Posts by Thirdson

51

for those who "grew up in the borg"

by zev in

jw
friends

at this late, middle stage of my life, i've started wondering, now that i know what i know, about the things in my life that i "lived" with.

having been raised all my life in the "borg" i have known nothing else.

when questions began forming years ago, it started me thinking.

Thirdson

Hi Zev,

I haven't been out anywhere near as long as our friend Farkel but, although it's hard, I do admit to my former Dubhood. I don't like to volunteer just how involved I was but I have confessed to my friends and several co-workers. At dinner with 7 others in late 1999 the subject of millenium came up and someone remarked on JW's and their prophecies. My fiancée gave me a knowing look and I confessed to all present that I was raised as a JW and that I could provide "inside" information. My law-student friend apologized for any offense but I replied that I wasn't offended in the least and quite welcome the chance to discuss JW beliefs and practices without being a threat to anyone. We had an interesting conversation about the Millerite movement and the various groups that sprang from that era.

Since my friends and my wife's friends know of my background many chances have arisen to provide some information that might be helpful. Since some of our friends are school teachers I have provided some information about holidays and how to get around some difficulties without upsetting JW parents. I doubt very much if any of our friends or relatives would ever want to join JW's.

As for the long term effects of being raised a JW I guess there are some lurking in the background. Some things are good. I hate racism and bigotry. I choose to extend those values to disliking discrimination of gender and sexual orientation. I don't like really foul language and choose not to use certain words. I find that the working environment of the Mid-West is nothing like the English factory environments I worked in as a young production engineer. I don't smoke and I wouldn't let anyone smoke in my house or car but I don't care if people smoke elsewhere, and I won't shun them after knowing them for 6 months. I teach my son my values including not to smoke or use drugs. I think those are good things. However, I think marijuana should be lagalized and controled like tobacco.

I don't think the values I live by, or my views cause much ridicule and I am not embarrassed to express them. It is nowhere near as bad as being a JW and having to explain Christmas, birthdays, Valentine's day, not wearing a poppy, not voting, not accepting a blood transfusion to save my life, why I knock doors etc etc etc. Being fairly normal is a lot easier and nicer.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

4

The Watchtower Apologists rule!

by ozziepost in

jw
friends

been away from the board for a bit, and was shocked to see that two familiar members of our 'family' have made the most number of posts in the past 7 days.. we all realise that you know and fred hall are particularly disposed to defending the borg 'at all costs', in all weathers, and resort, at times, to derogatory remarks, and even worse, when they have no reasonable argument with which to defend the watchtower.. but what does it mean when these two radical members of this happy place are having the most to 'say'?.

are they getting desparate?.

btw you know and fredhall, we pretty much know what your response would be!

Thirdson

Hi Ozzie,

I noticed the stats yesterday and thought that the two most frequent posters of the week shouldn't even be posting in a place like this. If the local elders found out they were even viewing these pages they'd be up before a JC.

I guess it shows where these people find their best friends, like to spend their most time and shows their real loyalty is to the good people in this community not the "society".

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

23

Question for any elder/recent ex-elder

by OrangeBlossom in

jw
friends

the elders keep dropping by every couple of saturday's after bookstudy to check on us and try to encourage us back to meetings.

it has worked out that my husband has been gone when they visit so they keep coming back hoping to catch him sometime.

anyway, i told my hubby that we should at least go to the meetings once a week to keep them off our trail, which i went this past thursday night and wouldn't you know it the one elder approached me and mentioned that they still want to sit down with us and go over an article on meeting attendance.

Thirdson

You have a couple of choices but if you want to leave stop attending meetings altogether. It's not going to help by continually going back and reminding them that you exist.

One thing you should not do is express any doubts about the "society" if you do talk to the elders. Make excuses about being, ill, busy, fatigued, depressed etc. You could humor the elders when they come, by inviting them in, listening to their proddings and making a commitment to try harder. Then just don't attend. If they feel they are wasting their time and you are no threat they will leave you alone. Alternatively, you can be "out" every Saturday by design or simply staying quiet.

Often, around the time of the CO's visit elders make a concerted effort to contact the irregular and inactive just to be able to face the questions the CO will ask about the congregation's spiritual health. After the CO's visit is over they'll go back to the normal routine of forgetting all about you.

My thoughts anyway,

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

10

door-to-door records

by philo in

jw
friends

i'm trying to get a picture of how d-d records are used.

particularly, with regard to household security, are 'persistent nhs' kept in the maps in your area?.

i used to file the cong maps, and we kept old d-d records back to target these persistents at unusual times.

Thirdson

Most record keeping I observed was very lax. After NH's were collected they were reassigned at the next FS meeting. After 1 or 2 attempts of reworking them they tended to get lost or discarded. Every few months I would trash a load left in my book-bag or NH folder. No record keeping of persistent NH's were kept. However, the whole cong's territory was covered every 6 to 8 weeks anyway which is why NH's could only be attempted a few times because we'd be back round again within days.

