flipper
JoinedPosts by flipper
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38
Things I trust more than the Jehovah's Witnesses Governing Body
by OnTheWayOut ini stole this, from of all places, rick fearon.
i don't know who he stole it from.
please think of more.. things i trust more than the jehovah's witnesses governing body+ the media+ mexican tap water+ cappuccino from bill cosby+ a bigfoot sighting+ a politician who says "trust me"+ an al qaeda who wants flying lessons, but skips landing and take-offs+ a hillary clinton war story+ bill clinton wanting to give a speech at an all-female school+ gas station sushi+ a brian williams or bill o'rielly news report+ email from a nigerian prince.
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flipper
Myself -
25
Dangerous "Pent up" feelings inside of most witnesses?
by stuckinarut2 ini have often wondered if there is more harm done to people who are stifled or smothered from expressing their natural conduct, feelings or actions because of it being condemned by religious ideals?.
so if a person keeps suppressing their real personality and tries to mould themselves to the "perfect" or "ideal" version as expected from those controlling them, could they eventually "bust" so to speak?.
for instance, witnesses condemn many forms of entertainment.
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flipper
In my opinion after having been born and raised in the JW cult since birth ( finally exited 11 years ago at age 44 ) the guilt that many people suffer from within the JW's comes from EXTREME lack of self esteem which the WT Society indoctrinates HEAVILY into JW's brain neurotransmitters.
I'll give you a couple examples : For instance just think about how OFTEN we were told NOT to trust our own understanding, not to trust our SINFUL heart - but in actuality once we trusted our instincts we are usually right. Or we were told that due to our alleged " sin and imperfection " that the organization knew what our needs were more than we ourselves. But what WT leaders DO NOT tell you is that they have an angle or motive to tell us that. To make us BELIEVE that we cannot trust ourselves. Because it will make them more money $$$$ if we trust them - and not ourselves. THAT is the angle they aren't honest about.
So once we discover that WT Society making us feel insecure about ourselves is ALL about their needs - and not about our needs- then the picture becomes perfectly clear- WT leaders are conning us into becoming co-dependent on them for everything and creating us into pathetic little weaklings unable to think for ourselves. That's why it's so infuriating to them once we start thinking for ourselves. They lose their hold on our minds and lose out financially if people leave
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59
Kendrick " Letter of Introduction " from Elders regarding Candace Conti Case
by flipper inas many of us saw in the pbs news hour program and the abc news nightline program the elders from one congregation failed to communicate properly to the elders in another congregation concerning the child molester jonathan kendrick when he moved to a new congregation.
i have parts of this " introduction letter " from the fremont congregation to the oakley congregation elders so you can read it for yourself and decide how irresponsible these wt appointed elders were.
dated 1/16/98 it opens : .
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flipper
I saw this thread had a couple responses- thought I'd bump it up and respond.
JW DAUGHTER- True- the WT Society has an " organization" - of sorts - however there are one set of rules for the rank & file JW's and an entirely different set of rules for the Governing Body or WT leaders. And those " rules " are followed inasmuch as it affects the financial welfare of the billion $$$ WT organizations financial interests. WT leaders allow themselves to BEND the rules or even create NEW rules along the way in order to meet their financial agenda . Even if that involves not obeying court orders to release information and even if that involves covert criminal activity involving the protection of pedophiles. Point I'm making is " these boys ain't saints ". They just really do not care. Money is the important thing to WT leaders.
FINKELSTEIN- Good point. An open disclosure would have been the SMART thing for WT leaders to have insisted upon with regard to disclosure about Kendrick or any other former child molester. So he exploited the hush hush policy as you state. And he should have been brought back up on charges of abuse- but he kept denying the Conti attack. This guy must be covered with Teflon or something. He needs to be locked up for sure
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13
Signs you are in a "toxic relationship"....?
by stuckinarut2 inso what are the signs that indicate that people are in a "toxic relationship"?.
particularly in relation to those stuck in the org still..... .
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flipper
Good question. In Steve Hassan's 3rd book titled " Freedom of Mind- Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs " he delves into some of this you mention. His website is : www.freedomofmind.com.
