Pyramid Scheme

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Posts by Pyramid Scheme

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  2

  Are all GB Born-ins?

  by Socrateswannabe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are all present gb members "born-ins"?

  surely they are, right, and probably all gb members have been for decades?

  just wondering..

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  Pyramid Scheme

  Sam Herd also was in the US Military.....

  I know this since i had worked with him several times and he made mention of it......

  Also, like lamallcool said, I have heard Morris speak in person and discuss his involvement in Vietnam.
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  74

  New video: Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower's secret child abuse letter

  by cedars in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  we have decided to let the world know what happened when our websites were shut down earlier this month by means of this new video..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_9efi84qnc.

  huge thanks to nugget for lending us her gorgeous voice, and also to cantleave for his cameo role as the voice of the big bad watchtower!

  cedars.

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  Pyramid Scheme

  I cannot express my gratitude to all of you for continuing the fight. You are heroes in my book.

  If we save one kid from a predator, it makes it all worth the difficulty of facing such a horrfic subject on a daily basis.

  I resigned as an elder in 2008 over pedophilia and the ridiculous policies that are in place. Bill Bowen and his site were very influencial on my decision, and I showed many of the letters from his site to my family. Once they got past the initial denial, they now clearly understand my stance. Sadly, a family member was molested by an elder years ago, but they thought it was just an isolated incident and a "dirty old man" who wasn't in his right mind anymore. They are still hanging on to the illusion, but I see progress in my battle........the light is getting brighter. They are finding out that this organization is FULL of predators, who are given carte blanche to prey on the kids.

  I know so many children (many now adults) who lives have been affected by these policies, and yet are still imprisoned by those scumballs - the molester and the enablers who allow them to remain (under the guise of being spiritual shepherds).......

  Disgusting, Disgusting, Disgusting.

  Bless all of you for your continued Spiritual Warfare.........
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  12

  Building New Relationships Outside the JW's

  by Pyramid Scheme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wanted to share my plans for 2013 and also get some advice from others who have gone through this process.

  i have read several threads dedicated to this topic and was hoping to get some personal experiences.. i have been an inactive jw for 4 years, but my social life and association still heavily revolved around friendships built through my lifetime in the organization.

  i support my wife by associating with a small group of couples from her hall that i still like and don't irritate me.

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  Pyramid Scheme

  Thanks everyone - I have a lot of stuff to check out!

  Maybe I will start on that novel I have always wanted to write......

  Sparlock the Warrior Wizard versus Melchizidek the King Priest (sounds like an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch!)
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  73

  How many decades/centuries before 1914 becomes irrelevant?

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how long do you think the watchtower can speak about 1914 and have followers think it relevant?

  i think for people born in the 1900's, it feels like an acceptable year.

  but what about those born since 2000, will 1914 seem like a year of relevance?

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  Pyramid Scheme

  Hi Paul,

  I think that is a fascinating question.

  It is the absolute DNA of the religion - without it, how many people would leave - or at least ask hard questions?

  Even with the "overlapping generation" teaching (one that NO JW understands that I have spoken with), 1914 seems like an eternity. The "generation" teaching is now so twisted, that its comical and sad to think about.

  When I was 15-17 years old, in the late 80's, that seemed like the swan song for 1914. The "generation" was in their 70's and 80's. 1986 was the UN Year of Peace. We were studying the Revelation book. The cold war was still waging, and the USA and Russia were still going at it. Ronald Reagan was a "finger on the trigger" president, etc.......I remember being wrought with fear and anxiety constantly.

  Once I hit my 20's, and the "new light" came out, 1914 became a myth. Yes, I still taught it when I had to, but how could I justify it? I avoided it like the plague in my talks and never mentioned it in the ministry........
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  24

  Some advice please?

  by Wonka in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a friend of mine i'm in lust with, has been trying to convert / recruit me.

  she's been very pleasant with me and very patient with me.

  she hasn't been very pushy which i appreciate.. she's even said that if at anytime i'm getting smothered or feel this religion isn't my thing, to say so and she will stop asking about it.

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  Pyramid Scheme

  Hi Wonka,

  Those videos open up a tremendous amount of discussion opportunities.