Just one other point and Qwerty or other UK based poster sill associated mght be able to answer. In the European Union there were sweeping changes made in Data protection acts. I think JW's no longer use "official" forms for recording NH's or placements etc. (The S8 is dead). It is all done privately on plain paper. There can't be systematic record keeping. Am I right?

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

22

Would like to make new friends all over again

by CathyM38 in

jw
friends

hi, i'm cathy.

am new to the site; some of you know me by now.

i have been dfd since 1997 and without many friends since then and felt quite lost as im sure many of you know the feeling.

Thirdson

Hi Cathy,

Welcome to our "world" (the real one). This is a great way to meet good people and find others with a shared experience.

I used to be a 38 year old, divorcee with a 10 year old son. I met some one who was working in the same office building as me and we dated for 2 years. I think she is wonderful. Not only did she become a step-mom but was prepared to share her life with an ex-cult member and all my baggage.

Last September we were married. Depite the changes, the loss of some family relationships: Life is wonderful now!

I hope things work out well for you and we are glad to have you here.

Best wishes,

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

11

Can "The Truth" Lie?

by ros in

jw
friends

perhaps it is a matter of how one defines the words "truth" and "lie".

the watchtower society certainly permits their flock to hold some unique definitions of common words the rest of us take for granted.

for example, consider what we know to be jehovah's witnesses' general understanding of a few terms which might be defined thus:.

Thirdson

Hi Ros,

Welcome to this board. Your thoughts are very beneficial to us here. Finding out that "the thruth" was a lie was the big shock to me. I knew there were issues and problems within the members of the org and seen the deceipt practiced by the WTS and individual elders but for a long time I was too involved and too conditioned not to see the obvious. The exlosion of information that became available on the Internet, the history of lies, lies by leaders on trial, lies about letters to Hitler, lies about 1914, lies about blood, lies in mis-quoting people, lies in child-custody cases, lies to the European Court and lies in letters to congregations killed "the Truth" for me.

I strongly objected to the term "the Truth" when my dad asked if I had left it and that is what prompted me to tell all.

How can you leave truth? I only left the lies.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

17

1961 WT on Blood and today's "light"

by qwerty in

jw
friends

we've all been given the new advanced health "care" directive at our book groups.

talk about feeling pressured into a situation.

we have to take forms home, read them, tick what medical care info our consciense will allow if we are in a life or death situation.

Thirdson

Thanks Qwerty,

I am still considering posting the reply I received from the UK WTS Hospital Information Service. Suffice to say I asked some questions regarding the clarification of JW teachings on blood since Paul Wade (HIS head) had posted on the BMJ board.

The reply was typical. My questions about justifying the huge amount of blood allowable as minor components (fractions) were not addressed. The reply consisted of a quote from the US Supremem court and one from the Royal College of surgeons about the understood beliefs of individual JW's.

I did think that the lack of a response spoke volumes about my questions though.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

76

I attended the meeting tonight.....

by silentlambs in

i went to the meeting tonight to check out things in the local congregation.

this spiritual paradise is showing a few cracks.

when i arrived about ten minutes before the meeting started, i felt like a ghost.

Thirdson

Just adding my support for SL and bringing this back to the top for others and esp the lurkers to view.

I wouldn't have the guts to endure what you are doing SL. If it wasn't for you where would the reports of the hypocritical behaviour of the WTS come from?

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

22

who are the governing body?

by robin33126 in

jw
friends

jehovah witness when mentioning "governing body" they say it like if they knew who these people are.

i asked one jw to mentioned their names and couldn't answer me.

so what is so special if they don't know the names, lives, background, of these people?

Thirdson

Who are the GB? Aren't they a soon to be extinct group. Already stripped of any real power they sit around waiting for their call home. After they have gone the WTS and JW's in turn will be governed by one of the Watchtower corporations run by a board of directors and a president. Which corporation will be top dog?

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

23

The JDubs and Amway--a match made in hell......

by LDH in

jw
friends

there are many perceptive posters here who have picked up on the mlm amway/jdub connection.. however, there are some who are not familiar with what we are talking about.

i thought for them it would be nice to list some similarities between the two organizations.. btw, amway has a new line of business, they're calling it quixtar.

so if you get approached for this, be aware it's just amway.

Thirdson

Why is Amway linked to cult religions? I came across a web site some time ago entitled "My life with Eckankar and Amway".

I did a search on those two words and got 404 hits. This one is interesting as it lists JW's, Eckankar, Amway and Larouche amongst its cult topics...Larouche is You Knows favorite prophet and facist.

I posted the link earlier but when I checked out the links many were out of date, broken/no longer hosted. It was interesting who was on the list though.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'