Posts by Syme

8

The Catholic Register: Russian Catholic official criticizes court ban on Jehovah's Witnesses

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://www.catholicregister.org/home/international/item/25028-russian-catholic-official-criticizes-court-ban-on-jehovah-s-witnesses.

russian catholic official criticizes court ban on jehovah's witnesses.

by jonathan luxmoore, catholic news service.

Syme

Oh, the irony! The Catholic church, the one which the JWs for over a century portray as the main part of the Whore of Babylon, the satanic evil religion of which every member is destined to be roasted in Armageddon, has stood by the jw's side with regards to their religious freedom, the exact freedom that WTS denies from every other.

With that in mind, it is evident that the Catholic church is really morally superior to the jw church, and, given the fact that the catholic church is not exactly the mount Everest of morality, you get the picture.

103

What will you be doing on the evening of the 11th ?

by Phizzy in

mrs phizzy and myself will be eating out, sure in the knowledge we will not have jw's using the same restaurant.. i may have a cigar along with my brandy at the meal's end to celebrate my (our) freedom..

Syme

Dancing.

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?.

Syme

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.