Posts by flipper

96

21 Years as an Elder, 5 as an MS, I will never be that guy again.

by James Jack in

i was deleted as the cobe after i let my adult child move back home and he admitted that he fornicated under my roof while my wife and i where away on a rbc project.

of course the elder mode in me kicked him out of the house.. the elders moved quickly to remove me because i was too involved in "theocractic activities", i had neglected my adult son.. i accepted this primarily because i didn't want to serve with a boe that did not want me.

i was devastated however because it was the only life i knew.

flipper

JAMES- I understand completely what you're going through. I was born and raised in a high profile JW family where my dad was city overseer for 35 years and my brother was a Bethelite elder for 8 years and longtime elder. I exited the Witnesses over 11 years ago at age 44 . I was a Ministerial servant but understand the pressures that you went through in expectations of how we were supposed to " advance " or live up to the WT alleged " standards ". Which we find out was just crap all along.

You are among friends here. Once we start looking into what is REAL in this world believe me it was scarier INSIDE the WT organization. The world is much kinder to us on the outside than we were led to believe. Lots of good folks here on the board can attest to that. We are here as a support to you and your wife. Hang in there buddy, you'll make it fine. Take care, Peace out, mr. Flipper

15

On announcing the presence of a sexual predator

by disposable hero of hypocrisy in

there's a lot of talk on here about changes the society must make, one of them being the announcing of sexual predators in the congregation.

i agree.

but do any other organizations do the same?

flipper

Indeed I agree that the WT Society definitely drops the ball of accountability and responsibility regarding informing parents in the congregations about pedophiles. I agree that elders should be instructed to inform parents of children by telephone or private communication to ALL parents of minor children within congregations. AND I agree that parents should be encouraged to check out Megan's Law in each of their localities to see WHO the registered sex offenders are in order to protect children.

If the WT Society did these 2 things it would be a step in the right direction. Oh yes, one more thing- make it mandatory for elders to report child abuse to police authorities FIRST - before reporting it to the WT legal department

65

The Fear mongering of this weeks WT study!

by stuckinarut2 in

have you all read this weeks study article?.

oh my word it is full of fear inducing tactics....doom and gloom outlooks.... anxiety inducing methods to develop absolute control over witnesses and cripple them in any attempt to think for themselves!.

(notice i am saying "themselves" rather than "ourselves"?!

flipper

The fear mongering in this picture is ridiculous. WT Society certainly confirms itself as a mind control cult by portraying the little girl in the picture as scared $hitless of something. The WT manipulation is in full force with this girl's scared look causing JW 's to feel she's scared of " persecution " or a possible attack of the pretend " Gog of Magog ". WT Society knows how to intimidate through fear indeed. Message JW's get : Stay close together at meetings or you'll DIE. So twisted. No wonder JW's are so scared of anything outside the JW organization- they are conditioned to be scared and paranoid

39

received revealing "witness" in parking lot

by Magnum in

a few weeks ago i was working out of my home state and was in a grocery store parking lot when i received my first jw witness since leaving jwdom.

a youngish-looking lady was sitting in an suv parked next to my car and i was about to get in my car to leave.

she opened the door and asked whether she could give me something to read (had a tract in her hand)..

flipper

MAGNUM my friend you handled that brilliantly ! Well done . I do really feel sorry for these younger JW's as they are NOT trained nearly as thoroughly as we were as JW kids. ( I was born-in left at age 44 over 11 years ago. ) But you were really kind to her and patient and that's what it takes to keep JW's listening to us. And by presenting yourself as a non-JW who talked to them before- it assisted you in communicating as this young lady looked at you as a potential convert. Instead of an " apostate ".

But it's just like George Orwell's 1984 all over again with the WT Society as you stated. They feel they get such a turnover in newer members that they can just shred or throw away and discard all their old information from the 20th century as useless to their agenda. And most JW's are none the wiser. Really disgusting the manipulation of information that takes place. And all the denial and lies by WT leaders that " no we never taught that or said this " . Total crock of $hit. I bet the young JW got an earful from her older partner back in the car, but nonetheless great job on your part. Perhaps that lady will think about some of those things you showed her. You never know

20

A quick summary of topics and issues wrong with jws

by stuckinarut2 in

you know how our minds often get all "fuzzy" and confused when we are put on the spot and asked to come up with points?

we often tend to lose focus and go off on tangents?.

im trying to compile a basic list of bullet points for the most obvious and clear problems / doctrines / history of witnesses that can blow the org out of the water.. it is more for the purpose of getting my own thoughts clear rather than using it to talk to witnesses (as that doesn't really work).

flipper

Faulty and criminally insane child abuse policies

14

Stop WT society information control by giving access to REAL information

by flipper in

jw
friends

of course we all know that many ex-jw's are doing this online constantly and that's a good thing.

whether by you tubes, websites, blogs, etc.

the worldwide community of ex-jw's has been and will continue to be proactive in putting out real information to counteract and offset the lies and fantasy propaganda put out by the wt society.

