Posts by MrMonroe

77

JW's not a cult

by Lunatic Faith in

okay, before you fly off the handle--i wrote a blog on how my research proves jw's are a cult (no, i haven't read the cult book yet).

somebody linked their own findings onto my site saying the opposite.

their evidence is erroneous and as i don't have time to point this out i thought i would let you all do it for me.. www.epages.wordpress.com.

MrMonroe

Does the group squash individuality as well as independent thought?

Put it another way: Are members permitted to form their own opinions about the dictates of the Governing Body? Are they free to determine their own actions and choices in life?

"Overseers of Jehovah’s People", The Watchtower, June 15, 1957:

"Let us now unmistakably identify Jehovah’s channel of communication for our day, that we may continue in his favor ... It is vital that we appreciate this fact and respond to the directions of the “slave” as we would to the voice of God , because it is His provision."

@Nugget, I like your reasoning on page 1.

90

Did you Fade Gradually or Stop Attending Meetings Quickly ? Reasons ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

been thinking about this and curious about what makes us all come to the decisions we came to in our fade/exiting the jw organization.. i think for myself having been born-in & raised a jw my doubts about the generation doctrine had simmered for years within me quietly and by the time i finally left in 2003 i had reached my breaking point.

also seeing unjust treatment of rank & file witness ( myself included ) just propelled me into my decision even quicker.

so - one day after meeting with 3 elders in a back room before a meeting and seeing their judgmental aggression towards me - i just told myself " enough is enough ".

MrMonroe

It was never a conscious fade, but having a couple of babies helped give my wife and me an excuse to ease out. I was convinced it was the truth but hated the meetings, the patronising, the insincerity, the pretence, the power games, the robotic attitudes, the time-wasting assemblies and the "brothers" with whom I felt I had less and less in common. I would leave immediately the meetings were over. My wife hated the meetings too and we would take it in turns to stay home with one of the kids. When we did go, it was often for only half a meeting. At assemblies we'd go for lunch just to be seen, then leave again.

We pretended to do field service for the last couple of years, attending the group and then saying we were off to do calls, but go shopping and then drive home to get changed. When someone told me about the UN brouhaha I took an even greater dislike to the guys at the head of the organisation. I read bits of Franz's memoir via links at Wikipedia, which made me hate them even more.

I missed a memorial because I was working that night and didn't care. My wife and kids went, but no one was game to ask them where I was. By then I guess they knew I was very sour about the whole thing. I bought Crisis of Conscience and my wife began reading it first and told me she was never going back. I told I'd keep going from time to time, just to maintain some link with God's Organisation and make sure I survived Armageddon. Then I started reading the book and realised I could never, ever go back. April 2008 was the last time we went.

We felt relieved and so happy. It brought my wife and I closer together. Witnesses, meanwhile, avoided us. No one asked if we were OK or had a problem until the PO caught up with my wife six months later and asked her why we'd stopped going. She told him we were happy and didn't want to discuss it. The same guy phoned me a few months ago to grill me about something I'd done and I told him his phone call was inappropriate. Friends interstate have tried to put the guilt trip on us, but we told them we don't want to talk about it.

We'd rather not be DFd because it would complicate business matters, but really we don't care any more.

36

Assembly changes

by d in

i was wondering what changes have you seen with assemblies now.compared to assemblies in the 1950's..

MrMonroe

Off topic, I suppose, but on my first DC as a newly converted, newly baptised brother, I was dispatched to the news service department because I worked for a newspaper. I spent lunchtimes strolling around Lang Park, Brisbane, looking for anyone from outside Brisbane, who would be photographed as a happy, smiling family. I took down their names and congregation. The rest of the sessions were spent writing up those details as captions to go out to their local papers, along with a unique rewrite of a DC press release on some of the main points, skewing it to their local area.

In the end I reckoned I wrote out that press release about 50 or 60 different ways on their crappy portable typewriter. At the end of it people, knowing I was a newbie, asked, "So what did you think of the convention. Wasn't it encouraging?" And I'd go, "Yes, it was very encouraging. I got a lot out of it. It was very upbuilding." I reckon I heard about an hour of the whole thing.

51

Earthquake in N.Z.

by smiddy in

jw
friends

i guess the witnesses are rejoicing over the death and destruction of the latest earthquake in n.z.as proof of the imminent coming of armageddon,and their deliverance into the "new world system of things" i can just see it now ,the kh`s in nz will be filled to overflowing in the next month,......then in six months later it will be back to the status quo.. p.s when jesus said their would be" earthquakes in one place after another" couldn`t he have identified these areas for the faithfull ?

so at least beleivers would have been spared the trauma ?

of course non beleivers would have suffered the consequences,but why should beleivers suffer also ?.

MrMonroe

Murray Smith, I have sent you a PM.

Usual instructions: click on the envelope at the top of the page. If it gives an error message, hit "back" a few times and keep trying until it appears.

51

Earthquake in N.Z.

by smiddy in

jw
friends

i guess the witnesses are rejoicing over the death and destruction of the latest earthquake in n.z.as proof of the imminent coming of armageddon,and their deliverance into the "new world system of things" i can just see it now ,the kh`s in nz will be filled to overflowing in the next month,......then in six months later it will be back to the status quo.. p.s when jesus said their would be" earthquakes in one place after another" couldn`t he have identified these areas for the faithfull ?

so at least beleivers would have been spared the trauma ?

of course non beleivers would have suffered the consequences,but why should beleivers suffer also ?.

