Posts by 2+2=5

51

HI! im new here...

by outofthelionsden in

i have been reading post on this forum for many months and i wanted to thank you all for all the great posts and comments that have really helped me get through this hard year of fading.

my husband and i where born in jdubs and almost 1 year ago we started to fade , now that we think about it has been a few years that we were suffering from cognitive dissonance without knowing it.

we feel that finally we have our life back , a life that is just starting.

2+2=5

Hello and welcome. Great to hear that you and your husband have woke up together.

29

Maybeso

by MaybeSo in

im very sad, upset and disappointed all at the same time.

why couldnt i just stay away from this dam forum and live my life and blindly dedicated it to the borg.

now i know ttatt, i cant ignore all the facts and all the stories of the great people in this forum.

2+2=5

Hi Maybeso, I only just noticed this thread. Welcome.

I have only recently learned TTATT so I know how hard it is and what a rollercoaster ride you are on. It is terrible feeling to have your foundations ripped from under you. It is like you are mourning the death of something. Everything you thought to be true just crumbling away in your hands.

I can remember sitting in the KH last November, and thinking that I need to stop researching my religion and just get serious in 'the truth'. The familiar feel of the KH and the friends there had me feeling kinda secure or something. I resolved in my chair that night that I was going to stick with 'the truth'..... that feeling didn't last more than a day, as I simply couldn't ignore the things that I had learned.

It is still strange for my wife and I even now, to realize TTATT and the fact we don't have all the answers. The WT offers answers, but they are not very satisfying, and prove to be false when scrutinized. On top of that they are extremely demanding of your time, and also induce fear and guilt.

Anyway thanks for sharing. All the best with everything. Good luck on that talk #3

50

Do You Fear Death?

by Cold Steel in

whether you're a former jw, or active jw, or some other religion, or atheist, what do you say?

do you fear death and, whether yes, no, or i don't know, why?

have changed religious views changed your view of death?

2+2=5

I don't fear death, I am just pissed off that I was told I would never die and because of that, wasted valuable years of my life. My kids won't have that misfortune.

42

JULY 15th Study Watchtower - NEW LIGHT IS FANTASY

by The Searcher in

the july 15 study watchtower uses all 4 study articles to try to inculcate into every witnesses' mind that the governing body is indisputably god's sole channel of communication on earth.

to do so, it uses a multitude of scriptures along with seriously flawed un-inspired reasoning.

the foundation stone of this watchtower's blatant agenda is the claim that when jesus used only a few to dispense the physical food to the many, he was setting a principle which would be applied to the distribution of spiritual food after he returned to heaven.

2+2=5

this week end at our assembly the CO in one of his talks said that many are not liking the new watchtower.

He said this in a talk from the platform? Was this a CA or DC? I would love to hear this just to get more of the context.

I wonder if he was referring to the stir it has caused on the Internet among the ex-JW community, or if was referring to an actual rejection amongst the rank and file JWs, because this would be significant. I would have thought that most JWs would not even have studied this WT properly and probably won't ever.

I thought this "new idea" was great for the other sheep, it really dignifies them. That's why the GB "love it". Has nothing to do with the promotion they just have themselves.

I hope this nu-lite gets some JWs thinking, which leads them to researching and scrutinizing their beliefs. We all know this crackpot religion does not hold up to scrutiny.

25

Is it more accurate to call it a cult or to call it a high control group?

by Hillary in

jw
friends

2+2=5

I prefer bat-shit-crazy-religion, but cult or high control is fine.

24

10 Hottest Issues about Jehovah's Witnesses-Your Opinion Please

by raymond frantz in

hi guys ,i'm currently updating my website (www.new-jw.org) and would like to build a page with the 10 hottest issues about jehovah's witnesses .i'm still a believer therefore i would like to concetrate most on doctrines and less on policies.

i build a list below, please tell me what you think ,your feedback is much appreciated :.

united nations affiliationbaptised in the name of an organizationmemorial ,jesus' sacrifice denial mealblood idolization of the governing body 1914pedophilia casesjesus is not your mediatorharsh disfellowshiping policycounter productive witnessing of the good news

2+2=5

The idealization and revision of the Watchtower Society's history is a major issue that has helped many wake up.

