hi to everyone, my name is jerry, i am 56 and i live in tralee, kerry ireland.
i will not bore you with the all too familiar details, suffice it to say i was a prime candidate for indoctrination/ brainwashing.
the surprising aspect is that my wife, a staunch catholic started a study soon after i did.
Welcome Jeremiah!
My situation was similar to you, but I have moved a bit further, all of my family is out now, except my wife to whom I have been married in 40 years. She doesn´t want to listen to my apostases junk still. But I can see in her eyes that she knows that I am right.
Bugbear
i continue to be stunned by posters reporting on the convention, lamenting the convention, complaining about going in serve-us and meetings, and yet continuing to participate in these activities.. a simple question.
how long have you done these things, fully knowing it is absolute bullshit?.
i couldn't handle it for more than six months before i basically outed myself.
BU2B
I must say your situation was very like mine, only that mine occured 10-15 years ago. I can tell you All of our family (except my wife) is more happy now when we all left the org.
Formely Elder
Bugbear
i recently posted a post telling this board my athesit coworker stumped me with questions about the validity of the ark story and i just cannot stop talking to her.
i love hearing her side and point of view which in the past i would have dismissed as "satanic" thinking.
she has some very good questions and i am having a hard time answering them.
Booker-t
The questions your coworker asks you, is very relevant. All these questions (unanswered) will probably help a lot of people to “come out” from a world of superstitions thoughts. They will cleanse the world from harmful, dangerous ideas that has caused the world so much pain. The thought that our god is more powerful than yours has driven endless of people into war. (although it’s obviously an Biblical thought).
I myself “came out” after 20 years of struggle with my own conscience. But in my back head, rumbled always questions like why do certain people only live a few days others only some week, then they starve to death.
Did god also create bacteria, viruses, earthquakes, greed, cancer.
How could god kill all humans in a flood except for 8 other people, when he/she was actually the father of them all?
Bugbear
take this 72 yes/no question test to find out.. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp.
ENTJ
the other day i was sitting in one of those meetings where the public talk was absolutely mind-dumbing.
by minute 5 i couldn't take it anymore paying further attention to what was being said, so my mind wandered.
i looked around to my own kh and started to notice something.
To my knowledge zero!
But I have heard of people who when they have fallin in love with a hard core JW, of the opposite sex, have forgoten all what they have learned in High scool or in the University, and converted into Jah dubs. Love makes your mind twisted and you cannot think clear. I think that this is one of biggest reason to become JW.
Bugbear
it seems that everyone is taking for granted that the sociaty has made 1 billion in profit.
could anyone tell me why it would not be a posibility that the society had a large number of mortgages attached to these properties?
wouldn't that explain the latest monney grab from the congregations?.
Sadelder, you say: They have an aversion to outsiders knowing their business, mortgages require financial statements.
I do agree with you 100%. The thing is that any bank willing to give you a loan, wants i financial statement. That also requires open bookholding. This the WBTS has not been able to provide to any eccept the members / directors of threasure dept. and the GB. Therefore, where the REAL accounts are or where the bills are hided is the biggest secret ever, to reveal. I wouldn´t be suprised if some of the real "high ranked" JW:s, will be contaigion with bad conscience, and jump of the org. Specially if he feels that the others do not have ful faith in him. It must very stressing to know about all the trips to Schweiz, Cayman Island a.s.f and understand that someting is very rotten "ins the state of WTBS"..
Bugbear
hey guys!
i was just thinking, with all the new promising stem cell research and trials, many scientists predict that in a decade or two, advanced biotech will make possible to extend human lifespan considerably and soon after indefinitely.
also, access to vast amounts of information is becoming ubiquotous throughout the world and it seems that it's increasingly harder to keep people ignorant and in the dark.
