Posts by Etude

24

Do you find it therapeutic coming to this site?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i read on another thread how this site has helped another user and that for them it has been a form of therapy.. for me yes, jwn has most certainly been a form of therapy.. i recall the days i first came to jwn (in 2004) and couldn't believe i had found people who were of the same opinion as myself in regards to the society.

it was this site that led me to reading ray franz's book 'crisis of conscience' which i read twice within a week.

it also led me to jw facts that goes into every nook and cranny regarding the society's teachings, policies and history.. note: i also visit many other sites and watch you tube videos a lot, but gravitate here most of the time.. coming here to express my inner most thoughts and feelings has helped me no end and allows me to overcome my frustrations.

Etude

I think I joined about 15 years ago. I've delved into other social sharing sources (namely Facebook) in order to express other opinions I have. However, I keep coming back here (this last time after a multi-year absence).

I'm very greatful I found this site to vent the pain of my experiences as a JW. It's been not only cathartic but damned-right therapeutic. I've also come to know in a special way a lot of very smart people on this site as well as courageous and funny people. I feel freer here than on any other social site because I know that most people here understand with unique empathy my life-changing experiences with the JWs.

Etude.

47

Serena Williams Pregnant

by wisdomfrombelow in

jw
friends

now that she has announced that she is 20 weeks pregnant and not married, what is her status in the cult?

.

Etude

Hey, let's not forget that 'mommie' is there watching what the geedubs say about her daughter and soon to be grandchild. As part of the girls' "team", the mom has some cash too and may be the one who actually donates, as a baptized Witness (I presume). JWs are not going to refuse to milk that cow just cause Serena is a little pregnant.

630

SAD news about OOMPA......

by redredrose in

jw
friends

our friend, oompa, has passed away.

just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.

it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.

Etude

I was looking through my old posts (I haven't been around for a while) and found this thread. It still saddens me very much about Eric. Though he's gone, he still lives here. I wonder how many others I've met here have passed?

42

How much damage has internet done against the The Watchtower Society ?

by opusdei1972 in

in the beginning of internet the society was worried about the information published exposing its falsehood.

so, i wonder how many people lost the society on account of forums and web sites like this.

.

Etude

Maybe the Watchtower will change its strategy. If I'm not mistaken, the fastest growth in the cult is in Third-world countries. If poor countries don't have a decent internet infrastructure, it will be a while before their eyes open. It's possible the strange seed would have been sewn by the time they get access. I hear that the Mormons are also in the same situation. For an American religion, they actually have more members outside the US than in it.

42

How much damage has internet done against the The Watchtower Society ?

by opusdei1972 in

in the beginning of internet the society was worried about the information published exposing its falsehood.

so, i wonder how many people lost the society on account of forums and web sites like this.

.

Etude

The Internet did not affect my decision to leave at all. In fact (due to my misplaced desire to "return") it never occurred to me to find information on the organization. When I started on the Internet (1980) there was no World Wide Web or browsers. We had to connect to an on-ramp to ARPANET and use Gophers, Archies and Veronicas to find stuff.

It was after reading Crisis of Conscious (a recommendation from a friend) that they started to lose me. I wrote the GB a letter about the Mexico-Malawi issue. After receiving the most disappointing response in my entire life, I decided to drop them. Nevertheless, I'm thankful for sites such as this and the dedication of some individuals to identify issues and information that will reveal the WTBTS lies.

24

Who oversees the money for the WT?

by John Aquila in

when the wt sells property for a billion dollars profit, who decides what that money is going to be used for?.

when all the money comes in from all the kingdom halls bank accounts worldwide, did all that money go into one big account and who has authority to spend it and cut some checks to whoever?

when all the monthly donations come in to the watchtower headquarters, who decides distribution, and to who?

Etude

Juan Viejo2 Thanks for the explanation. It was very thorough. Before your explanation, I had suspected the WTBTS benefited somehow from the KH. One reason is that I had never heard of elders being in charge or receiving anything after the closure of KH. Also, I had realized how cunning the organization was with its arrangement. Of course at the time, I thought this was the way Jehovah wanted it and it protected the organization. But after realizing how much dough they were rolling in, while "expanding" everywhere (in the 1970s), I figured it didn't all come from change out of the pockets of the lowly publishers. I'm sure there were some rich benefactors. But in between those and the average publisher, there was a scheme.

I remember thinking about how (in my day) we would have to pay for literature for the field at the congregation. We then had to ask for a "donation" from the public to cover for the paper and ink. I honestly don't remember but, since we paid up-front, whatever we received as a "donation" went to cover what we had been charged in advance. Many years later (I was very much out by then) I heard about their scuttle with the IRS. I think it was my mom who told me that publishers would no longer have to pay for literature at the congregation. The penalty was the organization losing their tax-exempt status.

But what got me thinking initially was that it was original contributions (personal and from the collection box) that paid for the paper and ink and everything else. Why was the society then requiring the congregations to in essence "buy" the literature from them? I don't know if it's possible to calculate how much money those bastards made from that scheme. However, I imagine that it is comparable to the monies they've made from the sale of KHs.

24

Who oversees the money for the WT?

by John Aquila in

when the wt sells property for a billion dollars profit, who decides what that money is going to be used for?.

when all the money comes in from all the kingdom halls bank accounts worldwide, did all that money go into one big account and who has authority to spend it and cut some checks to whoever?

when all the monthly donations come in to the watchtower headquarters, who decides distribution, and to who?

Etude

So blondie: If the elders are trustees (hold the title), what happens when the congregation dissolves? What can the WTBTS do with the property?

Etude.

24

Who oversees the money for the WT?

by John Aquila in

when the wt sells property for a billion dollars profit, who decides what that money is going to be used for?.

when all the money comes in from all the kingdom halls bank accounts worldwide, did all that money go into one big account and who has authority to spend it and cut some checks to whoever?

when all the monthly donations come in to the watchtower headquarters, who decides distribution, and to who?

Etude

I was just talking about this with a friend yesterday. I know that when i was at Bethel in the mid 1970s, money was rolling into the WTBTS. The building and volunteering seemed at an all-time peak. But the question that I'm don't know the answer to is if the KHs belong to the WTBTS or not. I had heard that when a congregation wants to build a hall, the WTBTS gives them a loan. The congregation pays it back, in time. But what happens to the property?

Etude.

9

Religous Trauma Syndrome

by Blind_Of_Lies in

jw
friends

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/religious-trauma-syndrome-how-some-organized-religion-leads-to-mental-health-problems/ .

check this story out and please share on social media!

i firmly believe 100% of jw's are suffering from the first stage of rts and a high percentage of people who are now out are also suffering.

Etude

The one thing the article does not address is how the victim lives with the reality of relatives and friends who are still captive and cut off ties. That must account for some angst or guilt. For some people, it`s relatively straight-forward to leave and adapt to a new life quickly. For others, it a hard road.

14

My dub aunt thinks Obama is mentioned in the bible.

by Jehovah lol in

she's not even american and doesn't live in the usa so it's not even her area of political awareness really.

she seems convinced that obama is the prophesied wolf in sheep's clothing mentioned in revelation.. it's unusual for non-us dubs to hold the weirder beliefs, so this is a new one for me.

she also said that the end is very close now and that things are a foot with north korea; it's clearly the king of the north.. she said exactly the same thing 5 years ago about china, and exactly the same thing 10 years ago about iraq.. derp derp..

Etude

Jehovah lol:

Where does your aunt live and does she have access to Fox News there? That's the only source of opinions I can think of that parallels her views. In the old days, there was a lot of interest on the part of the witlesses to interpret the prophetic "visions". I suppose that they have abandoned the "studies" of prophetic works lest they be wrong AGAIN. Besides, those interpretations were usually made by influential individuals that stood apart from the GB, like Fred Franz and people before him. I've been out of touch with news about the borg and so I don't know if they've published new books on interpreting the visions of John and of the older prophets.