They deliberately mislead and misrepresent their past beliefs and doctrines in order to make themselves look like prophets or an organization that has God's backing.

They cannot hide from this, their worst enemy is the abundance of false prophetic statements and unfilled expectations that they have put into print over the last 100+ yrs. The fact they try to revise their history to create an idealized image that will make themselves more appealing to the public was the game breaker for me when I was learning TTATT.

This should be on the list for sure IMO. All anyone needs to do is compare what they use to believe, to what they now say they use to, and they will prove themselves dishonest liars. No need to argue doctrine or theology, their lies are on record for all to see.

28

Bible Teach Book has been getting a facelift WT Style

by RayPublisher in

well the book they use to conduct bible studies is already showing its age, and just like the changes they made to the live forever book they are doing it to the bible teach book as well.

here is something i found on the kool aid site jw talk .

net:.

2+2=5

Witnesses accept everything the society puts out whether it is in writing or in an illustration.

That caption in the picture and the stupid picture itself is an example. "The casting of Satan and his demons from heaven has caused woe for the earth. Such troubles will soon end."

Like prior to 1914 the earth was enjoying peace with non violent people everywhere, no wars to speak of and not a hungry person in sight. So misleading the way they present 1914 as a huge turning point in history, when the world plunged into a state of constant war and violence (because of demons obviously).

26

Pumping up Field Service Time to the Billions of Hours

by RayPublisher in

we know that wt has been inflating the hours spent for a long time so that their "growth" looks good on paper and for bragging rights.

here is a quote from the 2008 km:.

*** km 9/08 p. 3 question box ***.

2+2=5

Just before I stopped witnessing I was talking to a couple of elders in my Cong about how ineffective the witnessing work has become. Both these elders have a few young children like me.

I told them about the 5000+ hrs to get 1 convert. I explained that even if they spent two hours every weekend out witnessing, and did their family worship every week, they still would not get one covert based on these statistics, not even their children. If their children get baptized and remained witnesses they would be doing way better than this average.

Witnessing in western lands has become redundant. I love speaking to my witness family and friends about this. In Australia we have had a about a 2-3% increase in JWs in almost 20 years. The Mormons are almost 20%. Tell this to a JW and watch the cognitive dissonance kick in.

38

What is your experience when you stop turning in time?

by gingerbread in

for the past year or so, i've been turning in just one or two hours of service time.

it has been mentioned to me from an elder "friend" that i'm never seen at any meetings for field service.

i get his implication.

2+2=5

For the first time in more than 6 months of inactivity, I have not been asked for my report.

I had been getting asked every month for my report, but continually said zero. I would get asked about counting time for family worship, my reply would be zero. It was getting ridiculous, they ask every month and get the same answer every month.

I thought I was going to have to ask them to stop asking. It is still not to late for someone to ask for this months, but I think they are finally getting the message.

For me, I stopped suddenly so they did or do hound me a bit. I was always regular, then witnessing stopped and meeting attendance declined. And to make it worse, I expressed doubts to elders before I was fully awake to TTATT and became inactive. This is probably part of the reason they hassle me, they want to know what I am really thinking.

So my experience has left a bizarre cultish taste in my mouth. Hounded for reports and sheparding calls constantly. But it sounds like you're doing a better job at fading. I was more of a sudden implosion.

50

What is the most damning watchtower publication?

by zound in

i want to purchase a couple of vintage watchtower publications to help in my helping jw's break free.

some of the older ones are expensive or hard to come by - i know you can buy them on cd's but i'd like to own one or two of the "classics of propaganda"- some of the ones that speak for themselves as to the ridiculousness of this religion.. of course any magazine i pick up today speaks to me of the ridiculousness, but you need something much more hardcore for the jw's.. any recommendations?.

"children" has some pretty good quotes in it..

2+2=5

The problem is, if you want to show a JW some old WT literature and they get even the slightest sense that you are trying to criticize their beliefs, they will not listen. They will just put their fingers in their ears and scream, "The light gets brighter! The light gets BRIGHTER!!". You have to be very subtle.

It's a cult.