Posts by SAHS

24

Well, it was a fine week to LEAVE!

by RagingBull in

jw
friends

....well, i was going to wait.

go out with a bang!?

i decided (like many others this week!

SAHS

“RagingBull”: “The MORE people start leaving, the MORE others will notice and will have a NEED to find out WHY so many are leaving so fast...so frequently.”

I was just thinking: Back in the early days, the Bible Students / JWs would stand outside of the Christian churches on Sundays and hand out tracts to the people as they were leaving the property. Now, if the people who voluntarily leave the JWs did something similar, say, handing out some color flyers from “AAWA.co” or some choice material from “JWFacts.com,” then maybe that would get quite a few JWs to start the process of actually questioning and eventually waking up. The JWs did basically the same thing back in their early glory days, so if us contemporary “apostates” did something similar, we could always say that fair is fair.

18

Failure

by backformore in

jw
friends

so tonight just sucks ad i just want to vent to people who don't know me irl.. my wife and i have two kids.

i was still in when we got together but my wife never was.

when we actually got married i moved out of my parents place and never went back to a kingdom hall again.

SAHS

To “backformore”: Just a general principle that comes to my mind is that old saying, “One in the hand is better than two in the bush” (probably relating to catching birds). It all boils down to playing the odds. The given known is that you have your wife and two children right now and everything seems more or less “okay” for you and your family. Spin the wheel of chance and it lands on a third child by invetro fertilization, and there could be devestating problems with your wife and/or whatever baby which the process might produce. Or, spin the wheel and it lands on a third child by adoption, and there could likewise be some kind of unfortunate problems and grief, either now or later. Or, spin the wheel and it lands on a third child by an interim arrangement of foster care through some family services agency. Again, there could be some unforseen problems and grief, but more on a trial basis than a permanent arrangement. Still, none of the options which that wheel of chance could land on have any guarantees of absolute or worry-free “success.” Again, it’s basically a matter of playing the odds.

If I were you, not being any kind of a gambling man myself, I would only proceed with the utmost caution and patience. You could keep spinning that wheel of chance, but you know that you could always simply take what you have right now – which seems to me, from your above post, to be quite “okay” and desirable indeed. Above anything else, just make sure that you and your family enjoy whatever you have right at this moment, and try not to agonize or worry unnecessarily. Above all, just bask in the happiness, contentment, and gratitude which is tangibly possible right at this very moment.

Take care. Best wishes for you and your family.

11

Anointed JW Today And Tianamen Square

by metatron in

jw
friends

https://anointedjw.org/fight_fine_fight.html.

first, message received, i get it.

these guys are way out there and full of themselves.

SAHS

“anointedjw.org/Fight_Fine_Fight.html”: “The Governing Body has no problem with brothers proclaiming their so-called ‘earthly hope,’ yet through their minions, they seek to silence all who dare even mention their heavenly hope!”

I can see where the GB would be worried about a steady influx of rank-and-file members identifying themselves as anointed because, according to them, the number of anointed partakers yearly should really be going down as an indication of the nearness of Armageddon, but instead it is going up. (Notice how the yearly anointed partakers figure, along with the yearly preaching statistics report, is no longer prominently featured in the Watchtower magazine!) This only serves to show that the partakers who are considered “properly anointed” as per the GB are really no more legitimately anointed than anybody else.

“anointedjw.org/Fight_Fine_Fight.html”: “As loyalty to the Governing Body becomes more radicalized and suspicions upon innocent brothers continue to increase, the organization will ultimately implode under its own self aggrandizement and manmade teachings.”

The fact that they are, indeed, a self-appointed, self-serving group of men is being revealed more and more for all to see, especially now with such greater access to information.

41

Cross & Crown Logo In New WT.org Video For Children?

by SAHS in

jw
friends

the following photo is a still frame captured from the latest semi-animated video on jw.org called caleb and sophia visit bethel:.

here is the direct link to this video:.

