OneEyedJoe

Joined

• started 34 topics
• posted 2,930 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by OneEyedJoe

• 
  26

  Any elders out there? How to Local needs talks work?

  by Letts Party in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  so a local needs talk was lovingly given at our hall last week that i'm positive targeted me specifically.

  it had to do with missing meetings for work.

  they even had a demo on what we should do if our boss asks us to stay overtime on a meeting night (basically say "no" and risk losing your great job which you have no desire whatsoever to lose)... so i'm aware that there's a sort of protocol the elders follow when someone in the hall needs to work on something.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  Just shrug it off and put a marker in 1 Timothy 5:8 for when they approach you more directly.
• 
  24

  I just had fun giving a talk!

  by OneEyedJoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, unfortunately, i'm still on the tms and had a talk tonight (in front of a co, no less) and the talk was on the subject of adultery.

  in the source material there's reference to "spiritual adultery" i.e.

  idolotry or when israel had alliances with pagan nations.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  Hmmm... "Fun" and "giving a talk" don't seem meant for the same sentence! Lol!

  Yep, I have to say this is the absolute first time in 20 years of being on the "school" that I actually enjoyed giving a talk.

  assigned a talk durning the visit of the C.O. ...... is there an appointment for OneEyedJoe in the near future?

  LOL! Nope, I don't think so. My 2 hours a month in serve-us doesn't seem adequate. The school overseer is well known to be exceptionally lazy about the scheduling. He basically has an excel spreadsheet that picks people from his list and assigns them talks in sequence - I always know when I have a talk coming up because I'm after a friend of mine in the list.

  A fun side-effect of this is that you sometimes get a 12 year old kid doing a talk on very adult subject matter. He doesn't bother to even look at the schedule to make sure that the talks are appropriate for the person giving them.
• 
  24

  I just had fun giving a talk!

  by OneEyedJoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, unfortunately, i'm still on the tms and had a talk tonight (in front of a co, no less) and the talk was on the subject of adultery.

  in the source material there's reference to "spiritual adultery" i.e.

  idolotry or when israel had alliances with pagan nations.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  Haha, yeah, I recently realized that how well i did was inversely proportional to the amount of preparation i put in. A mild buzz helps too. But I guess that probably has more to do with my aspergers than anything else.
• 
  24

  I just had fun giving a talk!

  by OneEyedJoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, unfortunately, i'm still on the tms and had a talk tonight (in front of a co, no less) and the talk was on the subject of adultery.

  in the source material there's reference to "spiritual adultery" i.e.

  idolotry or when israel had alliances with pagan nations.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  No noticeable reaction from the CO. Lots of compliments afterwards about how deeply I must've researched. Honestly, the compliments afterward kinda turned my stomach.
• 
  24

  I just had fun giving a talk!

  by OneEyedJoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, unfortunately, i'm still on the tms and had a talk tonight (in front of a co, no less) and the talk was on the subject of adultery.

  in the source material there's reference to "spiritual adultery" i.e.

  idolotry or when israel had alliances with pagan nations.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  So, unfortunately, I'm still on the TMS and had a talk tonight (in front of a CO, no less) and the talk was on the subject of adultery. In the source material there's reference to "spiritual adultery" I.e. idolotry or when Israel had alliances with pagan nations. I took the opportunity to throw in a comment about how some religious organizations today even have close ties to the scarlet colored wild beast from revelation - the UN - and we would want to make sure that we are not sinning against god by being involved with such an organization.

  I'm under no illusion that I might have affected anyone present, but it was really fun to stand up there condemning 60 people while they all sat there nodding their heads in agreement.
• 
  16

  the Wt Study last Weekend

  by thedog1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wasn't at the study at the weekend, the reason was family health problems, but even if that had not been the case i wouldn't have been there.

  has anybody else who was there or read the article noticed the unbelievable begging bowl being produced for the pioneers and cos and bethelites, etc?

  maybe this has been commented on already but in effect witnesses are being asked to financially support, not only pioneers, but circuit overseers if they need medical help, and to fill in with dealing with aged parents if missionaries are abroad.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  I started a thread about it about 2 weeks ago, it definitely hit both points that the cult loves to make when it comes to none:

  1. Donate to support the work of those who are more dedicated than you (conveniently this is always going on somewhere else)

  2. When your family members or those in your congregation have given everything they have to give to us, they're your responsibility, not ours.
• 
  9

  Headquarters representatives visit to UK 2015

  by Saltheart Foamfollower in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a letter is to be read out at service meetings this week in the uk saying that sam herd & john larson are visiting next april.

