Before the big change and for a year after, everyone seemed happy. On the second round of "appointments", a number of brand new converts, illiterate men, and socially inept people were "appointed". The second round of appointees had never read the bible even once and had never supervised anyone or anything in their lives. It created a lot of drama and divisions and seemed a disaster. It began to help me see the entire process had nothing to do with Christianity, the bible, or logic.
Balaamsass2
JoinedPosts by Balaamsass2
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Elder Arrangement
by vienne inhi everyone, (including the person who down votes all of my posts).
as some of you know, i'm working toward my master's degree.
comments from those associated when the elder arrangement was introduced would help me with a research paper.. what was the reaction among adherents?
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Balaamsass2
What! I enjoy all the unfulfilled prophicies, flip-flops, and crazy talk of old WT books. I especially enjoy all the Masonic and "pagan" iconology.
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News story claims: "Jehovah’s Witnesses" are QAnon believers"
by Balaamsass2 ini was googling the subject and came across this story.
i just had an incredible phone conversation with a long-time jw who has strong "q-anon" "sovereign citizen" beliefs.
the wife(first gen) says she is not surprised.
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Balaamsass2
Having grown up and worked with "worldly" people in the Silicon Valley, I was a little amused with some of the world views of Bethel residents while I was there. Many were VERY afraid of "worldly people", and would have had no problem believing " the main threads of QAnon’s core theory are that a network of Satan-worshipping pedophiles control the government and media,". I found the underground passages, backup generators, and lockdown procedures amusing....much like the removal of all windows in Kingdom Halls some years ago, and the new "compound" at Walkill.
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Miniimizing 'Punishment' - marrying a non-JW
by doasthouwilt ini’d like to marry my best friend of 30+ years, turned ‘secret’ girlfriend of 1 ½ years who is a jehovah’s witness, born into it, baptized and an active ‘pioneer’.
our marriage would happen prior to letting any of her jw friends and cohorts know that we are together.
once married she may simply come forward and ‘admit’ or we may wait until it’s found out – one way or the other, the reason for this marriage is not customary – i am hoping that by doing so she can avoid being ‘marked’ or possibly ‘disfellowshipped’ once our relationship is no longer a secret and due to our already being married at that point, there can be no notion from society elders about her ending the relationship.
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Balaamsass2
A lot of things don't add up, but #1. if you simply want to reduce her odds of being disfellowshipped, get married without hoopla immediately, and have her leave pioneering and change congregations... immediately. Some bodies of elders don't bother investigating members who have moved....some do.
#2. More importantly, she will never be happy until she deals with her real core beliefs and true self. Please read over the website "JW Facts" with her and then spend the money for counseling with a professional.
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News story claims: "Jehovah’s Witnesses" are QAnon believers"
by Balaamsass2 ini was googling the subject and came across this story.
i just had an incredible phone conversation with a long-time jw who has strong "q-anon" "sovereign citizen" beliefs.
the wife(first gen) says she is not surprised.
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Balaamsass2
Here is the study the story refers to. Fascinating. https://www.prri.org/research/the-persistence-of-qanon-in-the-post-trump-era-an-analysis-of-who-believes-the-conspiracies/
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News story claims: "Jehovah’s Witnesses" are QAnon believers"
by Balaamsass2 ini was googling the subject and came across this story.
i just had an incredible phone conversation with a long-time jw who has strong "q-anon" "sovereign citizen" beliefs.
the wife(first gen) says she is not surprised.
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Balaamsass2
I was googling the subject and came across this story. I just had an incredible phone conversation with a long-time JW who has strong "Q-anon" "Sovereign Citizen" beliefs. The wife(first gen) says she is not surprised.
Post-Trump, see how many Americans, Latter-day Saints and others still buy into QAnon
Wild conspiracy theories continue to hold sway among wide swaths of believers." "Even though Donald Trump no longer is in the White House, featured on the nation’s television screens or Tweeting daily, the QAnon movement — which saw the former president as its de facto leader — is as strong as ever.
Nearly 1 in 6 Americans, or 16%, are “QAnon believers,” according to a poll released Thursday, roughly equal to the 17% found among self-identified U.S. members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The number jumps to 1 in 4 (25%) among the nation’s Republicans.
“Our surveys show that QAnon conspiracy theories are not losing popularity over time, despite their championed leader being out of power,” said Natalie Jackson, director of research at PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute), “... and although 16% seems small, that is around 41 million Americans.”
