Posts by Anony Mous

62

New here - hello!

by sickandtired in

i can't believe i'm actually posting here.

i've been lurking for a while and i've been having doubts about this being the "truth" for years and sometimes feel really stuck and hopeless about my situation.

i'm married to an elder (who is 110% jw) and i was for the most part raised in the "truth".

Anony Mous

Welcome,

If you are willing to, you can participate in our campaign to distribute this open letter to all Jehovah's Witnesses: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/204249/1/An-Open-letter-to-the-Governing-Body-of-Jehovahs-Witnesses-Elders-Ex-Elders

We're trying to distribute it to as many elders as possible and it is written by a fellow Witness, somebody who's still in the "truth" but has recently stepped down. It's not apostate but it's honest. We've reached hundreds already with this letter and the WTBTS is aware of it. On page 2 of that thread is my post on how to anonymously send it but you can send a list of e-mail addresses my way, I distribute discreetly.

I am in the same position as yours however me being male it's somewhat easier to "pull rank" in my own family yet my parents and extended family are all eldered up which makes it hard to discreetly do anything.

One of my friends (who's out) recently said: the reason you have difficulty sleeping at night (or you feeling miserable at times) right now is because of your conscience. It's never worked since you grew up in the organization which represses your conscience by saying "God says it's OK" but now your sense of 'right' is slowly coming back to you.

What can YOU do? Little. If you have a support system (family, friends) outside the organization, I would say, USE IT and make it quick and relatively painless. You're going to leave a lot of friends and family in the organization however. The benefit as a wife is that your husband will get taken down as an elder and you'll see the real reasons why people are elders and he might well experience how harsh and judgmental the organization can be even against those that have been with them for decades.

If you don't have a support system, there is little you can do. I don't have anything outside the organization thanks to the indoctrination that everything outside is bad and in a congregation without much children, that behavior makes children introverted and anti-social. I even cut off some of my family that left later in life and I regret it right now. I am actively working against the organization however behind the screens - this proves not only to myself but maybe later my family as well that the decisions and appointments being made are not directed by Holy Spirit and that being a *insert title here* is merely a result of putting the correct numbers on a slip of paper. I don't really care anymore if somebody finds out at this point but I'm trying to do as much damage as possible.

Showing your husband things that go against his faith is pointless. They write it off as apostate. What you need is genuine questions (not the classics you find on websites) regarding everyday things. Like: if so-and-so is still an elder, how is the organization directed by Holy Spirit. My mother-in-law recently asked her husband this question (although I'm not so sure she's even doubting the main doctrines): how come that elder so-and-so (her brother-in-law) gets taken down simply because his wife doesn't get enough hours in field service but we never see elder so-and-so in service yet he reports his kids to be pioneering and his kids are known to fornicate and homosexual yet he protects them from a Judicial Committee. Or I told my wife recently: It's funny how on this subject of disfellowshipping (in one of the recent watchtower studies) there are no scriptures.

The three main things that are definitely NOT scriptural and are hard to justify using biblical scriptures:

- The implementation of disfellowshipping aka shunning

- The blood doctrine (see also: ajwrb.org, there is great material and flyers on there which you could send by mail (anonymous) to your husband or leave inconspicuously at the KH)

- The (worshipping of the) Governing Body and the Faithful and Discreet Slave (this one requires a lot of mental power to get through though) being God's spirit-directed organization

Read Russell's or Rutherford's books and then ask: How come that so many (almost all) doctrine changed and is now considered wrong or even outright apostate and even spiritistic since 1914 yet Jesus found them to be acceptable at that time). I think actually Russell may have had it right, he does a really good job explaining the bible in simple and logical terms (such as the sacrifice and atonement of Jesus) yet he had some cooky ideas but even leaving those, the things you would agree with on reading it at first are now considered apostate and reading the current explanation of the same subject is not only self-contradictory but has major logical holes in it.

142

Undercover Brother Campaign- have you received your invite?

