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Written by Randall Watters
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Sunday, 07 February 2010 18:54 |
In 1982 at its beginning, Free Minds was then known as Bethel Ministries and was given shelter by a local church called Hope Chapel in Hermosa Beach, CA. We began to operate as a nonprofit organization at that time for the first several years, sheltered under the wing of Hope Chapel, but not financially supported by Hope Chapel. My goal at that time was to make friends with all of the former Jehovah's Witnesses out there in the world and try to get them together into a camaraderie; or at least to get along with one another, since there were factions, mostly based on doctrinal differences. Most of these organizations were invariably run by Christians. None were run by atheists, and so the focus of Bethel Ministries for the first few years was on Bible doctrine, and on what differed between what the Watchtower taught and what orthodox Christianity taught... or at least, I should say, what was taught by the known Christians from the first two to three centuries before the time of Constantine.
With that in mind, I became fairly prolific on theological issues, made friends with many people in "high places" such as theologians, pastors of large successful churches, and authors. I read hundreds of books on theology. I was never afraid of the outcome of my research, for if orthodoxy really did interpret the Bible the same as the early Christians, there's nothing to worry about. Hey, I made it through the Witness cult, so I was never again to be intimidated over believing certain doctrinal issues. I knew God was not going to strike me dead because I believed in evolution of homo sapiens, or whether dinosaurs existed and when. In fact, I have never once been afraid of God, even as a Witness. Maybe it was my Baptist background, or just my own personal musings, I'm not sure.... but He was a father, and I loved my own father, so this guy should be even better, or he's an imposter or non-existent. Or maybe aliens were just messing with our minds. (Just kidding.)
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Written by Randall Watters
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Sunday, 07 February 2010 13:04 |
I'll give a little history on the Free Minds Journal.
It started out as the Bethel Ministries Newsletter in 1982 and was changed to the Free Minds Journal in the early 90s. We decided to establish ourselves as a nonprofit EDUCATIONAL organization (as opposed to religiously oriented or sponsored by a church) separate from my church.
I was a licensed pastor with Foursquare/Hope Chapel for several years and had my own small branch of Hope Chapel church for three years, from 1990 to 1993. We called it Hope Chapel West Manhattan, with 35 members, half of whom were former Witnesses. We used to hold ex-JW meetings in the larger Hope Chapel (2000 members) and you can purchase the DVDs from those seminars or watch 3 of them so far on Youtube, highly recommended. These meetings were recorded on S-VHS so the quality was better than the old VHS, so even the DVDs aren't too grainy.
You can listen to four of my favorite sermons (called the "Virtual Church") for Jehovah's Witnesses or anyone who is into legalistic bondage HERE.
The newsletter/Journal used to be printed to the number of 2200 copies every two months! Wow, what a job, and I had to have 5-6 volunteers to help produce it. Plus I had to pay to have it printed. Nowadays it is about 400 copies per issue due to the Internet being more popular than the printed page. The circulation is almost all paid subscriptions except for a few people in prison and always has been. The price has always been $10 a year, except that it is only published three times a year now due to most of my work being done on the Internet.
A lot of folks just like to read the news about the Watchtower organization in printed form. Plus it is good to have something to give to another friend/JW who may ask quick information, and having it in concise form and in your hands is a big advantage. I'm happy to keep it going and will do for some time to come.
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Written by Randall Watters
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Sunday, 10 January 2010 14:02 |
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I never really liked slogans or phrases, especially when I got used to prayer as a child. So I figured, why bore God with chanting the same blah-blah-blah cry my heart out with my needs and fears, followed by the contrite humble attitude, then a “request” for something, Then, especially in a public prayer, there is the obligatory, “and please Lord help all these other ______ _____ (persons) out there”; followed by one of various pious-sounding “In Jesus’s Name.” (I’m surprised JWs never surmounted THAT with “In Jehovah’s name!”)
Since I had my own private life with this invisible God, and yet I didn’t/couldn’t/wouldn’t stand going to church (the social formalities), I developed a lot of my own ideas about what a male Christian God must be like. A Father image, a Protector, a Savior from whatever is wrong with you, unconditionally because you know in your soul you want to please Him).
I don’t think I ever questioned the wisdom of God in allowing his own children to put aside religion in my life, even for years at a time. I knew in my heart that God knew the deepest part of me, and it was mostly unnecessary to communicate in any visible way.
This is how I survived life as a child.
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Written by Randall Watters
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Monday, 14 December 2009 18:31 |
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How I Take each Day at a Time
I'll take a little break from the Intervention series to just share some of the struggles in my life and how I have managed to survive them.
I know that some of you feeI like aliens that don't quite belong in this world, socially-speaking. I was like that for all my youthful years, until joining the Witnesses back in 1972.
After that, it no longer mattered that I didn't like doing the same things others did. I had a cause now.
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Monday, 02 November 2009 15:51 |
I have found two basic types of people that join cults (aside from those born into one – a story for another time). The first is the one that falls in love with the cult; it’s organization, personality of the leaders, charisma, energy, collective power, the supposedly miraculous, the supposed accurate foretelling of the future, the seeming clarity of life. While espousing ethereal beliefs and claiming fervently to “now having the only true religion,” their real interest lies, not in doctrine, but in the group itself. The victim perceives consciously or subconsciously that the group just happens to fulfill their own physical and psychological needs. Being a working part of the organization is the key to their mental health. Their seeming interest in God is really taking a back seat to their own animal needs. These are the ones that will hang on to the cult for dear life. They can get out, but it will only be if they are disillusioned and lose the personal benefits (common scenario), or if they actually find another group or form of therapy that gives even greater personal returns (rare).
On the other hand, some individuals really are searching for God and are willing to listen to anything that sounds logical and meaningful, but are also willing to grow and change once given wiser, more accurate information. Often they have been loosely involved with other religious organizations in the past. They may be attracted to cults out of curiosity and the desire to learn what they are all about. Yet it is usually only a matter of time before the lying and obfuscation of the cult leadership shows through, and the spiritual adventurer will look for something better. Since they are really searching for ethereal truths, a controlling organization will stifle their spiritual growth and feel stale in time, offering diminishing returns. Cult mind control has much less effect on them, as they have less to lose in exiting the group than the first type mentioned above.
Either way, an intervention works basically the same way.
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