Posts by Alive!

13

AM III speech at anual meeting 2021

by Gorb in

jw
friends

just downloaded and watched the am iii speech about expetations about the end.. all i think it is ment to temper the high expetations that the rank and file have build up because of the pandemic.. most jw think that the big end will come now.. gb must be anticipating the anti climax that will come.. it is a very rare speech, i can say, and am iii was in a realistic mood, the audience was laughing and he was thinking "you are idiots", so it seems to me.. g..

Alive!

But wait, so again, it Is all about the witnesses who are already subscribed....what about those that we witnessed to who smelt a rat, who already had little trust in religions and then read that one big prophetic statement after another was flimsy to say the least. ( by the GB) Then they read the deceptive ‘quotes’ where the Watchtower writers manipulated text from different sources. Yes, they did this.

There was NO final end within a generation of 1914. Yet, I was absolutely indoctrinated with that - as so many.

They are all about capturing the fearful loyalty of the already long indoctrinated flock. It’s been like that for at least a couple of decades.

They have no right to hold themselves above any other Christian leadership.

I’m sorry. Yes, they are just human, so yes I get that they can be allowed some slack.....but they, themselves promote and station themselves as the conscience and mini-god of the folk who subject themselves to them.

That’s not acceptable.

23

Armageddon house?

by exjwlemming in

the other night, my wife and i were driving through a upscale suburb with old, large, beautiful homes.

there is one house that my never jw she really likes.

as we drove by the house, i turned to her and said, "that's your armageddon house.

Alive!

Yes. I heard this.....one elder told me that pioneers of old would place their songbooks in the mailbox, to reserve their ‘spot’ - I presumed he was joking.

Another exprsssion has been mentioned here... ‘They’re having their reward in full’ said by contemptuous ‘publishers’.... yes’ heard that many a time.

Somehow, I managed to overlook all this, as human imperfection on the part of some publishers. Although it really troubled me.

As one of tte very privileged few who lived in a high wealth suburb with all the usual trappings, I’d often wonder if this was seen as being materialistic? But brothers and sisters seemed to be almost proud of the wealthier amongst us....whilst dismissive of the wealthy who were not JWs.

I remember on one occasion driving down an inner city street lined with high end restaurants and eateries, it was a summers day and the outdoor tables were full of folk. My pioneer companion laughed, and said ‘look at them all, scoffers in the last days’. I just felt it missed a point. That even though she’d help anyone who needed it, this way of observing these people was unhelpful to keeping in mind that they are humans with needs and hurts...who knows their stories?

Maybe I was being uber sensitive but her comment made me squirm inside, I hated it. Because at those tables were perhaps some needing comfort from eachother, sharing their stories and lives with friends..not just mindless ‘scoffers’.

15

Was 2019 the last convention ever?

by joey jojo in

in a recent feel-good instagram post about the 2019 international convention, a jw remarked, "was it the last convention we will have?".

there is no doubt jw's feel they are truly special and that world events revolve around them directly.

there is also no doubt that whether we get a vaccine for covid or not, and at the moment, its looking very certain that we will, that the world will continue to spin and life will go on, regardless of the beliefs of the jw's.. once the pandemic is over i'm wondering if some jw's will realise that even though they lived through a notable period of time, life kept sailing on, and maybe they aren't that special after all?

Alive!

So, if there are no convention expenses re accommodation, no travelling or dining expenses....brothers and sisters would do well to give prayerful thought to donating their funds that would otherwise go on hotels and all other related costs when attending conventions... The Watchtower will draw the funds in, don’t you worry.

27

Letter read cong is now an association

by Yomama in

jw
friends

what does that mean?.

Alive!

The constant spin doctoring and legal dance stepping makes me sick.

The cost to leave was great, we all know how it goes - we get cut off. Shunned.

Even if we’d done nothing scripturally ‘wrong’ - in a moral sense - We found ourselves alone.

Good friends, good people who loved us as family, felt/feel obliged to think of us as ‘dead’.... ever hoping we may return to the cult.

I’m sorry.... But truly, it’s a Cult.

Awful.

17

"I still miss it Dad" My 41 Year Son Admitted

by 1234 in

jw
friends

on the 18th of september i turned in my disassociation letter in to the tigard congregation, 19 years ago.. my son turned in his letter in november 2001, 19 years ago shortly after me.

he was 21 years old.. two days ago we were working together on a wrap for his a/c unit on his bus.. out of blue, he says "i still miss it dad.

not the religion.

Alive!

I stopped going to meetings around 7-8 years ago.

I was in my mid 50s at the time - over 25 years of building and forging rich friendships. Yes, yes, I know - so you could say they were not ‘real’ friends. But deeply close friendships stay in your heart.

Also, I know that politics can put distance between the closest friendships.

I’m sure that If I became a passionate and vocal Neo- Nazi supporter, I’d lose all my current friends - and I wouldn’t blame them.

