Posts by Syme

32

DA myself to relieve great pressure?

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

my lifelong mental illnesses, fuelled significantly by the borg, are very bad at the moment and result in me missing lots of midweek meetings, but i haven't missed a sunday in years except the occasional vacation.. the nature of my mental and emotional illnesses mean that i, as a physically in and mentally out pimo, take to heart very painfully admonishment from the platform to never miss meetings, preach all i can, and so on.. okay, i report 3 hours each month on average and no elder has ever said anything, but when they make comments on the platform, i feel such great guilt and shame, but also anger, as they do not understand my illnesses and when i do mention my situation to elders, they kind of minimise and joke about it.. some other sisters in my congregation started "officially" not attending midweek meetings a few year's ago because of their own health circumstances, but i know for a fact that some elders look down on them for this reason, not showing real understanding deep down even if they do on the surface.. i have reached the point where i want to hand in a da letter as a cry for help, or more like a clear indicator to them that when i say i'm not well enough to attend midweek, i really mean it and it's not just an excuse.

sure, i'm only 42, but i can still be too fragile to go out at night with a 30 minute drive both ways..

Syme

If you want to remain in the religion, (for social or faith-based reasons), you shouldn't DA. You should DA only if you don't believe in the religion anymore and don't want to have anything to do with them.

DA letter is not a cry for help; you won't get any help if you hand this letter -you'll just get shunned, with no sympathy for your mental condition.

If you want help from the jws, you can get it via the usual jw way: with socializing in the cong, with seeking help from elders etc. However, the only way to deal with mental and serious emotional problems is via therapy with a professional. DA would be a relief from the jw-induced pressure only, it will not be a cure from other issues.

You could consider the middle ground of fading/going inactive. That's the path I chose, for the time being at least. I just dropped off from every jw thing, and was hugely relieved from jw pressure, and able to go on with my new secular, non-religious life. I don't allow jws any access to my personal space, and they have no choice but to accept it.

59

FWIW -- Anonymous suggests North Korea will start WWIII before the end of this year

by kpop in

jw
friends

i know most of you don't know what anonymous is or what the real 4chan is, but both are saying that their global meta data is pointing that now with south korean elections going to a pro war candidate (moon, who is a psycho) and china saying there may be no other solution, north korea will strike first before the end of this year.

japan has called up reserves.

take it with a grain of salt.

Syme

Moon, the new president of South Korea, is not pro-war, he is pro-discussion and even pro-cooperation with DPRK. As for WWIII, North Korea hasn't instigated or even participated in a single war in the last 65 years (and that last one was a civil war, not an international one). In contrast to, let's say, the U.S.

28

2017 Convention Releases

by Edison Trent in

on http://avoidjw.org/2017-regional-convention/ you can find the talk outlines of the regional convention this year.. i looked into the final talks each day and found these releases to be announced:.

on saturday:.

new magazine-size book entitled "lessons you can learn from the bible".

Syme

Ah,the upbulding story of Lot offering his daughters for rape, and then having sex with them (while being "drunk", but apparently not so drunk as to not be able to do the job), and producing incestuous offspring. What an excellent example the faithful Lot is for all of Jehovah's servants today!

In contrast with Lot's wife, who committed the terrible, atrocious sin of LOOKING BACK as her hometown was being consumed by flames. Let us not EVER commit such a terrible act!

Very important moral lessons, indeed.

31

what is the craziest book the dubbers ever published?

by dogon in

so i was wondering what book is the nuttiest they ever printed?

i know there are several in contention for first place but which is your vote for no 1?

also if you don't mind post a bit of what is in the book you pick to show why you picked it.

Syme

Wow, the competition in that field is severe...

One that pops into my mind is the "Life - How did it get here?" book (the blue one). It is full of quotes by a guy that the WT referred to as 'evolutionist' but really was a paranormal TV guy. And full of quote mining. It is the definition of pure, good old creationist crazy literature.

There was another book about the prophecy of Ezekiel, I don't remember its title. That was also a strong candidate.

Of course, the Revelation book is one that reeks of craziness. The only rational explanation for that piece of art is that the authors were really high, completely stoned, when they wrote it.

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.