Posts by luna2

27

WTBTS DAYS ARE NUMBERED !

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

found this on another site... watchtower's many false statements about "the generation of 1914".

http://www.jwstudies.com/2010_change_to_generations.pdf"''" .

2014 - its significance in the watchtower society"''" .

I'm pretty sure that the WTBTS will hang on until the last penny is gone. If they suddenly imploded, someone would step in claiming to be an incarnation of them so as to retain the assets of the corporation. They might not be true believers, but they would put on a front in order to control whatever monies and property might be left. I have my doubts about many of the past GB members and how much they really believed their own propaganda. As long as there are sheeple who are looking for someone to lead them around and tell them that God loves them and that someday, over the rainbow, they will live in the land of Oz forever and ever, and no one will ever look cross-eyed at them again, there will be a version of the Watchtower Society.

I think there are even some International Bible Students still around (the precursor to the WTBTS). Funny how religious cults work.

12

Man finds $17,000 cash and turns it in ... JW?

by wannabefree in

despite this man's facial hair and no mention of religion, he must be one of jehovah's witnesses, cuz surely no worldly person would be so honest.. serioulsy, he credits his parents.

it always irritated me that whenever a witness does something good they have to throw in "as one of jehovah's witnesses ...." as though they were implying they would otherwise not have done the right thing.. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-man-finds-17000and-turns-it-in-20110609,0,6950954.story.

luna2

Jehovah's Witnesses are no more honest than anybody else...they just talk about it more. When they do the "right thing", they make sure to broadcast it because doing what is right isn't enough reward for them. I knew a good number of JWs who were liars, thieves, and cheaters, but were either deceiving themselves by justifying their actions or just didn't care, as long as they could fly under the radar.

One of the most dishonest people I ever worked for was a JW elder. He eventually was removed as elder after misappropriating monies people deposited with him to pay their electric bills. The interesting thing was that he was never disfellowshipped. Too many connections to make him a nice easy target for that. JWs are mostly bullies who pick on those who have the least power in the congregations.

As others have said, its a mistake to think that only JWs would turn this money in. There are many honest, trustworthy people in the world and they come from all nations and religious backgrounds.

26

Parroting in the meetings

by dgp in

in the one meeting i attended, i noticed that some witnesses were creative in the answers they gave to the questions, while others were simply repeating what the magazine said.

i remember that, at the time, i thought the creative ones were also the smart ones, while the others were lazy, and that no doubt the creative ones would rank higher in the watchtower.. well, i think i have changed my mind.

it seems to me that those parroting the questions are, in a way, the smart ones.

luna2

From what I remember (my last meeting was over 11 years ago) they wanted people to parrot the answers straight out of the paragraph. Those that appeared to have read the material and actually thought about it enough to formulate their own answers in their own words were given no encouragment from the podium, and they would usually re-ask the question in the hopes of getting the response they wanted. Often some kid would quickly put up his/her hand and read back part of the paragraph...and get all kinds of praise. It was weird and upsetting to me to see how they minimized and marginalized those who actually studied and thought about the junk they were trying to impart and demonstrated (at least to me) how they didn't want people to actually think at all.

29

"Cemetery Witnessing" on Memorial Day

by Morbidzbaby in

jw
friends

i've been wondering if this is just something that's done in my area, or if people do it all over.. every year on memorial day, a lot of people meet for fs and then when they break into groups, they all discuss which cemeteries they are going to "work".

every major cemetery in the city is divvied up.

the idea is, they take a stack of small tracts (usually the what hope for dead loved ones) and they basically park the car in the cemetery and walk around handing them out to the mourners.

luna2

Jehovah's Witnesses are all about gaining converts any way they can, and if pushing themselves on someone grieving gets magazine or tract placements, then that's what they do. I've never done cemetary witnessing and can only be glad that it wasn't something that was popular in either of the two congregations I attended. I hate that JWs are always looking for people who are at their lowest point so that they can hope to lure them into their religion.

77

According to WT 8/11: YOU MIGHT BE MENTALLY IMBALANCED IF YOU PROFESS TO BE ANOINTED!!!

by JustHuman14 in

according to the august 2011 watchtower magazine:.

memorial partakers.

this is the number of baptized individuals who partake of the emblems at the memorial worldwide.

luna2

The whole "annointed" thing is probably something that the WTS wishes would quietly die out. Back when I was in, they were excited about seeing the number dwindle because that meant the end was getting CLOSER. But, when numbers don't dwindle and, even increase, it doesn't fit with the WTS version of THE END so they have to come up with a fix. Mental illness works because there's so much of it in the congregations anyway, and they always like to use whatever they can to make people feel unworthy and subserviant so it works on a couple of different levels.

