Posts by OneEyedJoe

29

Impression of Leaked Letter Regarding Annual Meeting

by freemindfade in

the letter that watchtower free put up was very interesting.

here is my impression.. the watchtower is becoming more and more geared towards idiots.

the midweek meeting has a stupid name, and the parts sound equally dumb.

OneEyedJoe

Can anyone think of a financial gain in recruiting lower IQ members?

Off the top of my head - stupid recruits are better than no recruits. Also, it could be a method to get their foot in the door to hopefully recruit other family members.

I've seen it said on this forum so many times, but I didn't think I'd be saying it so soon - I've been out 5 months and I don't recognize the cult that I left. I guess there was a trend leading towards this for a while, but the cult is just so completely watered down and the focus is so clearly on emotional manipulation now compared to at least somewhat pseudo-intellectual content before. At least currently with the bible highlights someone can research any topic they wanted and give a comment from that week's reading - they've shut that down and now provide the questions. I guess they heard of too many people commenting on things like genocide and how the desert god couldn't defeat the people that had iron chariots.

Another thought - it sounds like they're trying to rebrand slightly and make this more like a youth church group. I've never been involved with such a thing, but the names of the parts sound like something I'd expect to hear about from the rabid bible-thumpers that I knew in grade school. Can't put my finger on it, but it really seems to me like they're trying to better appeal to the younger generation.

75

Brooklyn Layoffs and Halt to Kingdom Hall construction projects

by James Jack in

a good source just just told me that at morning worship today that the governing body announced that a total of 1600 bethelites will be let get go and not transferred to warwich when the last property is sold in brooklyn and all kingdom hall building projects are on hold for at least a year so that all the focus will be on the preaching work.

OneEyedJoe

all Kingdom Hall building projects are on hold for at least a year so that all the focus will be on the Preaching Work.

It's almost like they're reacting directly to John's thread:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/479610001/wt-slow-ly-changing-importance-door-door-preaching-work-something-more-profitable

8

Signature Quote - what do you think?

by Muddy Waters in

jw
friends

i apologize for the self-serving nature of this post.. i first said this to a lovely person here to encourage her and add a bit of humour to a harsh situation, but i've fallen in love with my own words, ha, and would like to use a variation of what i said to her as my new signature quote.

it's a bit long, and could become tiresome eventually, but do you forum members think that you might like (or could tolerate, heh) seeing this on my posts?.

.... "may god, or the universe, or airborne spaghetti, or energies or wavelengths or frequencies, or quantum particles that somehow attract things to us, or telepathic manipulation by aliens -- bless you.

OneEyedJoe

But personally, I'm not really much of a fan of signature quotes!

This is hilarious. Thank you.

8

Sickening opportunists!

by username in

ok so i just had to go over to the darkside (jwtalk) and see what is the latest buzz.

i wish i hadn't now because i'm blazing mad at the jw's reply to the current refugee crisis.. am i the only one who thinks this is really sick?.

op:.

OneEyedJoe

For one, they have an awkward group dynamic. If you want to preach to an Eritrean or Arab, you will have to get him by himself. They seem to feel some sort of obligation to protect each other from our preaching campaign, unless you speak to them on their own, then they're not so defensive.

He could almost be talking about someone trying to help a JW to wake up.

As for the comment about satan blocking this, that doesn't really bother me too much...but I guess I'm a little numb to it since my wife hasn't been too shy about stating that she believes satan has mislead me.

35

Why did you choose Jehovahs Witnesses?

by vinman in

i'm wondering why ones on this forum initially became jw's.

if you were born in, why did you make it "your own"?

if you became one later, what was your draw and driving force?

OneEyedJoe

Born in. I don't think I ever "made the truth my own" (well I did, just not "the truth"). I waited until I was 19 to get baptized because I was waiting until I felt a need to do it. I knew all the doctrine backwards and forwards but it still didn't feel right to me. If god wanted to kill me because things didn't sit right with me and I acted accordingly, then he was no god that I wanted to serve.

