I've been asked to give a public talk (should I)

by darth frosty 44 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  EndofMysteries

  I wish he did, if I was your friend I would have done it.

  I would have entitled the talk, "Make The Truth Your Own".

  It would have focused on the boreans and how they did not just accept anything just because they were told it. How even though commendable many accept what they are taught without question, I would have then read from the "submission to God" brochure, made for muslims, about how those raised in a religion, etc, get no credit with God if they never critically look into the religion.

  I'd of asked rhetorical questions on 1. Can you explain where 1914 came from? Have you researched it?

  2. WHY is the FDS the only ones who can get holy spirit? If somebody asks, can they show how that started, the scriptures, etc.

  3. If asking those in field service to investigate their religion, have they done the same? Can't be hypocritical.

  Hopefully those who payed attention would have thought perhaps they should look all of that up so that they are firm in their beliefs and not asking those they approach in service to do what they themselves have never done.
• 

  Apognophos

  Ha, interesting topic. I definitely have considered going out in a blaze of glory by waiting for my last Ministry School talk before I'm ready to leave, and giving one that's openly apostate, then announcing my resignation from the cong. and walking out the door when it looks like I won't be allowed to continue. I know exactly what I'd say to have the maximum effect in as short a time as possible. But the main reason I can't is the family member that would be in the audience. It would kill them.

  It seems that virtually none of us get the opportunity to really say what we want to the congregation before fading, as an attempt to get them to see TTATT. Maybe it's just as well; lots of JWs just want to keep believing, and it would be cruel to try to force them out of the religion. But then again, they themselves aren't really in a position to decide if they want to leave as long as they're paralyzed by fear that it's "got to be the truth", so planting some seeds of TATT could end up helping a few in the audience. Even the chance of helping one or two would make it worth a try for someone who didn't have a lot to lose personally.

  I do remember a talk by a visiting speaker once that made me, and I think everyone, uncomfortable. At the time I didn't know what was happening, but when I think back he was almost certainly "going apostate" at the time. His manner of speaking was especially grave, like he was trying to tell us something more "real" than the usual Watchtower lingo. At one point he asked us with a very serious expression, "Now, can Jehovah perform an evil act? ... Yes."

  You could have heard a pin drop. He then said with the same expression, "Now let me explain myself before you take me out into the parking lot and stone me." No one laughed. He then read one of those scriptures that refers directly to God committing evil (destroying or planning to destroy some city). I'm not sure what he ultimately was trying to tell us; anything else that he was hinting at was lost on me at the time. But it may have gotten some people thinking.
• 

  snare&racket

  If you have to stay in the WT world for family reasons and you have JW privelages, then sure people should go for it...

  I would have two constraints however..

  1) Do not teach anything you know is untrue, if forced, say "the societies intepretation of this is..." etc.

  2) Make use of the opportunity to say something that IS TRUE, easily defensible, easy to provide evidence, yet will get people talking.

  For example, one elder in our area was saying in his talk "though not one historian agrees with WT about 607bce and so far no historical data indicates 607 as a time for the defeat, it is up to you, to explore all the information and decide for yourself." Then he went back to the garble garble....

  I look at the years of training people need to teach in institutions, the research and hard work involved, there is no way in hell I would get up in front of 150 people and 'teach' them without ensuring every sentence was 100% true. Even then, I would only dare discuss things I was qualified to discuss. Especially when the stakes are so high.

  I mentioned this to a JW friend of mine, how I could not just give talks anymore, that it would take me months to research a talk that used to take me 2hrs to write. He said he researched the WT literature, on me pressing, he said he simply trusted it. When I talked about it being a huge responsibility and to check the data being passed on in WT literature he said... "you are talking about teaching the mind, we teach to the heart!" and there ended a 15 year friendship.

  The heart being a muscular pump akin to a water pump in a swimming pool, fell on deaf ears..... as did Egypt's wrong assertion that 'the heart' was in fact our brain, something the Jew's borrowed when they came into existence after Egypt. The bible is full of this nonsense. I mention this, because of the embarassment I felt after handing in my first essay on the heart at university.... a big red question mark was next to my comment "the heart is often refered to as the seat of motivation".... its just a muscular pump! My 3,000 year out of date garbage came from a WT platform and scrolls from the desert fed to me since childhood. Urghhhhhhh ! Yuk! Imagine my suprise when I saw men and women had the same number of ribs :P

  3,000 years out of date garbage... that is how backward the chin wagging on the JW platforms are... scary.
• 

  Black Man

  bttt
• 

  mind blown

  Maybe, if you were 14 yo it would seem an interesting quest. Howevever, if you get found out it will reflect badly on us Apostates, and may mean more trouble for yourself since you've been comfortably laying low. At least that's my opinion. Sounds like you're board.......
• 

  J. Hofer

  no way i would have done anything like this after being away for 4 years. "i would have said this and that" makes for some nice day dreaming though.
• 

  darth frosty

  J.Hofer you're right it sounds good but the reality is another story.

  part of what went into my decision was a former poster on here named little toe. his public talk was his disassociation and his story and recap was very telling.

  If you want to learn more or hear his talk its still live HERE!
• 

  Black Man

  bttt
• 

  Apognophos

  part of what went into my decision was a former poster on here named little toe. his public talk was his disassociation and his story and recap was very telling.

  I don't understand, I'm familiar with his talk but was there something in his recap of the experience that made you feel it wasn't a good idea to do the same yourself?
• 

  NewYork44M

  I gave numerous public talks after I knew the TTATT. Each was more painful than the one before. I was not into "planting seeds" I was in to surviving. And at the time I was not doing a good job at surviving.