Can't believe I once bought into this shit! Staying PIMO means I have to be bombarded week in week out with such nauseating nonsense!

Now they're being direct. Previously it was "full" or "complete" trust. Now they've employed the ultimately word: Absolute.

If the GB tells you to kill your son, you have to obey!

If they tell you to drink poison, you should trust them.

If they makeba golden calf and tell you to bow down to it, you should trust them.

Reached out to some friends and expressed my concerns about the borg. Though they would be receptive or at least willing to listen. Didn’t go too hard on the borg, but they keep pairing the borg and god together in every sentence, as if god doesn’t even exist without this organization. Any good reasoning points, scriptures, articles?

There are 2 elders whom I suspect have been infected with Pimoism since they have gone dead silent during meetings around about the same time I did, or maybe earlier, I wouldn't have noticed, I was focused on personal glory back then.

So the fact that, they the only ones who reached out to check up on me, fills me with with excitement and paralyzing fear at the same time. I don't know what to do.

im a 15 year old PIMO jw and im scared that ill get indoctrinated into it again, i dont know what to say just that :(

Obviously this is an english speaking sub but I wondered if anyone has woken up without being able to utilise english exJW sources?

English speaking JWs are quite “spoiled” to some degree because once you start doing research you find information really fast. How is that for people who don’t speak english very well or not at all? Anyone has some stories to tell? I’m curious to hear.

What is that time when a sister, brother, elder, articule or video showed so much ignorance about anything You almost couldnt believe it?

I'm sure that celebrating holidays, joining the military or donating blood were some common ones but when you were a Jehovah's Witness what were some things that Worldly people did that you found odd due to your religious beliefs?

For context, I’m not an ex JW, but my mom is. She kept me away from all of that stuff but she’s still on good terms with her parents and has spent the last 10 or so years repairing the damage this religion has done to their relationship. Both of them are still deeply involved in the church despite this.

I have a really strong relationship with my grandmother and can honestly say she’s the one person I feel like I can confide in and be listened to out of anyone else in my family on both sides. She’s the one person I’ve always felt cared for by and the one person I feel like I can tell anything. The only thing I can’t tell her is that I’m gay, and knowing that her outlook on me would likely change completely if she knew is depressing in ways I can’t quite find words to describe yet. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe she’s changed her views somewhat, but I also know how a majority of JWs are and how often religion tends to outweigh family. I feel kind of silly complaining about this even because I know how much worse it is to not have parents who are accepting. But every time I get off the phone with her, come home from spending the day with her, get a gift or loving text from her, these thoughts always linger in the back of my mind. I feel worse thinking these things about her than how I feel knowing they’re likely true.

I want to know what it was like for you to grow up in a Jehovah's Witness household? Is it much more different than other people's upbringings or not at all?

If you believe something that isn't true, it prevents you from finding the truth because if you think you have the truth, you won't seek a different explanation.

This reminds me of every JW who speaks of “the truth” and every one of us that just wants them to consider a different explanation.

Can anyone relate? I’m completely POMO. Blocked most JW’s that would try to reach out to me to get me back in the Borg. Have a happy life with my boyfriend. We moved in together. He takes such good care of me. Loves and supports me. My “worldly” family supports me. I love them and have grown closer to them since leaving. But one thing I have been scared of is to make my IG public. I made it private when i left the Borg cause people were stalking me and gossiping. But that was over a year ago. Now im ready to make it public again but am so scared certain bored gossipy JW’s will start talking about me again. Am I crazy? Do I just need to get over it? Live my life and f*ck the haters? Am I thinking I’m more important than what I am? Ugh. I hate the religion I was brought up in.

https://chng.it/5KqR7SXXKw

So apparently some very loving married sisters one 20 yr old and a 35 yr old + kids judged me F21 and called me a WHORE for moving away as a RP at that time to pursue higher education. I am a whore because I wore tight dresses in the congregation so therefore I must be prostituting myself! They never told me this mind-blowing interesting fact about me in my face instead they kept complimenting me whilst laughing behind my back. To be honest I'm not hurt about being called a whore since 1st Respect for all the sex workers out there and 2nd I'm the virgin queen 👑 haven't even had my first kiss yet lol I'm just hurt for them since the 20 yr married sister hadnt even finished highschool and as it turns out just cheated on her husband before their 2 year anniversary and the 35 yr old sister got with her previously divorced husband by pursuing him whilst she was worldly and he was dating another poor sister...

