Posts by undercover

27

Has anybody been guilted/emotionally blackmailed into attending the 2015 Memorial?

by Bucholz in

hello everybody, i was wondering if anyone has been guilted or emotionally blackmailed into attending the memorial this year.

something along the lines of "if you loved your family you would at least attend the memorial".

i myself haven't attended in 5 years.

undercover

Some years I've gone, some I haven't. I don't even know when it is this year. Suppose I'll find out the week of, when well-meaning, but clueless JW family invite me.

As much as I'm forever out of their control, I really don't have a problem with going to the memorial, if it makes elderly parents happy. It's one hour a year. Big deal. No different than a name only Catholic showing up for xmas mass once a year. I don't like going to cheap cafeteria style restaurants either, but the old folks like it, so that's where I take em to eat. Their time is limited. Let em enjoy it, even if it isn't my thing.

Some comments mention that 'once-a-year' attendees are looked down on by the rest of the JWs. That doesn't bother me a bit. I'm already looked down on. My being there or not being there isn't going to change that. If I decide to go, I wear my independence from their control on my sleeve. No tie, no suit jacket, beard in place. Be confident, don't shirk from talking to anyone, let em know that being away from religious fanaticism has done you well.

27

Why do people "come back"?

by kairos in

jw
friends

i know of several examples of ones that "left the truth" for up to 20 years, only to suffer through the reinstatement process and feel like they are finally back on track.. how does this happen?.

i personally know of one example where a father of three, leaves jws, abandons wife and family, lives as a gay man then comes back 20 years later as a partaking member of the anointed..

undercover

People who leave, become 'inactive', but at some point come back, really never left. Sure, they didn't go to meetings, or go out in service, or attend the conventions, but the prior mind control was still there in some small way. Enough so that when things in life took a turn that caused them to question either themselves or the world they live in, they came back.

A friend of mine, DFd, has been away for decades. Lived his life away from any JW contact, not attended any meetings for years and years. He has not lived an exemplary lifestyle in this time, but he does attempt to avoid holidays, politics, and supports the blood transfusion ban.

At one point, I thought he might be finally freeing his mind of the JW mess, but he told that he thinks the JWs are right. He's just not strong enough, worthy enough to join back. So this guy is living his entire life with a guilt complex that he's not good enough for a religious cult.

He may never go back and be an active member, but the WTS controls him every bit as much as they control the active JWs.

If that's not a cult, I don't know what is

49

Hasta la Vista,.. I'm outta here

by insidetheKH in

jw
friends

the time has come to leave this forum.

this is my last post.

mission completed.

undercover

Heck with the JW troll....

I need to know - is that a real screen shot from JW.org, with a GB member and CGI cartoon characters?

Seriously, has the WTS fallen to such a state that they have to use fictional characters to try to keep people interested in their brand of cult? Oh wait... that's what all religions do...nevermind

14

God's supposedly chosen earthly organization (WTS/JWS) doesn't pronounce or spell god's name correctly !!!

by Finkelstein in

this came up on terry walstrom thread topic recently and i thought it would be good to explore this further.

the jws are quite boisterous and arrogant that they use the proper name of jehovah as the divine name of god.

but a little investigation discovers something quite different.

undercover

The definition of irony:

Name a brochure about God's name, "The Divine Name that Will Endure Forever", and then admit in said brochure that no one really knows the pronunciation of God's name.

29

Is there a Child Molester on the Governing Body?

by TTATTelder in

great report by abc on the abuses in jw-dot-org land.... i hope it opens a "floodgate" of future news reports and exposes.

if you ask yourself, "why hasn't the watchtower leadership changed their policy on the 2 witness rule?

if one or more persons on the gb has victims out there that can't come forward because of the 2 witness rule, then that would explain the permanent road block to policy change that is obviously in place.

undercover

Google Ewart Chitty and Leo Greenlees

The rumors about those two can't be substantiated, but if true you can rest assured that if there was ever another current member to be accused or found out to be an abuser, the public, and especially the JW followers, would never, ever hear of it.

6

The Walking Dead cocktail party reminds me of... me

by undercover in

jw
friends

as fans of the walking dead know, our heros have found sanctuary (or have they) at alexandria, a seemingly normal safe zone from the walkers/rotters/etc.

this past episode had rick's 'family' invited to a 'welcome to the community' cocktail party, hosted by deanna, the leader of the community.. having entered alexandria, we're starting to see the different levels of ptsd in our little group.

rick, carol, and daryl trust no one.

undercover

As fans of The Walking Dead know, our heros have found sanctuary (or have they) at Alexandria, a seemingly normal safe zone from the walkers/rotters/etc. This past episode had Rick's 'family' invited to a 'welcome to the community' cocktail party, hosted by Deanna, the leader of the community.

Having entered Alexandria, we're starting to see the different levels of PTSD in our little group. Rick, Carol, and Daryl trust no one. Others want to trust, but are wary. At the party, Rick initially refuses an alcoholic beverage, while Abraham finds courage in the available beer. Daryl doesn't even go in the front door, and Sasha goes off on a well-meaning villager who wanted to know her favorite dish.

