Posts by scratchme1010

19

They have nowhere else to go!

by Crazyguy in

i think the overwhelming problem with trying to wake up friends and family is they have nowhere else to go.

i mean these people all their friends are jws a lot of them their family is jws.

if they wake up or agree with you in anyway they know instantly that they loose all this, many will even loose jobs.

scratchme1010

Crazy guy, you are absolutely right IN SOME CASES. I was a born in, and it took me a little longer to figure out what would be a safe next step for me to take.

As I have shared many times, the WT not only teaches people how they should behave and be, and what decisions to take, and what/how to think, and not to trust their "independent way of thinking". Part of their brainwashing includes make them believe that if they leave, there's absolutely no other place to be, no people you can trust, and what awaits us is a horrible fate.

Some believe that crap, some find proof of it by perception, and some, like me, see through the nonsense and venture life on their own.

23

Were visits to the library an important part of your childhood?

by compound complex in

jw
friends

greetings, fellow bibliophiles:.

i remember how sad i was, as a little child, when our beloved carnegie library was razed (unsafe, structurally).

the same tragedy occurred when we moved to a new town and that similar architectural treasure was demolished to put up a new and gleaming building of steel and glass.

scratchme1010

In my case was more about lack of access and my parents' lower literacy level, which influenced their decisions around giving us access to additional resources. I was in a mediocre public school system that didn't promote any kind of additional extracurricular activities, and librarians who couldn't be more lazy and careless about actually doing their jobs.

The JW angle was only one of many in my case.

44

Shoud individuals be held responsible for their INACTION?

by nicolaou in

jw
friends

if you see someone about to be struck by a car or otherwise step into harms way but choose not to call out a warning or act in some way to prevent disaster, are you responsible for any harm caused?.

what defence, if any, can be offered for choosing inaction?

.

scratchme1010

If you see someone about to be struck by a car or otherwise step into harms way but choose not to call out a warning or act in some way to prevent disaster, are you responsible for any harm caused?

Legally, no, unless I am in a place where I am bound to do that as per their policy, best practices, or legally, such as a hospital.

What defence, if any, can be offered for choosing inaction?

That the person in the accident was Kellyanne Conway.

10

Creepy, creepy movie "Wanda Nevada"

by James Mixon in

jw
friends

wanda nevada (brooke shields) a 13 year old girl and a man 30 some years old (peter fonda) not only expressing their love for each other, but forming a relationship and end up running away together, yes a little creepy.

couldn't sleep last night so around 4 o'clock it was on....the movie made in 1979 what the hell was hollywood thinking when making this movie, a love story romance/westerns......

scratchme1010

Pull your head out people.

No pun intended?

9

Calendar of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Downtowner in

i was with my mom today shopping and she is still in the organization.

she is elderly so she doesn't do as much as she used to.

we went to the store and she purchased a calendar and on the way out she said that she finally got a calendar for this year.

scratchme1010

Definitely not the same organization as it was at the end of the 20th century.

Yes, but it's their same stupid decision making process, which is not based on innovation. Personally I don't miss anything and can't care less about what they do or change, but I feel for those elderly JWs that are going through so many changes. They have to feel uncomfortable.

9

How the Governing Body breaks people

by krismalone in

we all have likely heard the expression "to break a person" and usually it's in relation to kidnappers, bullies, pimps, human traffickers and cult leaders.. when a person is broken, their spirit, goals, aspirations, pursuits, self esteem, critical thinking and dreams are taken away.

what fills that vacuum is despair, depression, low self esteem, lack of self confidence and individuality.

the victim now believes that they are not worthy of enjoying life and following their dreams and personal satisfaction through personal achievements.

scratchme1010

I think that people's experiences are different, and people's reactions are different. I don't feel "broken", but I was traumatized by some things, being a born-in.

I have seen people who have been devastated and have attempted suicide after sessions with the elders. What I think the WT does is nothing about people's mental health, and their practices trigger and precipitate people who have issues that they can't handle.

They are extremely irresponsible when it comes to the well being of their people. They just don't care. Some people end up broken because of it.

8

My wife and I just had a wonderful experience today.

by smiddy3 in

my wife was looking through some old diary`s that we have lying around and found a ph.# of an old friend (jw) that we knew over 15 years ago .we were always curious as to what has happened to her as she was a dear friend for many years when we were in the "truth".

so she rings the number (,do you still have the same # that you had 15 yrs ago ?

) and this friend was a bit of a "gypsy" type so she wasn`t expecting much when she rang.. to cut a long story short we all had a good conversation we had been trying to find out about her all these years with no success and she was also trying to find out about us all these years with no success ,we had moved interstate.. nothing was said about religion though i suspect she is still associated with the borg.

scratchme1010

My wife and I just had a wonderful experience today.

First thing that came to mind was some impure thought.

Both my wife and I are very happy that this dialogue took place today and look forward to cementing this relationship again.

If she was a little loose when it came to the strict rules of the JWs, it makes sense that she misses you and wants to reconnect. That is wonderful. She's a much better person that he rest of the congregation.

15

"Reaching out" in the org and personal confessions...

by Good JW in

going to be completely honest here, no feelings spared for me.

when i was a jw, one of my biggest motivations for "reaching out" was to become a "somebody".

i loved the idea of being a leader, teaching/training others.

scratchme1010

Even after I left, I still had to cope with this delusional part of me that wanted to "show other people what to do" spiritually speaking. It's egotism in disguise! Some still don't even know they're doing it...

Hello, and thank you for sharing your post. I love what you posted. I know that many people join organized religions precisely because they see that as a way of having a position of leadership where they couldn't otherwise have anywhere else.

In my humble opinion, you may be giving a voice to a lot of current and former JWs. I grew up seeing so many men (mostly men) wanting to be "somebody" in the congregation simply to feed their own egos. In different ways many others have shared similar experiences and reasons for becoming JWs. It also explains what we see in some presentations, the pompous attitude and the self-serving behavior.

Once I heard a professional researcher in the matter of cults (high demand, controlling groups) mentioning that playing on people's egos is one of the most common ways in which people fall for those groups.

Also, if you notice, most people who become "born again", the very first display of their "born-again-ness" is precisely that attitude of authority and believing that they are leaders of the world.

23

Why the meetings are boring and uninspiring

by UnshackleTheChains in

each individual may have their own views as to why they feel the meetings are boring and uninspiring.

in my case i find the midweek meeting so, because of the constant emphasis on pitching watchtower literature.

its just monotonous and one big yawn.. i watch other christian faiths where they open up a chapter of the bible and discuss it's contents.

scratchme1010

To me was the fact that people were acting like parrots, repeating other people's words over and over.

86

Do You Know Any “Gay” Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by minimus in

jw
friends

of course the religion condemns homosexuality but did you know any gay witnesses?

i knew some bethelites that were very effeminate and i remember 4 women who were suspected of being lesbians by many in the congregation.

they eventually moved away and were very vocal against males, especially elders..

scratchme1010

Do You Know Any “Gay” Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Yes.