Incognito

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Posts by Incognito

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  519

  Tony Morris video footage of him buying a dozen bottles of scotch

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i was howling watching cedars latest video of tm111 buying a dozen bottles of scotch ((maccallans scotch).

  you can't write this stuff.

  right, i'm now off to buy a bottle of maccallans 😂..

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  Incognito

  While I personally have no interest in what he does, TM3 is a prominent leader of a religious organization which places obligations on members to always worry about how their actions will reflect on Jehovah's name (in reality, the org's name) and to not do anything which may reflect negatively or stumble others. 'Others' include not only other JWs but also, people of 'the world' which includes exJWs.

  The interest in this topic on this forum alone seems to indicate many members here are astounded if not stumbled by the quantity and expense of alcohol purchased.

  Would it be a positive witness if people of the world saw a JW minister and leader of the WT organization buying that quantity of alcohol? How would the average taxpayer consider anyone that has taken a vow of poverty, spending a substantial sum on alcohol?

  This same religion with little more than hearsay, will often cause an investigation or form a JC to pursue punishment of members that are accused of sins, regardless of circumstances. A JC may be formed for sexual impropriety with the only evidence presented is a married member being seen eating alone with someone of the opposite sex that is not their spouse or, a member's vehicle being observed parked overnight nearby to the residence of another member of the opposite sex.

  JWs are instructed to lead a simple life and to be generous to the organization. Even JW children are 'encouraged' to donate what little they have.

  JWs are not to think too much of themselves but are to always live their life to God's glory and benefit.

  As a leader that establishes rules for the entire organization worldwide and requires the enforcement of those rules, it is not surprising he and all other GB members will be closely observed and criticised by exJWs, for behaviour and actions which would not be considered appropriate for other members.
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  Hot sale of KHall to Christendom!!!

  by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anybody has more info please share.. lee nyc brokers baychester sale from bronx congregation.

  march 29,2019. lee & associates nyc’s alfonso holloman has arranged the sale of 1575 e. gun hill rd., between kingsland and mickle avenues, in the bronx’s baychester neighborhood.

  inner court sanctuary praise palace paid $1.28 million to acquire the 5,092-square-foot property from jehovah’s witnesses.. the property will serve as a place of worship for the congregation, which is relocating from 1660 e. gun hill rd.

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  Incognito

  Yes Ding, KHs are 'Dedicated' to Jehovah when they are obtained and used for Jehovah's service. Those same KHs are then seemingly 'undedicated' not by God but by men when the building no longer serves the needs of the org or, a sale of the property will result in significant income for the org.

  This is unlike what happens to any person who dedicates himself to the org, as demonstrated by baptism. Even if that person later learns the JW religion is not God's chosen religion, she/he cannot undedicate himself or leave without consequences which are often significant if they have other family members who are JWs.
  
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  Giving fake address to elder

  by Addison0998 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i got married a few weeks ago, living a great life now with my husband, he was definitely the perfect guy for me :) but anyways, we are going to work on slowly fading, going to meetings once a week or every two weeks, and then in a few months move to a hall where nobody knows our families and the elders hardly know each other, and fade out a lot more.

  but an elder asked for our address, which we didn’t feel comfortable giving him, because we don’t want any unexpected visits to “shepard” us, when we miss a few meetings, because they already text us when we miss 2 meetings in a row, which we had just gotten back from our honeymoon 🙄 so we “accidentally” gave him the wrong apartment number.

  so if they ever come pokin around they will be lost, and if they call or text us we will just have an excuse for not replying.

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  Incognito

  Why go through the motions of fading? If you both no longer wish to be JWs, don't continue attending.

  If you are actually moving, another option would be to attend your current congregation one last time, but tell the elders you are moving to another location from where you actually will be going. You could request they send your records to a congregation in the fake location.

  Attend the fake congregation a few times to pretend you have moved there, but right away ask they request your records from your prior congregation. Let-on that you are currently living at a temporary location so until your permanent residence is settled, you can't provide an address. Within a month, your records should arrive but as you are not well known, once you stop attending, they will likely forget about you and what you look like.

  Change your mobile numbers to stop the texts, and be choosy about who you provide those numbers to.

