Posts by thedepressedsoul

37

Apostasy Trial - Part 2 - Satan is Using Google

by berrygerry in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=373zbncuuoq

thedepressedsoul

Great, now they're going to ban Google as the works of the Devil.

I have a feeling "apostate" is going to be a big talk/Watchtower Study Edition topic in the years ahead. I'll be hearing the word "Apostate" more than the word "soon".

14

Where did the Buzz go?

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

i recently came across the very first kingdom song i ever heard.

twickenham, 1955. i was just a kid then of course, but i do recall the "buzz" that seemed to permeate everything, not dis-similar to that of an international rugby match.

people were smiling while singing their hearts out, the lunch-time queues for the cafeteria full of old friends getting re-aquainted, young lads and lasses eyeing one another and blushing furiously, sessions 2 untl 4 then 7 until 9.30 giving folk plenty of time to socialise.. where did it all go wrong?.

thedepressedsoul

It's funny you started this article, I actually wanted to start one on this very topic.

I agree 100% that JW's have lost their "charm". I think everyone that wrote an article here hit at least one point right. I wasn't around for the 70's 80's but I have noticed that even the 90's charm is no longer there.

It use to be somewhat exciting. You wondered how bible prophecy would unfold right before your eyes. I think one of the worst things they did to themselves was putting the GB in the lime light. Before, they were mysterious. You thought they were somehow special, knew more than anyone else and really had a direct line of communication. The more they are in the public, the more it is hard to believe. I have even heard hard core witnesses confused and mock Tony's rant for the Branch visit. Any mystery is gone, they know as much as any witness reading the bible. There is no longer nothing special there.

I also think getting rid of Tuesday meetings caused them to loose a lot of their charm. I remember sitting there, huddled in a small group studying the Revelation book and everyone talking about how the end would come. After the book study people would sit around and talk about world events and who the King of the North was. That all seems to be gone. I rarely hear about the King of the North yet. The "end" is just slipped into talks now and then, it's hardly a focus point anymore. Any conversation about the end is almost forced anymore.

Door to door has also gotten killed in the last 15 years. No one wants to talk or cares to talk. When they do, you're trying to defend your belief's now and hope they take the magazines at least. Most JW don't even bother anymore when someone brings up points at the door. Heck, more don't leave the hall until 10:30 and then take a break at 11 till 11:45 and do one call before heading back to the hall. The zeal from Joe publisher is gone. When you have one zealous person in the car most get annoyed at them for being so zealous and just want to get it over with.

Thursday meetings have become a chore and rows of empty seats. You see perfect demo after perfect demo. Nothing that is even close to what happens in the ministry. Most people look like they're falling asleep.

This religion has an uphill battle. As hard as it may seem I have noticed a lot of JW's who seem to disagree more and more with disfellowshipping. A lot are getting tired of their being a rule on everything and the do's and don'ts.

It's a weird time to be a JW. Most want to be happy, they want to post pictures on social media about fun they're having. It'll be interesting to see if the GB allows the fun to continue or if they tighten their grip soon.

I'd also like to add that 1914 is dead in most members mind. I never hear anyone bring it up. I never hear it brought up at the door and I hear witnesses complain when they have to go over it on a study and wish they could just skip it. The most I ever hear about it now is when it's brought up by the GB. They even tried to force it with that 1914 video we had to watch. I have yet to hear anyone doing that in the ministry since that video.

4

National Sibling's Day?

by thedepressedsoul in

i'm not sure how many of you are aware but today is national siblings day.

what i find odd is that social media, fb, instagram etc... i see tons and tons of witnesses posting pictures of their siblings with the caption or hash tag, "national siblings day".

how is that any difference then fathers day, mothers day and so on?

thedepressedsoul

I'm not sure how many of you are aware but today is National Siblings day. What I find odd is that social media, FB, Instagram Etc... I see tons and tons of witnesses posting pictures of their siblings with the caption or hash tag, "National Siblings Day".

How is that any difference then Fathers Day, Mothers Day and so on? I see tons of people and many with "positions" in the congregation taking part in this. How can they explain to a study that they don't celebrate fathers and mothers day, yet will celibate national siblings day? Hypocrisy is everywhere! I can't take a day to honor my mother or father and yet I can honor my sibling?

