have you ever noticed that when someone mentions the property in ny that the organization has and the values of it, many jws get all excited over it.
first, they act like they are going to get a chunk of it.
second, they think all that money goes to preaching and building kingdom halls.
It's strange that when I was a witness I used to think about the money and where it went.
I used to think the magazines were so cheap they couldn't be making much money from them.
What I forgot of course was although there is only a little profit on one magazine or book, when you are dealing with hundreds of millions of publications then it is a different story.
on the weekends, i am usually found - in the mornings - at the local coffee shop - where i study - and madly write my new ideas - or expand on old ones.. it is a time when i put to paper all of the thoughts of the past week - and dream up new ones for the next one.. anyway, on sunday mornings, there is a retired schoolteacher lady who - with her husband show up after their church services and have breakfast.
she will usually try to find an open pair of seats at the counter next to me - to talk with me.
this morning, they sat next to me, and she began talking (which usually interrupts my solo quiet time).. during the chatter, she asked me if i was into sports when i was in school.
I think you are a good example to all ex witnesses Jim. Just as witnesses give a witness at every opportunity so we too can do the same.
We all know now how we were all taken in by them and I for one think I owe it to my friends and neighbours to warn them about this destructive sect. Good for you.
take a look at page nine of the new june 15th wt.
at first glance, it appears to be a standard wt article extolling the safety and happiness of jw's in the kh.. "many who today are members of the christian congregation can tell you that before learning of and adopting jehovah's righteous standards, they lived without moral restrain.
yet, they were unsatisfied and unhappy.
When I read the title of this thread I thought the society were going to say the ex witnesses are happy because they no longer have to live by bible standards. I am glad they didn't for of course many still have good morals after leaving. It may be one of those Watchtowers to show witnesses when they say that MOST witnesses are not happy if they leave the protection of God's organisation.
there's a few posts where the term "conscious class" has been in just recently.. i'm wondering if it means the same to most jws and exjws who post here.. what does the "conscious class" mean to you?.
ok, no funny business about 'being conscious' as in awake and fully cafeinated.. if you could answer the two questions it may help some here to understand what.
this term is a lot better.
The conscious class is an expression used by Rick from the six screens of the watchtower website. It refers to those witnesses who still attend the meetings but in their heart of hearts know something is seriously wrong with their religion.For one reason or another they choose to stay in it but with no enthusiasm.
Another favourite expression Rick uses is getting free from the' tenticles of the Watchtower'. This is a great expression and so true.
this wt just keeps getting better and better, ok well the start of it was the worst the generation change but man this whole wt is really ticking me off.
i must just be in some mood right now.
it has taken me the whole week to listen to it.
I must say that when I was at the meetings I did feel there was a lot of love there. However as soon as I started questioning things that love dried up in two seconds flat. It is a totally conditional love.
One really good friend wrote to me about why I had stopped going to meetings and assured me they really wanted to know why. I wrote to her telling her why I had stopped. I never heard from her again.
Says it all
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http://www.freeminds.org/blogs/watchtower-comments/.
Looks even better in the UK as the car is going the wrong way round the roundabout. Totally like the governing body.
i'm interested in gathering it all together in one place (or finding it gathered).
i like lists where each element is footnoted, so a person can quickly scan each one and when they find one that interests them, they can drill down and see the arguments.. the bible chronology for 1914 is wrong.the "faithful and discreet slave" doctrine is wrong.there was no governing body in the first century presiding in any authoritative manner over all the faithful.the history of the wtbs has been manipulated purposefully to suit the agendas of those who want power.the doctrines of the wtbs have not been faithful to the bible, though they are hypocritically claimed to have been.during the course of the history of the wtbs the organization has clearly made decisions which enhanced their powerand this so regardless of the effect on the individual.
in all this an attempt to appear to be following the bible has been the key strategy.conscientious attempts by individuals to clarify biblical reasoning on the part of the wtbs has been universally met with force.
I think you need look no further than Ray Franz book Crisis of Conccience. All those subjects are covered and you can even get it online if you wish
i really needed to find a place to write this as i don't believe i can talk with anyone else about my account, perhaps it is similar to a lot of yours.. last night for whatever reason i said i would go online and look up information on jws.
i have been raised as a jw all my life and baptized the last few years.
i looked at www.freeminds.org and www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com and couldn't believe how easily the whole of my lifes teachings were refuted.. i can't stop my brain from running, bs just in regards to theology alone (1914, paradise earth, celebrations etc.
Whenever someone like yourself comes on you can immediately see the unconditional love shown to you. The people on hear are fantastic. They have been through what you are experiencing and you can check yourself everything that is said. I am in a position where I had to fade but boy do I wish I could come right out with it and tell my past so called friends what really goes on at the WT.
Anyway I wish you well and we would love to hear more of your story and progress out of the Tower.
so i gather most of the people on this forum are ex-jws who have seen the error of their ways.. good for you guys.. would that put you in the unique position of knowing exactly how to make a current jw have doubts.. if so, how might that be?.
i've tried science, philosophy, even simple logic and pointing out the quote mining but to no avail.. i'm not even saying there isn't a god, just that their version of the story blatantly contradicts emperical science in so many ways..
Hi goddidit, Yes you're right ex witnesses are in a unique position because as you say they have bin there and got the tea shirt as it were.
Because the WT know this, they ban their members from talking to us. They are so paronoid about it, that the society threaten their members with complete cutting off from their friends and family if they speak at any length to ex members about any spiritual matters.
the other day i casually mentioned to my wife how weird the new generation teaching sounds.
she at first had no idea what i'm talking about.
she read the article, yet she noticed no doctrine change (sidenote: way to go gb!
Yes my JW son has often said to me that I seem to know more what goes on in the org. than he does. It's true some have no idea about many things that go on.