There can be a lot of signs that people are in a toxic relationship . Some are that they continue to stay in a relationship where they personally have NO control and have to give in constantly to the other partner. Or they stay in a physically, spiritually, or mentally abusive relationship and allow themselves to be at the receiving end of that abuse from an abusive partner. A co-dependency can occur where an innocent partner supports another partners alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, or sexual abuse of children - without holding the guilty party accountable for his or her actions. Thus the toxicity of the relationship continues.
As regards the WT organization - it mirrors personal toxic relationships in that there is one dominating party that benefits from the relationship - the WT Society- and not the rank and file JW's. WT Society has free reign over the lives of JW's and has no "checkpoints " in place to assure mental, physical, or emotional abuse doesn't occur. The elders may be " appointed " as checkpoints in the congregations - but they are about as useless as tits on a boar hog. They instruct JW women to stay with husbands that are abusive , either to the wife or children, even to the point that many JW women have stayed with JW men who have abused children, even their own children. THAT is pretty toxic. And in general JW's are instructed to give, give, and give more to the point of exhaustion in field service, parts at meetings, financially strapping their families in attending district conventions - to where people are exhausted with nothing left to give ! Then once they sit down for a second to breathe they are told to " put the kingdom first " and give MORE ! Who benefits ? Not rank & file JW's - WT Society does.
The toxicity of the WT Society directives and instructions to members continues in more serious areas - not allowing members to have life saving blood transfusions, shunning of DFed or inactive relatives causing some former members to commit suicide, refusal to report child abusers to police for punishment or refusal to protect congregation members from child abusers , discouraging and condemning higher education or going to college for young people, and promising " everlasting life in a paradise earth " when it's just imagination and WT leaders cannot deliver on that false promise. I this behavior all toxic enough to cause people to see the need to leap out of the WT or JW organization as the good ship Titanic ( WT Society ) gradually plunges to the depths of toxic oceans ? I think it's a very good damned reason to leave . So- this is kind of how I see toxicity happening to people on a personal and organizational level
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32
Seeking support during confusing and stressful 'cognitive dissonance'
by LHS123 insorry for the long post but i need help.
ive been a jw for 20 years - still active and attending meetings, baptised at 18, i have recently become very dissillusioned.
a few reasons: ill treatment of my kids by a prominent 'assembly speaker' elder, then my son left the truth at 15 (not baptised) and was 'dropped' instantly, despite this community having been his whole life for 15 years.
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flipper
LHS123- So many great points made by some very caring people here on the board ! A big hug and a welcome to you my friend from me and my wife ! I was born into the Witnesses and I stopped attending at age 44 over 11 years ago. It wasn't easy- but yet it was harder for me to continue living and believing in a lie than walking out of that kingdom hall the final time. Freedom of mind is priceless - a beautiful thing - a rare commodity in which we are ALLOWED to use our open mind and critical thinking ability to make INFORMED , intelligent decisions. And that's the thing about having been in the Witnesses- we were never ALLOWED to research or have access to information outside of the WT publications. But with the advancement of the Internet - WT Society cannot really keep their secrets or skeletons in the closet anymore . Which is a good thing.
The advice you've received here has been fantastic. I agree with virtually all of it. Keep researching, keep informing yourself with information from different sources off the Internet as you become more fully aware of what's really going on behind the scenes within the WT Society. As you stated we were all told to " leave our doubts to Jehovah " and He would show us the way in time if we saw injustices inside the organization. But as you mentioned if Jehovah is NOT running this WT organization then it's important to ask ourselves what IS the motive of the people leading the WT organization ? And if God isn't running it- then perhaps it's a sign that we need to use our God given - or - natural authentic human personality and mind to find a better , healthier, more empathetic, kinder type of lifestyle in order to free our children or family to be able to live a kinder, happier life. Just something to think about. I know I thought a lot about it as I was exiting the Witnesses .
Just please know that we are here for you- the advice to be careful about what you disclose to JW's who are close to you or you are associated with is good advice. The information you are learning will be misconstrued as " negative against the organization" so be careful in what you disclose to the elders or others in your congregation. If you need to vent, vent here we all will help you. Many of us have gone down the same road as you but I can assure you that freedom of mind is worth it- not being enslaved to concepts that are designed to keep us in mental captivity . We will continue to be a support to you and your children. If you ever want to chat on the phone with my wife or me, please PM us and we'll give you our contact info. Take care. Hang in there, Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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24
"What will I do if I leave Jehovah's Witnesses ?"
by Balaamsass2 inwhenever we visit the board we see a lot of angst among jehovah's witnesses who are just learning the tatt (the truth about the truth).
hey, don't feel bad, we had it at one time ourselves.
