Interesting experience from Elder

Love this reddit post from Trapjw, current elder.

Thoughts from an elder: Thank you Anthony Morris, thank you. You started it all.
by inexjw

I’ve received many PMs of those asking my story, and while I won’t tell the entire story now, I’ll tell the moment when it all began. This is long so I apologize. There will be other posts. 

November 8, 2014 – I still remember that date. Everyone gathered at the Kingdom Hall for the United States Branch Visit that was to be streamed by video. There was a heightened level of excitement. People took off work, we made sure that all the elderly ones made it. Our Kingdom Hall was standing room only and we were well beyond the fire code capacity. Streaming was a relatively new thing so this felt extra special. What will be announced? Last year we had the new bible announced – we are certainly being asked to gather again for another historical moment, right? 

I don’t remember how the program began, but I remember it being boring. The brothers and sisters begin to get up and go stand in the back and mill around. However it started to change once Samuel Herd took the stage.

The first few minutes of his talk was nothing memorable but soon it started to get a bit weird. Samuel Herd began to give counsel to the Bethelites about being on time for their assignments. Now I’ve been to Bethel many times and I never once witnessed anyone being excessively late. Why is this old man spending time focusing on lecturing a group of a few thousand about tardiness when over a million are watching? Why not commend the Bethelites for their service and their self sacrifice? These are people that are working for free and you’re scolding them in front of an audience of a million for being just two to three minutes late for a job they are doing for absolutely nothing. I thought it was bizarre and unappreciative of their sacrifice, yet his talk was essential in letting my guard down for the rest of the program. 

Soon thereafter, Anthony Morris took the stage. As far as I recall he wasn’t used much on the video program that announced the revision of the NWT bible the previous year. Geoffrey Jackson had that moment. This was now Anthony Morris moment to shine. The limelight was his. Time to make his mark and announce himself to the entire country of United States exactly who he is. I didn’t know who he was, but he’s a Governing Body member and I’m sure he’s a great guy. I did enjoy Geoffrey Jackson the previous year. Anthony Morris is probably just like him. Or so I thought. 

He starts out with a story of him watching birds outside his house. Just two minutes into this talk he somehow twists that story into the real life application of parents dumping their children on the congregation elders when they go to university. He makes a comment about it being ‘both’ parents responsibility for the spiritual well being of the family, later on a single parent remarked to me about this comment made her feel an extra burden since she didn’t have a husband to help her with that responsibility. A few minutes in and I already know I don’t like this guy. Just something about him struck me the wrong way.

About five minutes later the excitement begins. Anthony begins speaking about the importance of visiting Bethel. This time he does make a comment about single parents visiting with their children. Nice to see he remembers the single parents when its time to go to Bethel. He then poses the question – have you visited amusement parks but not Bethel? – ‘Explain that to God’. Oddly enough, the audience in the stream (Patterson Bethel) broke out in laughter, yet in our Kingdom Hall there wasn’t much laughing. The Bethelites took a certain giddiness in him lecturing those that weren’t serving at Bethel about going to amusement parts and taking vacations. Less than ten minutes into the talk and I’m already on the edge.

Now this is where the elder in me kicks in. I think – how I can do damage control over what this Governing Body member is saying? I could tell by the vibe in the audience it wasn’t going over well. He was certain to hurt feelings by those comments. He’s already guilt tripped the families with younger children in the audience that take decide to a week off to go camping rather than go visit Bethel. 

The talk continues on. He encourages every family to ‘eat a meal a day together’ – very common sense advice for any family regardless if you believe in God or not. Great, we’re back on track. A little counsel on having family worship…nothing harmful. Phew. Same ole, same old

And then just like he flips the switch – ‘Are you a ministerial servant at age 23?’. Oh god. No. No. No. What are you doing? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?. Now you’ve alienated any brother that isn’t serving in an appointed capacity over 23. Even worse, those that are married you’ve now shamed them in front of their wife. I remember seeing a wife poke her husband right after that comment and give him a look. My heart sank for him. I couldn’t believe what Anthony Morris was doing. At least make a comment that at times personal situations may not allow us to serve as a MS or elder, but no, you make a blanket statement that everyone should be serving by 23. It’s my opinion that this part of his talk was more mentally and emotionally damaging than the ‘tight pants’ part. As an elder you should never, ever say anything that would make a husband portray a husband poorly in front of their wife. Common decency says so. Now we have someone that is allegedly one of only a handful of men out of eight billion that has been personally selected by God himself who has gone on public record stating that if someone isn’t a ministerial servant by 23 that he isn’t a spiritual man and isn’t deserving of marriage. Nearly 50 years of being a Jehovah Witness and it took less than 20 minutes for that to begin to crumble.

