when you look back , did your witness associates act like normal human beings?
did any of them ever show compassion and feelings for a disfellowshipped person?.
any elders ever try to be kind to you, not “kind” as watchtower organization dictates, but truly kind and caring for you if you were experiencing difficulties?
MINIMUS:
Back in the day I was once pulled aside by some busybody because I smiled at a person who was in a DF’d state. I was the ‘human being’ it would seem.
There may have been other sympathetic JWs but I assume they were too afraid of being seen to go against ‘policy’. It IS a fear-based religion you know!
with the built of new jw.org media studio's we can predict the future of the jw religion.. because we are living in an age of digital media, what will be the effect of this all?.
will the religion generate a new population?
we know video media is a strong marketing tool.. like to hear your thoughts.. gorby .
GORB:
All very good comments. It certainly does look as if they are going online! The question is: how much so? Partially or almost totally? Probably many more halls will be sold off if people aren’t meeting in them to make it worthwhile to keep them.
Sorry for all the JWs who miss meeting in person as this constituted most of their social life! It’s like a game of musical chairs where somebody is left without a chair. Only in this case, they are left without a hall to meet in.
Also, this poses a big problem for those ‘needy’ types (who never planned or got decent jobs) looking for handouts..They miss in-person meetings because they are accustomed to getting $$ from certain people!..Now they have to make lots of phone calls to certain ones with their sob story! Also, gone is the custom of people visiting a strange hall when on vacation!
Everybody can see how this totally changes everything! This isn’t the religion of yesteryear. That’s gone and I don’t see it coming back. When I did my ‘Fade’ twenty+ years ago I never could have foreseen this!
gaslighting is a form of sustained manipulation that causes the victim to question or doubt their sanity, judgment and memories.
it’s a form of emotional abuse.
i think jehovah’s witnesses have been gaslit.
MINIMUS:
Gaslighting? They are experts at it. Another funny way of putting it is the expression: pissing on somebody’s head and telling them it’s raining.
I wasn’t in the religion yet when the 1975 fiasco happened but not a word was mentioned to me when I was ‘studying’. So much was withheld. I never would have joined if I knew the real history and the heavy-duty pressure to come (from older people with cushy lives)..to quit my full time job. Thankfully, I never listened to them and kept working until retirement.
SIMON:
I remember some trying to say ‘they never said that’ about higher education. I don’t know how anybody there can say this with a straight face. They may have appeared to let up on it for a short while some years back. But, it’s still being knocked last I heard. I agree the only way to win is walk away, which I’m glad I did.
the thread about old timers got me thinking about trends i see with the watchtower.
i've changed my opinion about where the organization stands.
when i joined the religion in 1973 it was dynamic, even the small congregation i attended sent out three or four pioneers.
FFGHOST:
That is a very funny but informative post about the realities of what happens when a young person in the religion does not get college/career. You got that right about never being able to afford that nice house!...There are non-JWs working who can barely afford it.
That is also sad what you wrote about somebody who sold their house a decade ago and decided to live off the proceeds..’because Armageddon was coming!’.. He can barely afford his baloney sandwiches. 🙄
I am sure there are JWs who did this or something similar like dropping out of the workforce to live in some exotic place. Then the money starts to run out..and the End isn’t here yet. The person is over Sixty and has to deal with this. In a sucky economy. In a worldwide pandemic no less.
Even when people DO plan for their retirement..they still have to watch their money and act wisely and can’t necessarily do everything they would like. It makes me cringe to think what could have happened if I heeded all the bad unsolicited advice all these ‘spiritual’ types heaped on me years ago!
awake!
"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
because all the evidence in fulfillment of bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
ZOOOOOO:
Thanks, I do understand! Yes, those scriptures mention that about ‘faith’.