I know that the horrors of a TV zombie apocalypse are not comparable to being raised in a cult-like religion, but watching this episode, especially how Rick's crew were trying to feel at home, or accept that this party was somehow normal, I could especially relate as someone who feared, and avoided the 'world' growing up. Everything 'worldly' was like a walker coming to try to eat me, and I avoided it as such. But upon learning TTATT, and realizing that the 'world' wasn't the evil, demon possessed people I was led to believe for so long. But even as I realized that the things learned as a JW were incorrect, and I started to move out into the real world, I felt a lot like Rick's people, as they tried to fit in to what to everyone else is a normal situation. They were uncomfortable, slow to let their guard down. Just like I was when I first started making friends on the 'outside'.

The only real difference between us and Rick's group is that they fear being inside the group, while we first feared leaving the confines of the group we were in. But for me, it did get better, but there is a lingering feeling of not always fitting in, even today, several years later.

Hopefully for us, we fare better than our WD friends have so far. And hopefully Daryl takes a shower, Rick doesn't kill Jessie's husband, Carol doesn't tie the kid to the tree for the walkers, and Abraham doesn't have a hangover.

37

My wife is frightened about the end/ What to say without sounding Apostate?

by suavojr in

jw
friends

my wife called me at work saying she is scared after reading today's daily text.

i don't read it anymore, therefore i went online and found this.. tuesday, march 3 .

those days will be cut short.matt.

undercover

I thought dubs were supposed to be happy that the end was coming? Raise your heads erect and all that crap...

All those WT illustrations show the survivors of Armageddon smiling and happy, even though the world around them lies in ruin.

Is it that she's scared for you, because you're not adhering to WT teachings anymore? Or is she scared because she feels she isn't living up to standards?

28

Your body of elders - were they liberal, conservative or moderate?

by minimus in

jw
friends

in my first kingdom hall, the elders were ultra conservative.

our presiding overseer used to be a zone overseer.

the second hall i was in was moderate.

undercover

I was in several congregations over the years, and I saw a wide variety of elders. Nazi control freaks, ex-hippie full of mercy types, middle of the road, but still obeying the WTS. In the end, it didn't really matter. As long as they remained an elder, they were part of the machine. Unless they stepped down, they were not to be wholly trusted. Those that meant well, but never stepped down, got stepped on. I saw one good man after another whither under the onslaught of the jerks and lackeys to the WTS.

Which reminds me... I ran into a guy I grew up with in the JW religion (started to say 'the truth' - old habits die hard). I asked about his family, and he told me that his father, an uber-zealous, by-the-book, hard-nosed, power hungry, WT appointed trouble shooter in our congregation at the time, had died just a few weeks prior. I found myself not feeling anything. Not sadness, not grief, but not joy, or glee either. It was as if I had read a stranger's obit in the newspaper.

The longer I'm out, the less I care about most JWs I knew for years, or even decades, unless it was someone I was close to, or actually saw some good in. Most of the ones that are dying off now mean little to nothing to me...especially elders and Bethel lifers. I'm either an insensitive, heartless clod, or - I'm learning to put it all behind me, and move on with a new life. Not sure yet...

23

Is there anything about the JW's you still like?

by donny in

some jw's on various postingshave asked me was there anything about the jw's i still agree with.

of course there are some things i agree with and some i partially do.

1. political involvement - while i do not agree with totally avoiding anything associated with politics, i agree that many of todays churches are way too involved in trying to sway their constituents beliefs.

undercover

Political Involvement - while I do not agree with totally avoiding anything associated with politics, I agree that many of todays churches are way too involved in trying to sway their constituents beliefs. After I left the JW's and attended "trad...itional" churches, I grew tired of the ones who kept telling me that if I didn't vote Republican I would be voting against God which is ridiculous.

There was a time when I felt similarly. But... having seen how the WTS uses legal means to prevent themselves from answering for their culpability in crimes committed by their elders and followers (see Barbara Anderson's links to the investigative reporting on the WTS and child abuse), I don't even give them credit for that anymore. It's one thing to preach being non-political, it's another to preach it, yet use the court system to prevent prosecution, or preserve their constitutional rights, while denying their members those same rights (freedom of religion).

The very least amount of credit you can give them is for refusing to fight in wars. And even that is debatable, depending on the enemy and the war that they're trying to avoid.

13

WALKING DEAD fans - Was that a JW at the very end of the latest episode?

by Zoos in

did you see the last episode?

that nicely dressed, freshly-shaven young man that came out from behind the trees at the very end and said:.

i didn't mean to interrupt.

undercover

Naw.... if Aaron had been a JW, he, or his group, wouldn't have left bottled water in the road for Rick & Co. Instead, there would have been a JW cart full of literature... because as we all know, only through the pages of WT literature can you get life's water free...