What is clear from the PRRI survey — titled “The Persistence of QAnon in the Post-Trump Era: An Analysis of Who Believes the Conspiracies” — is that “people who are more likely to believe in the conspiracy theories are those who have a deep distrust of society,” Jackson said. “They wish the country looked different than it does and are trying to find something to explain that.”
That the conspiracy-driven campaign hasn’t declined without Trump doesn’t surprise Matthew Bowman, director of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University, who taught a course on conspiracy theory at the Southern California school.
“For many of these conspiratorial groups, failure of the conspiracy makes those beliefs stronger,” Bowman said. “It forces people to begin justifying their beliefs more thoroughly.”
While QAnon advocates are racially, religiously and politically diverse, the PRRI survey said, “the unifying beliefs are that their way of life is under attack and that they might be willing to resort to violence to defend their vision of the country.”
What makes a person a QAnon devotee?
To be defined as a QAnon believer, a respondent had to generally agree with these three statements:
• “The government, media and financial sector are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation.”
• “There is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders.”
• “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
Though most QAnon believers are white Americans, they are a diverse group religiously.
Around 1 in 4 Hispanic Protestants (27%), white evangelical Protestants (23%), and Jehovah’s Witnesses (23%) are QAnon believers. Some 1 in 5 are other Protestants of color (21%) and Hispanic Catholics (18%).
At 17%, Black Protestants and Buddhists are tied with Latter-day Saints (most U.S. members of the Utah-based faith identify with or lean toward the Republican Party).
Other Catholics of color (15%), white Catholics (14%), or white mainline (nonevangelical) Protestants (14%) are QAnon believers....."
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The 2020 Census of American Religion 07.08.2021
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.prri.org/research/2020-census-of-american-religion/.
more than one-third of muslims (39%), white mainline protestants (37%), buddhists (37%), and the religiously unaffiliated (36%) have at least a four-year college degree.
another 19% are catholic, 2% are latter-day saint, and less than 1% each are jehovah’s witnesses or orthodox christians.
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Balaamsass2
Thank you, Barbara! I always enjoy your posts and information. :)
While I take all self-reported numbers from the borg with a HUGE grain of salt, I look forward to 2022 and 2023 activity reports. While it has become much easier to be counted as a "regular" publisher recently, I find it hard to believe that with all the extra time these last few years to read "outside" information on the internet, more members have not become aware of the truth about the truth.
Will the more "woke" members become officially inactive...or simply turn in a couple of hours to not rock the boat with family and friends....only time will tell.
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So the liberals are lying about people moving out of Kalifornia.
by mickbobcat inmy wife works in real estate here in the midwest.
people are moving in so much from kalifornia its crazy.
she said her client told her that they had to drive to nevada to get a rider truck.
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Balaamsass2
It is tempting to move from California to a place with a lower cost of living. If 3rd gen and I moved to Nevada or Arizona our cost of living would drop by almost 30%. An identical home would cost half of our current one. I would miss our snow-covered mountains and our green yard, but I could take some photos and hang them on the wall. :)
If you stay out of high-crime cities, crime is not a big concern. Certainly safer than New York City. The Mrs does have pepper spray on her keychain, and it is easy to buy a gun if you don't have a criminal record.
Every place has negatives. Hurricanes, floods, Tornados, sub-zero winters, constant rain, droughts, are all things I like to avoid.
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Do any of you ex JW`s ever feel ashamed or embarrassed to admit you were once a JW? To your now friends / associates ?
by smiddy3 ini ask this now because i have been living in this town for the past 14 years and the circle of friends i have now i have never let on i am an ex jw.. i`m talking about 30-50 people at least.. not that the subject has ever really come up , but i think they would be shocked / amazed that i was a ( i hate this word ) a "devout" jw for 32 years going around knocking on peoples doors trying to convert them to the religion .. yet every now and again i get tempted to.. how say you ?.
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Balaamsass2
I am not ashamed, but I don't broadcast it. In business and professional settings, I believe it may create some concern about your ability for rational thought.
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If the Almighty, Powerful, benevolent God had a book written for humans, what would it contain?
by pistolpete ini know for a fact it would not start off with a talking snake, magical fruit, invisible beings that desire beautiful women to have sex with.. and it wouldn’t end with a flying dragon, a two horned lamb, locusts that resembled horses with men’s faces, but with women’s hair and teeth of lions.
and the book wouldn’t allow for hundreds of millions of religions to spurt from it.
i think the first thing a book written by god would have, is that it would be written in a way that all languages could understand without being translated.. regardless of what language you would speak, we could read it and understand what it said.
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Balaamsass2
I would expect clear, correct, consistent advice on Science, Engineering, Nutrition, Medicine, Psychology, and law.