost her a few times due to ecoli, her kidneys shut down, she was dying, my grandpa even came to visit his great granddaughter when he was supposed to be traveling to another part of the world and here is what he said to us about the blood issue… he said, and this is not word for word, “Obeying God on your part is the most important, but you have to realize that they have that choice themselves, we can show them and we can talk to them about it, but most importantly is making sure that no matter what, you think of not only your relationship with God, but making it so that you can take her home when she is better.” and wouldn’t you know it, the courts too custody (and to this day I’m thankful that they did or she would not be here) and she got a blood transfusion. And because of the respect that we showed for the people there, the doctors and the nurses and the way that we kept calm, her dialysis doctor made sure that she was released back to her parent’s care. So, he may have been tied to the beliefs of that religion, but he was also level headed. I’m not saying he didn’t make mistakes and I’m not saying that there isn’t any kind of secret society behind it all, because since they keep such a tight knit between all the “brothers” and brothers only, then only the ones who have been there know for sure. Do I want to know? Yes. Do I want to know if he was involved directly? Yes. Would it change my view on him? Yes. But it would still be a loss of somebody in my family. So, having said that, I appreciate the warm comments, but lets not forget that there are many other things that can be shared on this as well. I’m not mad at the religion, but I feel that they are lost. Here is a religion that was started by one man, who did who knows what to convince his own translation of the bible and gained followers because of the promises made, his followers then recruited other people and then kept their children tightly bound to their sides and instilled fears in them of other people and made promises (who do you trust more than your parents when you’re little?)… and so on and so on down the generations. Whether those promises are true or not, nobody really knows. All I see is a people who are being told how to live their lives and if they don’t then they will be shunned. They have been hardened to people attempting to help them because of these fears and they are being promised things for all their efforts that they truly don’t know will come true… The song I dedicated to my family was the “Say something, I’m giving up on you” because they won’t listen, they are blinded by fear and they won’t speak to me because of men telling them how to live their lives and who they should speak to. I said to my mom one day “Why is it that God never turned his back on human kind, and yet these men are allowed to tell you that you should?”…. it’s because they don’t want to be shunned.

13

A congregation with all the craziest wts teachings

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

i was just imagining, what if a group started their own congregation, with all of the wackiest teachings.

can you imagine what that would be like?.

the library would be full of 1800s-1980s publications.

problemaddict

meta, we already cure colds jumping up and down naked in CA. Its excites the humors and get the viscuous embelleshing.

27

Black sheep of the family-my life as an ExJW

by bsand20 in

jw
friends

i was a 3rd generation jw, half the congregation i attended was made up of my entire mom's side of the family, 2 of the 3 elders were my grandpa and uncle.

my first memory of the organization was when they announced my mom's name in the meeting saying she had been reinstated....it was 1988 and i was 6 years old....i didn't understand it then, but when i asked my mom why was she crying and why did they say her name in the meeting, she said "it's because i've been good!".

so she went back and after a period of time assisting constantly, she was reinstated.

problemaddict

Also....one of the worst thing that could be done was that silly comment your elder uncle made. Essentially telling you that you are killing your children. What a reidiculous thing to tell someone!

Don't let her see her grandchildren if she shuns you. Your children wouldn't want to spend time with someon that treats their mother like that. I don't anticipate her sticking to her guns.

Just tell her point blank, I don't believe it, I should never have been baptized at 13, and am being shunned because of a technicality. Who was into technicalities....Jesus......or the Pharisees? Well technically my kids and I are a package deal. :)

27

Black sheep of the family-my life as an ExJW

by bsand20 in

jw
friends

i was a 3rd generation jw, half the congregation i attended was made up of my entire mom's side of the family, 2 of the 3 elders were my grandpa and uncle.

my first memory of the organization was when they announced my mom's name in the meeting saying she had been reinstated....it was 1988 and i was 6 years old....i didn't understand it then, but when i asked my mom why was she crying and why did they say her name in the meeting, she said "it's because i've been good!".

so she went back and after a period of time assisting constantly, she was reinstated.

problemaddict

Wow.....just wow.

Thank you for sharing that and welcome. Many of us know how you feel to varying degrees. I am not DF'd, but i am currently being shunned by some, and embraced by others. It all depends on the person. My JW mother has basically stopped talking to me, although if I press the matter she is kind. She is also pretty old.

I will never understand a situation like yours. Technically, in fact VERY TECHNICALLY, your situation should be treated differently. You were 15 when you were disfellowshipped. You were baptized too early. if you were never baptized, none of this would be an issue. All of the decisions we make when we are 13 of course we should have to wear on our sleve as husbands fathers mothers and wives for the rest of our lives apparently.

