Hat's off to Mary for sticking around to help newbies and lurkers plot their course out of the WT. I just checked my start date and it's 8 years for me, as of a week ago. It was quality posters like Mary that kept me lurking here for months before I finally signed on back in June 2003. At the time, I was conducting the WT study every Sunday and going through the motions while trying to still the loud voice in my head that said, "WTF am I doing here?"
willyloman
JoinedPosts by willyloman
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41
My 9th Year On Here........
by Mary inholy crapola!
i joined this board 9 years ago today......i can't believe it's been that long.
i miss alot of the ones that were on here when i first joined: unclebruce, dr. jekyll, gumby, kw13, littletoe, xena, simplesally, dansk, bendrr, englishman, ozziepost, luna, brummie, juni, buttlight.......we had a lot of fun on the board but it's nice that there's alot of newbies on here too.......plus, i ain't the only old timer on here!
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When You Left The "Truth" Were People Shocked?
by minimus ini faded and when witnesses realized i had abandoned the faith, they were shocked!
no one would've ever believed that i would've left!
no one!!
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willyloman
We were a couple of "power dubs" (elder, pio, social leaders, deemed "spiritual") whose rapid disappearance should have shocked our former "friends." But I have no evidence that it did.
They closed ranks quickly and with the exception of one or two people the dubs pretty much ignored our departure. I was not that surprised. Once we decided to make a break for the exit, we analyzed the circumstances of others who had left and knew that, if we played it right, the exit process would be predictable. The key for us was, we had the courage of our convictions and left as conscientious objectors.I have come to realize how powerful cognitive dissonance is among the ranks of JWs. It allows them to observe "shocking" events involving their comrades and still compartmentalize those feelings so they don't affect their WTS-directed routine and thought process.
Most of the dubs I have encountered since we left in 2003 either ignore/avoid us or make polite small talk. A few have been friendly and it's clear from their demeanor that they think we were "stumbled" and would love to come back if someone just asked. Only one time was I asked point blank why I no longer came to meetings. I said, "I just don't feel the need to go." And that ended the convo. My wife told a sister who confronted her verbally at a supermarket: "It used to work for us, but when it stopped working we had no choice but to leave."
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The Internet: Viewed by the Governing Body and Former JW's.
by AllTimeJeff init's sort of funny how the internet has turned into the bugaboo of the governing body's existence.
imagine the nerve of people masquerading as ip addresses, with no congregation secretary to track back to!.
of course, "apostates/former jw's" have a view of the internet that sometimes isn't all to realistic either.
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willyloman
There is no point launching a torpedo at a ship that is taking on water. Get your life preserver on first, then help anyone who wants to float away from the wreck.
Brilliant job, ATJ. Hope all is well w you.
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To All Elders/MS's/ Publishers Who Come Here
by metatron inin the past, you were told that you have the opportunity to prove the devil a liar.
this is a nonsensical claim, given that about 2000 years of martyrdom by christians has already passed.
there's nothing left to prove or disprove.. however, you have the opportunity to prove that the watchtower society is lying: that their organization is unclean and overrun with corruption - as proven by an endless stream of elders/ms's and publishers who come here, wishing that they could leave.. you also have the opportunity to prove that their published statistics are false - by reporting fake hours and placements.. if they don't like it, too bad.
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willyloman
But I somehow think that the borg itself takes the moral highground and makes an effort to make the report accurate, as if it mattered a damn. The reason I say this is, if they were okay with fudging why would they not fudge the partakers number downward. By reporting what appears to be the accurate number, they are basically embarassed. If they have no compunction about lying wouldn't this be the place for it?
Or, perhaps they have an ulterior motive for wanting the parktaker numbers to increase.
We already know what their track record is with respect to reporting numbers. In just the past decade, two significant procedural changes were made to impact reports. First, they stopped demonizing youthful baptisms and we began to see little kids get dunked at the assemblies. Second, they sent elders a letter allowing some publishers to count field service time in 15-minute increments, which led to an increase in field service activity reports.
Both of these adjustments came at a time when baptisms and field service hours were running counter to WTS desires. In both instances, the dubs took a cue from the 19th century Mormons, who had a "revelation" ending polygamy at the precise moment Federal troops were en route to Salt Lake City.
