Posts by LongHairGal

11

1/2 of the Jehovah’s witnesses have gone

by hoser in

jw
friends

there are 1/2 of the jehovah’s witnesses that there were 30 years ago in my area.

some have left but i think that many have died and none of their kids stayed being jehovah’s witnesses.

7 congregations have been dissolved over the years.

LongHairGal

WING COMMANDER:

You got it pretty much right with the categories of people who still remain in the Jehovah’s Witnesses after so many others have left…But, I think with the homeschooled bit you maybe might find more of that in more rural places in the USA. But, with the rest you are exactly right.

I’m one of the people who left after the 1995 Generation teaching. Even though I had a long list of grievances and was treated badly because I worked, this was the last straw.. I had no family in the religion holding me hostage so I just walked.. Great feeling..

Glad to not be anywhere near this now and sorry about those who didn’t plan for their senior years. But, I’d never tolerate people trying to corner me asking for $$. Nope.👎

19

The Share of Religious Americans will continue to decline- New York Times. Why? New Pew Study

by Balaamsass2 in

locally, in northern california i have seen/heard a drop in jw and mainstream church attendance especially in person attendance.

(exception: a new creepy local new-age charismatic/pentecostal group: "bethel church" 11,000 and growing mega church(kundalini yoga/sex combined with prosperity gospel, trumpism, guns, rock music, dancing, glitter, speaking in tongues, and faith healing).. for me this paragraph sums it up regarding jehovah's witnesses: " ...smith described organized religion to me as having become a “polluted” idea in the american mainstream, because of the publicity around sex abuse scandals and financial malfeasance in many different faiths in the ’80s and ’90s as millennials came of age.

“the scandals violated most of the virtues believed to make religion good,” smith wrote.

LongHairGal

ANONY MOUS:

I know what you mean about churches ‘betraying their own standards’ in the hope of gaining followers. People may have stopped going because they lost interest in an increasingly secular world.

I was raised Roman Catholic and I remember way back when they introduced folk masses in some places. I was shocked even though I was so young.. It did seem that they were betraying their own standards.. It did not appeal to me and I was not interested in holding hands with other congregants.

NOW we see today that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing a similar thing to retain their members.. I don’t think it will help as people didn’t just ‘lose interest’.. They fled from an intrusive toxic environment. That’s the crucial difference.

The Catholic Church at least didn’t try to intrude in my life - or try to get me to quit a job to pursue poverty like the Witnesses did! Thank God I never listened.. There is No forgiveness for the JWs, in my book. They deserve to have nobody there.

17

WT June 2025: We Are Not Blind We Just Don't Know

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/7xumqjq3zfc?si=ivcg96t4dtgze4ft.

so this is from the brand new watchtower study edition of june 2025 which has just been posted on jw.org .under the title: modestly accept what you do not know, a let’s read paragraphs in question 4 &5: “read matthew 24:36. we do not know when the end of this system of things will come.

even jesus, while on earth, did not know the ‘day and hour.’ he later told the apostles that jehovah, who is the great timekeeper, keeps the timing of certain events ‘in his own jurisdiction,’ or authority.

LongHairGal

GORB & ANONY MOUS:

I cannot imagine what it would be like to be in the religion now - nor would I want to.

The Witnesses were never able to deliver any ‘New System or New World’.. It was always somebody else, namely God, who was supposed to do this. So, if these prophecies and beliefs were wrong…well guess what? It wouldn’t be happening and said Being wouldn’t be bringing it about because He didn’t say it.

So, the past almost century and a half of wrong predictions by the JWs was just a waste of time for countless people. The ones there now want relief from old age and lack of financial preparation (but they can thank the religion for that).

I didn’t listen back then and they knocked me.. So, here we are now: I prepared and am content to take one day at a time like human beings should;.. they didn’t prepare and are miserable every day and wishing for everything to be over.. SO, Who has the healthier outlook??

17

WT June 2025: We Are Not Blind We Just Don't Know

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/7xumqjq3zfc?si=ivcg96t4dtgze4ft.

so this is from the brand new watchtower study edition of june 2025 which has just been posted on jw.org .under the title: modestly accept what you do not know, a let’s read paragraphs in question 4 &5: “read matthew 24:36. we do not know when the end of this system of things will come.

even jesus, while on earth, did not know the ‘day and hour.’ he later told the apostles that jehovah, who is the great timekeeper, keeps the timing of certain events ‘in his own jurisdiction,’ or authority.

LongHairGal

RAYMOND FRANTZ:

This article had to have been released because of all the complaining of the tired and older JWs that are hanging on!…They didn’t expect to reach senior years in ‘this old system of things’. They feel they should have been in the promised ‘new system’ by now, growing younger by the day.

I’m Glad I left many years ago after the 1995 Generation teaching. I rid my mind of the religion’s so-called ‘hope’…Even though it sounded nice, I never really bought into it.. Glad I prepared and I take one day at a time. It’s saner that way.

53

What makes a cult (in the pejorative sense)?

by Vanderhoven7 in

michael moore writes:.

a cult is an organization that enslaves minds and destroys families using cult mind control.

cult mind control involves orchestrated deception, social pressure, psychological abuse, and repetitive indoctrination (brainwashing) centering around an unchallengeable ideology enforced in a totalitarian way in a closed socially-separatist community setting.

