Posts by stephenlettclownface

7

Commentary To Revelation

by Kosonen in

jw
friends

hello, i have made a commentary to revelation chapters 1 to 22.. you can find that at my youtube channel in separate videos or by downloading an mp3 file for the whole thing from the link in the description in the video below.

the mp3 file is 1 hour and 23 minutes long and i have used an ia voice reader to record it all.

it reads so much better than me.

stephenlettclownface

Sorry friends I think I may have posted the above in the wrong place.

7

Commentary To Revelation

by Kosonen in

jw
friends

hello, i have made a commentary to revelation chapters 1 to 22.. you can find that at my youtube channel in separate videos or by downloading an mp3 file for the whole thing from the link in the description in the video below.

the mp3 file is 1 hour and 23 minutes long and i have used an ia voice reader to record it all.

it reads so much better than me.

stephenlettclownface

Do I have this wrong or did the GB just recently say that they would be pulled out of earth orbit BEFORE the great tribulation begins?

1

This comedy break is dedicated to Anthony Morris III

by stephenlettclownface in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcknxunlc9k.

this comedy sketch would not have been as funny to me were it not for tony's obsession with tight pants.. cheers.

stephenlettclownface

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCKNXUNLC9k

This comedy sketch would not have been as funny to me were it not for Tony's obsession with tight pants.

Cheers

43

VERY NEW AT THIS BUT LOST IN SPACE

by stephenlettclownface in

jw
friends

i apologize if this post ends up in the wrong place.

i have been a lurker here for several years.

i thoroughly enjoy this site, have for years, and read something or another on this site many times a week.

stephenlettclownface

@cofty:

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and the links to the stuff on evolution. I'm open to learning more. Long before I finally broke the chains around my mind I was already open to reading articles and scientific research papers about evolution. Still am.

I was thinking about a few threads I would like to start, and maybe this one has been talked about before, but as I said I've been devouring this site for years before actually participating, so I wonder it it has been covered:

A couple of years or so back during Covid I was searching around Youtube for stuff about CT Russel (ever notice how that rolls off the tongue just like PT Barnum?).

I found videos of the entire "Photo Drama Of Creation" presented by Chucky Russel.

A big WOW. Seeing this man of myth moving and talking was really weird.

I actually only watched about the first 2 - 2 1/2 hours of it, and I swear he was talking about evolution being accurate when it came to the dinosaurs. It's been a while, and I'll have to go back to confirm, but I'm pretty sure.

If there are threads about PDOC I would love to be pointed towards them.

Cheers

49

40 Years Ago Today: May 15th 1984 "1914 Generation" issue was released. False prophecy, thy name is WatchTower.

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

it's incredible how this cover, and also this "series" of watchtower's is burned into my mind.

i was almost 5 years old when these were released.

“1914 and you” — may 1, 1984 watchtower.

stephenlettclownface

@DisgruntledFool:

Thank you for that post about the Watchtower Society calling themselves "prophets" in print.

I am looking for similar articles in that vein if you can point to them. I know they were speaking of themselves as prophets as far back as Rutherford's day.

Not sure if Russel also spoke of himself as a prophet.

I am interested in articles on 2 subjects:

1. Articles dating as far back as possible in which they proclaimed that they were prophets or inspired or whatever other weasel words they used to make people believe that God was speaking through them.

2. All of the flip-flops over the decades on the subject of and the identity of "the faithful and discreet slave".

I'm sure I've seen these things posted in threads here in the past. If you or someone else here can point me to them I would be grateful.

Cheers

43

VERY NEW AT THIS BUT LOST IN SPACE

by stephenlettclownface in

jw
friends

i apologize if this post ends up in the wrong place.

i have been a lurker here for several years.

i thoroughly enjoy this site, have for years, and read something or another on this site many times a week.

stephenlettclownface

@jehovaxx:

WOW we have more in common than you would think at first blush.

I too am old. I too have done LOTS of research.

I'm not in the same place as you. I may never get there before I leave here.

But sincerely, good on you for finding a place where your heart and mind are at peace.

I think we are both absolutely in agreement that there are things we do not and cannot know at this point in time, and answers will likely never come in our lifetime, and we have to make peace with that.

I'm just glad I got my mind unlocked from JWs. Good for you for doing the same.

I'm still searching. I'll never stop.

Cheers

6

Massachusetts JW exile

by oldstory70 in

i am way late to the party on this message board but i saw that there were some folks from the new england area who had stories about familiar jws that i grew up with.

my story, as brief as i can tell it, goes like this.. i was born in boston, ma in the early 70s to two my mom and dad who were in their early 20s and woefully unprepared for marriage and raising kids.

dad becomes drunk and violent, mom is bipolar, desperate and high strung and looking anywhere for help.

stephenlettclownface

@oldstory70:

Welcome! I'm a newbie here myself.

Your story is similar to mine, but thankfully there was no molestation. Just a couple of highly dysfunctional parents who eloped at 15 and 17 and had no business doing so.

Alcoholism up and down all sides of the family tree.

Dad was a tyrant and bully to all of us kids, at the same time being a beloved figure at the KH.

