Posts by jwfacts

38

there may be many like defd

by justicehope in

jw
friends

i am a bit nervous making a reply.

i find it a bit challenging to gather my thoughts and express them in the written forum, but her goes!

i have been coming to this site for years.

jwfacts

Welcome and nice to hear from you. There is no need to be nervous, no one knows who you are, so you can say whatever you feel.

I like having dfed here because you can not discuss a point without having both sides of the argument.

My concern with the WTS is that the emphasis on the organisation, a word you included in the post, takes away from the worship of God and Jesus, two words that you did not mention. I find that so much of the conversation I have with JWs is about the Organisation, the rules, the requirements, and so little about faith in God. So much about being glad to belong to the organisation, the worldwide brotherhood, and so little about belonging to the Christ.

However if you can find the spirituality you need as a Witness and are realistic about it all, then it may be a good place for you to be, only you can determine that. At least being here can give you some balance and other points of view, something that many JWs miss out on.

93

What are you REALLY like?

by jwfacts in

it is strange chatting on the net, not knowing what everyone is really like.

do you pretend to be someone you are not?

i find it hard to know how to take people here sometimes, as words do not convey as much without seeing the facial expressions and hearing the tonal inflections.

jwfacts

Maui Thai and Jui Jitsu are two of the two most lethal marshal arts. I've seen documentaries where those two seem to generally beat any other form of fighting. The elders must have really roughed you up. Did you ever seek revenge?

27

How Many Came in via Door-toDoor Witnessing?

by JW_Researcher in

.

what percentage would you say came into your old or current congregation(s) via the door-to-door witnessing?

it is understood that your response is a guestimate.

jwfacts

i was born in, parents were from door to door.

I'd say 50% are born in 50% converted. Of the converted 50% house to house, 50% informal. That makes 25%

If there are 1 billion hours reported a year and only 200,000 baptisms that is 5000 hours witnesssing for 1 baptism.

If only 25% or 50,000 are from the door to door, and the majority of the hours are from the door to door and RV work, that means it is almost 20,000 hours to convert someone from the doors. At $25 an hour that is half a million dollars worth of labour per publisher.

You can do a lot of good deeds with $500,000 dollars, feed a lot of villagers, and convert a lot more people through showing loving kindness to them. JWs call them rice Christians, I think that if a person comes to God by viewing the kindness of his followers you are having many times the impact as standing on door steps invading peoples privacy

93

What are you REALLY like?

by jwfacts in

it is strange chatting on the net, not knowing what everyone is really like.

do you pretend to be someone you are not?

i find it hard to know how to take people here sometimes, as words do not convey as much without seeing the facial expressions and hearing the tonal inflections.

jwfacts

It is strange chatting on the net, not knowing what everyone is really like. Do you pretend to be someone you are not?

I find it hard to know how to take people here sometimes, as words do not convey as much without seeing the facial expressions and hearing the tonal inflections. So anyway, I would love to know a bit more about what type of person everyone here is. What you look like, hobbies, personality.

I am mid thirties, havn't put on anyweight since I was 15, look somewhat feminine and so get mistaken for being gay all the time. In real life people often do not always know how to take me because I emphasise the wrong words, so the meaning of the words may be different than the sounds. However, I get away with saying just about anything as i look gentle and smile a lot. I hate to think what people think of the stuff I write on here and how it is taken. I'm split personality; really strong and agressive about peoples rights, but also really gentle and fun loving. I love life and will or have tried everything at least once.

What about you????

25

Bad Behavior in Field Service

by TallTexan in

being raised in the 'truth', i obviously spent much of my youth in service.

of course, as we got older, my friends and i would act the fool in service as much as possible.

we used to use the names of popular rap artists with the old farts we called on.

jwfacts

Im a bit embarrased to admit to this.

We had a pistol that shot orange plastic ball bearings and on RVs my pioneer partner would shoot it at cars when we were driving along. Twice drivers took offence and chased us, and having a pioneer bomb of a car it was impossible to out run them. One of the cars got us blocked in a dead end street and the driver pulled a real gun pulled on us. Quite a shock for someone living in Australia. Finally someone got our number plate and the police confiscated the gun.

I also had a girlfriend I used to witness with and if the front door was secluded we used to enjoy a bit of nooky.

34

Even if the bible is not inspired, is Christianity a good thing?

by jwfacts in

i dont want to offend anyone that worships jesus, but am toying with a few ideas at the moment.. i am not sure yet about the inspiration of the bible.

however reading franz' christian freedom gives me a lot more respect for jesus teachings and christianity.

lets say that jesus was just a man.

jwfacts

I dont want to offend anyone that worships Jesus, but am toying with a few ideas at the moment.

I am not sure yet about the inspiration of the bible. However reading Franz' Christian Freedom gives me a lot more respect for Jesus teachings and Christianity.

