i am watching the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of ve day.
80 years since the defeat of nazi germany in 1945. i find the interviews of the stalwart men and women who played their part very moving.
these veterans speak with pride and sadness about their experiences, those they lost, those they fought alongside.
JOEY JO JO:
I seem to remember the song “Waltzing Mathilda” from when I was a child - and that was way before 1980. Just sayin’.
If somebody did a redo at a later date, I am unaware of it.
Also, it’s true that the memories of the older generations are inconvenient for the Jehovah’s Witness religion.. They are embarrassed about anybody who lived through a time of one of their failed prophecies!
when i was growing up i remember many young people interviewed on the platform at assemblies.
the ones who really stood out are the talented ones who gave up amazing lives to pioneer.. i remember specifically when i was a boy in the 70s and 80s some who were very good at sport or something.
their teachers begged them to get professional training use their talents to the full.
UGOT2BEKIDDINGME1:
Yeah, they are desperate to get people back, especially brothers.
Because there are so many women in the JW religion, they never missed me which suited me just fine.. Only women who provided a material benefit would be missed or pursued. Maybe these women opened up their home and fed the freeloaders OR provided some free service. (I got criticized for working so they got zero from me.)
If you went back you would be hit up for money to give to people who hardly worked. That’s the sad handwriting on the wall in the religion!
as recently as 2025, the wts has compared the "inner rooms" to the congregation as a place of safety.
do you remember this?
notice the "weasel words" the wts uses to lay the foundation for "adjustment" or "clarification" of their statements.
TRUTHLOVER123:
Not only that, if what some people see on the horizon with the JW religion comes about, there might not be any literal Kingdom Halls to run to.
There are those who feel the religion is eventually selling off the halls.. Maybe what will be left are a few assembly halls here and there that the faithful rank & file Witnesses can travel to a few times a year.. So, anybody who thinks their local hall is their ‘Rock of Gibraltar’ that they can count on - may be in for a rude awakening.
The religion will have gone online for the most part.
when i was growing up i remember many young people interviewed on the platform at assemblies.
the ones who really stood out are the talented ones who gave up amazing lives to pioneer.. i remember specifically when i was a boy in the 70s and 80s some who were very good at sport or something.
their teachers begged them to get professional training use their talents to the full.
BALAAMSASS2:
Yes, as the research and the chart shows, Jehovah’s Witnesses are at the bottom of the barrel with regard to income (as well as education).
Being ‘out’ for many years and knowing ALL that I know now about the JWs (experience as well as info learned over the years), I would have to be crazy to even want to be around them.. And I am not rich or a ‘snob’. (Unless not wanting to be hassled makes somebody a snob.).. Don’t know about you but I generally avoid situations and places where I would be around panhandlers. Maybe a man might be less bothered(?)
So, the level of frustration that must be in many congregations could be palpable. A visitor would be ‘sized up’. This would give me the creeps.. At least when I left (2001) I was surrounded by decent middle-class people. No desperation yet. Now?? What a mess and I’m glad I left years ago.
when i was growing up i remember many young people interviewed on the platform at assemblies.
the ones who really stood out are the talented ones who gave up amazing lives to pioneer.. i remember specifically when i was a boy in the 70s and 80s some who were very good at sport or something.
their teachers begged them to get professional training use their talents to the full.
UGOT2BEKIDDINGME1:
Your wise grandfather who was NOT a Witness was entirely correct in his view. Nobody should be expecting anybody in the Witness religion to give them anything. I hope nobody is holding their breath waiting!
Thank God I knew this. I am not gloating over it but am horrified at what could have happened if I caved in to all the hype! Would anybody be supporting me?? 🤣 I am grateful I worked.
Those Witnesses who did not work at a decent job and fell for the B.S. and pioneered for decades - are in a bad predicament today.. All those older hypocrite Witnesses who pushed poverty/pioneering for young JWs went to their graves after living cushy lives.. They are not even around today in 2025 to help anybody they misled years ago and this is the tragedy of it all.
it’s now official - the governing body members are called for legal deposition in a major court case against jehovah’s witnesses!
