I'm sitting here listening to a JW try to recruit somebody (page 9)

Terry

Well . . .

He hasn't come back.

I sort of didn't think he would after his last very brief ("I've only got 15 minutes) stop by.

He wanted to encourage ME to return. The irony--oh, the irony:)

Sigh . . .

ABibleStudent

Vidiot - Hmm.

That gave me an idea for another little axiom:

"If you feel threatened at the thought of your religion being wrong, your religion is probably wrong."

I like your axiom Vidiot. I may paraphrase it in the future to "If you are afraid that your beliefs are wrong, they probably are." Facts and Truths do not change: only your belief(s) changes. Another axiom that I like is "The Truth is what you believe it to be."

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

Terry

We often declare something "good" because we like it rather than it being the reverse (liking it because it is good.)

We pick and we choose according to our tastes, preferences, desires and needs.

What do we end up with? A buffet plate of carefully selected beliefs.

Our VALUES inform our EMOTIONS.

Our deepest values create our strongest emotions.

While we all like to imagine we make our choices rationally, logically and without bias--who are we kidding?

It is, pragmatically speaking, surely next-to-impossible to expect a person to be "reasoned" away from their deepest need fulfillment.

How do we, for instance, talk a mother out of her love for her child?

We might have a list a mile long of that selfsame child's deficits--yet--the deep emotional attachment will win every time.

Cognitive Dissonance is normal. It has an evolutionary core which reason and objectivity can't penetrate--at least, not without a continued

assault of disconfirming evidence.

The alcoholic has to hit rock bottom and LOSE EVERYTHING to finally face a moment of true decision to quit.

So too, giving up the world view of Jesus, Jehovah, the Watchtower, the GB--all equally foundational and emotional lynch-pin values.

WHEN JORDAN HITS ROCK BOTTOM he will choose and choose wisely; until then, he will defend the thing which offers him the only

promise of reuniting with his father. It is illogical--but it is emotionally satisfying.

MissFit

Terry, he knows where to find you. The seed is planted give it time.

Miss.Fit

Terry

TWO MONTHS have passed and yesterday afternoon the young (19) DF'd JW came back in to Starbucks to find me!

He's a really sweet kid. Conscientious to a fault is his first "problem" because he tried to get reinstated and the Elders

asked him personal questions (masturbation, pornography) and he answered truthfully!

Naturally, crimes against the Borg like that are way too severe to allow him back inside. So, he's a bit troubled about all that.

___________

We got to sit down and talk for about two and one half hours.

We covered a wide range of thought he's been thinking about.

I can see everything we previously discussed has been circling the inside of his head and heart.

I pointed out the disparity between JW's telling everybody how short the time is before Armagedddon and yet even though

he is penitent and wants to get back in--they are delaying him on the outside of "Jehovah's protective ark."

_____________

I had asked him months ago to think about who Jesus had ever shunned.

He told me he had asked his sister the same thing and she told him, "Jesus was perfect and we're not--we can't be like him."

I said I thought that neglected to account for the fact Jesus was said to be our exemplar whom we should imitate in every way.

_____________________

He was telling me how he had accepted my challenge from previous discussions to find JUST ONE Bible scholar or historian who gave

the date 607 b.c.e. and he had gone outside the Society's publications to research it. He was quite distrubed that ONLY Jehovah's Witnesses

use that date. I could see that really impressed him.

________________________

He is weighing what he would lose (family, friends, reputation) by not seeking reinstatement.

He's mainly concerned about seeing his deceased and beloved father in Paradise.

I said to him, "Do you really think Jehovah's Witnesses hold the power over everything on either side of life and death?"

_________________

We discussed what it means to say, "I'm anointed." Nobody can explain it to him beyond, "They just know." He finds that odd and an unexpectedly

fuzzy explanation short of details when the JW's are so explanatory about everything else.

_______________

He was asking for suggestions of books to read and I gave him Crisis of Conscience.

I hesitated to do that before now. It is like giving somebody an atomic weapon. But, really now--it is up to him if he reads it or not.

_______________

He sincerely wanted to know why I never tried to get back in. I told him, for me, it is very simple: this religion consists of FALSE PROPHETS. They

set dates which did NOT come to pass. End of story.

He said the GB were only human and make mistakes. I responded by telling him, "A large glass of crystal clear spring water is pure and refreshing, but if you put just one drop of arsenic in it---all the rest makes no difference; it is fatal."

_____________________

He asked me if I didn't think the enormous size of the Watchtowr Corporation was evidence that Jehovah had blessed them in their work because they had translated the publications in to hundreds of languages.

I said, "If the mafia had counterfeiting presses all over the world printing bogus currency in every language and they were making billions of dollars profit--would that indicate God was blessing their work?"

I continued, "All the millions of words the brothers and sisters took door to door for the last hundred years amounted to--WHAT? NONE OF IT is considered true enough to believe or teach anymore. Just think about what that means. It was like passing counterfeit money. It looks real and spends real--but there is no legitimate authority behind it backing it up."

__________

He asked for my phone number this time.

He texted me to make sure I had his number.

I hope this works out for not only his own sake, but his very devout families' sake as well . . .

poppers

Thanks for the update, Terry.

3dogs1husband

oh following along - good stuff right here Terry!!

sparrowdown

Hopefully it's wakey-wakey time for this guy.

Good job.

jwfacts

That's great news.

He is bringing up all the standard illogical questions - the size of the org shows it is the truth- and one day will think back in embarrassment wondering how he ever believed such stuff.

I think he should try to get reinstated. Next time lie about masturbation, say how much he has learnt from the experience, and then fade out.

Terry

At first, I could tell he was a bit nervous.

There were things he really wanted to discuss. But, it was awkward to jump right in to them.

I decided I would not be the one to start in on the give-and-take, but would let him decide when was best.

After about 15 minutes, I suggested we go off privately and sit away from curious ears.

He relaxed, and off we went!

I have a feeling he is hiding in a closet with a flashlight reading Crisis of Conscience on his new iPhone 6.

It will be very interesting to hear his response.

I expect a mushroom cloud.

I'm sitting here listening to a JW try to recruit somebody

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