Posts by OneEyedJoe

22

Growing number of memorial partakers explained(?) by local elder

by stillin in

i brought this up in a conversation after today's meeting.

the elder knowingly acknowledged the growing number and pointed out that of course, now we understand why this is so.

i gave my best blank stare and said "we do?

OneEyedJoe

This is purely his own personal mental gymnastics to ease his doubts. Think about it - the first part of the overlap would've had to have been anointed prior to 1914, so they've long since died off. Indeed all but maybe a handful would've died off well before they ditched the teaching that the anointed were'sealed' in 1935, which opened the floodgates for newly anointed. Therefore none of the newly anointed could be a part of the second half of the overlapping generation - they're just extra, I guess.

The only explanation is that God must have done a tally a few years ago and come up short of 144k and had to scramble to find some new anointed. I guess that also explains why the newly anointed seem to have been chosen in haste - they all seem a bit...off.

18

Brother so and so doesn't accept counsel

by hoser in

i am not sure if anyone else here heard this phrase.

i did from a circuit overseer when i was a servant many moons ago.

with my newly enlightened mind i finally understand what this means.

OneEyedJoe

I've heard it used by elders all the time.

My translation: brother so-and-so has a valid point that we refuse to acknowledge.

9

Celebrate the Un-Memorial

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

i was thinking that we could spend the memorial evening doing the exact opposite of what we used to do.. smile and laugh.

have fun.

dress comfortably.

OneEyedJoe

You could also read a book that's worth reading. Maybe something more upbuilding than tales of genocide, mutilation, human sacrifice, etc.

91

ABC's report on child abuse

by Joyzabel in

nice job!

OneEyedJoe

I don't understand how protecting children from abusers doesn't, by extension, protect their spirituality as well.

Especially considering that Candice's spirituality seems to have been damaged in their view since she left the cult.

13

Is anything holy?

by Half banana in

is anything holy?.

i would maintain that holiness can only come from the attitude of people ascribing something as holy.

holiness never comes from the "holy" object, spirit or humans described as being holy..

OneEyedJoe

I see the joke that I came in here to do has already been done to death haha. I guess I'll have to go with a serious response in lieu of that.

I suppose it depends on your perspective. When viewed objectively, it is obvious that nothing is intrinsically holy. When viewed by someone who presupposes that something is holy, it's holiness must be viewed as an intrinsic quality. Such is the nature of religion (and in a broader sense, confirmation bias) - when you set out to prove something that is unprovable (i.e. that something possesses the immaterial quality of "holiness") you'll often find that it's very easy - at least to prove it to yourself.

91

ABC's report on child abuse

by Joyzabel in

nice job!

OneEyedJoe

Wow...this is incredible. This cult can tell you EVERYTHING to do in your life regarding childbearing, marriage, the sexual do's and don'ts of the sex you enjoy in marriage, the type of home you live in and the car you drive, your educational choices (the list goes on and on). So let me get this straight...they can micro manage your life on EVERYTHING but it's not their responsibility to protect the children from sexual abuse.

Not to mention the fact that JWs are constantly told stories of meeting other JWs who show such great hospitality based on nothing but mutual religious affiliation. They read scriptures about "critical times" and follow it up with "what a relief it is to be able to come to the KH and be away from all that!" They constantly praise the supposed high morals of the organization and all it's members. After a lifetime of listening to that, no one is going to worry about leaving their kid with a random JW (even less so, an elder or MS) just because they published a WT about child abuse (that only happens in the "world") once in 2003.

When that molester scum in the video said repeatedly that he had never been alone with Conti, I kept hoping the guy would follow up with "Then can you give us the names of those that witnessed your molestation of Candice? I'd very much like to speak to them too."

34

ABCNews Nightline: Segment on JW absuse cases here......

