Posts by scratchme1010

28

I would like to rant about how I get really upset when I get some weak invitation back to the cult.

by schnell in

jw
friends

my mother wanted me to know that the co gave a talk that kinda-sorta reprimanded an elder in her hall.

he is not the reason i left at all, and this does not address anything to do with me or our family.. my mother-in-law sent me texts which i ignored and now she has sent a picture to my wife on facebook just for me, and it's a prodigal son meme that says, "you see the signs, come back it's not too late".. yeah, it's not too late to accept a global flood in 2370 bce, or that man was created in 4026 bce from a golem spell, or that an us-and-them cult mentality is at all healthy or loving, or that religion is going to be banned by the un, or that i should expect anyone else at the door to accept these stupid ideas in the information age.. what am i supposed to say?

i usually just ignore them, but before i do that, i see that shit and i storm into this weird internalized rage where i start writing a response and deleting it.

scratchme1010

What also gets me is just how weak it is. This appeal to emotion is little more than, "Come back! .... We need you! .... Come back!" There isn't anything there. There is no substance. It is an attempt at emotional extortion but that is on them. I'm not the one doing that, that's them. Geez.

I perfectly understand that. If your family are acting the way my family did, I could suggest that the "weak" texts and communication may not seem so lame to them. If you notice, they are designed (ok, designed may not be the right word), they are intended to tell you something but not for you to reply anything other than "leave me the eff alone". They are not invitations to conversations or dialog they know well they themselves don't want to have for the simple reason that you are right and they are wrong.

So if you look at them from than point of view, their lame messages serve their purpose, which is to do their job as JWs to reach out to you at the same time they remain detached and not hear anything you want to say. Also, if you reply at all, it should be either taking a stand, which gives the the perfect excuse to solve their problem, or just show up and "come back". Notice to any decent person with basic manners those seem to be the only viable options with that type of communication. Either way, they are definitely not about you.

22

New to site...let me intro myself

by LarryCope in

first, i've been out of the organization for 20 years this very year!

i was baptized in 1979 and attended one of the lancaster ohio congregations.

realizing i was gay, i left and after being in the columbus gay community for 6 months, decided bar hopping and cruising was not my cup o' tea.i decided to return in late '90 and was reinstated in '91.

scratchme1010

Welcome to the group. Thank you for sharing.

22

Hi I'm new to the site

by Raque Invierno in

hi everyone, i've just registered and thought i might introduce myself and tell my experience.

my name's raquel.. i was born into a jw family.

i started leading a double life around 14y/o and got caught drinking by another sister when i was 15 and saw that as my opportunity to quit the panthomime and stopped going to the meetings.

scratchme1010

Welcome, Raque Invierno.

I'm so sorry that you have been through so much since so early in life. I hope you find the support you need here.

20

A serious question for any who believe in any God of any religion who think God is interested in humans.

by smiddy in

the world health organization states that in the year 2015 ,5.9 million children died under the age of 5 years of age.. in 2010 the death rate for children under the age of 5 years of age was 7.6 million.

thats over 13 million in just 2 years .

i dont think you need to be a rocket scientist to conclude that since mankind has been on the earth for however long you want to believe and i`m just going on a conservative estimate of 6000 years by the above figures i quoted their would be billions of children under 5 yearsof age that would have died.

scratchme1010

And I dont want it to be an atheist vs beliver debate ,I just want to know how you reconcile this question.

It doesn't have to be. It's not ok to ask a question and stipulate the kind of answer you want to hear. That's not how people learn and grow.

21

Serpent in the Garden of Eden is not Satan

by anointed1 in

many interpret serpent in the garden of eden as the satan hence miss the whole point because satan himself does not exist.

he is a fictional character [for example, in the temptation account, satan is shown as reflecting the erroneous belief of ancient time that shape of earth is flat, thus taking jesus to the top of “a very high mountain” and showed him “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” (mathew 4:8, 9) the fact that jesus did not correct the mistaken view of satan shows the account of temptation is allegorical.

further, jesus knew that satan was only a personification of evil (mathew 16:23; john 6:70) and categorically declared that “all evil thoughts proceed from one’s heart,” not from satan.

scratchme1010

...the whole point because Satan himself does not exist...

Yep. And there's no talking snake.

17

What would you say to the HH if you could?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

ok so there's no other jws in earshot and your on the ministry, the hh comes to the door, what would you say to them about jws if you could?.

would you explain why your there when you don't want to be?.

would you warn them about it being a cult?.

scratchme1010

This reminded me of a few incidents that occurred when I was on my way out. The first one was about a person I was giving bible studies to. He was very interested, but he was also a very intelligent person. In fact, I liked talking to him. At first half of the bible study became unrelated conversations. Then after a while i told him that I was planning on leaving and pretty much that all that JW stuff was all nonsense. He told me that he was suspecting that I was not that much into the JWs. He started asking me why, and I told him a few things related to doctrine, nothing personal in terms of my private life. He thanked me and he told me that he liked the interesting conversations we were having. After that I visited a few times and we talked about many other things, one of them being my leaving the JWs.

