Posts by OneEyedJoe

63

After Six Months of Hiatus, I can tell you the Watchtower is Starting to Crumble Faster than you think!

i took a hiatus from jwn because the wall started to collapse because i lost several people ive known almost my entire life.

these were people i thought would never die, the lies told by the watchtower is unforgivable!

there was a party i attended keeping a low profile while documenting what was said.

OneEyedJoe

The WTS has the money now to pay off law suits out of court and hush the incident from the publics eye as well the body of JWS.

Certainly if these law suits were to occur back in the 1960's or70's, they would have produced some major damage to the organization.

....... but this is not the 1960's

How much money do they have laying around? The last case out of california left them $13.5 Million poorer. It only takes 75 such settlemenets to be over a billion in damages. Obviously they can start selling more KHs and make more money grabs on the members, but the more they do that the more JWs will be left asking questions. Also I wouldn't be surprised if the money-grabs increased well before they actually get close to running out of money. Either due to greed/arrogance of not wanting to use their slush-fund up paying for pedophiles or inorder to prepare for the expected future suits.

Considering that some of these cases are going as far back as the 80's and they still haven't changed the policies that are getting them in trouble, they've potentially got 30 years or more worth of lawsuits in the queue. Now they're stuck in a tough situation - change the rules and be seen capitulating to 'satan's viscious attacks' or they can take a hard line and keep getting sued. Changing the policy might even be seen as an admission of guilt and cause a short-term upswing in judgements against the cult (I'm no lawyer, so I'm pretty much talking out my ass on that one).

I will say I don't see this cult disappearing anytime soon, but their decline is only going to accelerate from here, quite possibly in a dramatic way.

1

Bill Burr on religion

by OneEyedJoe in

i watched bill burr's netflix comedy special "i'm sorry you feel that way" a couple days ago, and something reminded me of it so i thought is post it here as i think many here will enjoy it.. the whole thing is hilarious, but in one segment he did a bit on religion and how he "just let it go" one day.

he touches on the fact that tall other religions (he gives the example of scientology) seem insane to you, but yours makes perfect sense because it was put into you from an early age when you had no critical thinking.

all the while he makes no effort to force anything on the audience - everything is presented in a non-threatening "here's what i did" sort of way.. i have to give comedians some credit for my atheism - comedy is a great way to get people to challenge their beliefs while bypassing the usual defense mechanisms.

OneEyedJoe

I watched Bill Burr's Netflix comedy special "I'm sorry you feel that way" a couple days ago, and something reminded me of it so I thought is post it here as I think many here will enjoy it.

The whole thing is hilarious, but in one segment he did a bit on religion and how he "just let it go" one day. He touches on the fact that tall other religions (he gives the example of Scientology) seem insane to you, but yours makes perfect sense because it was put into you from an early age when you had no critical thinking. All the while he makes no effort to force anything on the audience - everything is presented in a non-threatening "here's what I did" sort of way.

I have to give comedians some credit for my atheism - comedy is a great way to get people to challenge their beliefs while bypassing the usual defense mechanisms. I saw Bill Burr do some of his bit on religion a while back on some late night show and my wife made the comment that he was funny but she didn't like the part on religion. So as I was watching this with the wife I made sure to laugh heartily when he made fun of Christianity - she was clearly uncomfortable during the whole bit.

Anyways I just thought I'd share in case anyone is looking for something to watch, and especially for those trying to get their spouses to think critically. Plus he's one of my favorite comedians - hopefully he'll do a show within 100 miles of me at some point so i can see him live.

45

About the ten plagues in Egypt

by runForever in

alot of people are saying god is cruel for killing the firstborns and animals and people in the ten plagues.

but didn't god achieve his goal of making nations and people be in fear of him?.

OneEyedJoe

Cold steel - you have no more evidence that moses existed than I have that the hardy boys exist. There's also zero evidence of a single massive exodus from Egypt as is claimed in the Bible.

That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

45

About the ten plagues in Egypt

by runForever in

alot of people are saying god is cruel for killing the firstborns and animals and people in the ten plagues.

but didn't god achieve his goal of making nations and people be in fear of him?.

OneEyedJoe

He achieved his goal (presuming any of the story is true) but was his goal worthy of someone claiming to be the embodiment of love?