Lets say that Jesus was just a man. The bible writers probably noticed he did not do all the superhuman things he is said to, so the NT must be somewhat of a consipiracy. However it is a very good one. Could it be possible that some visionary Jews could see the plight that the Law covenant was getting them into. They realised that a new approach was needed, and came up with a very good way of life;

Love God, Love thy neighbour, be honest and moral, look forward to the heavenly ressurection, and look after each other within the Christian congregation.

That seems to be the ideal way to live. Could they be onto something, even if not inspired? We have all seen how it is once religion is institutionalised that it becomes harmful in its fight to perpetuate its own existence, whether the Catholics in the dark ages or the WTS now. But is non institutionlised Christianity the best way of life?

70

Is it all downhill after leaving JW's?

by lynnmelo in

jw
friends

i know many people will get angry at this, but i had to share some observations i've had since i discovered this board a couple of days ago (see my original post under "why all the venom?").

i'll be very honest and say that i was hoping that i would discover that the jw's were wrong about some things, including the so-called "apostate" sites (i have been recommended to some internet sites and some books that i plan to investigate further).

i was hoping to find that people really didn't need the jw's "spiritual food" to remain true to god.

jwfacts

Certainly a JW has no concept of spirituality. By putting a male led organisation between the Great Crowd and Jesus it is impossible to truly know what spirituality is. Jesus said the head of man is the ... Christ. For some reason the head of a JW is the F&D slave. The mediator between God and man is ... Christ, for some reason for the average jDub it is humans, the anointed.

I really think that whilst someone is a JW there is not real spirituality. They may have started with it but it gets sidelined. Now when I listen to a JW talking i am surprised how much is about the WTS, the Org, the brothers. It is rarely about a relationship with Jesus.

Even the word Jehovah prevents a JW having a true relationship with God. Jesus said his followers would become close enough to call him Abba Father, never did Jesus say Jehovah God, so much more formal. Like living in a naughty boys home referring to the big scary principle, not in a loving family.

40

Looking for some advice

by MuadDib in

jw
friends

i'm a young man raised in the jws, been meaning to get the hell out of dodge for a few years now (basically ever since starting a history degree and learning why the jw conception of history, science, and indeed of reality is so utterly nonsensical, in addition to having discovered girls and fun).

i have no qualms about leaving the organization, i don't care what the elders or anyone else think about my decision - with the exception of my family.

i love my family deeply and i know that my decision will really hurt them, especially my mother (a full-time pioneer), and this is making me hesitate to do what i know needs to be done in addition to causing me a lot of worry and stress.

jwfacts

Sounds like you have got the right idea. Everyone must be almost expecting that you are gone anyway.

Just one thing you said has me worried. You mentioned that if the elders come around you are armed with enough historical info. I dont recommend doing that as it could get you d/f. If they come over it is safer to just make up some lame excuse about how you will try harder, or having a short break, blah blah blah, and hope they dont come around for another 12 months.

If you go down the history/science route you risk arguments, labels of apostates, breaking your mothers heart and the big D/F. Elders hate to be shown up, disrespected, and nothing you say will make a difference to their idolatry of the WTS. But they are used to slack JW boys and will just leave you alone if you kiss enough ...

70

Is it all downhill after leaving JW's?

by lynnmelo in

jw
friends

i know many people will get angry at this, but i had to share some observations i've had since i discovered this board a couple of days ago (see my original post under "why all the venom?").

i'll be very honest and say that i was hoping that i would discover that the jw's were wrong about some things, including the so-called "apostate" sites (i have been recommended to some internet sites and some books that i plan to investigate further).

i was hoping to find that people really didn't need the jw's "spiritual food" to remain true to god.

jwfacts

wow balabkyln,

You've been a member for a year, only started posting just yesterday, and have done 16 posts all of a sudden. Welcome, I would love to hear your story.

BTW nice photo, great smile.

4

Spawned in the U.S.A.- Cults

by bigmouth in

jw
friends

sometime back in one of the wts mags the question was posed as to why god would choose an american (russel) to head his earthly church rather than say someone in africa or asia.i think the writer was from a middle eastern country.the society replied that if jehovah chose to use an american that was his prerogative.so there!

but it does seem to me that the u.s.a. does have more than its fair share of cults and religious nuts.

is my impression right?

jwfacts

I cant really say, but as there is about 30,000 Christian sects, and 10,000 religions in Africa alone, i'd tend to think whacky sects and cults are everywhere.

It does seem that Americans are rich enough to get recognition quicker. The well known cults are usually from the USA, morons, JWs, 7dayers, etc etc. Americans have perfected marketing and the global economy better than others.

I spent time pioneering on Thursday Island, where there were only 3,000 people. A lady had her own religion going called something like "the church of the seven candles of Christ". She had seven followers. There is no way she will be the next WTS purely due to a lack of visibility and funds.