Wikipedia has an origin or it being for Mrs. Evart when her brother and sister died. JW's are now honoring a holiday that someone died on? Aren't they told not to draw too much attention or honor the person over their death? It's even an official holiday! What happened to, "No part of this world"?

These are the same people that look down on all other individuals for celebrating holidays.

I think it shows and confirms one thing, JW will celebrate something any chance they are given until they are told it is "wrong" or "worldly". They jump on every occasion they get to celebrate things. International conventions and their delegates, Nation Siblings Day, The Memorial (Which every couple now takes a picture of themselves that day ready for the memorial with the hash-tag memorial), when someone gets baptized, pioneering x years etc... They will celebrate anything they get a chance to. You get to really see how badly they desire to celebrate something.

Even though they don't celebrate birthdays, I see a lot of witness parents posting pictures of their kids on their birthday that say, "My baby is X years old today!" Can they just celebrate holidays already! We all know they want to!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siblings_Day

73

Congregation had to relocate Memorial...thanks to me

by Shepherd Book in

so, the two local congregations were planning to hold their memorial together at 7:30 at the local community center, but they had to make a last-minute change to their own hall, and i'm pretty sure it was because of me.. let me explain.... at work on monday afternoon, a co-worker returned from her lunchbreak and showed me the memorial invitation that was waiitng in her door when she went home for lunch.

i noticed the sticker on the back indicated the memorial was being held, not at the local hall, but at the community center.

from a past (non-jw) event i attended there, i knew they didn't allow alcohol (unless you pay for security guards), so i wrote to the center's coordinator:.

thedepressedsoul

Why should JW not have to follow the rules that the other church does? If the other church has to pass around non-alcoholic wine why shouldn't the JW have to?

I think a lot of you are stuck in the old thinking that "JW" should get special treatment. You see and hear this all the time from those inside.

They are not above the rules and I am happy this was brought to the attention of the people who monitor the center. If one religious group has to use non alcoholic wine, so do JW's.

The JW were trying to get around the rules and hoping it wouldn't be brought up. You reap what you sow.

26

Reports of lower memorial attendance

by thedepressedsoul in

i have heard a lot of reports from kingdom halls in the area that there was less than last year, for both time slots.. we had the first time slot and we were down 50+/- compared to last year.

last year we had the lobby full of people standing and this year we had empty seats and no one standing.

we ran out of parking last year and this year we made it.. like i said i am hearing quite a few reports of this from halls in our area.however, somehow the number seem to inch up every year.

thedepressedsoul

I have heard a lot of reports from Kingdom Halls in the area that there was less than last year, for both time slots.

We had the first time slot and we were down 50+/- compared to last year. Last year we had the lobby full of people standing and this year we had empty seats and no one standing. We ran out of parking last year and this year we made it.

Like I said I am hearing quite a few reports of this from halls in our area.
However, somehow the number seem to inch up every year. I am starting to question their numbers.

Somehow assemblies, conventions, baptisms seem worse every year and yet the number inch up.

I can't tell you how many witnesses I heard before hand saying this year we will have over 20 million!

"Noah" illustration when numbers are low and "Work speeding up" when numbers are high. It honestly doesn't matter what the numbers are, they'll be spun.

35

Memorial attendance up or down on last year?

by freddo in

jw
friends

as per the title.

and was the one you attended at an early or late time of the evening.. any partakers?.

thedepressedsoul

I have heard a lot of reports from Kingdom Halls in the area that there was less than last year, for both time slots.

We had the first time slot and we were down 50+/- compared to last year. Last year we had the lobby full of people standing and this year we had empty seats and no one standing. We ran out of parking last year and this year we made it.

Like I said I am hearing quite a few reports of this from halls in our area.

However, somehow the number seem to inch up every year. I am starting to question their numbers. Somehow assemblies, conventions, baptisms seem worse every year and yet the number inch up.

I can't tell you how many witnesses I heard before hand saying this year we will have over 20 million!

"Noah" illustration when numbers are low and "Work speeding up" when numbers are high. It honestly doesn't matter what the numbers are, they'll be spun.