The problem is that for witnesses, there are only two sides in this world - Jehovah’s side and Satan’s side. You stop going to meetings, stop nodding vigorously to all the teachings....that’s Satan’s ‘side’ to the JW.

EVEN though you may still honour and keep Scriptural living standards etc...even if you still keep faith in God... to the Witness, you can only be understood as having moved to the dark side.

Do I miss them? Do I miss the security of community, the decades old relationships?

Oh yes. It hurts.

But being with them was hurting too.

Have made some sweet new friends, it takes time. Fortunately I had non-witness friends who I’d known prior to converting who are still part of my life.

But I have to say, it’s hard to just forget those particularly close friends who remain in the org. They were family to me.

12

Self-isolating JW's will at least get a taste of what disfellowshipping is like..

by mikronboy in

jw
friends

humans are basically social animals.

see most any isolated mammal, whether in a zoo or even an outcast of its pride and you'll see one mentally disturbed creature.

maybe, after this pandemic has faded and humans are able to interact once more, some jw's might think twice before being so quick to shun.

Alive!

They won’t change.

26

Great Trib is Starting!

by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara in

jw
friends

just received a text yesterday...lovebombing to return with so called proof of the gt starting...scaremongering at its peak!.

"hey.

missing you at the meetings.

Alive!

In the ’reasons’ for some ‘straying away’ or ‘becoming inactive’ there is one big gap, a missing reason.

None of those ‘points’ apply to me.

But here is my reason:

‘Loss of trust in the organisation and the Governing Body’.

Sorry, but I heard a manipulative tone and voice coming through - it shook me.

Ultimately, I couldn’t deal with learning new ‘truths’, my faith ‘assessed’ by my willingness to accept those ‘truths’ - with the responsibility of teaching others things that were not proven.

I don’t feel comfortable collectively worshipping with a group of people who believe that those who don’t belong to their brand of ‘ark’ are rejected by God.

Put that in your next watchtower study, JW.org.

I’m very angry at your ‘list of reasons’.

You take no accountability or responsibility...leaving those who lost their community to look like the weak ones.

You have no idea how strong I’ve had to be, in the aftermath and heartbreak of losing so much in terms of my known life, identity, faith and trust.

But, there are gains, I trust that the Universal source of all things is greater than poorly written magazines.

I trust in something much, much greater now.

34

Field service shit show

by solomon in

jw
friends

i just got back from field service.

i haven’t been out in a few months so now we don’t keep any written records and we don’t know which houses are do not calls.

i also noticed i was the only one with a book bag.

Alive!

When I was new to the religion, it didn’t take long before I was introduced to the different ways that dedicated pioneers got their hours in.

Why did I say nothing?

It was glaringly wrong, looking back.

I think I passed it off as ‘well at least the hours are spent focussing on Jehovah rather than the world’

😞

8

Latest plans for, jDUMBS

by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara in

jw
friends

this was in the dailytelegraph paper from australasia.

the reason i copied it here is coz you have to be a paid memeber to read anything on their site.if anyone wants to check the source here it is.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourcecode=dtweb_wre170_a_ggl&dest=https%3a%2f%2fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2fnewslocal%2fliverpool-leader%2fjehovahs-witnesses-australasia-proposes-film-studio-office-and-replica-biblical-site%2fnews-story%2f7997a66dbe24ef1a24beea6805d97d68&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21suffix=61-a.

Alive!

John 12:32.

Not Bible thumping - however, if the scriptures are telling us something, then it appears millions and millions spent on global digital presence is not really required?

We’re meant to be talking about the Lord of the Universe.... not the animated/characterised figure of a massive marketing plan.

The Bible Project seems to achieve a decent output of illustrative scriptural messages - did they need a vast real estate acquisition and plan?

I don’t understand the thinking of the JW decision- makers?

22

Middle class elders and pioneering children

by Steel in

i was looking at my hall the other day some of the upper elders who are retired now have had some pretty good jobs and lives of relative comfort.

i am not exactly sure what the education levels were but they were white collar.

most likely started in a world where you didn’t need a lot of education to get a head.

Alive!

We ( husband and self) had a successful business built from pre-JW lives....nothing to do with a cleaning empire.

It was a bit amusing to learn how vast and widespread ‘cleaning’ businesses were amongst JW families/dynasties!

Big healthy contracts, big, big money.

And good for them, good work ethics and drive underlined the most successful of the wealthy business owning JWs.

The cleaning industry was perfect for the JW life model and there was a never ending supply of pioneering, clean and tidy JWs to undertake the various cleaning jobs, which gave the JW businesses an edge over other local firms.

Carpet specialists, office block cleaners... every shape and size.

Sounds like the ‘cleaning’ business thing is global amongst JWs?

It used to make me grin seeing all the commercial cleaning vans turn up at conventions etc.