Posts by OneEyedJoe

Well, the ones that really care about these dates become exJWs. I never really cared much about 607, but I was definitely invested in 1914. Towards the end of my time in the cult, WWI happening in 1914 was basically the only thing my faith was based on.

57

Is zeal beginning to vanish?

by Caupon in

jw
friends

it has to be starting to fade somehow.

the very last time i went out in field service, hardly any were out.

maybe just about nine people were out and man if you could just see their faces.

OneEyedJoe

I don't know if it's the congregation I've been in for the last several years but I've definitely noticed that there's been a big change in zeal compared to my childhood. Of course its always been a chore and you'd hear people talking about needing to "get their time" but in the last few years the meaning has changed from getting 10 hours to getting any time at all.

Though in your case it sounds like you're trying to discern a pattern from one event, which is probably not a great plan. I do think that there's a general lack of zeal washing over the R/F these days, but I'm guessing the service day that you describe may just be a random fluke or perhaps people are tired from that end-of-the-year push that often happens at work or because the days are shorter or whatever.

35

The X-Mas thing...

by punkofnice in

christmas means nothing to me.

i have no abiding, cosy, childhood memories of it.. i don't buy presents or cards....i have to be reminded.. i feel a bit weird.

people are celebrating and saying: 'i'm feeling christmassy.'.

OneEyedJoe

I'm with ya. Christmas seems to be more about nostalgia (like you, I have none for my upbringing) and seeing the season through the eyes of your children (I have none) so without those things it just doesn't mean anything. I haven't been out long, though, so maybe it'll change with time.

I did wrap a couple of gifts (nothing fancy stuff that was essentially free to me that I was planning on giving them anyways) for work friends and enjoyed seeing that they genuinely appreciated it. Of course they expected nothing out of me so that may have enhanced their reaction somewhat.

23

Yearbook 2016

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

stil no 2016 yearbook on jw.org, due to my fade i forgot the normal publishing date.

do you remember when the yearbook was released?

i'm just curious about the 2015 publisher data.

OneEyedJoe

I've been wondering if the baptism numbers are 185600 rather than 18560 and somehow a zero has been accidentally lopped off.

This seems unlikely to me because this number is derived from the difference in peak publishers year over year, not baptisms. For the number to be off in such a way the mistake wouldn't have been a missing zero it would've been under reporting peak publishers by 167040. That doesn't turn out to be such a tidy off-by-one type error.

Furthermore, looking at the numbers for 2014 and 2015 together it paints a clearer picture. There was a larger increase in peak pubs in 2014 (probably due to their big august push of jw.org flyers combined with anticipation that oct 2014 might see armageddon) than usual. Because the factors leading to the 2014 increase could not be sustained, the numbers corrected and dropped back down. Taken together the average increase for 2014 and 2015 is ~126k increase per year which is more in line (but still a good bit below, in most cases) previous years.

45

Does Jehovah Intervene - JW Teaching

by thedepressedsoul in

i have been a jw my whole life and i have never been able to get a clear answer on this question.

jw's do not believe that jehovah will intervene if someone is sick, dying or stopping a car crash.

they feel that jehovah is letting "this world" play out before he solves all of these problems.

OneEyedJoe

I see what you are saying but it still doesn't explain why they say Jehovah intervenes for some things and yet when it comes to sickness/accidents that he stays completely out of it.

My point was that this is a contradiction that comes forth from an attempt (this happens in most religions) to take credit for good things while avoiding responsibility for bad things. This is not unique to JWs. There is scriptural basis for thinking that you may be tested to the point of death (i.e. no intervention from god) and there is scriptural basis for thinking that god might help you out. When you're a believer your cognition is based upon the assumption that god is good and worth serving, and when you enter that into the equation it doesn't take much for the believer to start fitting their life experience into the framework that's given to them. Anything good that they're surprised by, they attribute to god and are grateful. Anything that's bad gets attributed to bad luck, satan or whatever and they're unhappy. God doesn't have to do anything.

11

JWs Don't Really Believe This Scripture...

by JW_Rogue in

so the bible says this about god at rom 1:20 for his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the worlds creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and godship, so that they are inexcusable.. however, jws don't really believe this scripture to be true.

whenever something comes out about nature that they don't like they will instead say that it is due to imperfection.

animals are predatory and will kill to survive, well, that must be imperfection.

OneEyedJoe

That's a really good point. They'll talk about god having a sense of humor (duck-billed platypus) or being loving because animals take care of their young, but they never talk about animals that eat their young or predation.

45

Does Jehovah Intervene - JW Teaching

by thedepressedsoul in

i have been a jw my whole life and i have never been able to get a clear answer on this question.

jw's do not believe that jehovah will intervene if someone is sick, dying or stopping a car crash.

they feel that jehovah is letting "this world" play out before he solves all of these problems.

OneEyedJoe

If Jehovah didn't intervene to help you, it's because he's allowing things in this system to play out. If something good does happen to you, though, it's because of Jehovah.

In short, anything good that happens to you is because of your involvement in the cult, and if anything bad happens it's either Satan's system testing you or because you're not having enough involvement in the cult.

13

Organization, not a concept established by God

by StarTrekAngel in

i was dwelling over a discussion going on at jw-archive.

the old topic of the legitimacy of the gb and the concept of centralized organization.

despite what the wt claims, there are a number of examples in the new testament of actions and decisions taken without direction or even the awareness of the elders in jerusalem.. despite whatever other evidence jw may have about the organizational tendencies of god (namely the creation, universe, whatever else they usually bring up), the concept of an organized nation never originated from god.

OneEyedJoe

The last time I tried to reason with an elder about "conscience" he was totally unable to grasp the thought that it would ever be possible for "the organization" to tell you anything that was not in harmony with God's thinking

Yeah, that's the problem most JWs seem to have, in spite of tons of evidence in the bible of what they consider to have been god's organization of the day going astray. I even asked my wife about that at one point, and she said "this close to the end, I don't think Jehovah would let his organization stray." There's just so many holes in that - for one you have to rely upon this organization being genuine before you can conclude that we're close to the end. Furthermore it apparently removes the allowance for free will.

13

Organization, not a concept established by God

by StarTrekAngel in

i was dwelling over a discussion going on at jw-archive.

the old topic of the legitimacy of the gb and the concept of centralized organization.

despite what the wt claims, there are a number of examples in the new testament of actions and decisions taken without direction or even the awareness of the elders in jerusalem.. despite whatever other evidence jw may have about the organizational tendencies of god (namely the creation, universe, whatever else they usually bring up), the concept of an organized nation never originated from god.

OneEyedJoe

When the Isrealites asked for a king, god was against it but only appointed Sol after they wouldn't let it go, if I remember correctly.

The route I always go is that while god had a chosen nation, that nation often erred and it was the individuals following it that were usually punished, not the leadership. So regardless of whether he has or does have an organization in today's world, I'd much rather live or die by my own conscience vs blindly following an organization since that's no guarantee of salvation either.