Posts by Muddy Waters

55

Al Capone vs. Judge Rutherford

by Farkel in

ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone...for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" - james 2: 24, 26

al capone vs. judge rutherford

al capone gained his power by exploiting the weaknesses of people.. judge rutherford gained his power by exploiting the weaknesses of people.

Muddy Waters

These are great comparisons, and reveals much about the "esteemed" Rutherford.

Farkle, thank you, may you rest in peace.

52

The Cult of Four "Just Imperfect" Men

by Farkel in

the cult of four "just imperfect" men.

(please move on to the next thread, fluffers.

move on!

Muddy Waters

Excellent post from Farkle, may he rest in peace.

Bumping!

26

Barb Anderson relates amazing info about Knorr, also Senior Bethel Writers

by Dogpatch in

"is it possible that many of the organizational sexual policies began when (in the late 70s early 80s?

) some of the people at bethel and even some of the gb were found out to be visiting gay bars?

i did hear about some bethelites visiting gay bars or engaging in homosexual acts in the late 70s and early 80s and were asked to leave bethel.

Muddy Waters

Wow, great and informative info and history here!

1

"50 Years a Watchtower Slave" Chapter 4

by new boy in

chapter 4. part of becoming a jehovah’s witnesses was finding out how evil the holidays are.

4. publisher.

a person that puts in a minimum of 100 hours a month (hours have been lowered over the years) in field service a month.

Muddy Waters

Nice. Good writing! -- you have a very readable style of writing. I always look forward to and enjoy reading your experiences.

25

2016 death of my father who told me don't come back if your a Witness...still hurts my soul! Warning you all!!

by Witness 007 in

i last spoke to my father in march 1990. we finished a "quick build" kingdom hall and i had a 17 year old spiritual awakening and decided to drop high school to pioneer full time.

(yes i was a dumb ass) he was not happy since my parents were divorced he was catholic.

we had a arguement and he said stay in school get a degree...and dont come back if your a witness!!

Muddy Waters

Thank you, Scratchme.... your words resonated very much for me as well.

I don't know anymore if there is a God, but if there is, may God damn the Watchtower!!!

25

2016 death of my father who told me don't come back if your a Witness...still hurts my soul! Warning you all!!

by Witness 007 in

i last spoke to my father in march 1990. we finished a "quick build" kingdom hall and i had a 17 year old spiritual awakening and decided to drop high school to pioneer full time.

(yes i was a dumb ass) he was not happy since my parents were divorced he was catholic.

we had a arguement and he said stay in school get a degree...and dont come back if your a witness!!

I am so sorry.... This is hard shit .... I too crapped all over my sweet, dear, wonderful non-JW family for DECADES while I was a self-righteous, smarmy "true Christian" --- I lost my mom last year, and the loss of her is so exquisitely painful that some days I almost can't stand it or myself.

Regret and guilt are the way we "haunt" ourselves with their memory, and they are big terrible demons to contend with....

Yet continually kicking ourself is not healthy.... I try to remind myself that I thought I was being "faithful" and trying to do the "right" things, living a life "that was pleasing to Jehovah" .... and that I was in a f'ing CULT...!!!

Most of my memories of my dear mother are from CHILDHOOD, as I became a JW when I was around 20 and finally woke up nearly 30 years later....

... All those decades of never wishing her a happy Mother's Day, no Christmases , no birthdays.... She could never celebrate those things with my kids, her only grandchildren.

Oh gawd. This is very hard to come to terms with, I think it will be a wound on my heart always....

But some days the pain does lessen and is not so sharp and damning.... She loved me and my JW-self treated her (and all my non-JW family) like crap.... Regret, guilt and shame keep us tied to the past, stops us from moving forward.... It will be hard, but remembering this helps me treat all the dear people in my life with more love and compassion.

I try to remember the things my mom taught me, the words and phrases she used (I write down all my memories of her in a special journal...) and this helps somewhat.

Every day I still tell her in my heart how sorry I am and how much I miss her....

We live with the good parts and asshole parts of ourself.... Being a "spiritual" Jehovah's Witness is being a special kind of terrible, detached, disconnected asshole shithead.... (You know, I still don't really swear except when I start talking about being a JW!!) but remember, WE WERE MISLED, we were lied to... We were betrayed, and in turn, betrayed others.

