That is what people trade in when joining a cult: brains n life for BS.
Zing
i believe when we were in the jw cult, our brains and thoughts were hijacked by the governing body.
i truly believe the gb thinks all members are stupid and they laugh at them in their wednesday morning secret meetings.. one such teaching that i never heard anyone bring out or question yet the absurdity and contradiction is blatantly obvious is: revelation chapter 20 says that christ will reign for 1000 years.
it doesn't say he will reign more than a thousand yrs but only 1000 yrs.
That is what people trade in when joining a cult: brains n life for BS.
Zing
the basic virtue for a human being is to be true to yourself – the integrity of thought, emotion, and action.. .
ten years ago ( after 32 years as a jehovah's witness), i finally decided that my own mental sanity and being true to myself was more important than attending congregation meetings and serving the watchtower society.
i stopped (years before) field service, the ministry school, answering at the watchtower studies, missed numerous meetings and walked in minutes before the meetings started and left after the closing prayer, i knew it was time to leave.
@Zilgee
I think for such ones you may need to :
1. prove unconditional love(share your personal experiences, one at a time and attach a scripture to it which shows what was done was wrong; and let it hang) is BS.
2. Show stuff on jw.borg via videos .Finding statements they make which are fabricated to suit their needs.internet does help towards this.
3. Start pinpointing things that are quite in contrast to what the bible says and what really is happening/ being delivered (perhaps peoples actions which in my experience would be double standards). Choose the right moments to bring something to their attention and just say that am I wrong in understanding that the bible says at matthew 7:12 do unto others...Why did /does bro A treat me like this ie being rude to you, ignoring you, belittling you unfair to you (not to be petty but serious ones and if done often then it does raise questions) etc anything that is wrong as per the bible and leave the statement hanging unless they come up with an answer. Check the vibe you get from their answer if negative towards what you are saying then leave it there without discussing further.If positive /agree that was wrong then dont pursue too much into it but still leave it there saying "it does upset me that my bro treats me like this.Love is the identifying mark and he is doing quite the opposite.Oh well I wil leave it in Gods Hands" .
No confrontation at all .If you bring different points to the table from the bibles angle plus works then gradualy in time atleast one point will make them think.
Eg. when my father passed away we went through a helluva time with mishap after mishap so meetings/ ministry were out the window totally for 3 months.We did call two elders and let them know of our loss, believing they wll let others in the cong know .This is common courtesy/decency, right. During all of this not one bro/sis popped in or call us, or send a card .When we finally resumed our meeting it hit us that not one person knew (ofcourse the BOE did not inform anyone about our loss so no one called or bothered to even know how we were; this still does not let them off for not enquiring after us does it).The elders had not told anyone.I took this badly coz all this talk about in corinthians how we are one body and if one arm aches the whole body is affected n all.In truth it is all bs. Was love the identifying mark here??
I am sure you will find many such bad examples of works not adding up to what a true christian should be like.
If you keep asking or just drop statements and let it hang, I am sure sooner or later the penny will drop. Make sure you do not come across as the enemy,then it defeats the purpose of waking them up.
I have stated that I have left things in Gods hands (a statement they shove in your face often) and am waiting on him to show to me I am wrong ". "What does it take for god to show one who has given all his/her life to him that he cares and I am wrong ,guide me to the right way of thinking". They should be able to see that you are wanting to stick with the truth but if the truth itself is not delivering itself to be the truth you are left with no choice.
There is no identical situations in life mate so you have to think of ways to gently nudge them without losing patience.
I am sure there is partiallity, elders family being treated differently and the R n F treated differently specially when it comes to going up the ladder or when one takes a misstep. Align it with the bibles standards and bingo you have something to discuss.
Another point maybe the number of anointed one s left on the earth.It has gone from 8800 to over 20000.This just does not make sense to me ever. If you do research through the yearbooks you will notice how it has increased instaed of diminishing .
Generation change another point in itself.Tread carefully as on egg shells and it will work if given time.
Hope this helps.
Zing
the basic virtue for a human being is to be true to yourself – the integrity of thought, emotion, and action.. .
ten years ago ( after 32 years as a jehovah's witness), i finally decided that my own mental sanity and being true to myself was more important than attending congregation meetings and serving the watchtower society.
i stopped (years before) field service, the ministry school, answering at the watchtower studies, missed numerous meetings and walked in minutes before the meetings started and left after the closing prayer, i knew it was time to leave.
@Sickandtired
It was not easy.It was a real challenge, uphill struggle, not without tears ofcourse.
At first I would always gently nudge my partner witha question as if I could not understand why /why not kind a question. If found something discussed at the meeting , I would come home and speak about it and say it just semms weird, strange or quite the opposite of what I believe the bible says or maybe I am getting it wrong. Always questioning gently, never challenging even if the answer given was weirder/ not sounding right . I would leave it at that, I would never keep on discussing till my partner saw things my way. I honestly believe that one can only take a horse to a water source but one cannot make the horse drink it! Therefore never argued on the answers I got. Just raised doubts and left it.
