Posts by Freeof1914

6

Personal reflections

by Freeof1914 in

hello all and happy new year!.

i don't post here often,but as the new year just started and my birthday is tomorrow, i am feeling extra reflective.

it has been several years since i was willingly disfellowshipped, and i say willingly because when the judicial committee asked me my thoughts on the organization i told them i thought it was not a god directed organization.

Freeof1914

Hello all and happy new year!

I don't post here often,but as the new year just started and my birthday is tomorrow, I am feeling extra reflective. It has been several years since I was willingly disfellowshipped, and I say willingly because when the judicial committee asked me my thoughts on the organization I told them I thought it was not a god directed organization. This of course led to me being disfellowshipped. I can recall how scared and alone I felt.

Subsequently, my marriage fell apart, I found myself without friends, and felt hopeless. Nonetheless I was positive about my choice and refused to go back. There was no way that I could go back to serving the organization after knowing the truth. I had top push through. I am sure my entire family anticipated me wilting, humbling myself, and returning to the flock with my tail between my legs.

How sadly mistaken they have been.

Since leaving the organization I have completed my masters degree, I am currently a dean in a school, I am pursuing a certification that will allow me to open up my own practice working with children that have autism, i have traveled so much more, I skydive somewhat regularly, I will be backpacking from Peru to Colombia this summer, I was at the World Cup in Brazil this past summer,I am getting involved in a real estate enterprise with several friends, and I have found a woman that I absolutely love ( for some unknown reason she loves me just as deeply), and have surrounded myself with some of the most amazing friends.

This weekend I am hosting a birthday party where all these people will be in attendance. I plan on drinking plenty of scotch and being inebriated in public (gasp)with a bunch of people that love me for me, and not because I am a servant or an elder or pioneer in good standing etc. By no means am I gloating, all I hope is that anyone who is on the fence or afraid of taking that first step out of the organization reads this, and realizes that contrary to what we have been brainwashed to believe there is this beautiful amazing life to be lived, IF we allow ourselves the opportunity.

There is a quote that is dear to my heart which I am actually having tattooed on my body, it is from Khalil Gibran and it says, "Your pain is the breaking of the shell of your understanding". I think that as far as witnesses go nothing can be more accurate. We must go through that initial pain of leaving the organization to gain an understanding of who we TRULY are, what is our true identity, who do we want to be, what do we want out of this life, and the beauty of going through that initial pain is that once we have gone through it our lives belong to us and no one else.

There is nothing more beautiful, more human, and more liberating than deciding for ourselves what and who we want to be. I am eternally grateful for this gift that I gifted myself a few years back when I decided to leave and start living for myself.

42

Do The Writing Committee Believe?

by jw07 in

does anyone personally know jws serving on the writing committee?.

what is their outlook regarding the end; are they still truly convinced?.

are they expressing doubts or seem demotivated?.

Freeof1914

When I was still a witness, which was not too long ago I had two very close friends that were part of the writing department. I can honestly say that these men were two of the most staunch believers that I ever met. They were both much older than I and it was their "example" that made me reach out as much as I could. These men had an almost blind faith in the gb. They were both like fathers to me in the sense that they gave me much direction and guidance. From what I saw and based off of the many spiritual conversations we had, and the way these men lived their lives I am al oat 100% sure that they were true believers. They were constantly studying deeply, encouraged others to do the same, and in fact one of them was the first ones I reached out to when I began having doubts about the 1914 date based on the year 607 b.c.e and he was quick to have an entire envelopes stuffed with articles and research sent to me. From what I saw, they were whole hearted believers. Of course, I can't say that I knew what went on inside their minds and hearts, but that is how it appeared.

11

Is it just me...

by Freeof1914 in

i haven't been on this site for as long as many of you, but when i first started it just felt like much more supportive and constructive.

as of late though it just seems to be a very toxic and argumentative place to be.

i speak for myself and i believe others as well, when i say that some of us need a place where we can vent, speak our minds freelym and not feel attacked.

Freeof1914

Otwo - I totally agree with you, I love to debate and enjoy hearing wonderful debates, but I find that as if late the tone and in the way the attacks have become personal have just left a bad taste in my mouth. Regardless of how staunchly I disagree with someone it doesn't give me the right to disrespect anyone on here or belittle them. I have no issues with heated debate, just find that lately the manner in which they have been conducted have crossed that line from debate to simply insulting and trying to humiliate the other party. I do agree that differences in point if views and debates are an important part of this forum, just wish it were done with more respect I guess.

11

Is it just me...

by Freeof1914 in

i haven't been on this site for as long as many of you, but when i first started it just felt like much more supportive and constructive.

as of late though it just seems to be a very toxic and argumentative place to be.

i speak for myself and i believe others as well, when i say that some of us need a place where we can vent, speak our minds freelym and not feel attacked.

Freeof1914

I haven't been on this site for as long as many of you, but when I first started it just felt like much more supportive and constructive. As of late though it just seems to be a very toxic and argumentative place to be. I speak for myself and I believe others as well, when I say that some of us need a place where we can vent, speak our minds freelym and not feel attacked. Many of us already have that in our personal lives and it just feels like such a shame that a place that once felt safe and like a breath of fresh air has become such a venemous place where insults are so freely launched back and forth. It truly is saddening to want to get away from that in our lives, or in the org and find ourselves right back in that same type of environment. I am no one to blame anyone, but I feel that many of us have lost perspective on the real purpose of this site. Just saying.

