Posts by Syme

23

JW's Should Be Banned!

by mr_doubtful in

i'm all for religious freedoms.

i am not for a religious organization demanding freedoms from the government that they in turn take away from their own members.

why should the organization get religious freedom when they take that very thing away from it's members?.

If a religion that restricts the faithful's freedom should be banned, then almost all religions should be banned, including mainstream Christian ones. Just think of all the restrictions a Catholic or an Orthodox has (fasting, infant baptism and countless others). Every religion puts restrictions in a member's freedom; that is part of the very definition of religion. That is not a reason to completely ban a religion; then we'd have to ban all of them. Freedom of religion means one has the right to voluntarily constrain their own freedom by entering a religion, however stupid that may sound. Stupidity is a right after all, unless it harms others. Which brings us to whether WTS should be prosecuted for specific harmful practices, such ban of blood transfusions. I'm surely in for prosecuting WT for specific harmful practices, such as refusing blood to a minor, or taking action against one who accepts blood (if one wants to refuse blood even though they won't have any repercussions, that's OK). That's a different subject than banning completely a religion just because it restricts a member's freedom in general.

26

In the yearbooks, why 'lands' not 'countries'?

by LoveUniHateExams in

why does watchtower say that the 'world-wide preaching work' occurs in x amount of lands, not countries?

well, i have a theory.

hear me out.

Syme

If you google it, you'll see there are 193 to 206 countries in the world, depending on the definition. This is nowhere near the 236 figure of WTS. They use another word, their own word, so they can count as many as they want, according to their own definition. If they used "countries", they'd have to conform to one of the definitions of the word "country", which would narrow their count to 206 maximum, minus the banned ones. Now, with lands, they count territories which are not considered countries by the world, but hey, who cares what the 'worldly' world considers?

As with almost everything else, the WT use their own vocabulary. And when you 'invent' a word, you give that word whatever meaning you want, which in turn gives you power to those using your word. Orwell in "1984" explained thoroughly this characteristic of totalitarian thought and practice. That's why we call that practice of WTS, and WT organization itself, an "Orwellian" one.

46

How many years did you waste away in the Org?

by Tallon in

in my case; 27 years.

7 of which were as a ministerial serpent ... sorry, i mean 'servant' ;).

Syme

Publisher for 23 years (from age 8 to 31) and baptized for 18 years (from 13). 6 years as mini servant, and 2 years as elder.

22

Looking for a Book on Evolution

by Saethydd in

i am wondering if anyone is aware of a book or series of videos designed to explain evolution to creationists, (specifically the jw strain of creationism if possible) without being patronizing or overly confrontational.

i would like to have something to recommend to people who challenge evolution, but i know that the sources which convinced me would turn most of them off because of the confrontational and at times condescending tone in which it's presented.. some examples of what i'm looking for would be someone who doesn't claim evolution is a fact until after they have presented all of the evidence that makes it a fact and also have addressed as many counter-arguments as possible..

Syme

An obvious choice is Dawkins' books. In case, however, someone considers them confrontational, I recommend "Why Evolution is True" by Jerry Coyne. It is not confrontational at all, and explains thoroughly just what the title says.

I could recommend more, but I really think this should be your first choice.

15

A Brother refusing to pray?

by HereIgo in

i remember there was a brother in my congregation while i was in who would comment at all meetings but if asked to pray at a meeting or meeting for service he would always politely refuse.

i always found it odd, i assumed as a young bro, that a bro was kind of obligated to pray if asked.

knowing what i know now, it could have been a guilty conscience or maybe he just wanted to be lowkey.

Syme

Maybe it happened every time that he had masturbated earlier in the day, so he couldn't feel worthy to pray on behalf of all the cong

41

That One Defining Moment That Changed Your Life.

by new boy in

it seems that many times in life there is a moment or an action that changes your whole world.

it could be just a look that someone gives you.. many times it can be something rather small.

something hardly noticeable by anyone but you.

Syme

When I accidentally came across a lecture which stated that evolution is a prominent and not "controversial" theory, with universal acceptance in the scientific community. As a then-faithful jw, I hadn't come across that fact until then, due to the control of information that everyone raised as jw is being imposed to.