MrMonroe

A friend in Christchurch texted my wife today with the news that her husband was out in field service again today.

For a religion that thrives on bad news, a natural disaster that kills more than 200 people and cripples a city is a godsend.

I can imagine them now, walking past homes without running water or power, no flushing toilets or showers, their gardens knee-deep in grey sludge vomited from the earth and mixed with sewage, proudly clutching their Watchtowers to warn that the end of the world is nigh. They exploit the vulnerable, seizing on a mood of fear and uncertainty.

They are vultures. They are lacking in love, empathy and human affection. They are truly a religion that fits the description at 2 Timothy 3 (Jerusalem Bible): "Heartless ... demented by pride ... They will keep up the outward appearance of religion but will have rejected the inner power of it. Have nothing to do with people like that."

34

The role of the Home Bible Study arrangement in JW brainwashing

by MrMonroe in

i've just started reading "year of doom, 1975: the inside story of jehovah's witnesses" by english author j.c. stevenson.

it was published in 1967 as basically a memoir of his years in the dubs, including time as a pioneer, and an explanation of the methods used by them to make the organisation grow.. it's not the best "insider" book i've written, but there is a section i've uploaded below that makes some interesting points about the home bible study procedure and why it is so effective at turning interested people into baptism candidates.

reading through this, i see myself back in the mid-80s sitting there getting led, week by week, into the trap.. this section is from chapter 2, "the seed is watered" in which he explains the typical process following a few return visits.. .

MrMonroe

I've just started reading "Year of Doom, 1975: The Inside Story of Jehovah's Witnesses" by English author J.C. Stevenson. It was published in 1967 as basically a memoir of his years in the Dubs, including time as a pioneer, and an explanation of the methods used by them to make the organisation grow.

It's not the best "insider" book I've written, but there is a section I've uploaded below that makes some interesting points about the home bible study procedure and why it is so effective at turning interested people into baptism candidates. Reading through this, I see myself back in the mid-80s sitting there getting led, week by week, into the trap.

This section is from chapter 2, "The Seed is Watered" in which he explains the typical process following a few return visits.

51

Earthquake in N.Z.

by smiddy in

jw
friends

i guess the witnesses are rejoicing over the death and destruction of the latest earthquake in n.z.as proof of the imminent coming of armageddon,and their deliverance into the "new world system of things" i can just see it now ,the kh`s in nz will be filled to overflowing in the next month,......then in six months later it will be back to the status quo.. p.s when jesus said their would be" earthquakes in one place after another" couldn`t he have identified these areas for the faithfull ?

so at least beleivers would have been spared the trauma ?

of course non beleivers would have suffered the consequences,but why should beleivers suffer also ?.

MrMonroe

Have meetings been suspended to allow people to cope with the trauma? Have the brothers arranged for professional counselling for congregation members? Have quotas for door to door witnessing been dropped? Have plans for the "extra activity" in April been abandoned? Are those disaster relief committees assisting non-Witnesses with their physical needs? Just wondering ....

51

Earthquake in N.Z.

by smiddy in

jw
friends

i guess the witnesses are rejoicing over the death and destruction of the latest earthquake in n.z.as proof of the imminent coming of armageddon,and their deliverance into the "new world system of things" i can just see it now ,the kh`s in nz will be filled to overflowing in the next month,......then in six months later it will be back to the status quo.. p.s when jesus said their would be" earthquakes in one place after another" couldn`t he have identified these areas for the faithfull ?

so at least beleivers would have been spared the trauma ?

of course non beleivers would have suffered the consequences,but why should beleivers suffer also ?.

MrMonroe

PM waiting for you, Finallysomepride.

Like everyone else, I'm shocked by the damage and the trauma people are suffering there. I lived in Chch for a while. How glad I am that I'm not there now. I feel so sad for those caught up in this nightmare.

18

Witnesses at my door today

by Lily Pie in

so, i've been waiting for them to do the *rounds* here for a while.

and they finally turned up.. i lead the discussion towards holy spirt and personal relationship with god.

(personal relationship with god is really about interacting with the father, jesus & the spirit, not just the spirit - but i think emphasising spirit is a simple way to get across my point) i was curious about whether or not they had one.

MrMonroe

They think they know God. But that's because they have been instructed on what their relationship with God is and how they feel about it. That woman is going away only to find out what she has been TOLD she believes. Anyone who knows their relationship with God doesn't need to go away and do "research".

84

Top 10 Memorial Excuses

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

good excuses.

pinkeye.

(highly contagious, and you aren't supposed to touch other people's dishes and glasses.)tuberculosis.

MrMonroe

I'm working that night to provide for my family. I'm sure Jesus will understand.

You think me missing one memorial will cost me my life? Will Jesus notice? I'm thinking about all those people who show up one night a year at the Kingdom Hall. Is that all Jesus cares about? Is he so easily fooled? Do you reckon he just takes a roll call and that's all that matters ... anyone who's present SURVIVES Armageddon; anyone who misses just one memorial DIES A HORRIBLE DEATH.