Posts by MrMonroe

255

Going out with a bang

by LittleToe in

jw
friends

after much deliberation, i decided to go "out" at the end of a public talk.

it didn't go down too well, but at least i was able to give some of my reasons for leaving.. i've put some of the details on my homepage.

i'll update it more when i get the time and the strength.

MrMonroe

Little Toe, do you still have the same feeling about being anointed as you did the day you last spoke at the KH?

I ask the question -- and I mean it sincerely -- because I found that my defection from the JWs led to a rapid loss of interest in the Bible. As a JW one is told our lives are centered around Jehovah and the Bible, yet after my wife and I left we have actually thought little about either. The "putting the kingdom first" concept was just another part of the daily JW pretence.

I still consider myself a believer in God, but am not in the slightest bit interested in ever attending a church or for that matter reading the Bible. My 22 years as a JW was more than enough of both.

Of my ex-JW friends, only one couple still attend church. For the rest it's pppphhhhtttt --- we've all just flicked that particular switch in our lives.

54

Who or what "governs" the teachings of the so-called GOVERNING BODY?

by Terry in

if a person walked up to you one day and started telling you what to do, how to do it, and threatening you if you refused, wouldn't you immediately ask them by what authority they had such a right?

wouldn't you want to see a badge?

credentials?

MrMonroe

I remember when I began attending meetings in 1985 that the brother studying with me spoke in awe of the Governing Body like they were surrounded by an aura. Like an idiot, I accepted it without question. It's a make-believe world I chose to enter. You set aside all the normal realities and switch off your bullshit meter because you want to beiieve they're right. So I did.

As time went by I met Lloyd Barry (or "Lord Barry" as we called him in Christchurch) and thought he was a nice bloke. (Reading Coc years later I heard about a different side to him). I went to conventions where Brother Barr spoke and he, too seemed a decent bloke. Why didn't I realise then: they were just ordinary men? And when humans set them up on a pedestal, repeating their belief that they are being used by God, of course they believe it.

I mean, Jesus. What an idiot I was.

17

My thoughts on this years Special assembly day

by stillstuckcruz in

jw
friends

opening comments: so this past weekend was out special assembly, so obviously supplied by jehovah.

we also had the "privelege" of having a gb representative at our assembly hall.

3/4 were young and my guess would be that those were born-ins.

MrMonroe

That was entertaining. May Jehovah continue to bless with you with many more parking assignments as a reward for your whole-souled efforts at JWN. Then again, Jehovah may not mind if you took the whole weekend off next time.

16

Watching TV, JW wife can see a problem with a fictional cult

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

so the jw wife and i are watching the mentalist (cbs crime investigation show) and the crime is the murder of a former cult member of a fictional cult; the visionaries.

the first policeman on scene is a visionary who tampered with the scene to remove evidence that a visionary killed a former member.

my wife says "he's going to risk his career and violate the law to protect someone he probably does not even know.

MrMonroe

Even when my wife and I were still going to meetings, she'd watch Big Love (about polygamist Mormons) at night while I was at work .... and then tell me the striking similarities between their weird cult and our religion: we had "the truth" and they had "the principle." We had a judicial committee and they had ... a judicial committee. They prayed before meals like we did, feared what their Mormon "friends" would think about every move they made, kept distant from their neighbours, believed the holy spirit guided everything they did ... and believed they had God's ear. Watching that show was a pretty big step towards my wife accepting our religion was a load of bollocks.

Soon after we left, we watched a doco on Jonestown, Guyana, and the similarity in the cult control tactics were again too strong to ignore. Groupthink. Punishment for dissent. Others in the group would report any discontent or "murmuring". Shunning tactics. Demands for absolute obedience. People realising it was a dangerous control cult, and yet being too scared to do anything about it.

Watching John Hurt in The Village after we left kind of sealed it all.

It's all about control, deception and delusion.

41

NEW TO JWN and Lovin it!! A Little about me

by Zordino in

jw
friends

hello all, i've been on this site for a few weeks (reading for longer) and i have to say this site has helped me a great deal.

i see from reading all the posts that many many people share my views on the whole jw thing and i'm so glad i can express myself without getting into problems with getting reported to the elders or something.

i am currently in my late 30's happily married to a jaydub with 2 kids.

MrMonroe

marking

31

Talking Points for when Witnesses Come to your Door

by truth_b_known in

jw
friends

a few weeks back i came home from work and found the latest copies of the watchtower (armageddon fearmongering) and awake!

