Posts by 00DAD

32

Is there really any difference between disfellowshipping and disassociation?

by iamwhoiam in

you would think being disfellowshipped is like being fired from a job and being dissassociated is like quitting a job...is this the correct understanding?.

as much as i have been searching for the answer to this question in the later articles, i can't really find a concrete answer.

but being an ms and raised in "the truth", i was always brought up to feel like if someone disassociates themself, they are automatically labeled an apostate.

00DAD

Au contraire Ding, you can leave honorably in a box!

The only plot in life is the one they bury you in!!!

85

BREAKING MY SILENCE EVERYONE READ!!!

by D8TA in

jw
friends

as ive made it known on this board, my current status with the watchtower bible and tract society is that of inactive.

this is a loophole i have utilized, to keep an open channel of communication with family members in the organization.. i want to clarify with everyone: i do not hold any doctrinal ideas, theology, ideology, opinions expressed in any form by the wtbts.

therefore, to simply put, i do not believe in the wtbts in any way, shape, or form.

00DAD

Well I wish I read that in June of 2009 ...

32

Is there really any difference between disfellowshipping and disassociation?

by iamwhoiam in

you would think being disfellowshipped is like being fired from a job and being dissassociated is like quitting a job...is this the correct understanding?.

as much as i have been searching for the answer to this question in the later articles, i can't really find a concrete answer.

but being an ms and raised in "the truth", i was always brought up to feel like if someone disassociates themself, they are automatically labeled an apostate.

00DAD

Well technically, what the society by extension and your parents in the specifics have done is more like EXTORTION than BLACKMAIL. But either way, the end result is similar. The difference is that--although both are crimes--blackmail usually involves the threat (by one criminal) of revealing a crime or compromising fact about another criminal. Extortion is the threat of violence unless some demand is met, in this case the violence is the emotional and psychological abuse associated with shunning.

Your screen name says it all, "iamwhoiam". You need to be you regardless of the consequences; otherwise you should change your name to, "iamwhotheywantmetobe, butit'sokbecausei'mawillingvictim".

In response to your parents' choosing belief over family as evidenced by their thinly veiled threat, "you know if you leave, we can't associate with you anymore" you might ask them to consider this lovely gem of a quote:

"No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family." - Awake, July 2009, p. 29

If they balk or hesitate--for even a moment--ask them WHY WOULD THAT APPLY EVERYONE ELSE ON EARTH EXCEPT YOU?

Best wishes,

Daniel

26

JW references in movies

by stichione in

jw
friends

i watched the movie "mickey blue eyes" last night on tv, staring hugh grant.

at one point there is a knock at the door and mickey, looking through the peep hole, anounces "its the jehovah bloody witnesses".

there was more insitent knocking and the female occupant replies "they must be really devoted!".

00DAD

In the John Grisham movie, The Rainmaker, starring Danny DeVito and Matt Damon there is a reference. Matt Damon plays a two-bit, greenhorn lawyer. He goes up to some woman's house to talk to her about legal issues. He is wearing a cheap suit and has a beat up old briefcase in his hand. After he knocks on the door she comes up and says something to the effect that she has mistaken him as a JW.

18

what has the watchtower society done to benefit mankind?

by bigmac in

what i mean is---has the wts/jw's/ibsa-- or whatever organisation or legality they hide behind---ever done to really benefit some sector of humanity on a practical basis?---.

it must be me--but i really cannot see some poor person--starving in a third world famine--regarding the chance of a free home bible study as high on their list of priorities..

00DAD

Yes, in the US the organization has actually been instrumental in gaining some impressive victories regarding civil rights. The flag salute issue is just one of them.

Kind of ironic isn't it!

32

Is there really any difference between disfellowshipping and disassociation?

by iamwhoiam in

you would think being disfellowshipped is like being fired from a job and being dissassociated is like quitting a job...is this the correct understanding?.

as much as i have been searching for the answer to this question in the later articles, i can't really find a concrete answer.

but being an ms and raised in "the truth", i was always brought up to feel like if someone disassociates themself, they are automatically labeled an apostate.

00DAD

For all intents and purposes it's exactly the same abusive misuse of authority to coerce, control and intimidate.

