The Last Time I Set Foot in a Kingdom Hall

by Oubliette 21 Replies latest jw experiences

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  FayeDunaway

  At my last meeting, (and I had been fading for a long time previous) we were studying the watchtower and I raised my hand to read one of my favorite scriptures. Romans 8:38 Neither death, nor life, nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Sorry, I only have my new King James version nearby.)

  i read it really passionately, and then was really irritated when someone made the follow up comment 'this scripture brings out' (it's always 'brings out') 'that nothing can separate us from Jehovah!'

  brainwashed numbskulls.
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  never a jw

  Thanks for being an educator, not just in the classroom, but everywhere; not just in the traditional secular issues, but in religious issues. Don't let those kids fall into the trap of organized religion.
  
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  JWdaughter

  Happy upcoming anniversary! You have made a big shift in the last couple of years. I'm so happy for your progress and success at leaving!
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  Olivia Wilde

  This was & is a very disturbing paragraph when it was discussed at our meeting last year & mind blogging how some commented that we must have explicit trust in the faithful & discrete slave & the direction given & it being a case of life or death.... i even remember seeing a pix of on the WT of pple in a basement, I'm sorry but it this paragraph reminded me of Jim jones at Jonestown... very disturbing
• 

  Oubliette

  stuckinarut: We can all take control of our circumstances ... We can make positive new paths for ourselves!

  Although control is relative (we can never have total control), you are absolutely right about our ability to make new paths for ourselves, controlling what we can and accepting what we cannot. But we must not passively sit by allowing others to determine our life choices. Thank you so much for your comments!

  Bonsai, Thanks for your positive affirmations and remembering my kids are still "stuck in" this cult.

  I appreciated you sharing your "decisive moment." Although different than mine, it obviously was just as powerful. I'm glad you've left this destructive cult and are living life on your own terms now!

  FayeDunaway, that is a very typical experience: you try and say/share something real and all another person hears is more cult propaganda. Actually, that can be useful if we are ever in a situation where we need to speak to a still indoctrinated JW. We can often word things in a way that are true, but know that they will filter and perceive it according to their JW worldview.

  never a jw, I really appreciate your comment about being an educator. I cannot give all the details here because it wouldn't be good for some of my former students, but I have helped more than a couple of high school kids formulate exit plans from this religion. And it was all because I taught them how to think critically and not be afraid to be their own person.

  Now if I could only find a way to reach my own children that are still "stuck in" this fucking cult!

  JW daughter, thank you also for acknowledging my hard work and personal progress. It means a lot to me!

  Olivia Wilde, I had the same thoughts about that paragraph. Images of Jonestown came to my mind.

  I didn't say it in the OP, but I went to the Kingdom Hall where my kids attend for that meeting. I wanted to be there when they heard this crap from the platform. I was disgusted at how the congregation gulped down this kool-aid laced message. If there were any dissenters other than myself, they kept their opinions to themselves. Those that commented on the paragraph said things that were truly frightening. It's really scary shit actually.

  Let's review: It's a cult!
• 

  LongHairGal

  OUBLIETTE:

  Since being a long-time "fader", I was not present to hear that troubling instruction about ".....being ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether they appear sound...or not." in the November 2013 article.

  The 1995 changed teaching on Generation was bad enough, but this???....I can only hope some others with still-functioning brains can see that this is very disturbing.

  As another poster mentioned, it is eerily similar to Jonestown. It conjures up images in my mind of zombies with glazed eyes or lemmings going over a cliff!

  You've got to wonder just WHAT they are going to tell people to do.

  I don't blame you for being done with the religion after hearing this!!
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  Beth Sarim

  yeah that statement about ''obey any instructions we may receive, whether hey are strategic from a human standpoint or not'' just gives you the chills, it does make one wonder what they have up their sleeve.
• 

  smiddy

  Oubliette

  Your success in gaining your Masters Degree in Education and your permanent job as a teacher , is worthy of a two finger salute to the uneducated morons running this sideshow posing as a religion supposedly blessed by "God" { Anybody ever thought they may be blessed by Satan,? after all they claim he is a god }

  Just saying.

  As has been said by many before , living a successful life after leaving the BORG is the ultimate victory you could have over them .

  Well done.

  smiddy
• 

  Oubliette

  LongHairGal, I think you bring up an excellent point. I DO wonder what they are going to tell JWs to do! Maybe they won't have them get in line for kool-aid. Perhaps the worst is here: Tithe (even though we don't call it that), and don't question any of our stupid ideas like the "overlapping generation" nonsense. Still, it does set the GB up to be able to get the R&F to do just about anything.

  If there was ever any question, this statement removed all doubt: It's a cult!

  BethSarim: it does make one wonder what they have up their sleeve.

  Agreed. See my comments to LHG above.
  

  Smiddy, thanks for the kind words. I completely agree that living well is the best revenge. The one remaining concern I have though is for my two young adult sons that are still "captive" to this cult. I'm trying to figure a way to help them wake up and see that they too can have a real life.

  Unfortunately, I have so far been unsuccessful in this regard, but I won't give up!
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  stuckinarut2

  I wonder how an average witness would react if we did the following:

  While holding open a newspaper, pretend to read out an article:

  "Wow! Did you hear about that religious cult in the (other part of the world)? It says that they all were told to listen and follow everything they were told to do, WITHOUT questioning the direction, and they all jumped off a cliff!....How strange and weird!!??"

  Then listen as the Cognitive Disonance kicks in....