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

here is the segment on the conti abuse case in california and jehovah's witness's response as reported on by the abcnews nightline broadcast which was shown early this morning.

it really displays some absolutely shocking behavior from not only her abuser and his (supportive) wife, but also the jw attorneys and elders via video.

i am just blown away by the audacity displayed by these monsters.. we can now understand why governing body member stephen lett slipped in his comments a couple of weeks ago about "untrue reports of child abuse" in one of his talks which can viewed on the cult's website.

OneEyedJoe

If ABC receives enough favorable comments, maybe it will be broadcast during primetime at some point.

Honestly, I think the biggest impact would be if one of the late-night comedy talk shows picks it up. A 1-minute segment on the daily show (since the subject matter might be a bit too edgy for network TV) would have way more impact on JWs than a 1-hour expose on the matter. For one thing, the younger audience is the one to reach, since the older ones are too entrenched. Running something short and sweet in a comedy show would also reduce the number of JWs that would immediately tune it out - they'll just wait for it to be over so they can get back to the other material.

Of course, it is good that this is getting attention just so fewer people will be ensnared by this cult hopefully. If nothing else, that's a huge win.

30

May KM Highlight 1/Cong baptized

by Gayle in

jw
friends

at 2014 conventions (regional?

) 14,039 baptized.

outstanding for 13,871 congs!

OneEyedJoe

JW response when rate of growth is high: "Jeehooobippityboppityboo is blessing the work!"
JW response when rate of growth is low: "Well, Jesus did say the road to life was narrow and cramped and that few would choose it."

JW response to negative growth - Jesus was doing a purifying work!

When you start from a position that the cult is the ultimate source of truth, you'll find a way to explain literally any observation that doesn't line up with expectation.

24

Jdub Growth In USA?

by freein2004 in

does anybody have any information on recent growth in the jdub religion?

other than their own reports?

or, can you point me to the right post here?

OneEyedJoe

Or....they could be gearing up for a doctrinal change.
After all, aren't there GB members who are way too young to really be classified as 'annointed'? Give it a few more years and the numbers going up will be a non-issue. At the least, it won't matter a single iota for the JWs who loyally swallow anything that comes from the gilded Tower.

They've already admitted that "evidently" the 1935 sealing of the anointed was completely baseless, and that seems to be primary reason for the big increase in partakers.

The other day I was around some JW family and they were talking about the number partaking. Someone guessed that it was down to 8000, and I piped up that it was ~14000 now. The room got quiet and the topic was changed to something else pretty quickly. This is definitely something that matters to some in the cult (especially those in the 30-60 yr old range since they were raised on the idea that we needed the 144k to die off)

The sooner they admit failure on this topic, the better it will be for them IMO. They need to get ahead of it because it's such an obvious failed doctrine that many have to see it and one uncorrected failed doctrine can sometimes be all it takes to cause doubts.

To go along with your point of elders trying to pry an hour out of publishers so they're not irregular/inactive-when i stopped turning in time, the elder I was supposed to turn my time to, just put down an hour for me without even asking! He is a friend so he was basically just covering for me

That's another great point. It's easy for an elder to feel OK about counting someone erroneously as a favor to that individual (without thought of how it impacts the stats) but it's not so easy for an elder to fail to count someone partaking and have any justification for it (aside from manipulation of the stats). In one case you're doing a personal favor for someone, in the other you're actually directly disrespecting someone (possibly someone you know). This will make it much more likely for the average, relatively conscientious elder to pad the publisher stats while they'd refuse to adjust the partakers down.

Another thought - it also probably feels much less significant to add an hour for a few publishers in a congregation of 100 than it does to not count the 1 partaker.

30

May KM Highlight 1/Cong baptized

by Gayle in

jw
friends

at 2014 conventions (regional?

) 14,039 baptized.

outstanding for 13,871 congs!

OneEyedJoe

Speeding up the work indeed! Over 1000 new kingdom hall projects needed!

Edit: I guess the formatting didn't work out...the "projects" above was supposed to be extra small haha. They don't like it when the R/F notice that little word in there.