Londo111

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Posts by Londo111

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  8

  Wow...not even sure this qualifies as a "fade"

  by respectful_observer in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm posting this both as an anecdote and also to see if, by chance, this person reads this site.

  (if you do, it'd be great to catch up since you now live fairly close to me!).

  i've got a friend who until very recently was actively serving as an elder in hall close to bethel, and on a body heavy with bethelites.

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  Londo111

  It happens quite a bit!
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  14

  When you were in

  by Esmeralda001 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  coucou,.

  i hope you are well?!

  i have a few questions that i'd like to adress (if you don't mind of course).

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  Londo111

  B.For the born-in's/raised-in1.has the idea of you leaving the org and becoming what the "friends" refer to as apostates ever crossed your mind?

  I was born-in. Third generation JW on both sides of my family. According to the dictionary, an apostate is simply a person who leaves the religion they are in. When I found out the Watchtower was not The Truth, mentally I left, then eventually I stopped attending meetings. I attended another church for a while. So technically, I am an apostate.

  As far as the picture Apostate Boogeyman that is painted by the Watchtower and haunts the minds of JWs, no, I am not that.

  2.when you saw wordly people getting converted, was it for you some kind of reassurance that you were in the right path or did you think they were crazy?

  When I was in, yes it was reassuring. I was happy because I believed it was the truth and they were getting on the path to life.

  3.were you strong in your faith or were you looking for the next opportunity to leave the organization.

  I was pretty strong. Of course, I had cycles were I was not as active, but I was always active in meetings and service and tried to play by all the rules. I was a ministerial servant for a couple stints in my life. I regular pioneered for a time. It was only when I realized it was not the truth, that I looked toward the door.

  4.what type of jw were you(the zealous type? The Spiritually-weak type? The Moderate type?the Potential fader? The holier than tough type? The humble & well-meaning type?...)
  
  

  I believe I was the humble and well-meaning type. And a moderate. In JW terms, when I became a low hour publisher eventually because going out in service was so anxiety inducing, in the Watchtower view, I was viewed as “spiritually weak”. But I was still active and doing my best.
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  23

  Yearbook 2016

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  stil no 2016 yearbook on jw.org, due to my fade i forgot the normal publishing date.

  do you remember when the yearbook was released?

  i'm just curious about the 2015 publisher data.

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  Londo111

  Oops...my bad! I misread this entirely. Multitasking is not my strong suite.
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  6

  The Myth of Two Sides

  by Londo111 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we have heard it said, he that is not on my side is against me... .

  in watchtower world this was certainly the case.

  watchtower world was fully good, while anyone not belonging to them was fully on the side of evil--classic cult black and white thinking.

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  Londo111

  I’ve been ambivalent and I’ve haven’t really cared for certain pet peeves myself, that is why I normally remain quiet these days.

  Phizzy, in another thread, you said more succinctly than I, “Both of them need to grow up and realize that if we are to make any headway with convincing JW's to examine their religion, we need to show maturity, levity and a lack of personal ego.”

  Of course, I do not want to name names, because the common cause we all have is not about individual grievances.
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  23

  Yearbook 2016

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  stil no 2016 yearbook on jw.org, due to my fade i forgot the normal publishing date.

  do you remember when the yearbook was released?

  i'm just curious about the 2015 publisher data.

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  Londo111

  I've been wondering if the baptism numbers are 185600 rather than 18560 and somehow a zero has been accidentally lopped off.
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  6

  The Myth of Two Sides

  by Londo111 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we have heard it said, he that is not on my side is against me... .

  in watchtower world this was certainly the case.

  watchtower world was fully good, while anyone not belonging to them was fully on the side of evil--classic cult black and white thinking.

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  Londo111

  Maybe I should've had a different opening line...
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  6

  The Myth of Two Sides

  by Londo111 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we have heard it said, he that is not on my side is against me... .

  in watchtower world this was certainly the case.

  watchtower world was fully good, while anyone not belonging to them was fully on the side of evil--classic cult black and white thinking.

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  Londo111

  Different gospels say both. Cults do like to use those verses to create an us vs them mentality. But that is not the discussion at hand...
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  23

  Yearbook 2016

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  stil no 2016 yearbook on jw.org, due to my fade i forgot the normal publishing date.

  do you remember when the yearbook was released?

  i'm just curious about the 2015 publisher data.

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  Londo111

  I've been here four years and this is asked every year about this time.

  BTW...I suspect the reported 2015 baptism numbers are likely accidently misreported by an order an magnitude. I hope I'm wrong! We will see when the Yearbook comes out.
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  30

  About my avatar

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  questions from readers .

  say, who is that in your avatar slimboyfat?

  from brother i. m. curious, usa.. that's archibald belaney aka grey owl.

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  Londo111

  For some reason, I always thought that was a picture of Johnny Cash, the Man in Black. LOL.
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  6

  The Myth of Two Sides

  by Londo111 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we have heard it said, he that is not on my side is against me... .

  in watchtower world this was certainly the case.

  watchtower world was fully good, while anyone not belonging to them was fully on the side of evil--classic cult black and white thinking.

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  2. 
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  Londo111

  We have heard it said, “He that is not on my side is against me…”

  In Watchtower world this was certainly the case. Watchtower world was fully good, while anyone not belonging to them was fully on the side of evil--classic cult black and white thinking. There is no middle ground, no fence. Anyone who sits of the fence is following the Devil whether they know it or not.

  If one points out any criticism in teaching or practice, then they are on the other sides, they are following the enemy. After all, there are only two sides. One side cannot do wrong and the other side cannot do right.

  In Watchtower world, political feuds abounded, especially when people had any “position”. Most elder bodies around the world are rife with politics. Personalities clashed, battles ensued. I know. I had family embroiled in these constantly. Sometimes they were winners, sometimes they were losers. Who was right? Who was wrong?

  Now that I am outside of Watchtower world I realize they were like children on a playground behaving badly over some meaningless game. Often my family was as much the troublemakers as the other parties they were feuding against.

  There are many who carry of this same spirit of contention. Normally, I try to duck and cover and be invisible. I am afraid of getting dragged into the muck rather than attempting to live a post-cult life. To me, Watchtower (not JWs) and other cults in general (not their members) are the big enemy.

  Why? Because it is an evil that has affected my life. Of course, I don’t give it the same energy I used to--I just don’t have the energy anymore. I have done what little I could do. Even then, it was never about me. I was about helping JWs still trapped.

  And it was never about battling against any one individual, but the “concept” that apparently holds even the Governing Body “captive”. Perhaps there are some individuals who knowingly pull the strings, but I do not think it has ever been proven. And besides if there are a shadowy cabal, I certainly don’t know their names to make it about individuals.

  Back to the point, contention is a force of nature that has occurred before in the exJW community and will continue. The names will change but the song will remain the same. I have no illusion anyone will change that and certainly not anything I will say. But perhaps if anything I say makes sense, perhaps some individual will decide to not contribute to any feud. And if I ever get embroiled in such a thing, feel free to call me out on this and remind me of these words.

  I have noticed in both sides to the current feud that has been going on that neither side can take criticism well. These camps seem to believe there are only two sides without neutral ground. If anyone offers criticism, they are assumed about being a follower of the other camp. In truth, there are those outside the two camps. They see clearly the flaws of both camps because they are not emotionally invested. They see both sides throwing gasoline of the fire. They see both sides guilty of bad argumentation. They see both sides guilty of what the other is accused of in slightly different ways. They see both sides doing some good work as well, but the storm that they both stew overshadows it.

  I am not in either camp…or anyone’s camp but my own. Nor am I looking for people to be in my camp…my tent is not big enough.