Posts by av8orntexas

31

If you found yourself sitting next to a GB member on a plane...

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

...or on a train or whatever, and it was just the two of you, and the it was going to be a reasonably long trip... what would you say to him?

would you try to reason with him that the witnesses are wrong?

tell him what things need to change and why?

av8orntexas

The WTS has a 'corporate contract' with our airline since we have a good number of flights out of new jersey and I can tell you for a FACT that a number of brothers have called returning to beth-HELL and demanding free trips for a delyed bag. I understand the delay,but we're not flying you to Paris when you flew to Miami for the weekend for a wedding. they have no IDEA i know who they are, and how the 'witness' that they give to me in their actions

This one brother was like I fly you all the time...looked up his pnr an thats what lead me to see the the WTS paid for his trip...yet he was making out like he was dropping major money.

To answer the question..yes...I've sat next to brothers in 1st and if the R & F only knew how they got to conventions......freeloaders.

68

Music Concerts/ Groups / Singers You Have Seen Perform ? Your Take on Them

by flipper in

jw
friends

av8orntexas

Stone Temple Pilots June 2008 Houston ( The Woodlands ) 2nd concert ever in my ENTIRE 31 years of life....as you know pretty much all music is bad to the dubs,unless it's instrumental

The first was John Micheal Montgomery again in the Woodlands,that was back in 1998. Here's some pics from STP.....Great show, it's an outdoor place so it has an huge lawn. Show started at about 9-930,so it was nice an cool by that time..........

Judging from the list of people everyone here has seen....I'm waaaaaay behind the curve. I need to catch up on my Salsa/Merengue,Rap,alternative. My first congo was pretty much by the book..dancing and music was watched closely...and it was pretty much all country all the time..and that was about it. Most dubs in my congo were never into the concert thing. I was way too good a dub

45

Lurker for a long time, finally decided to take the plunge!

by Momma-Tossed-Me in

i say this because i have been helped so much by the many posts that represent the way i feel about the wtbts.

it is good to know that there are so many people that feel this way.

i am currently inactive and dont comment but do attend meetings for the sake of the family.. my wife is still in and i have a daughter and one on the way.

av8orntexas

Welcome !!! I think you will find many hear have similar feelings,thoughts etc actually. It's and eye-opener, and perhaps you will learn new things or have some private thoughts confirmed.

29

Are Jehovah's Witnesses a Cult?

by digderidoo in

i have found these 14 characteristics of a typical cult and below are some questions regarding the behaviour of a cult.

my personal opinion is that the watchtower society fits into most of these characteristics, with the exception of 1& 14. possibly part of number 10 fits, but not all.

i feel that all of the questions posed should be asked of jw's and all of the further symptoms apply too.

av8orntexas

Now in fade, and able to step outside the JW thinking, I realize if they are nnot, they in fact exhibit strong cult-like actions. The way my mother refers to non-jw's as "worldly" as if somehow speaking to such a person will surely lead one off into a path of destruction and certain death.

The way an old friend of mine, whom at one point I thought was no doubt someone who'd be ripe for fading or leaving altogether, is quick to make up EXCUSE after EXCUSE for the things and people, refusing to SEE things for what they really are.

I've flipped-flopped between 03' and this year with this site,but this past May really began to read the many threads hear and can say JW's are a cult......or close to it.

I like many JW's I'm sure now, had no idea about child molestors,of course no one talks of it. I'm in the midst of reading crisis of conscience and wel.......had no idea the book was out there. I consider myself an logical and independant thinker,yet I realize was just a drone, ate up the WT ~~garbage~~ food like it was going out of style.

Unfortunatly, I feel like it takes something to happen to an JW on a personal level ( df'd, slighted by someone, their eyes opend to certain doctrines,be it on their own or indirect ) before a JW' will actually wake up. It seems reasoning with one is to no avail.

Which is why i agree with with 1. Most swear total allegiance to the WT. How else do you explain a sane and supposedly logical person willing to cut TOTAL ties with their blood family for men whom they have just come into association with ? Is that not cultic ?

