Posts by jschwehm

60

My JW Mothers' Words Of "Love"

by Ranchette in

jw
friends

well, i just received a letter from my mom and i dont know how to describe my feelings at this time.

i thought id share parts of it with you and see what yall think.

i will delete names and add my own words in parenthesis to describe whom shes talking about.. after a few lines of small talk she says this..........i do want to tell you, since (you and your husband) have rejected the truth, i am so glad (your son) is not old enough to join or be drafted into the military.

jschwehm

Hi Ranchette-

Your mother's letter is no doubt about her love for you. However, it is even more about her fear. She is scared and she is afraid that her god will murder you soon. This terrorist attack in New York City has the JWs on the offensive with their supposed message of hope which sounds good at first but in the end does not deliver the comfort that it claims to have. Instead it delivers a life of fear and works that drains a person of their energy and stunts a person from growing to their full potential.

My sister and I had an interesting discussion a couple of days ago. My sister was raised as a JW and fortunately can see through it. However, my parents are very active in it and are using the scare tactics of the terrorist attack to promote their belief that their god is going to kill lots of people soon. They are using this to scare my sister into going back to the meetings. Fortunately, my sister sees through this tactic as well.

I can remember a number of years ago when I first left the JWs, my brother who was raised a JW but never got baptized wanted to know why I left. We talked about many issues. One that was particularly interesting to him was when I asked him what was the first thing that came to his mind whenever an act of war was reported on the news. He said, that the first thing that came to mind was that the end of the world was near. Then I asked him what the first that came to his mind was when a peace treaty or agreement was signed and reported about in the news. He said, that the first thing he thought of was that the end of the world is coming. I pointed out to him how convenient it is for the JWs to have all of their bases covered.

It reminds me of the scene in Huckleberry Finn where the slave Jim tells Huck his fortune. Jim tells Huck that he has a good angel on one should and a bad angel on the other shoulder. If Huck listens to the good angel then Huck will be good, if he listens to the bad angel then Huck will be bad. Jim had all of his bases covered, but Huck thought that Jim had just given him a real view of the future. LOL

The saddest thing my sister told me was that my JW mother, who does *everything* the Society tells her to do, believes that she is probably not good enough to make into the new system. This event in New York coupled with the special attention it appears that the Society is giving this event, must be scaring my mother to death. It will also no doubt motivate her to do more for the organization in the hopes that someday she will be good enough for the Watchtower god.
Again, this is another example of how the Watchtower "gospel" fails to deliver the comfort but it does deliver much fear.

Jeff S.

4

JWs' Message to the World

by jschwehm in

jw
friends

the talk about what the jws did or did not do to help people in the disaster is very interesting.

frankly, i would hope in many ways that they would not help since their mode of operation is to use tragedies like that to recruit people into their group.

my own mother was recruited into the jws after her mother passed away.

jschwehm

Hi Gang-

The talk about what the JWs did or did not do to help people in the disaster is very interesting. Frankly, I would hope in many ways that they would not help since their mode of operation is to use tragedies like that to recruit people into their group.

My own mother was recruited into the JWs after her mother passed away. This tragic event in my mother's life was used to get her into a destructive cult. If the Mormons had called on her during that time in her life, I probably would be speaking on an ex-Mormon bulletin board right now.

In any case, when people go through something like this, it is a time of extreme emotional turmoil to say the least and a sales pitch from a cult like the JWs, the Mormons, the Moonies, or any of them can be very attractive to people who have suffered such extreme loss.

I have been speaking to some JWs who have had doubts over the last few months. This disaster coupled with the fear that the JW mindset encourages them to have due to every disaster that happens in the world has many of them thinking about returning to the JWs wholeheartedly. It is also my understanding that the Watchtower Organization is going to use this disaster as an opportunity to convert others to their group.

In fact, it seems as though a letter from the Governing Body was sent to the different congregations in the USA encouraging JWs to use this disaster as a way to engage people in conversation and to present the public with their paradise earth theology. In addition it seems that the JWs were told not to dwell with people on their other more controversial teachings such as the fact that they believe that most individuals on the earth (all non-JWs) will be destroyed by God at Armageddon. Evidently, this letter was read to some congregations in the USA this week. (Can anyone here confirm this?)

So, it seems that the Watchtower Organization finally has a tragic event that they can use to help them in combatting their decline in the Western world. This really saddens me as it will revictimize many of the individuals who have already been victimized by these terrorist acts.

Jeff S.

77

JW Child Abuse: An Insider's Insight

by silentlambs in

i post the following at the request of barbara anderson.. .

as a result of the newspaper report calling attention to my actions i feel compelled to provide further information that has come to light and deserves full exposure.. the society is very much aware of my intentions, because of a private e-mail i innocently wrote someone was forwarded to the society without my permission.

you can read it in its entirety, below.

jschwehm

Hi Barbara-

Thank you for doing the right thing. I will keep you and your family in my prayers as you go through this difficult time.

Jeff Schwehm

21

AF - Proof that he's nuts (as if you needed it)

by Mishnah in

jw
friends

apparently it is a fact that af has been subjected to professional psychiatric aid.

i applaud the fact that he once was able to bring himself to that point.

by why has he abandoned real mental help and replaced it with places like this?

jschwehm

Mishnah-

I think what you are seeing from AF is his frustration in speaking with Dun over issues that are very obvious and Dun's refusal to see it. While I am uncomfortable with AF's style when he gets frustrated and would like for him to be more long suffering, I can certainly understand his frustration.

