HELLOTHERE:
I guess time will tell what happens with the JWs. I’m Glad I got out ages ago.
I would never get involved with any religion or movement ever again. You don’t need religion to be spiritual.
for the lucid lurkers: # 37. the article's examples really show, that among the 'name people' only 50 % of rank and file, and none of the leaders can be trusted all the time.
but, shut up and put up.. eli and hannah, eli's sons committed gross sins, raping/ seducing woman visitors to the temple, for years, yet naive worshippers are to trust their brothers, even with their children ?
inaction by wt approved?
HELLOTHERE:
I guess time will tell what happens with the JWs. I’m Glad I got out ages ago.
I would never get involved with any religion or movement ever again. You don’t need religion to be spiritual.
for the lucid lurkers: # 37. the article's examples really show, that among the 'name people' only 50 % of rank and file, and none of the leaders can be trusted all the time.
but, shut up and put up.. eli and hannah, eli's sons committed gross sins, raping/ seducing woman visitors to the temple, for years, yet naive worshippers are to trust their brothers, even with their children ?
inaction by wt approved?
WATON:
You sound like you are an active Witness. I got out ages ago.
Events of the Old Testament were over two thousand years ago that we can’t do anything about now.
I do agree that people like David got away with murder. I always wondered why the JW religion held him in such high regard, hmmm.😉
But, getting back to the here and now, what I mentioned is what’s happening in the damn religion in RECENT times. That’s mostly why I got the hell out of there. Not because of David or what others in the Old Testament did or did not do.
I almost hate the bible now.
for the lucid lurkers: # 37. the article's examples really show, that among the 'name people' only 50 % of rank and file, and none of the leaders can be trusted all the time.
but, shut up and put up.. eli and hannah, eli's sons committed gross sins, raping/ seducing woman visitors to the temple, for years, yet naive worshippers are to trust their brothers, even with their children ?
inaction by wt approved?
FOOLEDNOMORE:
Yes, this was begging on a personal level and not just from the platform. It would be bad enough if this was on the street. But, inside the hall?
I could see if it was a situation where somebody I knew lost their wallet or God forbid was victimized and needed to get home. But, what we are talking about here is plain old panhandling and I recall seeing this woman doing this once before. This is the low life behavior that has made itself known inside the kingdom hall.
As far as the JW who had the audacity to come into your place begging: ..you were correct to tell him he should be out earning a wage somewhere!
Anybody active in the religion is seeing the shitstorm created by knocking careers and retirement planning! Now all these people got old and are unprepared and panicked. The economy is shit. Congregations are filled with too many people who are needy because they followed the religion’s bad advice.. Anybody anywhere in any hall who looks halfway decent (like I did) is going to be targeted - either by panhandlers themselves OR some stupid brother who will corner you like a sneaky rat with an envelope looking for money for somebody who never wanted to work.
The Question is:..who’s going to stick around and tolerate this garbage? Not me.
for the lucid lurkers: # 37. the article's examples really show, that among the 'name people' only 50 % of rank and file, and none of the leaders can be trusted all the time.
but, shut up and put up.. eli and hannah, eli's sons committed gross sins, raping/ seducing woman visitors to the temple, for years, yet naive worshippers are to trust their brothers, even with their children ?
inaction by wt approved?
BIAHI:
No, the nervy ‘B’ didn’t state an amount. My answer would have been No whatever way she worded it.
She just came up to me while I was in my seat before the meeting got started. It was just a run of the mill plea for money I heard many times before from panhandlers. However, I was appalled to encounter this at the kingdom hall.
This is what the religion has turned into, apparently, and I’m Glad I’m not there anymore. So, it’s not just that I don’t believe Witness teachings anymore or am not tolerating their intrusiveness and disrespect. But, the icing on the cake is that I would have to fend off this shit as well. Not happening.
(this article is available by subscription only so i copied and pasted it below.).
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/business/crypto-ponzi-scheme-hyperfund.html.
here's part of the information about mr. de hek's past as a jw:.
ANDERSONSINFO:
Your friend’s email is right on target.
I agree with their words that the JWs have ‘no actual product’, ‘just illustrations and spin’.
What people also have to remember is that the religion itself cannot deliver any of these supernatural promises and speculations. (I know this should be painfully obvious but people don’t think.)
People are assured that somebody ELSE (namely God) is going to bring about all the wonderful things the religion talks about like: paradise earth, the resurrection and ‘perfection’, beautiful scenery and fruit platters and smiling people depicted in beautiful artwork in their books/literature.
The religion itself is not able to actually make any of this wishful thinking happen.
for the lucid lurkers: # 37. the article's examples really show, that among the 'name people' only 50 % of rank and file, and none of the leaders can be trusted all the time.
but, shut up and put up.. eli and hannah, eli's sons committed gross sins, raping/ seducing woman visitors to the temple, for years, yet naive worshippers are to trust their brothers, even with their children ?
inaction by wt approved?
I don’t know why anybody should be surprised.
