Posts by cultBgone

17

How do you get a word in edge-wise, when talking to a JW?

by Faithful Witness in

just looking for some pointers, as i was never a jw.

i have an elderette coming over on friday, for another performance.. last week, i was under the impression that she was coming to answer some questions i had.

it quickly became clear that she came with a plan for the "conversation," and we went on an expedition from one passage of the bible to the next, while she made leaping claims, argued with herself and kept me confused and always with more than one question lingering in my mind, while she continued talking and talking.. when i have a conversation with someone, i tend to stop talking when they are speaking.

cultBgone

Quelly and Outlaw make an awesome team!

Faithful, I apologize for not having gone back to read your earlier posts, but I must ask why you are entertaining the idea of a study? Are you trying to help these ladies leave the borg?

(((hugs))) to all

20

No refreshments.

by quellycatface in

jw
friends

why is it that we never had coffee/tea after the meeting??

yet, nearly every kh has a kitchen??.

i do now i'm going to church.

cultBgone

We used to have kitchens so the pio sisters could bring their lunches, as everyone would return to the hall at noon and leave again at 1pm for another round of service.

Some of the "friends" complained that they were allergic to our food...like onions...oops, sorry, we made chili today, it was cold outside!

In another state we were told we were forbidden to eat in the hall because we would draw ants. Yes, because we are all so messy....not.

No love being missed....such craziness inside the borg.

29

making my will should I include my child that has shuan me for years

by jam in

the years have pass and so has my age, so lately i have been thinking, should i add my daughter in.

since i have seen or talk to her.have not seen my grand-daughter the youngest.

the oldest i saw her over 10yrs ago..i feel my grand kids should know where they came from.. i do not have a lot to leave for my kids, i have four, the other three i have a good relationship...but.

cultBgone

Interesting topic.

I think most people appreciate receiving momentos of their parent's life or family treasures...the money fades in importance.

If you have quite a bit of money, though, a well-written trust is a good idea (hey, the jws push contract in all dealings, right?). That way it won't be a matter of your cash going straight to the GB for their investment fund.

Best idea, yes, to give the kids and grandkids favorite possessions while you're still alive. Double the treasure that way as it will make you both happy.

If you have a life insurance policy, think about how you word your beneficiary status also. If your jw child might be influenced to "share" that cash with the WTS, maybe it's better to give the bulk of the cash to a non-jw child or children. No sense in letting it go to waste/evil use, especially now that the WTS has shown their intensified greed.

There are also lots of good charities you could share the funds with...just a thought.

103

Why do I bother to wake up in the morning?

by punkofnice in

jw
friends

i'm not suicidal just fed up.. i did think of suicide (briefly), but as there is no painless way and it's not something i would willingly do just in case things would have been better the day after.

i do have a slight grain of hope.. money problems.....problems at home (that's another matter with a son up court for something he is adamant he didn't do.

first offence but the pigs police and the cps have got charges made.

cultBgone

Hey, Punk, I get you about not wanting antidepressants. They're a temp fix at best, cause what we really need is to just change the way we think about ourselves and life.

BUT here's something different...sometimes it's just okay to feel like crap! There's nothing wrong with you!

Just let those feelings happen but don't build on them...let them out. We're so all about fixing every problem that we tend to think it's not okay to have problems, which is stoopid. We all have issues and problems, and anyone who says they never feel like garbage is just making stuff up.

Someone in the thread mentioned living in The Now, which is Eckhart Tolle's thing. There's a lot of good in that...one of his teachings is to allow your feelings to happen without really reacting to them. Just let that crap out, or else it will keep rearing its ugly head in one way or another. Yesterday, I had no reason why but several times during the day I just started crying...weeping really. So I just let it out...and then it was over. Went on to have a lovely evening.

So just allow your feelings to happen...let em out or they'll keep tormenting you. Just don't listen to any voices that say you should end it...we'd miss you too much.

(((hugs)))

27

Did You Ever Feel Guilty Because You Deserted The JW Religion?

by minimus in

jw
friends

once i left, i never yearned for anything associated with the religion.

i didn't miss their doctrines, their erroneous thinking.

i never felt guilty because i abandoned the religion i was raised in.. i believe the reason for my not feeling guilty is pretty simple.

cultBgone

Nope, no guilt, no way no how. I gave up guilt in order to heal my wounded self.

However I still am regularly surprised that I actually volunteered for the nonsense.

(((hugs))) to you all

324

Is this new donation arrangement for real?

by nugget in

just read a post on jwsurvey about the new donation arrangement.

congregations are to pledge a monthly amount to be sent to the society to fund the building of assembly halls and kingdom halls.

congregations who already have a loan from the society will no longer have to pay back the loan but the amount pledged should not be less than the current monthly repayments to the society.

cultBgone

Emeth, yours is a good point. Money sitting on a shelf is not beneficial. So why can't that money be used LOCALLY where there is a need rather than being sent off to unknown bank accounts controlled at a level where the people like you who donated have it no say over its use? Why can't local congregations decide for themselves to use their own donated funds to fix up their hall, or to help needy widows who don't receive pensions, etc.?

jws brag/preach that no donation plates are passed while they put down churches who tithe, yet jws will be held to binding documents requiring that specific congregations donate specific amounts of money. Just like the catholic and many baptist churches require ten percent donations of gross household income. Doesn't matter that jws don't require 10% (yet) because locking someone into forced giving is... a tithe. So much for jws giving from the heart.

