Posts by dubstepped

17

Witness No More - any thoughts?

by dozy in

jw
friends

for those who don't know , there is an ex-jw "activist" in the north of england called mark who demonstrates outside kingdom halls , focusing on the child abuse issue and similar topics.

he regularly updates his visits on his youtube channel , which has gained something of a cult following .

occasionally ( albeit less frequently , as he is now well known ) he gets into the kh & shouts and disrupts the meeting.

dubstepped

So a guy that was on my podcast crashed a KH, but it was His KH that he grew up in, and he outed his abuser from the platform. That I support. He just took his power back and let people know what happened so they can protect their own.

I'm not a fan of running into random places yelling and causing scenes for one's own edification. I saw one crash where people, specifically sisters who were abused, stood one by one and told their story briefly. I felt okay about that. I think it has to be taken on a case by case basis, not condemned outright. I think it has a place, but the message has to be on point and done right. Just yelling and making scenes alone doesn't do much. Do you have something to say, or do you want to be heard. The latter is has more impact.

My wife came across Witness No More last night somewhere online and saw his video where he effectively said nothing but asked for support. Neither of us knew his story. It sounds like he needs to relax a bit. It sounds like he's in hot water legally, and possibly deservedly, I don't know because he said nothing of substance on what we watched.

9

What exactly is an Apostafest?

by Whynot in

jw
friends

i read a few threads on apostafests but i don't really understand what they are or what happens.

are they family friendly?

is it a party or support group meet-up?.

dubstepped

Wild parties where the mentally diseased get together for drugs, orgies, and Satan worship.

Either that or, like the one we went to last year, exjws gather to eat food and connect with other people that went through the same crap in a horrible cult, to meet new people and share experiences. To catch up with old friends as the years go by. Maybe light off some fireworks, play games with some kids, and relax knowing that the people there get you on a level that others can't.

26

Struggling to Live a Lie

by Addison0998 in

jw
friends

it’s been very difficult, much more than i first anticipated to live a lie, (be pimo and a regular active member) i still live with my parents but i plan on moving out at the end of the year, so i really need to keep it together.

but i think people are starting to get suspicious that something is up.

i’ve stopped commenting, going on service all the time, talking at the door, and occasionally voicing something, such as a question that no one has a good answer for, that makes people think, but ahah, thinking is dangerous and wrong so that is suspicious of course.

dubstepped

@Finklestein - Did I not acknowledge that?

26

Struggling to Live a Lie

by Addison0998 in

jw
friends

it’s been very difficult, much more than i first anticipated to live a lie, (be pimo and a regular active member) i still live with my parents but i plan on moving out at the end of the year, so i really need to keep it together.

but i think people are starting to get suspicious that something is up.

i’ve stopped commenting, going on service all the time, talking at the door, and occasionally voicing something, such as a question that no one has a good answer for, that makes people think, but ahah, thinking is dangerous and wrong so that is suspicious of course.

dubstepped

Disassociation, as a person that actually did it along with my wife, is fantastic. Yes the shunning stings, but we are free to say what we want, when we want, do what we want, and never have to look over our shoulders.

People telling you that it's "playing their game" are often (not always) people that faded that you can see complaining often about how they have to play along with family or attend a JW event. They literally play their game while telling others that disassociation is playing the JW game. It's so ridiculous, this attitude toward those of us with the balls to take a stand. You don't want to? Fine. I'll never go on threads about fading and tell you what I think. But every time disassociation is mentioned everyone piles on.

Addison, you do you. Fade if you can stomach it. If you can't, disassociation is a fantastic option but know that it's a bell you cannot unring. If you know that and make a decision in good faith to do so, know that you'll be free of them, but that also means you'll be free of them forever. For some they think that saving family, even toxic assholes, is worth selling themselves out and staying in the cult. For others that's not a good choice or healthy. Others have fairly healthy family to save. We all have different circumstances and have to pick what fits us.

Disassociation is exiting their game. Game over, when and where you want it, as your choice.

43

My Personal Atheist Manifesto?

by dubstepped in

so, i have a guy that is emailing me after listening to my podcast series "this jw life" about my life story before, during, and after being a jw.

this guy happens to be an elder and pioneer serving where the need is greater.

i love this guy.

dubstepped

My wife was on Twitter yesterday and saw a person that was never baptized arguing about their stance on blood. She was convinced that millions were dying of blood transfusions and that you would inherit the personality of the donator. I think that often the most dangerous ones aren't even in the organization, they're on the outside with just enough information to be dangerous.

