Posts by smiddy3

48

Healing & Rebuilding Your Life - Feedback Wanted

by jp1692 in

i have been invited to speak at an international cultic studies association workshop this fall.

i could use your help in focusing on my presentation subject.. these workshops are for former members of any cult or other high-control, authoritarian group, not just jehovah's witnesses.

last year, i spoke at one of their larger conferences in europe.

smiddy3

2 .Examining beliefs { Not just relying on cult information}

3. Psycho-Education { Getting professional help and tools to negate cult thinking}

5. Personal identity { Who is the real me without a cult influence }

1. Five stages of grief { What to expect when one realizes they have been misled for however how long }

6. Dealing with isolation and loneliness { Developing friendships and acquaintances outside of the cult }

4. Treatments / interventions { Whatever additional help is needed to bring the person back into the real world. }

Both my wife and I and our two sons and one D.I.L have been out for 25 years , and I D.A. myself a couple of years ago.

I am the only one that frequents this site ,the others have no need for it their just happy getting on with their own lives .

And that pleases me .

21

Direction to elders on handling rape

by purrpurr in

from the shepard the flock book.

"discernment is needed in considering claims.

of rape, taking into consideration such factors as the.

Why are JDubs scared to death of apostate websites?

by Sour Grapes in

when i was an elder back in the 1970's i loved to debate and challenge ministers, preachers, and holy rollers.

now you can be a loyal jdub fully indoctrinated for 30 years but just take a peek at an apostate website and you are doomed.

yes, satan now has you by the gonads and all of the years of being at the meetings, all of the family worship nights, all of the conventions, and all of the personal study just go up in a cloud of smoke.

smiddy3

Simply because the so called Apostate sites speak the "TRUTH" and Jehovah`s Witnesses can`t handle the "TRUTH"

16

Jehovah`s Witnesses Do Not Have a Clergy Class.

by smiddy3 in

no , they have the governing body { some would say the popes of the religion }.

and you do not under any circumstance go against what they say./ .

they also have branch overseers , district overseers .circuit overseers , and elders in a congregation .. they are all up and above the rank and file of the average ordinary jehovah`s witness and they are looked upon as such by the rank and file member as equivalent to a clergy class.. oh and lets not forget the legal department that has a lot to say in how the jehovah`s witness organization responds to allegations of child sexual abuse around the world.. and when an allegation arises about child sexual abuse the w.t.

smiddy3

No , They have the Governing Body { some would say the popes of the religion }

And you do not under any circumstance go against what they say./

They also have Branch Overseers , District Overseers .Circuit Overseers , and Elders in a Congregation .

They are all up and above the rank and file of the average ordinary Jehovah`s Witness and they are looked upon as such by the rank and file member as equivalent to a clergy class.

Oh and lets not forget the Legal Department that has a lot to say in how the Jehovah`s Witness organization responds to allegations of Child Sexual Abuse around the World.

And when an allegation arises about Child Sexual Abuse the W.T. Organization pleads the Clergy Penitent Clause ?

To withhold information crucial to a trial that may incriminate themselves .

So do Jehovah`s Witnesses have a Clergy Class ?

Of course they do they just might not class it as such in their vernacular .

10

JW's All Over the Earth ...

by The Fall Guy in

... are standing at trolleys every day - millions of hours every year - and never approach people with the "good news" - as per the instructions of the self-proclaimed "faithful slave" in the usa.. the forked tongue of the wt serpent speaks yet again:.

w16 may pp.

8-9 pars.

smiddy3

And what about the WatchTower announcing "Jehovah`s Kingdom" ? on thei front cover of their Magazine ?

Where in the whole Bible ,OT and NT is their any mention of "Jehovah`s Kingdom " ? nowhere that I can think of .

Whereas the Christian Greek Scriptures (N.T.) as J.W.`s like to call it have numerous accounts about the Kingdom of god and identifies no one else as King except Jesus , the name Jehovah is never mentioned in the N.T. and the Tetragrammaton JHVH /YHWH does not appear in the Greek text that the Jehovah`s Witnesses base their NWT on .

See the N.W.T. the Kingdom Interlinear Of The christian Greek Scriptures published by the WTB&TS a word for word translation of the Greek into English .

Nowhere does the Tetragrammaton appear nor does a Greek equivalent of those four letters appear in the Greek text .