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/caleb-sophia-visit-bethel/.

SAHS

“LogCon”: “i HAVE TO GO TO bEd. wHAT tIME Is iT? wHEre AM i ?”

Your post and the look of the eyeballs on your avatar say it all. Sounds like someone’s been reaching out for the office of overBEER. Don’t worry. I’ve certainly been there. Nighty-night.

41

Cross & Crown Logo In New WT.org Video For Children?

by SAHS in

jw
friends

the following photo is a still frame captured from the latest semi-animated video on jw.org called caleb and sophia visit bethel:.

here is the direct link to this video:.

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/caleb-sophia-visit-bethel/.

SAHS

“minimus”: “I am surprised that they show anything they regard as pagan or demonic. If a JW had, in their home, a picture of a cross, they'd be in trouble.”

So true! I have heard of brothers making judgmental comments about kids and teenagers even having posters of their favorite baseball players on the wall in their room, supposedly being a form of “idolotry.” But in terms of having or displaying anything with supposed “pagan origins” or using secular religious books or even other Bible translations, then it’s always okay just for THEM only, but not okay for any rank-and-file members, who are apt to get pulled into the old “back room” of the Kingdom Hall for not keeping totally up to date with the WT “celestial chariot.”

42

Today's WT study!. Watch out for the "wicked" in the cong!

by stuckinarut2 in

how strange today's study was!.

warning examples of apostacy, and saying to all witnesses "watch for bad associations in the cong".

talk about paranoia and distrust amongst themselves!.

SAHS

“stuckinarut2”: “. . . saying to all witnesses "watch for bad associations in the cong" . . . Talk about paranoia and distrust amongst themselves!”

“NAVYTOWN”: “. . . that paranoid way of viewing others is still being promoted by the GB. Maybe this suspiciousness will cause more JWs to see the light and get out.”

“Quandry”: “. . . lets look with a suspicious eye at everyone around us.”

That sure sounds like authoritarian or totalitarian countries, such as North Korea, Cambodia, old Russia, WWII Germany under the Nazis, etc., where people are/were encouraged to spy on and turn in their neighbors or even their friends! Same sort of Orwellian mindset.

22

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 09-14-2014 WT Study (UNRIGHTEOUSNESS)

by blondie in

jw
friends

comments you will not hear at the 09-14-2014 wt study (july 15, 2014, pages 12-16 (renounce unrighteousness).

http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/?contentlanguagefilter=en&pubfilter=w&yearfilter=2014.

review comments will be headed outside the boxes.

SAHS

My long-time, well-known elder dad conducted this Watchtower study at our hall, and I sat right beside my long-time JW mom. I just had to make a couple of rather poignant and provocative comments.

First, I commented on paragraph one, which states “the name Jehovah” apparently being “God’s personal name,” which “occupies a special place in our worship.” Of course, I mentioned that the name “Jehovah” is actually a transliteration of the Hebrew letters “YHWH” of the tetragrammaton with the vowels in the word for “Lord,” which is “Adonai,” to produce “YaHoWaH,” which was first used by a Spanish Dominican monk, Raymundus Martini, in his book Pugeo Fidei, published in 1270 A.D., which was when the name “Jehovah” was first invented. The study conductor (my dad) then said that God’s name wasn’t “invented” but was always there throughout history. (However, we, of course, know that whatever the original name used for God was couldn’t have been “Jehovah” because that is in Latin – a language which was not even around in the time of the ancient Hebrews!)

My second comment was on either paragraph 11 or 12-13, I can’t quite remember which one. (I was originally going to comment on paragraph ten but wasn’t called on then.) I said that where people get into trouble is when they “go beyond the things written” in the Scriptures and add or take away from the Scriptures in following “controversial ideas” of men, which are constantly changing. (I hope that I got the point across to at least someone in the audience.)

