Posts by jwfacts

20

JW's and suicide: Huffington Post Article

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

the writer of this article commends the work jw's have been doing on suicide prevention.

obviously he has not seen the secret elders tapes.. .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-rivedal/mental-health_b_4788273.html.

jwfacts

Leaders in religious studies in their respective religious fields need to open up dialogue with mental health professionals (and vice versa) so that faith can be used as a tool to help nourish a person back to health.
Two faith-based organizations have been doing commendable work. Awake!magazine (Jehovah's Witnesses) did an article about reasons to live

The quote about JWs immediately follows the paragraph stating that religious leaders should have dialogue with health professionals. How disappointing to mention JWs when they are one of the religions most against recommending health professionals.

15

Why the "worldly" thought of heaven is more comforting than Paradise

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

one of the worst and best things about waking up is realizing that despite what you've been taught as a child, you are going to die one day.

that was easy for me to handle, as i've had near death medical emerigencies.

the hardest part is the thought of losing your parents.

jwfacts

I realised the same when I left. JWs talk about others not having a hope, but actually heaven is a better hope. Dying and soul sleep is quite depressing compared to thinking that death is a doorway to immediate and better things.

25

What did you lose your virginity to JWN? Before or after leaving the JWs?

by usualusername in

jw
friends

i visited this site about 2 years after leaving?.

when did you first visit jwn?.

paul.

jwfacts

I joined after learning TTATT, but before leaving the Witnesses (still in).

Same here. I took years to confirm that it was not the truth before looking to external sources, but the exit was quite rapid after that due to help from sites like this.

64

JW's Anti-Gay position puts them in the axis of ignorance

by scotoma in

jw
friends

darkest area is most anti-gay.

perhaps they need to focus on those areas since they seem to agree with them on this issue.

jehovah.

jwfacts

Same sex relationships are unatural as they can't lead to reproduction.

Same sex relationships occur frequently amongst numerous animals, so it is very natural.

Sex does not only need to be for procreation. Prior to the availability of contraception it was common for married men to take male lovers, so as to prevent their wife having too many children. A woman's body takes time to recover from pregnancy, and child birth is dangerous, so same sex relations is a naturally effective way to satisfy the male sex drive and have the most number of healthy children.

32

Is the Watchtower Destroying All Thinking Skills of New Witness, Compare them to when you were in the Organization!

by RottenRiley in

many jws don't know the basic doctrines we all use to debate the clergy with.. .

jws don't know the bible, the know a few proof-texts but can't handle the bible like the witnesses of 1950s-1990s, what happened?.

the caliber of the new elders is horrible when compared with the elders of 1950s-1990s, they don't know how to use their bible, they are turning towards orgnazational minor details while ignoring the bible and gospel message.. .

jwfacts

Tim Hopper - He was so au fait with his Bible that he could give a public talk with only the scriptural references for notes. Once, after I'd left, he phoned me and I mentioned that I was suffering with piles. He immedediately quoted a scripture that stated somethimng about those deserting would have a sore arse - something like that anyway.

Whilst many knew the Bible inside out, they did not know how to interpret it with any degree of logic, but rather have always does so in line with how the Watchtower forces them to. The Watchtower uses an Eisgesis approach to interpretation that is poor when compared to standard Christianity, yet educated and intelligent JWs still followed it without question because the religion was always about indoctrination and control. For example, JWs were unphased by flip flops around the great crowd, the worship of Jesus, or the ridiculous Revelation interpretations and antitypes. I has always been Watchtower devotion ahead of Bible accuracy.

32

Is the Watchtower Destroying All Thinking Skills of New Witness, Compare them to when you were in the Organization!

by RottenRiley in

many jws don't know the basic doctrines we all use to debate the clergy with.. .

jws don't know the bible, the know a few proof-texts but can't handle the bible like the witnesses of 1950s-1990s, what happened?.

the caliber of the new elders is horrible when compared with the elders of 1950s-1990s, they don't know how to use their bible, they are turning towards orgnazational minor details while ignoring the bible and gospel message.. .

jwfacts

Gingerbread - For a century they have been telling us that we can come to a true understanding of the Bible ONLY by reading and studying their publications.

BOTR - We were never taught thinking skills. My experience is from the 1950s but I had notes/lit from deceased family members. There had to be self-selection going on in who became a Witness. I thought I knew the Bible and WT doctrine.

Those two comments sum up the situation. JWs have always been forced not to think or research, but rather learn Watchtower doctrine by rote. They forcefully felt they knew more than others, and still do. That does not make Watchtower doctrine right, it is just that most religious people do not know their own doctrine well enough to hold such a debate.

Overall, both JWs and people of other religions are becoming less interested and educated about their own doctrine. That is product of society in general. TV, computers and ipads have led people to short attention spans and information overload. This generation operate off sound bites rather than extensive research.

25

They don't know what to do....

by pbrow in

have been going to a few meetings to support my kids that have to go with their mother.

i knew it would be a powerful lesson for them to see how these loving people treat their father who da'd a while ago.

couple of elders tried to corner me the 2nd or 3rd time i went to remind me that i cant talk to anyone.... i however reminded them that i am not df'd and i can talk to whomever i want to.

jwfacts

"I however reminded them that I am not df'd and I can talk to whomever I want to."

That is a great comment, and I had not considered it before. Since you da'd and do not want to go back, you have no reason to abide by their rules. That same reasoning can also be used by someone disfellowshipped that has no intention of going back. The comment by a df'd person would be slightly different, such as "I do not agree with Watchtower rules, and can talk to whomever I want to."

76

Bizarre comment about jw.org at SAD

by sir82 in

jw
friends

recently attended a sad.. bethel speaker was gushing about the wt's embrace of new technology, in the part of his talk warning about "apostate" web sites.. a loose summary of his comments:.

"and the brothers at headquarters have made it very safe for you to go to our website.

in fact, the brothers talked to the folks at google, and they made a special arrangement so that when you type in 'j w period' into the google search engine, it automatically shows you the jw.org website.

jwfacts

The guy doesn't know what he is talking about. What happens in Google Chrome is that if you have visited a site before, it appears in the type ahead results. Because he has visited jw.org more than any other site starting with jw, it now appears as soon as he types the jw.

You cannot pay Google to be top of the search list, but you can pay to be in the Google's ad related results. Their algorithm is based on a large number of factors, including your website history, cookies, location, and demographics if you are logged in. It also shows related searches based on what other people are searching on.

46

Life for me as a jw (not really) teenager

by DuvanMuvan in

hey i joined this thread recently and thought this was a good way to introduce myself.

i am 15, still going to school and i live in the uk.

a good chunk of my mum's side of the family are jws.

jwfacts

Welcome, it was a pleasure to read your story.

We debated for a a couple of hours with no change in opinion. Since then I haven't had an actual discussion with him but he always gives me the old smile, ...

I've been waiting since then but he's always been giving talks away or busy.

That is very revealing. JWs will spend hours going door to door trying to find a new recruit, but are too busy to devote time to help one of their own. Maybe they realise that you know too much about both sides of the story, and so will affect their faith more than they can help yours.

1

Interview with a faded attendee: Jamie Clark

by jamclark in

tell us a little about yourself and your family.. i was raised as a baptist in oregon.

after my encounter with jws (in 1994) i have been with my mother to charismatic churches but also studied with the mormons (a few months) and a bit of exposure with the seventh day adventists.

i'm currently in the u.k. and working through immigration to stay and work here.. were you a born in or a convert?.

jwfacts

Thanks, it is interesting that the trigger for you was regarding the pronunciation of God's name. There are so many different triggers to get a person to first start thinking that things may not be right.