flipper

OTWO- I do remember those conversations that we had you mentioned. Like you stated a person really has to see it for themselves. Once we do a lot of research post JW ville we begin to see a lot of things that we never knew were happening on the level we thought it was happening whether it's child abuse, the extent of the shunning causing suicides, blood transfusion situations, the list goes on and on. It's never ending all the skeletons that keep falling out of the WT Society's closet. I truly believe that someday some really big skeletons may fall out of that closet that will bite them in the ass. May not be tomorrow, or the next month or year- but WT leaders are SO arrogant they are going to slip up and make some big mistakes . They already are with the child abuse lawsuit situations. WT leaders arrogance will kill this organization in time, or at least deplete it

26

Watchtower has a Philosophy of Totalism

by OnTheWayOut in

cults tend to have a total explanation for everything- everything that ever happened, everything that is happening now, and everything that ever will happen.

that certainly fits watchtower.

they have a black-and-white perception of everything, they are never wrong, there are no gray areas.

flipper

OTWO- Excellent thread. Very well put. I remember CONSTANTLY when I was a JW years ago being in cars with devout J-dubs who would try to steer the conversations away from anything not pertaining to JW topics or allegedly " spiritual " topics. Drove me nuts. Because like you say- you can never get to know the REAL person you were going out in field service with. You'd only know the JW cult person that you were with. Pretty creepy really. I was so " independent " in my thinking though- I'd still try to talk about " worldly " or non-JW topics out in service. LOL.

And yeah, good viewpoint on the " totalism " thing. I remember JW's making excuses for previous faulty doctrines or beliefs by saying, " well the light gets brighter, it's like a ship tacking in the sea always going forward but going back and forth " like the early 1980's WT stated. So expressions would be used by the WT Society in publications " are you advancing with Jehovah's progressive organization " or " are you moving forward " - the thought was put forth that if you weren't moving forward . then you were only lagging behind moving backwards getting " spiritually weak ". It was all part of that totalism thing - " a person is either in or they're out ". Then we had the JW's who would really cop out by saying, " well, the faithful slave and Governing body are just imperfect men being used by Jehovah. There are bound to be mistakes, but Jehovah CORRECTS those mistakes through the years. The light gets brighter ! "

So as you mentioned in your opening thread Witnesses WILL and always HAVE made excuses for the GB - ANYTHING to keep the view of totalism in place - even if it makes no sense at all. But you have it right ; great suggestions to keep dropping off little hints to our JW family's as just one comment or observation may make them think and prick their sense of authentic reasoning if we catch them when they are in " authentic " mode, not " cult " mode. But that can be a real trick deciphering when that moment is there , and when it's not. Great thread

14

Stop WT society information control by giving access to REAL information

by flipper in

jw
friends

of course we all know that many ex-jw's are doing this online constantly and that's a good thing.

whether by you tubes, websites, blogs, etc.

the worldwide community of ex-jw's has been and will continue to be proactive in putting out real information to counteract and offset the lies and fantasy propaganda put out by the wt society.

flipper

ON THE WAY OUT- I hope you are able to open your wife's eyes some day to the injustices going on inside the JW organization. I know that it's really hard when our JW family keeps their blinders on. Most of my still active JW family are like that except perhaps my mom. Like you stated if you tell her that a letter was sent from WT headquarters requesting people to volunteer for legal jobs and attorneys- perhaps she'll put two and two together. One can only hope.

INTEG- You make a good point. Until JW's have something actually happen in their lives that bites them in the ass - many times they think that means a problem doesn't exist ANYWHERE. Including child abuse like you mentioned . It's part of that cult denial, compartmentalizing thing that goes on in their brains. It's like they say, " Oh well, it's never happened HERE where we live so it must not happen that MUCH. Just isolated incidents. " I've heard JW's say that a lot. All we can do is try to put some real back into their version of what they consider " reality "

14

Stop WT society information control by giving access to REAL information

by flipper in

jw
friends

of course we all know that many ex-jw's are doing this online constantly and that's a good thing.

whether by you tubes, websites, blogs, etc.

the worldwide community of ex-jw's has been and will continue to be proactive in putting out real information to counteract and offset the lies and fantasy propaganda put out by the wt society.

flipper

This thread dropped back and got buried pretty quick. Thought I'd bump it up to get some more ideas from anybody who would like to contribute ideas. Thanks, Peace out, Mr. Flipper

24

what is 'the arrangement' exactly?

by sowhatnow in

we often hear the phrase.

its used to accuse.... they did not follow j's arrangement, you have to live by j's arrangement.

or to brag.... its all due to j's arrangement , we work with his org, and according to the arrangement.

flipper

Sowhatnow- As some have alluded to here all you have to do is substitute the words " WT Society " where you used the word " Jehovah " in your opening thread - and THAT is what the WT leaders really mean when they claim it's " Jehovah's arrangement ". WT leaders really do believe they are as powerful as God - or better still they MAKE themselves God by being the ultimate authority to JW's on every single detail of their life