Now the fun starts. 1 Timothy 2:9- ‘this is what Jehovah thinks’. How does this apply to our dress and grooming? He goes off on colored socks. Huh? Socks? He says if we’re wearing colored socks that pants should be long enough to cover them.Next up: SPANX. We’ve moved on from socks to SPANX. No one has idea what he is talking about. Does he mean spandex? People start to give one another the look of confusion. As this moment it’s relatively amusing watching some old guy talk about his fashion pet peeves. It’s funny, not as a ‘laugh with them’ but ‘laugh at them’ way. There was a brief moment where I felt bad for Anthony Morris. 

But in a matter of seconds that all changes. ‘Metrosexual – better known as tight pants’. He makes a dad joke. Old people are lapping it up. Anyone under the age of 50 starts to wince. Then the bomb drops.

The homosexuals that are designing these clothes, they like you in tight pants.

My jaw dropped. I was in utter disbelief. In just a matter of moments I went from thinking to how I could salvage the hurt feelings of those in the congregation, to thinking how can I salvage my own feelings? I’m an elder and it took not even a half hour to start to destroy all those years of indoctrination. One of the the Governing Body members is a conspiracy theorist. 

The rest of the talk was a blur. Horribly I had to conclude with prayer which was the most difficult assignment I’ve ever had to do. I felt like vomiting. Before he concluded his talk I thought to myself: Is this ‘the truth’? If it’s not, wait, that means there is no more resurrection? I won’t able to see my grandparents again? I went home that night, told my family I was going on a walk, and went to the park and cried my eyes out for an hour realizing that the hope of everlasting life or resurrection was no more.

What made the talk so damaging? Why did a talk by an older man cause the most amount of people to leave the religion since the 1975 failed prophecy? How did just a few brief moments cause tens of thousands to lose their faith? Why was it so damaging to me personally? I’ve though about this for years.

Before 2013 the Governing Body was just a group of men in New York who were responsible for things we didn’t really know about. Once a year we’d see a picture of them in a Watchtower sitting around in some office that looks like it was designed in the 80s. They looked like a great group of men. We all know that elderly brother full of love and never a discouraging or unkind word comes out of his mouth. I pictured the Governing Body to be full of those men. I never met any individually and couldn’t even give you the name of one of them. I do remember one of them giving a talk at my District Convention several times and no one blinked an eye when he took the stage – it was just some guy from Bethel. 

But once they became more visible we began to look at them in a different light. I believe that the biggest mistake that Watchtower has ever made is putting the Governing Body in front of the camera. It gave us insight into who they really are. They weren’t the sweet old wise men we imagined them to be, they were lunatics that were out of touch with reality. They are creepy men that wear pinky rings, gold watches, have weird facial ticks, and have not an iota of love, kindness, or humility in their soul. To have the confidence to put these men in front of the camera opened my mind to just how the Watchtower organization does not have any God or superhuman being behind it. Would the creator of the universe really allow someone like Anthony Morris to say the things he did before the entire country of the United States? Does our creator really care about what color socks we wear? From this moment the dominos began to fall… 

Yet I am still an elder. Why you may ask? How can you do this?

To be continued…

BYe 2020

Sharing a reddit post that’s I can relate to.

Preaching / Field Services isn’t what’s it seems. Many long time pioneers without bring anyone into the religions despite plentiful hours, effort and $ spent.

//What is JW preaching really about?//

The entire process isn’t what you think it is.

It is specifically designed to be uncomfortable for the person you’re preaching to because it isn’t about converting them to your religion, it’s about manipulating you so you don’t leave your’s.I know it sounds crazy but hear me out. If this was about converting people it would be considered a huge failure the only people who join are people who were already interested in the first place or people who are at a low point in their life (relative dying etc) offering people cake for joining would literally be a better tool for recruiting.

On the other hand it’s extremely effective at creating a deep tribal like feeling among its members.The rejection they receive is far more important that the people they convert.It causes them to feel a deep level of discomfort around the people they attempt to talk to, these people are labelled as worldly people.These uncomfortable feelings go away when they come back to their congregation (tribe).

The religious person starts out from their own group which is supportive of them,are sent out into the world to preach where they are rejected mainly because they are trained to be so annoying, these brave witnesses then return from the cruel world to their congregation where they are treated as returning heroes.They are now safe.They bonded as they share their experiences of reaching out to worldly people to bring them the truth.

Once again they will learn that the only place they are accepted is with people like them and it isn’t safe to leave the group.The world is your enemy but we love you.This pain reward cycle is a highly common brainwashing technique.The participants become more and more reliant on the tribe because they know others will reject them.