  Its completely whitewashed garbage - if you do just a brief search on the board, watch them on Youtube and take notes, you could have lots of opportunity to get her to think. You are in the enviable postion of being able to ask whatever you want about the religion and do the hardcore examiniation of it that JW's are not able to do, based on being conditioned that way.

  You might be able to play it as "Hey, I'll watch the videos and write down some points I found interesting".........

  If Russell founded the faith, why are his teachings no longer taught? Where did Russell get his dates from? If Russell was teaching "truth", why would a JW be disfellowshipped for teaching those things today? ........Or, even better when it comes to Rutherford - you could have a field day. They present him in those videos as a fiery champion of truth, when in fact he was a power hungry nut whose writings were so full of incoherent babble - no JW i know has read "the Finished Mystery".....you should check it out, since in the video its presented as a expose on religion and government that shook the world to its core! The reality? You have to read it to believe it!!!

  It sounds like she is interested in you. For a single JW woman to stop by your house "unchaperoned"....that is definitely walking the fine line. Not to sound corny, but if love does develop, it can cut through the BS of the Watchtower. Yes, there may be bumps in the road, but you can say that about any relationship these days, regardless of religious beliefs. Who knows, maybe she is at a spiritual crossroad in her life, and wants out of the circus, but is just doing what she has been trained to do.........its hard to crawl inside the mind and motives of a JW, as they are deeply influenced by the organization and its dictates.

  Best wishes for whatever you decide!
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  12

  Building New Relationships Outside the JW's

  by Pyramid Scheme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wanted to share my plans for 2013 and also get some advice from others who have gone through this process.

  i have read several threads dedicated to this topic and was hoping to get some personal experiences.. i have been an inactive jw for 4 years, but my social life and association still heavily revolved around friendships built through my lifetime in the organization.

  i support my wife by associating with a small group of couples from her hall that i still like and don't irritate me.

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  Pyramid Scheme

  HI All,

  I wanted to share my plans for 2013 and also get some advice from others who have gone through this process. I have read several threads dedicated to this topic and was hoping to get some personal experiences.

  I have been an inactive JW for 4 years, but my social life and association still heavily revolved around friendships built through my lifetime in the organization. I support my wife by associating with a small group of couples from her hall that I still like and don't irritate me. That's superficial (I like the people, but they are not going to be close friends, lets face it).....I only have a couple of close friends that I still associate with from the KH, simply because they are open to deep discussion, agree with many of my concerns, but haven't mustered the strength to make further examination for themselves. Therefore, they stay stuck in the organization. I trust them, and they serve as my "moles"....haha. Even then, I know those friendships are somewhat conditional, as long as they are active.

  I have decided that now is the time to branch out and form some new friendships. As many of you have commented on, it is very difficult for an ex-JW to even KNOW how to make a friend that isn't built on membership in the organization. I am truly fortunate, as two of my best friends are non-JW's - they have been close friends for over 10 years, going back to when I was an active elder. Even then though, I met them through work, where we sat next to each other for years. I spent more time with them than I did with my wife - how could we not get to know each other?

  Here is my plan going forth, looking forward to input from others as to how you gained success in making friends.

  First off, like so many of you - I am a strong believer in philanthropy and helping others of all faith, race, etc. I have identified and contacted 3 charities here locally that I am passionate about. One to feed the hungry, one is a shelter to help those who have suffered abuse, and other other is a cancer support group. I have made arrangements to volunteer with group activities so I can help out and meet other people who share similar values.

  Second, I was going to start looking for groups and clubs dedicated to some of my hobbies. I haven't found a really good website for listings like that - has anyone had success in joining from the internet or a local news site? A guy at work mentioned Meetup.com - any experiences there?

  Third - I was going to join a sports team at work - I enjoy all types of sports, and thought it would be a lot of fun. There is even opportunity to do martial arts training through my work. I thought that would be exciting, as its something I always wanted to do. All of my JW buddies loved Bruce Lee movies, and we used to dream of studying Jeet Kune Do!

  My goal is to meet new friends and get so "busy" that I start breaking further away from being tied socially to the Borg. Sure, I still care about my friends, but part of me says it would be better emotionally to continue cutting the cord.........
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  27

  OMG...I missed the whole SPARLOCK craze....

  by Pyramid Scheme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hadn't been on the board to visit much last year, so i have been going back and poking around through the older threads since i started to post here.

  i was on jwfacts.com, and noticed paul had posted a brief article about the jw video and the evil sparlock the warrior wizard.

  we have no children, and i never got those videos anyway (even when i was still an elder), so when i went back and read all of the old threads, i was crying laughing.

