Posts by cha ching

36

Any ideas for my return visit?

by KateWild in

i had a really fun day today.

i went to town on first call to witness to the jws on the trolley outside the main train station in the city.

i had prepared two different presentations depending on whether or not the jws knew me.. if they knew me i planned to tell them how unjust my last jc was and that i didn't believe jehovah cared about me or anyone, and if they didin't know me i would just question them about their disfellowshipping policy.

cha ching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDu42cnB0zs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=GJT5dC3DJo4&feature=endscreen

I love these songs Enjoy!

36

Any ideas for my return visit?

by KateWild in

i had a really fun day today.

i went to town on first call to witness to the jws on the trolley outside the main train station in the city.

i had prepared two different presentations depending on whether or not the jws knew me.. if they knew me i planned to tell them how unjust my last jc was and that i didn't believe jehovah cared about me or anyone, and if they didin't know me i would just question them about their disfellowshipping policy.

cha ching

The trouble is they still believe it's "The Truth" even though what happened was unjust and guidance in the flock book. Kate

...

I do see that happening with people. They have a small, compartmentalized view of the 'organization.' I think that when ex-JW's reveal the inner workings of the organization on a world wide scale, whether it be on the internet, or in person.... honest hearted people will have a hard time dismissing it out of their heads...

JW's hear the mantras "we are imperfect", "people make mistakes", "Jehovah will take care of it in his due time", so many times in a month, that it has become part of their psyche... an automatice defense clause.

So, when something unusual can shake their boat, perhaps... perhaps, a bit of ice cold ocean water will hit them on the face, and that will be the beginning of their awakening... we can only hope the best for them... That is why I feel that if I do do something, it is only because I want to do it, and if no one listens, I can still feel good about myself. It is me... my decision.

36

Any ideas for my return visit?

by KateWild in

i had a really fun day today.

i went to town on first call to witness to the jws on the trolley outside the main train station in the city.

i had prepared two different presentations depending on whether or not the jws knew me.. if they knew me i planned to tell them how unjust my last jc was and that i didn't believe jehovah cared about me or anyone, and if they didin't know me i would just question them about their disfellowshipping policy.

cha ching

Hi Kate,

I can certainly feel your pain!... and frustration. Who wants to be treated unjustly? Who of us wants our name smeared? and then have "the glorious ones" piously sneer at us as we walk by, as if they are soooooo special, and 'righteous'!?!

I agree with you, though... I may be a lot like you... I am not DF'd... yet! But, my husband and children are, and just as you, very unfairly. What did they do wrong? They told the truth! They stood up for what is right! and that is not allowed in WT land.

JW's always want to tell "their side of the story." "We are persecuted for blah, blah, blah....... We just want to tell the truth, we just want our first amendment rights, we just want....... " But damn if you want to tell yours. Nope, not allowed.

Be proud that you DO KNOW THE TRUTH, that YOU are the righteous and true one, and have stuck by your conscience, and are actually FREE of guilt for supporting lies... of anything. I really do think that it is the 'good ones' that leave. People who have moral character are the ones that end up leaving.

Personally, I am all for doing whatever helps one 'get over' or 'get on' with one's life... whether it is 'talking to JW's' or not, blogging, or not.... as long as it is for YOU, great. Be happy with your decisions, just don't expect anything back, right? If I want to tell someone the real truth behind what happened to my family, I will. I won't 'expect anything,' but will not be beaten down, have my head down, walk around like 'I don't exist'!!!!

I will be happy, dance, be proud, live, love, share and laugh!

Hang in there Kate, you are on your way!!!!

cha ching, cha ching..... be happy and sing!

19

Broad and Spacious Road to Destruction, or Narrow Gate to Life??

by stuckinarut2 in

so we all know of the parable / illustration at matt 7:13.

"go in through the narrow gate, because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones finding it, or going in through it".

here is a brain snapping thought that hit me!:.

cha ching

Exactly Magnum! This is what you hear:

I can imagine JWs saying "but Lord, didn't we go to all the meetings and highlight some words in our Watchtowers and pioneer and donate money and clean the hall and bow to the GB.......?" (add: Build KH's) And then he says to them "get away from you blind, ignorant idolaters. And they will be shocked. I'd love to see it.

But realllllllly..... isn't it true? by their fruits we know people???

6

THESE THINGS I hold to be worth sharing as a gift to you

by Terry in

jw
friends

1. intellectual honesty: .

willingness to be wrong when confronted with error.

courage to take the blow of our errors and move forward.. 2. skeptical optimism: .

cha ching

Awesome! My faves:

There is more failure in those who never try.

Find the kind word and speak it; you might lift a heart when that lift means everything.

