Posts by TMS

16

After Reinstatement

by truthlover in

jw
friends

can any current elders, ms, etc.

tell me if restrictions are given when a person is re instated since 2005??

i ask this as i am reading the requirements for re instatement -- it says a person has to prove they want to be reinstated and have to attend meetings for a year or more before the elders would even accept the letter request for re instatement..... .

TMS

The monitoring of the restrictions and their gradual removal is one of the most uneven aspects of the JW "judicial" system. If someone moving after DFing seeks reinstatement, his or her new congregation forms a committee to monitor repentence, conduct hearings. If the original DFing congregation is close enough they may choose to conduct a reinstatement hearing. The new congregation can only recommend reinstatement. The final decision rests with the original congregation. Restrictions and their removal are always at the discretion of the current congregation since they see the person day to day.

Some committees quickly discharge all restrictions. Others wait till asked. Some drag things out, insisting on perfection.

One of my saddest moments as a so-called elder occurred in the mid-80's. I was encouraging a young married sister to auxiliary pioneer. She said: "I can't." I asked why. She said: "You know why." An indescretion in the early 70's with her then boyfriend had caused a judicial committee to be formed. No one, including me had ever informed her of her restrictions being removed. She had been feeling that weight for over a decade.

tms

16

What to write in my niece's (JW) wedding card

by voodoo lady in

jw
friends

my very militant jw niece is marrying a jw boy who i know little about, though i presume he must have priveleges or be a pioneer for her to have dated him in the first place.

though i feel so sad at the reality she's about to face - marrying a man she barely knows who she's probably never spent time alone with - i would still like to celebrate her love, or at least these exciting new feelings that she's experiencing that she believes to be love.

(and for all i know may certainly be love).. .

TMS

Make her reflect on how gracious and thoughtful people can be even when they aren't "serving Jehovah."

tms

15

Who really are JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES......really.....?

by Terry in

jehovah's witnesses don't expect to convert the world.

they expect to educate the world about jehovah's kingdom and his christ.. before: nobody knows about it.. after: everybody knows about it.. how would you measure what people "know"?.

how well informed is the average citizen in 2010 vs 1879, for example?.

TMS

Well expressed, Terry.

Jehovah's Witnesses seldom do as the TMS Guidebook suggests: Maintain common ground. As you suggested in another thread, their modus operandi is to dismantle another's beliefs. Of course, that almost NEVER works.

Imagine a householder graciously inviting a witness into their home and saying "I've always wondered what you people actually believe. I have a half hour. Please tell me your basic message, your core beliefs." The average JW would not have a coherent, polished, well-reasoned approach. It would not be as easy as reaching for the current "Awake!" on "What Is Happening to Our Coral Reefs?" or falling back into the current KM suggested Topic for Conversation. It would not be an epic moment like Stephen's testimony or Paul's before the Antioch synagogue, the Areopogus or Gallio.

As you think back on it, we were poorly trained for the work we attempted to do. Most of what we learned or practiced in meetings was impractical, unworkable. A typical meeting for service involved trying to harmonize a scripture text with a nearly irrelevant "Watchtower" paragraph, then assigning cargroups with careful allowance for cliques, feuds, breakers and non-breakers, the in and the out crowds, etc. In the field JW's were simply an early morning annoyance at the door, a lingering mid-morning annoyance at McDonald's, breathing a collective sigh of relief as the clock neared the noon hour. An impotent educational work to say the least.

tms

37

Finish the job the Jehovah's Witnesses started on you!

by Terry in

jw
friends

what jehovah's witnesses get right is that the basis for christianity rests on scripture and the bible itself.. but, they only go just so far.

they stop at making you suspicious of bad things which have crept in to the bible through centuries of corruption.. the jw's unpack and deconstruct christianity j-u-s-t e-n-o-u-g-h for you to see the rats and spiders and cockroaches.

they quickly squeeze it all back together again repackaged.

TMS

Terry,

None of us have totally detoxified including you. Even if we feel purged of JW teaching, we hold on to JW style, JW methodology. We may still even want to share "truth" with others. Do you ever wake up at night Terry and find yourself fighting the fine fight, reliving your entire JW life, saying things you wished you had said and being victimized all over again? You want to control that dream Terry like John Wayne controlled a movie script, but your subconscious version of reality isn't all that flattering either.

I'm still waiting for someone to answer the words some writer put into the mouth of Pontius Pilate: "What is truth?"

tms

11

I`m talking to a group about JW`s I need your input ? please rerspond!!

by smiddy in

hi, guys,.

i`m a member of u3a in our local regional community,in a discussion group with approximately 16 members and have been asked to give my experiences to being a jehovah`s witness for 33 yrs and now classifying myself as an agnostic leaning towards atheism.i do of course have some idea how to proceed with this project,however your input would be greatly appreciated.i have 45 mins to present my case, then questions from others present would follow.i feel this would be a great advantage to show what the wtb&ts is all about,without coming across as a disgruntled,dissolutioned,bitter person with an axe to grind.which i am not.however i would like to present this "expose" if you like in a professional manner .this is to take place on the 26th of may.. now i`m not going to be all doom and gloom about the wtb&ts i will be highlighting some of their acheivements,the biggest single publishing organization,distributing millions of literature wordwide in numbers of languages that exceeds readers digest.at one time they had 4 publications in the guiness book of records in the top 10 most widely distributed publications available.and also in the early years they were the fore runners of religous freedoms.. so please feel free to contribute some information that will help some poor soul for falling victim to this insidious organization smiddy.