13

1914 change article in the watchtower?

by Joliette in

when are the witnesses going to study this article?

i wonder how they are gonna feel..

Freeof1914

I'm not sure if it's a new change or not, but I did notice that according to one of the endnotes witnesses now have reverted to believing in the rapture. I can recall arguing specifically against this when I was out on field service and relying heavily on my reasoning book back in my pioneer days. Damn it! I guess those know nothing householders knew more than the GB!!

23

New York Bethel Bus Trip & MET Tour

by What Now? in

have any of you been on this tour before ... specifically the met tour?.

some of my family went on this trip recently and everyone i know that has gone on it before has been "blown away" by the special witness tour of the met, specicfically the "woman and the seed" tour.

anyone have any details?

Freeof1914

Losingit

Check your messages

23

New York Bethel Bus Trip & MET Tour

by What Now? in

have any of you been on this tour before ... specifically the met tour?.

some of my family went on this trip recently and everyone i know that has gone on it before has been "blown away" by the special witness tour of the met, specicfically the "woman and the seed" tour.

anyone have any details?

Freeof1914

What now PM if you would like.

23

New York Bethel Bus Trip & MET Tour

by What Now? in

have any of you been on this tour before ... specifically the met tour?.

some of my family went on this trip recently and everyone i know that has gone on it before has been "blown away" by the special witness tour of the met, specicfically the "woman and the seed" tour.

anyone have any details?

Freeof1914

Hey guys,

So the museum actually has an agreement with the brother in charge of the entire operation. In terms of putting a stop to it, highly doubtful being that they even provide a seperate staging area for the tours on Saturdays and Sundays. The MET apprecuiates I am sure the money that is generated with these tours. As a tour guide I would have to pay the museum and the remainder of the money would go to the brother in charge of all of this. When I joined the tour guide group, the company was beginning to steer away from hiring bethel it's, because there were rumbling that bethel would be leaving Brooklyn.

In terms of how it is organized, the best way I can describe itmismthat we were given something similar to a public talk outline. If you are familiar with that set up then this is exactly how the tour is done. We were given a ton of info and then prepared on our own and decided which exhibits interested us the most and those were the ones we delivers. Essentially, the exhibits are spun to support bible accounts regarding the exodus, Nimrod's existence and the building ofmthe Tower of Babel etc. Above all though the information is spun to favor all Witness and beliefs and place other religions in a negative light and show how these other religions all have pagan beliefs.

In my case it was instrumental in leaving, because as I began to delve into the research and the secular authors that were quoted by the the watchtower I began to notice two things. They cherry picked their quotes and only selected what benefitted or supported their doctrine. Many times the author would be in complete opposition to what the watchtower said, but since only part of the quote was used the reader would never know. The other thing I noticed was that many of the things that I researched and were quoted by the watchtower were written by authors or researchers that were completely insane or had been discredited long ago. When I realized this is struck,me as to how complete the control of information the watchtower had over us and that just added to my already nagging thoughts.

Unfortunately, I threw out my English notes in the tour, but I do have the electronic version of the Spanish notes which are identical. I will not post them here because they are legally protected and I did sign an agreement to this, but I will gladly email them to anyone that is interested.

23

New York Bethel Bus Trip & MET Tour

by What Now? in

have any of you been on this tour before ... specifically the met tour?.

some of my family went on this trip recently and everyone i know that has gone on it before has been "blown away" by the special witness tour of the met, specicfically the "woman and the seed" tour.

anyone have any details?

Freeof1914

Hey what now,

i actually used to give this and was very instrumental in my leaving the org. What exactly would you like to know?

7

Field Service meetings

by Freeof1914 in

jw
friends

hope all if you are well.

just a couple if updates i don't post much, but i constantly read.

i am now disfellowshipped and i am seperated from my wife and rebuilding from the bottom.

Freeof1914

Hope all if you are well. Just a couple if updates I don't post much, but I constantly read. I am now disfellowshipped and I am seperated from my wife and rebuilding from the bottom. Thankfully I have a steady career, I am a NYC public schoolteacher, which pays the bills but not the lavish materialistic lifestyle I have chosen to follow! : ) All joking aside I am in need of some extra cash and so decided to try my footing in real estate since I am off for the summer. I went in for a meeting today and as I was sitting there listening to the head broker talk it struck me how similar this meeting was to field service meetings. The broker spoke about things we could not leave the office without all types of forms and it got me thinking to how we were drilled on never leaving without our reasoning book, or tracts and invitations etc. He spoke to us about how to handle our apartment viewings, how to close the deal, and the importance of maintaining a sense of urgency in making money! I was blown away by how identical this meeting was to the field service meeting! I mean he even had a quick demo!! It just strikes me that I sat there all these years thinking I was doing life saving work meanwhile I was just peddling a religious business/real estate/publishing company. I almost started laughing out loud thinking to myself how crazy it all seems to me now, sitting there thinking I was doing a godly service when in essence I was learning to be a salesman!