The other was more bizarre. I had a one night stand with this guy, and then one day I knocked on his door. Didn't know that he lived there. You can imagine the mutual surprise. The other JW that was with me noticed that I seemed to recognize the person I was talking to, so I did acknowledge that, and started letting the guy know that I was in fact a JW and was "surprised that he didn't know". I managed to preach to him, he just kept looking at me perplexed, but went along with me. He took the magazines and sarcastically said "sure, I'll read them. I'm quite sure that this helps people stay away from trouble" or something like that. Later I saw him on the street and when he saw me he crossed the street. That was the first time I felt like a JW weirdo.

Anyway, I did spend some time involved in many JW activities while I was on my way out. What kept me going was reminding me that none of that really mattered to anyone. I never made a revisit, I lied a lot about my activities, and at the same time, reflecting back on that time, I realized that it was actually good to go preaching while seeing and feeling things from a different perspective. I noticed a whole lot of things I never paid attention to (like how much in danger JWs put themselves going house to house preaching).

I gave the entire JW spiel at times, but I felt safe that I wasn't converting anyone. I also figured that people were not going to stop showing interest if I stop preaching. Some other JW will knock on those people's doors. Plus I was watching out for my best interest first. I did preach, never followed up.

8

Jehovah God and Jesus Christ the difference in the "Old Testament " and the "New Testament"

by smiddy in

when you compare all the communications jehovah god had with humans whether it was by angels ,dreams ,or prophets as well as his intervention in human affairs when it suited him and their are many examples in the old testament to look at for about 4000 years .

the same cannot be said for jesus christ as king of kings to sit on the throne to rule over the earth for a thousand years.

in one sense he was king of christians 2000 years ago in another sense according to jw`s he was enthroned in 1914-18 for the next 1000 years.. whether you believe he was king over christians on his ascencion to heaven or his enthronement in 1914-18 for 2000 + years we have not had any communication from either god jehovah or christ jesus in any form one way or another.for the past 2000 years.. for the first 4000 years you couldnt shut jehovah up ,and the next 2000 years you dont here a beep out of jehovah or christ jesus.. for jw apologists when god gave a ruling/decree in the old testament how many times did he adjust /redefine/change what he said using the excuse "the light gets brighter and brighter" ?

scratchme1010

Or the entire bible was not meant to be anything of what all christian denominations, including the WT say it's to be.

12

Intelligent Disobedience

by George One Time in

did you notice the expression "intelligent disobedience" in the febuary 2017 broadcast (at 7:30)?.

it was used with the illustration of a guide dog for blind persons, that sometimes has to disobey it's owner.. what a fine example for us!

.

scratchme1010

To actually adopt an anti-WT directive and have JWs making their own moral choices would truly be the thin end of the wedge for GB authority and would permit the downfall of the cult.

The thing is that a decision made in a coerced, uninformed and ill-intended manner is still a decision made by a follower. I see little liability in people deciding "for/by themselves" doing things that harm themselves or their families. Coverups for illegal activities and events, that's a different story.

21

Is the Mid Week Meeting shorter or longer than before they stopped doing the book study at homes?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

any takers?.

scratchme1010

If you do not care or you do not know, there is no need for you to post on this thread.

Actually, there is. This is NOT a congregation, this is NOT the KH, and I don't have to abide the WT's stupid rules. If you want to discuss JW crap, then YOU go to a JW forum. For as long as I abide the forum rules, I am free to state whatever I feel like stating. Don't like it? You leave.

Let me repeat it: Don't know, don't care. Get over it. You don't get to tell me what to say.

15

Spiritual paradise or proverbial straitjacket?

by UnshackleTheChains in

noas a current or past jehovah's witness, do you / or did you feel part of a spiritual paradise with full liberty in christ as the watchtower society/organisation describes?.

or do you / did you feel you were wearing a proverbial straitjacket in the sense you feel / felt restricted and controlled by the watchtower society / organisation?.

scratchme1010

NoAs a current or past Jehovah's Witness, do you / or did you feel part of a spiritual paradise with full liberty in Christ as the Watchtower society/organisation describes?
or do you / did you feel you were wearing a proverbial straitjacket in the sense you feel / felt restricted and controlled by the Watchtower society / organisation?

I actually remember my very first thought that came to my mind the very moment when I decided to leave. It was the Spanish language equivalent of "Spiritual paradise my ass!" Then, "I don't see any spiritual paradise among this bunch of weirdos. In fact, reflecting in my entire life at that point, I never saw truly happy people, never had a real friend, never had the love and support of anyone, including my own family.

The straight jacket analogy is a good one.

When I talked to my father about my reasons for leaving I remember I told him that I don't think that it's going to be paradise if I have to spend eternity with the JWs I know.