That or they're disfellowshipped people that are POMI and they feel such shame about what they did and where they are that they'll hold on to all kinds of crazy.

43

My Personal Atheist Manifesto?

by dubstepped in

so, i have a guy that is emailing me after listening to my podcast series "this jw life" about my life story before, during, and after being a jw.

this guy happens to be an elder and pioneer serving where the need is greater.

i love this guy.

dubstepped

I just like to talk about things. You have your perspective and I mine. Neither are necessarily right or wrong, just different I guess. I'm not trying to rap anyone's knuckles, just trying to discuss perspectives.

Yes, he has power, but the moment he pushes too far he has none. That's the thing about the cult, even those positions of power are a robe you put on that can be stripped immediately because even this elder with privilege in our minds is subject to the greater power of the cult.

Is he a hypocrite? Absolutely. Most of us are if examined close enough, but you don't have to examine him closely to see it. Are his intentions bad? Probably not. He seems like he's trying to do the best he can to mitigate the culture of the prison he's in, and not just for himself.

I think I see it kind of like a woman that lives with an abusive man, who abuses both her and the kids. Ideally she would leave, but she's broken in ways and not healthy enough to get out. Even if she ran, she might not be able to take the kids, she might just escape herself. She has a measure of power but being so dominated it means very little. It may be that the best she can do at the time is to shelter the kids as much as she can when she can. That's what I kind of see him doing. The difference is that he's a man and elder so it's hard to see him as a victim, even though he is. Like her, if he leaves he may lose everything that is all he knows. He doesn't know what healthy is. Again, I've left out personal details.

Hating on this guy because Addison has a rough time doesn't mean much. It's like the discussion of who had it worse, men or women, in the cult. All were victims. All had massive problems. The comparison usually serves no purpose but to further divide and is usually incomplete and viewed again only through a supposed lens of power but misses so much.

43

My Personal Atheist Manifesto?

by dubstepped in

so, i have a guy that is emailing me after listening to my podcast series "this jw life" about my life story before, during, and after being a jw.

this guy happens to be an elder and pioneer serving where the need is greater.

i love this guy.

dubstepped

I don't think anyone is asking you to be impressed. I'm also not as impressed with everything as I make it sound in the emails, but you can't ring a guy's neck if you don't have your arm around him first. You can't just go in guns blazing. Yeah, he's one of those people that truly isn't a faithful JW while those of us that were got slammed in the end.

My goal was to have as kind a discussion as I could with the guy, to find good qualities in the guy. What you call playing fast and loose I call having his own mind on things. It is a good quality that could lead him out. For many of us that left it was the questioning of things and desire to make them different that led us out. That quality isn't all that's needed, but I commend him for having it. That doesn't mean it's all good, few things are all good or all bad in all circumstances.

I could certainly pick this guy apart, and there's personal stuff not included that he told me that I could post but wouldn't. It just wouldn't serve any purpose to do either.

43

My Personal Atheist Manifesto?

by dubstepped in

so, i have a guy that is emailing me after listening to my podcast series "this jw life" about my life story before, during, and after being a jw.

this guy happens to be an elder and pioneer serving where the need is greater.

i love this guy.

dubstepped

Good point, humbled, about how you wonder how he is when he gets squeezed and has to be on a judicial committee or something. When the going gets tough, I wonder how he responds. Like you said, he's hiding who he is when talking to me.

Wow, I'm just impressed that you read all of that, lol.

7

Upcoming Newsweek article on the JWs?

by Whynot in

i haven't confirmed whether it's true.

someone shared this on social media https://www.instagram.com/p/bjfidvsjvlo/.

the cover won't be released in the usa instead bernie will be on the cover.

dubstepped

Ugh, it actually kind of makes them sound like sympathetic figures. I guess they are in comparison with the Russian government. Not an article that I'd share on social media or anything. The stupid comments underneath make my head want to explode.

40

Upcoming Tidal Wave of Media Onslaught targeting Jehovah's Witnesses ahead...

by TerryWalstrom in

at least three media venues have undertaken the daunting task of unpacking the insidious dark side of jehovah's witnesses' organization.1.

douglas quenqua is a writer based in new york.

his work has appeared in the new york times, wired, redbook, and cnbc.

dubstepped

It seems like things are really building and it's good to see. More people are being inoculated against them and every time it happens someone wakes up too.