Posts by OneEyedJoe

23

Is the term "worldly" outdated?

by A.proclaimer in

jw
friends

yesterday i had to listen to the co from a spanish congregation on the phone.

he said the fds has been gradually moving away from the word "worldly" and teaching jws not to use the term anymore.

has anyone heard this in their congregation or heard the term "non-believers" used before?

OneEyedJoe

I wouldn't say it's outdated exactly. It is no longer officially used and there's been some token admonition to stop using the term, instead favoring nonbeliever or non-JW. However, I only think I heard it officially advised against once which seems entirely insufficient given the decades of use the term got.

Because I've seen no decline in the frequency with which the term worldly is used, I would be more inclined to categorize this as a new insider doctrine. It's yet another in a long line of things that are hidden from potential recruits and the world at large in order to protect their image, but once in long enough it will be learned.

6

A 2016 new years resolution for the world

by bobld in

jw
friends

all gov't of the world permanently delete remove from their constitution "freedom of religion.

" why remove from the constitution because we will have world peace.i have move to say about freedoms of.......... who will nominate me for the nobel peace price?.

just two ex freedom of religion.ultra-orthodax jew refuses to sit next to woman on airplane.female saudi student died after male medics were prevented from entering the women only campus the list goes on and on.what no human right u.n.. how about this hundred years ago catholics weren't allowed to read the bible(some say they were illiterate)but the pope or holy see they must go to church or they would burn in hell for ever an ever.was this religious freedom or mind control by the holy shit.this mind control still goes on to this day..

OneEyedJoe

If you're OK with people having freedom of religion then what's the problem with it being in the constitution?

57

Reasons for Stagnation in Growth. AKA YearBook Numbers!

by ttdtt in

so why has the growth flatlined?

why is less time spent in the ministry?

why have aux pios droped by 1/3rd?.

OneEyedJoe

I don't think you can really compare the mormon numbers to the JWs. From my understanding, the mormons use some neat tricks to pad their numbers. If the JWs counted people like the mormons do they'd probably be in the 15 million range as well. Mormons count anyone who's ever been on the roster unless specifically removed (in JW terms DF/DA) and this can sometimes include people who have moved away and died. You'd have to count everyone who's faded to really have a comparison.

6

A 2016 new years resolution for the world

by bobld in

jw
friends

all gov't of the world permanently delete remove from their constitution "freedom of religion.

" why remove from the constitution because we will have world peace.i have move to say about freedoms of.......... who will nominate me for the nobel peace price?.

just two ex freedom of religion.ultra-orthodax jew refuses to sit next to woman on airplane.female saudi student died after male medics were prevented from entering the women only campus the list goes on and on.what no human right u.n.. how about this hundred years ago catholics weren't allowed to read the bible(some say they were illiterate)but the pope or holy see they must go to church or they would burn in hell for ever an ever.was this religious freedom or mind control by the holy shit.this mind control still goes on to this day..

OneEyedJoe

While I 100% agree that religion is a scourge on humanity, I don't think trying to ban it is the right way of eliminating it.

39

CO visit; going to meeting.

by SG098 in

hello everyone!just a little background info, i haven't been to a meeting in over a year.

my wife has asked me to go with her tonight to help watch our son since it's the circuit overseers visit...my wife wants to be able to pay attention and get something out of the meeting since our son is 1yr old he can be a handful some times.. a few things of note about the situation:.

- i'm going to the meeting no matter what.

OneEyedJoe

SIAR - I think there was already a thread related to this CO talk outline:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6670687083167744/inspired-error-new-phrase-among-jw-co

26

Michio Kaku: can universes form from "nothing" ?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlchmi0cc00

OneEyedJoe

I always enjoy Michio Kaku when I come across anything he's done on various TV shows and such, but I agree that this was sorta poorly done. I suspect, though, that this has more to do with how it was cut together than it was a problem of his being unable to explain things clearly (though he did seem a little rushed as well when talking about string theory and dark matter).

24

Stalking people

by Esmeralda001 in

have you ever been stalked/spied on by fellow jws?

OneEyedJoe

Stalking on social media definitely happens all the time. In my experience this is mostly done by the women in the congregation (who invariably love to gossip - I'm not making a statement about women in general so much as JW women who are kept powerless and have little outlet for their natural desire for some feeling of control) and if they find something out they'll report it to their elder husband/father.

35

What did being a JW teach you?

by punkofnice in

these are some of the things the wbt$ 'taught' me:.

dishonesty is fine if it's to trick people into joining the cult.. if your spouse stops believeing, the best thing you can do is break up the family.. the laws of the governing body overrule any other laws...or else!.

my friends are conditional.. avoid loving people, they'll only let you down or get df'd.. unintelligent dumbos are better than intelligent ones if the dumbos are elders or above.. hate is better than love.. i am not good enough and god will probably enjoy killing me.. demons will appear in my room at night.. ignore practicallity if being practical or loving prevents the leaders getting money or praise.. god hates.

OneEyedJoe

Things the cult taught me (that I didn't recognize the truth of until I left)

"worldly" people are mostly kind, loving people. I learned this time and again based on how I was treated by people who I bothered on their day off, and in hindsight I believe they mostly felt sorry for me.
The more you think you're impervious to having been fooled, the more likely it is that you're currently being fooled.
People need not have malicious intent to use effective propaganda techniques in order to trick you.
Smart people can be fooled too - don't trust what someone says just because they're intelligent if they can't explain it in a way that's logical.

13

Has Watchtower financial strategy taken a very dark turn?

by slimboyfat in

as shepherdless pointed out on another thread, the watchtower business model of using free labour to produce and sell books and magazines for profit started to break down when charging for the literature ended in 1990, and has now begun disintegrating completely in the face of the internet and declining donations.

over this same period there has been a noted increase in hardline rhetoric on disfellowshipping and pushing early baptism.

might these hardline trends actually be related to their money woes?

OneEyedJoe

Hasn't getting the inheritance of older ones been part of their financial strategy for a while now? I think the increased rhetoric around child baptism is probably more because they've done some investigation (formal or informal) and noticed that the kids that leave or the families that leave often correlate to kids that didn't get baptized while they were young. Same thing goes for the hard-line stance on separating from DF/DA kids and family. They probably asked around about some people who'd left and found that those with family that left are more likely to leave too.

The cult seems more reactionary than forward-looking. I guess that's what you'd expect if the leadership really believes their own BS about the nearness of armageddon. So while I don't think its overly cynical to think that part of their financial plan is to take the money/property of older ones when they die, I think you might be attributing a little too much forethought to the cult leaders.

26

When does it end? My marriage is 90% great for the most part, except when it come to this cult

by goingthruthemotions in

i know marriage is tough and it takes work on both parts.

we have been together for 27 years.

the last eight have been involved with this cult.

OneEyedJoe

You and me both, buddy.