Posts by truth_b

24

Evil Wind Chimes

by Sea Breeze in

i remember going door to door in the late 60's with my mother as a 5 or 6 year old.

one time she caught me looking at the wind chimes on a porch.

she told me they had pagan origins, were evil, and were somehow connected to demons.

Being a young, school aged child in the 80s the Watchtower had me scared to death of everything that went bump in the night. I was terrified of demons, demon possession, and demon activity. There were so many JW demon filled urban legends I felt like I was starring in the movie Poltergeist. Then there were the actual demon stories portrayed as true in the pages of the Watchtower.

Watchtower has always had a knack of making everything in life wrong, bad, or demonic. Pick any mundane thing and you're bound to find a JW somewhere that will tell you why said thing is wrong, bad, or demonic. Even more so if it is something that brings joy or happiness.

19

JWD a Dysfunctional Place?

by Victor_E in

jw
friends

with the recent blood baths we have seen in this forum it got me wondering of how you can objectively understand it and more importantly not let it affect you if you so choose.

what i write is not meant to be taken as gospel truth since there is no gospel truth nor is it my intention to get on my soap box since i left it when i walked out of the kingdom hall.

most of what i have to say is subjective based on personal experience and i feel no need or desire to debate anyone about anything i write.

truth_b_known

This forum is as dysfunctional as any flesh and blood family. Just like with flesh and blood, may disagree with you, but I will defend you all just the same. No matter what your point of view is, if you are a person who was brave enough to leave the Watchtower and start living life, you have my love and support.

16

Illustration in todays WT

by road to nowhere in

quick glance.

the guy working the cart has a skinny suit.

i assume they stage things so where did the sports car come from?

truth_b_known

PunkofNice:

Great call on the Pavement Publishers blocking everyone, especially those who use wheelchairs. Blocking the Sidewalk is a crime.

12

How Fear is Weaponized

by Sea Breeze in

fear is used by politicians, marketeers, social scientists, military psy-ops tacticians and just about anyone who wants to manipulate or destabilize another.

to illustrate, look at this 1964 political ad by pres.

johnson against barry goldwater:.

truth_b_known

Love and Fear are the two base emotions. All other emotions stem from them. The very word "emotion" comes from the Latin "to move." That is to say to cause someone to take action.

All fear and anxiety are is the human brain trying to prolong the life of itself. Your brain causes you to concentrate on past pain and the anxiety of future pain to work out a solution to avoid said future pain. Pain from the past and anxiety of the future create prison that robs you of joy, peace, and happiness. Living in the present is important because that is the only place life really exists.

Western culture is obsessed with preserving the Self. It teaches that each person is separate. We are taught as children this and we create this fictitious persona that fears coming to an end. That is why Christianity is obsessed with salvation. Salvation is nothing more than giving your ego immortality so it can rest easy at night.

Like all other living organisms, humans do not have and never had "everlasting life." We are born. We live and then we die to make room so other have a chance to live.

Fear of death isn't the real issue. It is fear of not living forever that is the issue. Once a person no longer desires to live forever religious control groups no longer have control over the individual.

28

Mental Illness among JW's

by Victor in

disclaimer: this article has some broad generalizations that will have exceptions to what is stated.

this is the only way i can even attempt to address the topic.

i've looked for scholarly articles published on peer reviewed journals for years.

truth_b_known

Back in the 70s & 80s my father was a big mover and shaker withing the realm of the Watchtower. He had been recruited by the Watchtower to make a documentary on District Conventions back in the 80s. A previous project he started on his own was looking into mental illness among Jehovah's Witnesses.

My fathers findings were that there was a higher percentage of mentally ill among JWs than other Christian sects and that JWs seemed to attract the mentally ill into their ranks. He was told to bury his research.

I personally saw many mentally ill recruiting into the Witnesses. In fact, most coming in who are not born-ins tended to live in poverty, be mentally ill, or both. What was sad was how many of these who suffer from mental illness were told to stop taking their meds and seeing doctors. They were told that there mental illness was actually demons and that they needed to rely on Jehovah, not medicine, for help.

68

Unwritten, congregational 'rules'

by Thetruthhurts in

what were some of yours?

the big one in our hall was no frontal hugs!

these were generally thought of as inappropriate, only side hugs should be given between sisters and brothers.

truth_b_known

At one time men were not allowed to give parts unless they wore a white dress shirt. I was told there were congregations that had spare white dress shirts just in case a brother with a part showed up with a colored shirt on.

You have to wear a suit to deliver the public talk. A sports coat and slacks was not allowed.

13

TV actress Ja'Net Dubois has passed away.

by NoAbuse in

jw
friends

she was very active in the 1970's then kind of faded away.

i remember her mostly as "weezy" on 'the jeffersons' but she also played the mother 'mrs.

evans' on 'good times'.

truth_b_known

I believe she wrote and performed the opening theme song for the Jeffersons..

9

Baptisms exceeding 300K last year – a possible reason

by Viva la Vida in

two facts to consider: 1) most baptisms take place during assemblies and conventions; 2) the theocratic year goes from september to august.

my theory: the borg changed the calendar of conventions and assemblies so to concentrate the baptisms in a single theocratic year.

if some conventions used to take place in july/august, for the 2018 series they moved them to september.

truth_b_known

Just wait until the Watchtower starts having infant baptisms at the Kingdom Hall.

7

Why does the Borg never use the terms Grace or Ezer

by HiddenPimo in

let me start with: this is not a discussion of the validity of the bible or whether it is inspired of god.. my question is why do you think they don't use grace in their teachings when this is such paramount teaching in the rest of the christian world.

and why do they not reference the hebrew word for helper in genesis 'ezer'.

this word as applied to a woman seems more dignified as it carries the connotation of strength where the man is weak.

truth_b_known

Cofty summed it up well.

Grace is a Biblical/New Testament concept. Jesus died to cover the sins of mankind. According to the Watchtower, this is not so.

9

People Were More Ingenious in the Past

by Simon in

ok, you'll have to bear with me with this one.. i want to talk about toasters.

a) a toaster you can buy today, any brand.

b) a toaster invented in 1948. for a bonus, how long do you think a toaster purchased today will keep working?

truth_b_known

Why pay $100.00 for a Sunbeam Radiant Control Toaster when you can purchase a plastic toaster made in a Chinese sweatshop that will last 12 months for $15.00 at Wal-Mart? Ooooooh....

truth_b_known

Posts by truth_b_known