I think that the temptation is becoming too great for the GB to just say the heck with it and embrace the total rebranding of the religion business with a view to strengthening its niche in the lucrative new Sesame-Street-like, novelty-gift-shop cyber-evangelical market. After all, they’re all about attention getting and narcissistic glory, and they’re always up for cashing in whatever is going at the time. Blue “JW.org” fuzzy dice for the rearview mirror anyone?
Posts by SAHS
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12The last refuge of a cult
by undercover inthe wts struggles to survive in the 21st century, what with the internet, social media, instant communication, instant video, instant music, instant porn, er, not that i'd know anything about that last one... but anyhoo.... as they struggle to keep the young ones indoctrinated, they've finally realized that sitting in wt meetings four days a week, and knocking on doors at least once a week is not appealing to millennials, and with all the new technology at their fingertips, it doesn't take but a couple of clicks of a mouse to find enough disturbing info on the wts to encourage them to fade away.. so what to do?
well, if you can't beat em, join em.
after years of demonizing the internet, televangelists, showboating religious leaders, and discouraging anything that could lead a person to question their authority, they finally figured out they can't beat em.
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January 15 wt 2015
by New day inapologies if something has been posted on this before but if you go to jw.org and find the jan 15 2015 wt (study edition) please read the article before the study articles.
it is entitled "they offer themselves willingly in new york.
" please read it and let me know what you think.
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SAHS
No, “New day,” you must certainly not be “the only one to think that this is a real piece of work.” Any thinking person, such as yourself and myself, would surely have at least some part of their brain lighting up with some kind of error messages about the idea of the WTS suggesting that people be “selling homes and possessions to work there” and then “have to find somewhere to live, work,” and even “pay for their own accommodation and living expenses and commute a day or more each week to work on the new HQ.”That reminds me about how the WTS used to strongly “suggest” that people make extreme sacrifices for the organization in anticipation of the 1975 thing by way of writing about some people who actually (apparently) sold their homes and farms! What they had so cleverly prophesied back then – about Armageddon happening in 1975 – of course never happened, but, what they’re focusing on now will happen – that is, the construction of a brand-spanking-new headquarters in Warwick by slave labor from a bunch of their willing dupes. That, unfortunately, will happen. -
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Quick introduction
by OzGirl inonly have a few minutes to spare so thought i would throw this together.. been in for about 30 years.
questions and doubts gathered over that time.
i have a keen interest in the legal and financial matters of the watchtower.. came across this site about 5 years ago.
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SAHS
Welcome to the board, “OzGirl”! In this “time of the end,” people are always flocking to the Mountain of the House of Jehovahs-Witness.com!
The financial/legal aspects of the WT organization are just the tip of the iceberg (or the pyramid, if you like). The more you take a peek at the whole underlying premise of the WT “religion,” the more painfully obvious it becomes that it is all based upon men’s quirky little end-of-the-world ideas that don’t even make sense let alone stand up to any genuine scrutiny. So, one wouldn’t expect that its financial and legal structures would be any more transparent and accountable.
As far as the money goes, there doesn’t seem to be any one single account or entity holding it, but, rather, there are so many sub-corporations (like little tenticles), investment entities, and various hedge funds that it would probably make Donald Trump’s head spin!
Legally, the show must be run by their lawyers, whose sphere of leadership takes on a life if its own. (After all, somebody has to steer the ship around obvious rocky obstacles in the real world.) The actual governing body, however, is just a figurehead. They can (and certainly do) spout out as much nonesense as they wish and there is no real accountability, because they can just claim “ecclesiastical privilege.” (You know, the separate church-and-state thing.) But the lawyers and in-house business think tanks are obviously busy seeking more ways to diversify their self-serving business model. (Did I mention it’s a “pyramid” scheme? Get it – pyramid? Russell’s gravestone?)
