Posts by Goldminer

44

Elder-speak....How do they manipulate us?

by jgnat in

jw
friends

can you help me build a glossary of elder-speak?

you know, those phrases and arguments designed to appease, coerce, or guilt congregation members in to a desired course.

by exposing elder-speak, i hope to reduce the power of the words.

Goldminer

If you leave where will you go?

I like this one,it's a fairly easy one to answer.Let's open our bibles and see what the scriptures say.

Matt. 11:28,Jesus said "Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down,and I will refresh you"

John 14:6,Jesus said "I am the way,the truth,the life"

then go to John 6:68 and notice Peter didn't say "where shall we go" he said "whom shall we go to" and then said that only Jesus had the sayings of everlasting life.

Nowhere in theses scriptures are we told to go to the WTS for the sayings of everlasting life.Jesus said come to me,not to the WTS.If the WTS says they are the truth,are they making themselves equal to Jesus? If that is the case then "The Christ exists divided.Paul was not impaled for you,was he?Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" 1Cor 11:13. Substitute Paul with WTS in this scripture and it becomes clear that the WTS does not have the truth and they weren't the ones referred to when Peter said whom shall we go to.

Goldminer

6

When elders realize they lost their power over you

by unbeliever in

jw
friends

after reading jgnat's post i got to thinking about something that happened to me.

i was never baptized so the elders were limited on what they could do to me.

still they were able to make my life miserable through my mother so sometimes i towed the line.

Goldminer

We all know how the elders like to use privileges to control you and your spiritual advancement.Well,when they decided to take away the privileges of all the brothers who were getting less than 10 hours per month,this caused a lot of problems.Those of us who questioned the unscriptural actions of the PO were reminded of the disciplinary actions that could befall us if we pushed the issue too far.

Fifteen months later,I quit going out in service.I had no privileges and did not want any because I didn't want to do something with the threat of it being taken away if I didn't measure up to their standards.So basically,there was nothing they could take away from me now.I could go the meetings when I wanted to,never comment,never prepared,doze off,leave early,work overtime,grow a goatee and there wasn't much any elder could say,I had nothing they could hold over my head to control me.I used to say to others in the hall that I was now equal to the elders,that I was untouchable because that's how I felt about elders;that they could get away with anything (or almost anything) with practically no discipline.

Meanwhile I'd watch younger guys trying to make "advancement" by getting 10 hours and making lame comments at the WT study and it just showed me what a sham it was,no real sincerity in it.I've even put my list of questions on paper and handed it to an elder (31 questions) and they're still not giving me a hard time.I think they've basically written me off,which is just fine with me.

Goldminer

81

Hi guys I'm new here but been outta the JWS for 4 years. Born Again!

by biddie in

jw
friends

i'm kinda looking for other born again christians that were "brainwashed" the way i was with the jw's!.

praise the lord i know the truth now!!!

would like to share with others what i have learned about the wtbts!

Goldminer

Welcome to the board Biddie.I'm looking forward to reading more of your comments.

Goldminer

44

Elder-speak....How do they manipulate us?

by jgnat in

jw
friends

can you help me build a glossary of elder-speak?

you know, those phrases and arguments designed to appease, coerce, or guilt congregation members in to a desired course.

by exposing elder-speak, i hope to reduce the power of the words.

Goldminer

Here's a classic quote the congregation received by a CO after the PO had written a letter to all male members of the congregation which caused a lot of stumbling.

"Can you take your stumbling blocks and turn them into stepping stones?"

A lot of people swallowed it,this guy was very sly and a lot of people wanted the damage this PO had done to just go away.I then came to find out that there is no such thing as being stumbled in the "truth".An elder gave a talk a short time later and threw this gem at us:"If you're stumbled maybe it's because you want to be stumbled,maybe you're looking for an excuse to slow down." It didn't sound quite the same as Jesus had explained it.

Goldminer

31

I want you to vote on this.............

by vitty in

jw
friends

.

....................its very important.....................should i change my avatar back to the the wicked queen or should i stay with snow white ?????

yes im very bored tonight

Goldminer

I vote for snow white.

34

Mrs Kwin got a job offer, so we're moving.

by kwintestal in

jw
friends

mrs kwin has really wanted to get into digital imaging and has taken several courses over the last couple years for it.

well, on the weekend she got a job offer from her aunt.

her aunt is starting up a company and needs someone to do just that!

Goldminer

Good for you Kwin! It's beautiful country down there,we visit once or twice a year.The wife would love to move back there but I'm a country boy and I don't know what I'd do for work.Anyways,you never know,you guys might run into us someday when we're in town.

Enjoy your new adventure!

Goldminer

4

Inquiring Minds Want To Know :-)

by Gerard in

if man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?

the main reason santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.

i went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "where's the self-help section?

Goldminer

Why are dumps called Sanitary Landfills?

53

They saw my Xmas tree! What do I say?

by Rayvin in

jw
friends

this is what i am worried will be going through my mind in less then a month.

i have always wanted a big christmas tree but since i was a full fledged jw till 5 yrs ago i never had one.

i just last year was able to get a small table top tree for christmas.

Goldminer

Tell them it's a conscience matter,just like birthdays,easter,hallowe'en,...beards and blood fractions.

Goldminer

24

Did you record your hours in field service correctly?

by free2beme in

jw
friends

i always hated the shepherding call where they asked you to try and spend more time in field service, as they saw your hours turned in were low.

at a young age, i learned how easy it was to just write down what ever felt right.

i spent about 30 hours a month in field service as a pioneer for two years and never had anyone say anything to me.

Goldminer

Yes I did. When my monthly average dropped to 5 hours,they decided I was no longer "exemplary" and my few privileges were removed.That's what got me really thinking about the hypocrisy of elders and the WTS. I was told of ways to pad my time and I saw people who rgularly did it and it never bothered them.I just felt it wasn't right and I eventually stopped going out in service because I hated it and I couldn't figure out why I would want to tell people to join this "happy religion of truth" when it definitely was not.

Goldminer

5

admiring zealousness

by carla in

jw
friends

do any of you get annoyed when nonjw's say they admire the jw zealousness?

they agree it's all crap but still admire the zealousness!

would they feel the same if it was a pure satanic cult knocking on their doors?

Goldminer

A lot of people think jw's are "zealous" but if they knew what really goes on to create this sense of "zealousness",they wouldn't feel the same way about jw's.People in general think the jw's go preaching because they want to when nothing could be further from the truth.Their whole spiritual being depends on them going door-to-door for x number of hours every month.Any slow-down that lasts too long will have detrimental consequences for a jw and this is their prime motivation,not true love of neighbor.

Goldminer