Posts by William Penwell

23

HBO Scientology Documentary

by tresdecu in

jw
friends

has anyone else seen the hbo scientology documentary 'going clear' - wow...cults are just mind-blowing you wonder how people can fall for that garbage, then you (those of us former/fading jws) look in the mirror.. i would love for someone to make a major jw documentary like this.

'going clear' is getting a lot of press.

poor tom cruise...he looks like quite the whack job in it too.

William Penwell

With myself like most of us on here we had no choice as we were raised in the cult and forced to go to their meetings. When I got old enough to reason for myself, with rational objective thinking, I figured it out as a bunch of brain washing BS. I believe that "religions" like the JW's, Scientology or Mormons to name a few as cults as a person cannot voluntary leave the faith without being shunned. This is one sign of a cult. Free thought is discouraged and looking up to an individual or group of individuals as the only pathway to god are more signs of it being a cult.

25

New Watchtower Subliminal image just uploaded

by artcritic in

this picture was taken from the official jw site.

just uploaded this one.

its new and unseen .

William Penwell

I do not see what you are looking at. If you read up on subliminal images you will understand that the human mind tries to find order in random images i.e. the human face on Mars. Like someone else mentioned here it is also due to bad Watchtower artistry. These are the things that Dubs look at and think we ex dubs are all a bunch of wacko's.

21

A new low in public shaming (and groveling)

by Captain Schmideo2 in

jw
friends

a local elderette at my former hall (the same type person who posts selfies while out in "service") posted this public admonishment.

the responses are so pathetic.

these are all adults, but they still act like scared children:.

William Penwell

he would comment about me during the WT session without mentioning my name.

Another passive aggressive tactic that is a favorite of the Dubs. You are correct the best way to handle this is to ignore it as that is what they want to do. They want to get a reaction from you.

57

The Bible Gods Word or Mans

by azor in

i remember studying this book years ago and how it impacted my belief system.

i no longer believe the bible is god's word.

however i do have a couple of lingering questions on this subject.

William Penwell

The Bible for the first time introduces a singular monotheistic god

The Jews were not the first civilization to believe in a monotheistic god. This tradition was borrowed from earlier civilizations.

30

First Post and Using the memorial to wake up family members

by dgeero in

jw
friends

this is my first post here though i've been a long time lurker.

my story in a nutshell:.

started having doubts after the new silver sword and watchtower study regarding overlapping generations.

William Penwell

Welcome to the forum dgeero

21

A new low in public shaming (and groveling)

by Captain Schmideo2 in

jw
friends

a local elderette at my former hall (the same type person who posts selfies while out in "service") posted this public admonishment.

the responses are so pathetic.

these are all adults, but they still act like scared children:.

William Penwell

Most JW's are passive-aggressive as they are too gutless to tell you something to your face.

8

JWs as described by Cracked

by Vidiot in

http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-religions-youve-got-all-wrong-because-hollywood/.

the article describes four different religions (rastafari, jws, amish, and scientology); jws are #3.. the jw entry is pretty accurate (and as usual, funny), but surprisingly doesn't mention the two-witness-rule-related legal troubles the wt has been having lately.

.

William Penwell

Here is the part about the JW's in the article,

#3. Jehovah's Witnesses Are Dark As Hell

Jehovah's Witnesses are the people who knock on your door on Saturday afternoon to ask if you've heard The Good News, like they're going to tell you you just won the lottery. They're mostly harmless. They seem like pleasant enough people, even if they don't celebrate birthdays.

But beneath that skinny tie and loose-fit khakis lies one of the grimmest denominations of Christianity you'll find. Jehovah's Witnesses absolutely are not fucking around.

Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images

Cue Slayer's "Reign in Blood."

First of all, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the world is in the process of ending right now. And it started ending just over a century ago. Witness scripture is kind of on a fast track. Apparently, Satan rebelled and got kicked out of heaven on Oct. 1, 1914, and it's all gone downhill since then. It's like the gritty reboot of Christianity.

They also don't believe in an afterlife. They believe that there are exactly 144,000 people in history that God will bring to heaven in their living bodies after Armageddon, and their hope is to be one of those people, which raises the question: Is there an undercurrent of bitter competition among Witnesses to be one of the few out of the many millions to secure a seat on God's bus to eternity? If you don't find yourself in that exclusive crowd, the best you can ask for is to be resurrected on Earth after the end times are over. If you don't fall into one of those two categories, you are just plain dead.

grandeduc/iStock/Getty Images
Upside: no hell.

