Posts by Brock Talon

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

Brock Talon

Brother Jeramy,

You agreed to this formula: Nazis = WTS. Innocent Germans = The JW people in general

You think therefore that you are akin to being "an innocent German" while the Nazis all around you commit mass murder and wage war on the entire free world. But your agreeing to this analogy is problematic in so many ways. You betray the Stockholm Syndrome mind set I have observed in so many JWs and even some ex-JWs, a syndrome I suffered myself for quite some time.

Here is where you are mistaken:

Innocent Germans existed in Germany LONG BEFORE there were Nazis and they continued to exist after the Nazi rule was over. JWs ONLY exist BECAUSE the WTS exists. They don't exist outside of its construct as you wish desperately to believe. While I agree there is a difference between the JWs as a people and the WTS as an organization, they are indivisible and cannot exist without each other. If you get rid of one, you get rid of the other. One is a reflection of the other. You therefore exist as a JW BECAUSE there is a WTS, not apart from it. That is simply not true of the innocent German you wish to be like.

Innocent Germans couldn't leave their country (they already lived in), they were kept there against their will and HAD to endure while Nazis ruled. JWs are not similarly kept anywhere, except in their own minds, and choose to remain of their own free will (like you).

Innocent Germans did not HAVE to feed the Nazi war machine Jewish victims. JWs DO HAVE to feed the WTS new victims or they are not in good standing (like you).

Innocent Germans did not voluntarily give their funds to the Nazi war machine (they did was was imposed on them, but not a penny more). JWS DO give their money voluntarily, at minimum in literature purchases that funds the WTS machine (like you.)

Innocent Germans worked AGAINST the Nazis when they could because they saw its evils and resisted it at every step (Oskar Schindler and the like) They tried to save people from the Nazi machine. JWs DO NOT work against the WTS and try to save anyone from it (like you.)

Innocent Germans HATED the Nazis and disagreed with their basic teachings, and said as much in private to trusted people. JWs don't hate the WTS and actually defend its teachings in private (like you on this board.)

If a German DIDN'T DO the above things I have stated the innocent German would do, then THEY WERE NOT INNOCENT. They were part and parcel of the Nazi war machine and equally culpable of everything those evil people did because they supported that regime either by default or out of selfishness, or laziness, or delusion. Nazis didn't exist in a vacuum. They got their power FROM the people. So, the individual German was either part of the solution, or they were part of the problem.

Which are you?

104

The Secret is out....but nobody cares

by MrTheocratic in

i've been looking on this site for some time but never posted.

i'll give a little about myself, but not too much.

i'm a ex-bethelite ( brooklyn )and currently serving as an elder (10 years) (thinking about stepping down) on the service committee.

Brock Talon

MrTheocratic

I think you are painting the JW world with a very broad brush, one that is colored by the fact that you are beginning to wake up yourself and starting to recognize the real truth, or what we call "The Truth about The Truth". I am hopeful for you, but as with most people who are waking up, you still have a bit of sleep in your eye.

The thing is, one doesn't have to be a so-called "zealot" or a "blind follower" to be "in" the religion. If you perform field service, give talks and otherwise perpetuate the falsities of the so-called Truth, then you are part of the problem and not part of the solution.

There have always been the weak and the outliers, then skeptical and the cynics. Still, if those same people attend Witness meetings regularly, pray to Jehovah's publicly, go in field service on weekends, donate money to the organization, avoid holidays, and identify themselves as a Jehovah's Witness to strangers they meet, and push all this stuff on their children and others, then they are very much "in". My parents were "weak" and "skeptical", but that didn't stop them from force feeding me enough of this religion to ruin the early years of my life.

The only exception to this could be those who are attempting to fade so as to not have their lives completely implode on them during their fade. But believe me, those people will do as little of the above things as possible and are wishing for a time and looking for a way to not have to do any of it.

And don't be misled, EVERYONE who is "in" gets hurt by this religion. Period. Yes, some get hurt more than others, but in the end, being a Jehovah's Witness at any level is a lose / lose proposition.

Even for you.

-Brock Talon

29

Fading and not "outing" yourself, what are your thoughts on it?

by Brock Talon in

fading and not "outing" yourself.. what are your thoughts on it?.

i ask, because i just received a scathing personal message on facebook from a person who read my latest book and in it i describe myself as a fader.

i was not dfd and i did not da myself.

Brock Talon

Checking back in after work and seeing some great comments on this fading issue.

I really appreciate those of you that have backed up what I've always thought: It's my business. Other ex-JWs should keep their opinions to themselves about whether I should or should not fade. The more I think about it, it's pretty damn nervy of someone to EXPECT me to DA myself and then to chastise me over it with follow up name calling. That just tells me there's something more there as an underlying issue than just my fading or not. I still cannot guess what that person's real problem may be though. It's a puzzle.