What ever you call it, it stinks!

14

A question regarding SEX ???

by Greybeard in

jw
friends

well, sorta about sex .

myself and two other male jw friends of mine have been fading from jw's in the last year plus or so.

all of our wives are devoted and active jw's.

00DAD

When I first starting having My Doubts About The Truth (MDATT) I tried to talk to my wife but she wouldn't have any of it. She is a born-in and half her family was been DF'd. She'll cling to any ridiculous thing the GB spouts rather than consider the possibility of facing the consequences of taking a stand.

We were separated 2 1/2 years ago and the divorce was final almost a year now.

BTW, it was a celibate marriage for most of the last ten years. We were roommates more than partners. Sad really, not what either of us signed up for I'm sure of that.

What the BOrg does to relationships is truly evil. Some few couples can come out of it together, but not too many.

33

Did any of you need counselling or psychotherapy as a JW?

by TimothyT in

i have just started my new course to be a qualified counsellor.

naturaly i am studying this because of my own background and now i want to help others who have had similar strains on their lives.. i know the pressure that the jw organisation puts on its members, so i was wondering, if you dont mind saying so of course, did any of you attend counselling sessions due to the pressures and problems that the jw life brought along?.

i can imagine that the majority of my old congregation (myself, my dad and my brother included) would need some form of counselling or medication in order to remain sane.

00DAD

OTWO: "Hardly any JW is going to go to counseling."

Of course I have no way of getting hard data on the exact numbers or percentages of JWs that go to counseling, but a psychologist that I saw that specializes in child estrangement issues following difficult divorces told me anecdotally that he has "lots of patients that are Jehovah's Witnesses." He also said that most of them expressed doubts about the religion but were afraid to speak up because of the consequences. Finally he said that most had a sense of shame about seeing a counselor and most tried to hide it from their family and friends.

7

Finding Serenity and Enduring in Our Struggle After Learning The Truth About The Truth (TTATT)

by Greybeard in

there is a prayer often recited by people in various types of recovery programs called the serenity prayer.

here the short version:.

god grant me the serenity .

00DAD

I enjoy serenity all the time ... as fleeting moments that quickly come and go.

I just try to recognize them when they happen, to be in that moment and not miss it. Also, when I do experience these temporary moments of serene bliss, it is important to not try to hold on to them to tightly for then they will ever the more quickly slip away. But instead I need to "hold on loosely", gently allow myself to let it envelop me and surround me, to let it linger ere it floats away.

I know it will pass, but at least I can experience it for awhile. It has gotten better knowing that--although I might not feel that way NOW, at this exact moment--I will feel that way AGAIN. When will it come? I never know. I just know that it will. And I have to be aware enough not to miss it when it does ... I will be ready.

Your mileage may vary!

82

I just can't do this anymore

by Awen in

dear friends:.

for years now after my exit from the wtbts i have searched for god.

as i have previously mentioned in other threads i looked into many other religions, including druidry, zen and tibetan buddhism (not really a religion), asatru, native american shamanism, kemetic orthodoxy, gnosticism and pandeism.

00DAD

You can and you will, until the journey is over ...

I understand there are things you can't or don't want to do any longer. That sounds like maturity and wisdom. Likewise also are your acknowledgements of the limits of your knowledge and understanding.

Yet there is a tinge of a sense of resignation in your original post. That is a shame. To admit what we don't know is in itself knowledge. To be humble in silence before the universe is at once a terrifying yet beautiful thing. But to give up, that is a loss ... a needless one at that.

Apparently there are many things we are not able to know. Maybe we simply weren't meant to, perhaps now or never.

But in the end it is the journey that determines the value of our life. This is value that we take for ourselves, or not. Do we simply pass by and miss out on the greater gifts that life has to offer? Do we only take what we selfishly want and reject the rest? Do we accept the pain along with the pleasure?

Also, what example do we set for others? We can find meaning for ourselves and we can demonstrate a life well-lived for others.

Letting go of wrong beliefs and self-destructive behaviors are liberating. After we do that, often we find ourselves wondering why we held on so tightly and for so long. But to hold nothing dear, nothing as worthwhile is to hold the wind ...