One of my biggest reservations was the rules around dating (it seemed stupid to make kids wait until they're dating with a view to marriage since I'd seen that lead to hasty marriages a number of times. Also, how do you ever really get to know someone if you have to be chaperoned all the time?) and the apparent lack of girls that had any ambition in life beyond getting married and maybe pioneering. Then I met one that was going to college and wanted to do something with herself beyond be in the cult. She barely ever talked about cult stuff, which was great for me. I fell hard and then she broke up with me (in hindsight, I think this may have had something to do with my father). One day, while I was emotionally distraught from the break-up, my father walked into my bedroom and started talking about her but didn't take long to get to his point - he asked me "Did she know you weren't baptized?" I said "It never came up so I assume she didn't" His response was "What do you think she would've thought if she knew?" And that was it - I thought this must be a message from god - he showed me that I could find love in the cult but took it away because I wasn't baptized. I'd never be happy unless I was baptized. So I went for it at the next convention. At that point I was stuck and just trying to make it work.

43

New here!

by Mandy97 in

jw
friends

hi guys !

hm.. i'm new in this website !

my name is mandy and i just want to meet new people!

OneEyedJoe

An apostate is anyone that was a JW at one time but left. I myself would be considered an apostate. If you'd like, feel free to message me to chat. I don't know any French though so it would have to be all English, but it sounds like that's what you're after.

53

What's the craziest thing someone INFORMED on you about?

by Londo111 in

the culture of jws as encouraged by the watchtower is one of informing on one another, reporting to either the elders or ones designated head.

whats the wackiest thing that someone reported on you?

im not talking about a black-and-white watchtower rule that would land you in a judicial committee, but some judgmental nonsense that someone thought they should turn you in about?.

OneEyedJoe

I always kept my nose pretty clean (read: my childhood was rather dull) so I never got reported on that I know of. Though I did recently hear a first-hand account from a couple in their 30s of being informed on for going to see the movie twilight. Their elders put together a local needs part about movies and spent much of the time specifically talking about twilight (without saying the name of the movie in an apparent attempt to avoid making pharisiacal rules).

26

Do you feel embarrsed?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

when you look through a keyhole, and see the person you once were?.

as for myself, i am just pleased i have mended my ways.

i realise ( now) my time as a witness was a keyhole that looked in to the ground, and licked the elders arse.

OneEyedJoe

As a JW, I was always embarrassed. I knew things didn't quite add up but it just had to be the truth. It embarrassed me to believe something that I couldn't explain, especially when so much time at meetings was spent mocking adherents of other religions for that very thing. I'm also sorta ashamed of who I was for much of my time as a JW - I was a self-righteous prick. But I've changed once I realized the error of my ways so I'm too worried about that. Besides when you grow up with adults telling you how you know more about the bible than any worldly person I don't know that there's much of a chance not to turn into a bit of a prick about some things.

Looking back, the thing I'm most embarrassed about now is just that it took me so long to really investigate things. I was so close to waking up in my late teens, if I'd done one google search I would've been out.

6

Stop Using Old WT Library - Any Confirmation?

by berrygerry in

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/3lw5cx/new_letter_from_ccjw_is_a_doozy/.

on reddit.. i've been expecting this.. any confirmation?.

OneEyedJoe

I wonder how many JWs will twig the fact that the Borg is sanitising its own older material so that the cracks and glaring errors won't be accessible to the newcomers. I am reminded of information control in Orwell's novel 1984. Oh! the wonder of modern technology.

No one will notice. They'll just fawn over what a blessing it is to be a part of such a modern organization that's taking advantage of technology! They also won't stop and realize that a DVD with online updates is technology that's about 10 years old at least.

78

Need Help with Blood Transfusion Illustration

by Dissonant15 in

please, who can provide an intelligent rebuttal to the following illustration?

i always thought it was bullet-proof:.

"if your doctor directs you to 'abstain from alcohol' would you be ok to have it injected into your veins rather than drink it?

OneEyedJoe

Fun fact: sometimes the medical treatment in extreme cases for alcohol withdrawal (you know, for someone that the doctor might've instructed to "abstain from alcohol") is to administer alcohol intravenously. So their illustration immediately falls apart. If your doctor tells you to abstain from alcohol, there are still situations where that same doctor might inject alcohol into your veins. If anything, that illustration proves the point that if something that you would normally abstain from becomes medically necessary then an exception should be made.