How else do you explain being able to show an JW OBVIOUS ~~faults~~ lies with the WT, and this person, again as you know them to be...smart,sane, LOGICAL, yet....willing to lie to themselves,deny or simply deny a FACT. As I brought to A JW brother I know, if he or I were to step outside the present line of thought, would we not be told to "adjust our thinking " ? if that is not mind control....but again, when you're IN......REALLY IN ( this brother is in the RBC, and methinks he has had a a nice taste of power. ) and it's amaing how your eyes can be blinded to the obvious. Thats why I feel it sometimes takes something on a personal level before a person starts to THINK. Otherwise you're likely to wonder how a peron could leave such blessing provided by the FDS.

How else do you explain people willing to forgo education, great careers, time with family, vactions, in order to work a FULL/PART-TIME JOB as a maazine sales rep ( no pay ) If you were like myself, that meant working SEVEN DAYS week,because naturally the friends would find a way to ~~guilt~~ encourage you into using those two day to JAH

It's like the elephant in the room that people speak of. Yet, so frustrating !!!

This site has opened my eyes to so many things I had NO CLUE as to how things really work in the ~~organization~~ corporation. It's scary,because the WT is good.I hate to give them credit,but they are SLICK, and they know how to carck that whip.

Sorry for the rant,but in the last three months I've poured over numerous threads here, and wow..many hit the nail on the head of what i know or suspected, others have pretty much widely opened my eyes.

38

Promiscuous or sexually free?

by brunnhilde in

so i'm 37 and i've only been with one man, my ex-husband, in my entire life.

i just started a new relationship with a wonderful man but i'm fighting the preprogramming that comes from being a dub for 35 years.

how have other people overcome the inhibitions and issues that come from the ridiculously rigid sexual mindset of the wtbs?

av8orntexas

Get Busy with it !!!! lol

..........But move at your pace. When you're ready, you'll know, and it will be easier, as you grow to be more comfortable and probably find you have a wild side. Everyone does to an extent

27

Is it better to stay married one time or have been married couple of times?

by asilentone in

i know it is a hard question, i would like to know your thoughts.

av8orntexas

I would prefer to get it right the first time, and hit the home run. Having never been married, I wouldn't know. I find dating or anything involving that with JW's to be the B IGGEST headache I've ever dealt with in my life.

Probably better to marry once, then do it a bunch of times. But...maybe wait until later in life. I'm a without a doubt more mature now, than tens years ago, and it's amazing how your feelings and likes do change. You do start to see the whole picture. If anything I had no realistic view of marriage,finances, work,etc at 21. More like a hopeful fancy back then.

But of course we were going to pioneer, be merry, and await the big A to bail us out

30

DC Experiences - reality vs. perception

by sir82 in

jw
friends

at a recent dc, an elderly sister was interviewed.

she recounted how she endured through many years of her husband's opposition, never giving up, until finally he relented.

eventually, he bacame baptized and joined her in the full-time pioneer work.. end of experience.

av8orntexas

I know of an experience here in Rosenburg in like 2003.2004. A brother in our Circiut inThe Woodlands Congregation gave of giving up "riches" to serve Jehovah.

There a few ex-NFLers who reside in The Woodlands, so I took it to be true, and his name exscapes me,but I always remember it like it was yesaterday. He was really big black brother, and he was drafted by the Washington Redskins. He he played a a number of years and then quite.

I felt running on the stage and punting his a*^ off for being so stupid. Thats a bit harsh,but I remember asking others afterward if they would have given up that kind of money.

Of course everyone had a ready-made answer of how the WTS provides true riches........

I SAID ....

