Posts by OneEyedJoe

21

I'm Shocked The Jehovah's Witnesses Even Allow Their Kids To Go To Mainstream Schools.

by Jehovanomics in

judging by the material that my kid brings home on a daily basis in copius amounts.

everything about everything in elementary school goes against the doctrines of the jehovah's witnesses.

how do jw's expect to make any money if all of their kids are defecting the jw's?

OneEyedJoe

The Jws allow secular schooling because there is no money in it for them to provide schools.

Plus it keeps parents from the preaching work.

So there is no upside for not allowing kids to go to school.

I suspect allowing secular schooling has more to do with legal implications of an outright ban on it - in some countries this may be illegal or otherwise problematic. It would be difficult to justify (though I'm sure they'd manage if they wanted to) such an action from the scriptures, so any government (aka superior authority) would have the final say. That's why I'd expect any action against public schooling to at least start with talks (conventions or CO visits) so that they'd have deniabilty if parents start getting in hot water with the government.

I don't think they care about it actually keeping parents from preaching - the preaching work is more about keeping JWs busy so if they allow homeschooling they'd actually be better off since parents would still have to "get in their time" and they'd have to deal with homeschooling and would thus have even less time to think critically about their belief system.

The upside is (probably) that they'd have a higher retention rate of JW children, and thus better long-term profitibility. That said, they're going to be at least profitable enough, long enough, for the existing GB to live out their lives. That may well have something to do with why the GB doesn't seem to care about youth retention.

3

JW.ORG Poker Game

by The Searcher in

come and join the jw.org worldwide poker game.. all you need to join, is all you have.

just put it all on the table.. you can play as little or as often as you want - as long as you play.. if you decide to fold and walk away, you leave everything you brought to the table, as well as everything you gained!.

.

OneEyedJoe

Sounds legit, where do I sign up?

21

I'm Shocked The Jehovah's Witnesses Even Allow Their Kids To Go To Mainstream Schools.

by Jehovanomics in

judging by the material that my kid brings home on a daily basis in copius amounts.

everything about everything in elementary school goes against the doctrines of the jehovah's witnesses.

how do jw's expect to make any money if all of their kids are defecting the jw's?

OneEyedJoe

A great number of the parents in my area have begun homeschooling their kids for just this reason - they want to avoid "worldy influence." I think homeschooled kids in my congregation outnumber the ones in public school.

I wouldn't be surprised if homeschooling began to be encouraged by the WTS in the years to come. They'll probably start by mentioning it off-handedly in a convention talk and giving it subtle positive recognition (we all know how the uber-dubs will find every minor detail of a convention and just run with it). Once they see how that goes over they'll throw it into CO talks or KMs and maybe the WT a couple years later. That way if they ever need to make it required, almost all of the JWs will already be doing it, or they'll just say "I thought that's how it always was."

14

"Material Objects"

by J-DUBBED in

jw
friends

i've heard before about the j-dubs saying they are not to have too many things..............it's just "material objects".

not to have tattoos on their skin also.. what about a full blown born in j-dub getting breast implants??

is that allowed??

OneEyedJoe

Don't be surprised when you find hypocrisy among jws. Most of the "conscience matter" type rules are just used when convenient to judge others or to proclaim how good you are.

30

Funeral for an atheist

by Stealth in

jw
friends

99% of all funerals that i have attended have been the wt version, where they preach about the resurrection into paradise and say little about the person who passed other than they were loyal to jah.

the other 1% catholic for grandparents.. now that i consider myself an atheist, i got to wondering what do atheists plan for when they die?.

if you are a non-believer what are your plans for when you die?

OneEyedJoe

I agree that most traditions for for the living not the dead. So you won't mind if they throw up a JW funeral for you? That is the last thing I would want.

Obviously I wouldn't want that, but more because it would mean that I still had mostly/all JWs in my life upon my death. Hopefully that won't happen unless I die much too young. I honestly don't care about anything that happens after I die, with the exception of ensuring that my dependants are taken care of.

30

Funeral for an atheist

by Stealth in

jw
friends

99% of all funerals that i have attended have been the wt version, where they preach about the resurrection into paradise and say little about the person who passed other than they were loyal to jah.

the other 1% catholic for grandparents.. now that i consider myself an atheist, i got to wondering what do atheists plan for when they die?.

if you are a non-believer what are your plans for when you die?

OneEyedJoe

I'll be dead, so I don't really care much. I'll let whoever I leave behind decide what makes them feel best. Funerals aren't for the desceased, they're for the bereaved.

20

what would happen If?

by sowhatnow in

i submitted a letter to the local k hall, explaining that i no longer believe my baptism as a jw is valid, based on my current bible knowlege.

and i wish to be no longer considered a baptised [in this organization], jw, but simply a christain who studies the bible.. and then would continue to attend meetings?.

they couldnt prevent me, its open to the public.. .

OneEyedJoe

They'd announce that you'd DA'd yourself and everyone would shun you. You going to meetings (why the hell would you do that?) would just cause them to feel like you're prideful and trying to draw away followers after yourself - aka textbook appostate (according to the WTS). So in short, you'd be shunned but still wasting your life sitting at cult meetings. The worst of both worlds.

21

How to capitalise on recent unwise appointment with my wife.

by disposable hero of hypocrisy in

jw
friends

a brother was appointed recently in the cong, he's got a dodgy history, doesn't really have the respect of many in the cong.

it's surprising to me, but i don't really care, good for him.

my wife, on the other hand, is angry!

OneEyedJoe

I would just try to draw her out and get her to express her feelings on the matter so that they won't be so quickly forgotten. Especially if you find that you have trouble restraining yourself when the wife is criticising the cult (i can fully relate to that). Practice restraint until you're more able to walk the line effectively.

Focus on how asking about her feelings and her thoughts. Don't give her multiple choice or either-or type questions because it will either end the conversation when alarm bells go off, or she'll be backed into a corner and forced to toe the party line. If you force her to verbally back the cult, it will cause CD and force her to change her beliefs to be more in line with the cult.

If you can get her to create a lasting memory about how she feels about this one event, that will keep getting called to mind when she sees this guy in the congregation and when he gives a talk. After he gives a talk or makes some minor (or hopefully major) error, you might say something like "you know I didn't really have much of a problem with it when he was orrigionally appointed - but you were right. I don't think he should have been appointed." This will remind her of her original oppinion on the matter (she will likely try to convice herself that she never thought that as time goes on) and force her to try and reconcile things all over again.

Of course, take this with a grain of salt - I haven't had just a ton of luck with my wife yet. It's still early though, or so I tell myself.

20

Did you expect all non-Witnesses to die at Armageddon?

by Apognophos in

apologies if this has been asked before, but i couldn't find a thread where the focus was specifically this yes-or-no question.

reach back in your memories to when you were at the peak of your faith in the religion, and tell me honestly:.

"did you, personally, believe that non-witnesses would die at armageddon, even if they hadn't gotten to hear the message at all?".

OneEyedJoe

I never believed it.

10

Will the Image Meaning Change?

by Theredeemer in

jw
friends

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/official-america-now-no-2-150936444.html.

how will the dubs spin this?.

.

OneEyedJoe

As yet another Sign of the End.

This, for a while. Once it becomes obvious that the prophesy is bunk, they'll stop talking about it (ala king of the north) for a while.

Based on the current trends, this cult is moving away from trying to construct semi-logical interpretation of prophesy, and moving towards being based solely on emotional manipulation and groundless "armageddon is comming soon" statements. So in line with that, I don't see them trying to re-interpret the prophesy so that it'll make sense.