Posts by seattleniceguy

8

How much do you know?

by fearnotruth22 in

a dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

a cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

a crocodile cannot stick out its tongue.

seattleniceguy

No wonder my goldfish never seem to recognize me!

SNG

2

What did we talk about?

by seattleniceguy in

jw
friends

i enjoyed a thoughtful discussion with a friend last night that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.

we two xjws talked about things like direction and purpose in life, religion, and the like.

about three-quarters of the way through, it struck me that this conversation would have been impossible only a year ago, when we were both jws, because we were objectively discussing these matters without regard for what the official jw party line was.

seattleniceguy

I enjoyed a thoughtful discussion with a friend last night that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. We two XJWs talked about things like direction and purpose in life, religion, and the like. About three-quarters of the way through, it struck me that this conversation would have been impossible only a year ago, when we were both JWs, because we were objectively discussing these matters without regard for what the official JW party line was.

Suddenly, I wondered, what did I talk about when I was a JW? It's actually a bit hard to remember. I have never been a fan of superficial dialogue, so I think I talked about the same subjects. I suppose I just censored myself from "dangerous" ground. Thinking back, I believe that the topic would spirit from one subject to the next when verging on territory that might contradict the WT universe-view. Knowing what I am able to experience now, I think that my conversations must have been terribly shallow and uninteresting.

How has the quality of your conversations changed since leaving the Witnesses?

SNG

55

The Watchtower Attendance Crisis

by metatron in

jw
friends

if the average congregation has about 83 publishers in the us, then the organization may be sinking into a crisis.. take that 83 and consider that half the congregations may have less.. take away '15 minute publishers' who don't attend.

take away completely fake publishers who rarely attend.

take away increasingly tired publishers who 'feel sick', are depressed, or just want to stay at home and watch tv.. .

seattleniceguy

Regarding Joker's claim that there are always more in attendance than the number of publishers, I have to say that this is not true of any congregation I've ever been a member of, either here or in Japan. My last congregation had something like 115 publishers, but we rarely broke that number for Sunday meetings. Weekday meetings were typically around 80-90, which is only 70-80% attendance. I'm sure of the numbers, because I was in Sound and I very often either relayed the info to the brother who was closing, or I closed myself.

In spite of these numbers, when the CO recently announced a goal of 75 people for Saturday morning service, we actually met the goal. I think there were more people present for service than were there for the Thursday night meeting. Of course, the next week it was back to normal.

SNG

4

To Joysome

by Steve Lowry in

jw
friends

"i've been on this site for about a week now.

i'm here because i am confused but honestly the more i come to this site the more bogus i feel that it is.

it actually makes me believe in the truth even more it really does".

seattleniceguy

Hello Joysome,

I've sent you a Personal Message - click the link that says "Inbox" under your name in the upper left part of the screen to get to it.

SNG

54

Hello

by Octavia in

jw
friends

is this jehovah's witnesses annonymous?

hi... i'm octavia, and i'm an ex-jehovah's witness.

seattleniceguy

Hello Octavia, and welcome!

I live in Washington too, as you may have guessed from my screen name. Hope to see you and Puternut at an upcoming apostafest!

SNG

75

CALL TO ACTION: Write the United Nations!

by seattleniceguy in

most of us are familiar with the watchtower bible and tract society's association with the un as an ngo.

this fact has been confirmed via correspondence with the un numerous times, notably in a letter received recently by one of our own members.

for details and photocopies, see here:.

seattleniceguy

Excellent work so far, everyone! Including one notification I received via PM, our total confirmed is now 11 letters! Keep it up!

SNG

197

Why does God allow people to develop 'forbidden' special powers?

by SM62 in

something i have been wondering about lately.. whether you believe in god or not, are a christian or some other religion or no religion at all, i'd be interested in your opinion.. according to those who believe in the bible including most christians, god condemns the use of 'special' powers/abilities.

for example, esp, tarot, astrology, consulting a medium, spells etc.

however, if god created us, did he not give us the ability to develop and use such powers?

seattleniceguy

INTJ here. But I also see the test more as a way of stimulating conversation so as to learn about a person directly from them, than as a way to classify a person so as to learn about them from the book. Conversation fodder, I call it.

SNG

75

CALL TO ACTION: Write the United Nations!

by seattleniceguy in

most of us are familiar with the watchtower bible and tract society's association with the un as an ngo.

this fact has been confirmed via correspondence with the un numerous times, notably in a letter received recently by one of our own members.

for details and photocopies, see here:.

seattleniceguy

IT Support: Excellent points. Thank you. And I must say, your avatar gives your posts such a commanding presence.

Hawkaw: Thank you for your support as well. If it is possible for you, could you elaborate on how you were involved with this scandal?

Loris: I liked the illustration about the fleas. Very fitting.

With IT Support and Elamona, we're now at 9 confirmed. For those of you who have written already but not said anything, let's hear about it! The rest of you guys, help out!

Let's keep it up!

SNG

75