jwfacts

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Posts by jwfacts

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  42

  classification of Jehovahs Witness members by when they joined up

  by besty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just got to thinking how long can the watchtower peddle the 'soon' story with any credibility?.

  i would say there are the oldtimer or born ins in the 70+ age group - they possibly remember the 2nd world war, and maybe joined for 1975 or made life affecting decisions meaning they are so commited with 'nowhere else to go' that they have surrendered to the resurrection hope.. then you have the '1986 international year of peace, the 1914+70 year' generation crowd.

  people in their 40s and 50s now.

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  jwfacts

  Soon will work forever. It has worked for full human lifespans of several generations of JWs so far, so no reason it won't keep working.

  Slimboyfat - Thats not true. Until 1995 JWs always had a specific timeframe to work with (1914, 1925, 1975, the generation). This "very soon" vagueness is relatively new territory, me it's proving difficult to sustain.

  A specific date is not required for "soon" to work. Look at Christianity. 79% of Americans still believe in Jesus Second Coming to Earth, and 79% think it will be in their lifetime, and they don't have the strong eschatology of JWs. http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/the-second-coming-of-jesus/

  BESTY Now the 20 somethings and recent converts have only ever known 'soon' - thats the difference I'm trying to explore.

  It is an interesting question. However, I am not sure that there is a large difference between the number of born ins that leave now, and that left in the 1970's or 80's. Franz claimed it was 2/3, which is still what it seems to be today.

  I think that it is harder to get new converts without the urgency, and for them "soon" does not cut it. As with Jeffro's graph, there was a spike in growth prior to the specific date of 1975, which also occurred prior to 1914 and 1925, and even in the 1980's with the final push regarding any logical meaning of the generation.
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  42

  classification of Jehovahs Witness members by when they joined up

  by besty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just got to thinking how long can the watchtower peddle the 'soon' story with any credibility?.

  i would say there are the oldtimer or born ins in the 70+ age group - they possibly remember the 2nd world war, and maybe joined for 1975 or made life affecting decisions meaning they are so commited with 'nowhere else to go' that they have surrendered to the resurrection hope.. then you have the '1986 international year of peace, the 1914+70 year' generation crowd.

  people in their 40s and 50s now.

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  jwfacts

  Soon will work forever. It has worked for full human lifespans of several generations of JWs so far, so no reason it won't keep working. It is specific enough to be motivating, and vague enough never to be provably wrong. It worked for the first century Christians, and 2000 years later it is still working. There will need to be something else that slows growth.

  My Auntie was convinced that 1986 was the cry of peace and security, and that was the beginning of Armageddon. She was convinced that the world was so bad in that year that there was no way it could survive another 5 years. Over 25 years later, she has conveniently forgotten what she believed then, or dismisses it as irrelevant, and is still 100% committed to the Watchtower Religion and its false predictions. True believers ignore logic and facts.
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  36

  BOE Letter: Re: Safety precautions when attending spiritual programs

  by pixel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know atlatis will bring this letter to the forum.

  i just wanted to paste it here and bold the most hilarious, weird thing fro the letter.

  the bold part that i added made me lol.. .

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  jwfacts

  Because of our deep interest and concern for the well-being of all in attendance

  They always need to talk themselves up, and find a way to make everything about the leaders and how great they are.
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  9

  Any Filipino XJWs here?

  by Frazzled UBM in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife is filipina and i ge the impression they are a bit different from other jws in regard to shunning family - my sister-in-law is df'd but the family does not exclude her but she does sort of oerpate ont eh margtin of the family.

  i wonder wheterh there are any differences with filipino jws.

  i get the feeling that less of them fade or leave voluntarily once baptized but weopudl like some confirmation of whether that is correct..

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  jwfacts

  My wife is Filo. As you say, they are not nearly as strict with shunning. For instance, all my Aussie friends and family shun me, but a number of Filipinos here in Australia still speak with me. My mother-in-law speaks with me regularly, whereas my own mother once a year if I'm lucky.