LongHairGal

CARLA:

So true. And, yes, your JW couldn’t understand any of this to save his life.

While not being able to leave gracefully is the number one tell-tale sign of a cult, there are other things. There is next-level intrusiveness and no boundaries. This is in every area you can think of, including your choice of employment.. God help you if you don’t look out for yourself! ..The attitude towards women is abominable. There is no real concern for the individual and quite frankly they couldn’t care less if you are breathing.

I think when you are in a cult it’s a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. Only when you are Out does it become crystal clear what you were a part of!.. I know I felt this way.

22

What is the current Watchtower "rent charge per publisher" for Kingdom Halls in the USA???

by Balaamsass2 in

i was following a few threads in reddit from current pimo jws complaining about local announcements regarding halls being short on their per publisher "rent payments".

third gen and i have been out pomo for a while...so how much is this charge now?

could this be part of the recent push to get people to "come back" or get re-instated...if it even is online and 15 minutes of service per month?

LongHairGal

LV101:

We both have had our share of encounters with all sorts of users and grifters in the JW religion and can spot them a mile away!

It’s a shame to say it really.

80

What the new JW light position really is 👍

by ElderBerry in

i’m still an elder and i consider myself jw light.

as my fellow elders are.

we don’t throw our weight around like elders used to in the past, it’s all very easy going these days.

LongHairGal

SEA BREEZE:

You are right and it’s true that kids who talk too much don’t make it in a cult!

I was neither a ‘kid” nor a born-in and I remember asking innocent but intelligent questions when I was new.. I was then put on the shit list. It also didn’t help that I wouldn’t stop working full-time to ‘pioneer’ and do favors for Users there.🤣 Just attempted exploitation pure and simple. I should have known at that point it was downhill all the way and a total waste of my time and energy.. I could’ve have exited the JWs sooner.

I can laugh about this now because it’s many years ago and I’m now retired. Although it’s a sad reality that some born-in kid who wants out of the Witness religion can very well end up in the street. The authorities should be more aware of this very ugly fact in this secretive group.

22

What is the current Watchtower "rent charge per publisher" for Kingdom Halls in the USA???

by Balaamsass2 in

i was following a few threads in reddit from current pimo jws complaining about local announcements regarding halls being short on their per publisher "rent payments".

third gen and i have been out pomo for a while...so how much is this charge now?

could this be part of the recent push to get people to "come back" or get re-instated...if it even is online and 15 minutes of service per month?

LongHairGal

RANDOMUSERNAME3500:

The guy you tell about is a typical grifter in the JWs and there were always a couple of them in the hall. The other ‘bad actor’ was usually a pioneer couple - always expecting money from people..Looking for freebies and wanting everybody else to pay for their ‘Everlasting Life’.

And they do tend to change halls after everybody has their ‘number’… If I had been there and anybody came up to me with their envelope asking for $$ for anybody there, my answer was NO… I got criticized, marked and gossiped about because I had a full-time job… Where did any of those hypocrites get off imagining they could then come up to me to ask for charity???

This is part of the reason they hated me and I couldn’t have cared less..Nowadays, You would be asked for $$ left and right.👎 Glad to be Out.

UGOTTOBEKIDDINGME1:

I would have loved to see you tell off those JWs when they criticized your uniform! ..As a group they are appallingly ignorant and do not realize that they would have no freedoms at all if somebody else did not fight for them!!!

80

What the new JW light position really is 👍

by ElderBerry in

i’m still an elder and i consider myself jw light.

as my fellow elders are.

we don’t throw our weight around like elders used to in the past, it’s all very easy going these days.

LongHairGal

FINISHED MYSTERY:

Your quote about the elder who said: “I would rather be wrong and in the organization than be right and all alone” is a sad commentary on what probably is the mindset of the majority of the people still left in the JW religion!

Quite simply, they don’t care if it’s right or wrong. They don’t care who got damaged or hurt. They don’t care about faulty teachings and failed prophecies.. Some of the older ones condemned me for working full-time and not ‘pioneering’ years ago.. Meanwhile they were married women with a man supporting them in a comfortable style OR they were men who earned a good living…Such hypocrisy.

I am so Glad I walked away from all this ages ago.

80

What the new JW light position really is 👍

by ElderBerry in

i’m still an elder and i consider myself jw light.

as my fellow elders are.

we don’t throw our weight around like elders used to in the past, it’s all very easy going these days.

LongHairGal

CARLA:

You are totally right and I agree with everything you posted about the JW religion 100%.

You, being married to a Witness, have seen it all. It is hard to think about the number of people in this religion who stay in spite of how toxic and damaging it is. An elder is even more reprehensible than a regular rank & file Witness because he sees behind the curtain and knows everything.. And, as for the excuse that they stay ‘because they want to make things better’ etc. it’s nonsense.. They really just don’t want to give up whatever MATERIAL benefits they have (social and business contacts, etc.)

I am a ‘Fader’ who, fortunately, had no family there and I never caved in to the immense pressure and criticism (from elders and other hypocrites) to quit my job all those years ago!

Then, when the religion changed the teaching about counting hours at their 2023 annual meeting - I just could not believe how right I was!!!.. I was ‘judged’ on this as a ‘low hour publisher’🙄 and Thank God I never listened!