Posts by slimboyfat

The point is that your sentiments are very common among Witnesses, and I am looking for a possible explanation. What do you think of my proposal above?

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Apostates' Idealised Image of their Time as a Witness

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

i know some apostates become bitter and can see nothing good in their time spent as witnesses, but i am not talking about that kind of apostate.

i am talking about the other kind of apostate who tends to idealise certain aspects of their time in the witnesses.

what motivates such sentiments i wonder?

slimboyfat

I think such sentimentality is an apostate defense mechanism.

Think about it - apostates are people who have come to the conclusion that being a Jehovah's Witness is a waste of time because it is not truth after all. They have to rationalise why they spent so much time supporting the Witnesses if it was always not the truth anyway.

Some whacky apostates cope with this by claiming that Jehovah's Witnesses did have the truth but they have lost their way (like e-watchman and other crazies - there are lots of them about)

But more common is the kind of apostate who rationalises his wasting his time on the Witnesses in the past by convincing himself that back in his day the Witnesses were different. They were more loving, they were happier, stuck closer to the Bible - whatever it is that makes the apostate feel more comfortable about their former support for the Religious Order of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Am I on to something?

40

Apostates' Idealised Image of their Time as a Witness

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

i know some apostates become bitter and can see nothing good in their time spent as witnesses, but i am not talking about that kind of apostate.

i am talking about the other kind of apostate who tends to idealise certain aspects of their time in the witnesses.

what motivates such sentiments i wonder?

slimboyfat

GBL exemplifies exactly what I am talking about!

40

Apostates' Idealised Image of their Time as a Witness

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

i know some apostates become bitter and can see nothing good in their time spent as witnesses, but i am not talking about that kind of apostate.

i am talking about the other kind of apostate who tends to idealise certain aspects of their time in the witnesses.

what motivates such sentiments i wonder?

slimboyfat

For instance, Schnell of "Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave" who talks about how he felt happy as a Witness in his day before Rutherford came along.

For instance, Blondie, who said a couple of weeks ago that the memorial used to be better, more about the Bible and about Jesus, in her day.

For instance, Penton, who states that in his parents' day Witnesses were happier and freer than they became in late 1970s.

For instance, all the posters here who have said at one time or another things like: 'years ago we used to prepare together in groups for the WT study - I miss the old days - being a Jehovah's Witness isn't like it used to be in my day'

40

Apostates' Idealised Image of their Time as a Witness

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

i know some apostates become bitter and can see nothing good in their time spent as witnesses, but i am not talking about that kind of apostate.

i am talking about the other kind of apostate who tends to idealise certain aspects of their time in the witnesses.

what motivates such sentiments i wonder?

slimboyfat

I know some apostates become bitter and can see nothing good in their time spent as Witnesses, but I am not talking about that kind of apostate. I am talking about the other kind of apostate who tends to idealise certain aspects of their time in the Witnesses. What motivates such sentiments I wonder?

67

What Are You READING?

by patio34 in

okay, it seems it's high time we had another thread like this!.

for serious reading, i have exceptions to the rulers by amy goodman (goes great with fahrenheit 911!

)the curse of adam by bryan skyles (i think) (it predicts the extinction of males.

slimboyfat

I am reading this at the moment:

http://www.unc.edu/~elliott/

Most of the stuff I read nowadays is about Jehovah's Witnesses in one way or another. Sad, I know.

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A Poem for Jehovah's Witnesses and Apostates

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

in broken images he is quick, thinking in clear images; .

i am slow, thinking in broken images.

i become sharp, mistrusting my broken images, .

slimboyfat

1. Apostates are people who believe that Jehovah's Witnesses do not have the truth.

That would mean 99% of world population are "apostate". I think you're overusing the term.

Pole - there is a difference between apathy and a belief that someone else is wrong. Most people don't care/have not even heard about Jehovah's Witnesses.

There are a few kinds of people:

1. Jehovah's Witnesses who believe that Jehovah's Witnesses have the truth

2. Apostates who believe that Jehovah's Witnesses do not have the truth

3. Ordinary people who fail to believe that Jehovah's Witnesses have the truth

4. Me who does not know whether Jehovah's Witnesses have the truth

I hope this clears matters up.

Thank you sng for your further comments.

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