It's so easy to point fingers and police around people in the congregation and I find it so interesting esp now as a psychology graduate the things people overlook about themselves but project on others...

Small PSA this was a confidence boost for me lol they thought I would be offended... I'm so hot and irresistible they couldn't believe that I'm hot and smart at the same time ✌🏻 However from now on I'm willing to make changes I shall not shave 🪒 grow a beard and also strictly wear oversized pants no tight pants! I shall not be a whore no more I will burn my degree get married and pioneer! Damn when I asked them to show me who I fucked and got paid for they pointed at my tight dresses... I knew Jws had a thing for pillows I didn't know we fucked dresses now aswell... Give me some very appropriate outfit ideas 💡 I do need some spiritual advice I shall not be a virgin whore no more ! 🤭

In the this verse Jesus did not say that God gave Jesus the power and notice how Jesus does not give glory to any other but Himself. He said “I will raise it up,” not “ God gave me power.” It would be blasphemous for Jesus not to give credit to Almighty God if He wasn’t the Almighty Himself.

The cultist may also say this is impossible because a dead person cannot raise themselves from the dead. However, it must be pointed out that Jesus’s spirit was still alive because it went to heaven upon his death ( Luke 23:39-43). Thus there is no problem with Jesus raising himself if His spirit was still alive.*

The Scripture states God raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 10:9; 1 Peter 1:21), where the Father raised Jesus from the dead (Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:17-20), and where the Holy Spirit raise Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). Considering that God raised Jesus from the dead, would it not make sense to say God is Triune because three persons raised Him from the dead?”**

*”Cult Shock” by Mark Stengler Jr. and Mark Stengler Sr. p. 153 **ibid p. 153

I’ve pretty much explained how I’m “questioning” to my mom and the guy who does my bible study but as I’m still a JW (and my friends dont know shit because they would shun me the moment they’d hear I’m doubting anything) I can’t really do anything outside of the JW doctrine. There’s this girl in school that I really like, I have the damn confidence to ask her for her Instagram but as my school is full of JWs (like 30 or more probably) someone would see and it’d get back to everyone. I hate this shit so much

fyi these friends are amazing and understanding but they are still indoctrinated and wouldn’t give me the light of day were I to do something “wrong”

I guess I'm just curious if anyone had the same experience that I did when going over this in the Daniel book - brown cover, late 90s, maybe early 00s?

The early king of the north and south interpretations actually made some sense if I remember correctly (I'm not researching or reminding myself of anything before this post, so I'm just going on my "faithful" memory when I read it many years ago). But even at the time I remember that the later explanations of the KOTN and KOTS being ridiculous leaps of interpretation that made no sense or had no logical connection. Did anyone else remember reading this and wondering how these Daniel "clarifications" came to be?

I guess it doesn't really matter now, but I'm just addressing things that I ignored a long time ago. Maybe someone else will read this and realise that they need to address something that makes no sense to them

wish that there was 1 million members in here though but a little is better than none!!!!

100k is still a lot let’s gooooo!!!!

When I had my first and only real bible study I was already PIMQ. I did it for my grandmother`s sake, as she wishes to see me rise to the spiritual top of the food chain. No shot at that, but I still complied with her idea, at least for a moment.

The guy that studied with me was not a UBER PIMI at all and I really thought he could actually snap me out of my dilemma. That was quite foolish. He even agreed with me on certain views about the moralistic aspect of the bible and the Borg, but he never went as far as denouncing the teachings of the GB.

He rambled about all kinds of being a believer and existing religions. He tried to give a teleological view of the world, with everything leading up not to the Hailstone message but the creation of the Borg. It felt more like the mormon version of history as he distorted reality to fit his view how the world works.

In other aspects of life, he was totally chill and easy to talk to, but when showing a slight interest in history, he goes of. I am a history nerd myself and did not at all enjoy this man utilizing history to build up a faith that, as I already saw at the time, does not have any earlier forms whatsoever.