41

Cross & Crown Logo In New WT.org Video For Children?

by SAHS in

jw
friends

the following photo is a still frame captured from the latest semi-animated video on jw.org called caleb and sophia visit bethel:.

here is the direct link to this video:.

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/caleb-sophia-visit-bethel/.

SAHS

Good catch, “Oubliette”! One for each of the two animated kids to look at . . . . and wonder.

41

Cross & Crown Logo In New WT.org Video For Children?

by SAHS in

jw
friends

the following photo is a still frame captured from the latest semi-animated video on jw.org called caleb and sophia visit bethel:.

here is the direct link to this video:.

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/caleb-sophia-visit-bethel/.

SAHS

The following photo is a still frame captured from the latest semi-animated video on JW.org called “Caleb and Sophia Visit Bethel”:

WT Archive Display with Cross & Crown Logo

Here is the direct link to this video:

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/caleb-sophia-visit-bethel/

The photo shows a general archive display apparently at the Bethel (I’m assuming that this is at the current Watchtower headquarters) which seems to include some photos of the famous vintage presentation Photo Drama of Creation. Notice one of the little photos in the display which I have highlighted with the yellow circle. That sure appears to me to be the famous “cross and crown” logo which the Watchtower Society used to place on the cover of the Watchtower magazines. You can judge for yourselves, but I’m pretty sure that that is what it shows.

The reason for this thread is this: Don’t you find it just a little odd and strange that the current video for children featured on JW.org, which would be seen by possibly millions, would present a scene showing an archive display photo of the “cross and crown” logo which is positioned basically right above the heads of the characters, Caleb and Sophia? Most viewers would simply pass right over this, but to me it seems to be a rather glaring manifestation of the obvious “pagan” and “mystical” roots of the Watchtower organization.

As a refresher, the following photo shows one of the actual Watchtower magazine covers bearing that logo near the top-left corner.

WT Magazine with Cross & Crown Logo

Here is a single photo of a cross and crown logo by itself:

Cross & Crown Logo by itself

Also, here is another still frame from that same video on JW.org showing the characters, Caleb & Sophia, with Governing Body member Anthony Morris III. I must wonder, what would be the appropriateness of showing the characters in a video for children posing with a member of the Governing Body? Wouldn’t that be idolizing man, which is really a form of idolatry? This kind of makes one think about the almost star-struck view which the JWs have of their very much human leaders, as well the rather self-aggrandizing view which the Governing Body has of themselves:

Caleb & Sophia with Anthony Morris III

I know that this could appear to some to be somewhat petty, but these are all just part of the “red flags” which constantly accumulate which at some point would surely cause a person to eventually wake up and say, “Hey!”

56

My JW mom is now willing to "listen" to our side...Need advice pls

by 2pink in

jw
friends

my husband and i (both born in jws with extended family all "in" except for one of my sisters who left when we did) left the church 5 years ago.

we did not fade, we just didn't believe it anymore, told our families so and left.

obviously, big drama in our family after this, messy feelings, etc.

SAHS

The other ones I can think of are:

• The identification of the “superior authorities” of Romans chapter 13, which has been changed and then changed back again;

• The policy regarding organ transplants (once thought to be cannibalism), which was also changed and then changed back again;

• The policy about getting immunization shots against major diseases (polio, influenza, tuberculosis, small pox, rabies, etc.);

• Flimsy scripture references WTS uses to prohibit birthdays, mother’s/father’s day, tattoos, lottery tickets, smoking, hypnotherapy, beards, women microphone handlers, etc. (you know, those scriptures that just don’t fit at all), often making them disfellowshipping offenses (except beards, I guess, which is more related to earning “privileges” in the congregation).

The search feature shown at the top of this JWD Web page will easily provide all the necessary WTS literature references and scriptural references they use, which can more than adequately show that the WTS has basically been trying to pound a square peg into a round hole as far as forcing their own “scriptural” interpretations.