Posts by ABibleStudent

48

Finally decided to introduce myself here

by cookiemaster in

hey guys !

i've stopped believing the watchtower crap a few years ago.

i achieved this on my own, despite being raised as one.

ABibleStudent

Welcome cookiemaster, Congradulations on attending college! College is a great place to make new non-JW friends and to have fun as well as to study. If JWs look down on you, be happy inside that you will not be suffering as much as they are when the Big A doesn't happen.

If you want to learn how to help your JW family and friends to critically think for themselves, please read Steve Hassan's books (i.e., "Combatting Cult Mind Control", "Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves", and (his latest) "Freedom of Mind: Helping Love Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs"), visiting his website www.freedomofmind.com, and watching videos on his website.

Best of wishes with continueing your college education.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

6

Interesting convo at the Barbers

by Phizzy in

jw
friends

i went to get my annual shearing done the other day, as people kept standing on my hair.

as i sat waiting for the guy in the chair to have his three or four hairs trimmed, i realised he was a young jw that i knew.. as he left the chair he had to turn around and face me, so could not ignore me, we spoke briefly and then he went.. the barber then asked if i was a jw too, as i knew the young feller.

i replied that i had been brought up as one, and a load of questions followed.

ABibleStudent

Phizzy, Spread the TTATT to non-JWs so that they aren't deceived and indoctrinated by the WTBTS.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

42

My Story

by Brother Mike in

jw
friends

my story is long, heart stopping, tragic, and puzzling.

since i posted what was said to be my last post, i received a private message which sparked my attention about the watchtower.

immediately i did research, and have found not only proof from outside sources, but the watchtower openly admitting it.

ABibleStudent

Welcome back Brother Mike, Before you contemplate anything irreversible and permanent, please see a counselor to help you make wise decisions. Life goes through cycles, sometimes life is very good and sometimes it can cause one great sorrow. Only you can shoose what to do with your life.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

37

Am I missing something here ?

by smiddy in

in ancient times , o.t.speak, god dealt with humans in a variety of ways , dreams ,visions ,prophets,and prophetesses , then apparently 2000 years ago he must have said, i`m not doing this anymore.they , my followers will just have to beleive and put faith in what has been written down up untill the 20th century of the common era.

approximately 4000 years of human history where god has communicated with humans .

if you beleive that .. their has been no communication between god , with any human , whether by dreams , visions , or prophets , for the past 2000 years.. and may i add, their has been no communication from jesus during these past 2000 years either, giving us enlightend /updates about his sayings /prophecys that he gave while on earth 2000 years ago.. please explain.. smiddy.

ABibleStudent

As the following verses state, Jesus only promised that the Holy Spirit would speak through people and not to them, and would always be with them. I guess only Jesus Christ and angels can speak to people. Of course, you are free to believe it or not.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

Matthew 1:20 - But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:11 - “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Matthew 4:1 - [ Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness ] Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 10:19-20 - 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Fatherspeaking through you.

Matthew 12:31-32 - 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this ageor in the age to come.

Luke 10:21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

John 14:15-18 - [ Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit ] 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be [a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

21

welcome new poster Jen1 on my thread 'making connections'

by losingit in

jw
friends

please welcome jen1 to the jwnforum.

she posted for the first time on my thread 'making connections.

' let's all please encourage her!!!!.

ABibleStudent

Welcome Jen1, Happy Holidays to you. What's your story?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

9

The history of Jehovah's Witnesses and Christmas

by ILoveTTATT in

jw
friends

i intend to make a chronological history of christmas among jehovah's witnesses.

i look to make it as accurate as possible, and have it include as many wt publications references as possible.. i will post it when i am done with it... my jaw dropped to the floor various times when researching this article, so i hope you like it!.

ilttatt.

ABibleStudent

Merry Christmas! I'm sure that the shift in the WTBTS's stance on celebrating holidays was instigated by Freddie Franz.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

43

Do you look like the apostate they warned you about?

by Angus Beef in

after waking up and wanting to get out of this nightmare, the word apostate is really bothering me.

if i quitely become inactive, fade away will i just be looked at as "always weak".

i want to scream out how big a fool i was.. and now telling my poor young daughter how wrong i was to bring her up as a jw.

ABibleStudent

Angus Beef - What am I in for? Is there going to be a grief cycle like divorce, or death: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, depression, guilt, obsession, & then acceptance? I miss the meeting last night, not unusual, but I don't ever want to go back.

