I was also born in, but had the advantage of having a non-JW father, so I was able to get some college education. Unfortunately I had a manipulative "gung ho JW" mother who talked me into quiting college for pioneering. Pioneering did keep me out of the Vietnam war, so I guess that was something positive about being a JW. Other than that, I can't say I have any happy memories of JW life.
Athanasius
JoinedPosts by Athanasius
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57
Anyone with Happy Memories from being a JW born in, please post here....
by SkyGreen infirst up, happy new year .
hi everyone, ok i guess this is controversial, but im doing it as therapy for me - so im not bitter about the way i was raised.
plus i want to see if i can be the op of an "epic thread"!!.
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Born in, Convert or 1975er?
by Think About It indoes a person's involvement in the jw religion usually fall into one of these 3 categories?.
a) born in.
b) convert.
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Athanasius
Born in. Grandmother converted to the Bible Students in 1919. Guess that made me 3rd generation dubby. Broke free in 1984 nine years after the Great Tribulation.
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Requalifying as an Elder
by alfredjones100 ini'd like to throw something out to the exelders.. over the years since i stepped down as an elder, my dislike for the society and its ways has clearly grown.. but my love for the bible and my family and friends in the congregation has not got less.. i feel sorry that they are not mature enough to grasp the concept that you dont need the society to make god happy.. so i have been thinking ( and its just a crazy thought at the moment ) to requalify as an elder and to begin to really teach the truth.. to really challenge their thinking and take my talks to the limit without getting busted as a heretic.. whats youre thought?.
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Athanasius
I learned TTAT while still serving as an elder, and served an additional year after that before resigning. During that time I served on several JCs. Here's where I did some damage according to the Watchtower. I got the accused off with reduced sentences (mild private reproof) instead of Puplic Reproof or DF. On another JC where the person was accused of apostasy, I grilled the accusers until they admitted that they might have misunderstood what the person said. The case was dropped and the person got off for the time being.
Teaching TTAT from the platform is very difficult. Here the best I was able to do was point out in a sly way, the flaws of the NWT in comparison to modern English translations like the TEV and the NAB.
As far as my JC work, the persons who got off with mild private reproof, are probably still in. Regarding the person accused of apostasy, a year after I left the BOE formed another JC and DFd her.
In my experience it is impossible to reform the JW organization from within. It's more likely that reform will come from without, due to law suits and government actions that threaten the Watchtower's financial assets.
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Question: What would happen if...
by OneDayillBeFree in...all of the governing body members suddenly died?!.
i had been feeling a little sick so i took some nyquil which gave me the craziest dream last night where i saw a jdub plan out and kill each one of the gb!
each made to look like an accident or like an illness.
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Athanasius
Like the U.S. Presidency, the GB must have some order for succession. Possibly BOs, DOs, and even COs might be on the list of emergency GB replacements.
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Are the Adventists looking to attract downtrodden JW's?
by donny insorry if anyone has already posted on this but i did not see anything related in the few pages of active topics i checked.. last saturday i went to an oil change facilty and one of their perks is they give you a copy of the current usa today while you wait in your car.
on page 8a is a full page ad titled "liberty of conscience threatened.... a national sunday law will be established as the mark of the beast.".
the article then goes on a typical adventist rant about how saturday, not sunday, is the real sabbath established by god.
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Athanasius
Another poster stated: "Interestingly, William Miller was friends with Charles Taze Russell – the founder of the Bible Students, from which the Jehovah's Witnesses branched off."
It would be helpful to learn the source of this statement as William Miller died in December 1849 and Charles Taze Russell wasn't born until February 1852. So if Miller and Russell were friends, Russell would have needed to enlist the aid of spiritists to contact the dead Miller. If someone has proof of this it would further damage the credibility of the Watchtower's founder.
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What did you do with all your old publications?
by Dark Fader inso we had spent years building our "theocratic library" of bound volumes, books and other materials.
personally, i boxed everything, taped the boxes closed and threw them in a dumpster at a construction site.. i did actually feel bad though.
that was a lot of paper which could have been recycled!.
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Athanasius
I sold all my bound volumes to a Ministerial Servant for $100. Some of the other publications I gave to my JW ex-wife. I also sold some of the Studies In The Scriptures to a second hand book store.
I can't see throwing something away if I can sell it and recoup some of the money I wasted on the Watchtower.
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I Do Not Think Everyone That is a JW Wastes Their Life
by Magwitch inmy 97 year old grandmother died last week.
she was actually born and raised a jw.
her mother (my great grandmother) was a russelite.
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Athanasius
I agree with the sentiments of the above posters. Some JWs have been in the Watchtower so long that finding TTATT would be devastating. We must remember that the Watchtower and JW religion is an institution, more like a spiritual and mental prison. Individuals who've spent a life time in a secular prison become institutionalized and often find it difficult, if not impossible to adjust to a life outside the walls. They are like the character, played by James Whitmore, in the film Shawshank Redemption. So it is with the JWs.
Sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone.
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Who was the Gilead Student that jumped overboard?
by VM44 ina gilead student from thailand.
a young thai girl who came to new york to attend the gilead school in upstate south lansing, new york, had a mental breakdown.
staff members pleaded with president knorr to send her home by plane, under supervision.
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Athanasius
It's been almost 30 years since I read Barbara Grizzuti Harrison's book, "Visions Of Glory," but I believe she mentioned the incident about Thai student's suicide because of Knorr. Harrison was serving at Bethel at the time and like Bill Centnar would have heard about it from Bethel insiders. If someone has Harrison's book, check and see if she mentions the incident, as I could be wrong.
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Jehovah's Witnesses: Fastest Growing Christian Group in the US
by davidl7 inthe yearbook of american and canadian churches statistics listed the jehovah's witnesses as the fastest growing christian group in the us for 4 years in a row (the 2008-2011 yearbooks).
the 2011 yearbook reported a 4.37% growth rate (based on 2010 membership figures).
according to the 2012 yearbook, the growth of the jehovah's witnesses was 1.85%, falling into 4th place.
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Athanasius
At first I couldn't figure out why Dave would post information about JW membership statistics on the child abuse issues forum. But maybe it is a Freudian Slip on his part. Since most of the JW membership increase is due to children born in, perhaps Dave wants us to be aware of that we can expect an increase in child abuse within the congregations.
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Let's Discuss Ray Franz's Books
by Recovery ini have been repeatedly pleaded with to read the books of ray franz in my short stay on this board.
apparently these are all the all-powerful, wt crushing arguments, that lead so many to leave jw's and become ruthless opposers of god's people.
we can discuss any claims/statements/scriptural arguments presented in either of his books, as long as it somehow proves jehovah's witnesses are not god's people.
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Athanasius
It doesn't look like Recovery has really recovered from the JW mindset. He didn't become a Watchtower slave overnight. So for him to break free of Watchtower slavery it will take more than a couple of visits to this forum.