I went to a fneral for a friends stepdad. He was the first live donor to donor liver transplant done without blood in the world. Here in CA. His brother was the donor. His brother was baptized when he was 13, because his older brother was doing it. The one that now when they were in their 50's, needed a liver. He was still disfellowshipped, but the brothers allowed this. His brother allowed it. They had press conferrences. All was good. The donating brother had a harder time recovering than the recipient.

Fast forward to his funeral. Some people at the funeral offered condolances, but many more avoided him. Only one man came to the wake at the home of the deceased wifes house (we were there and so was her daughter), because he was disfellowshipped.......at the age of 17.......35 years previously!!!

How insane is that!

Pity them, shame them, and be frank. You are not the fornicating 15 year old. It should be brought to their attention, what kind of sadistic treatment that is, and how unloving and silly it is considering especially your unique circumstances.

P.S. - PM me. I am from Orange County originally. If you were in Whittier, we may know each other. Or don't PM me if that freaks you out.

21

OMG Johnny the Bethelite touched my tentacles!

by RayPublisher in

have you been touched by the tentacles of the watchtower i have and it was not like being touched by an angel!.

.

https://youtu.be/ddbggciidwa.

problemaddict

I am totally lost.

83

Heard a rumor: Guy Pierce died this morning

by respectful_observer in

jw
friends

didn't see any other threads, apologies if one already exists.

apparently died of a massive stroke this morning.. r_o.

(completely unconfirmed.

problemaddict

DM, that is not his wife. You are trippin.

11

A friend gets his last check from a JW company.....

by problemaddict in

so basically he is a subcontractor for a company that owes him money, and has been paying him very poorly for his service.

(industry wide problem).

so he e mails them a venting e mail, saying he will no longer take work, giving them a date he expects the pay to be cut or he leins properties etc.... he gets a response, they go back and forth, and the last response they send the check and at the bottom post a scripture (he didn't remember which one) with the phrase "and we will continue to serve our god jehovah".

problemaddict

So basically he is a subcontractor for a company that owes him money, and has been paying him very poorly for his service. (industry wide problem). So he e mails them a venting e mail, saying he will no longer take work, giving them a date he expects the pay to be cut or he leins properties etc...

He gets a response, they go back and forth, and the last response they send the check and at the bottom post a scripture (he didn't remember which one) with the phrase "and we will continue to serve our God Jehovah".

Its a company in maryland apparently. I thought it very interesting that he was commenting (FB) on how unprofessional it is to mention God ina buiness e mail, and that if they knock on his door they will get his boot.

Seriously, how weird is it that they would end an e mail like that?

58

JW.Org

by Kool Jo in

i've been pondering......with this new "push" to direct individuals to thw jw.org website, even when the dubs are out preaching...what do you think the future will be for the preaching work?.

some time ago i read that the mormons have implemented a live chat feature that allows you to speak with their missionaries....i doubt the borg would do this, but i think they have something up their sleeves.. peace.

kool jo.

problemaddict

Emeth,

Forgive me if I do not follow a specific point you may be trying to make. Has the launch of JW.org been a success? I would say yes of course it has. More traffic is being driven there, and I am sure it includes all sources, although we will need to agree that JW's themselves I am sure drive the majority of traffic. I visit once every couple days for a variety of reasons. I have printed out literature for my wife or visitors for example. Yet I am far from a potential convert.

What disturbs me, and really isn't surprising, is that online the WT whitewashes many controvertial beliefs and wordsmiths them to the point of near deception. One would think, just being introduced, that this is a harmless group of people, who love others, are well kept, and very polite. I would agree with all of it except the harmless part, because as you so aptly demonstrated, it doesn't take much to be called an "apostate". Anyone who visits jwfacts.com for example?

That then puts that person as a direct conduit to Satan, and removes their humanity from them in the eyes of a JW.

In short JW.org rollout....good. Content and overall mission of JW.org......bad.

21

Moscow - the only world power able to turn the United States into "radioactive dust"

by scotoma in

jw
friends

those are the words of a prominent russian tv broadcaster.. president putin recently appointed kiselyov as head of russia's newly restructured state-owned news agency rossiya segodnya (russia today), which was set up by an unexpected presidential decree to replace the longstanding ria novosti and voice of russia media outlets in december.. .

do you think the watchtower writers are doing some recalculations?.

will they switch the identity of babylon the great from a religious entity to the usa.. "rev.

problemaddict

I don't see the new proliferation of nuclear arms currently. This is all political bluster.

Ukraine transferred all of its nuclear arms back to Russia with a treatment signed by Russia, the US, and a European country that i cannot recall (maybe the UK), that said they areed as long as they were supported if they were ever attacked. I'll bet they are probably apealing to that perticular treaty currently but with no results, since one that signed it is the country that took their land.

I honestly think this will blow over. It was shady, but overall fairly harmless.