So, some professional (i.e., approved “higher education” recipients) folks have to be navigating the seas of free market enterprise and structuring things so as to reap the best return on investment (i.e., fat dividends right up to the top), like any other ambitious lucrative enterprise. But as for the little “glory team” of the governing body, they’re just along for the ride in the “popemobile” – more like those funny Shriners clowns driving those comical tiny go carts around in circles. In Brooklyn, and soon Warwick, the circus is always in town!
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Strange Webpage
by wannaexit inwhat do you make of this:.
https://sandiegokingdomhall.wordpress.com/.
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SAHS
The real Jehovah’s Witness organization doesn’t need an ad like this on such a Web page – they’re already doing much more efficient begging for donations in the Watchtower magazine. (I.e., instructions on how to donate wills, trusts, real estate, insurance policies, jewellery, etc. They even have a pamphlet on how to go about “planned giving.”) -
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What is the difference? Aren't they both idols?
by brandnew inwhat is the difference between .
and this ?.
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SAHS
When you compare the new “blue box” logo of the WTS with these Scientology logos, you can really see the similarities in their types of usage and perceived importance:
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French article on JW brain washing brain
by wannaexit in.
http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/01/24/le-cerveau-lave-par-les-temoins-de-jehovah.
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SAHS
It would have been really great if that article, and any others like it, included the following rather informative and poignant link:
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php
Now, that tends to shine a light (true light, not new light!) on such ridiculous lies as this Léonce Crépeau fellow, and others like him.
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Article about Newburgh, NY, seeking new hotel zoning definitions because of JWs buying hotels/motels and taking property off tax rolls
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.recordonline.com/article/20150128/news/150129290/101019.
response to nonprofit's housing for volunteer workers .
posted jan. 28, 2015 @ 8:55 pm updated jan 29, 2015 at 12:18 am .
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SAHS
You know how they used to set up giant “tent city” camps a long time ago during the old district conventions to temporarily house all those people near the stadium grounds? It was like a small town that sprung up, with lots of volunteers setting up necessary amenities. Now, if the Watchtower could manage that, I’m thinking, why couldn’t they try setting up some kind of similar “campground” on or near their new construction site to temporarily house the travelling volunteer workers? They certainly could, you would think. I mean, they did something like that before for the conventions, back when they were eight days long. Now, I’m not talking about the exact same thing as that, per se, but maybe something appropriately equivalent to serve the needs of those travelling volunteer workers. Then the Watchtower wouldn’t have to spend as much money purchasing hotels, and the communities where the hotels are located wouldn’t have to put up with having prime real estate taken off their tax rolls. It’s economical and “self-sustaining” for the Watchtower and fair for the community at large. It’s win win for everyone, you would think. -
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Hello
by Garrett inhello forum,.
i'm new here and not sure where to post.
so, i'm 21 years old and currently a baptized witness, however, i'm slowly making my mind up to leave and here's why.. first, there are certain things that make no sense to me in the organization.
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SAHS
To “Garrett”: Working in your favour is the fact that not only are you just 21 years old but also that none of your family are Jehovah’s Witnesses. You haven’t accumulated as much baggage and family entanglement as us poor folks like me who are older. (I’m 48½ years old.)
As for the depression, I do hope that it is being taken care of by a competent doctor. I too am on antidepressant medication. I used to self-medicate for quite a long time by drinking, mainly the bubbly stuff that pours out of those taps at the pub. Now I’m trying to go about things a little smarter.
Just like “Hortensia” wrote, I too “I figured I was going to be burnt toast at armageddon anyway.” I grew up basically thinking that I was on death row for having been condemned because I had sinned against the holy spirit. (Thus my user name, “SAHS.”) But now that I have done some extensive research on the Watchtower’s quirky and fallacious interpretations and policies, I have switched to a much more agnostic and atheistic direction (a much expected and understandable result for many of us, after having been force-fed so much tripe and puke for so long by “God’s one-and-only true organization”).