Mix it up with some ritualized monotonous repeat of instructions (WT meetings) and add a dash of judgment from an all powerful entity who only loves you if you do exactly what you are told and there you have it a powerful Brainwashing mix.

你好吗？

Hi All, below post is from a exJw in reddit. Nice summary of happenings in Org in 2018. We are well and fully recovered. Getting on with life and it’s simply wonderful to be free!

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Someone posted a question about the longevity of Watchtower given the events of the past few years. The following is just my opinion, and my observations from the past year: 

Two years ago, Watchtower implemented a 5-year cost reduction program in which they asked all branches to cut costs by a minimum of 10%, up to 25% as a preferred number. 

In the spring of 2015, Stephen Lett asked for donations after stating that WT had more money going out than coming in. 6 months later in a private seminar which I have watched, Watchtower officials announced that Lett’s plea resulted in 30 million extra dollars in donations, but this would not stem their financial issues and they would continue with the layoffs and cutbacks. 

As you know, the cutbacks were significant. Aside from the Bethel layoffs, all non-essential branch projects were either cancelled or put on hold. Watchtower asked branches to sell as much equipment as the could liquidate – including heavy equipment, printers, etc. All monies were directed at finishing Warwick, then selling off their cranes and millions of dollars worth of vehicles and other high priced tools, right down to 5 dollar screwdrivers. 

Meanwhile, Watchtower purchased four $8,000.00 scanners and scanned all documents located in Brooklyn, only keeping the hard copies they were required to keep by law. 

Watchtower was spending tens of thousands per year to New York City just to maintain their tunnel and airbridge spaces between buildings. This was not a tax, it was a fee paid because New York owns the underground and the airspace. Moving to Warwick eliminated these costly payments. 

Branches around the world are struggling to keep up with their own accounting procedures. In South Africa, over 1400 congregations struggle to file their government mandated tax returns required of each congregation. Most congregations have not filed returns for 2-4 years, primarily because local elders do not understand how to file returns, and are quite frankly not interested in the business aspect of this religion. These elders are being retrained, and have been called disobedient by the branch. 

Watchtower has been spinning the cutbacks as simplification, and have coerced dozens of those who lost their full-time jobs to give testimonials about how happy they were to accept their new assignment in the field. (Translation – they are on their own. no health care, no jobs, no training. They are told to just go and pioneer.) 

In Namibia, the government has denied Watchtower’s plea to remove itself from employer status, since this forces Watchtower to pay social security benefits to all full-time workers – such as Bethelites. This has happened in other countries as well. Watchtower must pay these benefits. This raises the issue of whether any benefits will ever be paid to other full-time JWs across the globe, who deserve them equally. 

Watchtower is watching its assets in Russia vanish while paying settlements in the US and elsewhere for child abuse mishandling and other legal cases. Watchtower has taken over responsibility for all kingdom halls worldwide, but many sit in disrepair awaiting renovations in excess of what congregations can afford. 

There is dissent in South Africa right now because of the fixed per capita amount assigned to each publisher who attends a circuit assembly. Many elders have questioned this vocally, and have described the amount of money charged to each circuit as an invoice. This does not sit well with many elders, particularly those in less than affluent areas. Watchtower has dispatched a team of elders to correct their thinking and their accounting procedures. 

Watchtower is now implementing a new records management program along with a destruction of documents procedure which is designed to ensure that no documents exist which would tie watchtower to any legal responsibility or repercussions. The records management overseer related an experience where one hand-written note cost watchtower over $200,000  – simply because a JW elder at headquarters was honest and produced a written document which tied watchtower to a major litigation case with a prior vendor. Watchtower has made it clear these records are to be destroyed according to their new records management and destruction procedures. 

Beginning in 2018, Watchtower will implement a program by which every single JW will be assigned a database number and their information will be in Watchtower’s global database. Currently, in the US, Watchtower only has 40% of their publishers registered in the JW database system. All Jehovah’s Witnesses will be given a number and tracked unless we can stop this invasion of privacy here in the US and around the world. 

 Watchtower is very upset and concerned about all the leaks coming from their headquarters. They use Office 365 now and embed data into PDF files in an attempt to track where the leaks are coming from. They have been issuing subpoenas from the Southern District of New York to various internet providers in the US, along with Google, inc. in an attempt to track down the source of the leaks and identify the individuals involved in leaking their literature and videos.  Watchtower demands their freedom of speech but attempts to deny it to those sharing their publicly available materials, which by the way are not being distributed for monetary gain. 

