Posts by undercover

22

what were you thinking when you got yourself baptised?

by greven in

jw
friends

my first post diappeared so here's another try:.

this is actually more than one question.

but let me first explain my own experience: .

undercover

You got presents??!! I didn't get diddlysquat!!

Seriously though, I was similar to you. All my friends and the other younger ones in my hall and the surrounding area halls got baptized at 13, 14 and 15. I never felt ready. I figured that you had to be really ready to completely devote your life to doing nothing but service, meetings and studies to be baptized. I didn't want to do that yet. I figured it would have to wait till I was at least out of school. But the pressure from my parents, the elders and pioneers was too much. So at the ripe old age of 16 I was baptized. Everybody asked me how it felt after coming out. It didn't feel any different than before going in. That made me wonder if maybe it "didn't take with me". It was another 20+ years before realizing(or at least admitting it to myself) it was a mistake.

3

The Pot Calls the Kettle Black

by NeonMadman in

just thought i should share this quote from a 1999 awake!

that i found while perusing the wt cd-rom:.

*** g99 4/8 pp.

undercover

Interesting comment. Thanks for posting that.

15

JW Rapes child. Elders cover up. Judge comdemns.

by Simon in

.

another sad story of their cover up and lack of care:.

undercover

OK so the defense lawyer is trying to make people feel sorry for the accused. Whether they're a JW or not, that's the lawyer's job. To get the guy off with the lightest sentance possible. What any child molester does is horrible and should be punished, but it's not the WTS or any local JW that is defending him in court. Now not reporting abuse and covering up offences in the congregation is another matter and the WTS and local elders are reprehensible for those actions.

24

Is it normal to "obsess" with this site?

by kat_newmas in

i found this site a few days ago.

it has been the greatest therapy.

for the first time in twenty years, i have just been given the opprutunity to "let it all out" and answer to every issue i ever had with these folks.

undercover

But after I got issues settled....., my activity here calmed down. I mainly come here to read the latest hijinks the WTS is up to,,,,,,,and to give my opinion on questions raised by members (new and old).

That's me. I couldn't keep away at first. But now I come by once in awhile, see if there's a new scandal and drop my opinion on a couple of subjects. And I managed to do this in just a few months in under 200 posts.

8

what is it loyality,obligation what?

by kls in

jw
friends

i read threads of people who disassociated themselves from the org.from them finding they were lied to,mistreated, what ever the case may be.i was in the org.

many years ago and it just felt wrong so i stopped attending.the longer i was out and my husband stayed in, i researched the org.

as much as possible.i found the lies, i found and felt the hurt it causes familys, the one minded thinking' their way or no way.the org.

undercover

I grew up in "the truth". Most of the people I grew up with and have history with are dubs. My family and wife's family are dubs. Though I have met new friends and don't have to rely on my dub friends for social contact, I do not want to lose contact with my family and wife's family. To not "walk the tightrope" as someone put it so succinctly would mean losing that contact. It would be so easy to just walk away and be shunned by people who are duped into this belief system. I wish I could do that. But to keep my family contacts, I have to remain at least somewhat associated with the congregation. So the answer is yes, it is loyalty and obligation. Not to the WTS, but to family.

20

I was two people at once, were you?

by christopherceo in

jw
friends

oh yeah, i did it.

i lived the double life and nobody ever found out.

i did all the things a pioneer/servant was supposed to do.

undercover

I didn't live a completely double life. I tried to be a good dub, but some things I just couldn't help. R-rated movies were rented but we never saw them first run at the theater. I bought what music I wanted without questioning the debasing effects of it, but I did keep some of the more questionable ones out of sight. Didn't smoke. Drank but never got drunk, though some thought I had a problem cause I always ordered beer in a restaurant. Cussed around the guys and family but sparingly. I even avoided sex before and outside of marriage except for a few blow jobs. I had friends outside the truth, though I did not announce it to too many other dubs. I didn't purposely set out to live a lie , but as time went on, it became apparent that some of the things I did would have kept me from the responsibilities that I was given, had it been known to the elders. But some things did not bother my conscience so I did them, even though I knew that it could be trouble if an elder found out. So I don't think I was two people at once. I was just living within the confines I was given and making do with what I had.