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

without specifics being mentioned as to what it is......(to avoid tipping off certain lurkers).. how many people know about the upcoming summer long campaign?

please use this thread to confirm receipt of your campaign invitation.

take care.

Anony Mous

Hi, some of you got pm'ed. If you're no longer in, then you can still help by participating in our campaign to distribute this open letter to all Jehovah's Witnesses: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/204249/1/An-Open-letter-to-the-Governing-Body-of-Jehovahs-Witnesses-Elders-Ex-Elders

Also, I'm still thinking about another campaign for later in the year. For this I will need names and addresses/home phone numbers of elders, preferably the coordinator and secretaries of as much congregations as you can come by. You can PM them to me or PM me for my e-mail address so you can send a list. Lee Elder of ajwrb.org is also interested in them (only elders, CO's and HLC liaisons).

123

An Open letter to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses (Elders/ Ex-Elders)

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

if you are an elder or an ex-elder please add a comment.

i hope that the governing body will see this.

it is too bad it has to be on an anonymous forum.

Anony Mous

So here goes some of the stuff I got:

- I got a reply from an old friend saying that he is already out. I identified myself to him and we had some good conversations.

- Got a few replies from people asking me to never send this again in all caps. They seem to be dead afraid of messages against what they believe, I never saw that before.

- Got a few replies asking me who I was but after explaining my reasons never anything further.

- Got this from the WTBTS:

Dear Brothers,

We understand that over the weekend you may have received an email message containing apostate material. The branch office is aware of the email. There is no need to reply to the sender. As we are often reminded, when we receive these kinds of unsolicited emails or other correspondence, we simply delete them.

Your brothers,

Well, besides the lie that they simply delete them but are actively repressing the message, it's funny that they found it necessary to respond.

- Over the weekend I talked to some people, apparently a lot of young people during Judicial Committee's express that they don't believe, several in our and other KH's (went to 3 in the last week) were talking to elders, trying to hide what they had on their phone or on paper, at least one because their kid showed it to them and asked for a response.

- One family decided no longer to come to the KH. The father was removed as an elder recently apparently for more interpersonal reasons among the elders than anything else (although his family is not a great example, he's a good guy) but a couple of days ago, 2 days after the message was sent to them I got a call and they were saying they will no longer go, I don't know if it's my message in particular that put them over the edge or whether they're just mad and will come back but you never know.

- One I talked to read the whole letter and were asking me whether it was legitimately from another elder. I said it looks like it, there are many reasons why some decide to step down, the message is not really against the Witnesses however I warned them that they shouldn't tell that they read it to other elders or they could be judged for apostasy as some elders are not as openminded. The person backtracked and said 'but I only read like one paragraph, well actually only the beginning, I wasn't sure you know', I assured them I wouldn't tell anything and they decided to keep it for themselves. Funny how they are so afraid, maybe they'll start to ponder over it in their spare time.

39

Strategizing against the WTBTS

by Essan in

could we be doing more brothers and sisters?

i'm sure i'm not alone in wishing that there was more we could do to hasten the demise of the wtbts and to speed up the exodus of it's members.

and i'm sure i'm not alone in thinking of possible ways to do this.. one which i have been considering lately is to make use of the fact that many who leave the organization actually leave the area, move away, and start a new life.

Anony Mous

There are certain things you can do I think. At this point, I am collecting information. I need names and addresses (or home phone numbers) of as much elders as possible. I have about 200 right now, please send them to me by PM or if you want to e-mail me, PM me.

Whether it's worth it, I don't know but we'll see.

On Wikileaks you can find a CIA sabotage manual which has lots of ideas and there is also this one: http://iranchannel.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/OSS-Sabotage-Manual.pdf

39

Strategizing against the WTBTS

by Essan in

could we be doing more brothers and sisters?

i'm sure i'm not alone in wishing that there was more we could do to hasten the demise of the wtbts and to speed up the exodus of it's members.

and i'm sure i'm not alone in thinking of possible ways to do this.. one which i have been considering lately is to make use of the fact that many who leave the organization actually leave the area, move away, and start a new life.

