Posts by scratchme1010

8

Jehovah's Witness dreams

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i'm pretty certain i'm not the only one here who experiences this.. i occasionally have jw dreams.

the most recent one was me giving a talk in my home congregation.

all i had on was my trousers (pants), socks and shoes.

Sister may have had a slight heart attack, do I text her?

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

so my cousin phoned and told me my jw sister was taken to hospital with chest pains and it may have been a slight heart attack or possibly she's starting with angina.

now as some of you know my sisters and brother have had little to do with me for 29 years.

we've met at funerals, or arranged them, but i just thought today what if she did die?

scratchme1010

Sister may have had a slight heart attack, do I text her?

The first think that came to mind was "would she text you if it was the other way around?" However, regardless of how it would be if it was you the one who could use some comfort, you are your own person with your own set of values and morals.

I won't advise anything other than do what you feel your own values and morals dictate you to do. What makes you feel like a decent human being is what you should do. Trust your own instincts. Follow your rules of decency.

5

Healing

by AllTimeJeff in

jw
friends

among the many ways that jehovahs witnesses leadership strangle a person is primarily through the taking of your identity.

for cults and high control groups, of course this is how it's done.

but once you leave, finding out who you really are, and living a life of authenticity is usually quite challenging.. i have learned since my exit in 2006 that it is healthy to learn about who you are.

scratchme1010

Thank you for sharing this. Those are great thoughts. I agree 100% on what you posted. Many groups control others by going as far as they can to make people not trust themselves, or to think that anything that comes from their own gut feeling is wrong.

That is great information, and I think it's helpful to many others.

29

Are JWs capable of a genuine discussion?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

i was just pondering whether jws are capable of having a calm, in depth discussion about religious or faith topics?.

i have just finished listening to a great podcast by "dogma debate" (dan) episode 333. this fantastic, in-depth conversation between a theist and an atheist was a masterful example of how a dignified conversation can take place without it resorting to abruptness or even nastiness.. jws on the other hand seem incapable of having such discussion without ending up in the following ways:.

1)they get dogmatic and defensive if a differing view is presented.. 2)if the conversation doesn't go their way, they cut it short saying something like "well, we had better agree to disagree" or the like.. so why the arrogance?

scratchme1010

So why the arrogance? Why the defensiveness?
Thoughts?

Ask hothabanero. He can say.

Joke aside, personally I cannot generalize. First, one thing is being brainwashed and attach the wrong feelings to the right information, and a very different one is being capable of sustaining an argument.

In the culture we live today, where conceding or being open to listening is seen as a sign of weakness, I don't think that isolating JWs in that matter is fair to them. Furthermore, (IMO) approaching them or anyone for that matter in "debate mode", is not conducive to anything useful. if you look at how many of us opened our eyes and/or learned TTATT, most did not wake up after a debate or argument.

I'd check the premise on which you are basing your statement.

38

Goodbye my friends.

by StephaneLaliberte in

jw
friends

for almost 12 years now, i have been coming to this site on a regular basis and in the last 5, i “faded out”.

i never regretted this and never will.

unfortunately though, yesterday, i realized that, until i can publically tell all my old acquaintances why i have left, i will never be truly free.

scratchme1010

Take care of yourself. I do believe that there are choices, and that things and people change. Don't lose hope that in the future you might feel the freedom to speak your truth with your loved ones.

Good luck, we're always here.

13

How much paper has the WT used to print its publications?

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

so... i am doing a crazy stat: how many pieces of paper has the wt ever published?.

i don't have the answer yet, but.... i do have the approximate answer for the awake!

and the watchtower magazines.... get ready... it's a whopping 1.1 trillion pages!.

scratchme1010

Quite a waste of paper, but in comparison with others, it's pretty much average (IMO, don't have the numbers to back that up).

17

Can you top this example of JW corruption?

by Mace.Bean in

if you are a former jw elder, can you share any examples of corruption which you personally witnessed that were kept secret from the congregation?

following is an account from a longtime elder named tommy who recently disassociated.. the minor daughter of a presiding elder in a west texas congregation committed fornication with a 19-year old baptized witness in her father’s home.

the daughter had to confess to a judicial committee which included the aforementioned tommy.

scratchme1010

If you are a former JW elder, can you share any examples of corruption which you personally witnessed that were kept secret from the congregation?

Fortunately I was never an elder, but I can share that I had sex with an elder who later was part of the JC who met with me about "my" (read "their") problem with being gay. I'd consider that elder corruption.

22

It’s My Anniversary!

by jp1692 in

today is the four year anniversary of the last time i set foot in a kingdom hall.

it was the day of the kool-aid issue of the wt!

“at that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint.

scratchme1010

Congratulations (?).

20

Best way to deal with anger at the GB while waking up?

by CovertsadJW in

good morning everyone , .

i am wondering how people have personally delt with the anger at the gb when waking up and realizing it’s a scam, lie , and it’s awfully depressing .

i have had difficulty concentrating at work , have had an emotional roller coaster between okay days and awful days.

scratchme1010

Hello. Sorry that you're going through all that. I wouldn't recommend the way I dealt with it a I became really nasty with them and did a few immature, petty things.

However, the thing I feel I did wrong way back when was concentrating in making my point to them. That's a waste of time. Take care of yourself first (or only). Later I found that the most difficult thing was to forgive myself for allowing so many JW idiots interfere in my life.

Also, please identify the exact root of your anger. It's not the same for everyone. Some feel misled, some feel disappointed, some feel betrayed, some feel abuse, some feel lied to. To me it was more about the way I was treated in the name or their stupid Jehovah, to others is feeling that they were misled to believe something that is not true and had them made important decisions based on their nonsense.

Most importantly, deal with anger in healthy ways, no heavy drinking, no abusing food, drugs, partying. Exercise, have a punching bag in your house, a squeeze ball, etc.

Regardless of what healthy way of dealing with it you choose, make sure that it's a self-loving, self-forgiving and healthy way. Don't take it on something or someone else.

9

An update for the completionists

by jaydee in

for all of you who have closely followed my posts over the years....(ok, so that's none, i get it).

some time ago in a galaxy far far away.... i posted some aus government files.. one of which contained an article...'what is a jehovah's witness - - by milton g henschel.

(see here).. https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/161119/more-aus-watchtower-pdf-files.

scratchme1010

Thanks. I remember some of it.