For eg when I first heard about the CA cases, i researched everywhere to find ttatt of it all but did not go out and share the whole lawsuits and all court documents with my partner.The reason I did this is coz When I learned about these things I was scared shitless, thinking about apostates, satan leading me away from truth and had panic attacks,felt suffocated n all. So it took me a lot of courage to continue my research and see the TTATT. I feel my partner would be feeling all this too when faced with the same things about jdumbs so I took it gently, slowly, patiently.
So I also read about a lawsuit from a local congregation in the papers. I, in passing mentioned the news with my partner and said how can the elders ignore such a criminal amongst us and let him roam freely; how could a paedophile hold an elders position? and left it at that. I did not think my partner would dwell too much on it.
Fast forward 3 weeks , both of us were out having coffee with an elder after the min, when I was out of earshot the elder mentioned this case to my partner and shared his concerns.My partner then mentioned that yes it had been brought to my partners attention and it is a shame if it is true..bringing dishonor to gods name and all that. At this the leder mentioned that it is true and he is following the case (as a lawyer).
When we got home my partner (now that he had double confirmation of the news) started discussing about it. I was glad to discuss it but only about this specific case.I did not overload my partner with the lawsuits all over the world.This will definitely suffocate and make my partner close the doors on the subject. I wanted to leave it on my partners terms.
After some time when I hear of another news item about another lawsuit, I would just share it, and leave it at that. Never try to disclose all there is to disclose.I think this easy, gentle way has helped a lot instead of bombarding with all there is to know about TTATT and drowning my partner. I have had to have self-control for this.
Many times I could see my partner getting upset when I share/ question something.As soon as I notice this vibe I would move away from the topic coz that is a sure sign of trying to close doors and cult-mind clocking in.
2. example .When I realized the money grab, bethel invites for people in our congregation despite others being made redundant in the past for silly excuses. We also have been through this.(mind you both of us have done regular pioneering , special pioneering, translation work, were in bethel, been in need greater too, so we have seen much). At the meetings whenever they said that we have a letter to read to all in the congregation. I would nudge my partner and say "no doubt asking for more money". When almost everytime this is exactly what happened through the letter, my partener started to realise and see things differently a little. As time went on , I shared about KH sales..in time just added in drips and drabs .Never argued to prove a point, always questioning or leave with a statement hanging in the air.
It has worked and now we are out. For me this awaking others is never about proving the jdumbs wrong but about helping people see TTATT, what they do with the info is their look out and decision.
Sorry it has been so long a post
I can write a lot of things which will be very long.
But all I can say is wait your turn, give people the time for things to register, let them think for themselves and never conclude for them or get confrontational.They have to come to their conclusions on their terms, in their own time.
If you like I have posted many other points in my comments, just go through them as well, it may help.
So far I have helped at least 15 people awake and fade successfully. This is the method I use. I have shared experiences and such things in my posts. If you feel inclined do read them.
My very best wishes to you and yours.
Zing
the basic virtue for a human being is to be true to yourself – the integrity of thought, emotion, and action.. .
ten years ago ( after 32 years as a jehovah's witness), i finally decided that my own mental sanity and being true to myself was more important than attending congregation meetings and serving the watchtower society.
i stopped (years before) field service, the ministry school, answering at the watchtower studies, missed numerous meetings and walked in minutes before the meetings started and left after the closing prayer, i knew it was time to leave.
@Sickandtired, just sent you a PM
Zing
the basic virtue for a human being is to be true to yourself – the integrity of thought, emotion, and action.. .
ten years ago ( after 32 years as a jehovah's witness), i finally decided that my own mental sanity and being true to myself was more important than attending congregation meetings and serving the watchtower society.
i stopped (years before) field service, the ministry school, answering at the watchtower studies, missed numerous meetings and walked in minutes before the meetings started and left after the closing prayer, i knew it was time to leave.
I stayed in for a couple or more years coz love my partner more than anyone, anything else in this world. refuse to break from my partner for anyone, anything, come what may! So Waited / bided my time to wake up my partner and leave together; if not I was willing to forgo freedom for beign with my partner without saying a word. Fortunately for me I have managed to wake my partner up and yippeeee we are both out for good.
So to answer the question when was it time to walk away from the meetings?...when my partner was also ready to walk away from it all!
Life is so good !
Zing
at one assembly(tm), i was asked to relate an 'experience(tm)' which i did.
however, during rehearsals, the geezer in charge elder or co or some such title, told me that i shouldn't tell it the way it was.
i did a 're-enactment(tm)' with another 'brother(tm)'.
Reading about all of your experiences in this regard makes me feel o much better now.I really mean it.
A couple or more times when I was a regular pioneer and a special pioneer (I used to get lots of parts in almost all the assemblies, not bragging just saying).two or more times this happened when the interview was supposedly arranged by the CO . He heard all my answers n experiences on the first take as normal. Then when we went through it a second time he started making suggestions to some extent I agreed coz it flowed better, but then third time round he started making outright fabrications/embroidering the experience.Once through with it, I said mate I am no longer comfy with the product now coz it is not true to what really happend so refused to make the fabrications. He was not happy, got the PO and had another chat with me to go ahead with the said fabricated result.I could not in all honesty do it so I said I cant do it , my conscience does not allow me to ,please find someone else and walked away.