I think that “EndofMysteries” is absolutely right in saying: “If you don’t have family in or anybody you care to keep in contact with, then by all means DA or just don’t show up again.” But in that case, I would say to anyone in your situation: “DA and just don’t show up again.” I mean, what would you have to lose? You will find that if you submit your own personal disassociation letter to the Watchtower, it will give you the satisfaction of having given them a good piece of your mind – which is most validating and exhilarating, and tends to have a very positive effect on one’s depression as well! You will find that the longer you have been away from the stagnant and oppressive Watchtower cult environment, the better off you will be in all respects. And all that nonsense of the cult will eventually just seem like the bad dream that it is.
Take care, and all the best to you in your personal search for meaning and serenity.
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New member, no longer just reader...
by freemindfade inso i joined very recently and began posting and commenting without a formal intro.
been reading for a while, decided it was time to jump in.
mentally i am completely cleansed of this thing, but still have to maintain a minimal involvement for spouse and family.
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SAHS
Terry makes a lot of sense, and, as usual, his pensive yet poignant sentiments are well-expressed.
What we have been taught – and had pushed on us so relentlessly and for so long – has, in fact, been proven to be nothing more than a lie and a fraud. Now, the WBTS has no doubt had some good intentions, but the bottom line is that truth is truth, and false is false. So, whatever good intentions at least some folks in the WBTS may have had, it nevertheless – regardless of the degree to which they were either just naively mistaken or deliberately dishonest and high-handed – has, in fact, been formulating and promulgating falsehood, often with an underlying self-serving tone. (Their numerous attempts at ascertaining a one-and-only truthful interpretation of the Scriptures have been of the same batting average as someone striking at a piñata wearing a blindfold in a coal mine a mile underground with the lights out.)
There is certainly no reason to be ashamed by daring to question anything. As an old chum of ours by the name of Raymond Franz once said, extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, and one who would take on the role of claiming to be the sole mouthpiece for Almighty God would be assuming a most awesome responsibility – or at least something to that effect (I don’t have those exact quotations from his books in front of me right now).
Everyone has every right to make enquiries about that which is most relevant and important to life itself and the essence and their very being as a whole person. Keep an open mind, and remember: life is a journey – and it is as uniquely personal as the number of individual people there are.
As Terry closed with in his above post, “Now you stand to become the change in the world you wish to see happen.” Everyone is essentially the master of their own destiny. We are all really just a bunch of carbon, calcium, water, and a very few number of other basic elements (I forget exactly which) having a finite time to live on this earth before those elements again become literally part of the earth itself. So, you have every right to live it well, as you see fit, to the best of your knowledge.
Welcome to the board!
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i know this has been talked about. but isn't wearing JW.org stuff idol worship
by goingthruthemotions inso i am getting really frustrated...i see jdub's wearing jw.org items and .
isn't this idol worship.
respond if you like...i just want some .
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SAHS
The WT has always been pointing their finger at other religions, most notably Catholics, who make use of images and icons. They’ve been regularly pointing out the material in their Reasoning From the Scriptures book regarding God’s supposed view of images and icons in parts in the Theocratic Ministry School, and how apparently wrong it is. (False religion, don’t you know!)
I know a brother who put decal lettering “YHWH” on the back of his station wagon in the 1980s. Apparently some brothers frown on such chintzy bumper-sticker-religion displays, as did the WT, but, alas, . . . here we are now with all those annoying blue “JW.org” squares on everything. What’s that word again? . . . oh yah, “hypocrisy.” How ridiculous!
There are two of those blue square things on the display sign at our Kingdom Hall, one on each side. They clash with the sign, which is maroon/burgundy-colored. Those blue squares look rather out of place. You can tell that they’re on there “just because.”
“Honesty”: “. . . the indoctrination is so deep that it overwhelms their common sense.”
That’s really about it. In a JW’s eyes, the WT can do no wrong. (That is, unless they happen to be among the growing number who are starting to actually wake up.)
