"My mom and sister are very devout JWs and (and my mother's mom and stepfather died as devout JWs) yet as far as I can tell they all have kept all of their old WT books (including the bound volumes).""
They've all kept their old WT and bound volumes. That's awesome.
The Watchtower—Study Edition | April 2023
by RULES & REGULATIONS 34 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Beth Sarim
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Disillusioned JW
But Beth Sarim, though they kept them my mom and my sister told me they want me to avoid trying to persuade them that the JW religion is false. However years ago I did show my mother and sister page 15 of Awake! 1969 May 22.
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LongHairGal
DISILLUSIONED JW:
Just curious: are you still a JW and doing this? If everybody on the planet stopped what they were doing and took this literally - nothing would get done.
Fields wouldn’t be planted, bread wouldn’t get baked, grapes wouldn’t be made into wine, fish wouldn’t be caught, fine garments wouldn’t be woven, structures wouldn’t get built, etc.. The business of life would come to a standstill. So, was Jesus advocating that everybody should become irresponsible bums?? I know it sounds like it to some people, but I don’t believe it. When the person said to him that he had to go bury his father, Jesus had said to him “let the dead bury their dead”. He was implying that somebody had to be around to do this - and so on. I don’t take this or anything in the bible literally and apply it to the modern world. Others can believe what they want.
Thankfully, I’m not in the religion anymore. But, I just loved it when people who already made their living and were collecting their pensions were pushing this mentality of poverty on young people there!.. If I had listened to this I wouldn’t be retired today.
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Disillusioned JW
LongHairGal, I never adopted the attitude of selling off all my belongings and giving the proceeds to the poor. The WT has taught that JWs don't have to sell all of their belongings and don't have to make themselves poor. Some of the pronouncements in the NT (including ones attributed as teachings of Jesus Christ) I thought are to extreme and unreasonable (such as cutting off one's hand to avoid sinning) and thus even while I was an active JW I refused to adhere to those.
I have tried for decades to become rich (through stock trading), but I am not rich. About 2 years ago I briefly became somewhat rich by making a stock market profit [in green energy stocks] in 3 months of over $150,000 (thus increasing my wealth momentarily to about $200,000), but I quickly lost those riches in the stock market while my stocks later sank. I now have only about $40,000 in wealth.
My mom had two years of college (between I and my sister being born) though being a JW. My sister and I both obtained a 4-year college degree while being a JW. When I joined this website using the name/handle of "Disillusioned JW" that was about 15 years ago. I joined the site years after I became disillusioned with the WT and the JW religion, which was also years after I had ceased attending JW meetings (other than the Memorial and some assemblies) and after I began intensive independent study of the Bible. A few years after joining this website I became an atheist (as a result of my ongoing research of the Bible and due to learning certain scientific facts). After I became an atheist I wanted to change my name/handle on this site to something else but it was too late (because I ceased having the email account I had when I joined this site, thus preventing me from updating my handle).
I am POMO. According to the religion I am an inactive JW, but I don't consider myself a JW except in recognizing I have not officially left the religion. I have never been disfellowshipped nor officially disassociated from the religion.
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Beth Sarim
Just imagine the chaos and fallout the Borg would experience if every JW on the face of this Earth became PIMO then to POMO all at once.
The Borg as we know it would collapse. Here is why the Borg urges meeting attendance and FS so much so the sheeple don't have time to think and or question things.
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Beth Sarim
On Six Screens last nite,,, I observed a very interesting comment. This commenter referred to Dorothy. Dorothy always had the ability to come home(in other words wake-up) she just didn't know it.
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punkofnice
Louise, for example,
I bet a pound to a pinch of snuff Louise is fictitious.
I found it helpful to read what I call ‘the waiting accounts’
You mean 'overlapping(tm) accounts, love.'
In any case, these accounts of waiting, from when? 1975? From when TOMO had his last double on the rocks?
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Beth Sarim
"In any case, these accounts of waiting, from when? 1975? From when TOMO had his last double on the rocks?''
Yes, then that puts waiting into an entire new perspective.
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jhine
I think that Bible teaching about money boils down to " the LOVE of money is the root of all evil " etc . It's about our attitudes to money . I don't believe that we have to bankrupt ourselves or give up careers but not worship money . Always be good stewards and be willing to help those less fortunate. Not be willing to do anything to get money , like cheat others .
The rich young man was used as an example of this . He clearly had an emotional attachment to his wealth that came before his love of God .
That seems to me to be the point . Nothing wrong with having money as long as it's gained ethically and isn't more important to us than our relationship with God . Jesus and the disciples were bankrolled in part by rich people .
Yes the Bible does give the impression sometimes that Armageddon is just around the corner. However it states categorically that NO ONE, except the Father, knows the date .
My feeling is that the uncertainty is to keep our minds focused on God , not necessarily the church, so that we keep going forward in our faith.
Again l see a clubbing together of the Watchtower and other? Christian groups in regards to how members are treated. I can only speak with authority about the Church of England but our lives are not micro managed by any person.
My thoughts for what they are worth
Jan
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Beth Sarim
''My feeling is that the uncertainty is to keep our minds focused on God , not necessarily the church, so that we keep going forward in our faith.''
Yeah, keep that F.U.D. there indefinitely. Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, to lead people on and keep them focused on the Borg.