  on sat 25th there will be a 3 hour programme streamed to all congs.

  the postscript (not to be read out) instructs congs that haven't already done so, to order the necessary equipment.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  Aww, no AMIII? So sad that you don't get to sit through the tight pants rant.
• 
  70

  DINOSAURS - What do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe?

  by Bloody Hotdogs! in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as part of my deconversion catharsis, i have been building a(nother) website to highlight some of the more ridiculous jw beliefs.

  im a looong way from done, but i wanted some early feedback on one article: dinosaurs.

  http://www.jwbeliefs.com/dinosaurs/.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  I just skimmed your page, but I think you may have a little "old light" in there. The JWs have essentially stopped pushing the 7000 year "days" of creation and gone to a more traditional old-earth creationist teaching wherein each day could be any number of years and merely represents a time period in which god's activity was focused on a certain thing.

  Not long ago there was a CO that talked about the fact that the universe was 13.8 Billion years old. I think most of the CO talks are pretty rigid, now, and the 13.8 billion years old bit was a fair portion of the point of the talk, so I think this is being officially acknowledged.

  Another fun teaching that I don't think they've ever officially backed away from (though it hasn't been mentioned in a very long time) is that the obviously carnivorous dinosaurs that have been found had large teeth, not for chewing meat, but for ripping the tough bark off of trees. Because we all know how much nutrition there is in bark, it seems perfectly feasible that a t-rex could've sustained itself by eating bark when it seems to have been perfectly suited to eating other dinosaurs.
• 
  15

  A Religious Quest

  by ReligiousQuest in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my name is louie and i'm seeking some help regarding a paper i need to write for a class.

  it is meant to be an individual study project regarding a faith that is different from your own and intrigues you.

  what i am asking is for someone who is willing to answer 10-15 questions regarding their faith.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  In regards to it being "villainized," many people I grew up argued that your faith ruined marriages and families among other things.

  404 unjust criticism not found. They do indeed break up families, ruin marriages and even murder (some might prefer the word "sacrafice") their children due to the non-biblical blood ban.

  I'm no longer a believer in the JW faith, but I'd be happy to put my JW hat back on to explain their beliefs if you'd like. I would also be happy to answer questions regarding criticism of the religion as well.

  As it so happens, you've come upon a forum that consists mostly of ex-JWs, so while you're likely to recieve much information on the group here, it won't necessarily all reflect the oppinions/thoughts that you'd get from a JW that's still firmly in the religion.
• 
  10

  My views.

  by ivanatahan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is more of an introductory post discussing my views and background than anything else, really.. i was, unfortunately, born into this religion.

  my mom was, and still is, a pioneer (or as some call it: "piousneer"), and my father is an elder.

  admittedly, up until a few months up to a year back, i was indeed a zealous "servant of jehovah".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  Welcome aboard! Your post echoes many of my own feelings on the org.

  If you're interested in the topic ( which it seems that you are) you should do some more research on cosmology, astrophysics, and evolution. You'll find that not only is the improbability of something insufficient to prove it didn't/couldn't happen, but the universe's existence in its present state is not nearly as unlikely as the creationists would have you believe.

  As for your bulleted points, there is definitely some level of monetary scam to the org, and the GB and others definitely benefit from the many scams that they're running. They benefit materially, they get to travel the world and have their healthcare provided for them. They have absolutely no concern for their future as they will have their every need taken care of until the day that they die. This is a level of security and stability that the rest of us could only dream of, and is certainly undeserved by these men who create nothing of value for society - indeed they do little more than destroy lives.

  Is the money the reason the cult came into existence? Probably not. Pastor Russell did fall into temptation pretty early on selling his miracle wheat and other scams - so there was definitely a monetary motivation for him. Rutherford continued this and lived quite extravagantly, he seems to me to have known exactly what he was doing. After Rutherford, the WTS had so much momentum and was run by men who themselves were indoctrinated into the cult so at this point it exists merely to continue its existence.

  100% agree - the Bible is not from any supreme being.

  As for your assertion that anyone who believes 100% is mentally deficient - I would suggest that you educate yourself on cult mind control and undue influence. Very smart people can become indoctrinated into a cult very easy when they're vulnerable. There are many here who are quite intelligent but were, at one time, 100% believers.

  I hope you stick around, you'll likely find lots of useful information and great folks to help you in your journey. There are a few nutjobs here too, so take opinions with a gain of salt. I suspect you'll do fine. Best of luck to you in your journey!