  There is still plenty of Filipinos that leave the religion. Many in Australia have from my circle of friends. I have also read that the Philippines had the highest percent decrease after 1975.
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  165

  Board of bitterness

  by 1009 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i always was a critical jw, now df and agnost.

  but still this religion fascinates me.

  in my eyes most jw are very sincere, but dumb sheep.. this board is filled with ex-jw.

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  jwfacts

  I don't understand why 1009 is getting such a hard time. He has been very open, and makes some good points. It is better for many people to move on with their lives and leave the WTS behind. I obviously have devoted myself to fighting the WTS, but each person handles leaving differently.
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  64

  2 she-bears kill 42 children

  by confusedandalone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we all remember this passage vividly: from there elisha went up to bethel.

  while he was on his way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him.

  "go up baldhead," they shouted, "go up baldhead!

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  jwfacts

  Good questions. I was always so shocked by the story, I never realised how unbelieveable it is.
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  30

  One Day is as 1000 years to Jehovah

  by confusedandalone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wake up this mornign to find this on my facebook page... instant deletion.

  if 1000 years is as one day...the following is true....if 1000 years is as one day...the following is true..... .

  someone did the math, of the 1000 years = one day equation.

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  jwfacts

  processor If "one day is like thousand years" for Jehovah, the "generation" can be "70 to 80 years" again, which would then be 25,550 to 29,200 real years

  Great comment
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  1

  Awake Magazine : An Agnostic’s Review

  by Bangalore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  awake magazine : an agnostics review.. .

  http://jakekuyser.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/awake-magazine-by-jehovas-witnesses-an-agnostics-review/.

  bangalore.

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  jwfacts

  There are a lot of these dissections of Watchtower and Awake articles popping up on the internet, and most are very good. Each one I have read has made quite a mockery of how illogical the magazines are. Pity JW's cannot comprehend basic logic. Here are a few quotes I liked:

  After this there is an example of someone who used to have fairly normal beliefs but now believes ‘a time will come when there will be no injustice on this planet, when all humans are truly equal.’

  I love how they note that becoming a JW means leaving normal behind.

  Then there is a big chunk of text full of bible quotes that really fails to hang together as any sort of logic.

  lol

  I asked if he could explain all the suffering in the world and why his ‘God’ seems to have done nothing about all that. Which seems at best idle or ineffectual or an extreme failure to exist. At worst a cruel or uncaring omnipotent being unworthy of our love. He could only offer ‘God moves in mysterious ways.’ which explains nothing. ‘Jehovah’ is teaching us a lesson for Adam and Eve allowing Satan to question his right to rule. Satan has been allowed to rule the earth since then. Let that be a lesson to us. Apparently we should never question anything or the whole planet will be punished for it. For millennia. Bit harsh eh? Seems a poor way to run a world to me.

  That sums up the problem with the JW teaching of why God allows wickedness very well.
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  30

  One Day is as 1000 years to Jehovah

  by confusedandalone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wake up this mornign to find this on my facebook page... instant deletion.

  if 1000 years is as one day...the following is true....if 1000 years is as one day...the following is true..... .

  someone did the math, of the 1000 years = one day equation.

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  jwfacts

  It is a stupid saying. If God is infinite, then it is closer to say infinity is as 1 day, than to say 1000 years is as 1 day. Start with a faulty premise, and no wonder such garbage comes out the other end.

  Little consolation to the billions that have suffered and died for the last two thousand years, whilst God had an extra couple of days off.
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  16

  Breaking News --- England Retain the Ashes. Up yours Aussies.

  by Slidin Fast in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it wasn't pretty, it wasn't how we wanted it but we are in england and it rains here.

  you can't argue with two good wins previously.

  can the aussies rescue their pride for the rest of the series?.

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  jwfacts

  I'm just a sore loser, though the 2 loss 1 draw result doesn't show how close it has been. It could just as easily have been 2:1 in Australia's favour. You are right that the team is quite average now. The team that had 16 straight wins under S Waugh was filled with amazing talent, and I miss those days as an Aussie supporter.