Posts by scratchme1010

25

And then it hit me: we were abused

by Anders Andersen in

from a psychcentral (run by mental health professionals): a familiar item on a list of 7 types of parental abuse :.

spiritual abuse.

has the child experienced:dichotomous thinking – dividing people into two parts: those who agree with the parent and those who don’t.

scratchme1010

No, I feel I shouldn't have said anything as I was merely comparing being raised as a Witness without beatings, etc and saying that alone was not abuse. But if others believe that such is abuse, even without such things then I am not going to deny that of them. Apparently how I wrote things show, as dubstepped wrote, that there is something that even the people I work with should fear of me. I will seriously take that into consideration.
I feel very bad now for participating and the mistake I've made. Please accept my apology. I will move on to other subjects now, but thanks again for the correction.

You shouldn't feel that way. You started a great conversation on a topic that all of us have something to say (or are afraid of saying something). You can express yourself and we can all disagree. This isn't a congregation, nor the KH. Here we don't have to same way of thinking, nor the same believes, and that's perfectly ok.

Again, this topic is a very good and important one. Not a lot of people have the opportunity to talk and express themselves about the issue of abuse of any kind.

43

2520-607 = 1913

by schnell in

jw
friends

i love math, i love calendars, and somehow, this always gets me.. 2520 - 607 = 1913. not 1914.. 2520 - 606 = 1914. from what i understand, russell realized this.

he had previously used 606 bc, of course, but then he switched it to 607 bc.

i know there was something about no zero year, so it actually should be less one, correct?.

scratchme1010

I love math, I love calendars, and somehow, this always gets me.
2520 - 607 = 1913
Not 1914.
2520 - 606 = 1914
From what I understand, Russell realized this. He had previously used 606 BC, of course, but then he switched it to 607 BC. I know there was something about no zero year, so it actually should be less one, correct?
2520 - 607 - 1 = 1912
???
Okay, so 2520 years after NOTHING HAPPENED, the Titanic sank. *shrug*
Am I wrong here? What am I missing? If anything else, let's explain it for posterity.

I don't know if you know this, schnell, but the JWs are the only people who claim that Babylon was destroyed in 607. Of course, the WT claims like with the 1914 thing, that "it depends on your definition of destruction". Historians place the destruction of Babylon at different years, none of them even close to 607 (or 606) BC.

But most importantly to me is this: REALLY? You need such convoluted, contrived set of history, prophecies, visions, revelations happening through long periods of time to communicate such important message that is supposed to save lives today? To me, using those 7 times tied up with the history of Babylon, the revelation of John and World War 1 is the most ridiculously ineffective way of revealing events that affect the entire planet. it's all a load of --it.

14

THE AGEING OF STILL-ACTIVE WITNESSES

by steve2 in

several years ago i started a thread on this forum in which i asserted i had not seen witnesses door-knocking in my village for at least two or so years.

years before that - in pre-trolley times - in going about my business (or pleasure), i'd catch sight of them on the streets as they shuffled in their groups from door-to-door: sometimes there'd be contingents of witnesses, including young couples, parents and their kids and middle-aged and older ones.

in other words, a good cross-section of ages and stages in life.. in fact, i can remember times when witnesses were so visible in numbers when going out in their car groups, you literally couldn't escape them.. then, in more recent years, i've seen very, very little...if not anything (and i count myself sensitive to noting whether jws are out and about).

scratchme1010

What have you noticed in your locality? Any shift in the frequency of door-knocking, numbers door-knocking and/or age groups of those doing "the work" (excluding the trolley work)?

In the past 14 years (which is the time I've been living where I live) I've seen them only twice. The first time they never knocked on my door, and the second time they wanted to know if I speak Spanish (my reply was "Parlez-vous français?").

6

My first paid comedy gig

by usualusername1 in

jw
friends

after 5 months of struggling, yesterday i was paid to perform.

for those who saw the last video i hope you see an improvement.. would love feedback as always.

the first 2 minutes is on my life as a former jw.. cheers.

scratchme1010

LOL! Love it! Great job.

25

And then it hit me: we were abused

by Anders Andersen in

from a psychcentral (run by mental health professionals): a familiar item on a list of 7 types of parental abuse :.

spiritual abuse.

has the child experienced:dichotomous thinking – dividing people into two parts: those who agree with the parent and those who don’t.

scratchme1010

David_Jay, thank you for sharing that.

I want to add that aside from the well know forms of child abuse inflicted in children way too many times by way too many adults, there is such thing as spiritual abuse. It's important to recognize that not only it exists, but also affects both adults and children.

A good book on the subject is one written by a ministers named Leo Booth, entitled "When God Becomes a Drug: Understanding Religious Addiction and Religious Abuse". I like his description and also how religious abuse is manifested based on the different social classes in families.

