I was born-in, but it was still shocking to me how much people would deliberately kill time in service. Everyone would walk as slow as possible and call it the "pioneer stroll" or they'd do a street where the houses were like 200' apart and call it "rural" so they could drive to each house, with only 2 people getting out at a time. It never added up. Why is our time so valuable that kids can't go to college, but when using our time as prescribed, no one (including the elders telling us not to go to college) seemed to actually use that time wisely.
OneEyedJoe
JoinedPosts by OneEyedJoe
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14
Were you surprised when you went in service for the first time....
by Muddy Waters inwere you surprised when you went in service for the first time (this question is prob for those who were not born-in) --.
when i first had the "privilege" of going in field service as an unbaptized publisher, i remember feeling so surprised at everybody's apparent slowness.
all the talks at the kh emphasized how we were in the last days, doing a life saving, critical, never to be repeated, work, etc., yet you get in the car group and ignore people walking right by or coming toward the car, and then slowly walk from house to house.
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Midday Vent
by mrhhome ini know that this is a statement of the obvious, but i am wasting my time trying to have an honest discussion with my in-law witnesses.. it is absolutely amazing.
they are otherwise intelligent, rational, honest people.
however if you get remotely close to a subject that requires that they evaluate their beliefs or challenge the witness policy, they will repeatedly dodge it, twist it, or otherwise ignore it.
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OneEyedJoe
It's all a part of the cult mind control mechanism. They're ingrained with the process, and when ultimately defeated they just can't accept the possibility that they (and by extension their religion) could be wrong because it's too scary to deal with.
It's sort of like an extreme version of what happens if you give a kid a list of 1000 chores that they need to do this year. They'll see the list as insurmountable and shut down accepting defeat before they've tried. It's definitely a subconscience mechanism, which is why it's so difficult to get around. You just have to persistently put them in this uncomfortable place, and eventually they'll begin to face it on some level. At least that's the theory I get from watching Steve Hassan's videos, but it's a slow process and I can't profess to have achieved any results yet.
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John 6:68 vs 2 Timothy 4:3
by OneEyedJoe inone thing that's bothered me for a while about the use of john 6:68 (oddly, this has always been the bigger issue than the rampant replacement of 'whom' with 'where') was it's apparent condemnation by 2 timothy 4:3.. from the jw bible:.
john 6:68 - simon peter answered him: lord, whom shall we go away to?
you have sayings of everlasting life.".
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OneEyedJoe
One thing that's bothered me for a while about the use of John 6:68 (oddly, this has always been the bigger issue than the rampant replacement of 'whom' with 'where') was it's apparent condemnation by 2 Timothy 4:3.
From the JW bible:
John 6:68 - Simon Peter answered him: “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life."
2 Timothy 4:3 - For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the wholesome teaching, but according to their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers to have their ears tickled.
2 Timothy 4:3 is often used in condemnation of "false religion" citing other organization's acceptance of people who violate the rules of the WT. The common statement being that anyone who prefers a religion other than JW does so because their preacher's just tell them what they want to hear (i.e. being gay is ok, sex before marriage is ok, don't have to preach, etc). But isn't that exactly what the apostles (or at least Peter) were doing? They stuck with jesus, not because of his love for them or others, not because of the miracles he performed or prophesies he fullfilled, not because they had faith that he was god's son, but because he had "Sayings of everlasting life." If backing a minister because he says you will live forever isn't "surrounding [yourself] with teachers to have [your] ears tickled" then I don't know what is.
I've also always found it odd how no one ever applies it to JWs. If you think about it 2 Timothy 4:3 could apply to litterally ANY religion, as they all have nice, beneficial, uplifting aspects to them otherwise they wouldn't exist. I guess that's just evidence that I never truly made the truth my own - I could objectively apply WT teachings to the WT itself.
Just more evidence that the bible can be used to make a case for just about anything you want it to say.
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The dumest thing an elder ever said to me..
by new hope and happiness inconversation with an elder...i said " did you watch due south yesterday" and he said " ive got far more important things to do".
i mean that comment of his got me to thinking and wondering, and made me see he was missing out on living..and i think that comment was the straw that broke this boys faith, and started my i dont want to be a witness anymore.
kind of wierd how a simple question opened my eyes.. and now as i write this i am watching " the rebel" a 1950s western series, and its great and its even better my 9 year old is watching with me..and there is nothing more important than being happy.. .
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OneEyedJoe
Braces are only for those who lack faith.
Ditto for savings, retirement funds, life insurance, education, home repair and buying green bananas.
LOL. That's had me chuckling off and on for the last 10 minutes.
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Listen, Obey and
by berrygerry ini'm extremely neutral in our house, so it's not my influence - honest!.
my 11-year old is light-years advanced with his intelligence and humour.. he's going around the house singing "listen, obey, and be castrated.".
was not impressed.. pretty hard to contain my laughter..
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OneEyedJoe
That's good news for you!
I remember when I was younger (early teens, maybe even pre-teen) one of the first things that caused some doubts in me was after a WT study or a talk that went on for a while about how dangerous it is to listen to bad music, because it can get stuck in your head and make you think differently without you even knowing it. This after another recent part had encouraged us to sing loudly and participate in the songs and how important they were. That never sat right with me, and now I know I was right to question it.
