Posts by riverofdeceit

28

Are JWs Not Too Smart? Pros and Cons...

by Seeker4 in

in alanf's thread on whether or not thirdson (or whoever!

) is a gb apologist, there are several posts discussing the intelligence of jws.

on that subject, this is what i observed from over 30 years as a jw:

riverofdeceit

First off, I would like to say that I was raised a JW so I can't speak for those who actually joined up by their own free will...

I think one of the most important factors people are missing is FEAR. Fear may not be what has gotten them in, but it is what keeps them there. And that fear can be of different things.

The fear of change. This isn't something exclusive to religion. It applies to all aspects of life. What if you leave and things don't work out?

Fear of losing family, friends.

Then there is the "what if" syndrome. What if they were really right? Am I not trusting in Jehovah with all my heart? Am I leaning upon my own understanding?.... blah blah.

I'm an atheist, so I could just cross of JW's from the question asked and throw in the name of any other religion. Clearly it would not be fair for me to ask that question because there are certainly smart people who have a belief in other religions as well. It was touched on by a few people, but to reiterate...If more rank and file jw's were aware of the Watchtowers background more eyes would be opened. But in order to do that, they would have to relenquish the fear of looking for the "truth about the truth" which is equated with inviting demons into their minds.

I have seen quite a number of threads questioning the intelligence of JW's in general. Though I find myself questioning the same thing sometimes, I realize that calling people stupid is surely not a way to get them to open up their minds. When you have the same shit pounded into your head continuously for 10, 15, 20, 30 years, it isn't easy to try and prove it all wrong. Even if you notice a few inconsistencies, you have to weigh the "pros and cons" of any decision you make regarding your sticking with your beliefs. >>>>> yes, I am rambling and haven't really focused my thoughts on the original question which I no longer remember in its entirety..plus it is 2:20am.

6

How does an elder get the job of baptizing new ones?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

.

anybody have the answer?

do they ask for the "privilege" or are they asked?.

riverofdeceit

I don't believe you have to be an elder. I know I've seen ministerial servants do it. I don't know how they get the job, however. Someone probably asks them to.

50

How Did You Choose Your Alias?

by hambeak in

jw
friends

.

i' curious how everyone came up with these unique alias names.

my partner gave me mine because my favorite meat is ham.. hambeak

riverofdeceit

All this time, when I saw your name, I pronounced it "Worldly" in my head. I didn't even notice the misspelling! D'oh!

I did the exact same thing. Being pretty much an EXjw board, I assumed andre was worldly. Kinda like the shirt with a bull on it that says "BULL SHIRT".

My alias is the title of a song by Mad Season. RIP Layne. I find it a fitting alias for a discussion board about the JW religion.

48

Kingdom Hall Experiences

by KW13 in

jw
friends

what things happened at your meetings that annoyed you?.

was it at a hall ya visited?

did it happen more than once?.

riverofdeceit

The dude who did the school, counselling people on "pronounciation". Retard.

People whom had a spouse pass away, and were married again within 6 months????????? wtf? We had a couple of those.

I remember the memorials, we had people there make the bread stuff. Apparently, whatever recipe they used for it made way more than was necessary (considering nobody ate any anyhow.), and there would be tons of leftover. They would give it out to the little kids right after the memorial. Apparently the bread only had meaning while it was on the plate being passed around.

14

Sheep vs. Goats

by riverofdeceit in

jw
friends

anyone else while being a jw find it awful to be referred to as "sheep"?

i've always thought being called sheep was negative, as in - they are all a bunch of sheep!

i guess i was born stubborn goat, thank the gods!.

riverofdeceit

If taken as Jesus meant the word "sheep" to be taken I find no objection with that word or the word "slave."
Jesus was the shepherd of the sheep. It was an analogy.

I believe I've heard it was said by slave owners from the south that their slaves were better taken care of as slaves than they would be as free men, and am sure that some of the slaves actually believed that to be the case.

I would no more be a slave (sheep/lemming) to Jesus than I would be to the Watchtower.

--------------------------------riverofdeceit of the "goat class"

14

Sheep vs. Goats

by riverofdeceit in

jw
friends

anyone else while being a jw find it awful to be referred to as "sheep"?

i've always thought being called sheep was negative, as in - they are all a bunch of sheep!

i guess i was born stubborn goat, thank the gods!.

riverofdeceit

Anyone else while being a JW find it awful to be referred to as "sheep"? I've always thought being called sheep was negative, as in - They are all a bunch of sheep! I guess I was born stubborn goat, thank the gods!

That, and also being called a "slave". While being called a slave was not always good it was sometimes used as a good thing.

42

The JW organization could be the best for finding women !!!!

by xbethelite in

i was at bethel not long ago.

and other then the hypocrisy i saw the most beautifull women in the world all in one place.

bethel makes the miss universe pagent look silly.did i mention these women are from all over the world, bethelites can stay in other countries for cheap because they can stay in assembly halls.

riverofdeceit

Were I a woman, I might find your attitude toward them rather offensive. Mayhap that be the reason you have no "lady friend".

31

DID THE ANIMALS WILLINGLY GO INTO THE ARK WITH NOAH?

by minimus in

jw
friends

in the spirit of badboy's threads, i too must ask this question.

riverofdeceit

...As we can see, brothers, if Jehovah can use a donkey to talk (see balaam) then he would be able to wave his magic wand and get some animals onto a giant boat.

18

Gen Xers--Who remembers when Smurfs were Demonic?

by apostawriter in

jw
friends

when word came down that a smurf jumped up in the middle of a meeting, yelled 'i've had enough of this shit!

' and stormed out, i was probably 9 years old.

at the time i had a smurf record.

riverofdeceit

I heard one of a smurf poster that kept falling off the wall( in some kids bedroom) and trying to smother the kid. I also heard the not being able to burn smurf stuff stories and the smurfs running up the KH aisle. We only had one or two channels of tv so if the smurfs were on we watched it anyhow (on the off chance we were home on Saturday morning) Usually didn't have the chance to watch the damn smurfs anyway cuz of field service.

66

Rejecting God or rejecting religion?

by kojo in

jw
friends

i have read many posts on here and on other websites from people who were brought up or became immersed in a particular religion or belief system, who later ,often because of bad experiences with their religion, went to the opposite extreme of not believing in god at all.

this often puzzles me because i wonder if people who reject a belief in god because of the hypocrisies they experienced in their former belief really are rejecting god or just a man-made organization which claims to be god's spokesman and has shown to be anything but.. i was raised in a presbyterian church which is about as traditional and conservative as you can get and my image of god was molded by that belief.

i saw the services and people there as dead basically.

riverofdeceit

Off topic:

Dudes, Im a junior member now. Do I get a badge or something? Is it like, the equivalent of becoming an unbaptized publisher? Can I get my own "Hell yes I would like a blood transfusion if I need it!" card?