61

How did you tell your spouse you want out of the JW religion?

by leaving_quietly in

what did you imagine would happen?

did they react the way you expected?

how did you bring it up?.

cha ching

My husband and I always 'discussed/ debated' doctrines throughout our life. We thought that the 'truth' ought to be backed up by the bible, after all, isn't that what WE challenged people in service to do? IF the GB makes US tell people "we can support what we believe, let us show you from the Bible" then the GB ought to be able to do it also, correct?

We also thought that we had the truth, and the truth can be proven, isn't that why we go door to door? When I heard parts on the assembly about "don't talk to Apostates, they can fool you," I would ask myself "What if Catholics, Baptists, 7th Dayers, Mormons, Pentecostals asked me the same question when I am going door to door? Why am I able to face them, and not Apostates???"

Another thing both of us would not tolerate was hypocrisy. If you say you are a 'Christian' then act like one, don't make excuses.

Haven't we always learned that the annointed are just humans like the great crowd? Just with a different 'calling'? I never put the GB on a pedastal, nor the CO's or DO's or Pioneers or Bethelites. They were ALL 'fellow workers.' Christ died for ALL men, not just for people with a title.

So, when the overlapping generation teaching came, and along with that, the 2011 WTs (Oct & Nov) about 607, I was at first happy to see an explanation for why 'the Society' was now saying 'overlapping.' My husband and I studied those two magazines in DETAIL!! We MADE everything 'go together.' (As usual, when the writing department starts a subject, says 'we'll come back to that later' & then they'll continue it either 5 or 10 pgphs later or even IN THE NEXT MAGAZINE!!!) We looked up every reference, held the WT to the same standard it holds everyone else to, and found out that we had been deceived.

At first, I wasn't sure if the GB had done this on purpose. I kept researching the old WT publications, and found the subject of 'how we know the book "___" was truly inspired by God's holy spirit. How? by counting the steps from the printing press to the "The Finished Mystery" and read page 230 (They started explaining what the meaning of Rev 14:20, using the Hoboken Tunnel, measuring distances between buildings, and coming up with the craziest reasonings.. boiling down to numerology.. change numbers to make them work... especially with this 'overlapping generations." The books says:

The mileage from the Scranton to Hoboken Terminal is shown in time tables as 143.8 and this is the mileage charged to passengers, but in 1911, at an expense of $12,000,000 the Lackawanna Railroad completed it’s famous cut-off, saving 11 miles of the distance. From the day the cut-off was completed, the trainmen have been allowed 11 miles less than the time table shows, or a net distance of ….. 132.8

I cried when I saw the similarities of how the WT just changes things when necessary, they simply just..... change.... things..... Numerologists.

My husband and I both could not go back and support the lies. My children? They were older, and had seen many, many conflicting things within the religion, supported (or not ended) by the GB... However, for my one child, it was when they saw how the lawyers acted in the pedophile cases did it really impact them. That is what made it really sink in.

Fortunately for us, their morals, their sense of right and wrong, won over "this is the truth." Because, if it IS the truth, it IS the truth. If they are lying, they are not from God.

My immediate family (husband and children and spouse) made it out. My father wasn't a JW, & I have 1 other sibling that was not a JW, one of my sisters escaped with me, but my two sisters and mom are still in... Their brains are not open to logical thinking..... Loyalty (in hopes of rewards, social or otherwise) to the Borg, has been imbedded into their brains.

Because so much propaganda goes on at the meeting (they repeat the same things week after week after week for a reason) I think it helps if you can get your dearly beloved away from the meetings so that they CAN have a brain of their own. Showing love, helping them to see they CAN have a life outside of JWville, is a great first step!

20

How the organization can survive and thrive in the 21st Century

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

let's face it.

after 2014 comes and goes uneventfully, reality will hit hard for many.

the organization will fall apart and apathy, inactivity and bitterness will rule.

cha ching

Ucantnome.... "it doesn't really matter if it isn't until 20 years from now"

I believe that is the mindset....

The GB has been "grooming" witnesses for this for yearrrrrrssss.... "Who cares when it happens, we'll be ready!" "It can come at any moment, but who really knows the day and the hour" "We are serving Jehovah forever anyway"

20

How the organization can survive and thrive in the 21st Century

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

let's face it.

after 2014 comes and goes uneventfully, reality will hit hard for many.

the organization will fall apart and apathy, inactivity and bitterness will rule.

cha ching

Exactly, eyeuse2badub! "They ain't broke"...... and that is what they are all about!

2

Rights vs. Beliefs vs. Compliance vs. Blackmail

by cha ching in

rights vs beliefs vs compliance vs blackmail.

i did not want this subject to get lost amongst the many valuable threads because of its finnish title... please read the comments on this post, as it moved me to boil it down to how it really strikes me.... http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/279592/1/breaking-news-finland-attacks-judicial-committees#.u2pfzsxou1o.

please think about these questions.. if i grew up in the mafia, was a born in, and had no idea what the family business was all about..... believing it was an honest business... & i participated, what would happen if, at a more mature age, discovered what was going on behind the scenes... pedophilia, money laundering, blackmailing......

cha ching

Famous quotes…..

"Once I thought I was out...they pulled me back in"

"Keep your friends close...but your enemies closer"

" Leave the gun, take the cannolis"

" I'll make him an offer he can't refuse"

“ Make a wish...it'll be your last"

“The best way to enter our business is to be born into it.”

“All problems resolves themselves; given time.”

“Extreme problems often require extreme solutions.”

“Friends are not as important as family. Do not confuse the loyalty of friendship with the bond of blood.”

“A man without enemies is a man without qualities. Even Jesus Christ had many enemies.”

“If you can’t win by fighting fair, fight foul. Or have a third party do your fighting.”

“God will provide, but you must provide till he does.”

“A thousand enemies is not enough; a single enemy is. There is nothing as a ‘ harmless ’ enemy.”

2

Rights vs. Beliefs vs. Compliance vs. Blackmail

by cha ching in

rights vs beliefs vs compliance vs blackmail.

i did not want this subject to get lost amongst the many valuable threads because of its finnish title... please read the comments on this post, as it moved me to boil it down to how it really strikes me.... http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/279592/1/breaking-news-finland-attacks-judicial-committees#.u2pfzsxou1o.

please think about these questions.. if i grew up in the mafia, was a born in, and had no idea what the family business was all about..... believing it was an honest business... & i participated, what would happen if, at a more mature age, discovered what was going on behind the scenes... pedophilia, money laundering, blackmailing......

cha ching

Rights vs Beliefs vs Compliance vs Blackmail

I did not want this subject to get lost amongst the many valuable threads because of it’s Finnish title… Please read the comments on this post, as it moved me to boil it down to how it really strikes me…

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/279592/1/BREAKING-NEWS-Finland-attacks-judicial-committees#.U2pFZSxOU1o

PLEASE THINK ABOUT THESE QUESTIONS.

If I grew up in the ‘Mafia,’ was a “ born in, ” and had no idea what ‘the family business’ was all about….

Believing it was an honest business… & I participated, what would happen if, at a more ‘mature’ age, discovered what was going on behind the scenes… pedophilia, money laundering, blackmailing…… ????

and THEN was actually “ compelled ” to either ‘support the family business’ …‘make a hit’ …either you do it, or else your family will “miss you” …wink, wink.

Now, let’s say I was ALSO a person in a public position , who would be able to influence people’s decisions regarding the validity and success of this ‘family business’ I had grown up in. (Lawyer? Congressman? School teacher? CEO of a Charity?) (an elder? Pioneer? C.O.?) Would I be ‘free’ to express my findings without harm to myself or my family?

Upon hearing that I might not “comply,” to ‘the family’s orders,' strange and scary things start to occur. Imagine three people, from out of the area, appearing in your nice, happy, sweet little “family business” (All with guns, hats, over coats and the power / authority to use ‘whatever means necessary’ to straighten out the ‘situation’.) Your father (‘mother’) has sent them… (“ “Extreme problems often require extreme solutions.” )

You’ve loved your parents, have been raised to believe in ‘loyalty’ to the family (organization) and now the ‘family’ (org) is ready to ‘delete’ you.

Now, if we need any help visualizing, let’s put it in context:

You have just discovered the way the WT deals with pedophilia.

Perhaps, like Manuela Dorman, you just found out that your child has been molested, and you are threatened with blackmail if you go to the police… “We will tell everyone about what happened years ago if you testify or go to the police about this.” Is your “family,” this loving brotherhood/sisterhood really saying this to you?

OR.....

You have testified in a trial “in opposition to the WT”, and now that the case has ended, three new elders with the power to ‘kill’/end your life as you know it, delete your very existence, sweep you under the carpet, take away your good name, infer whatever they want to, have been appointed to your congregation! Your “mother” wants to keep her name “without reproach.” ( “Our principles are highest; honor, solidarity and vengeance. We know there’s no justice for us, except we earn it. We earn respect.”)

They go about “their business” according to the book, feeling no twinge of conscience; they just ‘point and shoot.’ (“ Make a wish...it'll be your last")

Is their a difference when a ‘religion’ ‘deletes’/ ‘disfellowships’ people, to cover up their wrongdoing, or is a crime just crime?