Anony Mous

We are doing e-mail campaigns right now (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/204249/1/An-Open-letter-to-the-Governing-Body-of-Jehovahs-Witnesses-Elders-Ex-Elders)

The main problem is that JW's will ignore it the moment they see it's not approved by the WTBTS and reject it as apostate thus strengthening their belief that they are persecuted and therefore right.

Some have responded favorably but the branches are actively suppressing it (I can't mention details yet, but let's just say that they are very aware of the letters).

Lee Elder from AJWRB has a lot of contacts as well with regards to the blood issue, even there it seems to fall on deaf ears. The only way JW's will see what they belief is wrong is when the org comes tumbling down which will happen in the next few decades. If the JW leaders however see the error of their ways (or get replaced by younger ones) and replace the current false doctrine that makes them a cult and turn them into a straight religion, JW will be here for a long time to come although not in it's current form.

10

Watchtower Publications for iPad

by dontplaceliterature in

jw
friends

i discovered today that the september magazines and the nwt are available as epub files on the jw.org website.

that's pretty handy for those of you with ipads that have the interest in reading them (especially those still "in").

i'm guessing this works with e-readers and other tablets.. what is particularly noteworthy is that when opened in ibooks, the articles have links to all the scriptures, footnotes, etc, and links back to the paragraph.

Anony Mous

Next meeting:

Hey Bro,

I saw you got an iPad in the meeting. Although we do appreciate the branch publishing the literature in this format, it's not intended for use in the Kingdom Hall. You see, people may be stumbled by you using an electronic device since it could access the Internet and the Internet is from Satan. It might also cause some to work harder in this old system of things to obtain an iPad and thus they would miss meetings which is also from Satan. So, please put it away and don't bring it back to the Kingdom Hall, mkay.

Meeting week 2:

We got a letter from the branch to read:

Dear brothers. We have begun publishing the literature online in the e-pub format. In order to allocate the printed literature in the field, we recommend that you obtain an e-reader such as the iPad for your personal use of the literature such as your study edition. The e-pub format has many features such as notations and underlining which could help us greatly in our Watchtower studies. This way the precious resources that our literature is can be better used so there can be an equalizing among us (insert scripture here). If you have no money to obtain an e-reader we recommend that you get a job since we should all provide for our family's spiritual needs (insert scripture here). We thank Jehovah for this insight and we are sure this will be a great success since he has promised us that whatever we do, with his help, we will succeed (insert scripture here). Even though there is a cost attached to each individual download, the cost are slightly lower than printing and shipping the literature. We appreciate your full cooperation with this arrangement.

Meeting week 3:

Umm, sister,

We noticed you got a Sony e-reader. Well, you may have heard the letter last week that the branch recommends using an iPad so we should follow the guidance of the Faithful and Discreet Slave.

- But this one was cheaper and I'm a pioneer so I got to save my money. It was only a recommendation.

Well sister, you know that when the branch recommends things they usually do so for a reason so we follow what the organization recommends, you never know they might have a reason for it. If you can't afford one, you should maybe get a job or work longer hours so you can provide spiritually for your family.

- OK

Meeting week 10:

We got a letter from the branch to read:

Dear brothers. Some of us have been using e-readers recently to obtain and read their literature for their personal use. Although we do appreciate this new arrangement we should be careful to who we share this arrangement with. Some people have the notion that there are no costs attached to the producing of and publishing literature online. We do well to remind ourselves that there is a cost attached to each individual download so we should think about how many literature we have been placing and how much of this moved to downloads. You should consider donating even if the people you place the literature with already have given a donation. You should also continue donating for the printed literature you place.

