Posts by adjusted knowledge

83

What woke you up?

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

in march of 2014, i was a very active jw, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees.

so what woke me up?

an innocent comment from a co-worker about the candice conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung.

adjusted knowledge

I posted this before, but my awakening began on my baptism day at age 15. It was 1992 at Plant City, Florida. My friend was watching a door or hallway can't recall, but needed to use the restroom. I volunteer to guard the area while he left, but the Elder in charge ask me if I was baptized. I told him yes, I got baptized today. He informed me it wasn't long enough and I was denied the "privilege" of guarding a door. Later that day I went to see the same friend, he was an Elder's son. He was in a room where his father was counting money. Again I was told I couldn't enter, only Elders allowed in. Inside this room were Elder's wives chit chatting, and young Elder's children running around playing tag. I learned right then they were no different than any other religion with hierarchy. I knew with a non-witness father and a "spiritually weak" mother I would be a 2nd class citizen in this religion.

In 1995, when I was 18, the last straw was the generation change. So both the double standards I witnessed and false teachings was enough for me to leave. So glad I got out early

39

What went wrong in your congregation?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

the target is converts.. why does it seem such an outrageous aim for a congregation to recruit new converts?.

in my old congregation, the enthusiasm was there but the knocking on doors produced zero " baptisms" in my final years.. a) why so little interests?.

b) was it the internet ?.

adjusted knowledge

The product JW offer is terrible. No amount of marketing is going to fix that issue. A polish turd is still a turd. I don't blame the publishers. I found it a hard sale to pitch in the 80s and 90s. I don't know of a single convert from preaching in my congregation during those two decades.

The whole religion has a potential for great growth but requires major changes. With free labor and a strong faith base of followers they could accomplish a lot in the community to attract followers. However truthfully the GB don't want to attract all followers. They target only the ones they can control, thus the slow growth.

The meetings are boring and the religion is fanatically controlling. They have major beliefs that are physically dangerous and emotionally damaging. The message is not uplifting and their reading material is both bland and targeted to the uneducated.

End of the day I think it boils down to this.... The community as a whole looks at JWs as a bunch of weirdos.

27

Nice Old Dears Tried to "Witness" to me Today

by cofty in

an older man and wife - ray and mary - got chatting to me today.

they were tourists admiring local wildlife.

i gave them a few tips on where to go to see some interesting things and it wasn't long before they were telling me about how awful the world is "nowadays" and paradise yadda yadda.

adjusted knowledge

Cofty,

Your approach is in my opinion what others here should imitate. The hostile interactions of other former board members BOTR, Dologist, ect.. with JWs has very little impact, but if anything reinforces the JW mindset.

Good Job

22

Has the Great Witness Trolley/Cart campaign produced ANY results?

by freddo in

jw
friends

i live between two cities that are big enough to have their own metropolitan trolley cart arrangements organised at circuit level.

the 3 congregations at the hall i attend have trolley schedule noticeboards.

i see trolleys in the high streets and markets locally.

adjusted knowledge

I was going to start a new thread about this but will just add to this one.

I never knew anything about these trolley carts till I read posts here. However I did see one at a shopping complex last year.

I just started my 3rd week of nursing school at the local college. On Wednesday for the last three weeks a different Elder and their wives setup a table and two carts. They just sit there; rarely do I see anyone talk to them, nor do they attempt to engage in conversation. They usually are there from 10am to 2pm. This is so easy to get the hours in. I would've so much rather of done this as a child than knocking doors. Much less intrusive and embarrassing.

I've had interactions with all the local elders last year as I let them in my house to discuss some topics. So I know them by face. However each time they visited they refuse to answer my questions about the GB so I finally ended the waste of time. The funny thing is two of the Elders there were the ones I complained to about The Organization stance on higher education. They blast higher education but yet will go to the campus to preach to the students. I feel like pulling up GB on my tablet during royal commission, but not worth even acknowledging them now.

12

My yoke is easy and my burden is light, unless you're a JW than you will have many strange complicated rules

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

there is this jw husband and wife i knew from the 80's when i was a child.

they got a divorce a few years ago and never remarried.

they are older now and unable to afford to live on their own.

adjusted knowledge

bsmart

"So they are both still witnesses? Weird."

Yes they are still witnesses and have been for at least 40 years. Probably were born in since if I can remember from my youth their parents were witnesses. They are legally divorce but the husband was a carpenter and like typical witnesses have no retirement savings. I think they are in their early to mid 60's.

Just think the Elders are more concern with what the "world" would think about these two living together and yet the Organization doesn't bother to put that much effort in protecting children.

41

The elders of the 1980s are now in their 60s and 70s

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

having just come back from the uk and spoke with some witnesses to find out how my old congregation is doing, i realized i am now the age that my elders were when i was a kid.

and i wonder what the elders who are now in their 60s and 70s are thinking when they look in the mirror and an old face looks back at them.

many of the elders in my old hall are now retired.

adjusted knowledge

truthseeker, I'm the same generation as you. I'm 38 now and am close to the ages of the Elders were in the 80's. My mom is still a JW and these elders visit her. Two of the Elders from my youth died of old age related illnesses. The others look so tired but still believe. They don't have retirements and two are still working in physically demanding jobs in their mid 60s.

41

What were you favorite book in the organization? I know what you're thinking...LOL!

by BashfulAshG in

what were *your favorite *books in the organization?.

out of all of those books, i liked "mankind's search for god.

" however, it appears to me that this book is incredibly obscure and no one recalls studying it during the old book study format.

adjusted knowledge

Mankind's search for God was mine too. In fact my Atheist neighbor actually liked the book, and argued with me that the Watchtower paid some outside agencies to write it.

12

My yoke is easy and my burden is light, unless you're a JW than you will have many strange complicated rules

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

there is this jw husband and wife i knew from the 80's when i was a child.

they got a divorce a few years ago and never remarried.

they are older now and unable to afford to live on their own.

adjusted knowledge

There is this JW husband and wife I knew from the 80's when I was a child. They got a divorce a few years ago and never remarried. They are older now and unable to afford to live on their own. They decided to live in the house they bought together, but not as a married couple. The elders got involved and made them turn their house into a duplex. The other options was to disfellowship them for living under the same roof, but now that they have a wall in the middle of the house it's ok. So weird.

37

Go on welfare!

by life is to short in

i am going to make this short.

i ran into a older jw women who i have known my whole life.

she is pushing 80 and will never change.

adjusted knowledge

I know of several JW that have abused the system in the USA and many non-JW. It isn't that difficult to gain the system. However the lifestyle welfare provides isn't something that I would want.

There are plenty of folks though that don't mind collecting. A non-married couple with four children can get about $20,000 in cash and another $20,000 in other entitlements legally. I did taxes for a few semester for the IRS and my university as an outreach program and saw it first hand. They will need to have part-time jobs earning some money to accomplish it. Heck, now with the internet it is so easy to apply for benefits. The are lots of federal, state, and local programs that people are unaware of.

90

The Org is terrified of apostates

by SecretSlaveClass in

i knew apostasy was a serious concern for the org, but until i watched this video, i had no idea how afraid they actually were.

all this guy wants is to do is not turn in his fs hours and immediately they (elders) set about drilling him about who are what influenced his decision, as if he was incapable of making his own (which as the elders confirm, in the org is highly discouraged).

they are convinced he has been communicating with apostates or visiting apostate web sites.

adjusted knowledge

I love when I call out ppl like InsidetheKH, SimonSays ect.. about joining and participating in a known "apostate" site they simply ignore the fact they are disobeying their masters.