Posts by ABibleStudent

23

Oh My God!!

by ABibleStudent in

yesterday after an awesome workout at the gym i was walking to the front door and i saw my former friend who is a "spiritually strong" (non-thinking) jw walking towards me talking with a trainer.

i thought she was either there on a job interview or was taking a tour of the facilities before joining.. i thought should i say hi, should i say nothing, would she acknowledge me, etc.

i decided to say hi to make sure that she remembered that i am a member of this gym, so that she would not feel uncomfortable it she accepted a job there or joined it.. the gym is about 20 miles from where she lived when i was friends with her, but is in a convenient location between where she was living and where she works.. i said "hi n" about five feet before me, no response.. i said "hi n" a little louder about five feet after they passed me.

ABibleStudent

@ losingit, How can a "Spiritually Strong" (non-thinking) JW, who is divorced and not free to remarry, and a single non-JW be in a romantic relationship? A Ménage à trois with a "Spiritually Strong" (non-thinking) JW, non-JW, and the WTBTS is not my idea of fun nor a romantic relationship. Of course, my former friend's authentic persona and I did want to become involved with each other initially.

@ jgnat, I agree with you that my former friend's cult persona can be a jerk, and at the same time I feel that my former friend's authentic persona is battling with her cult persona to find balance and happiness in her life. I'm glad that I read Steve Hassan's books, because it helped me to understand better what my friend is experiencing and not to feel frustration and anger at my former friend.

@ punkofnice, You are right that life is full of twists and turns!! If I did not like the authentic persona of my former friend, I would not have wasted my breath saying hi to her. Since I like to screw with cult personas of JWs, it makes no sense to be nice to them if their cult and authentic persona's are a$$ess. Life is precious and I'm glad that you realized that the WTBTS was wasting your life before it was too late.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

24

Corruption of Hubby Continues...

by jgnat in

well, it's been a few weeks since he's gone inactive and hubby's already signed up at the fitness club.

this morning he saw one of my apps and now he wants it too.. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reverie-daily-inspirational/id514591805?mt=8.

it has a pretty picture and an inspirational quote for the day.

ABibleStudent

Congratulations jgnat!! Patience, knowledge, and love can overcome BITE control.

Do you worry about your hubby backslidding? What would your hubby have to do for you to feel that he will never be a JW? As he read any of Steve Hassan's or Raymond Franz's books yet?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

35

Disrupting literature carts

by perfect1 in

i am ready for a little guerilla warfare (no one gets hurt, of course).

but these literature carts in the city need to go.

everytime i walk by its all i can do to keep from knocking the thing over.. any ideas on how to destroy their little stash of paper.. so far my best idea is water, pouring water all over it.

ABibleStudent

Hi perfect1, DITTO what other posters have written about not damaging the carts/propaganda, about talking to the JWs and asking them simple questions to plant seeds of doubt, and attaching permanent QR code stickers to the propaganda or writing www.jwfacts.com, www.freedomofmind.com, or one of your favorite websites on the propaganda.

It is very simple to attach QR code stickers to propaganda. Walk up to the JWs. Engage them in conversation. When they offer to give you their propaganda, ask if you can give them something in return. It is easy to overcome their objections to accept religious information by saying it is not religious and it may save their lives. When they say yes, accept their propaganda. Write www.jwfacts.com, www.freedomofmind.com, or one of your favorite websites on the propaganda or attach a permanent QR code sticker to the proganda. Hand the propaganda back to the JW and say how the website saved your life after visiting it.

Another option is to talk with business owners where the carts are located about how they feel about the WTBTS carts. If they do not like the carts in front of their business, educate the owners that the WTBTS is a dangerous cult and show them a poster with a QR code to www.jwfacts.com, www.freedomofmind.com, or one of your favorite websites that you would like them to display near the carts in a prominate location. Thank the business owner for his help and suggest that he tells other business owners in the area about the WTBTS and how to encourage JWs to move the WTBTS carts.

Peace be with you and eveyrone, who you love,

Robert

23

Oh My God!!

by ABibleStudent in

yesterday after an awesome workout at the gym i was walking to the front door and i saw my former friend who is a "spiritually strong" (non-thinking) jw walking towards me talking with a trainer.

i thought she was either there on a job interview or was taking a tour of the facilities before joining.. i thought should i say hi, should i say nothing, would she acknowledge me, etc.

i decided to say hi to make sure that she remembered that i am a member of this gym, so that she would not feel uncomfortable it she accepted a job there or joined it.. the gym is about 20 miles from where she lived when i was friends with her, but is in a convenient location between where she was living and where she works.. i said "hi n" about five feet before me, no response.. i said "hi n" a little louder about five feet after they passed me.

