Posts by 88JM

20

Feedback from study of JUL 15 WT - Tell Us WHEN Will These Things Be

by konceptual99 in

just got back from meeting.

the study today was as expected.

a combination of simple acceptance, formulaic research and mistakes.. there are clearly many who cannot read a reference (to the wt 95) regarding the sheep and the goats and consider the repetition of the the understanding of the timing of the judging as new light.

88JM

Just back from the meeting here too. It didn't help that the WT conductor is a complete moron. Forget about trying to nail down what the Watchtower is saying - he could barely pronounce the word "clarifications" - I was having a good chuckle to myself.

Much the same as has already been said - total acceptance and answered with enthusiasm. Surprisingly the older ones were probably the most enthusiastic, as if what they had really believed all along has finally been vindicated. I can only hope it was ringing alarm bells for younger ones.

As far as comments not being forthcoming, it's was a bit difficult to tell as the congregation here is very bad normally anyway!

Some of the most "cult-ish" bits for me were paragraphs where the questions were basically: "what did you believe when you got up this morning?" and "what do you believe now?" - it was basically saying: "let us do all the thinking for you".

The conductors final comments just topped it off for me, where he said: "...it's quite encouraging to see these clarifications - they're very simple and very straightforward, so please read up on them again if we're not sure what some of the points are. But we're very grateful to the faithful slave for providing us food at the proper time."

92

Young man walks out of Glasgow convention and commits suicide

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

last weekend.

so unbelievably sad.

rip.

88JM

The convention itself was by far the most boring ever. Very sad if someone was affected by it to that extent - quite shocking to think that the person probably walked right past me as I was on the concourse around that time.

65

Gay MS??

by andysmiles in

about me, i am being raised in a jw family.

all of my family expect for one aunt, who had left but not disfellowedshiped thankly, are in jw.

my father is an elder and so is my grandfather.

88JM

Welcome andysmiles - it sounds like you're in a similar position to me. I'm finding it very hard doing a fade as I'm also an MS and in a small congregation. I haven't told my parents though, but I found moving to my own place has been a great help as I can be myself at home now.

I was baptised in 2003 and made an MS in 2007. I knew I was only interested in guys even before baptism and like you, I thought it was just a phase and would pass after I got baptised - I never told anyone how I really felt.

The advice that others have given here so far is sound - make friends with people outside the JWs so that you have support if it all turns sour. I've made some great friends in some of the gay exJW groups on Facebook - we meet here twice a year in the UK.

With my fade at the moment I'm missing meetings more and more frequently, and only drag myself out in field service for an hour or two every month. It's really difficult mentally having to do all that knowing I don't believe it any more, but knowing I can go back home and forget about it all really helps. I'm really amazed I haven't been asked to step down as an MS already, but perhaps as it's a small congregation they are desperate for guys. Hopefully my fade should become much easier if I can move further away at some point and move congregations, but it's mostly financial constraints that are stopping me doing that yet.

Let us know how you get on - we're here for you.

92

Young man walks out of Glasgow convention and commits suicide

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

last weekend.

so unbelievably sad.

rip.

88JM

Wow - I was at the Glasgow convention (still fading) - very sad to hear this.

Does anybody know who it was? PM me if so.

31

What Is The "Typical" Elder In The Organization Like Now?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when i was an elder, most of the elders were pretty independent 40 to 80 year olds.

they had no issue speaking up to the circuit overseer.

i wonder what the average elder is like now.

88JM

In the congregation here, they are all now older guys 50-65, mostly just drones, with very little effort to show any initiative and very little enthusuiasm for what they are doing, almost to the point of complaining about all the work they have to do, but at the same time saying what a "wonderful organization" it is. They really aren't a good advertisment for anyone thinking of "reaching out" to be an elder. Everyone just looks so "tired" and the conversations are all very very shallow - it seems they don't have much of a life or time for anything other than window cleaning or ministry.

9

Members in Scotland?

by franticfran in

are there any female members in scotland out there?

i have had messages from a couple of scottish members,and they were lovley and kind too, but would realy like to meet a lady member.

i have a lovely girl from america who facebooks me daily and she has become a great friend and a source of much comfort for me and she tells me she meets up with a female forum member who lives near to her home and has coffee with her and i would love to be able to do that.

88JM

Hi Franticfran - I've not seen any other female members myself from Scotland - as you say, there are few guys around from here.

8

Leeds DC, anyone from here going?

by Captain Blithering in

jw
friends

new grounds, very little parking, big pain for the locals when they arrive to do their weekend shopping and find the multistorey car parks all full!

.

see ya there, i'm the guy with the facial hair.... .

88JM

My parents were there - I'll see them when they get back and ask.

17

Liberace " Behind The Candelabra"

by smiddy in

wow , i`m not gay , and i dont have gay tendencies , (a couple of scenes i have to turn away) but thats just me.. i thought the movie over all was done exceedingly well.

m douglass captured liberace to a tee.

rob lowe should get an oscar for his performance.and matt damon was beleivable in his role.. i watched this movie not knowing what i was going to see,and on a scale of 1 out of 10 i would give it an 8. smiddy.

88JM

I went to see it about 3 weeks ago. Not being old enough to remember L iberace, I didn't know what to expect apart from the little I knew. I thought Michael Douglas played it brilliantly. The only cringe bits for me were actually the plastic surgery scenes - totally wasn't prepared for that!

I tried to keep an open mind as well, as I knew the film was based on Scott's book, so I thought it might be a bit biased, but I think it was probably pretty accurate. At the end of the film, I wasn't sure what my feelings were - whether I should be angry at Liberace or not. Interestingly the person I went to see it with said he felt a lot of sympathy for Scott - I'm not sure myself. I think that amount of money sloshing around probably takes it's toll on even the strongest people in the end. What I would liked to have seen is more scenes with Liberace at the piano - considering that is what most people knew him for, I was surprised there wasn't more of that.

48

What's the weirdest health advice given by a JW?

by Julia Orwell in

jw
friends

from radio biola to a sister who said you can treat autism and ptsd with scented oils, jws have had some weird some weird ideas about medicine.

what gems have you heard?.

88JM

"Eating apricot kernels cures cancer"

36

I really need some help to get out of this religion

by doughnutkitty in

hi, i've been lurking on this site for quite a while after recently having doubts about the "truth".

i've read a lot of posts about problems with the doctrines, mind control, the beliefs, brainwashing that jehovah's witnesses and their literature, as well as their history.

now only being a sixteen year old born in who isn't baptized or unbaptized, i've come to find all this information incredibly overwhelming.

88JM

I wish I had such foresight at 16, before I got baptized. It sounds like you're going down the "slow drift"/fade direction. It can be done sucessfully and many here have done so and left unscathed, but it takes lots of patience, and always good to have "worldly" friends to fall back on if it all turns sour - it sounds to me like you know what you're doing.

It's also understandable that you're feeling apprehensive and want to make sure you're doing the right thing. I think it takes different things for different people - for some it's their own experience of "conditional love" or treatment of others e.g. shunning that shows them it's not real, for others it's about discovering all the holes in the doctrine - particularly 607 and 1914. It's surprising how quickly evidence against it stacks up though - for me, I'm amazed I didn't figure it out sooner. Just approach things with an open mind.