  If you have JW family remaining in your current congregation, there always remains a potential the elders will mention your new congregation, or will ask your family member for your contact information. Any good JW will submit to an elder's request, even if you request/demand that your contact info is not to be shared with anyone.
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  79

  Ending Bible Study

  by Maria Nieves in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been studying with jehovah's witnesses for approximately two years.

  initially, i liked the studies and felt that i was growing closer to god.

  however, as the studies progressed, they seemed to become increasingly negative and i did not like what i was being taught.

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  Incognito

  If she knew that I was on this site, she would label me an Apostate.
  

  Not really true since you are still only studying and were never baptised as a JW. They will however say that you are being influenced by Apostates (referring to most people on this site who were JWs previously).

  You seem to be concerned with being labeled an Apostate. Why do you care how they (JWs) think or label you?

  JWs label everyone, including their own members. You are currently a 'Study'. JWs are often 'Publishers', 'Pioneers', 'Ministerial Servants', 'Elders (+ sub labels such as COBE)' ,"Circuit Overseer", 'Missionary', 'Bethelite'. Then there are the negatives: 'Marked', 'On Reproof', 'Disassociated', 'Disfellowshipped', 'Oppostate'.

  As a 'Study', even if you do not question or say anything negative about the JW religion or beliefs, if you do not become a baptised JW, JWs will continue to label you as 'worldly' and therefore, not worthy.
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  36

  Need Help - How do I refute this???

  by HappyBlessedFree in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i was talking with my husband about all the things the organization is doing ie.

  hiding pedophiles, lying about what 1914 was etc.

  so his response was that the nation of israel had times when they weren’t doing the right thing, but it was still gods chosen organization.. another topic we were talking about was disfellowshipping.

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  Incognito

  You are attempting to awaken your husband by disproving JW doctrine or pointing out flaws with WT current policy or actions. JWs have been conditioned to refute or ignore anything or anyone that opposes or highlights the flaws of the religion. Anything you throw at him, even when provable, he will probably rationalize, disregard or repeat the party line.

  You know your husband so you probably recognize issues which affect him on a personal basis. You might have better success by initially concentrating on matters you know he doesn't fully support or that he questions.

  Instead of presenting information, perhaps ask one or two questions for him to further consider, which may cause him to perform research for himself.
  
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  79

  Ending Bible Study

  by Maria Nieves in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been studying with jehovah's witnesses for approximately two years.

  initially, i liked the studies and felt that i was growing closer to god.

  however, as the studies progressed, they seemed to become increasingly negative and i did not like what i was being taught.

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  Incognito

  Maria,

  The longer you study with JW's, the more your thinking will be conditioned to take on the herd mentality JW's accept and demonstrate. Unfortunately, you are already questioning your ability to say no and worrying about angering them for asking a 'wrong' question and are concerned what they will think about you or how they will label you This will only become progressively worse as time goes on so that you will continue to doubt and stifle your own thoughts and reject anything not acceptable to them. Did you worry about what they thought about you or how they labeled you before you started studying?

  JW's are taught that their individual ideas, dreams and desires are not important and that they can never do enough for Jehovah, no matter how much they give of themselves. Is it any wonder so many JW's are prescribed antidepressants, or worse...?

  JW's teach that Jehovah will renounce a person if that person ceases to study and attend meetings. Is that a Christian idea or attitude or is that mostly unique to JW's? Is that an example of love and forgiveness demonstrated by Jesus? JW's claim they follow Jesus but, is that really apparent? What were Jesus' requirements to be his follower? To be a JW, or was it something else?

  With regard to your study conductor being shamed or embarrassed, she will be neither. As previously stated, JW's preach many thousands of hours just to gain one convert. If your study conductor had not spent her time with you, she would be expected and likely would have used that same time knocking on doors, preaching to other people. You actually did her a favour as she had a regular place to go each week, out of the cold/heat and rain/snow, with no dogs to deal with, so as to discuss WT teachings with someone that was friendly and not argumentative. You are/were easy time to count.

  Although your conductor may attempt to lead you to feel guilty and may have you believe you owe her, in actuality, people start studying with JW's for various reasons, often only to learn first hand about JW's and their beliefs. Many will stop studying once they have learned what they wanted to know so the JW conducting the study will just return to preaching door to door. As a JW, what is important is what you do today, not what you did yesterday.

  The potential of a 'study' not progressing to baptism is high but each JW recognizes and accepts that risk.

  The longer you delay to stop, will only make doing so more difficult. If you don't take action now, you may end up being like many of us on this forum, regretting decades wasted in the religion.
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  79

  Ending Bible Study

  by Maria Nieves in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been studying with jehovah's witnesses for approximately two years.

  initially, i liked the studies and felt that i was growing closer to god.

  however, as the studies progressed, they seemed to become increasingly negative and i did not like what i was being taught.

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  Incognito

  The fact that you are concerned with repercussions for stopping a 'bible study', should in itself indicate to you that something is wrong.

  I highlight 'bible study' as you may not have initially recognized, you were likely not studying the bible but were studying Watchtower publications which sometimes refer to New World Translation (JW bible) passages, often out of context.

  It is your right to stop any activity you do not wish to do. While you express concern over wasting their time, your conductor counted her time spent with you. JWs knock on doors and conduct studies as a means of counting time in preaching, to measure how spiritual they are.

  You are not a baptised JW so there is no penalty to stop the study as you will return to be a person of the world.
  
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  17

  Newly Free, Need Advice

  by HappyBlessedFree in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i stopped attending meetings about three months ago.

  after researching everything i could find on jehovahs witnesses (which is a lot) i can happily say i am awake and free.

  i was a baptized witness for over 25 year.

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  Incognito

  Welcome!

  Just because a JW doesn't attend meetings, does not mean they don't continue to believe. Some, may not attend for decades and may even live their life in complete opposition to JW requirements including smoking or fornication, but if anyone says anything against JWs or their beliefs, they will fight tooth and nail to defend the religion. Pointing out the person's deficiencies may then cause them to return to the religion, often more obsessively than they would be at anything else.

  Instead of presenting information to try to convince your husband, which he will potentially make excuses, defend and discard, perhaps present an occasional question for him to ponder, which may cause him to do his own research.

  While you mention you are impatient, that is because you have already been awakened, but to wake him, is not about you.

  Regarding your son's B'day, maybe don't call it that. It could be 'Johnny's Special Day' or the observance of his birth anniversary. Better still if celebrated on another day than the actual. With JWs, many things are about technicalities so best if trigger words and dates are not used as that will sometimes lessen their defences.
  
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  126

  7 Jehovah’s Witnesses Brutally Tortured in Russia

  by Drearyweather in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://jw-russia.org/en/news/19021923-622.html.

  at least seven of jehovah’s witnesses were subjected to torture—electric shocks, suffocation, and cruel beatings—on the first floor of the russian investigative committee’s building at ul.

  ostrovskogo, d. 47, in surgut.

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  Incognito

  For all those here who support Russia's ban on JW's: Do you really feel that the individual rank and file deserve the above treatment? Do you honestly feel that this is the way to stop JW's?
  

  This comment/question makes it sound as if torture and a ban are one-in-the-same. They are two separate actions and issues.

  While noncompliance to any ban in most countries will usually result in legal penalties, the torturous treatment depicted on the 'JWs in Russia' website appears to be done outside of Russian law.

  The article states: 'The Witnesses will pursue all available legal remedies for this crime ...'

  Does this mean WT is pursuing legal remedies on behalf of those tortured and for all JWs in Russia, or are the Witness individuals that were tortured, acting only for themselves?

  Has anyone found any information other than from the 'JWs in Russia' website and other JW and religion associated sites that confirm this story?
  

  
  
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  23

  My Bible Study Conductor's Letter to Me

  by ohnightdivine in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  recently, i wrote a sister, my bible study conductor, an email just telling her that i thought of her, and i thanked her for being a part of some milestones in my life many many years ago.

  (for those who are reading my post for the first time, i was a very impressionable teenager at that time and i had the chance to live in their country for a while, spent much time with her, got to know her way of living, and essentially she became my life's mentor.

  closer to me than family.

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  Incognito

  You haven't shared your email to her but it was likely more a warm and friendly communication to a close friend regarding your personal relationship with her and her family.

  Her entire message back to you is about JW activities and behavior. Perhaps due to translation, it seems to be a cold reply. She also does not appear to continue to consider you a close friend as she said: "Let's become close friends encouraging each other!"

  Once I stopped JW attendance, I found there is little in common to talk with JWs about including family, as they seem lost if not talking about anything other than JW meetings and service activities, people at their hall, their vacation plans and what they watch on TV.