I read it - I didn't get anything out of it except the fact that the ex-heroin addict had exchanged one addiction for another. A bit too subtle in its critique for my liking. The reference to phobias due to the emphasis on Armageddon was good but not mentioning the fact that they were deliberately implanted by the WBTS meant the point was lost a little bit. The impact on kids who are brought up (indoctrinated) in the religion and have no choice (and the fact that those kids are the growth strategy in the West for the organisation - alluded to but not expanded on), the fact that elders have so much control over the lives of the congregation but lack the skills to perform the role, the way Witness are taught to always feel they are not good enough and the psychologically damaging impact of shunning should have all have gotten a run. The tension between freedom of religion and engaging in abusive practices is the biggest one that was missed.
Frazzled UBM
JoinedPosts by Frazzled UBM
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Longform article on the JW: 'In the Belly of Jehovah'
by nomoreklondikes insome of you might know me from this thread.
i wrote a longform article, 'in the belly of jehovah', on the jehovah's witnesses for an australian magazine, which today has been published online: .
http://theliftedbrow.com/post/88214463157/in-the-belly-of-jehovah-by-pete-nicholson.
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CO Visits
by Frazzled UBM inmore questions from an uninformed ubm: do co visits all happen at the same time each year?
is now co visit season?
what does this mean in terms of harrassing inactive memebers to come to meetings?
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Frazzled UBM
oh crap - thanks for the heads up Da.Furious. Let's see what happens - I will try to warn her about the love bombing and tell her to expect it but to realize that if she resumes regular attendance they will again start treating her as a second class citizen for having a UBM and not being able to get her son to come. Good luck with your wife. Cheers Fraz
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Troll Accusations
by Frazzled UBM ini have noticed that some of us are a bit too eager to label new posters as trolls.
while it is clear that there are some posters who just like to stir up trouble or are out and out apologists there are others who are witnesses starting to have genuine doubts and so ask questions but then when they see the responses the cognitive dissonance kicks in and they push back and argue with what they are being told.
this can lead to very negative reactions from jwn members and accusations that the person is a troll.
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Frazzled UBM
Da.Furious - I would be happy to meet you, perhaps with Laika. Can you get into London on a weekday evening? Cheers Fraz
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Big Time Hypocrite
by Iamallcool inmy dad told me this story long time ago.
there was an long time elder that is never married.
he got caught going to brothel one day after a brother followed him there.
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Frazzled UBM
Sparrowdown - such a sad story and the saddest part is that the poor woman never saw through the hypoocrisy of the org and got out. I imagine she is a very sad bitter woman as a consequence. Hopefully she will never realise the great hope of Paradise Earth is also a fraud - that is probably all she has to hang on to.
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CO Visits
by Frazzled UBM inmore questions from an uninformed ubm: do co visits all happen at the same time each year?
is now co visit season?
what does this mean in terms of harrassing inactive memebers to come to meetings?
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Frazzled UBM
More questions from an uninformed UBM: Do CO visits all happen at the same time each year? Is now CO visit season? What does this mean in terms of harrassing inactive memebers to come to meetings?
The reason I am asking is that after being inactive for a couple of months my wife has gone back into cult behaviour mode (negtive, morose, non-communicative, quick to get angry) and so I asked her whether she was going to the KH this Sunday and she said yes.
When I asked her whether she had been chased up by the elders to go she was non-committal. I feel she has been guilted into this and she is showing the signs of low self-esteem that typically come when she is subject to WBTS influence. How long will the vigilance around the CO visit last?
I am hoping that after Sunday she will resume being inactive but I am obviously concerned that they will keep guilting her into going.
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Troll Accusations
by Frazzled UBM ini have noticed that some of us are a bit too eager to label new posters as trolls.
while it is clear that there are some posters who just like to stir up trouble or are out and out apologists there are others who are witnesses starting to have genuine doubts and so ask questions but then when they see the responses the cognitive dissonance kicks in and they push back and argue with what they are being told.
this can lead to very negative reactions from jwn members and accusations that the person is a troll.