21

The physical effects of Cognitive Dissonance

by stuckinarut2 in

most of us here have gone through, or are going through the various stages "cognitive dissonance".. this is a term used to describe a situation where our minds, and hearts just know that something is "not quite right", and therefore we find ourselves in a muddle trying to reconcile the things we know with the things we are hearing or being told.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cognitive_dissonance.

so just wondering, how many of you found yourselves (or still find yourselves) becoming phyiscally ill in some way during the time of fading?.

i know that when i look back, for several years even before i was awake to the many issues and facts about the society, i would feel ill at assemblies or conventions.

Syme

I experienced extreme pains in the stomach for more than half a year, which would start abruptly, last for about 7 hours, and then disappear; with a rate of once in a month. The first such pain appeared before going to an assembly (that I didn't attend eventually). The problem finally disappeared with treatment.

Another one was an autoimmune skin condition that I developed at the zenith of my cognitive dissonance period. That condition fortunately faded away when I transitioned from cognitive dissonance to acceptance of the fact that I wasn't a jw anymore. It still is lies me though, in a much milder form, and rises only when I am in a lot of stress.

58

What's The First "Worldly" Thing You Did When You Exited The Cult?

by pale.emperor in

when you finally and officially exited the cult, whether it be by disfellowshipping, disassociating or fading - what was the first things you did that are considered "worldly"?.

for me, it was like crash landing on another planet that looked like earth but was completely different to the earth i knew.

i wanted to learn everything that i thought i already knew.. first things i did:.

Syme

First thing I did was vote for a political party in elections.

Second, smoke.

Third, sex.

Fourth, going on a demonstration and participating in a strike.

Fifth, smoke. Not like the first one, if you know what I mean. That happened only for the experience, and never did it again.

As for reading heretical stuff, be it evolution, apostates, philosophy etc., all those were read before exiting. First moves the spirit, then the flesh.

34

Ridiculous ways you kept your "time going" in service?

by HereIgo in

i used to go out early mornings with 2 pioneer elders, we would drive 20 miles out of the territory (a big no-no) to look for hikers to preach to lol of course there were never any hikers.

then off to starbucks for another hour lol easy way to count 2-4 hours.

i am chuckling as i write this, what a joke!.

Syme

The most ridiculous I heard ever, was from 2 married couples of regular pioneers, that went on vacation together, by car.

Those unbelievable guys would give leaflets or memorial invitations to the employees in every toll station they encountered. Since the road trip was 8 hours long and full of toll stations, they counted 8 hours in going, and another 8 hours in return!

I remember how startled I was when they shared their story upon their return, that they acutally told it with such enthusiasm, as if they had come up with a brilliant and praiseworthy idea! I didn't have many doubts back then, but I remember feeling very irritated on hearing it. It was one of the times you realize there's something seriously wrong with this whole thing.

21

What steps did you take to free yourself from the cult? mentally or physically?

by HereIgo in

first i ignored all of the elders phone calls to send my recommendation letter to my new congregation, truth is i had already started my fade and moved across town and didn't have a new congregation.

i deleted all jw friends on facebook.

i also threw away all of my public talks recorded on cd, all literature, even my book bag and my bible.

Syme

I stopped going to field service.

I stopped going to meetings.

I got rid of all WT publications, though I didn't actually throw them to garbage, but stored them in a deep corner shelf away from my library. I only kept a Bible, but not NWT translation. Of course, when I moved, I did not take the publications with me.

I threw away or even shredded to pieces all personal notes from conventions, meetings, letters and stuff.

I deleted the bulk of jw friends from facebook, though I kept a few inner-circle ones that know of my stance and kind of accept it, or at least do not oppose it. But I probably will delete them as well in due course.

I started doing DF offences, without advertizing it, but without fear of what will happpen if they found out either.

I refused to even remotely apologize to any high or low ranking jw for my fade. I refused to have any official conversation with the CO, being steadfast without being rude.

I moved to another town, with no jw contact here. I gradually stopped responding to text messages and answering phone calls from 'concerned' jws.

Those methods were successful so far, because I didn't let for a second any jw, no matter his rank, to think he has any authority over me. I didn't allow them any space for intrusion, so they didn't intrude.