He goes on explaining that in what he calls "blue collar religious families" there are more incidents of violence and physical and emotional abuse using god or the bible as an excuse, whereas in what he calls "country club christians" the abuse is more covert as those families tend to be more into saving appearances. Either way, the religious and spiritual abuse happens in the families and is very damaging. In fact, the reasons why so many people can't leave religion altogether is similar to battered people who are submitted to domestic violence and still don't leave the abusive relationship. However, it's a lot more difficult since it is accepted/expected that people are supposed to want to remain in a religious organization than in an abusive relationship.

This is a great topic, Anders Andersen.

Personally I know that some people react strongly to some of the things that I post but I believe that many (not all, I admit I have been a little bit of a jerk in some of my posts and replies) of those times people are just under the influence or religious abuse, a similar reaction to what they would have if I punch the domestic violent person who is abusing them.

7

A new way to boost hours

by neat blue dog in

it seems that metro witnesses have beeen directed to now have a total of 5 people at each location, as well as 'encouraged' to witness on their lunch breaks, (thus being able to count their time all the way through).

these 2 things should help boost the yearly hours..

scratchme1010

I'm feel sorry for those current active JWs who are starting to see and feel what they are really all about.

13

US vs THEM

by Anders Andersen in

i still remember that feeling.

thank god it's gone for good.

i used to be part of us witnesses.

scratchme1010

For a drunk non-poet that was fabulous. Great. Hope the hangover isn't too much.

19

I think the CO just knocked on my door.

by schnell in

i can't be too sure, because i didn't answer, but my mother had called me this morning and said this week is our co visit.. it's been a while since i last had elders at my door.

last time that happened, i posted about it, so it was only a few months.. i really don't want to talk with them.

is there a chance i'll be announced as "no longer one of..." after he's left if i don't?.

scratchme1010

A loss is a loss. If I opened my mouth to talk about the weather, they probably wouldn't listen to me now. Naturally, I'm trying to fill that void in other areas (online, at work, etc.). Is that unfinished business? Oh, it's just a set-up for a future adventure, whatever that may be.

In my probably unwanted, unasked-for opinion, sounds more like part of the process of reducing their influence to the minimum. That's not unfinished business. If there's no need for you to communicate and can let them go, considering that the conversation with them that many of us would love to have will never happen, doesn't seem like unfinished business.

I felt the same way when I started going to college and I'd hear people talking about the clubs they belonged to in high school the extracurricular activities they were involved in, the number of experiences that they all had that i never did. Looks exactly like what you describe about your friends that you departed from.

A few decades later now, looking back I realized two important things: (1) When I started taking a closer look at the realities of many of those people, not everything was great and fun. There were social pressures, family issues and a number of things that were not as great as they claimed their lives were, and (2) Most importantly, I now have a history with new friends, new experiences and pretty much an entire life that I now have after leaving.

How we move on and what we do really can help create an entire new wealth of good people and experiences.

19

I think the CO just knocked on my door.

by schnell in

i can't be too sure, because i didn't answer, but my mother had called me this morning and said this week is our co visit.. it's been a while since i last had elders at my door.

last time that happened, i posted about it, so it was only a few months.. i really don't want to talk with them.

is there a chance i'll be announced as "no longer one of..." after he's left if i don't?.

scratchme1010

I really don't want to talk with them. Is there a chance I'll be announced as "no longer one of..." after he's left if I don't?

I think you shouldn't either way. The WT has no power or authority over you. None.By now I'm quite sure you have to be aware that their efforts to reach out to you have nothing to do with your well being. They may just want to check the box, or as many of them, they just want to have the last saying. They hate hate hate people leaving and cutting ties with them in their own terms.

Well, that is the rational part. However, I'd like to ask you, do you feel that there are unfinished business between you and them? I ask because on one hand you are not answering the door, but on the other you are mentioning things you'd like to tell them.

I know that as we build confidence and a life outside the WT we become less and less interested in whatever they have to say, so I guess I'm asking where do you feel you are in relationship to them as of now? I think that matters since the degree of attachment (or detachment) does affect your reaction to them.

40

What if Fred Franz had never existed?

by Magnum in

what if fred franz had never existed?.

those of you who weren’t around in the days when he was the oracle of jwdom or who at least aren’t familiar with the deeper publications he was responsible for probably won’t be able to comprehend the significance of the question.

i believe he influenced jwdom greatly, and the whole feel of jwdom would have been different without him.. during the 60’s, 70’s, & 80’s (not sure about 50’s), he was considered to be almost superhuman by some (a lot?

scratchme1010

But what would it have been like if Franz had never existed? What would the 60’s, 70’s, & 80’s have been like? What would the literature have been like? Would there have ever been a New World Translation? What about doctrine? I assume there would not have been a 1975 debacle. Would JWdom have had the momentum that it did in that period if Franz hadn’t been in the picture? What would have been the look and feel without him?

So many possibilities. I tend not to indulge myself in this hypothetical scenarios as they are, well unreal and pure speculation, but in this case I'll speculate that we just don't know. As Finkelstein points out, Franz was just one of the many BS-ers around. There's no way to know is things will be different, the same, better or worse.