You’ve got the perfect situation with Witnesses to be taken advantage of by anybody and everybody. These people have let down their personal boundaries. This is a very bad thing because everyone should have boundaries of some sort. I was not raised a JW but came in a young working adult. I saw right away they try to chip away at your boundaries. They think it’s about ‘love’ and brotherly-ness but it’s really about exploitation. They pull this mostly with single women but I suppose a gullible brother can be a victim. They also act like you supposedly can trust everybody there. I am friends with an ex-JW woman who was suspicious back in the day when a certain couple in the hall wanted her to just leave her very young daughter with them for an afternoon! Her instincts told her No and she declined.
You also have a mentality of deadbeatism and people who imagine they can be forgiven for anything.
As I might have said previously: at least when I was in I was basically surrounded by suburban homeowner types. Maybe a con-artist type would appear from time to time in the form of somebody’s ‘friend’ visiting. This person was oh so spiritual and gave long flowery answers, etc. They ended up being invited everywhere but I think people’s delight was short lived when the person started asking for money and crying a river about hard luck, and so on. I think this was common in the Witness religion. But, I still wasn’t threatened by this because they were few and far between.
But, NOW, with all the responsible older people having passed away (and many others left)..a different demographic remains of more ‘needy’ (which can mean a lot of things). FORGET ABOUT IT…. I wouldn’t tolerate anybody making a bee-line over to me asking for money! Like when I was at a memorial in later years and a visiting woman did this.. My ‘NO’ to her was certainly loud enough for people around me to hear.
This is what I (who was knocked for working full-time) would encounter if I were stupid enough to ever get involved with this religion again.. I have explained this to the few JWs I know.. And to any JW lurkers:..nobody wants to be around panhandlers and you’ve got another thought coming if you imagine that responsible-looking person you see at the hall owes you anything!
for the lucid lurkers: # 37. the article's examples really show, that among the 'name people' only 50 % of rank and file, and none of the leaders can be trusted all the time.
but, shut up and put up.. eli and hannah, eli's sons committed gross sins, raping/ seducing woman visitors to the temple, for years, yet naive worshippers are to trust their brothers, even with their children ?
inaction by wt approved?
FOOLEDNOMORE:
Back when I was in decades ago I have to say that the elders in the congregations were basically decent men - even if you didn’t like their personalities!
I’ve been out for about twenty-two years. Sorry that everything seems to have gone further downhill in the JW religion.. No way I could be around any of this now.. Any diehards still wanting to stick around with this..good luck.
how much of the preaching hours in yearly report you think are real?
they always have high numbers preaching hours.
probably increase every decade.
NOWWHAT?
The problem is they aren’t even real bible studies but instead are the religion’s own literature studies.
A bible study would be just that: a study of the Bible. Years back when I ‘studied’ with them, their own books were used to study from with the bible reached for here and there.
I also believe anything considered a charity should have programs that benefit the community like what the religions of Christendom have:.. such as programs to help the hungry and the needy and the youth in the community.
for the lucid lurkers: # 37. the article's examples really show, that among the 'name people' only 50 % of rank and file, and none of the leaders can be trusted all the time.
but, shut up and put up.. eli and hannah, eli's sons committed gross sins, raping/ seducing woman visitors to the temple, for years, yet naive worshippers are to trust their brothers, even with their children ?
inaction by wt approved?
The reason they have to touch on this topic, in my opinion, is because the demographics and things inside the congregations have changed. You have to wonder just what kind of victimization some people have experienced!
Back in the day when I was ‘in’, I NEVER had any business dealings with JWs and never wanted to. And THIS was back when people were more ‘responsible’ types. But, there was always a con artist here and there. Unfortunately, they were always there like threads in the fabric. I knew enough to avoid them and I had heightened senses because I wasn’t raised a JW and worked full-time. I was well aware of jealous idiots and deadbeats looking for handouts.
But, NOW…you can totally forget about it !! I’m Out many years and am well aware of all the changes in the religion as well as the changed demographic and things in the world being a bit worse.. Most of the elderly responsible types (hit up for money the most) are passing away. What is left in congregations are less affluent and more ‘needy’ types.. A lot are needy because they followed the religion’s advice not to get careers or plan for their retirement. Anybody else left in the congregations who looks even halfway decent or has a job - would be targeted left and right!
I am Glad I am long gone from this religion.
let me start with a couple of distinctions.. first century christians:.
1. baptized military personnel.. 2. baptized men with political authority.
.
VANDERHOVEN7:
Some good examples are mentioned here…
However, the world today is a very different place than the world of the 1st century. In fact, the whole planet is different.
There are things that might have been done in the First Century (in the Middle East) that somebody might have a problem with now. I’m speaking about certain oddballs who thought they were going to roam around like vagabonds or live off the land imagining that’s what the disciples did.. Well, whose land?? For one thing, if somebody even wanted to go fishing they would need permits, etc. Since most of the land is either owned by the government or individuals, hungry people couldn’t just poach whatever off the property. I mean they could try but what happens when they are caught?
Also, this isn’t the culture of ancient times where people take guests in as a custom (well, not unless you want a problem with squatters who won’t leave). Also, people are less trustworthy today, in my opinion, and that’s putting it mildly. Whereas people from a distant era had codes of honor.
So, I don’t really think there is a fair comparison between now and the first century.