It's good to hear your son is paying attention to the words and not just chanting mindlessly. The reason for the songs is to get your brain to go into auto-pilot and be more pliable to the BS they're selling, but so long as your son doesn't go on auto-pilot, he'll have a bright future.
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Who Created God? August 1, 2014 w-- images of God?
by factfinder inif you look closely at the picture on page 15 there seem to be several weird faces!
is this the art dept.
illustrating what jehovah really looks like?
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OneEyedJoe
I particularly like the part where they tell you your reason for not understanding god being without a creator. Obviously you can't understand this concept because you have a limited lifespan and your mind is limited! No, I don't understand the concept because your biggest argument for why life and the univers has to have a creator is how complex it is, but if god's complexity isn't a result of a creator, your argument for god existing at all completely falls apart - that's why it's difficult to understand.
Oh and I don't see any grey alien skull, just a picture of some nebulae.
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Could There Be Another Mass Exodus From This Cult?
by mrquik init's happened before.
how much crap can any rational human being take before they just snap & walk away disgusted?.
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OneEyedJoe
I think when they came out with that generations chage in 1995.and again in 2010.and people didn't leave in mass that was the Que for the gb to realize that those that are left are really stupid and will believe whatever we say. Most now leave because of the way there treated and not over doctrine. As the decline become more obvious they will then lie about the numbers.
I'm not so sure that it'll be completely ineffective at pushing people out. The overlap doctrine was the final straw for me to wake up, and I didn't catch it until this latest article.
I was pretty young in 1995, and judging by their reactions to the new overlap doctrine, a lot of people completely missed the 1995 generation change. Everyone seems to see the change as having gone from "people born in 1914 will still be alive" to the overlap BS.
This year's article where they re-inforced the overlap also seems to be when everyone picked up on it. My life was pretty busy in 2010 and I must've totally missed out on the first article about it, but I don't think I'm alone in that either. I never heard anyone talk about the overlap from 2010 to 2014 specifically, and the only times it was talked about, it was really just a vague idea that "there was new light on that..." but no one seemed to have really understood it. Now it's gotten people talking a lot more, and I've not heard anything positive about it. recently, in a meeting for service, the conductor was talking about our old understanding and the new overlap stuff and as he was finishing he said "I don't like it though, it puts the end farther off." He and another elder present then had a brief conversation about it, where the other elder suggested that the GB only changed it because "everybody's dead, so obviously they were wrong." Unfortunately that elder is rather soft-spoken and not the easiest to follow his thoughts in conversation, so I don't think it really hit home what he was saying to anyone there.
Long story short, I believe we'll see some younger, thinking people leave in the coming years due to these changes. Sometimes it takes a while for it to really hit home that things don't make sense. Many will likely "wait on Jehovah" but will eventually get tired of waiting and will look online for support that they can't get in the congregation. Then it's all over. Unfortunately, it's so much more difficult for older people to get out, because it would require them to acknowledge that they've waisted most of their life, and they don't want to risk the chance that the organization is right just to have the last few years of their life free. It's like a poker game where you're 90% sure that you've got a losing hand, but the pot is huge and it doesn't cost nearly as much to call as what you've already put in, most people will call.
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Infamous Awake of May 22, 1994 is 20 years old today
by ILoveTTATT inhow old would those children be if they hadn't sacrificed themselves to the watchtower?.
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can we figure out a way to know how their families are doing, if they are still in the cult or not?.
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OneEyedJoe
I also wonder how many of them could've been saved by mere blood fractions that are now allowed as a 'conscience matter'
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New to The Jehovahs Witness Faith and need some help
by jnjburkett inhello there i am new to the faith and have been studying for about a month.
i am very excited and hungry for the truth and have not missed a meeting or study since the memorial.
we do about 2 bible studies a week.
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OneEyedJoe
Please head over to jwfacts.com to read up on the organization that you're considering joining. I've read through most of the site myself and can assure that everything there accurrately and fairly portrays JWs and the organization that they serve. I'm sure others here will help you to find other sources of information, but that one is the best one I've stumbled across lately.
If you tell the person with whom you're studying about your online research, I suspect they will encourage you to immediately cease looking to any source other than themselves or others in the congregation. They will seek to limit the information that you take in, and thus limit the perspective that you are allowed to see. I, on the other hand, encourage you to get all the information you possibly can before aligning yourself with this religious organization.
I wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of the truth!
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BOE re:Adjusted Process to Accelerate Kingdom Hall Construction
by TTATTelder inmay 12, 2014. to all bodies of elders in the united states branch territory.
re: adjusted process to accelerate kingdom hall construction.
dear brothers:.
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OneEyedJoe
Its interesting that they specify that the projects under 5,000 dollars are to be handled by the congregation. Most maintenance cost don't exceed this individually... I can envision something of the like happening:
In the same year: Sound system needs fixing: 1,000$. Furnace requires repairs: 4,500$. -- they already busted their 5,000 $ funds and anything else in that year, they will need to ask the branch.
Interesting... I guess it won't be as glamerous for many Elders to hold to their positions.
I can also see the scenario where a KH needs more than $5k in repairs (i.e. new sound system at $1k, new HVAC at $4k, new carpet at $2k for a total of $7K) and the LDC requires them to break it down into individual items, each under the $5k threshold and the congregations have to pay for it all on their own.
This way they can force congregations to send all their savings in, without ever actually having to give anything back except in the most extreem circumstances, which seems to be their MO up to this point.