Posts by Brock Talon

27

There are only 4 ways to leave the Jehovah's Witnesses

by new boy in

jw
friends

there are only four ways of leaving the jehovah’s witnesses.

so there are four ways that could lead to shunning.

i say “could” because options three and four has some loopholes.

Brock Talon

If you were once baptized into the JW religion and you wanted to leave it, there are only four ways that someone can describe your status, that is, once you are out for good:

1. DFed

2. DAed

3. Faded

4. Dead

All of them are bad.

Disfellowshipping is a disciplinary status; that is true. And some might want to stay in the religion after being DFed. That is fine. I am talking about if you want to stay out. For good. If so, you will have to describe yourself in terms that fit one of those first three ways. (Of course, you can't describe yourself as the fourth, but someone else could.)

The "I just walked away and never went back" trick is a form of fading. I did that myself. I still lost all of my so-called friends, etc., just as if I were DFed or DAed. And perhaps you can fade quickly and never face an elder's meeting that would result in your possible DFing or DAing, fine. You still faded (in my definition of it.) You just did the quick fade. "Quitting cold turkey" is still fading. You still lose every so-called friend you ever had in the religion and to other JWs, they will have you in mind for a very long time until they come to grips that you are now gone. If you run into them, they will ask about where you are at.

Even if you leave the area like I did and not have to face other JWs during your "quick, cold-turkey fade" you will still think like a JW and be hindered by that mindset for MANY years. In reality, you can't really quit cold-turkey - you have to decide to quit, and then muddle through years of figuring out who the heck you are, "fading" from the brain washing you had.

Every one of you who is reading this now, if you were once a JW and now consider yourself not, you experienced one of these ways to get out. Some of you might have experienced more than one. Maybe you tried to fade and were DFed. Maybe someone was DFed and then couldn't take the stress and committed suicide.

You can't leave the Jehovah's Witness religion as a baptized publisher and not go through at least one of those painful, life-diminishing ways.

27

There are only 4 ways to leave the Jehovah's Witnesses

by new boy in

jw
friends

there are only four ways of leaving the jehovah’s witnesses.

so there are four ways that could lead to shunning.

i say “could” because options three and four has some loopholes.

Brock Talon

This topic is a nice recap from my book "Escape from Paradise" from the chapter entitled "Death may be the easiest way."

Page 208 says "...many hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, do leave the Watch Tower organization... However, there are only four ways to leave the Jehovah's Witness faith once you ave been baptized into it, and none of them are pretty. These are: disfellowshipping, disassociation, fading, and death."

The entire chapter is dedicated to explaining all the variations of each of these ways and how they affect those who have to go through whichever way their situation takes them.

This chapter was written primarily for those who are not associated with the JWs so they can understand what we ex-JWs had to go through, as well as to memorialize those among our families and friends who decided that death was the easiest way out.

22

Do You Have Any Indoctrinated Guilt Left Over?

by pale.emperor in

i voted this morning for the first time.

at 32yo i wondered in a church of england parish hall with no idea what i was doing.

everyone else knew how to do it.

Brock Talon

23

Will there ever be an apology from GB for going beyond what's written ?

by Chook in

just a simple " we are sorry " .

.

Brock Talon

24

"Privileges"

by minimus in

jw
friends

within the organization, jehovah's witnesses know that they must be dutiful and set an example for "worldly ones" as well as for their own brotherhood.

if a witness fails in setting the proper example, they may lose some 'privileges"..... what privileges did you look to have and what privileges did you lose?

?.

Brock Talon

The first "privilege" I ever got as a child was the old "running the microphone" duty. At first, I couldn't wait to do it, but in time I realized that if I messed up somehow, I would be chastised for it after the meeting.

After awhile, I hated running the mics, so I asked to advance to "stage duty," which turned out to be worse! Now if I didn't adjust the microphone on time or at the right angle for the speaker, or if I set up the chairs incorrectly or something like that, I could chastised and corrected in front of everyone, on the spot!

