Posts by zarco

16

Will we ever see a Paradise Earth?

by wannabe in

will we ever see a paradise earh?.

picture in your mind, a beautiful paradise-like park, planted by the god of the universe, who himself is perfect in all his ways.

a garden of superalitive breath-taking beauty.

zarco

Our best chance at seeing a paradise earth is to work hard to repair the damage to the earth, to work on making our family life fulfilling, to help make our communities better places, to get involved in government, education systems, charities or other endeavors to help, to encourage others to reach out and do what they can to make a difference. If each of us take responsibility for the things around us, then yes, we and our children may see a paradise earth. if you are awaiting for god to make it happen you are missing the opportunity of a life time to make a difference. If god does step-up, he will probably be pleased that you did everything in your power to make things better.

All the best,

zarco

100

What's your plans on the JW Memorial night?

by dissed in

jw
friends

for the last 13 years, we haven't attended and didn't even care about it.

but since we became card carrying members of jwn in september, we have an interest in what are friends here on jwn are doing.. for us?

we will be watching 'dancing with the stars'.

zarco

We will probably go.

We have been fading for almost 15 months and have not attended meetings in about 7-8 months. We have had some contact with a few folks we counted and still count as friends. I think that if we did not attend it would be viewed negatively and would lead to a focus on us. It is hard to listen to most anything WTS oriented without yelling BS, I guess I can control myself... the real question is will my spouse resist the urge to yell BS :)

zarco

120

Tell us a weird fact about yourself

by ninja in

jw
friends

i will start....i can speak conversational albanian....thanks to the foreign language field...really useful in everyday life as a cleaner....sniff...why didnt i pick mandarin?

..would be useful when they take over the world....but one day i will find an albanian to talk to ...that or a needle in a haystack....the emmerdalian world of jw's

zarco

I have a lump of uranium in my garage (which I've had since I was 10 years old).

Don't worry. Long term exposure usually results in seeing letters and number in color:)

zarco

61

For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

disclaimer: your mileage may vary.

if you are a married, "active, in good standing" (tm), jw male who has recently discovered that the .

watchtower is not what it claims to be, this thread is for you.

zarco

Almost swimming weather in the Chatham Island. Maybe another week... if you want some sun, it is a short three thousand mile flight :)

61

For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

disclaimer: your mileage may vary.

if you are a married, "active, in good standing" (tm), jw male who has recently discovered that the .

watchtower is not what it claims to be, this thread is for you.

zarco

OM - this is the first time I had a chance to read your analysis of the fade. It is a wonderful thought provoking piece. Thanks for posting it!

zarco

46

How long before you stopped believing armageddon was on your doorstep?

by bubba flavel in

i was born into "the truth" back in 1964. i made the big mistake of getting baptised when i was about 14 or so, purely to please my father as i saw how proud he was when my brothers were baptised....didn't work.. we moved to a new congregation when i was about 8, he introduced all my brothers to the congregation by name, a short bio of thier endearing qualities and how proud he was of them, when he introduced me it was "and this is our black sheep of the family, steve".. i remember living in fear at the fast approaching 1975....actually, living in terror is probably a more apt desciption.

all of you will full well know how it was instilled into us at every meeting and assembly how we are living in the last days.. as a 15 year old, a brother dobbed me in for kissing a worldly girl at school.

went through the marked process, judicial committy, disfellowshipped and the shunning which continues to this day by what's left of my family.

zarco

By 1977 (allowing Jehovah two years to have gotten around to creating Eve and calling it a Day), I had decided Armageddon probably wasn't coming, and probably by the early 1980s it was out of my system for good.

Isn't it crazy what we used to believe and when it didn't happen how we explained it away?

46

How long before you stopped believing armageddon was on your doorstep?

by bubba flavel in

i was born into "the truth" back in 1964. i made the big mistake of getting baptised when i was about 14 or so, purely to please my father as i saw how proud he was when my brothers were baptised....didn't work.. we moved to a new congregation when i was about 8, he introduced all my brothers to the congregation by name, a short bio of thier endearing qualities and how proud he was of them, when he introduced me it was "and this is our black sheep of the family, steve".. i remember living in fear at the fast approaching 1975....actually, living in terror is probably a more apt desciption.

all of you will full well know how it was instilled into us at every meeting and assembly how we are living in the last days.. as a 15 year old, a brother dobbed me in for kissing a worldly girl at school.

went through the marked process, judicial committy, disfellowshipped and the shunning which continues to this day by what's left of my family.

zarco

My personal opinion is that less than half of the JWs actually have much confidence in seeing armageddon - they are just repeating the words about it, but privately don't expect it anytime soon.

Interesting comment, JWoods. It does seem that if witnesses really believe that armageddon is near at hand they would be doing a lot of things differently. Preaching through more efficient channels, have a sense of urgency, visit all inactive ones to save them before it is too late and similar activities.

As a witness, I have not believed for decades and we lived our life in two worlds. Now we live in just one world and it is not the witness one.

zarco

11

Mind Control Cults

by TJ - iAmCleared2Land in

jw
friends

a non-jw pilot friend of mine who doesn't know i was a jw sent me this, with the title "mind control made easy!".

it was eerie to watch this and recognize the similarities.

it could be useful in helping a current jw who has doubts "get out", as it is not produced by an ex-jw.

zarco

Thought provoking video. Thanks for sharing it.

52

Faders are indeed a large army...

by undercover in

jw
friends

...and i think it's starting to show.. i started a thread the other day about being hounded after several years of having successfully(?

) faded.

i've been taken aback a bit the recent developments but i'm making a new strategy...one that depends more on sticking to my guns and laying the cards on the table.

zarco

Interesting thread. We were witnesses for a long time and when we think back over our life as witnesses it is shocking to count the number of faders. We have been away for 13 months. For a few months we attended meetings sporadically and did some fake Saturday service. For about 8 months we have not been to any meetings. Interestingly, we have not had any shepherding calls (unless you count Open Mind's visit as a shepherding call).

A few friends invite us to do things. And with a couple of families that we care about we have associated with them at times. Both of the families have elder husbands and still no shepherding calls.

The only almost shepherding calls where when the CO was visiting and two times the service car group came over to say hi and to deliver the KMs. We said hi and thanks for the KMs. I guess I need to find out when the next CO visit is because I am sure the service group routine will start anew. One of the group (elder) said he wanted to schedule a shepherding call and I told him to come to my office anytime. He has not called again or stopped by my office.

zarco

41

The trouble with fading as your leaving strategy

by eyesthatsee in

whatever your chosen strategy for leaving jws, the fundamental truth is that there is no clean / simple exit.

the mind control, the manipulation of normal family relationships etc will make any strategy very difficult at times.

the key issue is to know this ahead of time and be prepared, as best you can.. we've all chosen leaving strategies acording to our personal circumstances, preferences and learning from others.

zarco

Well said, Willyloman!

I see from some of the responses that self-righteousness and judgmentalism, the two traits we all took to heart when we were earnest dubbies, do not necessarily go away when some of us leave the organization. Which is too bad, since the single most important thing you can learn once you are away from that toxic atmosphere is: Everyone's mileage varies.