SIMON:
Yes, I have two private messages I cannot see that must be what you are referring to. đ
just a reminder about spammers.. please ignore them!.
they are idiots, we have a real "gay-for-j" zealot right now who hasn't got the message that they are not wanted and no one is interested in their bible-fantasy gibberish.
there's a certain irony that their own site is covered in "don't spam" rules but they think it's acceptable to do it to others.
SIMON:
Yes, I have two private messages I cannot see that must be what you are referring to. đ
three of my sisters - there are five of us - were baptized as witnesses.
one of them has gone from reading voraciously to only reading her textbooks and watchtower publications.
this does not seem to be unusual among witnesses.
VIENNE:
The trend towards poor grammar is pervasive nowadays and not just among JWs with poor education.
The schools in the US watered down the education in grammar schools decades ago. I even see college grads with atrocious spelling and know one teacher who should be ashamed. Spell check is not loaded with every word and sometimes you need a dictionary. I have seen mistakes on signs, TV news and in internet articles. This lowered standard is here to stay unfortunately and itâs not getting better.
no clue how i got this.. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1trgavbqlx9e9qv7begvmp0742tpawg3vfkh1eifqepe/edit?usp=drivesdk.
top ten reasons.
(why) jehovah's witnesses can't cope with the real world____________________.
VANDERHOVEN7:
All good points. But, I donât really believe ALL Witnesses adhered to every one of them.
I think a lot of Witnesses might have disagreed with some things in the list but kept it to themselves. Reading all this though, I can understand how born-ins can really be messed up. The expectations are absolutely outrageous. Iâm so grateful I wasnât raised in the religion and came in as a young working adult.
It was SO obvious to me that too many of the younger JWs (my peers at the time) werenât in reality about financial things and the planning that normal people take for granted. The older people in the congregation were more wise but unfortunately kept it to themselves OR worse yet tried to discourage younger JWs from looking out for themselves financially because it was more in keeping with the party line.
Too many of the younger JWs that I saw were in la la land on this issue and I remember speaking my mind about it and got put-downs and the old argument about âfaithâ (which means do nothing). Iâm very happy today that I never listened to any of these people!
the watchtower has always banged on about not pursuing worldly careers and that best career was 'theocratic service.
but now i am wondering what line they will take.
let's have look at the options;.
VIDIOT:
I understand that the religion has the mentality of not planning for the future in general. However, this flies in the face of common sense and is even contrary to that scripture in Proverbs about âthe lowly antâ who stores up for itself.
My issue was they tried to make peoples lives miserable who had a job/career and planned for their future..This is also ignoring the fact that all the older people in the hall back then were collecting their pensions! They sure as hell planned for THEIR future. How come these people got a âpassâ but yet I as the Baby Boomer was panned??? ..Maybe hypocrisy and double standards? đ
Hey, maybe I feel this way because I wasnât raised a Witness! But, Iâm certainly GLAD I wasnât.. I made sure I listened to âworldlyâ wisdom because Iâd be up that famous creek if I had not.. This can never be lightly dismissed or forgotten, not by me anyway!
the watchtower has always banged on about not pursuing worldly careers and that best career was 'theocratic service.
but now i am wondering what line they will take.
let's have look at the options;.
PISTOLPETE:
Yes, that is true. Since zoom there are no PHYSICAL congregations.
If they donât bring back regular meetings in a brick and mortar building - a person will have no place to visit. Also, there wonât be any warm bodies to go up to with an envelope asking for money for somebody who never wanted to work. Gone will be the days a wandering JW could visit a strange hall, sit in the back and then go up to the brothers after the meeting and introduce themselves and give their sob story!
This new reality should give any irresponsible JWs pause. They simply can no longer count on a physical place or a âbrotherhoodâ who is going to give them money, handouts and a cheap apartment when they fall through the cracks because they never had the financial stability of most people who got regular jobs or careers!
Even though I couldnât have foreseen what would happen to the religion, I knew it would be a disaster when JWs who didnât plan for their future reached retirement age unprepared!
the watchtower has always banged on about not pursuing worldly careers and that best career was 'theocratic service.
but now i am wondering what line they will take.
let's have look at the options;.
RESERVATIONS:
I agree with your whole post and the religion will probably look worse in a year.
