Posts by scratchme1010

27

Out of the world, into the Truth

by apalro in

for some background - i studied on & off as a child with a jehovah's witness who has been patiently working on lots of our family for more than a decade and never gave up on any of us.

as a middle-schooler and a highschooler, my love for jehovah and any association with my childhoood bible teacher... faded.

disappeared.

scratchme1010

- God does exist. You just have to seek him and he will seek you.

No, he doesn't. And I see no need to seek him for anything.

- I had a taste of the world and was not satisfied.

You had a taste of making bad decisions, which not everybody does. The world, as much as the WT claims that they are not part of, is both inside and outside that organization. Same bad things can and have happened to people inside that organization, and have made the same bad decisions.

- It is rewarding serving Jehovah instead of Satan

Nonsense. Neither of those two exist.

- you can come up out of any circumstance, even if it seems impossible at the moment. Dont give up!

That has nothing to do with being a JW. I can tell you way more about that than you could in your entire lifetime.

- by your conduct, others will follow

More nonsense. People are not robots. If people decided to copy another person't behavior, they are still responsible for their own decisions. Enough with the guilt trips.

Have a nice life.

7

What is the Baptism all about?

by Old Navy in

does the act of baptism make us a "member" of any group or organization?

or, is it something much greater in its purpose?.

when we as former jws came to the truthful conclusion that what the wtborg cult inc. was teaching/preaching was not an accurate representation of the word, many of us decided to look into every nook and cranny to see if we could discover the real truth.

scratchme1010

Interesting. And I agree; it's impossible that an organization can only teach false things. Teachings aside, I think that the worse is their intention, their lack of regard for the needs of the people who follow them.

22

Parents who try to make you feel guilty.

by NJ501 in

when parents say all the things we've done for you and your not doing anything for us in return like going to meetings, witnessing, answering up etc... how do you respond to parents?.

scratchme1010

When parents say all the things we've done for you and your not doing anything for us in return like going to meetings, witnessing, answering up etc..
How do you respond to parents?

I was too young to be able to come up with something, and sadly I believed that crap. Knowing then what I know now, I think the best response is nothing. Let them be and don't buy into that nonsense. They are not doing you any favors, it's their responsibility (morally and legally) to take care of you properly. However, those guilt trips are useless, and certainly not inviting to conversation. So say nothing, ignore it and concentrate in leaving them as soon as you can.

26

Planning Your Exit

by minimus in

jw
friends

did you have a plan to leave the organization?

i did.

it took a couple of years but we did leave and never had a desire to go back!.

scratchme1010

Did you have a plan to leave the Organization? I did. It took a couple of years but we did leave and never had a desire to go back!

I did, and it also took years. Something that I try to emphasize when people are in the process of leaving is not to think for a second that fading is just to stop attending meetings, especially for those like me who are born-in. There was a process of education, planning and building support and a sense of direction outside, and also, in my case, knowing that I was going to walk away from the first 23 years of my life without looking back, That is no small thing and does require planning.

I have learned that in other people's cases it has not taken them that long, and in other cases some people have not had the luxury of affording the time to plan, especially those who were disfellowshipped but also had other ties with JWs (such as being employed by other JWs). In those cases the change is rather sudden, and things have to be dealt with rather quickly.

Whenever possible, building a good support system outside the JWs is essential (IMO), and that takes time.

44

"exjws" and money making Ponzi schemes.

by Thisismein1972 in

ok i want to pose a question to those who care to discuss this.. imagine a scenario.

you hear of a exjw writing a book, however, before writing this book this exjw is requesting money to publish said book.

you go along with it and help to get this book out to the public as you think that it will be beneficial.

scratchme1010

If you were one of the ones that donated money to this cause, would you also donate money again to aid the publishing of a second book?

No. And I wouldn't have helped in the first attempt, unless I see a business plan, a strategy, a good publishing house, a plan for self-publishing, anything that makes sense, and of course, THE DAMN BOOK! And I have to like it, and I have to be sold on it, and I have to see that the person is really making the right efforts to make the book successful and has a clue of what (s)he is doing.

If others choose to do otherwise, as the saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you..." Don't some of you ex-jws are fed up with being taken advantage of based on some nonsense story?

11

Is this a World Wide Pattern?

by Slidin Fast in

jw
friends

hundreds baptized at jehovah's witness convention.

at first sight this afican rc looks as though it's acheiving the quantity of baptisms of another era.

348 is a substantilal number and impressive until you see the sunday attendance 28,300. so a baptism rate of 1.2%, in africa.

scratchme1010

They are in fact doing well in third world countries, in developing nations and in places where there's not lot of technology infrastructure. As soon as the Internet catches up...

40

How Are Ex Elders Treated In The Congregation?

by minimus in

jw
friends

are they pretty much left alone?

are they respected for their having been elders at one time?

are they treated like crap?.

scratchme1010

Are they pretty much left alone? Are they respected for their having been elders at one time? Are they treated like crap?

Depends, for what I remember. In the congregation where I grew up the elders hated each other and they were constantly involved in political fights over who was the most stuck up righteous hardcore JW. When one of them lost their "privilege" over something stupid like their son/daughter participating in some kind of extracurricular activity, the others were completely vicious.

In other congregations the process was handled as if it was the disclosure of the nation's nuclear codes. In others it was more a laid back, careless event.

9

Random thoughts of an ex-JW on a coffee break

by StarTrekAngel in

lately i have been finding myself doing a lot of thinking.

not that i am smarter than the keurig coffee maker in my office, which lately has made me reevaluate the perception of my professional career.

somewhere along the way between winding down my relationship with my now ex-boss and starting a new one with my current boss, i noticed that the machine complaints with a message on a touchscreen….

scratchme1010

Thanks for sharing. I would have never been able to connect programming coffee machines, hell, and mistreatment of women they way you have. Great post. Thank you. Very insightful and fun to read.

60

DPRK Asserts that USA has Declared War

by cofty in

north korea has taken president trump's recent statements as a declaration of war.

pyongyang reserves the right to shoot down american planes even if they are not inside their airspace.. i listened to trump's speech to the un with dismay.

it demonstrated a total lack of understanding of his enemy and the inevitable consequences of inflicting personal insults on kim jong-un.

What exactly is grieving gods Holy Spirit?

One of the many made up terms and concepts that groups use to make people feel like they know something that others don't.