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Frazzled UBM
I have noticed that some of us are a bit too eager to label new posters as trolls. While it is clear that there are some posters who just like to stir up trouble or are out and out apologists there are others who are Witnesses starting to have genuine doubts and so ask questions but then when they see the responses the cognitive dissonance kicks in and they push back and argue with what they are being told. This can lead to very negative reactions from JWN members and accusations that the person is a troll. jnjburkett was one example and FL_Panthers is another.
Well I had a beer with FL_Panthers last night and I can tell you he is far from being a troll. Unlike my experience talking to active Witnesses, he was very open, asked good questions, listened to what I had to tell him and tested it by reference to his Witness background as a way of deciding whether it made sense to him. I could see that he was having an internal battle between his rational side and his Witness side but that the rational side was in the ascendancy. Deep down he knew the problems but his upbringing (baggage such as a nagging concern that Armageddon might just happen) and concerns about family relationships were holding him back from embracing TTATT. But he has embarked on a course that will end up in him realizing TTATT. He knows that there are things he now understands that make it impossible for him to go back to being a fully fledged Witness.
So I know it is annoying when posters don't immediatley accept the validity of the wisdom and personal experiences offered to them on this board but remember the process you all went through (some faster than others) in learning TTATT and cut some of these newbies some slack and don't be too quick to condemn them as trolls.
Cheers Fraz
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Going to family outing with a bad JW
by TTWSYF ini'm not a jw nor is my entire family save for my brother, his wife and kids.
we are celebrating our grandparents 50th anniversary.. one of my brother's kids is living with his girlfriend and as a result, the rest of his immediate {jw} family is shunning him.. what, if anything do you think that i could do or say to get his (jw) family to see how awful their behavior is?.
i am asking for suggestions to get these people to think.. .
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Frazzled UBM
The other thing to consider is how to make sure that your nephew who is being shunned understands what is wrong with being a Witness and so doesn't try to get reinstated once he gets married. I like the idea of reverse shunning and of pointing out to them how outraged you are by practice considering how psychologically abusive shunning is and how contrary it is to being a loving parent. I would use the expression 'Shame on you!'
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oh cr@p!! its my turn for "an elder called and wants to arrange a shepherding call" thread. Moral support please.
by MissFit inis coming and the elder wanted to set up a visit.
it's not like i wasn't warned.
there was a thread that talked about the push to call on inactive ones.. thanks to the heads up here, i knew the motive for the call.. i don't think i even know that eld.
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Frazzled UBM
If push comes to shove and he won't leave you alone, let him know that his presistent calling is harrassment and get legal advice and let him know you are getting legal advice
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1975 end prediction
by FL_Panthers indoes anyone have the article written by the wt saying that the end would come in 1975?.
how did people back then come to this year?
i need this information becuase i was told, this was never literally written by the wt in any publication.. thanks.
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Frazzled UBM
Steve2: Panthers has the ideal mentality for survival in JW-land. Lots of seemingly searching questions "backed up" with a low tolerance for making the effort to find the answers.
I am not sure Panthers behaviour is just typical of JW-land. It is also typical of Gen Y me thinks and Panthers has all the trappings of a Gen Y.
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How many *educated* adults are being converted into the Jehovah's Witnesses nowadays?
by EdenOne inthe 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.
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Frazzled UBM
Bugbear - I am not sure that is the case - some worldly people who fall for Witnesses study and maybe even get baptized but quickly see through the BS. I think it is worse for those who get baptized and then realise the folly of their ways as they have created expectations in the Witness spouse and so the fact that they end up as an Apostate becomes a big source of resentment. It is easier to be a UBM.
The more educated the quicker one sees through the BS even when blinded by love of the Witness. In my case I never contemplated becoming a Witness or even studying. I told my wife very early that if I did a study that I would be labelled as an Opposer within five minutes for the questions I would ask they could not answer. She already understood this from the questions I had asked her so never pursued the subject.