Unfortunately, I saw that others use that as an excuse to judge those who aren’t following to a ‘T’ what is said in trying to micromanage people’s lives...It was my personal experience they certainly go beyond what the scriptures say with their ‘rules and regulations’. Not to mention the hypocrisy in targeting some (like me) but not others (older JWs in the hall with affluent lives who WERE in the workforce). The poverty being pushed for me certainly wasn’t for THEM.
Not meaning to hijack the original thread..and getting back to the point:..I’m thankful I didn’t follow the popular attitude mentioned in that famous 1969 article or I’d be so screwed it wouldn’t be funny.
Glad you’re Out.
i sent a list of statements about current wts teachings to a friend who is being carefully recruited by a seasoned witness.. hi em..... just a quick summary of what all “good” jehovah's witnesses believe...even though some of these things witnesses are not always willing to be transparent about.
this is your crash course.
i have quotations for every item listed if you want or need them.. witnesses believes that:.
LV101:
You can say that again! They didn’t lay their cards on the table when I was ‘studying’ with the JWs.. I NEVER would have joined the religion if I knew.
TRUTH B KNOWN:
I also agree about point ‘E’. I was always disturbed that there was no accountability on their part about people damaged over the decades by faulty or changed teachings. I’m sure the cemeteries are filled with these people! Too bad we will never hear their stories.
awake!
"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
because all the evidence in fulfillment of bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
ZOOOOOO:
If somebody reads that scripture and thinks the label ‘weak in faith’ applies to them (because only THEY can truly know this) that is their private business to deal with.
However, it does not fall to you or me to be saying this about somebody else. For those of us who are out of the JW religion we have to rid ourselves of the atrocious habit of labeling and judging people!
Of course, this point is moot to somebody with one foot in or intending to go back. Good luck. I’m just glad I’M out.
awake!
"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
because all the evidence in fulfillment of bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
ZOOOOOO:
Sorry you didn’t understand my post. I assume you are out of the JW religion.
When I walked away from the religion I made sure I changed my vocabulary and no longer used certain terms used by the religion. For instance: you’ll notice I call it ‘the religion’. I would not say ‘the truth’ like some still do. 🙄. Also, I don’t use terms like ‘spiritual’ when describing people or phrases like ‘weak faith’. Nobody can know this about people and it sounds silly and presumptuous to me.
In a nutshell: I was treated hypocritically when I was in the religion years ago. As a young single woman I was expected to pursue poverty and be a doormat for Users in the congregation. These Users were mostly older people with affluent lives and the poverty they were pushing wasn’t for them, just some young gullible fool. Thankfully, I did not listen to any of them.
active believer...still attend meetings, go out in field service, believe it's ''the truth''.
active non-believer... go to meetings and field service to please family... living a double life .
inactive believer...don't attend meetings but believe it's the truth, one day might go back to kingdom hall.
RULES & REGULATIONS:
I am a twenty year+ Walkaway/Fader from the JW religion.
Over the years I contacted all my ‘friends’ to let them know what my issues were with regard to the religion’s intolerable views towards careers/jobs, etc. and how I’m glad I never fell for any of the high pressure they tried to put on younger people especially women in the congregation back then.
I think everyone knows I’m Out and not coming back!
awake!
"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
because all the evidence in fulfillment of bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
ZOOOOOO:
So..What about all those older people I saw in the congregation who were collecting their pensions or had businesses and were doing well? These people went to their graves after living a cushy life..Would you say they had ‘weak’ faith? 🙄
Why do these people get a ‘pass’ and yet somebody who is a Baby Boomer like myself who worked to support myself back in the day not considered to have ‘faith’? This is a double standard hypocrisy. There were people dripping with diamonds and I don’t begrudge anybody well off. But, why was it expected that some young person there pursue poverty?????? I did have faith in God, just not in the religion or organization.
The fact that you use terminology like this tells me where your head is at..Sad to say. Oh, right! Maybe you didn’t mean it and it was just a Freudian slip. 😉
I’m just SO glad I never paid any heed to self-righteous people and all the nonsense talk about ‘spirituality’ back then because I would be in a serious predicament now instead of Retired.