"angst means fear or anxiety (anguish is its latinate equivalent, and anxious, anxiety are of similar origin).
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flipper
JW DAUGHTER- I see what you are saying- however some of us had to exit the JW organization in a rather quick fashion where there WAS no time to strategize on how we would exit the JW cult. Many times exiting the JW cult doesn't happen in a calm, organized fashion . Some of us couldn't get our ducks in a row when we decided to exit. My ducks flew off and stopped quacking entirely ! If you get my drift. LOL. Had to find new ducks to play with. Take care, Peace out, Mr. Flipper -
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"Your bad attitude is evident, because you don't bring a meeting bag to the meetings anymore!"
by stuckinarut2 inyes friends.....this is the comment said to me by an elder!.
"your bad attitude is evident because you don't bring your meeting bag anymore!".
i calmly replied: "but everything i need is on the tablet now......".
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flipper
STUCKINARUT- That's really funny and a bit sad and insane for him to say that. What you said was great ! Another thing you could say is , " Brother so and so book bags are " old light " tablet use is " new light " - even the WT Society has T.V. on the Internet now ! " Then you can watch his facial expressions as his head explodes. LOL.Peace out, Mr. Flipper -
381
Were you or someone you know sexually molested by a Jehovah's Witness ?
by flipper indue to the fact there are about 27,000 members of this religion that are known pedophiles, and the information about it is kept in a secret database file, i wonder how many lurking jw's as well as others are aware of the severity of this problem?
remember, it's 27,000 pedophiles that they know about.
what about the thousands that don't get caught?
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flipper
WHATHAPPENED- Wow. What a sad experience. It's incredible how people like your uncle get away with this stuff inside the JW organization. I've probably heard hundreds of these stories now - and WT Society wonders why they have a child abuse problem ? Jesus. So many of these child abuses have been swept under the rug. One reason I feel it's good to get the word out to the public about it -
59
Kendrick " Letter of Introduction " from Elders regarding Candace Conti Case
by flipper inas many of us saw in the pbs news hour program and the abc news nightline program the elders from one congregation failed to communicate properly to the elders in another congregation concerning the child molester jonathan kendrick when he moved to a new congregation.
i have parts of this " introduction letter " from the fremont congregation to the oakley congregation elders so you can read it for yourself and decide how irresponsible these wt appointed elders were.
dated 1/16/98 it opens : .
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flipper
FINKELSTEIN- Indeed the letter was strange in that the elders spoke of Kendrick's temper- but never mentioned his committing child abuse. So having a bad temper is worse than child abuse to these elders anyway. And you are right- it IS a dangerous situation that the WT Society and those elders put children in- because molesters like Kendrick constantly move around to different locations looking for their next victim ! WT Society is supremely negligent.
EDEN ONE- God point you make that these elders admitting Kendrick has a temper problem lessens the bad image against the WT Society than admitting he was a child molester. WT Society is good at training elders to hide information that would damage WT image.
VIDIOT- Indeed WT Society's first priority is to protect it's alleged respectable " image " - however the financial $$$$$ money thing is important to them as well. And if they have to lie and not reveal information describing their lawless conduct - then they will do that too in order to protect that illusionary image . Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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381
Were you or someone you know sexually molested by a Jehovah's Witness ?
by flipper indue to the fact there are about 27,000 members of this religion that are known pedophiles, and the information about it is kept in a secret database file, i wonder how many lurking jw's as well as others are aware of the severity of this problem?
remember, it's 27,000 pedophiles that they know about.
what about the thousands that don't get caught?
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flipper
BALAAMSASS- Thanks for sharing those experiences. I agree with you- I think there is NO end to this cesspool of child abuse happening within the JW organization. Why does it not surprise me that these two elders are still serving as elders after the child abuse charges were ordered to be dropped? If we counted worldwide how many elders are STILL serving as elders who committed child abuse at one time- I bet the figure would be in the hundreds or thousands . It needs to stop for sure