Posts by hillfy333

29

CHILD MOLESTATION: How have they been able to hide it for so long?

by Zoos in

i was in the organization until 2011. .

i n-e-v-e-r heard of this problem.

not even a whisper.

hillfy333

The Watchtower is an organization of in house secret keeping. I was always told when in, that the brothers on the judicial committee were under holy spirit direction. So when they say someone is unrepentant, this finding is in agreement with the judgement in heaven. Once the announcement is made, the decision is God approved and final, so no one was to question the decision. This also applied to those who were found repentant, regardless of what they may have done. If one started quietly questioning their findings, the elders would remind one their decision is final, and if one continued to spread one's own personal thoughts, it would be considered slander.

If one persisted in gossiping, then disfellowshipping was on the cards. This is how the circle of silence was maintained.

37

What is the longest distance you drove to attend a summer Convention?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

here is a photo of the milwaukee brewers ( american baseball team) county stadium.

for some reason, we were assigned this outdoor stadium for our 1975 four-day summer convention.

our congregation was located 90 miles away on the north side of chicago.. some congregation members stayed at milwaukee hotels for the four-day convention.

hillfy333

I live in Western Australia. In 1973 we had an international convention in Sydney Australia. The journey was around 4500 Kilometers. On one of the days, i think it was a saturday, we had a bomb scare during the afternoon session, and were asked to vacate our seats without panic until the bomb scare was cleared of danger. It turned out to be a false alarm. Once the convention was over, we again travelled over four thousand kms back home.

60

Marc & Cora on YouTube causing unnecessary divisions

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

what is it with this pair?

why do they have to constantly have a bitch about guys like john cedars?

a very recent video of them shows them calling him a 'village idiot' and making other disparaging claims.

hillfy333

It is sad to see the squabbles taking place. I also feel Cedars argument is sound. We all know how much the borg is going to milk this situation. This will galvanise the witnesses, make them that much more determined to support the brotherhood. Through this ban attention will be diverted from legitimate concerns like child abuse, blood ban, and shunning. There is no doubt that many are victims of the watchtower, but handing the watchtower a circumstance where independent support for them through the Russian ban, will be counterproductive. And also under ban the witnesses will continue their abuse of children, refuse blood transfusions, and will still shun. The only solution i see is state run education programs, providing factual information about how weird the witnesses are. The ban will only fortify them.

31

Why JW's Rave So Much About Conventions

by freemindfade in

"it was so beautiful, we are truly blessed!

now, they also plaster these affirmations all over social media, "this is the best life", “so blessed”, “best convention”.. why the gushing?

have you ever heard anyone say, “mmmm it was ok”?

hillfy333

They are told constantly not to despise Jehovah's spiritual table. Each witness is hanging out for his next spiritual fix. Like a drug dependent junky, the witness just can't wait for the next convention, where puerile indoctrination reassures the down trodden Jdub to greater heights in his spiritually captivated habitat. No wonder each assembly is the greatest, what else can they strive for in their cloistered bubble of reality.

26

why would God and Jesus hate the united nations?

by nowwhat? in

shouldn't they say thanks for" holding down the fort" until we take over?.

hillfy333

Actually it's because God is so jealous, he doesn't want anyone else to get the praise, pretty childish me thinks.

9

The battle lines are being drawn

by hillfy333 in

with the new rc conventions making their rounds, much has been leaked in regards to their loyalty videos.

disturbing is the ramping up of hatred and shunning towards those who have faded, especially if such ones according to the watchtower are living in sin, but have not been found guilty as yet by the judicial process.

certainly of the criteria of guilt, is talking against the gb, which i personally come under.

hillfy333

I think it was Steven Hassan who said that boredom allows a hypnotic type of indoctrination to work. I personally feel that is why the organization does not allow to much interaction, it has proven to work with millions in the witness movement.