Meeting week 20:

We got a letter from the branch to read:

Dear brothers. Some of us have been using e-readers recently to obtain and read their literature for their personal use. However even though we publish this information online we never authorized such use of it in Kingdom Halls, some elder bodies have allowed such use and then reported youngsters surfing the Internet during meetings. Therefore we recommend using this arrangement only for personal use and not for use in the Kingdom Hall. We do well to remind us that the Internet is from Satan and thus we should be aware of any device that connects us to this spirit of the world during our meetings. You should continue donating however for the printed literature as well as the online literature you use as there is a cost attached to each individual download.

44

When and how did the GB start cracking down on the dubs social life?

by highdose in

jw
friends

i can remember when i was first assimilated, the jw's did alot together, they went to the park together, they had picnics, days out together.. .

somehow by the 90's this had stopped.

did i miss somthing?

Anony Mous

When I was younger I tried organizing some things. I got a visit from the CO and the elders with WT showing examples where some young ones had been drinking before Witness parties and bad stuff happened so I shouldn't be organizing things for young people since they are young and they can't make wise decisions yet. I was like WTF, but we'll have elders so-and-so and our parents, blah blah. No, it's too big of a party, we'll tell those elders not to support it anymore. Many of those examples put me on the back foot about the Witnesses, I knew something was wrong with the way the org was run for the last decade but only recently I have been investigating further.

5

Why are WTBTS headquarters moving out of Brooklyn?

by BoleynGirl in

aside from the economic incentives, has the wtbts actually said why they are moving the headquarters to warwick, ny?.

is there any sort of official statement re: reasoning?.

are they suggesting this is part of the "preparation" for the big a - when nyc will clearly be destroyed, and so jehovah won't have to squint and pick out the jws in brooklyn in order to avoid them when hurling the fireballs..

Anony Mous

The "official" reasons are:

1) (When they first started moving to rural NY) To save costs and avoid the traffic so the shipments would get out faster

2) (Now that they have laid off their workers) They don't need them anymore since printing has moved to Canada.

It's clear to me from stories around the world (Menlo Park is not the only prime real estate they attempted to sell) that the WTBTS is itching for cash. They are barely holding up printing with the current income so they need to sell to pay their extra costs like extra printeries, the retirement home/country club they're building in Walkill, NY and the lawsuits from child abuse victims.

21

Awesome quote from the Watchtower!

by TimothyT in

i found this awesome quote from the book captives of a concept:.

beware of "organization.

it is wholly unnecessary.

Anony Mous

The Bible Students (biblestudents.com) are still around although WTBTS took over most of the legal names in the past, they adhere more closely to the teachings of Russell and the bible.

From the site:

The Bible Students are an independent, non-denominational Christian fellowship. Congregations are worldwide. Each local congregation is totally independent; we have no central headquarters.

They are what Jehovah's Witnesses should have remained. IF JW's claim they were inspired by God in the 1800's, they are the apostate organization and this would be the 'right' one. They teach exegesis and still print "The Divine Plan of the Ages"

25

My situation

by outsmartthesystem in

i've been slowly but surely and intentionally fading over the last 5 years.

it started with me stopping going in service.

then i stopped commenting.

Anony Mous

Recent things I noticed in the WT and noted to my wife:

- Interesting to see that there are hardly any scriptures in this section on disfellowshipping.

- (We were in the KH Library when she was unwell) Look here, it shows how to calculate 1914 based on the Pyramid of Geza isn't that funny what they wrote back then.

- I am so worn out, the meeting was so tiring especially with so-and-so, he can't read well enough in my opinion.

- Tell your elders that you heard from someone that in the latest elder school it was said they should discuss the new guidance on blood with people that are pregnant and young parents. Ask them for the document (they won't give it to you) and if you can discuss it because you want to talk to the doctor about it. During the meeting they'll tell you straight to your face from the document (don't have the wording verbatim but it goes something like this): "It's important when something happens, it's better for your child to die for Jehovah than to give in to the doctors and this can be very difficult for young parents to accept".