25

Awake 5/11 - THE SEVENTH WORLD POWER!!! Gasp!! - A history lesson

by doubtful in

jw
friends

the watchtower loves this point.

he not only felt that he was living in the last "days", but in the last hour.

he says at 1 john 2:18:.

luna2

No wonder the WTS encourages their little dubs not to get an education. If they developed their brains and knew their history better, they wouldn't believe the junk the GB wants to spoon feed them. I've often wondered about how they push JWs to work as janitors so much, given that you often can barely make a living and wouldn't be able to send all that much to Bethel. Wouldn't it be better to encourage their followers to gain more education and, therefore, be able to get better paying jobs? But now I get it. Better to have a bunch of uneducated followers who can only donate a few dollars, than none at all.

27

Video: JWs debate Harold Camping Followers...

by Tuesday in

jw
friends

well sort of... i think that if there really was a debate between jws and harold camping followers this is what it would look like.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om2rfoynk_m.

my first video in 8 months or so, hope it came out ok and is as biting of a satire as i thought it would be..

luna2

Awesome. I sure wish the internet had been readily available when I was first studying with the witnesses. I would hope that I'd have looked things up. Of course, if you really like the idea of being specially special and that your hardships are going to be over soon AND that all the mean/bad/rich people who didn't help you or looked down on you or took advantage of you would be destroyed, its hard to be objective.

Looking at it in retrospect, I see how juvenile the whole concept of the WTS is...all based on big rewards for those who join their cult, with the delightful expectation of seeing those who took advantage or treated them badly getting PUNISHED by being killed dead forever and ever. Neener, neener.

I wonder how many of Campings followers have woken up?

48

Waking Up From a 34 Year Slumber.

by alg1052 in

july 11, 2011 will be 34 years since i was baptised as one of jw's.

the sleeping pill i took was in the form of them providing the information that made the bible come alive with the truth and insisting that they go by the bible not adding or taking away from it.

i had negative experiences from local brothers from time to time, however i excused them as part of being imperfect.

luna2

I agree that the WTS's main objective is controlling the flock and that they demonstrate that control by making little rules and seeing who will obey and who will question. Sometimes the rules aren't so little...like education. I understand why they don't want young witnesses to get an education...and its not because of all of the worldly influences, its because, if they learn critical thinking, they will start to apply what they've learned to the WTS and it will expose the whole sheebang for a tissue of lies. The big problem lies in having a congregation full of under-educated people who have trouble getting good paying jobs and making ends meet...how will they support the organization? I guess the WTS will next encourage the congregation to fast one day a week and donate the money saved to them.

In regards to your facial hair flap, I mean, look at it. Its do unimportant that is laughable. But then they've always had a "thing" about facial hair. Hey, its easy to make edicts about and it demonstrates their iron control without costing anybody any money or too much difficulty.

As for where you will go? That's the puzzle, isn't it. I worried about this for a couple of years, both before and after I made my decision to leave. The problem with witnesses is that they debunk other religions, so that when you realize they're a bunch of frauds too, there is no religion to go to. That's why so many ex witnesses become athiests. Others, especially if they weren't born in and have a religion in their background, go back to that religion. They don't have to believe it, its more of a security blanket, a retreat into their childhood. Its a place to find friends, and a social network...and its much easier than what they went through as witnesses. At any rate, its something all of us who have left have to face and deal with for ourselves. Look at it as an adventure in self discovery.

Good luck to you.

9

My ex-JW DF'd father has gone "Camping" on me

by Gayle in

i am so very sad.

my dad was disfellowshipped for apostasy by jws in mid-80s.

he then went to many churches after, didn't 'fit' in anywhere because he was so opinionated.

luna2

I think that there are some folks who are really searching for that perfect religion. If mainstream doesn't do it for them, they might try Jehovah's Witnesses or TWI or some other flavor of cult. If that doesn't pan out, they look for something else. They may be attracted to those groups who hold out exclusivity and end dates. Having escaped from one cult religion, I have no desire to subject myself to more of the same, but, obviously, some people feel the need to keep trying. Its kind of sad.

33

Amazing Awake Experience, Former druggie looks up JWs in the phone book and starts studying

by LostGeneration in

no looking up jws on the internet first?

and uses a phone book, who even owns a phone book anymore?.

here is the an "experience" from pg 7 of the august 2011 awake.. my teenage years were a blur of alcohol,.

luna2

I truly think they manufacture these experiences. They may be cobbled together from several different people's stories, the dates changed, the places changed. I once had a friend who was given a part in one of the convention parts and they totally "tweeked" her "experiences". I didn't know who she was talking about as it didn't much resemble her life except that she was a single mother.

Witnesses have a lot of gall yapping about how truthful they are.