Posts by Still Totally ADD

35

The Label Of "Apostate" And It's Effects

by pale.emperor in

in my psychology studies we've been examining the use of "labels" and how they influence peoples behaviour.

i sometimes wonder if the gb or their helpers know exactly what they're doing when it comes to psychological manipulation.. it's been observed that by labeling someone or something it changes your entire perception of that person or thing.

it colours it entirely, quite unfairly in some cases.

Still Totally ADD

Good thread Pale it is very thought provoking. I remember many years ago a person we all knew who was labeled a apostate ask for reinstatement. This was in the late 1990's and it was very unusual for someone to be df for apostacy and he was reinstated. This stigma of once being a apostate stuck with him even years after he was reinstated. If I remember correctly the wt. rules were he could never be appointed as a Ms or elder again and used very limited on any minor responsibility's. Even though he repented there was a invisible wall built up around him for life. Just for not agreeing with some of the teachings of the wt.

At the time I was in total agreement with this arrangement but now I can see how this stigma could have a very detrimental emotional effect on someone. As a born-in this was a very normal thinking for me but now I see it contrary to normal human emotions. Cults like the wt. seem to know how to control people. Still Totally ADD

19

How do you feel about the elders?

by Lost in the fog in

oh dear, i recently made a comment about an elder being dogmatic.

and one of his best buddies sent me a wt article to help me realign my mind or something.

this is where reality separates from fantasy and fiction.

Still Totally ADD

I agree with ttdtt. The cult makes many good men into dangerous men. Still Totally ADD

49

Motherly Love, that "Unbreakable Bond"

by Simon in

my father died a couple of months ago.

he'd been ill for some time and had many health scares and heart troubles over the years but always managed to keep on going.

then one time he didn't.. i'm glad i got to know him again and spend some more time with him after so many years missed because of the wts but those years will always be lost forever.

Still Totally ADD

Sorry for your lost. Maybe one of these days we can get together and compare notes on our mothers. This cult seems to bring the worse out of people. Take care and thank you for this site. Still Totally ADD

23

76 Year Old JW Woman Attacked by Pit Bull While Out in Service ... "Lost a large amount of blood"

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

4 people were hurt by the dog ... 2 were jws.

the older woman was severely hurt.

i hope the old woman survives.

Still Totally ADD

My wife who work at a vet. Office for many years handling owners dogs by the hundreds. She always said it is how the dog is treated by its owner is how the dog will act. Pit bulls are a very dangerous bred in my opinion but can be gentle under the hands of a good owner but here it the problem many owers of these dogs don't know how to handle them or train them correctly. But then I have seen many dog owers who don't have a clue on taking care of a dog. I feel sorry for what happened to the elderly lady. We can blame the cult for forcing people into dangerous situations for the sake of filling out a time report. Still Totally ADD

34

5/6/18 cleveland ohio circuit assembly notes

by nowwhat? in

willoughby assembly hall.

1400+ attendance 5 baptised a robust 0.38 growth!.

$11k expenses however 1st.

Still Totally ADD

Pale I remember just before 1975 the wt. started a campaign to buy more building in Brooklyn. Asking people to donate money for it. My father a elder was very confused over this by saying if the big A is so near why are they worrying about buying more buildings. Of course over 40 years later we know the answer. It's a CULT. Still Totally ADD

18

Birthday

by charonsdog in

by the time i finish this post, i will have turned 50 years old.

i spent over 40 years of my life not celebrating my birthday, and it never seemed like a big deal to me.

three years ago, i received a cake and some friends sang "happy birthday" to me at a dinner party that was for a different event.

Still Totally ADD

Happy Birthday! Being a born-in and soon to turn 64 I still act like a little kid on my brithday. A few of our friends who know our background makes it a big deal for us. I don't need presents but I do like the singing of the brithday song and blowing out the candles and of course eating the cake. It's kind of like making up a lost childhood. Lol. Anyway have a great brithday and try to do something special. Still Totally ADD

31

Atheists - How Did You Become An Atheist After Waking Up?

by pale.emperor in

i consider myself an atheist.

and right now i'm reading a lot on atheism in general (books written to answer creationists).. i'd be interested in knowing how you became an atheist after leaving the jws and how long did it take?

was it instant or did your belief in a deity gradually decline?.