ABibleStudent

@ jgnat, Are you suggesting that I do not say hi to my former friend? If I were to stalk my former friend, which I will NOT DO, my former friend should probably ignor me and call the police. On two previous occasions near my home, my former friend either did ignor me or changed her mind about ignoring me. Once I was sitting on a bench in an open space across the street from my home, she was walking by, I said hi, she said nothing, and then started to almost run away. Several months later I was walking to the open space with my dog and saw her get out of her car to go for a walk. She saw me, she thought about continuing to go for her walk, but instead decided to walk towards me and walk and talk with me. I will be as nice as possible to JWs to screw with their cult persona to help their authentic persona to overcome their cult persona.

@ Finkelstein, The situation with my former friend was complicated for her, because she had very strong emotional feelings for me, divorced, was not free to remarry, and I was never baptised by the WTBTS. At her insistance I did study with an elder first and then a "Brother" later. I know from talking with my former friend that the elder said to stop seeing me, because I would never be "One of Jehovah's sheep" (non-thinking). About 10 months later after returning to S. CA., I started a "Bible Study" (indoctrination sessions) with a "Brother" at the insistance of my former friend. I specifically told my friend that I was willing to study the Bible with the "Brother", but did not want to study the Bible using the "What does the Bible really Teach" booklet as the elder insisted on doing. The "Brother" tried to indoctrinate me by cherry-picking scriptures to justify WTBTS doctines from the get go instead of studying the Bible. The "Brother" left after the second "Bible Study" (indoctrination session) and never returned, because I was not patient enough, skilled enough, nor knew about Steve Hassan's BITE model to help him see TTATT. I am more patient, knowledgeable, and skilled now than I was.

@ mzmmom, I do not feel that my former friend and I will ever be friends again. Even if she sees TTATT, we would both have to be single to be friends. If I am married, I do not feel that any wife would trust her husband having an emotional and non-physical relationship with another woman. I have moved on. I would happy if her authentic persona was able to overcome her cult persona so that she would no longer be victimized by the WTBTS.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

42

I want to send a follow-up question to my sister who has recently cut me off

by Faithful Witness in

recently, i received this email from my jw sister: .

while i appreciate the thought, please do not send us gifts.. our kids are not missing out on anything other than things we try to protect them from.. at this time, based on prior encounters and their affect on me emotionally, i think it would be best if we didn't communicate.. i hope you can understand my decision and the fact that it is not meant to offend anyone.. .

i sent her a loving and forgiving message, and know she has no intention of answering me.

ABibleStudent

Faithful Witness - (I realize she doesn't have to listen or respond. But I am not going to stop talking to you, just because you forgot how to be loving toward me "at this time.")

Hi Faithful Witness, Keep it simple. Something like what you already wrote might work.

How does the following sound to you: "I love you unconditionally. I hope that you can put yourself in my position and will realize that I am not going to shun you just because the WTBTS promotes that you shun me. If the WTBTS comes out with "New Light" in a year or two to better clarify what neccessary family business means, how will you feel about missing out on sharing our lives and memories with each other because of your decision to stop communicating with me now?"

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

23

Oh My God!!

by ABibleStudent in

yesterday after an awesome workout at the gym i was walking to the front door and i saw my former friend who is a "spiritually strong" (non-thinking) jw walking towards me talking with a trainer.

i thought she was either there on a job interview or was taking a tour of the facilities before joining.. i thought should i say hi, should i say nothing, would she acknowledge me, etc.

i decided to say hi to make sure that she remembered that i am a member of this gym, so that she would not feel uncomfortable it she accepted a job there or joined it.. the gym is about 20 miles from where she lived when i was friends with her, but is in a convenient location between where she was living and where she works.. i said "hi n" about five feet before me, no response.. i said "hi n" a little louder about five feet after they passed me.

ABibleStudent

@ Finkelstein - How members of dangerous cults (like the WTBTS) behave does not surprise me, since they may have cult and authentic personas. I'm very glad that Steve Hassan was able to write about this phenomena in a sensitive manner, so that I was able to understand that my former friend could have a very beautiful and fun authentic persona and a cult persona that could behave like an A$$. Otherwise, I would wonder if my former friend had some type of psychological disorder. I believe that it is better to be nice to JWs to screw with their cult persona, and hopefully help their authentic persona to become stronger instead of being an A$$ myself.