Those funds are never truly accounted for, and you have no idea who is benefitting from that money other than vague promises of "oh, yes, we're building khs in another country" which you cannot verify, btw. In actuality, those funds are quite often invested in ways that you would be told are risky and wrong, like hedge funds.

We've all given money to the WT even when we may not have had enough for ourselves, because we were told it was the right thing to do for God. But those funds are not truly being used for charitable purposes to help PEOPLE, they are being used as the GB decides to invest in real estate which YOU will never benefit from, or get to use. Those funds are being used to build a financial empire.

In NO WAY does this match taking collections for feeding and sheltering Jesus' disciples or caring for needy widows. Only the GB and their slaves are being fed and sheltered, and sometimes the widows of the GB. The rest of us out here in the real world get hammered to provide donations but are not helped by them. Instead we're told not to worry about providing for our families by getting decent educations, just make enough to get by because the end is coming (everyone join in here) SOON! And those poor Bethel slaves don't get diddly if they leave Bethel, even though they give away the best years of their young lives to print magazines which end up in the trash 90% of the time. Where's the love in that? Why aren't some of those donated funds used to give them a start out the door as a kind thank-you?

Jesus wouldn't tolerate the situation that's going on in the WTS, so there is no way is he running the jw show. Jesus would be overturning the tables and shaking this WTS org to its core. People need to wake up and really examine the actions of the WTS and not sit back and accept their own words in their own magazines. That's like asking a robber if he's a robber and expecting him to admit it. If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it's a duck...err, financial scheme. It's not worship of God, it doesn't involve Jesus, and it's not helping mankind.

May all good-hearted people wake up to TTATT.

(((hugs)))

26

I don't find this stuff amusing anymore

by sparrowdown in

jw
friends

i would just like to get this off my chest.. during the public talk last sunday the speaker (bro holden m'groin) said in public talk: .

" if you ask any 16yr old girl what she wants out of life, she would probably say a home, a family etc etc" (because obviously this is still 1955).. anyway that got my attention i thought " hmm....where is he going with this?"..

bro holden m'groin goes on .

cultBgone

Clapping for Sparrow!!!! Agree with you totally and LOVE that you showed (gasp) unconditional love Right Out In Public!

(((hugs)))

103

Why do I bother to wake up in the morning?

by punkofnice in

jw
friends

i'm not suicidal just fed up.. i did think of suicide (briefly), but as there is no painless way and it's not something i would willingly do just in case things would have been better the day after.

i do have a slight grain of hope.. money problems.....problems at home (that's another matter with a son up court for something he is adamant he didn't do.

first offence but the pigs police and the cps have got charges made.

cultBgone

Punk, had similar thoughts myself...think it had a lot to do with devoting my "best" aka youthful years to the borg, and then finding out it was all a sham...

I think I could have dealt with it better at 40, but at 60 it just plain stinks. We went from "Yay, we'll live forever" to "Hey, I don't realistically have that many healthy years left and I let those cruds convince me to not have any money for myself." I feel your pain.

Trying hard to focus on the positive things...hey, you have a mate and I can't even find like-minded friends, so you're waaaay ahead of me!

Hope all goes well for your son's case. Somehow when we stay positive we get a better outcome, it seems...even tho that can be difficult. He's lucky to have your support!

(((hugs)))

25

Had a reply for job...

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

.

got a cool job, surgery and emergency medicine in a nice holiday town, super happy :d. .

cultBgone

Snare, congratulations! Happy for you!

32

I made my daughters cry last night.....

by Ugottabefresh in

...when i told them i didn't believe anymore.

they cried like i'd never seen before.

my oldest, 10, pleaded with me that she'd do anything to get me to keep going to meetings ("i'll get a's on my report card!").

cultBgone

Ugottabe, as parents we must remember that we have helped to indoctrinate our children into this weird jw belief system...and that they wouldn't be there had we not placed them in it (for the most part).

So of course when we tell them that we no longer believe, the spiritual foundation of their young lives just comes crumbling down, or at the very least forms a large crack. I would guess it could have the same effect as telling them mommy and daddy are getting divorced. I remember hearing that my worldly parents might get divorced and it was crushing, not because we had a happy family (unless you like waking up in the middle of the night hearing them fighting) but it was the sense that everything we trusted in could suddenly vanish. A lot has to do with the age of the children, I'm sure. Once I was older, I could see that everyone's life would have been much better had the divorce taken place. Sadly, my parents stuck it out to keep us kids happy...and they were miserable.

Anyway, the best course is to be calmly honest as you've been (applause!) and tons and tons of unconditional love. I used to ask, "how would Jesus have treated that person or handled that situation?" It shows how totally off-course the org is without throwing stones, and it helps kids/others to think rationally.

You've given your kids the best shot at a healthy life! So proud of you. Now you'll need to lovingly pave the way for them to follow you out. (((hugs))) You'll get lots of support here on this wonderful forum.