OneEyedJoe

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Posts by OneEyedJoe

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  12

  Walked in on my son doing personal study...

  by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho in

  1. social
  2. humour

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  yeah, he's a weird kid.

  but at least he's studious..

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  OneEyedJoe

  Sorry,...but when I saw the title, I thought it was a euphemism.....

  Came here to say this. I'm definitely using that later...put it right along side "gentleman's time" in my repertoire.
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  33

  Did You Know “Weird JWs” When You Were In The Organization?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it could be argued that all jws are weird.

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  i’m referring to really weird odd witnesses.. most of the oddballs that i remember were elders..

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  OneEyedJoe

  The observed pervasiveness of "oddball" JWs and JWs with clearly below average mental capacity was probably the very first troubling fact that I noticed about the cult - I remember asking my parents about this when I was about 12 years old: "Why does it seem that there are fewer smart people that have found the truth than ones like so-and-so." Of course I was given the expected nonsense about how god requires humility and he called those that were unlettered and ordinary, but even at that age I knew that was bullshit because "unlettered" was a status had by the vast majority in Jesus' time and besides other prominent figures like Paul and Moses were quite well educated, among other examples. The tone in my parent's voice and the look on their faces made it clear that this was not a question I should be asking, though, and the resumption of our family study shortly thereafter also seemed clearly connected. It didn't take me long to learn the lesson - suppress my doubts and any negative feelings about the cult or face consequences. That's a survival mechanism that's caused a ton of damage to my relationships and well being and I've only just begun to make progress resolving it in the last year or so.

  Anyway, specific examples of oddball JWs:

  The elder that did some of my baptism questions claimed to be anointed (and he claimed to be so before the removal of the 1935 doctrine, and he wasn't old enough to have qualified...) but most in the congregation couldn't see how he could possibly be anointed. During my baptism questions he went on a looooong rant about how his previous wife had cheated on him multiple times but he'd stuck by her because that's what jehovah wanted and it wasn't until she left him that they were divorced.

  An MS of clearly diminished mental capacity once gave a prayer in which he apologized to Jehovah for "all the shit...errr...stuff that we do."

  There were a number of MSes that clearly struggled to read, not just on the platform but in casual settings as well.

  I knew at least 3 sisters that seemed to see god's hand in literally every aspect of their lives and weren't shy about sharing the details of these interventions in casual conversation as well as in 4-5 minute comments on an unrelated paragraph of the watchtower study. Experiences included deciding to go out in service instead of going to the store to buy toilet paper when, wouldn't you know it - she found a roll of toilet paper in the street.

  Honestly, I think nearly all the eminently normal people I knew in the cult (or, at least, they would've been normal had they not been in the cult) were from the pre-1975 era when the cult literature at least had something that exercised the mind (even if said exercise was mental gymnastics) and the few exceptions to this rule were the children of these ones. It seems any new converts that came in after 1975 were all a bit loony....I guess they'd have to be.
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  10

  Baby parts story from 1989 Awake magazine

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  *this post was prompted by a reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/7eqno4/jehovahs_witnesses_promote_truth_by_verifying/.

  so.. the org makes the claim that.

  "anyone who reads our publications or views our videos can be confident that the facts were thoroughly researched and are accurate.".

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  OneEyedJoe

  Considering that this particular hoax seems to have been fairly widespread, I think a reasonable argument could be made that they could well have done their full due diligence and still have published it as they did. This is certainly not the case with a great many of their deceptions, though, wherein they either purposely or thoughtlessly misquote or misatribute sources to forward whatever their current goal is.
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  52

  Are Beards becoming more acceptable due to decline in membership?

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i noticed a young brother with a beard being given more privelages within our hall.

  when he first grew his beard, he lost his privelages.

  but more and more recently he has been helping out a lot more.. the cobe is old school and a stickler for rules, but with the hall becoming more empty these days, and the need for young brothers, he seems to have relaxed on this particular watchtower/man made rule.

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  OneEyedJoe

  About 10 months ago my brother (this is in Texas, USA) reported to me that he'd seen someone reading the watchtower with a beard in another congregation, but it still wasn't allowed in his congregation. He was sure hoping that it would come to his congregation. I suggested that he just grow a beard if he wanted to, and he started reciting cult nonsense about wanting to help the flock and if he couldn't do that with a beard it wouldn't be worth it, blah blah blah. I further suggested that if anyone prevented him from helping due to his beard it was them hurting the flock not him failing to help. Predictably, this was dismissed without any real rebuttal.

