Hello Jehovah's Witnesses. I was in class 119 of Gilead in 2005

by AllTimeJeff 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  AllTimeJeff

  My picture is in the January 1, 2006 Watchtower.

  Why am I telling you this? Consider this my small weekend contribution to the cause of real truth.

  Any JW who has been one for a while, or a born in, knows the regard that pioneers, elders, Bethelites and missionaries have. Most know of the work and sacrifice one must be willing to make in order to reach these "spiritual goals." I was one of those who sacrificed.

  I want you all to know something, esp you lurking JW's: Apostates are just like most every other person you meet. I am writing this because while you have been told that apostates are evil and have been taught and conditioned to be scared of those who leave, you shouldn't be worried. And at the end of this, I am going to bring up a formula that is a challenge to any practicing JW who reads this.

  I write this because today, I was thinking of all the fear that I had as a JW. Fear keeps you from the truth. It doesn't lead you to it.

  Remember, JW's prime work is to go door to door to "expose" tell others the flaws about their own faith. Yet, they cannot listen, nor read about real flaws and inconsistencies of their own religion. Have you ever wondered why, deep down, you can't look at anything former JW's have to say?

  The reason is as you have wondered about, or feared: There is a lot that the leadership of JW's doesn't want you to know. A lot of hypocrisy, a lot of sinning by the leadership, and frankly, a lot of teachings and doctrines that don't make any sense.

  Oh, and all the prophecies that didn't, haven't, and won't come true.

  I am hoping my fellow posters here on JWN will post some of the doctrines and hypocrisies that run totally counter to any claim JW's could possibly make that they are the one true religion. Maybe you can start with the fact that the date JW's have counted from to 1914 is false. Have you ever wondered why JW's are the only ones who say Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 BCE, when EVERYONE else says 587/586 BCE? Yup, even your school books? Because without 607 BCE, there is no 1914. And without 1914, there is no Jehovah's Witnesses. The leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses have consistently lied about 607 BCE and 1914 for decades to keep their power "legitimate". Nothing could be further from the truth.

  Don't be scared to read that. It is true. And there are other lies, many lies. I have nothing to gain by saying this, it's simply the truth.

  The other part of the formula as I mentioned at the beginning, is you, and your willingness to do what you ask others to do when you knock on the doors: Be honest with yourself, and be willing to look at the evidence, no matter what it may show.

  Are you willing to do that?
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  The Quiet One

  " Watchtower doctrine has been that until 1935, all "true Christians" were part of the heavenly class, which means that over a period of 1902 years only 144,000 people can be considered to have worshipped God acceptably."..."It has been calculated that by the end of the second century 60,000copies of the major part of the Christian Greek Scriptures could have been in circulation, even if only one in every fifty of those professing Christianity possessed a copy." Watchtower 1963 April 15 p.249 "Diocletian assumed the crown A.D. 284. At first he seemed friendly to the Christians, but in the year 303 he gave in topersuasion and opened the tenth persecution, probably the most ferocious of all. Suffocation by smoke, forcible drinking of melted lead, mass drownings and burnings, breaking on the rack of men and women alike ran the empire with blood. In a single month 17,000 were slain. In the province of Egypt alone, 144,000 such professed Christians died by violence in the course of this persecution, in addition to another 700,000 who died as a result of fatigues encountered in banishment or under enforced public works." Watchtower 1951 September 1 p.518 These men, women and children offered their lives for God and it is illogical to claim these early Christian martyrs were not worthy to be counted as true Christians and hence denied the heavenly calling. They are shown great disrespect by being branded as unworthy " http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/144000.php
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  The Quiet One

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/malawi-mexico-oath-allegiance.php
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  AllTimeJeff

  I think whatever it was has passed. I bet the site got cyber attacked for a minute.
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  UnConfused

  Lovely post AllTimeJeff, very compelling
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  Night Owl

  http://www.2001translation.com/607.htm

  NightOwl
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  NewChapter

  Jeff,

  I didn't learn abou the 607 bce discrepancy until after I had left. I was stunned, because if 607 is wrong, then 1914 is meaningless. As I said, I had left, but I still thought that the information given was basically truthful, so I looked into it. Sure enough, no other source claims 607 bce was the year that Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. The part that shocked me most was that this was incredibly easy to verify---one only needs to look, and they don't need to read apostate literature to find it.

  But I was not satisfied. I no longer believed, but I still had doubts that they would purposely pass on false information. Another thing I considered is that in academia, there are sometimes disagreements. So I asked my college history professor if there was any group at all that believed that Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 607 bce---another school of thougt if you will. She looked kind of shocked and amused and said absolutely not. She's been teaching college for 3 decades and heads portions of the Honors program.

  I have yet to find any other group in the world (except a few small spin-offs) that ascribes to 607. I've looked.

  Jerusalem fell in 587/586 bce. Add 3.5 times to that and it brings you to around 1935. Nothing notable happened.

  NC
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  FatFreek 2005

  Good post ATJ. As many contributions as you have made here I would have thought you were an old-timer EX. We're all (well, most) very proud of the steps you must've taken to make your exit.

  As for me, my exit came as a result of the 1975 yearbook. I invite any here to check their own from the WT Library CD, looking for Anna McDonald's comments.

  Keep in mind this yearbook was obviously intended to stem the tide of disappointment -- that is, if the 1975 hype failed -- which, of course, it did. Poor old (yes, she was recounting her feelings of some 50 years earlier about the disappointment of the 1925 prediction) sister McDonald and how they used her fuzzy recollection of those years, the Rutherford predictions and how, in his words, "certain" they were about that date.

  Oh, Watchtower could have quoted Rutherford exactly from their vast library. Instead, they chose an elderly sister and her charming (and inaccurate) recollection of what they really said about 1925. This, knowing full well (and conceding that fact) that Rutherford had "made an ass of himself".

  That was the very thing that got me to thinking whether we had the truth or not. From there it was like a snowball tumbling down the mountain.

  Len
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  talesin

  I think whatever it was has passed. I bet the site got cyber attacked for a minute.

  That's what I thought -- what? no way I'm clicking on a thread with an instant download!

  Here's something to chew on, and it should stick in your craw.

  Was the Watchtower lying when they said organ transplants were cannibalism? Why did the org change its position on this?

  This is NOT prophecy, and cannot be explained away by 'new light'.

  How many people died because of this 'rule' ,, that was later changed? Is divine inspiration a LIE? Hmmmm....

  tal
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  AllTimeJeff

  Good points so far.

  Sometimes, it is good to point out that when we talk about Jehovah's Witnesses, there are two groups. The leadership is the most culpable and responsible obviously. When I speak out against "Jehovahs Witnesses", I mean first and foremost the Governing Body and the Service Dept.

  While I think that lately, most converts must have issues, by and far most JW's are sincere. They are taught and conditioned to do what they do. I dont' give them a free pass, but they don't make up this stuff, they just accept it way too easily and believe it.

  I don't hold the leadership at Bethel (the Governing Body and the Service Dept) in nearly the same warm terms. They know what goes on, and regardless of how sincere they are, or whether or not they really believe their own crap, they act totally for their own self preservation.

  I guess the only thing you can do when you are confronted with the facts is to ask yourself how long you can go in promoting things that aren't true? For some, it takes a while. It took me 6 years, but I finally clicked on the light bulb.