Watchtower continues to try to plug these leaks like the proverbial dam in Holland, but they are running out of fingers – and attorneys – to plug these leaks. We have far more than they realize we have, and there is nothing they can do to stop the flow of information outside of headquarters. 

The cart-witnessing program is finally beginning to backfire. Witnesses are being approached and asked hard-hitting questions about child abuse, shunning, and other matters. When you stand in the public square and represent a religion, it’s just a matter of time before the public connects the dots, and the carts are sent to the junkyard, one at a time. 

In Canada, The US, Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands and multiple other countries, the government and media are taking notice of the public outcry for justice – justice for abuse victims to victims of imposed and mandated shunning. The Supreme Court of Canada will rule this year in a case involving shunning and discrimination, and if Watchtower loses this case the repercussions will be felt worldwide. 

Yes, money is a problem for Watchtower. Yet Governing Body members like Samuel Herd have publicly stated how beautiful their new surroundings are at Bethel – how they hear the birds chirping as they observe the serene landscape of upstate New York. 

Meanwhile, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have been imprisoned for following Governing Body directives. Young Korean Witnesses languish in prison for no reason. JWs in Eritrea have been rotting away in prison cells – some for decades, while the coalition of overweight, business class flying governing body members feign tears for the men and women who are effectively their slaves. 

Like Stockholm Syndrome victims, Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to support the only organization they think has the answers, identifying with and revering their captors – men who have little sympathy for the victims of child abuse, shunning, or death by blood policy. 

Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson callously stated in 2015 before the Royal Commission in Australia that he had not even read the details of the victims who had testified before the Commission. He focused on his defense, like a narcissist who believes they are the center of the universe, unable to empathize with real people with real problems. 

Tony Morris declared on multiple occasions that he was incensed with European trousers for men, designed by the homosexuals he hates so passionately – and followed this tirade by producing a side by side photo of what proper trousers look like versus “tight pants”. In a recent private video for Bethel members only, this war against questionable pants, socks, and tights was restated, with Watchtower doubling down on matters which would baffle Jesus himself, were he to walk the earth today. 

The lawsuits are piling up, the fines are compounding, the public awareness of Watchtower’s dangerous and controlling cult influence on followers will become a spectacle in 2018. With multiple documentaries being filmed, protests being organized, and lawsuits being filed, Jehovah’s Witnesses can choose to buckle up and attempt to survive the crash – or they can release that belt and get the hell out of the vehicle which is about to catch fire. 

How long will all of this take? It’s hard to say. But I will say this – each one of us can play a part in sharing what we know with the public. Find some websites which you believe are honest and accurate – and share them. Find some books which are truthful and sincere – and share them. Tell your story. Show your compassion for those still trapped in the religion. 

There are millions trapped inside a mental prison, but we can help to free them. Let’s make it happen.

JWs I knew long time ago

Nice experience from Reddit……

Let’s call him brother Jones since I don’t want to use his real name. Forty years ago he was big and tall, imposing with a commanding voice and presence. His hands were gigantic, all us little kids would shake his hand just to see our hand disappear in his. He was a kind man, never a hint of anything inappropriate, at least not to me or my family, but boy was he scary! He had talks on every district convention, we joked that he didn’t need a microphone. His voice boomed as he spoke of Armageddon with authority. He and his wife had no children, they were waiting for the new system to arrive.. A story went around the circuit that a young sister had once called him “Jehovah” by mistake, he was so gigantic and imposing. He was, in my mind back then, a spiritual and physical giant.
Fast forward 40 years. I saw him at one of my last meetings in 2013. Bent over and using a walker, shriveled up, he was less than half his size. It was shocking, I didn’t recognize him at first. Of course we all grow old. But he said we wouldn’t, we were so close to Armageddon back then. And he would be one of the princes. His face now reflects defeat, sadness, he seemed even embarrassed to be seen. What happened to all of his power and strong faith and confidence? Gone. Just gone! He doesn’t give talks anymore, he just sits in the audience, he is still an elder in name but he’s a shell of his former self.
Second experience.
Let’s call her sister Zealous. Twenty-one years old in 1981. Regular pioneer. Strong, pretty and confident and smartly dressed, she strode onto the platform with great posture. I saw her get interviewed on the circuit assembly many times. What a sense of humor, she even joked with the speaker on stage! She said she worked part-time in a menial job and pioneered. She was planning to move “where the need is great.” Yes, she wanted to marry but she wanted a “perfect” man. Everyone in the audience laughed. Of course, she was AAA, Available After Armageddon. What an interview! What fine faith!
Fast forward 30 years.
I saw her in 2011 at a DC. Didn’t recognize her at first. Someone mentioned to me that she was still pioneering and still single. She had given up on her smart outfits, she looked frumpy and tired. She was with her two Bible studies, both with special needs. She didn’t really interact with anyone. I saw her taking notes during the program. Someone else, another young person was now being interviewed on the program about their pioneering.
It’s just sad. There are some nasty people in the organization, but there are some very kind people too, and some who would have made a great impact on their communities had they been given a chance. But they had “faith” in the organization so they made sacrifices, delayed marriage or children or careers or traveling. Look at them now!
I hope I don’t sound condescending. Please correct me if I come across that way. I know I am getting old myself. Of course we all get older. And I know many people prefer to stay single or childless or work at a simple job and that is their choice and that is great.
But in the organization many brothers and sisters did want those things ( lead a normal life), they made sacrifices because Armageddon was so close. They had huge potential and they had great personalities and they were fun and exciting and they made the conventions ALIVE with their vibrant faith as they told us all to get out there, preach, pioneer and make sacrifices because the end is so close. Oh, how we applauded brother Jones’ talks and talked about what a man of faith he was and how his voice boomed! And how we applauded and laughed at sister Zealous and her funny personality, confidence and sacrifices.
And now they are shells of their former self. What happpened? False promises and false hopes. Dreams not shattered but slowly faded. I bet there are tens of thousands of examples like what I mentioned.
It’s just so sad.
Those of you raised as Witnesses, do you know of JWs like these?
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End Quote from ExJWs Reddit.