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Australia: Victorian Child Protection Inquiry Hears Evidence Against Watch Tower Society
by AndersonsInfo inthe following information was taken from steven unthank's facebook page:.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jw-news/news-release-victorian-child-protection-inquiry-hears-evidence-against-watch-tow/208372889198519.
news release: victorian child protection inquiry hears evidence against watch tower society .
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willyloman
The problem is, many parents are "all in" and trust the elders implicity. Also, they simply don't want to be there when the details are reviewed. So they can give their permission for elders to meet with the minor child, and many do.
Blondie cited chapter and verse of the instructions, but note the weasel words (in yellow):
It would be best to meet with the youth and his or her Christian parents...
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How To Leave Jehovah's Witnesses Easily and Painlessly
by Daniel Metz ini have just thought of a way to leave jehovah's witnesses using information from the new shepherd the flock of god book.
it's quite simply: rebaptism.
here are the steps:.
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willyloman
Blondie's answered the question, case closed.
The thing to remember is: Once you start trying to squirm out of the club, not matter what excuse you use, you are not fooling anyone. They already know why you're leaving. Many of them wish they could leave too but are held captive by personal, business or family issues. They are not really interested in your rationale for leaving; if fact, the more detail you give them, the less impressed they will be. They do not want to know because they already know and it frightens them on some deep level.
Just go.
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To All Elders/MS's/ Publishers Who Come Here
by metatron inin the past, you were told that you have the opportunity to prove the devil a liar.
this is a nonsensical claim, given that about 2000 years of martyrdom by christians has already passed.
there's nothing left to prove or disprove.. however, you have the opportunity to prove that the watchtower society is lying: that their organization is unclean and overrun with corruption - as proven by an endless stream of elders/ms's and publishers who come here, wishing that they could leave.. you also have the opportunity to prove that their published statistics are false - by reporting fake hours and placements.. if they don't like it, too bad.
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willyloman
Statement many publishers often hear uttered by congo secretaries: "I knew you must have had some time so I put you down for ___ hours."
It's all about the report and looking good for "mother" and her traveling reps.
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Are JW EX elders in need of our contempt or sympathy ?
by eruption inpoint 1. not so long i would have strung them all up and hanged them.. point 2. these guys were the real succers, not only did they become jw,s, they embraced and adopted the cults teachings, and to some extent subjugated thier familys happiness, and thier own,to elevate themselves, and achieve status and recieve privellages, ie not have a f-----g life.
point 3 they had the onerus task of making sense, of the ever changing (truths) and having to teach that crap to the rest of us, and cope with the subsequent questionings that would invariably follow.. point 4.they had to take the lead in (sales) distributing literature.
point 5.they were the authoritarian face of the society, and a lot of people, (myself included ) thought they were jumped up janitors and window cleaners with a chip on thier shoulders.
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willyloman
It's a little awkward for an ex elder to jump in here because there's the risk of appearing defensive. So I won't defend. I will say this, by way of paraphrasing a famous poet: "You did what you knew and when you knew better you stopped doing it."
There are a lot of elders in JW congos who know better but keep doing it for all sorts of personal, family and business reasons.
The ones who stopped doing it for reasons of conscience don't need sympathy and don't deserve contempt. Finding the courage to walk away is its own reward.
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Hilarious C.O. analogy!!
by DavinciCodeBreaker in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>en-ca</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>x-none</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp /> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables /> <w:dontvertalignintxbx /> <w:word11kerningpairs /> <w:cachedcolbalance /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="--" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><!
[endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif].
really put his foot in his mouth last night.
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willyloman
When it comes to spreading manure, most COs are experts.
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A sparkling, clear glass of pure life-giving water...with a twist
by Terry ini can remember a long while back sitting down with a one volue comprehensive printing of pastor russell's studies in the scriptures.. i decided i would try and be as objective and neutral as i could possibly be.
i would begin at the beginning and form impressions on the spot.. well, let me tell you!.
the "tone" was lovely.
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willyloman
What I learned from a wise counselor: It was that "craving for god," that hole in my soul that needed filling, that first led me to JWs.