Topics Started by OneEyedJoe

9
11/30/2014 WT Study - take care of those who are all used up.
by OneEyedJoe in
1. watchtower
2. bible
was bored during today's indoctrination lesson, and you guys weren't generating enough content to keep me entertained, so i looked agreed at next week's a bit.

basically the point of the hour lesson is that once the society has completely used someone up, they're to be dumped on next of kin (or anyone who'll take 'em) to take care of 'em.

obviously the wts can't dip into any of the millions/billions that they're sitting on to pay for the support of ailing missionaries - they've got that money earmarked for new cult compounds and paying off victims of the pedophiles that they've protected over the years.. just another in a recent string of articles paying lip service to taking care of those that have given their life to the cult while they do absolutely nothing from their ivory towers.
24
Today's WT study (10/12/14) - a sales seminar!
by OneEyedJoe in
1. watchtower
2. bible
this cult is getting really shameless.

the wt study was always supposed to be for discussion of 'the deep truths' of the bible.

the wt may have always been filled with utter nonsense, but at least it had the appearance of a topical discussion of bible doctrine.
18
JW.org statistics and the decline in first world countries.
by OneEyedJoe in
1. watchtower
2. scandals
cross posting from another thread.

it seems that i might not be the only nerd here that's interested in statistics like this so maybe it deserves it's own topic.. so i was playing around with google.com/trends with some jw related search terms.

i found the results a bit surprising, and certainly interesting, so i figured i'd share.. first off, the link to what i tried.. one of the most surprising things that stood out was the regional interest.
22
Help me help my DF'd friend
by OneEyedJoe in
1. jw
2. friends
so i got a text from a friend of mine today telling me that he'd been df'd.

since i'm still nominally a witness, this puts me in a tricky spot.

i intend to tell him in no uncertain terms that i will not shun him, but i'm not sure where to go beyond that.
16
Today's public talk: shameless indoctrination
by OneEyedJoe in
1. watchtower
2. bible
today's talk was really somethin'.

so much so that i felt compelled to post this during the wt study.... i didn't pay attention to the theme, but where i to title the talk it would be "logical fallacy, scripture out of context, and phobia indoctrination: a case study in cult indoctrination.".

that's certainly a more honest title than whatever they gave, i'm sure.. it starts out by saying that sometimes people are skeptical about things they're told, and feel compelled to look for evidence of the claims.
3
A biochemist explains his faith
by OneEyedJoe in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
after venting's recent thread on the article on jw.org about the expirimental physicist who became a jw, i figured i'd post up my analysis/rebuttal of another similar article.

when i was going through the process of cleaning out the last bits of doubt from myself, i read a few of these and wrote down my thoughts just because it felt good to actually express it all somehow.

maybe some here (maybe even a lurker or two going through early doubts) will find some value in it.. link to origonal article: http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201310/davey-loos-science-researcher-explains-faith .
8
List of false cause/effect relationships the WTS has asserted
by OneEyedJoe in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the recent thread on the expirimental physicist, where they strongly imply that evolution is taught only as a part of some grand atheist agenda, got me thinking.

once you really step back and look at it, there are a lot of cause/effect relationships that are presented by the wts that are completely false, or at least very misleading.

atheism caused the theory of evolution to gain prominence.. "the corruption of christendom is the leading cause of atheism" (heard at the recent convention at least twice).
20
One language in the new system
by OneEyedJoe in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
so at the convention, one of the talks was about how all people will speak a single language in the new system.

my ears perked up when i heard at the outset "now, we can't be dogmatic about this" because that immediately makes me think that they're backing away from a previously dogmatic stance.

he went on to say that everyone will be speaking hebrew in the new system because "evidently" (another word that gets my ears to perk up these days) that was what was spoken before the languages were confused at bable.
4
John 6:68 vs 2 Timothy 4:3
by OneEyedJoe in
1. watchtower
2. bible
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.".
80
My Experience and how I finally let myself see the truth
by OneEyedJoe in
1. jw
2. experiences
first off - for those lurkers who feel guilty just for being on this site and reading this (even if you don't read any further, as it is your right to choose that course) i want you to know that you're not alone in what you're going through or in what you are feeling.

if you read on, i hope my experience may be of some small help to you.. this may be long, but i'll try to organize it in a way that doesn't make it painful to read.

to start, i feel it is most beneficial if i'm upfront and honest with my goals from posting this, which are (in order of the degree to which they motivated me):.