health and wellness is the new fad that is growing right now.
there is one supplement that starts with an ( i ) that is being promoted by many bethelites, pioneers, c.o.
's and friends at great proportion.
Just wanted to say that if you really are a current Elder at Bethel you better be careful about what websites you visit. The network could be monitered.
Also, what's your story? You don't have to give details but I'm curious to know if you're still in Bethel or if you're out.
ok so the mate took good notes at the ca and here is the newest on "higher education:.
the usual bashing of motives: those who want great wealth, prestige and seek it in a college educationcollege graduates don't always get jobs in their fieldsdrugs, drinking and sex are "rampant" at collegesthose who want to "snatch us away" are near if we go to college (isa 54)if we seek a college education, we are not spiritual mindedthe most disturbing for me was this:.
those who choose college will not get blessings from jehovahand of course there was the obligatory interview with the college graduate who disdains the education whe received.. .
Yet they still earn more on adverage over those who do not go. This is just a red herring. Even people who get a job "not in their field" statistically speaking do better. Of course you can always pull up plenty of anecdotal evidence to support the opposite, but that's all it is.
Then live at home with your parents while you go to school. I know plenty of people that went to college while living at home (or very close to home). Just because you may like to demonize the dorm room enviroment doesn't mean you have to act like there are no alternatives.
This subject is a complex one. Is sending your kids off to college right out of high school, no supervision, racking up tens of thousands of dollars in student loan a good idea? It's very debatable. But there are many options. It's not so black and white. Treating this subject in the way that they do suggest a deep fear of the education itself.
Keep this in mind also. Look at what the Watchtower encourages its youths to do right outside of high-school. PIONEER! They drill it into your head that you cannot loose one precious year out of high school to start pioneering. Yet after a year or so most kids realize they are going nowhere fast. Because there are no paid ministers or ministries these kids can jump into they are basically on a self funded "volunteer" track to nowhere. Eventually they realize they have no future "putting spiritual things first", get dissapointed and take crappy jobs. Not realizing that these kids should be getting educations and good jobs so that they are stable (and regular donating) members should be a priority yet the Watchtower is so mixed up it actually supports activites that create a situation the opposite of what they want.
about a year and 12 ago, after much conversation with a jw co-worker, we began a formal study.
we studied religiously (no pun intended) almost every week unless i was on business travel or there was a sickness or other item that precluded us from getting together.. .
during that process, we became very strong, close friends... at least that is what i thought was happening.
I agree, you should look up 'love bombing'.
Many JWs tend to fear conducting a study with another person because they do not want the responsibility. The Watchtower organization provides no structure that a potential convert can eaisly get involved with (mainly social activities at the hall for adults and kids). Because of this new converts typically get "involved" with the JWs by spending a good deal of time with their study conductor. After they are baptized the relationship usually fades. I personally have had this experience and know of others who have as well.
I think in your case this JW pretty much feels his job is done. You know as much as he can teach you and "jehovah will do the rest" now that studying is an inconvience for him.
Anyway, be glad you didn't get hooked into this strange religion. Use the opportunity to find out the pain you saved yourself from experiencing by reading around on this message board
i am in my early forties.
grew up in the truth.
i remember talks at the assemblies by the governing body in the 80's.
I agree that 75 & 95 represent a turning point for the movement. I think 95 even more so than 75. You simply cannot keep people running so fast for such a long peroid of time. Eventually people begin to "settle".
The JWs now have become standardized in a sense. They no longer attract the 'radicals' (people who protest, make noise, and create a stir). Instead they want everything to be a standard routine. The types of individuals that got involved in the movement back in the early days are now joining other redicuous apocolyptic type movements.
Hard to the be a prophet in sackcloth and ashes when you have to hold down a day job.
sorry i should have origanally posted this here.
is there any way to confirm this story?
i smell bs.
The general claim of what's posted here is a suggestion that the Watchtowers stand on blood has benifited many other people who are unaffiliated with the Witnesses.
This is a general claim that is made time to time, even by the Watchtower itself. Comments such as "the Witnesses demand for non-blood related procedures has increased the overall demand for safer alternatives". Such comments suggest that by taking a stand for "no blood" Witnesses are making hospitals safer in some way (i.e. following "gods standards" leads to better results)
Of course this is a direct contradiction to the reality that demanding non-blood procedures assures there will be cases in which an individual suffers death as a reult of lack of treatment. This is because no-blood alternatives cannot be used in every case (something missing from much of watchtower literature).