I do understand and hear you... I feel this terrible pain and grief too.... and I'm sure that many other ex-JWs understand and feel this, too. You are not alone.

There will be sweet, wonderful, happy moments in your life again, but yes, there will always be this ache in your heart ... Let that pain help you not to be an asshole any more. Become "the best person of yourself" -- that phrase is from a motto from my grandchildren's school -- a Catholic school.

I have a friend who is into Bhuddism, she tells me that her belief is that we're all put here to learn something.....

I wish you peace ... and many condolences.

22

Song 146 - You did it for me

by Listener in

the watchtower 1970 4/1 emphasis the principle that singing at the kingdom hall is part of worship to god and is one of the most beautiful ways they can show this worship to him.. of all the ways in which we can worship and praise jehovah god—by prayer, by public talks, by our field ministry and by our exemplary conduct—one of the most beautiful of them is this literal singing of songs to jehovah’s praise....and, above all, let us pay more than usual attention to the words.

it is by the words that we worship jehovah god, bringing praise to him.

as an introduction to song 146, jw org states -jesus considers any act of love and support for his anointed brothers as though it were done for him.

Muddy Waters

omg, Blondie! Those last two paragraphs, 7 & 8...!!!! The cognitive dissonance HAS to be strong in some of the drones when they read this!!!!!

Re, paragraph 8, that these anointed don't form special bible study groups together! Yet is that not exactly what the GB do, once a week, every Wednesday now, I believe??

I honestly don't know how they write this shit and completely believe it. I try to imagine how my JW brain might have heard these paragraphs, and I think the CG would be very strong indeed!! I'd probably try to justify it somehow by thinking, "well, they must mean *other* anointed people!

41

Sheep and the Goats - The Light Gets Brighter

by nmthinker in

perhaps some of you remember a new understanding of the sheep and the goats in the epic march 2015 wt study edition - specifically the article "loyally supporting christ's brothers".. while this article was studied many months ago, it was instrumental in helping me wake up.

during my study of the 2015 article i recalled that we had just revised our understanding of the sheep and the goats a few years ago and this caused me to research the real progression of the jw understanding of this parable.

i put the results of my research in an excel spreadsheet.. .

Muddy Waters

When I first left this crap religion, I started reading the bible on its own, from all kinds of translations and revisions.... and I was amazed at reading so many verses that I'd never read or heard about before. I started with the New Testament and couldn't believe how many verses there were that spoke about charity, and giving to others, and being kind and gracious and showing grace, and GIVING TO THE THE POOR and materially helping people.... I kept a list somewhere of all these verses, but it has now been years since I've even wanted to read a bible again, and the list is long gone.

But I remember being amazed and dumbfounded at what it was like to read the bible without the WT lens, and to discover so many verses like this, that were never highlighted or given as examples for us to follow. They only select a few verses, repeated over and over and over and over, all which conform (or they make them conform!) to their agenda.

22

Song 146 - You did it for me

by Listener in

the watchtower 1970 4/1 emphasis the principle that singing at the kingdom hall is part of worship to god and is one of the most beautiful ways they can show this worship to him.. of all the ways in which we can worship and praise jehovah god—by prayer, by public talks, by our field ministry and by our exemplary conduct—one of the most beautiful of them is this literal singing of songs to jehovah’s praise....and, above all, let us pay more than usual attention to the words.

it is by the words that we worship jehovah god, bringing praise to him.

as an introduction to song 146, jw org states -jesus considers any act of love and support for his anointed brothers as though it were done for him.

Muddy Waters

Thank you for posting that, Wifi.....

42

Learn To Speak Like A Jehovah's Witness

by pale.emperor in

for those who were never a jw, here's a fun guide to passing yourself as one:.

privilege [priv-lij] - a duty nobody would volunteer to do which is assigned to you without your say so.

such as cleaning the toilets, picking up other brats candy wrappers in the back row and being stuck on locking up duty for the 7th time in a row.. df'd [dee-eff'd] - disfellowshipped.

Muddy Waters

Not sure how to fit a definition around this.... but the verse in Acts 10:34, 35 which says that "God is not partial, but in every* nation, the one* who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him..."

* every: only where there are Jehovah's Witnesses

* one: meaning *only* Jehovah's Witnesses.