I posted about this same thing on my Facebook page and I got so much support from everyone that something interesting happened: that ugly diatribe of a review on Amazon.com was changed by the militant person who posted it! I think all the comments like the ones you have been saying must have gotten to her. She still crapped all over my book with a bad rating, but the words in the review were changed to be less crazy sounding and self convicting, all the while carving off about 95% of the rambling.

Hmmmm.

Anywayz, I really like having this site as a sounding board for when I think I'm going a bit nuts over this book publishing activity of mine that is so closely connected to the ex-JW world. The ex-JW community as a whole is filled with pretty nice and quite decent folks, but the occasional bad-apple really spoils my party from time to time.

But I've decided not to let it spoil my party permanently. There are other people in attendance that I need to see to, and they deserve my being at my best and not feeling sorry for myself.

After all, it's my party and I'll NOT cry if I want to...

Brock

29

Fading and not "outing" yourself, what are your thoughts on it?

by Brock Talon in

fading and not "outing" yourself.. what are your thoughts on it?.

i ask, because i just received a scathing personal message on facebook from a person who read my latest book and in it i describe myself as a fader.

i was not dfd and i did not da myself.

Brock Talon

Steve2, Magnum, Rip... much appreciated. I'm feeling better. I needed those words today. This community has been very helpful to me in my own healing. This day was another example of that.

Signing off for now...

Brock

29

Fading and not "outing" yourself, what are your thoughts on it?

by Brock Talon in

fading and not "outing" yourself.. what are your thoughts on it?.

i ask, because i just received a scathing personal message on facebook from a person who read my latest book and in it i describe myself as a fader.

i was not dfd and i did not da myself.

Brock Talon

Simon, Ignornace, NVR2L8, Billy... I'm feeling a bit better now, reading your words.Thanks so much.

I've been soundly criticized before, but for some reason, this one really got to me. I guess it was terrible review on Amazon.com with a follow up FU message on Facebook from a person who had "friended" me at first and praised me for my first book that really got me discombobulated. I actually tried connecting with them at the time of my first book publishing and then they did this... really strange.

The really weird thing is that the worst criticism I get is usually from ex-JWs. Not JWs.

Strange days indeed...

29

Fading and not "outing" yourself, what are your thoughts on it?

by Brock Talon in

fading and not "outing" yourself.. what are your thoughts on it?.

i ask, because i just received a scathing personal message on facebook from a person who read my latest book and in it i describe myself as a fader.

i was not dfd and i did not da myself.

Brock Talon

Fading and not "outing" yourself.. What are your thoughts on it?

I ask, because I just received a scathing personal message on Facebook from a person who read my latest book and in it I describe myself as a fader. I was not DFd and I did not DA myself. I faded because I didn't want the drama associated with the other options. I wanted to be able to talk to JWs if I should meet them on the street. I also faded because to me the DF/DA situations were just playing by their rules. I felt they didn't have any real hold on me and I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of making judgement on me. So, I just walked away and didn't feel I needed to explain to anyone why I did it. Should I bump into them on the street, I could chat with them and tell them I was happy and reverse Witness to them. Should they try to get me to go back to meetings or meet up with me socially, I would just politely change the subject.

Now I'm being hated on by an angry reader who called me many names for that: Dishonest, narcissistic, needing therapy, fooling myself, and other ugly words by a person who calls themselves Christian. This because I faded and because I don't want to use my real name in public "to out myself properly" after writing a book on the subject.

What are your thoughts on that? Do I have to out myself or write a letter of DA to really be a real ex-JW and not be dishonest? Do I have to expose my real name to a person like this who Facebook friends me and praises my first book (which used Brock Talon as the author's name) one day, but then turns on me for using Brock Talon again for my second book and attacks me that same exact thing?

I know this: I'm not fooling myself that I'm happy now. That much I am sure of. But whether this makes me a "real" ex-JW or not because I faded and refuse to out myself, I'm not sure.

What's your take?

22

Escape from Paradise: a new book by Brock Talon

by Brock Talon in

after a one year gestation period, as well as an extended labor, i am finally happy to announce the birth of my latest book: escape from paradise.. cigars all around!

like any new parent, i need to get some much needed sleep now.

zzzzzzzz.

Brock Talon

NewYork44M,

Sorry I missed your message until now... I just didn't see it. It's a fair question, so I'll try to answer it.