Hi Angus Beef, Yes, you will experience a grief cycle because of all the WTBTS fantasies that you believed in will not happen. You will also be adversely affected by WTBTS induced phobias (i.e., fearing being called an apostate), unless you actively work at discovering those phobias and overcoming them. The good news is that you can choose how to live your life by either seeing a cult exit counselor, or reading books or watching videos about exiting dangerous cults.

If you have not read Steve Hassan's books, please read his books (i.e., "Combatting Cult Mind Control", "Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves", "Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs"). If you don't want to spend money, at least watch the following video to determine whether Steve Hassan's ideas can help you: Strategic Interactive Approach explained 2003 (1:23:23).

Please continue to post on JWN to vent your feelings and to ask for advice about how to help your JW family and friends to critically think for themselves. Do not tell JWs TTATT! Instead ask them simple questions. I would recommend reading exJW Psychology 102--How to Ask a Question When Questions Aren't Allowed by Billy the Ex-Bethelite about how to disguise your questions so that JW will not become suspicious.

Best of wishes helping JWs to critically think for themselves.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

15

"You need to witness to her about Christmas"

by DS211 in

well thats what my wife said when my grandma stopped by for a visit and invited us to hang out with them christmas eve.

after she left, my wife said i needed to witness to her and remind her that we do nkt celebrate it and that it is the worst holiday to celebrate (actually halloween is lol).

i felt this wasnt the time to argue so i decided to tell her i would look into that.

ABibleStudent

Hi DS211, Have you and your wife gone to non-JW family Christmas parties before? Has she asked you to witness to your grandma before? Is your wife's cult persona feeling guilty about smoking, watching movies like the Matrix, or having too much fun?

You could tell your wife that your grandma unconditionally loves you and her and cannot understand why JWs say they believe in Jesus Christ, but are not allowed to celebrate his birth like the angels and shepherds did in Luke 2:1-21. Ask your wife if she is willing to help you role play to prepare to witness to your grandma, because standard WTBTS doctrine will not work. Or, you could both just go to your grandma's and spend a good-time with non-JW family.

If your wife is willing to help you, just let her play a JW and you will play your grandma. Just ask your wife simple questions to help your wife realize the falsehoods of the WTBTS's doctrine(s).

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

32

New here

by Brainfloss in

well,i have been lurking here for a couple of years.

i was babtized at 16 for all of the wrong reasons and when i moved out after highschool i really never looked back, although i suppose i always thought it was the truth.

at 36 i met the love of my life.

ABibleStudent

Welcome Brainfloss, I'm glad that some of your JW family talks with you. If you want to maintain relationships with JW family and friends, I would recommend that you read Steve Hassan's books (i.e., "Combatting Cult Mind Control", "Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves", and (his latest book) "Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones to Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs"), visiting his website www.freedomofmind.com, and viewing his videos on his website.

Best of wishes living a happy life free of the WTBTS.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

36

What are the best questions?

by MissyM in

jw
friends

what would you say are the best questions to ask a jw which they will not be able to answer and may make them question their beliefs?.

what (if you are a former jw) made you question the "truth"?.

ABibleStudent

It depends on what are the consequences to the person asking the question(s) as well as the emotional state of the person being asked the question(s). Previous posters have written good questions for the authentic persona of a JW to question WTBTS doctrine issues, but what question(s) will help a JW's authentic persona to overcome their cult persona? IMHO if one cannot peak a JW's curiousity and help their authentic persona to overcome their cult persona, seeds of doubt will not grow very quickly.

It is easy to determine when a question has stumped a JW because a JW will not be able to respond for minutes, so don't say another word until a JW says something.

I like simple questions that target a JW's authentic persona, like when a JW asks when are you coming back to the KH, ask "How are you feeling? (pause to learn if a JW wants to talk about how they feel) Why are you still a JW (with an empathetic and concerned look)?" Once a JW's authentic persona is in control, then start asking one or possible two questions something like "I was stumped by something that someone asked me. Will you help me?" and then ask the seed of doubt question(s).

Also, I like to learn how to respond to JWs when JWs use thought stopping platitudes. The nice thing about the WTBTS is that it teaches thought-stopping platitudes that one can learn how to overcome and then stump JWs when they use those thought-stopping platitudes. A good zinger may be able to pierce a JW's cult persona, because the JW is confident that they have the perfect protection. I hope that more people will share those good zingers for the thought-stopping platitudes, like in the thread Conversation-stopper STOPPERS needed!.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert