The Watchtower wants yes men or women who would brainlessly do what ever Watchtower wants of them regardless of cost or life. And, ooh by the way they have to give Watchtower their hard earned money for such a privilege.
Does anything about your religion trouble you as a Jehovah’s Witness or is it all good?
by Vanderhoven7 22 Replies latest watchtower bible
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greenhornet
When I was 10 years old my mom was making hamburgers, I noticed the blood. It's not blood it's juice she said.
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Overrated
Green hornet- the hamburger blood juice was fractions. Lol.
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greenhornet
Thats good that the hamburger blood was fractions. So I won't get destroyed.
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Vanderhoven7
Jackson gives rather comprehensive treatment to this question:
"The organization has a long track record of not reporting child sexual assault. Even though now the official position is that victims and their families can report to the authorities, most will hesitate for fear of bringing reproach on Jehovah and the organization. When they do report, the elders will not assist the police in the investigation and WatchTower has directed them to destroy their notes which could be used as evidence.
There are plenty of intelligent, capable women among JWs, but they are held back from using their gifts for anything but recruiting new members.
The WatchTower organization has kept older publications, before 1950, from the members, except bethel elders, so they can't easily research JW history.
The Governing Body keeps changing doctrines such that JWs look forward to these “adjustments” and can't discern the confusion and contradiction.
WatchTower tells the members that donations are voluntary, yet each congregation is required to send a predetermined contribution to the branch office in addition to the personal donations to the worldwide work. At assemblies the audience is always informed of a deficit which motivates contributions, but they are never told that the deficit is derived from a predetermined per publisher charge. It has nothing to do with actual expenditures.
The JWs are taught that the Governing Body was chosen by Christ in 1919 to be his earthly representative, but no JW can explain how this is the case as everything is said to have happened “invisibly”
Members are forbidden to speak to former members under penalty of expulsion. New recruits are strongly discouraged from talking to ex-jws and from doing research outside WatchTower publications. If they do, they will be considered non-progressive and the Bible study ends. This means JWs only get one side of the story.
The JWs have an extreme shunning policy that breaks apart families even though the Christian Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus don't support this. It leads to isolation, depression, and suicide.
The no-blood transfusion doctrine does not really have support in scripture and redults in unnecessary deaths, including of children and parents.
WatchTower discourages members from getting university education thereby limiting the members’ potential. The JW culture discourages pursuing interests that require a lot of time in oder to get members to devote as much time to recruitment and slaving for the WatchTower corporations.
Branch volunteers, travelling overseers, and special pioneers must take a vow of poverty which means they are exempt from receiving government aid such as social security which they don't find out until they are ousted from their assignments. The JW culture discourages saving for retirement so many have to work into their old age just to survive.
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LongHairGal
VANDERHOVEN7:
I’m glad you brought this out above: “..exempt from receiving social security which they don’t find out until they are ousted from their assignments”.
Too many JWs are ignorant about this. Somebody has to pay into SS in order for somebody to receive it.
JWs in bethel were young, naive and felt protected and didn’t have the foggiest notion what SS was..That is, until they got kicked out at an older age! That term of being ‘reassigned’ as pioneers in the field is just to cushion the blow. These people have to learn to make their own way in the wicked old world at a considerably older age than their so-called worldly non-JW counterparts who learn this routinely when they are eighteen or so.
God help people in congregations where these ex-bethelites are sent because they’ll be hit up for money to give these people. Glad I am NOT around this!
I just read a post on Reddit that alluded to there being some lawsuits against the religion for older bethelites being let go with no money. I hadn’t read this before. If so, I’m glad some were smart enough to do it. I’m sure they know it might mean being disfellowshipped, but so what?
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Overrated
Longhairgal- I'm so glad I never pursued Bethel. I had enough abuse from it Org and didn't need anymore disappointment. You know serve Gee-hober, he'll provide! Right!?!
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LongHairGal
OVERRATED:
Be very glad you did not do this!
There is nothing sadder than an over fifty person trying to get a job for the first time in their life. And we are talking about today in an economy that is ruined and after several decades of sending jobs overseas - not to mention age discrimination they will face. This isn’t the 1970s when there were jobs aplenty! Hell no, those days are gone. The fired bethelites are facing just about the worst work environment.
I’m SO glad I’m not around there to hear hard-luck stories and appeals for money.
Even though I feel somewhat sorry for these older bethelites who are let go - I also know they made callous, ignorant remarks like ‘not spiritual’ or ‘materialistic’ about people in congregations who worked full-time. I was one such person who was criticized.
So, the way I see it, some of them richly deserve to know what it is like to have to work at an actual job and earn their pay..like the rest of the people in the world! ..Good luck to them. This is a far better sentiment than anything I would have ever gotten from them!
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Overrated
My sentiment too, let the brothers support them. With the denying or frowning on higher education just to pursue needs of the Watchtower only to get the axe afterward with nothing does not get my sympathy. When I was " Pioneering " I got no support from anyone but they always wanted more. I wanted to go to college to get a better job but the cry baby elders didn't like that. What, I was supposed to live the rest of my life with my parents and pioneer? I think not! Glad I'm out.
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WokenfromJWcult
They celebrate wedding anniversaries adamantly, but a Birthday anniversary is not allowed. As I told one elder, we all have only one “birth” day. Each year after that is just an anniversary of that single event. Under his breath he readily agreed.