6

Did anyone attend the Rosenberg DC in Texas?

by cawshun in

jw
friends

interested in hearing if attendance was up or down, did they speak about higher education and do the symbolic .

book burning?

my kids just got back from the 3 day dc, just courious how it went.

av8orntexas

Up until 2001...maybe 2002 the DC was in the Astrodome, and the last few years it was hitting 40-45K with the rainbow level getting seats opened up. In the Astrodome with so many people you could leave early,just not show up ( which I started to do in 2002 ) and just tell people,... " oh, yeah I sat so and so,just so many people man, I looked for you.... ya know ??" In the latter years you could barely walk on the Orange level, and that became true on the gray and red levels as well.

I guess Bob Mcnair (NFL owner ) told the JW's to pound sand when they opened the new NFL stadium next door, Reliant Stadium. Even though it has a roof, I hardly doubt he was going to let them trample all over that grass, which they truck in,so it's not cheap. Anyone why they stopped with the dome ? As it has been closed in terms of MLB since 2000,the year the baseball stadium downtown opened. But I know it was used as late as 2001,the year we had Tropical Storm Allison.

In 2003/04 I think it was the Collins Center ( English ), the basketball arena up at Texas A&M University...for one year at least I know. Didn't attend there.

When I moved over to Spanish in 2005,they had it in Beaumont. Boy how things change......in JULY 2005 with gas at a WHOPPING 1.89/gal I thought that was too far, and gas TOO expensive......I guess those were the good ole' days.Didn't attend there either.

32

Dating a JW and need some help

by Whizkid in

i've been 'going out' with a beautiful girl and we have a great time together.

we have a lot of similar interests and always have stuff to talk/do.

the problem is that she's a jw, and i know there is no way i'm going to become a jw.

av8orntexas

If she gives you the " I want us to be friends,you're like a brother to me, and making JEHOVAH HAPPY ( not you ) is very important to me..." line, I'd bail. Been there,done that, and it's been an enormous source of frustration over the years.

I'd continue to try to persuade her. Try not to be too pushy though. Just point out your view of things. If anything,she's been taught to resist all other literature,belifes,etc. They're wrong and bad. Just be subtle about it, and I think you'll make some leeway. If she's developed pretty good friendships with sisters....surely she has mentioned you to them, and they're probably trying to tell her to either convert you or leave you alone depending on how she may have described your relationship to them.

54

How Long Did It Take You to Realize It Wasn't "The Truth"?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i see some posters still aren't 100% sure that the jehovah's witness religion might not be "the truth"....was there a moment when things became very clear for you regarding this religion?.

do you still think, maybe----jws aren't all that bad??

?.

av8orntexas

Probably about five years.I was baptized Feb 2,1996 I always had these questions or doubts,but continually looking for that 'person' I could confide in who wouldn't 1.) turn me in to the elders. 2.) browbeat me with the bible,and give me the "your sprituality is weak,read your literature and pray more.." line. 3.) Determine I was 'bad association' and spread this to others.

I flipped flopped over the years. Reaching out, doing everything. At one point for doing Magazine and Book room. Doing One before the meeting, and the latter after. In between I carried the microphones...some nights when 'younger' brothers did not show, I'd do aisle AND stage. It became. I began to see I was NEVER doing enough WHAT THE HELL ???? I Reached out because i really liked the Kool-aid, and was a true believer. But I began to see you had really kiss some a**

Plus I was Regular Pioneering and trying to do the two-year college deal, I was beat. By year 5 I was in my current job for two years, and burned out. I get to the meeting early to speak to everyone,not jst to do it,but as an elder told me, get to know everyone, and damn it I knew all 120 or people in like an month and a half. I made the effort to get bto know them. When I came in only one broither really had anything to do with me, and I HATED feeling, so I really did try.

Nonetheless by 2005, I was hanging by a string, and noticed most people in my age group, were flat out leaving, or just didn't give a damn who knew what they did. The actions of others in the organization, the 1914 bit,which I have been looking at VERY closey, since I was baptized in 1996, and started studying 'for real' in 1994/95. Even as far back as the King of the North Deal with the USSR. I ALWAYS wondered about these things. Not to mention ALL my friends who went to jail, strung out on drugs......that surprised me,because I thought we were all on the up and up.