Interesting how unshamedly the letter states on page 9 that a decision to reject the teachings of the religion (which members of every other religion on earth are urged to do by Jehovah's Witnesses) is regarded as "wrongdoing". The two scriptures they use to justify such a punitive approach have no bearing on the issue at all. The Bible simply does not include such a directive. It is a distortion of scripture used by a religion/cult to blackmail members into remaining, despite whatever conscientious objection they may hold.
MrMonroe
JoinedPosts by MrMonroe
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17
Lawyers Response Resigned and Withdrawn Elder
by Marvin Shilmer inlawyers response resigned and withdrawn elder .
today i uploaded a new article to my blog containing a 14-page incredibly detailed response from a watchtower lawyer to a long-time high-ranking elder who had resigned and withdrawn his association with watchtower.
my article is titled lawyers response resigned and withdrawn elder and is available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/09/lawyers-response-resigned-and-withdrawn.html.
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WRM: Watchtower Resistance Movement
by ekruks inwhen france was invaded by the nazis, they established what was called the french resistance, which attacked the nazis.
the cause was to fight evil, so it was called a guerilla movement.
in each town, rebels would meet together secretly and sabotage the nazis, doing things such as blowing up railway lines, though they didn't attack civilians who were oppressed.. i don't see for us to fight the individuals in the organisation, because many of them are just misled, confused, brainwashed.
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MrMonroe
I completely appreciate where Ekruks is coming from. I was riding home from work on Saturday a few weeks ago and discovered dozens of JWs were boarding the train at Richmond station, near the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, where they'd been having their annual three-day Re-Education Camp. The buggers started handing out flyers, including the picture of the toes on the colossus, to people on the train. One idiot kept trying to get my attention to hand me one, but I ignored him and kept reading my paper. Another gaggle of them were gathered around the flyer point at it and deeply "discussing" some point in it to try to get other passengers interested.
Next year I want to be better prepared and have a brochure I can hand back to them. "Sure, I'll read yours if you read mine."
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Psychotherapy Specialist for Jehovahs Witnesses
by Marvin Shilmer inpsychotherapy specialist for jehovahs witnesses .
today i added a new article to my blog showing a licensed psychotherapist advertising a specialty in treating jehovahs witnesses.
my article is titled psychotherapy specialist for jehovahs witnesses and is available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/09/psychotherapy-specialist-for-jehovahs.html.
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MrMonroe
A psychologist called Havor Montague published a medical paper in 1977 in which he discussed the furtiveness with which JWs approach mental health specialists. They fear that Jehovah's organisation will be reproached by an admission that they need psychiatric or psychological treatment, and Havor wrote, "In the writer's work as a therapist, a significant number of Witness patients would clearly have never have sought psychotherapy if the writer had not been seen as an active Witness." (Link to the paper available at jwfacts.)
Another JW, Scott Wolfenden, of Newark, New Jersey, who has been active on Wikipedia trying to promote both his website and his religion, runs a psychology practice that presumably would invite JW patients, and he strikes me as the sort of person who would do anything to avoid blaming the religion for turning his patients into basket cases.
As Montague notes, there is an incredible pressure within the organisation to hide these facts in order to present the brothers as the happiest people on earth. Since leaving this religion I have seriously wondered just how much mental damage I suffered in my two decades (including my formative years) inside this nuthouse. It affects your outlook, and relationships with others, in so many ways.
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My Letter to local Newspapaer - Your Feedback Please?
by cofty inmy local congregation has been in the news this week following a successful application for planning permission for a quick build.
a local vicar objected because the application described it as a building for "christain worship".. .
vicar fury at new home for jehovahs .
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MrMonroe
Possibly too long for a letter for publication. It's unlikely they would reproduce those long WT and Awake citations with the abbreviations; you're better to summarise the statements in a sentence of your own. But good thoughts throughout your letter and well expressed.
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Walkill Bethel Recreational Facility
by dontplaceliterature inmy wife and i just visited some friends over the weekend from another congregation.
these two are both full time pioneers, and also participate in various construction projects around the country.
the husband just got back from a 3 week trip to walkill, new york to help with construction on a new residence building at 'the farm' (does anyone call it that anymore?)..
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MrMonroe
I spent two nights at the Australian Bethel a few years ago and never put another cent in the donation box afterward. The whole setup just shocked and disgusted me.