21

You are NOT alone !

by stuckinarut2 in

this post is mainly for our new forum visitors and members.

perhaps even those who are just lurking or visiting here but have not yet signed up.

maybe you are in the initial stages of researching and finding out the earthshattering and life changing information about the religion that you once held dear and called “the truth”.. it can be a very stressful period of time as you realise that your whole foundation has changed and that the people in your life that you call friends or family may not take kindly to the things you have discovered.

smiddy3

That is an excellent post stuck and I totally agree ,Do I fourth that ?

I loved that response W.M.U.B.Y.Jo-Ho you have the makings of a Sci-Fi author

And as an added note to lurkers or first timers here you can use the envelope at the top of the screen to post a personal message to whoever you want that nobody else can see and its a private conversation .

I encourage you to take advantage of it as it is confidential.

54

Explain why you are happy if you believe there is no afterlife vs when you joined JW's

by Bad_Wolf in

one thing that has intrigued me are so many who have left, who are wholly convinced everything in existence is merely by chance now, also claim they wouldn't want to live forever, and perfectly fine if this is the only life.

now, i would understand that if you were raised into the religion.

i was raised into it.

smiddy3

I was a convert at 19 believed in the illusion of one world one government {Theocratic} one religion

" what a wonderful world this would be "

The prospect of living forever under such a system controlled by a God that created the Universe was just an added bonus.

After 33 years being deluded this way the penny finally dropped and now 25 years later this site has opened my eyes up even wider to what lengths of deception the WTB&TS /JW.ORG will go to in perpetuating this lie.

Three things I`m convinced of

1. Religion is a snare and a racket

2. Religion is the Opium of the people

3. The Bible is no more Gods word than the book of Mormon or the Q`uran or any other religious scriptures /Texts

of any other culture.

I am happy with the life I have lived and I can assure you I will not die gnashing my teeth in fear of any judgement from any God

18

The Repression and Expression of Anger Among Jehovah's Witnesses

by john.prestor in

something which i always found surprising when i attended the kingdom halls i studied was how angry, even vicious, many jehovah's witnesses could become when a watchtower study featured some persons and/or institutions the organization disapproved of, say, higher education and educators, christendom and its clergy, apostates, etc.

many seemed to sadistically enjoy denigrating these persons or institutions when the watchtower study conductor called on them and they were handed a microphone.

i wondered for a long time where this anger came from, and i've developed a hypothesis for explaining this.. according to a book i'm reading by alice miller called "for your own good: hidden cruelty in child-rearing and the roots of violence," children who are strictly controlled and abused (whether emotionally or physically) typically go on to unleash the anger they inevitably felt at their parents, but were never allowed to express, at their children or those around them.

smiddy3

How can a home schooled child by Jehovah`s Witness parents who have never progressed from a basic education themselves because of their own J.W.parents and who don`t believe in higher education themselves give their own child a good education .?

It`s an improbability bordering on the impossibility .

9

Behaviour in bethel are they like the jw dramas?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

what i mean is, i've discussed recently how odd the behaviour of jws is on the drama films that they show at the conventions.

i'm wondering is the reason why it's so odd because that how's the jws at bethel talk and act in real life?

is the behaviour at bethel so warped from the outside world that they actually think that their behaviour is normal?.

smiddy3

I think the G.B. base their videos on shows like "The Brady Bunch" ..."Father knows Best "..." Happy Days " ..."My Three Sons " etc,etc. ...they have just added a Jehovah`s twist to the roles played out.

All very idealistic and unrealistic in the real world .

20

Fear of the worldly people.

by StephaneLaliberte in

yesterday, i had a conversation with my neighbor during which i explained the greatest reason why i wanted to raise my kids out of the jws: the fear (which translate to hate) jws have for everyone showing no interest in becoming part of their group.

in order for him to quickly relate to what i meant i asked him to imagine, for a moment, he was the biggest racist he has ever known, forced to live in a black neighborhood.

how would you feel?

smiddy3

My son from my first marriage who is 13 was kicked out by my husband cause he might be gay #faceplant ...

I`m sorry but I find this very disturbing ,how could you stand by and let your husband kick a 13 year old out into the street ? for whatever reason ? Your husband should have been turned over to the Child protection authorities/police for child abuse. and you should never have condoned or agreed to such an act.

You should have left with your son if your husband was that determined and let him stew in his own juice.

That just seems so wrong .