12

I'm confused about the Memorial? Great crowd?

by thedepressedsoul in

this was my first memorial thinking outside of the box.

last year i was starting to have questions but this is the first year i noticed a lot of bs.

can anyone clarify a few things for me?.

thedepressedsoul

This was my first memorial thinking outside of the box. Last year I was starting to have questions but this is the first year I noticed a lot of BS. Can anyone clarify a few things for me?

What exactly is the point of the "great crowd" passing around the bread and wine, it seemed very symbolic and almost pointless when I watched everyone pass it around.

My biggest question that hit me was Jesus last supper, those that ate the bread and drank the wine with him were anointed. They also passed the emblems around. The drinking and eating only applies to the anointed but the passing of the emblems also applies to the great crowd? How could they differentiate the two? How did they come to the conclusion that the great crowd could pass and touch the emblems but they could not drink them. If we followed the logic that only the anointed could drink and eat of them since they were all anointed around Jesus, wouldn't it make sense that only the anointed could pass the emblems?

According to the talk last night it was only anointed around Jesus, that is why they partook. If anyone was around them at the time that was of the great crowd they would not partake. How did they figure out that if the great crowd was with Jesus they would only pass them around and not partake? I feel like if you follow their logic only the anointed should eat and drink and ONLY the anointed should pass them too.

The passing of them seemed very idolizing to me. They had to make sure that every single person touched the emblems. Like touching them was somehow important and vital. I can't help but feeling that maybe Jesus meant to continue remembering what he did and the importance of it. Who knows, I sure don't.

16

Jw are moving from Door to Door realizing it is ineffective

by thedepressedsoul in

jw have announced that they will no longer be doing door to door as they have realized that the door to door salesman is on a decline.. now they will be putting all of their effort into cold calling via a telephone as they feel this will be more effective means to reach people.

jw call centers will be set up at local kingdom halls so that all jw will now reach out to people via a hard copy of the yellow pages and white pages.

they have seen the success of telemarketers and can't wait to try out this new and revolutionary way to reach people via a telephone.

thedepressedsoul

Don't forget with Cart Witnessing you can start your time the second you leave your house! Talk about some nice perks! I wish my job did that.

16

Jw are moving from Door to Door realizing it is ineffective

by thedepressedsoul in

jw have announced that they will no longer be doing door to door as they have realized that the door to door salesman is on a decline.. now they will be putting all of their effort into cold calling via a telephone as they feel this will be more effective means to reach people.

jw call centers will be set up at local kingdom halls so that all jw will now reach out to people via a hard copy of the yellow pages and white pages.

they have seen the success of telemarketers and can't wait to try out this new and revolutionary way to reach people via a telephone.

thedepressedsoul

Jw have announced that they will no longer be doing door to door as they have realized that the door to door salesman is on a decline.

Now they will be putting all of their effort into cold calling via a telephone as they feel this will be more effective means to reach people. JW call centers will be set up at local Kingdom Halls so that all JW will now reach out to people via a hard copy of the Yellow Pages and White Pages. They have seen the success of telemarketers and can't wait to try out this new and revolutionary way to reach people via a telephone.

They have also planned to eventually shift to mailers via the Post Office by year 2020. They feel these mass mailers will reach all faster then by door to door and phone calls. All active JW will be required to stuff envelopes and lick stamps. The Chariot is full speed ahead!

Their plan extends even further and they hope by year 2030 they will be sending only emails and think they have a new and improved method so that they won't be put into the spam folder. Yes, how quickly they will be able to reach people by sending out mass emails by the millions.

If all else fails by year 2060 they have a new a revolutionary plan to join social media! Yes the chariot is really speeding things up in these last days! Only god's people clearly see how effective this means will be.

By year 2100, this system permitting, they want to do charities. Help the old, give food to the homeless and assist the poor. This is still in talks though as they feel this may be an ineffective way to reach people and grow their members. They feel they would be the only ones doing this wonderful work. Further investigation is needed though as they don't want to do anything that may bring reproach upon their name.

4

TMZ - Michelle Rodriguez Was A Jehovah’s Witness?

by thedepressedsoul in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2stsn0u8lji.

i got a good laugh!

.

thedepressedsoul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sTsn0U8lJI

I got a good laugh!