As mentioned, Jehovah's Witnesses are also opposed to holidays and birthdays, declaring them pagan. (Though they do encourage their followers to randomly give gifts to their kids to keep them from fleeing a religion free of gift-wrapped Ninja Turtle toys.) They're also opposed to military service, saluting the flag (which has caused some issues, as you can imagine), and singing national anthems. They're not big on depictions of the cross, either, because Witnesses believe that other churches' use of the cross is idolatry, and also that Jesus was killed on a single, upright post, instead of a traditional cross.

Wikimedia Commons
Makes a crucifix look like a luxury.

Basically, it all sounds really depressing. Plus, they don't allow blood transfusions under any circumstances, even if it could save a life. And they have to knock on your door. Jehovah's Witnesses are required to be evangelical. Every month, they have to submit "field service reports" detailing their efforts to convert people. If they don't, they're deemed "irregular." If they go six months without submitting one, they're "inactive." And Jehovah help you if you ever leave, because then you're labeled "wicked." And if a Jehovah's Witness happens to disagree with any of the rules or scripture, they're immediately declared to be "mentally diseased." Did I mention they don't fuck around?

They have a super dark outlook on everyone else, too. They think the U.N. is evil and part of the Antichrist (which is weird because they very briefly joined them). They also believe all other religions are wrong and their followers will be destroyed when Jesus comes back. So, yeah, not extremely friendly to outsiders.

And things aren't just rough inside the faith, either. They've had plenty of stuff to deal with from the outside. Jehovah's Witnesses were also one of the targets of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Since they refused military service, Hitler rounded them up and put them in concentration camps along with the Jews, where they were marked with purple triangles.

Wikimedia Commons
You can never again slam the door in their faces without feeling like a total asshole.

So next time you have them knocking on your door, just remember that they're actually Jesus' version of Kyle Reese, getting ready to unflinchingly fight a terrifying future war.

9

Does anyone else find reinstated dubs can be the most hypocritical?

by William Penwell in

i have seen this over the years that some that get df'd and later reinstated can be the most hypocritical.

one case comes to find about my nephew who was df'd about 10 years ago for cupping a little feel of some dub sisters boobs.

well right away he turns to us non dubs for moral support as he is being ostracized by the dub relatives.

William Penwell

The most hard-nosed, self-righteous, suspicious-of-everyone, paranoid JWs are the ones who "got into trouble" years ago.

When I was a teen the ones that would be the biggest partyers, drink and carry on, Sunday morning were holier than thou. Those same ones became elders later on in life. When or if I ever see them they make me want to puke.

9

Does anyone else find reinstated dubs can be the most hypocritical?

by William Penwell in

i have seen this over the years that some that get df'd and later reinstated can be the most hypocritical.

one case comes to find about my nephew who was df'd about 10 years ago for cupping a little feel of some dub sisters boobs.

well right away he turns to us non dubs for moral support as he is being ostracized by the dub relatives.

William Penwell

I knew about a local elder about 30 years ago that was high up in the ranks. He was on the blood committee and gave talks at the DC. He was DF'ed for have sex with a sister who's husband was dying of cancer and being on the blood committee he counseled her or did more than counseling. Well that was a big deal and he was DF'd but was back in the organization in a few years and before long they gave him back all the privileges. Seems to me a dual standard as if it was a regular R&F member DF'ed, it would take them years to get back all their privileges.

8

JWs as described by Cracked

by Vidiot in

http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-religions-youve-got-all-wrong-because-hollywood/.

the article describes four different religions (rastafari, jws, amish, and scientology); jws are #3.. the jw entry is pretty accurate (and as usual, funny), but surprisingly doesn't mention the two-witness-rule-related legal troubles the wt has been having lately.

.

William Penwell

There is plenty of sound, accurate info against JWs that I acknowledge, but I do not like it when Hollywood, the writer of this article, or anybody else paints an inaccurate picture. I like facts, truth, accuracy, honesty.

These type of articles only goes to justifying in the minds of the R&F dub that all "wordily" article's are a bunch of lies.

I read this article this AM and thought it was great (other than the glaring 144,000 error of course), but now it is no longer on the site and a google search for the article just takes you to the Cracked homepage. Revision (hopefully)?

I just checked and it has been taken off. Hopefully it is for revisions and not being pressured into taking it off by one of those "cults" written in the article.