So, I asked to graduate to "sound room" duty. Again, this was even worse than the other two! If the records skipped (yes, I'm that old, and we used phonograph records for our music when I was youngster) or if I put on the wrong song, or let the song run into the next one afterwards... now I ruined the entire meeting!

Arrrrrgh!!!

So, I asked to work the literature counter, but found out if I over ordered, or under ordered, or ordered correctly but the people didn't pick up their stuff on time, that was even worse! Now I was wasting our congregations money!

Aye ya yay!

By then, I was able to start reading for the Watchtower... but, no, wait! That was EVEN WORSE...

Need I go on?

7

Reading Journal To Bethel

by Cold Steel in

ray publisherer interviewed one-time bethelite peon "brock talon" about four years ago and i'm now reading talon's book journey to bethel.

for those of you who may not be jws (and even those who were and are), that journey provides a fascinating insight into the pecking order at "god's house"... at least how it was in the early 80s.

and it's a book even the rank-and-file faithful would find amusing.

Brock Talon

Hey Cold Steel. Thanks for the shout out!

For the record, I still peruse this forum from time to time and was pleasantly surprised to find your post. It led to my listening to that first interview with Eric, which brought back pleasant memories of hanging out with him and Gregorio Smith a few years back.

I have been humbled on how my books have had "legs," and are still read on a daily basis by someone somewhere in the world. Best of all, they have helped many escape the clutches of the Watchtower, or at minimum, have helped people heal after their leaving. It's word of mouth from nice folks like you that keep the fire burning about the important thing: the message.

---

careful & nonjwspouse - Thanks for remembering me. I realize that I don't post all that often here, so it's not like I'm a fixture. I've often wondered if anyone on this site even remembers me anymore... I guess now I know that some do.

Again though, it's not about me. (After all, who the heck is Brock Talon anyway?)

It's about the message!

62

Would You EVER Go Back To Being A Jehovah's Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i could never understand why some people who know the truth about the "truth" ever go back.

once you understand all the hypocrisy and negatives, i would think it's almost impossible to go back!.

Brock Talon

28

Women are a "stack of bones and a hank of hair" - J.F. Rutherford

by krismalone in

i have heard rumors and anecdotes of j.f.

rutherford calling women "a hank of hair and a stack of bones" but i never thought it was documented.

well thanks to jwfacts i finally found the quote in print.. this j.f.

Brock Talon

When I was in Bethel in the 1980's, I actually heard a different version of that phrase used. I don't remember exactly who it was that said it the first time I heard it, but I believe it was at the breakfast table by one of the GB. What I heard was "Brothers, why are you so interested in chasing a bag of bones and a hank of hair?"

For some reason, everyone laughed. Even the women.

I guess it was an inside joke?

Go figure.

A friend of mine there who played the guitar actually wrote a love song that he called, "My little bag of bones," or something like that.

Now THAT was funny.

18

PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE

by Hairtrigger in

it just struck me while reading another post on the forum.

the catholics have numerous shrines all over the world and places of pilgrimage and the mother of them all ... rome.

the muslims have mecca and medina.

Brock Talon

LongHairGal - It was meant to be a facetious comment about the thoughts my younger self had before I applied to go to Bethel. The comment about the "religion" of hedonism and the "holy place" of the Playboy Mansion is a clue.

18

PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE

by Hairtrigger in

it just struck me while reading another post on the forum.

the catholics have numerous shrines all over the world and places of pilgrimage and the mother of them all ... rome.

the muslims have mecca and medina.

Brock Talon

Excerpt from Journey to God's House, page 9.

"We Witnesses named our headquarters Bethel, which translates in Hebrew to 'House of God.' Being asked to work there was the ultimate privilege a young Witness could aspire to. There simply was no higher calling for anybody raised in the Jehovah's Witness faith. Every religion has a special holy place which is revered and where its believers plan to make the occasional pilgrimage: Islam has its Mecca, Judaism its Wailing Wall, Catholicism its Vatican, and hedonists the Playboy Mansion.

We Witnesses had Bethel."