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ke6cgh/its_now_official_the_governing_body_members_are/.
recent court documents show that members of the jehovah’s witnesses governing body — including former member tony morris — have been officially subpoenaed to give sworn testimony regarding cases of sexual abuse in new york and how the organization dealt with (or essentially hid) them.
LIAM:
While this sounds hopeful to all of us….will the GB actually agree to show up? OR will they go into hiding???
I wonder…
i finally got my own copy of the new song book in english.
i notice that the lyrics in one of the songs have been changed from:.
fear not those who kill the body, but cannot destroy the soul.
GORB:
I remember this awful song as well.🤮
when i was growing up i remember many young people interviewed on the platform at assemblies.
the ones who really stood out are the talented ones who gave up amazing lives to pioneer.. i remember specifically when i was a boy in the 70s and 80s some who were very good at sport or something.
their teachers begged them to get professional training use their talents to the full.
JOHN R1975:
I remember those young JW testimonials at the assemblies years ago. They gave up jobs/scholarships to be in the full-time ministry.
I wasn’t born-in and was not swayed by any of this.. I kept on working full-time. They all hated me but I am glad Now I never listened….You mention how those JWs are broke now and will ‘be a burden to others’. I heard this term over the years I was a JW. There is an underlying wrong assumption in the Witness religion that ‘other people in the congregation’ are going to give them money.. Meanwhile they knocked people with full-time jobs. They could Dream on as far as I was concerned.
To me this is a fallacy and urban legend and I’m Glad I’m not around this anymore!.. I remember an older sister who told me about her few cleaning jobs who said “I wouldn’t want to be a burden on the congregation”. I thought to myself that she was nuts if she imagined people in the Kingdom Hall were going to support her.
I saw a post on Reddit fairly recently where a person related how they gave up all to pioneer and apparently expected charity of some sort to come from somewhere. They were disillusioned that it did not.. This is/was an attitude that I observed years ago… Sadly, this mentality persists to this very day in the Jehovah’s Witnesses.. It is all the more ridiculous as their numbers are decreasing and there are even fewer people left to bum money from.
how many of you here remember 1975?
i hope the newer generations never forget.the true believers got shamed for it.
those who were hedging their bets, fared much better.
BALAAMSASS2:
Yes, that’s the biggest lesson current Witnesses need to take away from this story: whether they lived through 1975 or not... Don’t repeat their mistakes. If anybody studies WT history there were several.
All those older Witnesses from previous generations went to their graves with unfulfilled expectations.. Imagine the sacrifices these people made??
To think I just missed the 1975 thing because I didn’t come into the religion until several years later. But, I am grateful. Sorry for all those Witnesses who did crazy things like quitting jobs or selling homes and possessions and having to start over. No apologies. Just STFU and carry on the bullshit. I’m not surprised many left the Witness religion after that.
If I had known about this major failure - I might not have gotten involved with the Witnesses. As it was, I could be suffering today if I had listened to those hateful bastards back then telling me to quit my job.. Thank God I obstinately refused!
how many of you here remember 1975?
i hope the newer generations never forget.the true believers got shamed for it.
those who were hedging their bets, fared much better.
LIAM:
I get your point.🤣 I wasn’t in the Witness religion yet so I also never experienced the hype and fervor that has been written about.
If 1975 was the End I wouldn’t have known what hit me.. I was still a Catholic girl.
The bad part about all the younger people like yourself not having experienced 1975 and consequently not caring about it — is that the JW religion wins.. It gets to bury yet another mistake. History repeated itself. I am sure the one thing the JW religion loves is when old timers pass away.. Then there are no living witnesses to point the finger!
I came into the JWs several years after and I may have experienced a leftover harsh pre-1975 mentality with busybodies trying to get me to quit my job.. I Thank God now that I paid no attention to those people!
