worse than being stupid is thinking you are smart while you are stupid.. i should know.. for many years i was a special category of "stupid"; i was jehovah's witness stupid.. .
what does that entail?
listen and i'll tell you.. ___________________________________________________________.
YES, I was JW stupid for many years as well!
Being brought up in Watchtower affected my life negatively in soooooo many ways.
I always did well in school and at work, but believing the "END" was "just around the corner" affected many life decisions negatively. "Failure to plan...is planning to fail."
calamity howling is always in style with some folks, every year.
1974 was 50 years ago this year!
i was fresh out of high school bright eyed and earnest about all things jw and watchtower.
Calamity howling is always in style with some folks, every year.
1974 was 50 years ago this year! I was fresh out of high school bright eyed and earnest about all things JW and Watchtower. I was earning $10 an hour working full time manufacturing tiny parts for those new-fangled computers. Every talk from the platforms at my Kingdom Hall, and Conventions warned of the END OF THE WORLD as we know it!!! WOW!! 1975 was the END OF 6,000 years of man’s existence on the planet-according to JWs!! (My non-JW dad rolled his eyes about Watchtower’s teachings and prodded me to go to college, save 10%+ of every paycheck, and buy a house. He said: if you don’t go to college, at least do the same work for Hewitt Packard Corp., buy a house, save, get a decent pension and benefits, and you will be set in your old age!)
BUT… At the time all the calamity howlers, preppers, and Watchtower seemed right! The US had just lost the Vietnam War to China’s and the USSR’s proxy North Vietnam. The Soviets seemed unstoppable. Nixon had just resigned in disgrace. The inflation rate was 11.1%! 1974 was a Bear market, and stocks tumbled 43%! The Dow was down to 570 on Dec 9, 1974 (42,124. 9/24/24). Watchtower predicted that people would soon be “throwing their worthless money in the streets!”. Mom and many JW relatives ran up credit card balances, or sold homes, or quit jobs expecting to “never have to pay back debts in this system”!! (Meanwhile, Dad rolled his eyes and invested in more real estate and stocks).
Who did I listen to in 1974? Calamity howling JWs, “EXPERTS” and WATCHTOWER!! After much prodding from the magazines, books, the platform and local elders, I quit my full-time job and started to pioneer!! A year later I went to Bethel!! After returning from Bethel, I pioneered and went to where the need was great! I didn’t save a penny! Always out in Serve-us. Poverty ensued, while THE END did not arrive in 1975,76,77,78,79,80,81, or 1982 and on and on. The 1914 Generation DID pass away by the 90s! (Meanwhile Dad had just kept his corporate job, and kept investing, while politely rolling his eyes at me).
Had I ignored Watchtower, AND popular press Calamity Howlers of 1974, and simply listened to my “Worldly” Dad, how much money would I have now by simply investing $166 per month ($8 work day) in a retirement account with an average S&P stock return of 11% for 50 years??? $3,354,829.90. Yes, folks, THREE MILLION DOLLARS. Lesson? Simple 6th grade math, compound interest, and common sense would have beat Watchtower and all the calamity howlers of 1974….and 2024.
https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator
thehttps://youtu.be/ycplox56-rk?si=l51-gppfzccoguhd u.s. department of state’s 2024 report on religious freedom sheds light on various challenges faced by minority religious groups around the world.
while the report covers many nations, one of the key regions of focus is japan, where jehovah’s witnesses are encountering growing hostility amidst a shifting legal and social landscape.
this article explores the issues jehovah’s witnesses face in japan and the broader implications for religious freedom in the country.. ### the u.s. report: focus on cults and minority groups.
Russels and Rutherford's loud and in-your-face USA public relations campaigns and theology don't translate well in all cultures.
Child abuse isn't acceptable in any modern culture.
say it ain’t so!
.
in one sense it’s a no brainer because the figures just don’t add up any more.. in another (negative) sense it’s a no brainer because it’s been fundamental to jws since year dot and might undermine the whole thing?
Lol. I thought this is an EX JW forum discussing a thread about a possible NEW NEW Newer flip flop from headquarters!! Instead it is being hijacked by a couple of self appointed G.E.D. Theologians. :) I guess we could also discuss how many angels can dance on a pin head, the REAL number of buttons on Santa Claus' tunic, or exactly how long can the Greek God Poseidon hold his breath underwater!
new to the forum.
i have a question i did not get any feed back for on another site.
what to these people who gave decades working for free in bethel when they are 60 plus years old.
It all depends.. Walking into the local Social Security office is really the only way to find out. Most Bethelites did some real work before Bethel and have some credits. They may need to go back to work doing SOMETHING to build up enough recent "credits" and retirement savings before eventually applying for Social Security at 62, 66 or 70s in the USA. Bethel contributed a little for me based on a minimum wage calculation based on my meager allowance and room and board. I have no idea what has been done more recently.