11

DOOMSDAY religion, is not just in ONE

by whyhideit in

jw
friends

recently i woke in the early morning hours to a knock on the door and my first thought was, "jehovah's witnesses going door-to-door.

" so i got myself together and went to the door and sure enough there were two people standing there with bibles in hand.

they had a flier and they started to speak, "the end is coming, god is passing judgment upon man soon.

undercover

Doom and gloom? In what time period would you want to live? In every generation there is war. There is poverty. There is injustice. We live in the most enlightened time of man's history. Would you trade that for a time period of less enlightenment but still deal with war?

I remember a scene from the movie Tombstone: Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp are talking. Wyatt says he wants "a normal life". Holiday says, "There is no normal life. There's just life." And that's true of us. What is normal? What's normal for you isn't normal for someone in China. We should just enjoy what we have when we have it and deal with the bad as it comes. Forget looking for someone to save us from tribulation and learn to deal with it. Doomsayers are killjoys. They'll rob you of any happiness to prove that they are right about something bad happening. Well, bad things happen. It doesn't mean I have to stop living. I'll mourn and grieve as necessary, when necessary but then put it behind and move on.

16

WT Squelches Congrefational Address Lists

by Room 215 in

for anyone who doubts that paranoia amongst the denizens of dubdom is greater than ever, consider this: in years past jws used to distribute copies of phone/address lists of the members of the congregation for the convenience of the friends, and these were periodically updated.. lately in my area, however, requests for a current list were refused, with the explanation that it would be ``imprudent to keep such a list, as it would compromise the brothers' /sisters' identities were it to fall into the wrong hands."".

is this ban now oganization-wide or just a local phenomenon?

i would suspect the former.

undercover

I had heard from an assembly platform about not keeping the lists, but in our congregation they did it anyway. The PO was the one that compliled the list and then distributed it and updated it every 6 months.

The whole paranoia about the list falling into the wrong hands is silly at best. Anyone who buys into that paranoia or conspiracy has to believe that the government already knows who is a JW and what role they play in the congregation. The whole piece of paper in the wrong hands is like a bad war movie.

26

No Eternal Life---Now What Hope Do You Have?

by minimus in

jw
friends

one thing all witnesses have had in common is the belief that they would someday inherit everlasting life.

as more and more express the thought that they really don't have much hope for the future, has anything replaced the hope of eternal life in paradise earth?

or are we ultimately, hopeless?

undercover

To actually enjoy now, today. For JWs it was always tomorrow, tomorrow. "O woe is the world, we can't enjoy life, conditions are so bad. But one day, the world will be a paradise and we will know such happiness." Once you are out of the mindset you can enjoy things right now, today. Travel, see places. How many dubs wanted to travel but didn't because of being "too busy in the service". Enjoy your family if you have one. Spend weekends getting closer to them instead of knocking on doors or sitting in assembly halls. Take up a hobby. Hobbies take time. Most dubs feel guilty about them or don't even bother with hobbies. Go to school or get a degree.

JWs waste their life waiting on a hope that doesn't exist. I hope to enjoy what life I was given and along the way be charitable enough to help some people who aren't as fortunate. Anything else is gravy.

10

Watchtower Society orders seven LITHOMAN pressline

by izobcenec in

jw
friends

watchtower society orders seven lithoman presslines from man roland.

february 10, 2003 -- the international religious organization jehovah's witnesses has recently ordered seven lithoman presslines from man roland (

web site

undercover

What happened to all this talk of cutting back? And laying off Bethel workers? If they are ordering new presses, sounds like they are doing pretty good. I guess it could be to replace older machines, but any corporation that is financially troubled would be cutting expenses not increasing, I would think.

I'm curious too about stock holders on this corporation. 80 year association. Interesting.