Mom was (and still is) a true agent of chaos and a vicious trouble making gossiper. At the same time being a beloved figure at the KH.

They hid it extremely well. Still do. Dad passed 2 years ago. Until the day he died I never heard a sorry from his lips about the way he treated all of us.

Mom is still very much the Guardian of Family Myth. The worst thing you can do is to challenge her that you might let some information out, even at this late date (she's 84).

And many many things could be shared with their friends that would damage the sterling reputation they cultivated for 70 years.

My mom was raised as a JW by her mother, my grandma. Grandma started it all. I'm 3rd Gen of 5 Gens in the JWs. A point of pride at one time, but now it is shameful to me. I love them and want them all out.

So as I said, Dad came along and married Mom. He was 17 and had just graduated High School. She was 15 and still had 2 more years to go that she never finished.

Mom was raised around the JW faith and was baptized when she was 12. But my DAD. With no religious or Christian background at all, and no interest in the Bible EVER in his life before (his own words to me) he studied with JWs and became one and got baptized in short order.

He SWALLOWED IT WHOLE.

Nothing, nothing, nothing was ever important to him the rest of his life except "every pronouncement" coming out of the mouth of the Watchtower.

Most of the 5 generations of our family (including my uncles and aunts, my cousins, and their children and their children, in addition to my own sisters and their families) will never leave.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your story. I told part of mine just to show that there are others like us, probably more than we think, that have similar stories.

It does get better. And flushing anything Jehovah's witness related from your system is a great and big first step.

All the best.

Cheers

43

VERY NEW AT THIS BUT LOST IN SPACE

by stephenlettclownface in

jw
friends

i apologize if this post ends up in the wrong place.

i have been a lurker here for several years.

i thoroughly enjoy this site, have for years, and read something or another on this site many times a week.

stephenlettclownface

@FedUpJW:

I absolutely agree. Matthew 23:4 is one of my favorite scriptures on that subject.

If you close your eyes and imagine one of the verses wherein Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, relax, and substitute in your mind the words "Governing Body" or "Watchtower" in place of the word Pharisees.

It is as if he said those things directly about them!

Of course, he was talking about all hypocritical religious leaders. When you are a JW you read these things and because of the indoctrination you don't apply the scriptures to the very large ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.

Cheers

43

VERY NEW AT THIS BUT LOST IN SPACE

by stephenlettclownface in

jw
friends

i apologize if this post ends up in the wrong place.

i have been a lurker here for several years.

i thoroughly enjoy this site, have for years, and read something or another on this site many times a week.

stephenlettclownface

@diogenesister:

Thanks for the tips and the nice welcome!

Cheers

43

VERY NEW AT THIS BUT LOST IN SPACE

by stephenlettclownface in

jw
friends

i apologize if this post ends up in the wrong place.

i have been a lurker here for several years.

i thoroughly enjoy this site, have for years, and read something or another on this site many times a week.

stephenlettclownface

@jehovaxx:

I absolutely agree that "Almost certainly there is more to it."

I am where I am. And you are where you are. Neither of us has all the answers.

With all due respect, isn't being an agnostic a form of "fence sitting"?

Don't get me wrong, I was a fence-sitter for decades. Including 19 years when I was disfellowshipped out of the religion/snare/racket and felt enough freedom to do some research.

Ray Franz's book was not enough to completely unlock my mind. It only deepened the doubts about what JWs were selling.

But I was still mind trapped. If religion came up during that time I always pointed people towards JW's as being "The True Religion" even as I told them they should not look at me, I was a bad example of a witness, but one day I was going back.

I was in a mind loop for years over 4 things:

1. Jehovah's witnesses stand on neutrality and not going to war.

2. Jehovah's witnesses preaching work, reaching the ENTIRE inhabited earth.

3. They don't take money. The message is offered freely. They only accept contributions.

4. The "Where else would I go" canard I mentioned earlier.

I know now that all 4 of those above things were based on lies or at the very least many shades of grey.

So yes, as said before, I dumped the religion but not the faith in the Bible's promise.

You are interesting to me because you are still a member in good standing, but secretly don't believe a word of it.

Can I ask? Are you a publisher, pioneer, MS, or Elder? If you hold a "position of responsibility" (as they like to call it) how do you square that with your inner beliefs?

Are you still in because of family and friends? I can certainly relate to that.

I pioneered briefly when I was a teen. That was back in the JW roll-up to 1975. My parents convinced me to quit high school at 16 to pioneer. Within 2 weeks I absolutely hated it. I ended up going back and finishing high school.

I was never a servant or an Elder. I came close a couple of times to Ministerial Servant (the Eders approached me) but immediately both times pulled back on meeting attendance and service hours because I wanted no part of it. I NEVER wanted to sit in judgement of others, even from a young age. Why would anyone willingly have that hanging over their heads, it they take the appointment as an Elder or MS as seriously as they should? It was not for me.

I'm meandering a bit here.

But in summary, yes, I still cling to the Bible. And yes, I might be wrong in doing so.

Are you familiar with Pascal's wager?

Cheers