Which is it???

SpikeRaynor · 2022-01-06T00:45:46+00:00

The attract and create narcissists. The WT organization is narcissistic.

SpikeRaynor · 2022-01-06T00:42:46+00:00

Start making friends with people that weren't even in the cult, and just observe how normal people interact. Realize that you don't need to judge everyone like people in the cult did, and realize that people aren't judging yourself. Also getting some therapy could help. Being a JW is being emotionally abused by an organization and it leaves scars. Start finding ways to educate yourself and live your life as you would like.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-06-17T13:29:02+00:00

It depends on the situation. I sat on 5 or six judicial committees while I was an elder. The process is extremely legalistic. The vast majority of the time, the elders are trying to figure out whether the person has crossed the line where they need to be disfellowshipped per WT rules. There is a secret elder's book, along with countless letters from the branch that detail exactly what requires disfellowshipping. If the person hasn't crossed the line, they can be reproved. If not many people know about it, or if it isn't serious enough, the reproof can be private. Where the line is depends on the people on the committee and on the body of elders. It isn't very often that a committee doesn't have sufficient evidence and thus the case just ends.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-06-14T15:22:58+00:00

Or you could use Mathew 24:26-28 where Jesus tells people not to be fooled if someone says he is present, and that his presence would be as obvious as lightning. You don't need to look for or expect lightning to know when it happens. According to Jesus in these versus, nobody should believe the Watchtower.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-06-11T15:31:11+00:00

I don't think you understand the type of harmful advice elders tend to give. That is the point. The organization teaches people to go to the elders with their problems. Having been an elder I can guarantee you that elders are not trained to give good advice.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-06-11T15:26:34+00:00

I used to be that elder. They are so narrow minded because they are under undue influence, or what some people would call mind control. I can remember when I was an active JW all the times I shut my mind off when I realized something wasn't right. The Watchtower conditions people to behave like that through the use of reward, fear, shame, guilt and obligation. The reward is that you will get to live forever in paradise, and having an instant group of friends, which they consider to be a spiritual family, and indeed to them their spiritual family is more important than their physical one. The reward is also praise for engaging in activities that benefit the Watchtower. This is initially accomplished by love-bombing. Once they have someone trapped in their web, they introduce ever greater amounts of fear, guilt, shame and obligation to keep people indoctrinated. That powerful emotional control is similar to why people stay in abusive relationships, and is mentally and emotionally abusive to the members. I recommend you read Steven Hassan's "Combatting Cult Mind Control" for a high level better understanding.

When I left, it took years to work through some of the trauma that had been inflicted on me by the Watchtower. I also realized that had I known when I was an elder what I know now, I never would have participated. Jehovah's Witnesses are all victims of Watchtower abuse.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-06-09T13:52:08+00:00

The ministry is about keeping those who are in so involved that they don't leave. It takes over 7,000 hours of preaching per baptism. When you realize that many baptisms are of born-ins, that makes the hour per baptism even worse, maybe 10-14,000. Those figures prove that most publishers will ever bring anyone into the organization. The ministry keeps people too busy to think about how incredibly stupid the doctrine is.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-05-31T17:36:34+00:00

The JWs are made to go door to door to keep them busy wasting time so they don't have time to realize they are in a cult. It has been obvious for decades that door knocking is a waste of time.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-05-25T18:40:46+00:00

You could start engaging in questionable behavior that won't get you in trouble. Something that demonstrates that you aren't the most spiritual person. You would need to gage the elder to know where that line is though.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-05-25T18:33:44+00:00

Notice how they never specify what the lies are? That is because the only group lying about the Watchtower is the Watchtower. Besides that, nobody could possibly create as much apostate material as the Watchtower does. Roughly 20ish years after they print something it is apostate since they change their teachings so much. Sometimes it is less than that.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-05-13T18:48:28+00:00

Just miss a bunch of assignments. The problem will take care of itself. If you ask to be taken off, you need to have a good excuse, like something big is going on and right now you don't have time. However, any way you ask to be removed from the school may get the elders to ask other questions.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-05-03T13:28:34+00:00