20

Q-tips and Coffee Filters helped me learn TTATT

by RedPillPopper in

jw
friends

well they didn't fully teach me ttatt but helped me on the way.............. first thing i do in the morning after waking up is grinding some nice coffee beans and getting the brew started while i take a hot shower.

after the shower i like to clean out all the nasty wax out of my ears with a q-tip (or cotton swab for those not familiar with that term).. while cleaning out my ears i would think about how nice it is we have things like q-tips and coffee filters that make life more enjoyable but at the same time realize that somebody somewhere is in a factory making these.. i can't imagine a child saying "when i grow up i want to work in a factory making coffee filters".

the people who end up really doing that as adults did not set that to be a life goal.

OneEyedJoe

I don't think I could have ever said it so succinctly, well done. I'm with ya - I always questioned the wisdom of everyone "building and having occupancy... Planting and eating the fruitage.". An economy in which everyone is entirely self sufficient would be wildly inefficient without the economies of scale or specialization. Not to mention - as you pointed out - it wouldn't be much of a paradise if everyone had to do factory work periodically - but in comparison with our current standard of living, it wouldn't be much of a paradise with no factory-made goods either.

65

Did you AWAKEN from the JWs by yourself?

by cultBgone in

jw
friends

i was thinking about how so many posters here on jwn are frustrated and frantic to help their loved ones get away from the brainwashing of jws, and how much advice is given about how to help family members and loved ones.

i considered my own leaving and that it was internal turmoil based on the teachings getting weirder and child abuse issues, to name just a few, and it made me wonder:.

did you self-awaken or were you assisted by the gentle proddings of a friend or family member?

OneEyedJoe

My awakening was almost completely due to my love of learning, particularly in the subjects of astrophysics, cosmology, biology, psychology and logic. Once I was primed with sufficient knowledge to understand that it was possible the world could be explained without the WTS's theology and recognized the many logical fallacies and miss-characterizations all it took was a good kick in the pants from jwfacts for me to see the cult for what it was.

I was never fortunate enough to have someone try to help me awaken. I'd guess that I was prime for awakening for probably 10 years before it actually happened. Just sorta floated along with many doubts all those years.

46

Illegal immigrants in the organization?

by silent in

jw
friends

i had a thought today that might prove interesting.

i'm wondering if there are any illegal immigrants who are witnesses?

surely it would be a great position to be in as an illegal immigrant because you could play up your plight and prey on the sympathies of others within the congregation.

OneEyedJoe

ive heard that down in Texas if you're a brother that wants to be an elder all you have to do is learn Spanish and join one of the Spanish congregations. Apparently most of them are illegal so they end up d with congregations of 100+ with only a couple elders, so if you're at all eligible you're made an elder straight away.

The cult is hurting for brothers who are reaching out so bad that it's only a matter of time before they let illegals become appointed, if they haven't changed the rules already. Especially considering that most new recruits come from immigrants these days.

4

Why do cults love Tunnels?

by runForever in

hehehe, brooklyn bethel had tunnels that went under the street to other buildings and now this warwick will have tunnels.. maybe it's because:" everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

".

maybe they will be in their tunnels when they are saying : "say to the mountains, 'fall on us,' and to the hills, 'cover us.

OneEyedJoe

Australia bethel has underground tunnels also!

It is where all the home brew kits are secretly kept! (I'm not joking either)

Slightly off topic - but I've been told by a couple bethelites that there are a lot of guys in NY bethel that put false-backs into their closets. Not just for home-brew, but also to hide their still for making brandy from rotten fruit from the farm.

I wouldnt' read too much into the tunnels...but their withdrawl from the urban areas is the first sign of a group that's about to become radicalized.

13

New light scripture??

by Daisychaindream in

jw
friends

i've seen it mentioned in a few posts and i didn't want to high jack!

can anyone explain what this is about?.

OneEyedJoe

Off the top of my head I believe it's proverbs 4:18. There's no such thing as "new light" or "old light" in the bible - the only scripture they use to justify it is one that says the path of a righteous man (as contrasted with the path of a wicked man) is like a light that gets brighter as the day draws near.

Of course, any time there's a reference to a day drawing near, the JW's mind will immediately relate that to armageddon. In this context, however, it's clearly just talking about the increasing light from the sun as dawn approaches, nothing about armageddon is implied in any way.

15

Stop BREATHING you SINNER!

by stuckinarut2 in

(this may offend some sincere 'christians'.

can you, as a human, stop yourself from breathing?.

i have always thought that one of the basic teachings of 'christianity' is the concept that we are "mere sinners"...riddled with guilt and not worthy of god or life...undeserved kindness has been shown to us etc.... but, we have no control over that, just as we have no control over breathing air!.

OneEyedJoe

I guess if you're aim is to control people through guilt, you'd better find a way that everyone is always guilty.