I feel sorry for those still trapped in the cult. They will gradually have the life sucked out of them as they continue to be depressed daily by the cult. They will never know the joys that we experience simply by being “in the moment” – living for the life that we have now, not for that imaginary world yet to come (that never does).

Why leave the Org?

Contributed by GTR38 at Reddit.

“Before joining this sub-reddit, I always thought that EXJWs were people who just couldn’t live by the rules. People who wanted to live an immoral life full of promiscuity and drug use. People who were disfellowshipped and couldn’t clean up their life to come back. Never before had I heard of disassociation. Never before could I imagine people who are in perfectly “good standing” leaving the organization by their own will.

Yet, here I am writing to you today, still appointed as a Ministerial Servant (planning to step down ASAP) and still in good standing. I have given a couple Sunday public talks both of which everyone loved. Were it not for me waking up, I would have started giving public talks outside of my congregation and eventually, I would be groomed to be an elder. I have never been disfellowshipped and though I make my fair share of mistakes, I have not done anything that would be grounds for disfellowshipping. Furthermore, my choice to “fade” puts me at risk for loosing a large majority of my friends who are JWs. So the question is: Why would someone like me leave?

Everyone has their own reasons, some are more personal than others (such as a change in beliefs or being offended by another JW). However, there are many reasons to leave which are more universal. Here is a list of just some of the reasons why a witness in good standing might get fed up and leave:

–Being in the drivers seat of your own life: Even as an adult, life as a witness is like being in the passenger seat of your own car. This makes it very difficult to steer your life in the direction that makes you happy and brings you fulfillment. As a witness, the governing body has an immense amount of influence over: what you do with your free time, what entertainment you can enjoy, who your allowed to marry and what healthcare options are right for you, among many other things. While they may not have physical control over your actions, they do manipulate you through various means to make sure you follow direction. The most major form of this manipulation is the threat of getting disfellowshipped and being cut off from all of your friends and family. As an adult, you should be able to take your life in the direction that brings you happiness without worrying about getting backlash from others or being shunned.

Every assembly and convention we are reminded of what our life goals should be and what we should be doing on our evenings and days off. One of the biggest benefits of waking up is that your life becomes yours to control again. If you want to sleep in on the weekend, go to college, buy a car that is not “service appropriate” or watch a Harry Potter movie, its all up to you. No more worrying about the police like elder body reprimanding you for making choices that are well within your rights. As an adult, going to meetings and knocking on doors should be something you do because you genuinely want to, not because its a requirement. Life as a witness takes up so much free time and has so many requirements and rules that it can become hard to really get to know yourself and set aside time to explore and learn the things that really interest you.

