Ding

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Posts by Ding

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  11

  refusing to go in service with someone

  by enoughisenough in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  did you ever refuse to go in service with someone?

  i did.... i went to the kh to meet for service and 3 brothers were there.

  i told the brother taking the lead, that when he made up the car groups to take note i had a plan of my own -the 3 brothers could go together and i would do my own thing.

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  Ding

  Sounds like independent thinking, Enoughisenough.

  No wonder you left the borg...
  
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  20

  Hello I’ve just discovered that my religion is false just

  by Chickenlips in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wanted to say hey.

  i’m in australia.

  i’ve just woken up… i’m disfellowshipped and finding it hard without family although i do have one sister who isn’t interested in the truth, so that’s good… at least i can talk to her.

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  Ding

  Chickenlips,

  Have you read Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz? If not, I recommend that you do so. Ray was on the GB and went through many of the things you've been going through.
  

  You said that you had been very depressed because you saw nowhere else to go. That's a major part of the WT indoctrination process. They poison your mind to everything outside the organization.

  I believe there are a lot of JWs who realize something is seriously wrong with their religion but they stick with it because the WT has convinced them that every alternative is worse. Not so!
  

  I don't recall if you said to what extent (if at all) you still believe in God, Christ, and the Bible. If you do still have belief in them to some extent, please be aware that not every Christian organization is as legalistic as the WT. Please be aware also that one's relationship to God is dependent on Christ himself, not on which earthly organization you might join. Don't look for the one true Christian organization. It's the WT that has planted in your mind the idea that there is only one of them.They've also planted in your mind the thought that unless it's perfect, a church must be satanic. Consider how messed up the churches were to whom Paul wrote his epistles. Yet he considered them to be truly Christian and continued to minister to them.

  If you'd like to PM me about any of this, feel free.

  Cheers.
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  20

  Hello I’ve just discovered that my religion is false just

  by Chickenlips in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wanted to say hey.

  i’m in australia.

  i’ve just woken up… i’m disfellowshipped and finding it hard without family although i do have one sister who isn’t interested in the truth, so that’s good… at least i can talk to her.

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  Ding

  Welcome!

  One piece of advice.

  Make every effort to stop referring to the WT religion as "the truth." That lingo is part of their indoctrination process. They want you to believe that if you don't agree with them 100%, you're an opposer of the truth.

  Someone can be very interested in the truth and very devoted to seeking the truth (the real truth) without having any interest at all in "the truth" (what the WT calls the truth).

  In fact, I have an XJW friend who shocks other XJWs by asking, "So, how long were you in the... lie?" Of course, the final word of the question is the exact opposite of what they expect.

  It kind of smacks them upside the head and reminds they of how programmed they were as JWs.
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  16

  First Day of Returning to D2D Work

  by Foolednomore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is the first day of the return to the d2d work, no one in the strip opened their doors or gates.

  what a waste of time!.

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  Ding

  I doubt that the CO will ask what was accomplished... just how many publishers put in how many hours...
  
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  9

  11/2022 WT, not-so-encouraging experiences

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here's some 'spiritual gems' from the latest wt, 11/22.

  first up, a bethelite who was kicked out, er, "reassigned":.

  "she was reassigned to the field after serving at bethel for more than 23 years.

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  Ding

  The message is clear.

  If the WT treats you poorly, remain loyal and don't complain.
  
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  68

  Where it all went wrong for the WT - JF Rutherford

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was thinking a bit about this the other day.

  ct russell, from what i remember about him, kinda seemed like a genuine, nice(ish) guy, although he had a few eccentric but harmless ideas.. during the russell era jws (actually bible students) could still celebrate christmas, worship in other churches if there was no kingdom hall available, and accept blood transfusions.. then after russell died, along came rutherford - a major league a-hole, for sure.. rutherford had plenty of eccentric ideas but at least some of them weren't/aren't harmless.

  some have been long forgotten about - jesus depicted without a beard, the plan to rename the names of the week because names such as thursday (thor's day) is pagan, the articles about the 'dangers' of aluminium, etc.. one key contribution of rutherford which does a lot of harm is no blood transfusions, even in life-threatening situations.. another is shunning, something which never occurred under russell, or at least was much milder.. rutherford has a lot to answer for, i reckon ....

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  Ding

  The WT started out wrong.

  Russell was a false prophet.

  Rutherford was worse.

  He saw the failure of Russell's predictions and doubled down.

  When he saw his own 1925 prediction fail, he just kept on going.

  He disfellowshipped anyone who got in his way.
  
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  14

  Dumb 'experiences' you were told as a JW

  by BettyHumpter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this one stands out in my mind.

  it was reported that 'a brother', unnamed of course, was out in field service and was set upon by a pack of vicious dogs.

  he made it back to the car and was injured quite badly with his arms, hands and leg bleeding heavily.

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  Ding

  I remember two stories. Not sure where I read or heard them.

  1. Some brother swam through crocodile-infested waters in Africa to be able to witness in some remote village.

  2. A brother witnessed in a very rough neighborhood and was severely beaten for his efforts. When asked about his experience he said, "I just thank Jehovah for his undeserved kindness."

  I remember thinking how dedicated those men were and how I could never measure up to that standard.

  It wasn't until years later that it occurred to me that those stories might have been complete fiction.

  That was after I realized that the Watchtower motivates mostly via guilt, fear, and shame.
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  20

  Apostates apparently have their own terminology

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a dyed in the wool witness actually posted this as if non-witnesses invented unheard of terminology,.

  "those who devote their life to criticize jehovah’s witnesses use a lot of very specific expressions and ideas common only to them:.

  “8 old men in new york”,.

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  Ding

  Sounds like we read WT literature far more than they do...
  
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  8

  Do the publications still use exclamation! points excessively?

  by BettyHumpter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i dont know why the question popped into my head.

  i've been out since '90-'91 and haven't read any literature in years.

  was this a fred franz quirk or do they still write in that style?

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  Ding

  I always noticed the titles' use of question marks.

  "Living Forever-- How Possible?"
  
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  10

  Never thought I would see this in my family circle

  by Captain Schmideo2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  so, my 17 year old niece reveals to me that for the past few years, her father (my sister's husband) has been physically and verbally abusive to her.enough so that it finally came to a breaking point, and she reported it to the police.

  she told me that she had wished she had told me sooner, but she was trying to wait til she was 18 so that she could leave.i knew that she and her parents had been locking horns for the past couple of years, but i chalked it up to teen puberty and general growing pains.

  but on their last, most recent visit, i could tell that something was really eating at her.apparently, what set off this latest incident was that he discovered that she had been seeing/involved with a non-witness boy about her age, and got so violent with her that it left marks.ironically, she went and got help from her boyfriend's father, a paramedic, who documented the injuries and encouraged her to report it.so, yeah, he spent a night in jail.she is now staying at the parents of her boyfriend, while still trying to have some aspects of her old life (work, school, etc.

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  Ding

  So sorry to hear this.

  If your niece's parents object to her living elsewhere, point out that her being away from the house prevents further allegations of abuse being made and they have enough accusations to deal with as it is.

  Also, she's 17. Even without abuse allegations, soon she'll be a legal adult and able to leave despite any of their objections.