Posts by LevelThePlayingField

22

The point at which you think this may not be the truth

by LevelThePlayingField in

i remember one of the nights that i found out the truth wasn't the truth, that is after finding out about the united nations, i remember riding my bicycle from like 1am till 5am in the city night.

it was rather chilly, maybe about 55-60 degrees and i was playing pink floyd's dark side of the moon album in my earbuds.

just riding and riding, not really tiring because of the thought that 7 men in brooklyn had duped me, duped me for like 20 plus years.

LevelThePlayingField

deegee, you asked:

"I am always curious when someone claims that God showed them something.

How does God do this?

Why didn't God show you that the truth as JW's know it isn't the truth from the very beginning?"

Well, I don't really have an answer for that. You have a good point. Why wouldn't have God shown me the truth about the JW's from the beginning? I really don't know. I don't have a logical answer for that. I guess for me, it's one step at a time. But you make a really good point. At the time back in the 80's when I was praying to know God, I got involved with the JW's and I thought that was God's answer. Now I know it wasn't God. I think God allows us to find our own way.

At least, that's what I think now. One thing is for sure. I'm not going head-long toward any religion right now.

18

Books are not dying out and this is not the reason for the WT turning to tablets

by slimboyfat in

there's a popular misconception that books in general are in terminal decline, that this is the reason the wt organisation has turned to tablets instead of print, and this in turn has created a financial crisis for the organisation which traditionally relied upon publishing books for income.

this is wrong on a number of levels.

firstly physical books are not in terminal decline, they are as popular as ever with consumers.

LevelThePlayingField

Slim, I love reading your posts. They often talk about things that are on my mind but can't quite figure out. I think you are right about the whole thing. I think that if they could still sell literature, then the tablet would still be evil.

5

july 4th

by zeb in

jw
friends

happy independence day all the american readers.

.

LevelThePlayingField

Independence from Watchtower! Happy 4th to all!

8

July Broadcast Music Video of the Month We Marvel at Your Works.

by Buster k in

wow, wow, it appears on about the 50:00 minute mark and it shows the kingdom at hand publication and many old school awake issues.

it shows also many many la la land moments where the actors sing to the lyrics.

i know they been doing this for last few months.

LevelThePlayingField

Wow, thanks for sharing. I am so pumped! This must be the truth! :(

23

chasing me for a report

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

i'm fairly new on here and i've told a lot of my story but to recap, after 60 odd years i've stopped going to the meetings.

my husband had already left the truth years ago and my children didn't become jws.(phew!).

i had a horrendous childhood growing up as a witness which included sexual assault by a close relative, also a jw.

LevelThePlayingField

Phoebe,

I would say that you are really in a bad position if this was really the true religion. But it's not, and so for you that's actually good news. The JW's are different in many ways, but not the true religion. So, don't let them bug you about anything. There is much good advice here from people who are with it as regards to reality. But as for the JW elders, not so much.

22

The point at which you think this may not be the truth

by LevelThePlayingField in

i remember one of the nights that i found out the truth wasn't the truth, that is after finding out about the united nations, i remember riding my bicycle from like 1am till 5am in the city night.

it was rather chilly, maybe about 55-60 degrees and i was playing pink floyd's dark side of the moon album in my earbuds.

just riding and riding, not really tiring because of the thought that 7 men in brooklyn had duped me, duped me for like 20 plus years.

LevelThePlayingField

I remember one of the nights that I found out the truth wasn't the truth, that is after finding out about the United Nations, I remember riding my bicycle from like 1am till 5am in the city night. It was rather chilly, maybe about 55-60 degrees and I was playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album in my earbuds. Just riding and riding, not really tiring because of the thought that 7 men in Brooklyn had duped me, duped me for like 20 plus years. How could this happen? Where did I go wrong? Why didn't I see it from the beginning?

How could they? How could they commit this treason? This treason of being in bed with the United Nations for ten years? At the time, it hadn't dawned on me that they really didn't care at all. At that time in 2013 I thought that they were still a caring group who had my best interest at heart, or I thought that it just had to be that way. How could they be any different, for in fact, to me, they were the ones representing the faithful and discreet slave for 20 plus years. In my mind I was thinking, "they just really effed up on this one...." But some how I knew that really wasn't the deal. They more than effed up. They did this United Nations thing on purpose and in my mind I just knew, I just knew it.

But how do I rationalize it? How do I make it make sense? Why doesn't it make sense, after all they are the faithful slave? So I just rode and rode, crying sometimes. Why just why? How could they? But they did, and did for 10 years. It was deliberate.

Now I need to look at them differently. And I think it was at that point that I crossed over a line that I have never come back from. I never looked at the men as the faithful slave the same ever again. It was at that time, for the first time, that I said, 'maybe they are actually not from God.'

And the rabbit hole was before me. Do I dare go down this hole? What if I find out that this isn't the truth? How in the world will I make sense of anything if that's the case? How will I do this? Can it be done? What if I'm wrong? Now what?

But I must go on, I have to. I asked God that night to show me the truth, no matter what. Good, bad or ugly. And over the last four years he has shown to me that the truth as JW's know it isn't the truth. And now, I know. Now it's so simple.

All the times I used to cringe when someone on this site would say that they are a cult, I thought, no, don't have to go that far. But now after 4 years I have nothing to say but yes, if you study the whole religion and really pay attention to everything, you too will see that they are indeed a cult.

Wow, what a difference four years can make. So now what? I still have faith in God, but not the JW way. I am much happier now, and much freer now. I have nearly mo mental, in fact no mental problems anymore. I don't have a guilty conscience about any thing, but yet still live a moral life. I used to have a guilty conscience about making money. Now, today I made time and a half for working on July 4th and loved it. I said, "happy 4th" to many people, and they replied the same back to me. It all made sense, good sense. I feel good working. I used to feel guilty for working and not being in field serve-us. Then when in field service I would wonder how I would make the bills. Now, I rarely turn in time, and it feels really good. It feels good to feel good.

Finally.

Thanks faithful slave for being so hypocritical. Now I have my life for me and not you! What a wonderful life I have in front of me.

My only regret is that I should have found out much earlier.

So, the next time you see a guy on a bicycle, maybe he's riding to reconcile the truth about the truth, who knows...

As Pink FLoyd would say, "Us and them. And after all, we're only ordinary men..."

15

Observation of Sam Heard at Regional Convention in Dayton, OH

by LevelThePlayingField in

heard gave 3 talks at the convention.

one thing i noticed rather quickly was how stuck he was to his notes.

he rarely looked up.

LevelThePlayingField

One other thing of note, was that Heard has the last part on the last day of the convention. It was about how we know the end is near. He said absolutely nothing about how we know the end is near. Really. He didn't read Matt 24 or anything. All he said was "all the prophecies in the Bible, as all you dear brothers and sister know, are being fullfilled right now. So we know the end is very close". That was it. Nothing about imminent or anything, well, that is until Tony tight pants had a video at the last minute. He said the end is imminent.

Yeah, Tony, I know. It's been imminent for 138 years. So what's new.

12

Doing your own research

by Reazon22 in

jw
friends

we all know watchtower doesn't encourage their members do research for themselves.

can anyone point out any articles where it mentions this?

any help would be appreciated.

LevelThePlayingField

I was once told, not to Google things, but only stick to WT library or JW dot orgy. So I asked the elder, so I can't go on weather.com and check the weather? Or go to cnn.com and look up the latest news? He had nothing to say.

26

Where were the present GB members in 1975 and their ages the

by Lostandfound in

42years have passed since the great 1975 expectation delivered nothing.

blame for the expectations laid at feet of the faithful, 'it's your fault , you believed us so you are responsible for the let down'.

i have asked this previously and repeat the point, where were the current members of the governing body, 43 years ago.

LevelThePlayingField

I know this much about Heard, he must be feable minded because he gave 3 talks at our convention and and he reads everything not looking up at the audience for nothing. Even common scriptures like Matt 24:14, he reads it with out looking up.

15

Observation of Sam Heard at Regional Convention in Dayton, OH

by LevelThePlayingField in

heard gave 3 talks at the convention.

one thing i noticed rather quickly was how stuck he was to his notes.

he rarely looked up.

LevelThePlayingField

Heard gave 3 talks at the convention. One thing I noticed rather quickly was how stuck he was to his notes. He rarely looked up. And then I realized that, he was actually reading everything word for word. But he was literally reading everything. He held up his notes, the audience could clearly see them. He read everything, including scriptures.

One of his talks was in order to release a new Bible story book. So he was reciting about 4 or 5 bible stories. And you would think that he would be able to just look at the audience and recite the story right? No. He read each story word for word. Every once in a while he would loose his place, and it was on something so simple, like "So Daniel was about to....(3 seconds later... be eating by the lions, but no, Jehovah..." It was stuff like that, that got me really looking at this guy.

He never just talks. Never, unless he cracks a joke. My first thought was, 'this guy's loosing it in his old age, so he has to give manuscript talks only'. He kept shuffling the pages, one to the other and at the end of each talk he would read things like, "Well, friends, we truly have been instructed by Jehovah...." but he would read those words and NOT look at the audience at all when he should be able to extenperaniously (spelling) speak those things. It should just come from the heart right?

I mean, the guy has like 150 years of full time service, right? So why doesn't he have an idea of his own like all the other speakers that were before and after him. My thought, is that he's getting to the point where he's so old he can't have thoughts that just flow like that. If he gave a talk like any of the three he gave at the convention, he would be pulled aside after the school and counseled. But everybody just lapped it up. :(