–Hidden secrets: This is another big one. The organization sells itself as a very squeaky clean religion that is far better than any other “false” religion. However, behind the scenes, things are much different. The organization was once part of the big bad UN as an NGO. They have investments in companies that produce weapons and machines for war. They brag about growth and yet Kingdom Halls all over the world are bing closed and sold off. The year 1914 which is key to a lot of JW beliefs is un biblical and the real truth behind that date has ties to Pyramidology. There have been many cases of misquotes and plagiarism in the magazines and books. When it comes to policy, the “2 Witness Rule” is causing all sorts of legal issues and bad press for the organization. Most recently, there has been a $66 Million dollar class action suit in Canada and a $4000 a day penalty in California over the organizations piss-poor policy about sexual child abuse cases. There is simply too much to list and I encourage anyone who hasn’t already to take a look at: jwfacts.com

All of these secrets and many more have been hidden from the average witness. Furthermore, making any effort to find these secrets is heavily frowned upon and could get you disfellowshipped for apostasy. Another secret that many witnesses don’t know (especially witnesses 30 and younger) is the existence of a guy named Ray Franz who was a governing body member who left the organization. You should ask yourself: why would a governing body member leave and why would that be hidden? All of these secrets should really make you wonder if this religion really is the truth and if they really have gods backing…

-Fear of man: As witnesses, we were often told to have a healthy fear of God. However, in reality, most witnesses have a much stronger fear of man. When the R rated Wolverine movie (Logan) came out, me and a witness friend went to go see it in theaters. I was already waking up by then so the rating didn’t bother me. However, I noticed that the friend I went with was far more worried about a fellow witness seeing him go into the theater than he was about God watching him… This is very common among witnesses. Everything is about appearance. Just like a child fears being put in timeout, full grown adult witnesses fear being dragged into the “back room” and getting a talking to by the elders. As an adult, as long as what your doing is legal, you should not have to worry about elders or anyone else keeping tabs on you.

–Constant guilt: Guilt is one of the many emotions we can feel that can ruin our happiness. As a witness, the feeling of guilt is something that is near constant. If you’ve had a long hard day at work and don’t feel like going to the mid week meeting, you are trained to feel guilty for it. The same can be said for sleeping in on a Saturday morning. Guilt can also come from failing to turn the channel when the show your watching has a scene that is too sexual or playing a violent game, or forgetting to study for meeting. As if thats not already bad enough, as a witness, you can sometimes feel guilt even when you are doing things for the organization. Perhaps you stumbled over your presentation and the householder didn’t take the magazine, maybe you did not track your time well and your not sure how many hours to turn in or maybe you just came back from an assembly and watched as people your age go on stage and tell about everything they are doing for the organization and you think to yourself that you are not doing enough.

At the end of the day, no one is perfect. As a human, guilt is something we should feel when we do something wrong and it should push us to right our wrongs and help us to make better choices in the future. However, as a witness, guilt is something that you are made to feel near constantly for every little thing. It makes it near impossible to loosen up and actually enjoy your life.

–Form your own opinions on God, Spirituality and human origins: As a witness, you are not allowed to have or share your own opinions about spirituality, the Bible or God. You are TOLD what to believe with no wiggle room. The average witness thinks that he/she has studied the Bible but in reality, the studying has already been done for them. However, once you leave, you are free to form your own opinions and do your own research on this vast and mysterious subject. In the end, some EXJWs decide to take an atheist or agnostic route. Other EXJWs still believe most of what they learned as JWs. For me, I have decided to reject organized religion but spiritually I still align myself with a Christian like point of view. Although my freedom of being awake has allowed me to also accept some aspects from alternative spiritual beliefs and even some evolution mixed in. I truly have an open mind which is something I was not allowed to have as a witness. At the end of the day, the Bible was not made to start religions… it was man that did that. You should be able to find your own truth and follow the path that makes you the most happy. No one has the right to say that one belief is the only truth.

This also means you can form your own opinions about blood transfusions, birthdays and other things that were forbidden as a JW. When it comes to blood transfusions specifically, it is very easy to see that the Bible’s rule on abstaining from blood was really talking about ingesting blood as they do in some Asian and African cultures. However, like many JW rules, the governing body has stretched what the Bible says in order to create more rules. No where in the Bible does it say or even imply that blood transfusions, birthdays or even voting is bad. These are all based on mans interpretation and their imperfect interpretation has been pushed on JWs worldwide with room for debate.