Still Totally ADD

Great thread Pale. Loved your experience. When my wife and I first left she was already a atheist and being a born-in I was still searching. I knew the wt. was wrong but the idea of no god was still not in my thinking. My wife went along with me with my search. We ended up going to a little community chruch my wife went to as a little child. It lasted about 5 months when the preacher started bad talking atheist knowing my wife was a atheist. Trying to turn her to repentance it open my eyes to what a sham religion really was. That is when I came to terms with there being no god. That was six years ago and my mind has not changed but I do take the good from all forms of beliefs and have developed and my own personal moral thinking. This is what guides my life now for good or worse. If the cult had not gotten a hold of my parents before I was born I feel I would have come to this conclusion decades ago. I can only hope so. Still Totally ADD

13

What's it like these days for teenagers?

by JeffT in

jw
friends

i converted at age 22, and left 15 years later (1988) so i don't really know what its like to be in high school as a jw.

for those of you who do know: do teenage jw's hang out with each other?

worldly kids?

Still Totally ADD

Where I lived in central IL back in the 1960's as a teenager there was only one other person who was a jw. So most of my friends were not jw. I mostly keep it a secret from those in our little congregation but for the most part they could care less about me. Then my parents moved me to FL and I had serveral jw teenage friends. We mostly did what other kids did during that time but no drugs or worldly girl friends. We mostly talk about what girl they like at the kh a who we were going to marry. We was just a bunch of dumb teenagers being raised in a cult. One thing the adults jw was most concerned with us was are we going to go to bethel after high school and get your hair cut it's too long. In FL most of the adults at that time were retired. Some even knew Russell and Rutherford personally.

Now in my 60's I wish I never raised my boys in this cult. To your question I glad I don't have young children today. This instant communication I feel is robbing alot of social skills from today's youth. They may be smarter than we were at this age but it seems the fun and the wonderment of this world is lost by not getting out there and experience it for real. I may be wrong and I most likely am but that's how I feel. Still Totally ADD

20

Brothers with hearts. Where are they?

by stillin in

one poster here mentioned how, after he was appointed as an elder, things took on a more "corporate" feel.

i was an ms and as such went, dutifully, to the bi-annual meetings with the co. i was sorely disappointed.

i had imagined sort of a round-table discussion of trends and potential difficulties in the congregation, along with a coordinated effort to help people out.

Still Totally ADD

Amen to all that is said. The only kind of elder when I left was those who walked lock step with the gb. In my last two years as a elder and being a P.O. I had to go to Patterson for a week of bull s__t. That is exactly what it was. Most of it was keeping everyone in line and organizational things. I was waking up at the time and I did have access to the library there. And I did get to see the old bound volumes in the forties that still showed the cross on the front cover of the wt. That proved to me what I was learning on this site was true. Here is where you find true heart in many here. Still Totally ADD

13

Does Your Family or Friends Call To Check to See How You Are Doing?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i ask this because i have noticed that many people in your life just don’t communicate like they could.. i realize i come from a different generation but does anybody ever use the phone and give someone a call?

i know of people who never answer their phone unless they listen to a message that would be left.

you are lucky if you get a text..

Still Totally ADD

Minimus I agree with you on your thinking. It seems if you are not on facebook, have a cell phone/type writer or e-mailed hardly ever use the phone. The only time they would call me is to ask me if I read their e-mail they sent me or have you look at Facebook. I would tell them no and if you want me to know something please give me a call on the phone. You would think I ask them to eat poison by their reaction. This era we live it where no one wants to talk to another person on the phone is very baffling to me. I feel this society we live in where everyone feels they need to be connected to everyone 24-7 is emotionally troubling. This site is the only thing I am on which requires me to look it up on the computer and read what others have to say. If I don't want to I don't have to.

As far as my family is concerned they don't ever check up on us. After all we are mentally disease now. My new friends ask me weekly how I am doing. Still Totally ADD