At that point, I began questioning the existence of a deity or deities at all. Still, I saw my opportunity to discuss aspects like Pascal`s wager, the Australian court cases I had just found out about and other points that come up when you are a PIMQ.

I was enganged in all kinds of philosophical discussions with myself and had to fight through the uncertainty. This did not take long though and I became an agnostic.

Instead of going into these points, arguing and listening to my explanations, he came back to the basic teaching over and over again. He said focussing on the nice teachings and the paradise is essentially the JW religion. At that point, something inside of me snapped. It was not the moment I stopped believing entirely, but my respect for the entire organization was gone.

Gone with it also my respect for the brother. I still liked him as a person, he was a cool older dude with a relatively liberal view of life. Not enough for me though and I intentionally stopped showing up to our Zoom meetings, which he gladly took as an excuse to stop the study. He is quite busy, it cost him a lot of time to even do the most basic of research on my points.

At the time, I was not seeing any opportunity to even convince me coming back to all the JW teachings which I had now seen have been easily debunked as non - scriptural. I would not be able to tell him this, though. Ironically, he sent me a short talk at the time about apostates and their bad influence. It was held by Malenfant - my favorite cartoon villain.

My grandmother is now nagging that Jehovah does not find room in my life. I have an active social life, graduate from high school in a year with serious expectations to study medicine and am enganged in my hobbies. But the real reason I stopped is due to me not being able to relate to the points made and in the end I had no nerve talking against a repetition of the same old BS I have heard all my life before.

TL/DR: Instead of bringing me closer to the faith, my bible study pushed me towards leaving.

There’s a cross in my hallway.

He suggested it would be a good idea to get rid of it.

Demonic influence or some shit?

https://spotify.link/GXZSEV8E0Ib

If you like podcasts...you need to hear this ex-mormon episode. It's off the charts! I was amazed at what I heard, I'll be replaying this one for sure. The similarities are unreal.

https://youtu.be/fzn08DnojW4

Seems a bit like lots of work for no reward.

Why the fuck do they do it?

And how long does it take them to prove themselves… “worthy” or whatever the fuck they think it is.

If somebody would do me a tremendous solid and get right on that I’d be eternally grateful, thank you.

This past weekend’s WT talked about loving Gods’s name ad nauseam and the conductor said something that made me think of my days of being a PIMI enforcer. Does anyone else remember verifying if a Bible is a “good” translation based on Psalm 83:18 using the name Jehovah? 🙈📚

The question that was NEVER addressed is why do most translations use LORD when using God’s name?

Using chatGPT, here’s what I found which may help when speaking to a PIMI about this while on the fly:

How did the rendering Jehovah come to be God’s name in the Bible?

The rendering "Jehovah" originated from the combination of the consonants of the divine name YHWH with the vowels of the Hebrew word "Adonai," which means "Lord." This practice began in the Middle Ages, when Jewish scholars introduced vowel points to the Hebrew text to indicate pronunciation. When the consonants of YHWH were combined with the vowels of Adonai, it resulted in the hybrid form "YeHoWaH," which later evolved into "Jehovah" in English. However, "Jehovah" is considered a mispronunciation, as the original pronunciation of the divine name is uncertain.

So is Jehovah God’s name?

"Jehovah" is a rendering of the divine name YHWH, but it's not universally accepted as the correct pronunciation. While some groups use "Jehovah" as a name for God, others prefer "Yahweh" or simply use titles like "God" or "the LORD." The exact pronunciation of the divine name remains uncertain, as the original pronunciation has been lost over time.

Why does the Bible translate God’s name YHWH as LORD?

Translators often use "LORD" instead of directly rendering the divine name as "Yahweh" or "God" out of respect for the Jewish tradition of not pronouncing the name of God. This tradition dates back to ancient times and is observed out of reverence for the sacredness of the divine name. Using "LORD" instead serves as a way to honor this tradition while still conveying the intended meaning of the text.

So using LORD actually ISN’T a disservice to God’s name. It’s respectful.

The WT study article references Mark 5:19 study note to prove why it’s ok to insert the name Jehovah, (NWT) “to them all the things Jehovah has done for you and the mercy he has shown you”

The Interlinear reads as the LORD (not YHWH):

ἀπάγγειλον report αὐτοῖς to them ὅσα as many (things) as ὁ the κύριός Lord σοι to you πεποίηκεν has done καὶ and ἠλέησέν had mercy on σε you

Asking chatGPT to translate:

"Tell them what the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you."

