Posts by B_Deserter

21

Stay Alive to '75 - MP3 Talk

by AlphaOmega in

i have been e-mailed another watchtower talk .

it is the famous "stay alive 'to 75" talk by charles sunutko given in 1967.. it is entitled "serving with everlasting life in view" (final spring 1967 sheboygan, wisconsin).

it has left witnesses that i played it to silent.

If I were to play this to my parents, they would simply shrug it off as "one man's opinion," so I wouldn't get anywhere. I hate that. This is a DISTRICT CONVENTION talk, given to THOUSANDS of people. Surely Jehovah is powerful enough to prevent inappropriate opinions from spoiling the "meat in due season" being fed to THOUSANDS of his servants.

21

Stay Alive to '75 - MP3 Talk

by AlphaOmega in

i have been e-mailed another watchtower talk .

it is the famous "stay alive 'to 75" talk by charles sunutko given in 1967.. it is entitled "serving with everlasting life in view" (final spring 1967 sheboygan, wisconsin).

it has left witnesses that i played it to silent.

B_Deserter

Wow. When I mentioned my doubts to my parents about 1975 they downplayed it as just a popular rumor that was going around at the time, and nothing officially recognized by the society. This DC talk just proves them all sorts of wrong (but not liars, my dad didn't join the witnesses until '69 or '70 and I don't think my mom was at this talk either).

44

Your favorite bits of JW folklore

by B_Deserter in

we all hear stories an experiences that happened to a "friend of a friend," and the witnesses are no exception.

they even have their own urban legends.

here are my favorites, and please post yours as well.. 1. watchtower theologists according to one of the old guys i used to pioneer with, there is a super-scary-secret organization of apostates called "watchtower theology.

B_Deserter

Another one I knew of was that demonic objects HAVE to be burned. Fire is the only way to get a demon to leave something.

11

Havn't been to the meeting in a week and a half...

by Anony-Mouse in

jw
friends

for some reason, we havn't been going to the meeting as regular as we should... .

mom's as brainwashed as they come tho.....i dunno what's going on.

we havn't been going to sunday meetings especially, but mom's work schedule messes it up a a bit.

B_Deserter

Your mom is experiencing "dub fatigue." Just about everyone goes through it (and promptly forgets when they judge other people for it). What really grinds my gears is when Circuit Overseers talk about how the meetings are where you need to be if you're fatigued! Ha! Yeah that's easy for you to say Brother-doesn't-work-for-a-living-just-draws-a-stipend-from-the-society-and -gets-his-car-food-and-living-expenses-paid-for-by-the-congregations.

44

Your favorite bits of JW folklore

by B_Deserter in

we all hear stories an experiences that happened to a "friend of a friend," and the witnesses are no exception.

they even have their own urban legends.

here are my favorites, and please post yours as well.. 1. watchtower theologists according to one of the old guys i used to pioneer with, there is a super-scary-secret organization of apostates called "watchtower theology.

B_Deserter

My version was "Knights in Satan's Service" for KISS.

14

Hi everyone.. I need some advice...!!!

by Redbeard in

hey!

i'm new to this forum as a user, 'been hanging around for a while and enjoyed reading the posts here, .

this site has provided a lot of confidence and encouragement to me through harsh times.

B_Deserter

Welcome to the board! I think there are two possibilities here:

Your friends see you as "salvageable," you are in the world, but with the right amount of "help" you can be persuaded to head back to the Kingdom Hall.
Your friends have experienced sensory overload with 1 Cor. 15:33. It's drilled into our heads repeatedly and we're all so sick of it (and I do mean "all," even witnesses who won't admit it) that it doesn't even phase anyone anymore.

If the former is the case, then I wouldn't trust your friends at all. You're only popular because you're a "pet project." When people become "weak" in the religion, they are viewed as property, shiny medals for some pioneer, elder or ministerial servant to put on his/her mantle. Think about how the witnesses refer to people they study with as "my study." How many people come into the church where everybody knows who "brought them in" for years. Even though they know you have doubts about the org, you are still viewed as a trophy. The "worse" you get, the more desirable you become. Your long hair, piercings and worldly girlfriend give you huge antlers, and you will have them until you become inaccessible to them (disfellowshipped, disassociated).

If the latter is the case, then your friends probably feel quite similarly to what you do. I would do what an earlier poster suggested, ask them a question they cannot answer. Be sure to do so in the right tone of voice. If the witnesses perceive you are attacking them and have already made up your mind, you're going to lose everything. Make it seem like you haven't made your mind up yet, that you are asking that question with an "honest heart." This will make them think about it more. Try to make them feel like they can talk about the witnesses freely when you're around as well. If you think about it, some of them probably have made their mind not to be witnesses either. Just look at all the people on this forum and others that are still going to meetings and keeping up appearances. Each one is incredibly alone because he doesn't know that the person sitting in the row ahead of him feels the same way.