In constrast, what I have seen from you, is someone who has nothing else better to do than to call someone dumb, gay, unstable, for no apparent reason. I am actually more concerned with your mental stability than with AF's mental stability.

By the way, if the GB are that out spoken against homosexuality, would it upset you to know that homosexuals have served on the Governing Body? This would indicate some form of hypocrisy would it not? Perhaps since they are so open about their condemnation of homosexuality it would be even more important to know about them so as to be able to take them seriously.

And........I honestly cannot believe that you can say some to things that you have said with a straight face. The leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses have flip flopped on so many issues that one can hardly keep up with it. How can you accept these instances of "flickering light" as coming from God when you know nothing about the lifestyle, education, or training of the Governing Body members?

Jeff S.

2

To Mishnah

by jschwehm in

jw
friends

you wrote the following:.

"if someone shows a pattern of confusion, changes churches, changes sexual preferences, and changes his beliefs about god, then the people who listen to him as a voice of information, who share opposite beliefs and sexual preferences need to know this for it would undermine their confidence in what he says about other things.".

i am curious...do you have similar information about the sexual preferences and changes in beliefs of every member of the governing body?

jschwehm

You wrote the following:

"If someone shows a pattern of confusion, changes churches, changes sexual preferences, and changes his beliefs about God, then the people who listen to him as a voice of information, who share opposite beliefs and sexual preferences need to know this for it would undermine their confidence in what he says about other things."

I am curious...do you have similar information about the sexual preferences and changes in beliefs of every member of the governing body? If you do not, how can you have confidence in what it is they are teaching you?

Jeff S.

21

Ecourage You Know to try for G.B membership!

by D wiltshire in

jw
friends

if you were to encourage you know to present himself to the governing body for membership there in.. what would you say to swell up his head?.

even if they were lies about his abilities, i think he would beleive it because he is very very haughty.. a haughty person is easy to fool especially if you appeal to there ego, so what would you say to him to get him to committ a kind of jw hari kari by seeking to recommend his own self to the gb.. i bet it won't take much to get him started down that road.. any got some lines to feed you know?.

:-)

jschwehm

Hi-

You Know has been trying to rise above his junior member status of the faithful and discreet slave class for years. I think the problem is that he has not reached the official false prophecy quota yet...but as all of us know he is continuing to work on that.

Jeff S.

Life After the Tower

by jschwehm in

jw
friends

many individuals who lurk on these discussion boards remark at the hate and anger that is expressed here.

it makes them uncomfortable.

however, there is good reason why we see so much of it here.. for many ex-jws, the betrayal that they feel at the hands of the leaders of the jws is enough to make them extremely angry.

jschwehm

Hi-

Many individuals who lurk on these discussion boards remark at the hate and anger that is expressed here. It makes them uncomfortable. However, there is good reason why we see so much of it here.

For many ex-JWs, the betrayal that they feel at the hands of the leaders of the JWs is enough to make them extremely angry. The missed opportunities the lost dreams, etc.

For the JWs who are here, many of them interpret a critical comment about their religious organization as being the equivalent of a critical comment about their god. Therefore, such ones must speak for and defend their god against these attacks, since, of course, their god is not powerful enough to defend himself.

One thing that I find fascinating is the complaint that JWs will make about how ex-JWs do not "let go" and move on with their lives. However, when an ex-JW demonstrates that they have done this the response from the JWs is often "of course your life is better now Satan is blessing you for leaving God".

Such comments demonstrate the cult mind set that these JWs are under. For JWs like these there is no honorable reason to leave their god (organization) and their is no good reason for criticizing their god (organization) either.

However, in spite of these comments from cultic JWs, the truth is that the best revenge toward those who have tried to control you is to live well and be happy.

Jeff S.

17

Judging Jehovah's Witnesses

by Kent in

jw
friends

more puke!.

judging jehovah's witnesses.

religious persecution and the dawn of the rights revolution.

jschwehm

Hi

I emailed the author of this book some time last year I think when I read a review of this book in USA Today.

The author told me that he is aware of the way in which the JWs treat religious dissidents in their organization. He told me that in his book he points out the great irony between the JWs public fight for religious freedom in the courts and the way in which they do all they can to prohibit religious freedom within their organization. He said he addresses this in his book.

I have not read the book yet. But the author is aware of the JWs' many shortcomings.

Jeff S.

22

COC , nail in the coffin?

by noidea in

jw
friends

i know that many of you have read coc.. was you mind made up about leaving the org.

before or after you read it?

jschwehm

Hi-

I had serious doubts about the organization before I read anything by a former JW. When I read Ray's two books, I thought he was exaggerating until I looked up his references and realized that he was not.

I would say Ray's books confirmed much of what I had already suspected.

Jeff S.

12

bethel

by musky in

jw
friends

i am curious.

how many here have served time at or have relatives that have served at bethel?

i have heard different stories when people came back.

jschwehm

Hi

I was there from 1987 to 1988. I worked on the Paint and Scaffold Crew. I was told before I left not to say bad things about Bethel to the brothers on the outside and that the brothers on the outside need only hear good things about Bethel.

I would say that I was pretty naive about human nature when I went there. Basically, my experience at Bethel is similar to what anyone would experience working for a large corporation only worse since you had to live there too.

Jeff S.