My question is why? when we literary live in a hell, quote:
biotech will make possible to extend human lifespan considerably
Life over 60 its just a prolonging of suffer and pain
Bugbear
i mean to say it only takes a couple of posts to identify a troll , what do they hope to acheive ?
they only convince me, how stupid they are, with not a thinking cell in their brain .. do they think its another avenue to get fs hours in ?
do they think their going to convince one of us to go back to the kh.?
Many years ago when I was an elder, I remember that the Soc. Came out with a letter to all elders that they should avoid partaking in local public debates. This since a high ranked JW, made an catastrophic achievement in public broadcasted debate on the subject “could JW:s be right”, this in Canada. All elders where recommended to leave all invitations to their branch office, and these branch office brothers there where usually saying no thank you, when asked.
I have speculated in why the soc. Is so negative to public debates. Public debates must be o golden opportunity to carry out the message.
The reason is as far as I have understood this. The GB knows that the soc.s argument are indeed very infirm. In fact they are ludicrous. And if they use their argument in public with a good journalist as questioner, they will only lose more members. We can often see on this site, when those “trolls” are arguing for some of the soc.s ideas that they really don’t know what they are talking about. They are often very uninformed or just stupid. Most of them are also very uneducated. They usually withdraw their arguments. It looks like they are testing the soc.s argument, with someone they knew could give them the other sides viewpoint. They of course also know that many of us on this site have broken all these arguments, about the bibles wholeness, and the impossibility of the creation 6000 years ago. And they would like to hear these arguments in secret. (They cannot of course ask their elders)
So let us not give up. This site is increasing day by day, we are not afraid of taking a part of a public debate..
Bugbear
i really do not like that word (apostate), as used to represent someone who decided to remove themselves, or was removed from the influence of the watchtower... but i am curious.. how long have websites like these been in existence?
when did this movement begin?.
personally, how long did it take for you to dare exploring information outside the watchtower publications, about jehovah's witnesses (especially online)?.
I have been a part of this community for over one year. In my case I started to doubt some of the teachings from WTBS, as early as 30 years ago, but kept quiet. 15 years ago I resigned as an elder but attended meeting out of loyalty to my family. Of course the “friends” was worried over my behavior and I got a personal visit from the CO. We had been god friends for more than 30 years. And of course this visit was quite difficult for him as well. Resigning as an elder made it possibly for me to take up my university studies again, and after 3 years study I was quite sure that I had right in my doubts. I therefore expressed all I know about ancient history, the bibles reliability (and mistakes) and I also pointed out the absolute absurdness in the moral Philosophy that goes along with the Bible.
The CO responded,; this you must have heard on the internet?..
In fact, I had not seen anything on the internet about JWfacts or other sites like this. I was totally unaware of their existence. So I said to my old friend all these facts you can find here in my personal library (old books), and if you want we could visit together the old library in our university to check all the figures and facts that are present there. Of course he refused (I haven’t seen him since then).
But what he said, you must have found all this on the internet, made me curious. And I started to google on the subject JW. It must be over 1000 of “friends” that wants to share theirs experience..
Bugbear
this topic was posted yesterday on an italian fb page.
i replied that my personal experience was very positive.
of course i have to admit that my.
Being married to a hardcore JW:, sister and that for 40 years, and myself being out (formerly elder), more than 15 years, I must admit that life is like walking on a long narrow string. I steadily have to watch my tongue, not to say anything, that could make her upset. Just a few questions about the financial situation, and how effective her preaching activities is, can make her scream and rush out of the door. I do like her very much and I certainly don’t want a divorce. I rather feel sorry for her (and other friends), that cannot see through this gigantic bluff. But sometimes, when it is very obvious, I ask her questions about why that or why so. I hope this will wake her up slowly and not crushing her life.
Fortunately I have managed to keep all our children out of it, so she is most likely being very lonesome, in our family, end therefore the shunning of me has been very mild and polite. But when it comes to holidays and birthdays, she becomes very nervous and don´t know which leg to stand on.
I feel pity for her, she is the one suffering not me
Bugbear