  In any event, I do think practicality is winning out slowly - there's a lot of men that want to wear a beard, and beards are undergoing something of a resurgence these days. They're either valuing their personal expression above a bunch of drudgery sold as "privileges" (and if so, it's a shock it's taken so long...) or they're realizing that the shortage of men that care to do the drudgery puts them in a position of power as such a man and they're negotiating perks.
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  15

  WTBTS and the CCJW ?

  by Crazyguy in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  apparently they made this new corporation called the christian congregation of jehovah’s witnesses in the year 2001. this is the religious side of the cult and wtbts is the printing side and probably the money side.

  since the gb think they are of the ccjw and have even stated their non affiliation with the wt is their a way that jws can use this to their advantage, maybe during a jc etc.?

  i for example was baptized before 2000 so with the new corporation formed and the gb going to that side what could be argued during a jc?

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  OneEyedJoe

  You can argue whatever you want in a JC, but if you submit yourself to a JC then you're submitting yourself to playing by their rules and those are subject to change at their whim. There's an absolute 0% chance that you can go in and admit to apostasy and have them ready to DF you until you start arguing about nuances of corporation structure. If you're saying that you're not beholden to CCJW because it didn't exist when you were baptized they'll just consider it a dissassociation - either way the announcement is the same and everyone will know that you "are no longer one of jehovahs witnesses."
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  25

  Can you be disfellowshiped for reading other religious materials?

  by paradisebeauty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am having a conversation with a jw and they say you can not be disfellowshiped for this.

  is this true?

  i thought you can be disfellowshiped for this.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Can you be disfellowshipped for...

  You can be disfellowshipped for anything that 3 elders agree on.

  It's probably unlikely to happen if you're privately reading stuff and not telling anyone, but then they're not likely to know about it if that's the case. If you start talking about what you're reading or encouraging others to read also, then all bets are off.
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  31

  Picture in latest Watchtower . . . What is it?

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in this picture from the latest watchtower, what in the world is the guy watching on the left side of the picture??

  it looks like a female vampire holding a lightsaber.

  am i missing something?.

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  OneEyedJoe

  It looks like the ice king from game of thrones holding his ice spear.
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  11

  matured mentally

  by Akid48 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i dont know if any one else is feeling this but after waking up i feel like i matured mentally etc.. im only 13 maybe its just me but i wanted to know if any had this feeling just a quick post..

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  OneEyedJoe

  Yeah, you mature a lot when you leave the cult - they seek to keep people trapped in child-like thought patterns of good/evil, black/white dichotomy and complete belief in and reliance upon authority figures. Once you start to question, start to realize that there are shades of grey and that no one has authority over you unless you give it to them, that's when the world starts to become so much more complex and interesting. When you start seeing the world more accurately and more critically, it can really change how you think and act in big ways.

  Also, I second the congratulations on waking up at 13. It took me 15 years longer than it did you - you're going to do well in this life. Just hang in there dealing with your family for a couple years and you'll be great!
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  38

  Is There Any Thing That Would Make A JW SERIOUSLY Question Their Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i realize that jehovah’s witnesses have been dumbed down for long time now.

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  still, i think there must be something that would make them really question their beliefs, even their life.. i think that if witnesses were told they could take blood or that disfellowshipping was unloving, they might stop and take a hard look at everything they have sacrificed their lives for.. i know the organization has muddled these subjects before but the i think even die hard witnesses might start to second guess the governing body..

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  OneEyedJoe

  The only thing that I think could pooooossibly do it for everyone would be if they received "new light" that shone there's no hope for a paradise earth. That's the carrot that everyone's following.
  

  There could be new light that said that it was all a bullshit scam made up by 7 lunatics and some still wouldn't leave - they'd set up a spinnoff group. Similar things have happened before.
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  38

  Is There Any Thing That Would Make A JW SERIOUSLY Question Their Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i realize that jehovah’s witnesses have been dumbed down for long time now.

  .

  still, i think there must be something that would make them really question their beliefs, even their life.. i think that if witnesses were told they could take blood or that disfellowshipping was unloving, they might stop and take a hard look at everything they have sacrificed their lives for.. i know the organization has muddled these subjects before but the i think even die hard witnesses might start to second guess the governing body..

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  OneEyedJoe

  There's nothing that will make every JW that knows it question. The cult finds different footholds in every member's mind. Most JWs probably could be moved to question things if they picked up the right bit of information, but it's anyone's guess what that might be. It's a personal connection...what works for one person is completely dismissed by the next. That's why it's so difficult to wake someone up - you have to know what holds them in first - just telling them what did it for you is unlikely to have the same effect.