I have had to do this three times at 3 different occasions.Then on no one approached me to make changes, or no parts at all. But thye could not stay away coz I did work hard and had some damn good experiences in my jdumb life!
Used to think before I read this post, that I am a very proud and head strong person not willing to listen and change the experience.But after reading this post I feel vindicated for doing the right thing and having a clear conscience.
By the way I do have my experiences endorsed into the yearbooks too by the Co.
Did it my way!
Zing
plans for december:.
a few friends and i have planned a full month of kindness , giving and sharing experiences for us to help those who may need it.. the first weekend of dec we are all going to be taking some elderly ones who are on their own, cant get out and about for christmas shopping.they are alone (except friends, no family who cares to be there for them at all) , so we thought we can take them shopping for gifts and stuff, it will help them get out too for a day or two.. second weekend will be spent with wrapping gifts ,writing cards, letters for these elderly ones and taking them out for an event which they chose to go to.
third weekend we and these elderly ones are all sharing in making different dishes ,soups,muffins, cakes etc and taking them round to the homeless shelters and giving it out to people there (volunteering there afterwards too ,they need all the help they can).. fourth weekend us friends are going with gifts to three different shelters for the homeless and donating it there plus volunteering in a soup kitchen.. fifth weekend us friends have arranged for all these elderly ones to a weekend of chilling , fun activities for them ,food n drinks n all.. just doing this so those who havent got anybody can also feel the warmth, kindness people have and so that thye do not feel left out and depressed.. so looking for ward to a busy and happy giving december for my friends and me.. can you think of anything else that can be added to these above mentioned activities?.
Plans for December:
A few friends and I have planned a full month of Kindness , giving and sharing experiences for us to help those who may need it.
The first weekend of dec we are all going to be taking some elderly ones who are on their own, cant get out and about for christmas shopping.They are alone (except friends, no family who cares to be there for them at all) , so we thought we can take them shopping for gifts and stuff, it will help them get out too for a day or two.
Second weekend will be spent with wrapping gifts ,writing cards, letters for these elderly ones and taking them out for an event which they chose to go to.
third weekend we and these elderly ones are all sharing in making different dishes ,soups,muffins, cakes etc and taking them round to the homeless shelters and giving it out to people there (volunteering there afterwards too ,they need all the help they can).
Fourth weekend us friends are going with gifts to three different shelters for the homeless and donating it there plus volunteering in a soup kitchen.
Fifth weekend us friends have arranged for all these elderly ones to a weekend of chilling , fun activities for them ,food n drinks n all.
Just doing this so those who havent got anybody can also feel the warmth, kindness people have and so that thye do not feel left out and depressed.
So looking for ward to a busy and happy giving december for my friends and me.
Can you think of anything else that can be added to these above mentioned activities?
What are your plans ?
Zing
i literally had dozens of suits.
i still have more dress clothes than anyone i know.
i did give some suits and clothing away and to be honest, i still like wearing a nice suit.. brothers and sisters, are all your “ meeting clothes” still in your closet?
I gave mine away to people who were in need of clothes shoes etc, the homeless and any who might benefit from good clothes.
Whenever I walk to anywhere, I am always looking for ways to help (privately,voluntarily) on how to improve/help the area/homeless or just about anybody who I think could do with a helping hand.
Say for eg today I went grocery shopping into a particular shop which had sent me some money off vouchers and it was not huge spending required either (I do not ever fall for that).Just get my normal food and other items and you get money off of the total. So I went and bought what I needed and used the vouchers too.Yet (as I mentioned I wont spend just to get money off of items). So I just went around the shop looking for a disabled person, a pregnat lady or one with a baby, or someone witha disability etc to hand out the voucher to so they get a helping hand . I found an older person with a crutch hobbling so I asked him if his shopping came upto so-and-so,then he may be able to save some money with the vouchers.He was so happy, n grateful for it. (he later when I helped him with his groceries to his car mentioned coz of the voucher he was able to add a couple more needy items into his basket) That was all I needed to hear that the vouchers hepled him really.
So this is why I know where some homeless people are wandering, perhaps live even and just gave my stuff away to them.
One never can tell what os really going on in peoples lives so a kind gesture is Really Being A True Human imho.
Zing
all of the local congregations are going to use hourglass app for publishers to report their time.
i’m not sure if this meets privacy laws in our province.
.
Even approved, witnessing is a joke. 8 jws sitting on a park bench.2,4 or more hours a day. And WhammO , 20-30 hours a day,,3-6 days a week, you have 10hours each 8x . You get 80+ hours a week just on a single bench. Hour Glass or not
This is what I call AN HOUR GLASS FIGURE(if you get the pun)
Zing
i was recently informed that the new jw bible was reviewed by some academic type person who rated it as one of the best translations available.. has anyone heard of this person and if so what is his reasoning for giving it such a compliment?.
BeDuhn is a religious studies professor at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. In his book he discusses a number of translations, but he seems to spend an exceptional amount of time defending the NWT against its critics.
How much did wbts pay him for his views, I would like to know? They have done this sort of thing to get awards so why not for a good defence for their so called sword!!
Zing