9

The battle lines are being drawn

by hillfy333 in

with the new rc conventions making their rounds, much has been leaked in regards to their loyalty videos.

disturbing is the ramping up of hatred and shunning towards those who have faded, especially if such ones according to the watchtower are living in sin, but have not been found guilty as yet by the judicial process.

certainly of the criteria of guilt, is talking against the gb, which i personally come under.

hillfy333

With the new RC conventions making their rounds, much has been leaked in regards to their loyalty videos. Disturbing is the ramping up of hatred and shunning towards those who have faded, especially if such ones according to the Watchtower are living in sin, but have not been found guilty as yet by the judicial process. Certainly of the criteria of guilt, is talking against the GB, which i personally come under. This morning i had a heated discussion with my wife over the ramifications of these conventions. At present my wife's parents are still talking with us, her dad an elder, her mum a staunch long time witness. i highlighted things could chance once the loyalty aspect of the convention finally hits home. I'm passionate about the Watchtower losing it's tax free status, and regulations restricting their proselytizing, so less people are adversely affected by their archaic belief system. My wife can't understand why i get so emotional about Watchtower stuff, since i parted ways with them in 2008. However i still feel for people who are mind manipulated and abused by this wicked religion. My thoughts possibly coming out of left field but could they (a) be simply so deluded, they are unaware of the backlash this assembly will cause, or (b) the GB is deliberately trying to goad the government or police authorities to start persecuting them, in a made up attempt at getting God to step in and save them. I'm sure there are many more options, just curious what you guys out there think about these current events?

45

Lets hear what your local needs was about this week

by dbq407 in

ours started out with matt.

25:23. he brought out that "good and faithful slave" was talking about the anointed but wait for it.........yes the principle can be applied to our cong.

well tonight it was about getting all the territories worked once a year.

hillfy333

To my knowledge she has never started a bible study this way. Why are preaching methods that are clearly ineffective still being encouraged? Personally i don't think conversion is the priority. I think the witness mind is obsessed with spreading the seed, and God will take care of the rest. So whether they are effective or not, the most important thing is to get the message out there. Sadly for them their message is false.

28

So who attended the memorial and why?

by atomant in

this should be interesting.

hillfy333

No i did not attend, this is the fifth time i have missed in a row. So glad i stood my ground as my still in wife, though inactive, also stayed home for the first time.

4

Intro final

by hillfy333 in

intro final.

my journey from being a born in witness to an agnostic was now complete.

in my humble opinion, based on research done by ehrman and others, it left me feeling satisfied with the thought that belief in the unerring word of god was founded on shaky ground.

hillfy333

Intro final

My journey from being a born in witness to an agnostic was now complete. In my humble opinion, based on research done by Ehrman and others, it left me feeling satisfied with the thought that belief in the unerring word of God was founded on shaky ground. If we don’t have the original manuscripts, and only possess copies of copies, how could i possibly place full confidence in what our current manuscripts say about Jesus and the early Christians?

So much doctrine has been formulated over words and phrases in the bible, which may or may not have originally existed in the first draft. How much extrapolation occurred decade after decade, generation after generation, as each new batch of Christian convert, read and reread the bible, adding their own understanding, to shape future converts. If we can’t see the original words, then why ascribe divine inspiration on copies of copies, which have already demonstrated under scrutiny having multiple differences from each other.

So as of this writing i find myself in the camp of the agnostic. Is there a God? I simply do not know, but I’m okay with that, I’ve arrived at a point in my life where i do not need all my answers answered.

Since moving to our new home, I’ve had two elders individually call on me several times. One elder is half awake to ttatt, the other a fully indoctrinated follower, who when asked by me whether he thought this is the same organization he and i grew up in? He replied candidly yes. As far as he was concerned it is all about the kingdom, all the changes were just simply window dressing. The other elder is fully aware of the many inconstancies in the organization , he even watched all the ARC hearings, and was dismayed with the proceedings. However he feels the jdubs are the best of a bad bunch, and that some time in the near future Jesus will step in and correct the organization.

I’ve made it clear to both elders i have grave doubts about the bible being infallibly God’s word. I have also made it clear i will not be going back to any meetings. I made it clear i don’t want to associate with the organization, but I’m not disassociating myself either. So far so good.

My wife remains a witness for her family’s sake, but she has not been to a meeting for around eight months now. Gladly she is not showing any signs of missing the meetings or the fellowship. I’m now in the autumn of my life. Many years have been wasted on a false belief, and many decisions regretted because of it. As so many witnesses before me, i have not fully prepared for my retirement, which is only a few years away. But I’ve implemented strategies to at least partially alleviate my retirement concerns. I have wished many times that i had been born to normal parents, with clear objectives about future preparedness, instead of leaving everything in Jehovah’s hands. Thanks for taking the time to read my journey, may all of us continue to deprogram and learn to love ourselves and the precious life we have in common, freed from the cult of fear and repression.