First, understand that I am fairly new to writing myself, so I'm no expert on all this, but my wife is a published author and has been for many years, so I have seen some things that seem to work for her. I'm also assuming that you are not just talking about writing ex-JW memoirs like I have, which is a pretty narrow genre and has a limited audience. So, that said, my advice would probably be considered fairly generic, but I'll give it a go here anyway:

1. Pick a subject you are passionate about or have some emotional connection with. You would probably have to be exceptionally good to connect with readers with something you didn't have any connection with yourself. So, don't try to write a murder mystery if you are not a crazy fan of that genre yourself and don't know it inside and out. Write what you know and write what you feel strongly about. That's the only real way the average person can have a chance at connecting with readers.

2. Pick a basic outline of what you are going to write. Have a beginning, middle and end idea, so that it is a complete book before you write it. It only has to be an idea and it could change while you write it, but don't just start writing without some plan of what you are going to accomplish. If you don't know where you are going with your writing, that's probably where you will end up.

3. Write a little every day, even if it's not very good at first. Get used to thinking about things before and after you write. When you go to sleep at night, stuff will come to you by itself because the mind is an amazing thing that works in background while you do other things, even sleep. So, don't try to force it if it is not coming to you. My wife calls it her "muse," and I didn't understand that until I starting writing myself. Sometimes I would wake up at 3 AM with an idea and I would dictate it to my phone so as to not forget it. If it was an especially strong idea, I'd actually get out of bed and put it all on paper so I wouldn't lose it.

3. If one part of your book is not taking shape, write another part. Write in "snippets." You can always weave them together later, or throw out stuff that doesn't work. There are many stories, ideas and other snippets of writing that never made it into either of my books. Think of it as a film maker who leaves extra footage on the cutting room floor.

4. After you think you are done and you want to congratulate yourself because you now have your final book, take a break from it for a week or so. Re-read it again. You should be surprised to find that you are not done at all. Fix the stuff that is broken or isn't working. Tighten it up. If you can say the same thing with less words, do it.

5. When you are done with all that and think you are NOW done. Taken another break and do it again. All through these steps do your due diligence with spell check and grammar check and cutting out more extra stuff. Also, check to see if you use the same words or phrases over and over again and find some other way to say those things. Don't be repeating yourself unless you MEANT to repeat yourself.

6. Now have at least one other person read it that you trust. This person should be able to tell you honestly what works and what doesn't. Don't argue with them, or get defensive. You don't have to change what they think isn't working, but you should seriously consider it. Do it with more than one person if you can. The more feedback you get, the better.

7. When you are done with all that, get a free "natural reader" software and have it read the entire book back to you while you listen for potential problems or issues. Fix what you find because you will still find things.

8. Now have your book edited by a professional editor or a person with those skills. They will mark up your book all over the place and hurt your feelings because you thought your book was done and was perfect as-is. But of course, they found tons of stuff that they think needs fixing. SERIOUSLY consider fixing those things. Don't involve an editor if you can't take the criticism from somebody who does that kind of thing. Trust me, they will mark up your book A LOT. So, fix everything you think they are correct about. One word of caution here: Don't let the editor take away your "voice." Every author has their own voice, so don't let them edit it into a neutered version of yourself. Stay true to your voice, but fix the things that you know they are correct about.

You are now most likely ready to publish, which is another odyssey entirely, one that I can cover later. But, you have to get through what I just suggested first before you can get to that stage.

Good luck.

Brock

22

Escape from Paradise: a new book by Brock Talon

by Brock Talon in

after a one year gestation period, as well as an extended labor, i am finally happy to announce the birth of my latest book: escape from paradise.. cigars all around!

like any new parent, i need to get some much needed sleep now.

zzzzzzzz.

Brock Talon

Hi Thruthexplorer,

Thanks for the kind words about Journey to God's House.

I hope you enjoy Escape From Paradise too.

I'd love to hear your take on which one you would give to someone trying to escape from the Watch Tower and which one you might give to a non JW to learn about that world.

Brock

101

You will never grow old in this current system of things... - Awake, May 22, 1969 p. 15

by cappytan in

check this out.

got this bound volume from my dad.. .

Brock Talon

Great minds think alike.

Here is an excerpt from my new book, Escape From Paradise, taken form the chapter I call "Wallpapering the Titanic" which talks about this idea affecting my young life back in 1969:

22

Escape from Paradise: a new book by Brock Talon

by Brock Talon in

after a one year gestation period, as well as an extended labor, i am finally happy to announce the birth of my latest book: escape from paradise.. cigars all around!

like any new parent, i need to get some much needed sleep now.

zzzzzzzz.

Brock Talon

My thanks to you Magwitch... for your recommendation and kind words.

Brock