TMS

Ok, my turn. You can't tell the whole story in 45 minutes.

1. I would briefly describe Pastor Russell's early fascination with "end time" prophecies and his close collaboration with the Adventists. (Please google or search this forum for Prominent Bethelite's list of all of the failed Watchtower predictions.)

2. Describe what it was like growing up as one of Jehovah's Witnesses: no holiday celebrations, no sports or extra-curricular activities, totally stifled ambition, no college, etc. Encourage your audience to sympathize with young JW's who are stifled, suppressed and held back by similar controls to this day.

3. Talk about the effect shunning has on families and teenage JW's who succumb to the "desires of youth." Emphasize the tremendous psychological effects: families torn apart, young people stripped of self-worth and familial love, family members who die as strangers.

4. Touch on the no blood policy. Show how it contradicts the so-called "sanctity of life" JW belief. Touch on the thousands who have died because of contradictory and confusing blood policy.

5. Lastly. Talk about your own wasted years, lost opportunities, estrangement from your extended non-JW family. . . .all due to your mindless adherence to Watchtower doctrines and policies.

6. Open the forum to questions. . . . . .

tms

15

What are the percentage of reinstated JWs that really repented for their sins or fake their repentance?

by asilentone in

TMS

Elders cannot guage repentence. They simply look at the superficial: meeting attendance, submissive countenance, facial expression, the "correct" answers during a reinstatement hearing. Sometimes elders have personal issues that will cause them to extend the time a person is out. Some anal elders will make the reinstated grovel for the least "privileges" once reinstated. It's a total power trip.

tms

41

How Many 18-35 year old JW's have Exited the Cult in Your Family ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

just wanted to start this to get a pulse on how many young jw's are exiting percentage wise recently in the witness organization.

in my family i have 8 young people aged 21 through 35 .

these are my son and two daughters and my older siblings 5 adult children.

TMS

ok, the next generation for my wife and I:

Once active nieces, nephews ranging in age from 20 to 47=16

Still active nieces, nephews=2, both disfellowshipped, now reinstated.

One 38 year old son once active, now out.

Our family total=15 out, 2 in.

tms

44

Not Getting Over It! Ex-JWs Face Residual Psychological, Physical Damage

by TMS in

jw
friends

this is not an essay or "my story".

these are just a few personal observations from someone who lived, breathed and.

slept the jw religion for over 50 years.

TMS

dgp,

Thank you for the kind words. Please don't think we're not having some happiness. My point was that we ex-JWs carry considerable baggage, post-traumatic syndrome, regrets. . . . all for living the "non-life" of those who choose or are persuaded to exchange control of their current physical life for the promise of a lieing fairy tale. The members of this board are among the few who understand.

tms

44

Not Getting Over It! Ex-JWs Face Residual Psychological, Physical Damage

by TMS in

jw
friends

this is not an essay or "my story".

these are just a few personal observations from someone who lived, breathed and.

slept the jw religion for over 50 years.

TMS

This is not an essay or "my story". These are just a few personal observations from someone who lived, breathed and
slept the JW religion for over 50 years. Leaving the JW religion is not like leaving town, quitting a job or getting a
divorce, all stressful situations in their own right.

Leaving the JW religion of your own volition is a rejection of your core values, a destabilization of your psychological
foundation. If your departure is the result of injustice or oppression from the organization itself, it's not just a matter
of rethinking things. You have to erase the blackboard of your life.

Let me compress my so-called story into a concise mass with atom touching atom: We were/are a family of three with our son
df'd in 1993. Instinctively, I asked my son to move back with us. The day after his announcement of df-ing, my wife visited each
each committee member at home or job, basically saying: "I will not break contact with my son. DF me, if you must." We both
fell from the top of the theocratic ladder to the bottom in a heartbeat.

That was 17 years ago.

In the first year, my wife and I experienced health issues. My wife lost the sight of one eye to glaucoma and I almost totally
lost energy to hypothyroid. In 18 months we aged like two-term presidents.

My wife and I would be interesting studies for mental health professionals although neither of us believe in talk or
chemical therapy.

Wife: ANGRY. . . .angry at the subordinate, submissive role she was forced into for decades, angry that she/we didn't
give our son the best shot at happiness because of the suppressed life of our belief system, angry that the man she married
42 years ago couldn't smell cult, angry at the loss of the family she could have had if not so cult-oriented.

me: I relive my life in my dreams. I angrily react to all of the situations i experienced in JWdom. I relive my entry
level job of 30 years. My anger is for things I didn't say, thing's I didn't do. In daytime hours my mind constantly
wanders to living my life over again with what I know now. The irony? I allowed JW's to steal my youth and, in a sense
steal my last years.

I know. . . . "Get over it!"

tms

15

Two Church Services Set In Arkansas~Which Would You Attend?

by TMS in

jw
friends

cowboy church sets anniversarythe bar none cowboy church second anniversary and dedication of its new facility is set sunday one mile down county road 15, north of midway.

the day begins with regular service at 9 a.m., followed by music and food preparation and a 11 a.m. potluck.. from noon to 2 p.m., there will be barrel racing, poles, flags race, stick horse race, mutton bustin' and goat tieing for youth and adults.

a dedication service is set for 2 p.m., including the bar none cowboy church band.. there will be refreshments 1-2 p.m. and at 3 p.m.. .

TMS

This Bar None Cowboy Church has a fascinating gimmick. They have churches in Texas, usually big barns with bleachers, a sort of indoor rodeo. They use chuck wagon cooking, with actual chuck wagons and old country cooking equipment. Looks like fun.

tms