-Have a more positive view of the world: As a witness, your end goal is to get to Armageddon so you can get to paradise. Unfortunately, this also means that you look forward to seeing the world crumble. When North Korea was shooting off test missiles, you may have been slightly afraid but more than likely, you were glad since this “must mean that the end is near”. A rising crime rate, global warming, bad economy, war and drastic changes in politics are all things that make witnesses excited. But from the outside looking in, this is a very depressing and twisted way to view the world around you. In the world of super heroes, people who get happiness from seeing the world crumble around them are called villains…

–Freedom to achieve your true potential: No matter what you believe happens after death, we can all agree that life is far too short. The best we can do is make sure we use our limited time to have the most fulfilling life possible. For each person, that fulfillment is different. It could be gaining material riches, having a large happy family, traveling the world, helping those in need or building a business. Whatever it is, we all have the right to chase after our dreams so we can feel as little regret as possible when our time is up. However, as a witness, your chance to achieve your dreams and reach your full potential is limited. A witness high school senior who has record breaking test scores and a guaranteed scholarship to M.I.T. will be heavily encouraged and trained to refuse the scholarship so he/she can focus on spiritual matters. A child who has always loved animals and dreams of traveling the world as a vet to help all the exotic animals who are facing extension will be discouraged from chasing that dream. A kid with an entrepreneurial spirit will be encouraged to use those skills for ministry instead of making what could be the next big business that changes the world.

There are so many opportunities out there that are just waiting to be grabbed. But as a witness, the only accepted big dreams are those that are approved by the organization such as being a special pioneer, working at Bethel or becoming a Circuit Overseer. For everyone else, you are expected to live a simple life, not seek higher education and spend as much of your free time as possible doing things for the religion. Even if you have the potential of a Bugatti Chiron, the Watchtower Organization will make sure that you only stay in 1st gear…

There are so many more reasons but it would be too long to list. The main point is that everyone has a right to live the happiest life possible. Its certainly possible to be happy as a JW but that is heavily dependent on your families status within the organization and your personality. For the vast majority of us, being a witness is like carrying extra weight. We leave so we can be free, be happy and be in charge of our lives. Leaving is NOT a license to be an asshole. Nor does leaving mean that a person wants to dive head first into an immoral life. In fact as a PIMO, my life is every bit as moral as it was when I was fully in. Leaving is all about what I mentioned in my first point: Getting out of the passenger seat and into the drivers seat of the car that is your life.

Sorry for the long post. Hopefully this will help some of you lurkers understand a few reasons why people in good standing leave.”

What you should know about JWs

Quoted fr Quora,written by ex-Jw Mark Jones.

Most people know Jehovah’s Witnesses as “those people that knock on your door” or “they don’t celebrate birthdays or Christmas”. Even when I was a Jehovahs Witness I found it surprising that not a lot of people know what they believe.

I’m not going to tell you what to believe or what to do, but I regard it my duty to tell you something that you’ll never be told as a potential convert:

I was born and raised in the Jehovah’s Witness religion. My ENTIRE FAMILY were, and still are, Jehovah’s Witnesses. I got baptized at 19 and was 100% devoted. Before I could even talk i was taught that there is a God and his name is Jehovah and that his son is Jesus and that one day Jesus will kill everyone who isnt a Jehovah’s Witness. That Jesus second coming happened in 1914 but nobody noticed because he was invisible. And that the founder, Charles Taze Russell predicted the 1914 thing decades in advance.

You see, as you may have learned by now, the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that only 144,000 people will go to heaven. Think about this… since the days of Jesus until now ONLY 144,000 believers of Christ are chose to go to heaven. Does this makes sense to you?

When I was growing up, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were teaching that Jehovah stopped allowing people to be anointed (those going to heaven) in the 1930s. And that some the anointed who were alive in 1914 will still be alive when Armageddon arrives. Guess what? They’re all dead.

So they updated the teaching to say that there are actually TWO groups of people destined for heaven. Those who were alive in 1914 and those who were alive at the same time as the first group. Make sense? No, it didn’t to me either.

They also taught that the United Nations is a tool of Satan.

Then they were exposed by the Guardian newspaper as secretly being NGO members of the United Nations. And even signed a form when they applied stating that they “agree with the aims of the United Nations”.

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtow…

The Watchtower Society also earns money from stocks and shares in gun manufactures and tobacco companies.

The Watchtower is earning money from the tobacco industry

And, worst of all, they were discovered only a few years ago for covering up 1,006 child molestation cases in Australia alone.

https://www.childabuseroyalcommi…

When I got to the age of 31 I started to research the history of my beloved religion, because there isn’t actually a comprehensive history book of the religion published by the Watchtower Society… guess why?…

They have changed their beliefs so many times, predicted Armageddon at least 3 times (1914, 1925 and 1975) and treat ex-members as “mentally diseased apostates”. In fact, if you ever leave the religion they would all shun you. Pretend you don’t exist. It doesn’t matter if they’re your best friends, your children, your parents… if they’re Jehovah’s Witnesses they will shun you if you leave.