Again, welcome to the board. Sounds like your fade is just about over anyway. You got a non-JW girlfriend, an education, and the beginnings of a life. The best thing to do is that if you do end up disassociating yourself, send a letter to all your friends stating why. Make this letter different than what you send the elders. Assure your friends that this letter is between you and them, and that you will not reveal who the recipients are. This way, you've provided your friends that may want to leave an avenue of support. They may all tear it up, but they'll at least remember that you're there for them.

6

Is there any brothers or sister from nj - north bergan congregation ?

by LouiseAlly in

hi .

im going through a hard time now ,but just want to learn more about jehovah .. i feel like i do need to get friends who are jehovah witness because the outside friends are not into what i am in now.....

B_Deserter

Hey! Welcome to the board

I have to sincerely warn you that Jehovah's Witnesses could be the biggest mistake of your life. Look, I know it sounds good and it seems to make sense. Who WOULDN'T want to live on a paradise earth with eternal life, health, and youth? I bet the congregation is EXTREMELY friendly to you too. The minute you get baptized, you lose all your freedom. No, I'm not talking about the freedom to smoke, have sex, or gamble. I'm talking about intellectual freedom, the freedom to fully research everything presented to you by the Society. You probably didn't know this but 1914 wasn't the first date C.T. Russell (their founder) predicted as the coming of Jesus Christ. He originally stated the invisible presence started in 1799 and that Armageddon would come in 1874! He later revised the date of Armageddon (that's right, not the invisible return) to 1914. Then, when the world was still here in 1915, he changed it to 1918. Of course, the 1914 date is based on the assumption that Jerusalem was sacked by Babylon in 607BCE, it wasn't. Not one source outside of the Watchtower Society confirms this date, but instead point to 586BCE as the correct date -- 21 years later. Joe Rutherford took over in 1917 and then predicted the end to come in 1925. The witnesses last failed prediction was 1975. They will try to downplay this and claim that the society never officially endorsed 1975, but there is a 1968 Awake article that does just so, and most witnesses have never read it.
br> They teach that all these failed predictions do not make them false prophets, and that God shines his light "gradually." That begs the question: if JW teaching was admittedly wrong in the past, how do you know that it isn't wrong now?

I sincerely hope you start doing independent research, especially into topics like the destruction of jerusalem, pedophilia scandals in the watchtower organization (how the organization was worse than the catholic church in their pedophile cover-ups), and false prophecies. Get the whole story before you commit. One you're baptized, doing any independent research on society doctrine is forbidden. If you find something in the future you disagree with, you can be disfellowshipped, and all JWs will be forbidden to even SPEAK to you.

14

Hi everyone.. I need some advice...!!!

by Redbeard in

hey!

i'm new to this forum as a user, 'been hanging around for a while and enjoyed reading the posts here, .

this site has provided a lot of confidence and encouragement to me through harsh times.

B_Deserter

Duplicate post below

44

Your favorite bits of JW folklore

by B_Deserter in

we all hear stories an experiences that happened to a "friend of a friend," and the witnesses are no exception.

they even have their own urban legends.

here are my favorites, and please post yours as well.. 1. watchtower theologists according to one of the old guys i used to pioneer with, there is a super-scary-secret organization of apostates called "watchtower theology.

B_Deserter

We all hear stories an experiences that happened to a "friend of a friend," and the witnesses are no exception. They even have their own urban legends. Here are my favorites, and please post yours as well.

1. Watchtower Theologists According to one of the old guys I used to pioneer with, there is a super-scary-secret organization of apostates called "Watchtower Theology." Their MO is using the Watchtower publications to convince Witnesses that they actually do teach the Trinity, hellfire, etc. etc.
2. The Demon at the Barbershop Don't remember the exact details but basically a barber is possessed by a demon, and when a Circuit Overseer walks in the Demon screams at him and tells him "Your God took our children in the flood, now we're going to take children." Obviously more "the DEMONS ARE AFTER TEH CHIIILDRUUUN!!" scare tactics.
3. The Ouija Board That Wouldn't Burn Usually told by people that were once "in the world." They played with a Ouija Board/bought something at a garage sale and started getting demon attacks. So they burned it (and it took a LONG time to burn) and heard a scream in the fire
4. The Night Visitor Many think this is a demon attack when it is actually sleep paralysis. They wake up and cannot move, and feel a large invisible weight on their chest.

13

"Crystal Blue Persuasion" -- Is it really about the "Truth" Book?

by B_Deserter in

i haven't been able to find a definite source online.

all my life i was taught that this song was about the blue "truth" book that was being used to bring people into the witnesses in the late 60's/early 70's.

now that i don't blindly accept whatever i've been told, i'm having my doubts.

B_Deserter

I haven't been able to find a definite source online. Can anyone confirm/deny this? All my life I was taught that this song was about the blue "truth" book that was being used to bring people into the witnesses in the late 60's/early 70's. Now that I don't blindly accept whatever I've been told, I'm having my doubts. Is it really about the witnesses or is it just more JW folklore like demons in garage sale coffee cups and threatening Circuit Overseers in barbershops?