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  Pyramid Scheme

  I hadn't been on the board to visit much last year, so I have been going back and poking around through the older threads since i started to post here. I was on jwfacts.com, and noticed Paul had posted a brief article about the JW video and the evil SPARLOCK THE WARRIOR WIZARD. We have no children, and I never got those videos anyway (even when I was still an elder), so when I went back and read all of the old threads, I was CRYING laughing. Then, I googled it, and saw all of the awesome websites dedicated to our new leader and champion. Forget the SMURFS. You have been found wanting by SPARLOCK. I didn't show my wife, but I want too so bad. I know I will eventually, but I have to pick my spots with her. I showed her the Jeff Ross show on Comedy Central where he made fun of the sign language masterbation video. She was very defensive at first, then was cracking up. At the end, she said "that is very embarassing to the organization"....which made me smile. To everyone who made websites, pictures, and threads dedicated to Sparlock, I SALUTE YOU!!!!! LONG LIVE SPARLOCK
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  17

  Shunned by ex-jw's

  by Joey Jo-Jo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  there seems to be a double standard among ex-jw's who believe and practice christianity.. i have lost 3 subscribers from my youtube channel all because of speaking my mind, it was not invasive or rude, but my last two videos appeared to have offended them.. so what happened?

  as an atheist i raised some issues regarding the mind set of christianity that it borrows from jw's, in other words i was showing christian ex-jw's that they are behaving just like jw's.

  the double standard is simple to grasp:.

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  Pyramid Scheme

  I think it is a massive problem in our society right now.

  Everything is polarized - politics, religion, etc. There is very little opening for intelligent discussion or debate. I have friends at work who are defriended on facebook all the time for political views, societal opinions, you name it. The art of compromise seems to be dying.

  For even the ex-JW, there is still a quick trigger on pulling up the defense shields when anything that challenges your belief system is discussed.

  As the song Subdivisions by Rush says "Conform, or be cast out"
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  47

  Idiot Ray Comfort (Banana Man) Blames Children's Murder on Dawkins and Hitchens

  by cantleave in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.goddiscussion.com/105352/british-redcoats/.

  american pastor blames mass murder of children on 'british redcoats' richard dawkins and christopher hitchens .

  in his "on the box" program dubbed "a biblical truth zone" ray comfort of living water ministries weighed in on the horror and tragedy of the shooting spree at sandy creek elementary school in newtown, ct, in order to offer his viewers an explanation.

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  Pyramid Scheme

  The worst school mass murder in US history occured in 1927 in Bath, Michigan....way before 1950, and in the "Roaring 20's".....arguably the most prosperous decade in the history of the USA.

  The mass media coverage and the internet makes it possible for us to receive every piece of bad news on this planet immediately today.

  Ultimately, when I read this stuff......how can you blame the actions of an insane person on atheists? It makes me question their sanity.

  Is his real name "Ray Comfort"?
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  19

  Don't have the heart to turn the old sister away in person, gonna write a letter instead.

  by Joliette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  right now it is 5:41am here in milwaukee, i cannot sleep and it is utter torture.

  ugh!.

  i have to be at work at 3pm today, and i cannot sleep.

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  Pyramid Scheme

  Like it was said above- be honest, tactful, and firm. Also, I would take the lead in showing the love and kindness.

  She has been programmed to show love and concern by dropping off magazines to you and others. I don't doubt that she has sincere motives. I would choose my words based on what you ultimately want. Do you want anything further to do with Kind Old Sister Pioneer, or do you feel its better to not contact each other? I have found tremendous success by being happy, kind, and loving toward the JW's who try to encourage me - while I still have a lot of righteous indignation toward the organization, I have found that my inner peace of being free from the Borganization comes shining through in my deeds and actions. People back off when I tell them kindly and firmly that I am doing just fine, thank you.

  I would write a letter full of kindnesses, more kindnesses, than politely tell her if you ever decide to do anything, you know who to contact. You have family to get literature, so you could kindly tell her to save the magazines for others in the field.

  Just a couple of ideas - best wishes!!