(social media site nonsense) lying on the counter.

it was obvious witnesses had stopped by the house.

MrMonroe

Hermano, your comment just kills me. "JW's came to my door and I didn't open. But I wish I could've opened." If you could just do the "Here's Johnny" act straight out of your avatar, I think you'll be safe from return visits for a while....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TVooUHN7j4

8

JW's at my door today with a science presentation.

by InterestedOne in

jw
friends

i live in a not-so-nice urban neighborhood in the us (mid-atlantic).

this is the first time english-speaking jw's have knocked when i've been home.

it was interesting to observe them now after spending last year as a study and attending a kh.

MrMonroe

Their trick is always to lay out the JW scenario of what the future holds, and back it up with what their translation of the Bible says. In many cases other translations contradict their version.

They love to show how scriptures "link up", so therefore they blend in texts from different books, including OT and NT. Much of that is a concoction that creates a fiction, albeit a convincing one. Armageddon is a perfect example: Rutherford knitted together unrelated scriptures in Ezekiel, Revelation, Matthew, Joel and others to build a picture of how the nations will do this, and God will do that.

Their "classes" are a similiar fiction: they use circular reasoning to explain why parables must "foreshadow" groups of people in later years: the "evil slave", the "faithful slave", the "John" class, and all these again simply reinforce pre-existing doctrines.

They are skilled at convincing people these complicated doctrines must be true .... and although you may not understand it now, well, just accept it and deal with it later. When it;s one householder against two JWs skilled at finding just the right scripture to back up their doctrine, it's hard to combat.

36

Shy JW at the door ... the pain of it

by MrMonroe in

someone tweeted today: "a jehovah's witness who is shy to people at the door.

those few words paint such a sad picture.

how many jws with little self-esteem and self-confidence, particularly born-ins who have never known anything different, are sent out into neighbourhoods to knock on the doors of strangers and speak to them, knowing the householder resents them being there?

MrMonroe

I agree, Tornapart. I think we have all been at doors with Witnesses who didn't read the cues and pressed on, leaving us squirming. I worked with a particularly dogmatic and argumentive brother many times; on one occasion the householder opened the door and said, "If this is about religion, I'm not interested." The brother with me said, "No, it's not religion" and then started with his little sermon. The householder, understandably, got pissed off and told us to leave. As we walked away, I asked this brother, "Why did you say you weren't talking about religion?" His answer, in the best Rutherfordian way, was: "It's not about religion. It's about the Bible."

21

STEVEN UNTHANK... Please come answer some questions...

by cyberjesus in

1.- ?.

2.- ?.

i think those are fair questions..... .

MrMonroe

Shepherd, your comments are really quite contemptible. The daily lists exist as court dates approach. There is no need for them after the court appearance. I have seen the cases listed on the government websites. I think people who suggest this was all a fabrication or a hoax are low-lifes.

Unthank went public, just as Barbara Anderson and Bill Bowen did. It's a pretty gutless response to start sniping at them from anonymity. They all felt strongly about the issue and decided to do something. What have you done?

76

You may be a jw if.....

by just Ron in

you may be a jw ........if you spent last saturday traped in a car with at least 4 other people you may be a jw.. if you have sat through a sheparding call where you were told you are unworthy you may be a jw.. if you have alienated your worldly relatives with your preaching you may be a jw.. if you have ticked some one of buy knocking on their door on one of their religous holidays you may be a jw.. if you think the governing body is goods direct channel you may be a jw.. if you have no clue when this system is going to end you may be a jw.. .

.

ron.

MrMonroe

If you go out to dinner with work colleagues and excuse yourself to go to the bathroom when you think they're going to clink glasses ... you may be a JW.

If you make yourself absent at work when a birthday card comes around for signing ... you may be a JW.

If you fumble for an answer when a shop assistant asks you, "So, have you done all your Christmas shopping yet?" ... you may be a JW.

If you get stuck in a furious thunderstorm and wonder if it's Armageddon ... you may be a JW.

If you hear of a big earthquake and think, "another sign of the last days!!" ... you may be a JW

If you "love" your "friends", yet despise them for their hypocrisy, judgmentalism and nosiness ... you may be a JW.

If you feel guilty for sleeping in on a Sunday, or taking the family to the beach on a Saturday morning .... you may be a JW.

If you say no to a charity collector because "only Jehovah can save the world's problems" ... you may be a JW.

If you decide that maybe God is taking far too much of your time these days, and you don't see why you should have to write down a number of at least "two" each month to tell him how much you're doing for him ... you may be a JW.