Posts by Axelspeed

15

they can't get it all done anymore

by truman in

jw
friends

i had a door-to-door visit from two jws yesterday morning.

the first in a long time (with the exception of the obligatory memorial invite).

i live in a fairly small town, but these two, i did not recognize.

Axelspeed

Not sure how accurate this really is, but this is what I in one area.

I noticed a wide disparity in size among most congs. in comparison to a few years previous. Most cong. growth now is due to jws moving from cong. to cong. -- rarely is it growth rom new people. So some cong. were very small and almost ghost towns, whereas other cong. were busting at the seams from new move-ins.

What I think is interesting is that the congs. that were busting at the seams were those considered more liberal -- where a jw could go and lay low, or and ex-elder could go and just throw up his heels. Those that were almost empty were those with a history of being hardline or had an older demographic where all the young were non-existant or had moved to a trendier hall.

Like I said, I'm not sure this is accurate or the case in most areas.

Axel

28

Brooklyn Says they Need 40,000 qualified Brotheres

by drew sagan in

jw
friends

i just mentioned this in another post but thought i would start a new thread about it.

my wife reminded me a few days ago that the bethel speaker at our convention stated that "the organization is in need of more than 40,000 qualified brothers to take the lead".

this basically means that brooklyn is saying that every congregation in the world is down 1 - 1.5 qualified brothers(?

Axelspeed

Many congregations have as many ex-elders as elders and little will budge the ex-elders to "reach out" again.

Very, very true. Once the allure is gone, the attraction is gone. You couldn't budge most ex-elders back to that mess with a bulldozer. They already know the deal.

On my way out I saw so many bros. reaching for that dangling carrot and I just shook my head. Contrary to what a lot of JWs and even X-JWs think, I found the job draining and confining. I found out much more than I ever wanted to know about a lot of people -- esp other elders and COs. It is a lot more political/corporate than a lot of JWs realize.

Axel

18

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 7-16-06 WT Study (Choose Life)

by blondie in

`choose life to keep alive'.

christian--once.

israel chose to obey...willingly gave...their exclusive devotion.

Axelspeed

Thanks Blondie for the insightful post, as always.

Although Jehovah has the ability to know in advance what will happen, he does not predetermine our individual actions and destiny.

So let me get this straight. I can go the Blockbuster and rent a movie. Then I can take it home and begin viewing it. At this point I can either 1) watch the full movie and wait to see how it ends, or 2) use the remote control (my ability) to fast forward and see how it ends in advance (prophecy) .

Either way, does it change the ending of the movie, or has that already been set?

I've always wondered that if the future can be known, then isn't is already set -- if so, that is a form of predestination.

If something cannot be known or is not predetermined, then it cannot be the basis for real prophecy.

Axel

8

Five years for me

by Jankyn in

jw
friends

yep, it's been five years since i joined jwd.

and still only a senior member.

that would be because i generally only post when i have something to say.. i was on h2o many moons ago (also as jankyn), and i used to lurk on witnet (which i found hilarious, particularly the way that lisa--ldh--would mess with jw heads).

Axelspeed

Welcome to the low-average-post class .

Axel

72

Big announcement after all DC have ended?

by Quandary in

jw
friends

i was told by a reliable source that the organization will be making a "big announcement" at the end of the summer when all the dcs have ended.

has anyone else heard this?

maybe this is the "new light" they have alluded to in recent wt study articles?

Axelspeed

Looks like the CO's Buick with a WT folded on the dash!...double-lifer??
Axel

59

To what belief system do you subscribe? Belief-O-Matic!

by daystar in

jw
friends

take the old belief-o-matic survey and post your results!.

here are my rather interesting results:.

1. unitarian universalism (100%) 2. mainline to liberal christian protestants (83%) 3. liberal quakers (82%) 4. neo-pagan (81%) 5. christian science (church of christ, scientist) (80%) 6. secular humanism (78%) 7. new age (67%) 8. baha'i faith (61%) 9. nontheist (60%) 10. church of jesus christ of latter-day saints (mormons) (57%) 11. new thought (55%) 12. hinduism (52%) 13. scientology (50%) 14. jehovah's witness (48%) 15. taoism (48%) 16. theravada buddhism (45%) 17. mainline to conservative christian/protestant (36%) 18. sikhism (32%) 19. mahayana buddhism (31%) 20. jainism (23%) 21. orthodox quaker (21%) 22. eastern orthodox (20%) 23. orthodox judaism (20%) 24. roman catholic (20%) 25. reform judaism (18%) 26. seventh day adventist (17%) 27. islam (5%)

Axelspeed

Unitarian Universalism (100%)
Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (98%)
Liberal Quakers (96%)
Neo-Pagan (94%)
New Age (89%)

JWs still show up at number 23 on my list.

It's a big change from a few of years ago when they were still in my top 5. I guess you can can that progress.

Axel

114

Announcement: Another favorable court ruling regarding Napa County lawsuit

by AndersonsInfo in

i'm thrilled to tell you about the latest court decision made in california a few days ago which kimberlee norris said would be announced today, monday, on jwd.. on july 3rd, i started a thread where the last two rulings in the napa county, california lawsuit, charissa w. v. watchtower, new york, et al., were posted.

both decisions were favorable to the plaintiff.

see http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.

Axelspeed

the elders would be hanging high not the WTS.

I agree. Current elders take note.

114

Announcement: Another favorable court ruling regarding Napa County lawsuit

by AndersonsInfo in

i'm thrilled to tell you about the latest court decision made in california a few days ago which kimberlee norris said would be announced today, monday, on jwd.. on july 3rd, i started a thread where the last two rulings in the napa county, california lawsuit, charissa w. v. watchtower, new york, et al., were posted.

both decisions were favorable to the plaintiff.

see http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.

Axelspeed

I bet the WTS is already coming up with new ways to get out of this predicament they've put themselves into. The way this is panning out, they will have to eliminate the communication pathway from the elders to hq. They *might* even have to do away with the 3-man JC.

Now we need to try to figure out how the Watchtower Society will respond to this situation.

I think they saw this coming -- eventually. They are being forced to ramp up the timeline to do this drastically though. You could see they were trying to sever the ties legally to the elders with the direction from the wt the elders were instructed to handwrite in their copy of the elder's manual. It started with the 6 expressions elders were never to include in the S-77 or S-79 forms in corresponding to the wt about judicial matters. They obviously wanted the control of the elders and the congs, but didn't want the legal liability it brought. Now they have to decide, are the elders in or out? Axel

17

DeIndoctrination

by Shazard in

what about using wt tactics against them?

.

how to attract jw and keep them long enough to get chances to reach their mind and plant seeds of doubt about wt?

Axelspeed

Just to elaborate on my previous post.
To a jw, an "apostate" is the most dangerous being walking on 2 legs. Worse than a fornicator, thief, prostitute or drug addict. When an apostate speaks, a jw automatically see a serpent's tongue slip in and out as the words are being uttered. They have been conditioned to believe that an apostate is as close to satan/demon as a human can get.
To break through this defense mechanism takes incredible effort on the person extending the help and/or a lot of courage and self-determination on the part of the jw.
For this reason the person best in a position to help is someone still in who is on his way out. Even someone who is not known as an "apostate" has a better chance of being heard. Living in an area where no one knows your past jw history helps a lot in this case.
A person who is known as an apostate can do the greatest good by innoculating those outside from ever becoming a jw in the first place.

Axel

17

DeIndoctrination

by Shazard in

what about using wt tactics against them?

.

how to attract jw and keep them long enough to get chances to reach their mind and plant seeds of doubt about wt?

Axelspeed

To be honest in my case there is nothing anyone could have done, especially someone who was a known and labeled "apostate". Not while I was still in. I just really got to the point (on my own) where i couldn't do it / didn't want to do it anymore, even if they were right about everything. I was just content to go down with the other billions at the big A. If I went any further the way I was going I wasn't going to make it that far anyway.
On the other hand, there were a couple of individuals who left me with a well thought out question or 2 and then left it at that. They didn't try to argue, or openly criticize the org, just left a question that made you say hmmm. From that point my own thinking processes took over, and coupled with my own malaise about the whole jw thing and how it was affecting my mood, I was on my way out. Learning what I know now just cemented my decision and went aways in getting rid of the fear and guilt.
Different things work for different people, but overall I think a jw has to be ready to receive the information or contemplate the question presented.

Axel