OneEyedJoe

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Posts by OneEyedJoe

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  14

  Bible teach book does not mentioned shunning

  by poopie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  or disfelowshipping si the bible does not teach it.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Deceptive recruiting tactics at their best.
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  33

  UK TV--next monday 24th aug---channel 5-----9 pm--escaping the witnesses

  by stan livedeath in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just see it advertised on tv--with photo of our friend from south wales

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  OneEyedJoe

  I love that people are mentioning scientology and the JWs in the same breath. Even if people don't watch the thing, that's sure to leave a (well deserved) negative impression of the JWs on the minds of any normal person that sees it.
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  84

  The Kingdom Halls are empty

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my jw spies tell me that the kingdom halls are empty compared to how they used to be, since i left 5 years ago.

  not saying they're empty because of me though.. is that what you are hearing?.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Our hall isn't empty but it def isn't growing. Just very stagnant. And very old. Extrapolate out 20 years and the Borg is in major trouble.
  

  This is pretty much exactly what's going on in my area (though they did recently lose one seat filler, and I'm never going back!). I'd say at least half of the BOE in my wife's congregation will be senile or dead in 10 years, with relatively few prospects for replacement. There are a few MSes that will likely get appointed in a few years, but after that I think the pool will run dry. There are only a couple boys in their teens, and they demonstrate absolutely no desire to "reach out" for more obligation. Of the men between 23 (you know, mandatory MS age) and 30, none are MSes.

  The stagnation (maybe a slight ~2%ish decline in the last 5 years) in attendance is also a bad sign in itself. The suburb that the congregation is centered in is growing rapidly. 15-20 years ago, there would be a local congregation splitting every couple years. A new KH was needed pretty regularly as well. I think it's been 12 years since a KH was built anywhere nearby (my FIL is pretty high up on the RBC, and never gets an assignment within an hour's drive, and quite frequently has to drive 2-4 hours away to the build). I can't remember the last time a congregation split, but it's been well over a decade, and the last ones to split were the spanish congregations. Even the growth there seems to have stalled. When a cult can't even recruit the "fish out of water" of recent immigrants, you know they're in trouble.
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  8

  "This old system of things"

  by JWdaughter in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do jws besides my mom even say that anymore?

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  OneEyedJoe

  All. The. Time.

  When I saw this thread I had a realization that this phase is yet another in the loaded language that enforces a transient view of life. JWs just spend their lives in waiting.
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  28

  The Royal Commission and Watchtower - A game changer

  by Hidden-Window in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had finished watching all the videos on the royal commission's investigation of jehovah's witnesses (yes, i know more videos are being released).

  i am still processing the information of everything that has emerged.

  i do not plan to cover it all here, but i would like to point out that it is patently obvious that some of the wt representatives provided misleading information.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Yeah, when I was growing up the popular interpretation of "use the rod" seemed to be "beat the shit out of your kid if he makes a noise during the meeting." However, I seem to recall in the last decade or so the cult published something about the rod being a reference to how a loving shephard would simply guide the sheep, not beating them with it.
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  7

  This week;s PopBitch

  by krejames in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  i subscribe to a gossip mailing list called popbitch, which as the name suggests is concerned with the lowest common denominator trivialities and rumours about people in the public eye (usually wicked whisper type stuff, like some 'anonymous reader' stood next to samuel l jackson at urinal and whew!

  what a whopper!.

  yes, that kind of garbage i'm afraid.

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  OneEyedJoe

  How Jehovah's Witnesses are changing how doctors think about blood transfusion:
  

  That sounds like a terrific sequel to the widely acclaimed article "How the people's temple changed how the world thinks about kool-aid"
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  13

  Geoffrey Jackson - Freedome Of Religon Within Jehovah's Witnesses - VIDEO

  by C0ntr013r in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  a summary for you guys of the rather lengthy discussion about peoples ability to leave the organisation:.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpir8vjsdre&feature=youtu.be.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Did he really try to sell disassociating as a RIGHT that people have?

  So if you don't want to be subject to stalking, constant emotional manipulation, having to hide participation in normal human activities (holidays, sex, voting, etc), inability to express yourself honestly with your family (meanwhile they can talk about the cult all they like), and more - all you have to do is pull the trigger and commit complete social suicide and say good by to everyone that you've ever known and loved. What a great supporter of human rights this organization is!
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  15

  My Husband Lies

  by disillusioned 2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my husband went to the assembly at the weekend.

  a few people asked about me, why didn't i go anymore?

  he lied and told them "i don't know"!

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  OneEyedJoe

  That sounds absolutely miserable. I'm so sorry. You deserve better treatment than that. Would it be possible to get into marriage counseling? I know that's an up-hill battle (one I've lost with my wife) but maybe getting therapy for yourself would help you to learn ways to improve the communication. Just an idea.

  I hope you're able to get some improvement. haha perhaps leaving out the recent Awake (I think) article on the silent treatment. His own all-powerful cult condemns his actions, even. If that's how he's been treating you for any length of time, I'm surprised at how benign your complaint is. You're in a terribly difficult situation and the one person that you ought to be closest too has cut you off. It's not fair and it's definitely not deserved. I'm so sorry to hear how difficult this is for you.
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  2

  A proliferation of semi-pro-JW sites

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  as more and more jw learn ttat maybe these new ones who are still in might be interested in making a bunch of jw sites where they are more loosely moderated and negative stuff about the organization is planted and removed(allowed to stay but only a few days).. make it appear safe for regular jws but allow some freedom of expression to stay on for a time.

  iow run by more moderate moderators who eventually get rid of offending posts after some deliberation..

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  OneEyedJoe

  eh. Personally I think things are fine the way they are. The super indoctrinated aren't going to be made to think without something impacting them on a personal level. If something does hit them on a personal level, they'll find their way out eventually.

  I think it's much more advantageous to have the internet full of 99% anti-JW information with one or two forums full of such sickeningly thick cult behavior that it makes it completely obvious to the outside world what this cult is. When you dry up recruiting, their only outlook is attrition. That attrition will then cause more to doubt and wonder why things aren't going the way they should be.
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  15

  My Husband Lies

  by disillusioned 2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my husband went to the assembly at the weekend.

  a few people asked about me, why didn't i go anymore?

  he lied and told them "i don't know"!

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  OneEyedJoe

  Yeah, this is about what you ought to expect. He doesn't want to bear the brunt of the passive-aggressive nonsense that he knows he'll get if he gives a straight answer. He probably also realizes that if he tells them you're a full-blown apostate that you'll become the subject of a lot of gossiping and slander, not to mention the cruel practice of shunning. On some level, he may realize that you're right but is afraid to face it and knows that seeing you mistreated in this way will only prove you right.

  It's a tough spot for both of you to be sure. Cut him some slack and have some patience and pity - he's just a human operating under the undue influence of a cult. I know first hand how difficult it is to separate a spouse's genuine personality from what they do and say in cult mode in your mind, but I think it helps to remember that they're trapped in a cult and therefore in just as bad a situation as you're in even if they don't realize it fully.