Translate κύριός:

"Κύριός" translates to "mister" or "sir" in English.

Clownery at its best!
👀🙄👉🏼🤡

More info can be found in a jwfacts article https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/jehovah.php

One thing I noticed when I went there is the crowd started speaking back to the gentleman holding the sermon and I was like whoa. I wasn't used to it I felt like I was watching a TED Talk. Also the microphone carriers we're a bit of a shock to the guy reaching over me and stuff was definitely different and there was no collection plate passed around. That was also new to me. Not going to lie the songs could use some serious work they were staler than white bread. Then I remember the white guy came up with all this.

​

https://reddit.com/link/1cafij7/video/t2v55d3072wc1/player

(Footage of Lett from Saturday's Netherlands visit 04/20/2024)

I know this is somewhat of a let down but since the new update attendance has been up. People that were disfellowshipped along time ago are coming back and everyone is saying “Hi” to them. Also I think the elders have been pushing people to come back in person because almost all of the zoom holdouts have started coming in person. So all this sounds great for the Borg right. Well it seems every time I talk to someone at the meetings they talk about how long it is or boring it is or how they need an extra shot of coffee just to get through it. I’m not exaggerating, everyone I’ve talked to has said this or something similar. It’s like they are just in attendance for the recognition and that’s it. No of them really want to be there or find it remotely refreshing.

I was raised by a baptized JW mother. I learned all about the jw beliefs and about their interpretation of the bible.

She was raised by baptized JW parents. Her knowledge of the jw beliefs and the bible were pretty limited.

We started dating and immediately seem to fall in love with eachother.

Then, she started a bible study with an elders wife. A few months into dating ends up getting counselled about dating me.

Breaks up with me the 1st time, but never stops seeing me or acting like my gf. This starts a cycle of on and off again and continues for 3 years really.

I hold my ground that we can have different beliefs and make a relationship work. Even attend a meeting or two just to show support for her being her own person with her own beliefs. The elders wife and her husband basically confront me and interregate me, my gf storms off crying.

She gets repeatedly counseled, confesses to some of the more intimtate details of our relationship to these gross old men who always pose it as "do you love your bf who may end up cheating on you, or do you love jehovah who will never hurt you?"

Continues the in secret dating. On and off. At this point i feel abused by her treatment but I try to shoulder it and respond with patience and actual love for her, empathetic to the mental struggle she was in trying to reconcile her feelings with her beliefs.

She gets baptized. Some JW starts pursuing her. She goes out with him a few times while trying to push me away but really keeping me on a string. Calling or texting me complaining about him every time she goes out with him.

I eventually lose steam for obvious reasons. Meet someone new and start dating them. Tell my ex gf its done now. She blocks me after confessing how I'll always be special as her 1st true love.

She ends up marrying the JW she was always complaining about, that everyone was encouraging her to give a chance, around a year after we stopped talking.

Broke up with the woman i was seeing about 1 year ago after a 2 year relationship.(also another one sided abusive relationship, I'm trying to learn and grow out of this pattern.)

My ex jw gf over the past few months has been snooping on my social media. Shes been married for 2 years and we havent spoken in 3 years but she is repeatedly viewing my tiktok profile where I post writings and art I've made, mostly like a journal of my feelings, and some of them had included her. Her settings allowed for me to get notifications when she was viewing my profile.

I posted a tiktok like i normally would but included a caption that said "oh, and hi🌵🍋". The emojis being a reference she would get. She liked that post acknowledging she was caught lol. Then, after viewing my profile another 5 times over the following 1 and half weeks, she changed her settings so that it is no longer visible when she's viewing my profile.

We don't follow eachother on any socials or communicate at all. So I don't understand why she's doing that. I blocked her on tiktok now but I hate to do that. It felt kind of nice that she's still thinking about me although I don't really know why she's doing that. Wish she would have woke up years ago but I don't hold hope that she ever will wake up.

It definitely is my biggest heartbreak to date.

I guess my story is one more example of how they meddle and control followers.