@ new hope and happiness - My former friend has a DF'ed son, who she loves more than the WTBTS and did not shun. I hope that her authentic persona is able to continue to control her cult persona, so that she does not shun her son. The WTBTS's BITE control is very powerful, so it is understandable that her authentic and cult personas are constantly battling to control her actions.

Although I feel that we were very close for a short time, how close can a JW be with another person when they are constantly battling between their cult and authentic personas? Does spontaneously dancing to music at a Sharkey's Mexican Restaurant while other patrons are watching, mean that we were close? Or would my former friend have to discard her beliefs and dreams of paradise, and be shunned by her family to count as being close? BTW my former friend's mother DOES shun my former friend's son.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

23

Oh My God!!

by ABibleStudent in

yesterday after an awesome workout at the gym i was walking to the front door and i saw my former friend who is a "spiritually strong" (non-thinking) jw walking towards me talking with a trainer.

i thought she was either there on a job interview or was taking a tour of the facilities before joining.. i thought should i say hi, should i say nothing, would she acknowledge me, etc.

i decided to say hi to make sure that she remembered that i am a member of this gym, so that she would not feel uncomfortable it she accepted a job there or joined it.. the gym is about 20 miles from where she lived when i was friends with her, but is in a convenient location between where she was living and where she works.. i said "hi n" about five feet before me, no response.. i said "hi n" a little louder about five feet after they passed me.

ABibleStudent

@ cult classic - I know that it is difficult to seperate feelings for a JW when they have a cult persona and an authentic persona. The cult persona can definately act like an a$$. I believe that it is better to be kind to JWs because it will drive their cult persona crazy!

@ quellycatface - I don't feel pity towards JWs. I just want to be prepared to help JWs to critically think for themselves, so that fewer non-JWs will be trapped by the WTBTS. I have seen two too many Bible Students in FS stumbling to say the WTBTS's sales pitch.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

28

Child intimidated into no sports activities- suggestions please

by 4thgen in

my ex is an active witness.

i've been endeavoring to socialize my child ad best as possible.

he loves sports in school, but has been intimidated by his father that after school activities are evil.

ABibleStudent

Hi 4thgen, Have you asked your son what he wants to do? Considering he likes sports, you could also ask him what changed his mind about wanting to play sports after/during school? Tell your son that you love him unconditionally and will protect his rights to critically think for himself and to enjoy life to its fullest.

If you were a JW, also tell him that since you were a JW you want him to enjoy life to make up for how much you missed out living life and having fun as a JW.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

11

Someone I know wants to go back to the meetings

by StephaneLaliberte in

jw
friends

i am presently fadding out and a person that i know sent me an email telling me he was going back to his meeting.

how can i let him know that i think he probably will be better outside if he keeps trying without running the risk that he goes back and forward the email to a local elder?.

.

ABibleStudent

Hi ecan6, Why did your friend stop going to meetings in the first place and what has changed? If you want to send email, ask him that question and ask him to call you or meet someplace to talk more.

Have you thought about sending your friend an anonymous email? Keep it simple, like "Hi Friend, I heard that you were thinking about going back to meetings. You should visit www.jwfacts.com to learn about all the "New Light". Someone who cares about you."

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

23

Oh My God!!

by ABibleStudent in

yesterday after an awesome workout at the gym i was walking to the front door and i saw my former friend who is a "spiritually strong" (non-thinking) jw walking towards me talking with a trainer.

i thought she was either there on a job interview or was taking a tour of the facilities before joining.. i thought should i say hi, should i say nothing, would she acknowledge me, etc.

i decided to say hi to make sure that she remembered that i am a member of this gym, so that she would not feel uncomfortable it she accepted a job there or joined it.. the gym is about 20 miles from where she lived when i was friends with her, but is in a convenient location between where she was living and where she works.. i said "hi n" about five feet before me, no response.. i said "hi n" a little louder about five feet after they passed me.

ABibleStudent

@ Honesty - Although my former friend tried very hard to encourage me to be a JW, I was never a JW. Too many red flags (e.g., like cherry-picking scriptures and my former friend being afraid to socialize with elders) made me do more independent research.

@ yadda yadda 2 - After reading Steve Hassan's CCMC, he nailed every trait of my former friend such as having a cult persona and an authentic persona. Reading Steve Hassan's CCMC, made it easier for me to be more forgiving of how JWs behave. The WTBTS's BITE control is a b_tch. My friend's authentic persona is very fun loving, care-free, and giving. By the way she did not say "Oh my God", she shouted it very loud where everyone in the gym could hear it.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert