Posts by New Worldly Translation

did people make fun of you when you were a jw, or were you on top of the situation, and knew what to say to shut them up and make them feel stupid or without faith?

I actually got a bit of kudos at school for being a JW. When it was assembly or religious education or anything xmassy, eastery I used to sit outside class and read. Kids walking past thought I had been kicked out for being naughty and used to say 'Wow have you been kicked out again, that's cool' They thought I was the most rebellious kid in school.

It couldn't last though and eventually everyone knew I was a JW.. and then I got jovers sh*tness, jobo etc. Nobody took it too far cos I was a big kid and bopped anyone who got out of line..and then I was often stood outside the headmasters office for being naughty. Went full circle.

14

Parents congregation disbanding

by New Worldly Translation in

jw
friends

my parents told me that the do has advised the cong that it's going to close due to there not being enough publishers in it (why didn't he just say people .

it is a very small cong with about 35 people in it but they have enough elders and everyone was happy being in it.

apart from being dubs they actually are a genuinely nice bunch of people and i feel a bit sorry for them having to get split up against their wishes.. the hall is split into two congs, with the other half having about 140 publishers, and i asked why they didn't just ask some from the other half to support theirs.

New Worldly Translation

Not sure if they specifically told the org about the reasons for the split or if they just said they felt the cong was getting too large. They must have known what was going on though. Maybe that's why they've shut it down, they've said 'well you've set up another cong, had a go at running it, it hasn't expanded so were shutting it down'.

It is strange JW's attitude cos in the big cong after the re-instatement they viewed everything as hunky dory and sorted out and the new cong were looked on as kind of rebellious for leaving.

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%)

New Worldly Translation

1.	Liberal Quakers (100%)

2. Neo-Pagan (100%) 3. Orthodox Quaker (100%) 4. Secular Humanism (100%) 5. Taoism (100%) 6. Unitarian Universalism (100%) 7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (87%) 8. New Age (81%) 9. Bahá'í Faith (75%) 10. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (75%)

I'm a pagan humanist quaker. I don't think the test can ever be truly accurate cos some of the liberal faiths believe everything and nothing at the same time so they'll always come out top.

14

Parents congregation disbanding

by New Worldly Translation in

jw
friends

my parents told me that the do has advised the cong that it's going to close due to there not being enough publishers in it (why didn't he just say people .

it is a very small cong with about 35 people in it but they have enough elders and everyone was happy being in it.

apart from being dubs they actually are a genuinely nice bunch of people and i feel a bit sorry for them having to get split up against their wishes.. the hall is split into two congs, with the other half having about 140 publishers, and i asked why they didn't just ask some from the other half to support theirs.

New Worldly Translation

My parents told me that the DO has advised the cong that it's going to close due to there not being enough publishers in it (why didn't he just say people )
It is a very small cong with about 35 people in it but they have enough elders and everyone was happy being in it. Apart from being dubs they actually are a genuinely nice bunch of people and I feel a bit sorry for them having to get split up against their wishes.
The hall is split into two congs, with the other half having about 140 publishers, and I asked why they didn't just ask some from the other half to support theirs. I knew the answer to this one already because the cong split acrimoniously when one prominent elder was disfellowshipped for nefarious acts with underage children (as far as I understand. It's really hard to get the full story even though it was a serious matter and people have a right to know). He was re-instated in a blisteringly short space of time after showing remorse and several of the elders disagreed with this decision and the fact that no secular authorities were advised and so formed another cong. The ex-elder in question is part of one of those families and extended cliques that seem to run everything so obviously the org didn't dare ask that cong to help out and rock the boat (spineless nepotism in my view)

I think the crux of the matter is that the org don't think they're getting the desired throughput from the cong because they have a limited amount of publishers and quite a few are elderly. They are like time and motion men just looking at figures and charts and deciding on a purely business-like point of view against the congs wishes.

Anyway I was surprised that the org could disband a cong unilaterally. I imagined it would have to go tthrough a congregation vote or some other procedure. I know it's a false concept but the org always imply that the congs themselves have ownership of the kingdom halls and the cong is their domain as long as judicial committees and such like have to get involved.

I'm actually a bit sad for the people in the cong on one hand but happy that the trend of congs splitting due to rising numbers is ending and numbers are decreasing on the other.

35

Contacting the "other side"

by sinis in

jw
friends

i find it very interesting that the bible and mythology are very close, when speaking about god.

also the statement made by god in the bible to worship no other god but him, in effect saying that there are others gods.

has anyone actually looked into the occult, for lack of a better word, and actually made contact with an entity?

New Worldly Translation

I have found that surrendering to God has actually freed me from most of the fears about current world condtions that are going on right now. They don't have any power over me any more.

I think you summed it up right there Arthur. You have abrogated all personal responsibility and the responsibility of others for peace of mind. This might help you personally but it's a symptom of the procrastinating religious attitude through the centuries that said ' there's nothing we can do about it, God will sort it out'.

35

Contacting the "other side"

by sinis in

jw
friends

i find it very interesting that the bible and mythology are very close, when speaking about god.

also the statement made by god in the bible to worship no other god but him, in effect saying that there are others gods.

has anyone actually looked into the occult, for lack of a better word, and actually made contact with an entity?

New Worldly Translation

Good points Ringo5.

I would go further and say that belief in personal god is an extremely self indulgent, myopic point of view and is often used as an emotional crutch for many of the aspects you pointed out. It's no different to a superstition and the blessing or blaming of irrelevancies for happenings in your life, just like belief and fear of satan and demons that we had as a dub.

Sinis, maybe you put the question slightly tongue in cheek but I would suggest looking at the paganistic roots of polytheism and how it morphed into the monotheism of recent times and how satan or the devil has become more an more an object of derision in opposition to an omnipotent god. It's quite striking how obvious the god or gods or demons in history have been a projection of the hopes, fears, wants, desires, failings of the people who worshipped them. The progression is clearly seen in the OT and other historical writings where the god or gods are much more flawed than the all powerful, all knowing gods we have today. They were prone to fits of anger, regret, petulance and could could be argued with when circumstances arose that were not beneficial to the worshippers. Contrary to belief and what is taught the Israelites were never a monotheistic society, not until king Josiah's time and only after other cultures had already set up a one God structure or at least had a bash at it like the Egyptians.

If prayer gives you the strength you need Sinis then that's fine but just remember that ultimately what you do in life is up to you and only you have the power to change it for the better. Casting round the ephemeral for someone of something to answer your prayers will only lead to disappointment.

23

Wow, what an assembly!!!!!!!!

by TooBad TooSad in

jw
friends

i attended two days of the dc.

the only three points that i took home with me is that the end is near, higher education is a no no, and that the brothers have a problem with pornography.

i was in amazement at the number of witnesses that take notes as fast as the speaker is talking.

New Worldly Translation

The final talk, which is always the highlite of the assembly, the speaker was talking about how close the end is and how world conditions point to the nearness of Armageddon. Then a few sentences later he announced that "you will be pleased to know that the Society has made plans for district conventions for 2007" and every one applauded! Don't they realize that the end is so near but it will not be at least in the next 12 months.

LOL, that was funny

Reminds me of the last assembly I went to about 5 years ago when they were telling us the end was just around the corner. Meanwhile they had embarked on a massive 3 or 4 year building project at London Bethel

27

Masturbation quotes

by 5thGeneration in

jw
friends

i didn't want these buried deep in the favorite quotes thread because they are just too dang funny and/or weird.

*** watchtower 1973 sept 15 pp.564-5 breaking free of self-abuse-why?

that masturbation is abnormal and unnatural is also indicated by the fact that abnormal, mentally deranged people are notorious masturbators.

New Worldly Translation

The Bible’s counsel is to ‘deaden your body members as respects sexual appetite,’ not excite to greater desires. (Colossians 3:5) The apostle Paul wrote at 1 Corinthians 9:27: "I pummel my body and lead it as a slave,"
From a WT question from readers '88

Sounds like Paul was into a little S&M His writing would have been more interesting if he'd have written about his deviant sexual encounters, probably would have made the Marquis de Sade blush!