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Credit Card Donation terminals are currently being installed in JWs Assembly Halls...
by AndersonsInfo ini received the following email from a former jw that i thought to share.
note: i retyped the boe letter that was sent from the christian congregation of jehovahs witnesses to all congregations in the us.
the letter is authentic.
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MrMonroe
Tank full of fuel to get to the convention: $80.
Three days of parking: $24.
Buying Jehovah's favour with a generous donation on MasterCard: Priceless.
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Circuit Overseers What do they do?
by Marvin Shilmer incircuit overseers what do they do?
today i uploaded to my blog an article showing documents circuit overseers send to each congregation in preparation for their upcoming inspection.
quite a few have never seen these, and they go a long way toward understanding the place and operation of these watchtower appointees within the organizations structure.
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MrMonroe
Gluten free diet. Of course. I think a dietary problem must be a prerequisite for appointment as a CO or COW.
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AWAKE! Nov 2011 - They Love Pointing Out The Shortcomings Of Others But Never Do They Look In The Mirror!
by 3Mozzies inawake!
nov 2011 - on page 29 'watching the world' section.. they love pointing out the shortcomings of others but never do they look in the mirror!.
an extensive new survey by the pew forum on religion & public life details statistics on religion in america:http://religions.pewforum.org/reports.
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MrMonroe
Excellent point, Mozzie. In their mind the only ones who leave "the truth" are those who are seduced by the world, fall prey to immorality or lose their faith in God. The one elder who has spoken to me since I found the exit door broadly hinted that he thought I was being swallowed up by materialism. Between them they don't consider any of them count or warrant further thought and back that up with an out-of-context use of a scripture that says "They went out from us, but they were not of our sort."
The fact that those leaving make up such a big slice of their congregation seems to escape their notice, so they gleefully point out the failure of other religions to keep their flock.
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JWs relieved when judges decree their kids must have a blood transfusion
by MrMonroe indanny haszard tweeted the following story from the flordia sun-sentinel: state butts in to give kids a life.
it's a fascinating story that shows the real attitude of many parents of young children who become seriously ill. though ordered by their religion to refuse transfusions and simply accept that their child may die as a result, some parents willingly accept the right of the state to decree that a transfusion must take place if doctors so decide.. no parent wants their child to die, and it would simply tear them apart to know that a reasonably simple and routine medical practice could save their life ... yet they would be shunned by their family and friends if they accepted.
the solution is to hope like hell the state steps in, allowing them to say to their congregation, "well, what can you do?
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MrMonroe
Danny Haszard tweeted the following story from the Flordia Sun-Sentinel: State Butts in to Give Kids a Life
It's a fascinating story that shows the real attitude of many parents of young children who become seriously ill. Though ordered by their religion to refuse transfusions and simply accept that their child may die as a result, some parents willingly accept the right of the state to decree that a transfusion must take place if doctors so decide.
No parent wants their child to die, and it would simply tear them apart to know that a reasonably simple and routine medical practice could save their life ... yet they would be shunned by their family and friends if they accepted. The solution is to hope like hell the state steps in, allowing them to say to their congregation, "Well, what can you do?" The relief of state intervention must be immense.
The blood doctrine, and the enforcement of it with the threat of shunning, is a terrible thing, like something from a totalitarian government, based on a perverted scriptural basis and junk science, reinforced with skewed, selective information through their literature that exaggerates the dangers of transfusions and never mentions the benefits.
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Am I on thin ice with my friend?
by cedars ini'm a former mts graduate, and it's a long story but i recently became inactive after realising it was all nonsense.
the problem is, i've noticed that my mts background makes it almost impossible for people to accept my new status as an "inactive" one.
people think that, given the amount of knowledge i have, there is surely no excuse for me to reach this preposterous decision.. a friend from my mts recently began emailing me to find out my reasons.
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MrMonroe
When I left, I told no one my reasons. When a good "friend" interrogated me about why my wife and I had left, we told him we had made a personal decision and we didn't want to discuss it with anyone.
Suggesting you're depressed is telling the JW you're mentally unwell, which confirms in their mind that they are right and you are, well, nuts.
Telling them you made a conscious decision and don;t wish to discuss it leaves you with dignity and them with unasnwered questions. They can do wondering, unless in the next few years you reach a point where you feel you can tell them the truth.