I myself am being shunned completely by my entire family. I have no wish to draw them away from their faith if they’re happy there. I have no wish to cause them harm. I don’t even want to talk about religion to them. Yet, the Watchtower Society tells them that I must be evil because i left. If you ask a Jehovah’s Witness about disfellowshipping they’ll say “it’s only for unrepentant wrongdoers” or “it’s to keep the congregation clean”. I know that because i used to say it myself when i was one. And i said it because the Watchtower magazines tell us to say it. In reality, many people are disfellowshipped for things that arnt even “sins”. Such as disagreeing with something printed in the Watchtower, not accepting “new light” teachings from the Governing Body, or attending another church service.

And the elders secret guidebook Shepherd The Flock Of God lists lots more things that people can be disfellowshipped for that the average member doesnt know about. You can be disfellowshipped for being smelly, divorcing an abusive husband and remarrying, or having a blood transfusion.

Once you get baptized there is no way to leave with your reputation in tact. There are even support groups and therapists who specialize in just ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses. I myself am training to be a therapist.

Before you make any decisions, check out Facts about JW.org, the Watchtower, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Truth. Everything on there is quoted directly from Watchtowers own publications and is factual and fair.

Even if you disagree, at least you should and deserve to know.

 

 

 

 

Why leave Jehovah’s Witnesses?

A long but scriptural explanation by ExJw Christopher on why he left Jehovah’s Witnesses. We model our initial explanation after him. 👍

http://insidethewatchtower.com/doctrine/why-i-left-jehovahs-witnesses-part-1/

The Watchtower presents what most people recognize as an illogical, inaccurate, too good to be true message. People fall for the message through slow, insidious indoctrination techniques. First are several months or years of “bible study” with repetitive question and answers of high level doctrines。Next is emphazied meeting attendance and love bombing. By the time a person become aware of deeper and more offensive  practices  and doctrines ( against higher education…any of those that does not make any sense), they are primed and somewhat immune/ ignore the rhetorical fallacy.

 

Open Letter to JWs

Taken with permission from owner.

Nice read.

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Dear Jehovah’s Witnesses,

I used to be one of you. I was raised from birth to believe everything you taught. I knew nothing else. No matter how often the teachings changed, or were refined/revised/etc. I never questioned any of it, because I was assured it was the truth.

And honestly, when I think back to all the meetings and in-home book studies and get-togethers, I can’t help but smile. I remember my first talk at 8 years old. I remember my baptism at 14. I remember being appointed as a Ministerial Servant at 20. And I remember in great detail giving the #2 talk at a Circuit Assembly in Paducah, Kentucky.

I remember these things because they were milestones in my life as a Jehovah’s Witness. At least those were the positive milestones.

The negative ones were moments where I questioned what was going on, even if it was just for a few seconds. Things like the reductions in how many meetings there were each week and how many magazines were being printed. Or how much content there was in the magazines.

I’ve watched things you’ve put out on JW Broadcasting, and there was one particular video that got me going down this road. The infamous “Bunker Video”. Where a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses are gathered together in a basement as the Great Tribulation is happening and the government is looking for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

It was watching this video that made me realize something. I didn’t leave you because I had a problem with what you promised me. I would absolutely love to believe that this screwed up world is about to undergo positive changes. I would love to live in a world where all my needs, wants, and desires are met in abundance. And most of all, the idea of being reunited with dead loves, especially the father I never knew? Well, that’s a huge selling point for what you’re offering.

I never left you because of what you taught or what you offered. I left because you can’t deliver on it. You never could, and you never will.

And for that, I am truly sad. Because petting pandas sounds pretty cool.

Sincerely,
Nigel Rice aka TedTheTrout

Wake Up my friends…

Life is a gift and we intend to show my appreciation for God given life and gifts/ talents by focusing attention on matters that are important to us-such as family, friends and our neighbors / society. We will understand if you cut off contact with us, as that is what this Watchtower religion’s ( pls, do not equates it to Jehovah) man made doctrines requires of you. Just know that you are always welcome to contact us. Life is short and don’t lead a wasted life with regrets. Research about the Watchtower.
Your Unconditional Friend.

Good, Concise Disassociation Letter

“I am disassociating myself from the man-made organization & printing company of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, or otherwise named Jehovah’s Witnesses by Joseph Rutherford– a confirmed drunkard, Hitler supporter, bully and otherwise a Donald Trump of his day. I disassociate from these man-made organizations which do not display the fruits of true Christianity by false prophecies, changing doctrines that have serious consequences, harboring pedophiles, destroying families by shunning, and establishing a Pharisaical system of salvation by adherence to regulations, expectations of hours counting service and Talmuds of organizational publications for the so-called Shepherds of the Flock.”
Jwfacts.com
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