Bookkeeping, tax prep, window washing, apartment managers, sales, Uber Driving...anything a senior can (hopefully) physically do long enough that pays INTO the Social Security system to build up credits before actually filing to claim benefits in their 70s. No doubt they will make so little they will qualify for government subsidized groceries, housing and medical right away. They may be living in their car or on a park bench at first. :(
hey karter can you post this for me?
as you know my ex wife and i adopted her brother at 7 years old when his parents passed away.. we brought him up a j.w but he left at 16 and moved in with his girlfriend.. it came out he had been interfering with our 3 daughters when they were very young.. he never got prosecuted becouse my daughters didnt want to ( i suspect their mother a hard out j.w has something to do with that) so basicly he walked free.. latter in life he left his girlfreind comes back to the j.ws and they welcome him like the prodical son and he marries a j.w.. if anyone reading this thinks the j.ws like to hide c.s a read on.. it came to my attention recently by 2 ex elders that had read the letter that followers him when he moves congros that it says the sex bettween him and my daughters was consensual..they were under 10 years old.. this were it gets disgusting.. i approach the p.o of my old congro and ask him who wrote the letter he said he had moved by that time go see another elder .. i did he didnt know as well and said for me to ring the branch.. i did and they were not interested in changing the letter at all basicly go away.. the offender has moved congros 3 times and every time they elders think my daughters under 10 went along with this pos.. not sure what my next move is as the branch here has closed down and they operate out of a diffrent country.. if anyone wants to ask questions ill p.m the reply to you..
Child abuse investigations are a specialty investigation. Elders HAVE ZERO expertise in this area and have really botched up many cases over the years. Leave it to the professionals. You may ruin innocent peoples lives, or.... botch a crime scene.
an interesting video was on youtube with a person claiming that the memorial date for 2024 was wrong.
so i consulted three different jewish calendars online and sure enough, he appears to be right.
i went back to 2014 and forward to 2027. they have the future dates listed.
Half my office at a financial institution was Jewish. Believe me, they have REAL Scholars who research this stuff and provide accurate calendars to their Synagogues world wide.
The uneducated Bethel Scholars at Watchtower are a joke in comparison. Even when they KNOW the TRUTH about a subject their is always the "Theocratic Strategy"(Lie/misinformation) angle to consider in what they publish.
hey karter can you post this for me?
as you know my ex wife and i adopted her brother at 7 years old when his parents passed away.. we brought him up a j.w but he left at 16 and moved in with his girlfriend.. it came out he had been interfering with our 3 daughters when they were very young.. he never got prosecuted becouse my daughters didnt want to ( i suspect their mother a hard out j.w has something to do with that) so basicly he walked free.. latter in life he left his girlfreind comes back to the j.ws and they welcome him like the prodical son and he marries a j.w.. if anyone reading this thinks the j.ws like to hide c.s a read on.. it came to my attention recently by 2 ex elders that had read the letter that followers him when he moves congros that it says the sex bettween him and my daughters was consensual..they were under 10 years old.. this were it gets disgusting.. i approach the p.o of my old congro and ask him who wrote the letter he said he had moved by that time go see another elder .. i did he didnt know as well and said for me to ring the branch.. i did and they were not interested in changing the letter at all basicly go away.. the offender has moved congros 3 times and every time they elders think my daughters under 10 went along with this pos.. not sure what my next move is as the branch here has closed down and they operate out of a diffrent country.. if anyone wants to ask questions ill p.m the reply to you..
If you have a house on fire do you call the Elders, the Branch, or the FIRE DEPARTMENT?
Walk into the Police Department, or Prosecutors office during business hours, and file a formal report, preferably WITH the VICTIM.
You may also want to take the victim to an attorney.
https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/verdict-philadelphia-county-man-convicted-of-sexual-abuse-of-a-young-child-charged-after-grand-jury-investigation-of-jehovahs-witnesses-congregation-members/.
verdict: philadelphia county man convicted of sexual abuse of a young child; charged after grand jury investigation of jehovah’s witnesses congregation members.
september 17, 2024 .
Thanks !
I keep hoping for a criminal witness tampering or obstruction charge against the GB....hope springs eternal.......
can anyone give me a rundown or send me to a thread on the robert hendriks thing?
he was recently 'dismissed' from bethel and was pid (public information department?
) i'm not even sure i have this right..... thanks much.
When you spell his name correctly a little is still available of Hendriks. Here is an ABC 2020 interview: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=745866809546613
Imdb :"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13578918/bio/