So by following "gods standards" better medical treatments (and health) increase, yet individuals are also being put at risk. It's these risks they continually minimize and ignore while trumpeting the "success stories".
There are two sides to every coin. Don't expect the Watchtower or it's followers to examine the costs and benifits of their policies. Additinally we have no idea about the rations. For example, every single success story gets published in the Watchtower could possibly have three dozen stories in which there was a negative outcome (it also could be the other way around I suppose). Yet no data is ever provided on how many people are being effected by these doctrines.
It's a one way street when you talk about the will of God with fundamentalists.
i hope this is the right section to post this!
i just finished a new video discussing the july 2009 awake article, is it wrong to change your religion?.
most of us have been pretty shocked over this one, so i think it's important to get the message out there as much as we can.
Well made.
this study will set the tone for future-proofing the watchtower society doctrine that their governing body is "the faithful slave" mentioned in parable by jesus in matthew24.. i thought as i read the study article starting on p.20 that the most important thing about this piece is what is missing, what is not said.. the first paragraph sets the tone of what they are trying to convey.. "while giving the composite sign of the last days jesus said, who really is the faithful and discreet slave?".
i believe what they are doing with the opening paragraph is placing the authority and position of "the slave" within the context of the signs of the times thus attempting to validate it.
without mentioning when they became such.. they then say that jesus would "reward" and appoint this slave over all his belongings.
I tend to believe we will see very little in the way of "changes" per se.
While eairler generations of JW believers were eager and excited to be given specific "new light" which put them at the center of Gods plan (even up through Franz's day), the current membership is a lot less demanding (starting from the 80's to the present). With the historical time table of the early 1900's set it all becomes part of a mythical past.
The details no longer are needed to created the desired result, i.e. the justification of Watchtower authority. Now they rest on a multitude of different arguments that comprise the "evidence" that they are Gods channel. This includes the idealistic picture of the "worldwide brotherhood", the "worldwide preaching work", the Watchtower predicted WWI (as Narkissos pointed out), as well as convincing the members to percieve nothing but "corruption" in the "worlds" institutions (religious, political, ect).
In other words, the Watchtower has an entire canon of arguments used to "prove" the WTS is Gods appointed channel, many of which do not rely on dubious chronology and long winded nonsense. It's much easier to emphasise these things than get into detailed debates on archeological dating and such. While the dates and prophecy fulfillment do have a place in support the slave doctrine, it no longer is front and center.
the following quote is taken from the article is it wrong to change your religion?
in the july 2009 awake p29:
no one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family.
I agree with most of the thoughts here, however, I think everyone fails to realize that 99% of the JW's do not THINK about what they hear or read.
I think we all pretty much took this into account. I suppose some just hold onto a little bit more hope when it comes to family that is in the org. I'm not so optimistic.
the following quote is taken from the article is it wrong to change your religion?
in the july 2009 awake p29:
no one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family.
One thing to note:
Because the Watchtower never fully describes how their policies are morally justified such arguments are left for the members to make up whatever they feel "fills the gap".
For example: Because the Watchtower never actually comes out and says "this double standard is OK because we have the truth and all those other people do not" they are leaving it up to active JWs to do the dirty work.
Of course the magazines heavily imply a double standard, but never actually go as far as to lay it all out. Then they let people who have no connection with organization policy to create their own defense for this double standard. Again, this defense is implied but sometimes we may actually hear differeant ideas as to why it is justified coming from JW relatives and friends. This is because it all is left to interpretation and there is bound to be some variation on what JWs say. The leaders are never held accountable for what they write.
I suppose this might be an area in which journalists and other media sources should call the Watchtower out on their hypocracy, but for the most part such things just arn't seen as worth covering I suppose.
So in essence the Watchtower will always resort back to "we never said that". Confront the leaders of the group about this double standard and I bet they would reply that "we never have published information that says people have to choose between being JW and their family".
But of course the didn't. They never had to. They simply state what a policy is and pretend that contradictory and negative effects do not exsist. In the rare occurance that they will be "held accountable" for what they write it is only in the context of former members and non members approaching JWs who have no connection to the main authority structure of the group. Those who actually write this crap know they will never have to explain and defend it. Who is going to hold them accountable for what they write? They know they have the upper hand.
So not only are they cowards for not confronting tough issues, they are also cowards for dropping the defense of their corrupt policies on people who have nothing to do with creating them.
hi,.
i was wondering if there are in meet-ups of ex-jws in the cleveland area?.
wojw.
I'm from Pittsburgh. Always went to our conventions in Cleveland. Lets all meet up at Gate A this year