I also expect that they will kick out more bethelites. Any bethelites still there should be warned since this has already happened! They better have a plan and some phone numbers on speed dial. The congregations are ALREADY filled with needy people- some former bethelites plus others who never had decent jobs or $aved for their senior years.
Forgive me, but I find the concept of âtheocratic careersâ as it relates to the JW religion laughable. A real career has benefits and plans for the future and Retirement.
the pandemic has made the situation worse for single young jw girls.. i'm hearing tons of sad stories of single jw girls who are going, or have gone into deep depression.
with many having thoughts of committing suicide and hoping for a better life in the new order.. the pandemic has made it almost impossible for young jw girls to find a suitable marriage mate.
especially since the single jw boys-men want young, gorgeous, thin, virgins, who look like models and summit to the headship arrangement.
PISTOLPETE:
I agree that the pandemic has made everything worse!
Please donât tell me human beings are supposed to socialize in anything other than in person. Over the computer..with zoom? đ¤Łđ¤Ł Please!
As far as the dating situation in Witness world: it was always bad. Back then I saw very attractive sisters of all ages who couldnât find a guy. Every now and then a desperate sister would settle for some brother who under normal conditions would be untouchable. But, she wanted to be married. I certainly wasnât going to do this! I always said that a woman had to look outside the religion for a man.
As far as I was concerned, all the desirable or attractive men were taken. As for the trend of older brothers looking for a teenage girl as a wife: unfortunately that is true, sadly.
All in all, Iâm glad Iâm long gone from this religion. At this point, I could never stomach being around the mentality of it all.
the watchtower has always banged on about not pursuing worldly careers and that best career was 'theocratic service.
but now i am wondering what line they will take.
let's have look at the options;.
OVERRATED:
You and me both! Thankfully, we made the right choices years ago and anybody who criticized and labeled me can be damned. They better go ask their âspiritualâ friends for handouts!
ONTHEWAYOUT:
I credit that CO as having more intelligence than many. Thatâs not to say I like them since I believe they are behind some of the shunning I received because I worked full time.
As far as the saying that âany sacrifice in this system will be remembered..â: thatâs just the point. Everybody there did NOT sacrifice. All the older people were collecting a pension or on their way to. This means THEY were in the workforce. But, yet, poverty was preached to ME and other young people there. It was also mostly directed at women. These bastards thought young women were going to do favors for older affluent people and every other User there. (Of course, I refused.)..All these older JWs went to their graves after living a comfortable life. What then happens to the gullible young people who are now retirement age and made no plans?? These affluent hypocrites are not even around to help them!
I can get down and kiss the floor in gratitude NOW that I was a lousy JW back then who got âlow hoursâ in because of my job and who was labeled and not invited to special gatherings back in the day.đ
the watchtower has always banged on about not pursuing worldly careers and that best career was 'theocratic service.
but now i am wondering what line they will take.
let's have look at the options;.
PISTOLPETE:
You got that right. Let them get a JOB...I partly blame them for the negative way I was viewed in the congregation as somebody who worked full time.
They harped on the fact that everybody should be a pioneer and direct remarks about not pursuing âmaterialismâ (which is Code for donât get a decent job/career). Because of the way they felt about people like me.. I would Never have helped out when volunteers were asked to âfeed the COâ. Yeah?.. They could go eat at a fast food place and order that No. 9 with Fries for all I cared!
i get the impression that many of those serving where 'the need is greater' have had to return to their home countries due to the current covid pandemic.. just over a year back the society was pushing people to go to places like india; not the easiest places to get to grips with at the best of times.
now i see that the covid pandemic is pretty much out of control in india.
it seems to me that 'needs greaters' were the watchtowers way of getting missionaries on the cheap.
BIAHI:
Yes, I think in some cases younger people looking for adventure go to where âthe need is greaterâ.
In other cases it is older people going to more attractive places - maybe not necessarily where the need is greater. Maybe these Witnesses are fed up with the daily grind back in the states. The ânew systemâ is delaying so they want to experience âparadise-likeâ conditions now. What also needs to be taken into account is political instability around the world and how sometimes desirable places turn into something not-so-nice and the JWs need to move elsewhere!
Also, the problem is that some JWs werenât exactly retirement age and not yet eligible for SS (even if they paid enough into it) when they went overseas! Maybe they had a stash of money and wanted to try it and hoped maybe the ânew systemâ would be here before the money started to dry up. So, now they are over sixty and have to deal with this!