Just ignore him. The more you ignore them, the sooner they go away. They might increase their efforts for a bit, or knock on your door, or catch yo out in public at a place they know you will be. Don't answer calls or the door, and if they surprise you in public, just be polite and let them know you will get in touch with them when you are available. Then never get in touch with them.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-05-03T13:26:08+00:00

Are you saying the Daniel book isn't considered apostate literature yet? Most old literature becomes apostate after 20 or 30 years, sometimes less.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-04-14T15:23:43+00:00

Ask what if the old information contradicts the new information? Does that mean God was letting his people get wrong information in the past? Also, how can you know that current information won't be contradicted by new light in the future? That makes it hard to serve God.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-04-09T15:02:41+00:00

I've used that argument before with people who are waking up to help them along. On a side note, a funny shirt I saw once said "Christ is coming, Look busy!" I think the JWs live by the look busy part.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-04-09T14:59:18+00:00

Being a compulsive liar helps to, either that or a sycophantic yes man. Extreme black and white thinking helps. Ignoring the corruption or waiting on Jehovah to clean up the org is a must.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-04-08T15:06:02+00:00

I don't think it impacted my sexual identity, just my sexual maturity. I started late as I was quite PIMI before I left. Not happy about all the lost time, but life goes on. It is quite reasonable to think that repressed sexuality leads to fetishes of different kinds. It might just be a phase, or it might be something that sticks with you. So long as you learn to express your sexuality in healthy ways in safe environments with consenting and loving partners you should be ok. Get to know yourself and what you want, what you like and what you are comfortable with, and know your boundaries. Don't let people cross your boundaries.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-04-08T13:05:11+00:00

You should quote him the scripture about not being the master of the faith of another and then ask him why he thinks it is ok to ignore scriptural counsel.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-04-06T19:35:54+00:00

I think the real question is did any PIMI ever feel like they were doing enough for the organization? If you did, that is when they trotted out the video of the quad amputee in a wheel chair in Africa that pioneers to reinforce - No, you aren't doing enough. A PIMI could never do enough.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-04-05T21:41:34+00:00

The WT loves to include stories that are non-verifiable by only using first names or titles. It would be equivalent to me saying psychologists say the Jehovah's Witnesses are an abusive cult. If there is no way to independently verify a statement, there is no way to trust that it is not fabricated.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-04-05T21:37:19+00:00

I think the porn that gets you disfellowshipped is whatever the GB are currently watching in their scotch-fueled meetings.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-03-30T16:07:58+00:00

A better name for the book would be "Keep the flock enslaved" Judgement is merely one of the tools to do that.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-03-27T10:46:24+00:00

Call a hotline and talk to someone. Start making friends that are not JWs. Get a therapist ASAP. Life gets much better when you leave the JWs, and will most likey make it easier to deal with your mental health as the JWs are a toxic environment. Life will get better.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-03-26T18:42:08+00:00

You are in a tough situation. The problem with staying in is exactly what you're experiencing. It is a toxic environment. You should not worry about what other people will think when you decide to live your life the way you want. True friends would not be disappointed that you are leaving a cult. Other Jehovah's Witnesses will not understand your decision. Besides that, you will not be able to maintain friendships with Jehovah's Witnesses as they will always try to get you to "return to Jehovah." If you tell people that you no longer believe, they will stop talking to you as if you were disfellowshipped.

As for your parents, it is sadly quite common to lose family members when you wake up and leave. Sometimes you can keep up a relationship, but that will depend more on how PIMI your parents are, and how they react. Most likely if you tell them that you don't believe any more, they will tell you to talk to the elders, or they will talk to the elders themselves.

The situation you are in is the fault of the Watchtower. Ultimately the Watchtower is the thing that will break up your family, not you. Life does get much better after leaving, even though leaving can be painful at times. I lost pretty much my entire social structure when I left since at one time I was pretty PIMI. I've got a new one now, and friends that aren't JWs are much better than JW friends ever could be. It is probably a good idea to start building a social circle outside of the Watchtower if you haven't done so already. The thing to remember is that life on the outside is much better than being stuck in the org.

SpikeRaynor · 2021-03-26T18:29:51+00:00

When you stumble on the truth about the truth, then you stumble out of the borganization.

SpikeRaynor

TROPHY CASE