Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  33

  For those that were raised in the Truth, why did YOUR PARENTS become JW's?

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's weird putting two and two together after 40 years of have the two things separate.. my uncle was killed in a car accident in august of 1969. i was a child, but i remember my mother being very sad and crying and staying in her room.. it was in october of 1969 that the witnesses first visited my mom.

  my mom was in the front yard watching us kids when jw's came door-to-door.

  that sister and my mom are still friends to this day.. anyway, my mom started studying.

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  Doubting Bro

  double post
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  33

  For those that were raised in the Truth, why did YOUR PARENTS become JW's?

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's weird putting two and two together after 40 years of have the two things separate.. my uncle was killed in a car accident in august of 1969. i was a child, but i remember my mother being very sad and crying and staying in her room.. it was in october of 1969 that the witnesses first visited my mom.

  my mom was in the front yard watching us kids when jw's came door-to-door.

  that sister and my mom are still friends to this day.. anyway, my mom started studying.

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  Doubting Bro

  I don't really know my grandmother's story (she passed several years ago) but she pressured my father & mother. She was baptized sometime in the early to mid 60s. She skipped my parent's wedding in 67 because it was held in a church. I am told that in 1970, she held baby me in her arms and started crying. She told my dad that if he didn't become a JW, he was condeming me to death at the big A. Seeing how the end was coming in just a few years, they began studying and were baptized in 72.
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  22

  Summary of JW Beliefs

  by jonathan dough in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many jws are unfamiliar with the jw's beliefs.

  after considerable research i have discovered the following.. .

  the jehovahs witnesses believe that only 144,000 people go to heaven (reasoning from the scriptures (reasoning) [new york, watchtower bible and tract society, 1985], 166).

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  Doubting Bro

  double post
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  22

  Summary of JW Beliefs

  by jonathan dough in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many jws are unfamiliar with the jw's beliefs.

  after considerable research i have discovered the following.. .

  the jehovahs witnesses believe that only 144,000 people go to heaven (reasoning from the scriptures (reasoning) [new york, watchtower bible and tract society, 1985], 166).

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  Doubting Bro

  FYI

  We are currently in the first judgment day period. Under the guidance of the remaining earthly anointed 144,000, the Great Crowd of Jehovah’s Witnesses are today separating the earth’s sheep and goats through their door-to-door ministry (The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived) (Great Man) [New York, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1991] chapter 111, 12-15). The sheep join God’s one and only earthly organization, thus becoming members of the Great Crowd (if they survive the Great Tribulation) and earn the opportunity to live life everlasting; all the goats, those who do not heed their invitation, will be destroyed forever during the Great Tribulation and Armageddon with no prospect of resurrection (Ibid.).

  This belief changed (as JWs are known to do) I think in 1995 with an article in the WT. I don't have a WT library on this computer but basically it moved the separating the sheep and goats to the GT. Otherwise, I think this pretty accurate.
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  17

  Kansas City DC

  by stillajwexelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  by now you all know of the 5 release.

  1) new song book but through the congs sept 1st.

  2) new cd of all the new songs with vocals - also downloadable from sept 14th.

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  Doubting Bro

  One other observation. The Friday attendence was nearly 25% less than the Sat & Sun figures! I think that says volumes about the committment level. They also announced that next year's convention will be 3 days (God willing of course).

  I wonder how long it will be before the Friday is dropped? Obviously it must continue to be profitable for them or they would have tossed it a long time ago. I know they get some pretty sweet deals on various convention venues and that the cost to rent some of these arenas is offset by the promised revenue to the convention city in terms of business generated and the resulting tax revenue. Does anyone have any idea how that works?
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  17

  Kansas City DC

  by stillajwexelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  by now you all know of the 5 release.

  1) new song book but through the congs sept 1st.

  2) new cd of all the new songs with vocals - also downloadable from sept 14th.

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  Doubting Bro

  One other observation. The Friday attendence was nearly 25% less than the Sat & Sun figures! I think that says volumes about the committment level. They also announced that next year's convention will be 3 days (God willing of course).

  I wonder how long it will be before the Friday is dropped? Obviously it must continue to be profitable for them or they would have tossed it a long time ago. I know they get some pretty sweet deals on various convention venues and that the cost to rent some of these arenas is offset by the promised revenue to the convention city in terms of business generated and the resulting tax revenue. Does anyone have any idea how that works?
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  34

  Update from Open Mind.

  by Open mind in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i don't get much chance to post on jwd, err, jwn anymore thanks to a major tightening of web policies where i work.. .

  this place was a lifesaver for me.

  i owe simon and the heavy-lifter posters of yore an enormous debt.. .

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  Doubting Bro

  Hey OM! Good to "see" you. Glad to hear things are good with you & your family.
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  17

  Kansas City DC

  by stillajwexelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  by now you all know of the 5 release.

  1) new song book but through the congs sept 1st.

  2) new cd of all the new songs with vocals - also downloadable from sept 14th.

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  Doubting Bro

  Oh yeah, one other thing that annoyed me:

  There was a part on Friday afternoon I think that one brother asks questions and the other answers it (sorry I don't remember the name of the part). Anyway, they talked about 1975 and while the organization still took no responsibility, the speaker said that even the apostles had wrong expections regarding dates. To back this up, he read Acts 1:6. Here's the text:

  6 When, now, they had assembled, they went asking him: “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

  The problem here is that NO WHERE can you find writings or scriptures that indicate the apostles SET A DATE for the end!! Perhaps there's a missing book of the Bible where Peter gave his stirring "Stay alive until 55" speach? There is a huge difference between asking Jesus if he's going to restore the kingdom at this time and setting a date for Armageddon. I have no idea why they brought this up or why its so hard to just say, hey we were wrong and we're sorry about that. The lack of humility is maddening!!
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  17

  Kansas City DC

  by stillajwexelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  by now you all know of the 5 release.

  1) new song book but through the congs sept 1st.

  2) new cd of all the new songs with vocals - also downloadable from sept 14th.

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  Doubting Bro

  Same here. The sort of commentary on Acts was the only release made by a Bethelite.

  A few other thoughts that I had:

  1) It seems that the WT leadership is fully aware of the apathy among the rank & file (including or maybe especially the elders). They haven't a clue as to what to do to improve morale, but they know that folks are tiring of the end being "just around the corner". Of course, the response is 3 days worth of saying "its really, REALLY close".

  2) They think the family worship night is the key to fixing the apathy. However, I think they realize that the dubs are using this night just like a normal person would use it, to do normal, non-JW activities. The family worship night must have been mentioned several dozen times.

  Stilla - I caught the point about religion not completely drying up but I didn't really know where they were going with it. Religion is in decline among the educated world. So, why on earth would the UN destroy it? Not even discussing how improbable it would be for the UN to actually accomplish anything, but really it seems religion is doing a good enough job destroying itself.

  I glanced at the Acts book and did notice that Paul has gotten a promotion. As long as I can remember, it was said that Paul was the equilivent of a CO. Now, the book says that Paul was likely on the first century GB. Clearly, Paul didn't check in with anyone, so giving him a promotion makes sense. Paul was one of the most important influences in early Christianity and the NT is dominated by his writings.

  Also, that book mentions (I can't recall the page number right now) that the GB supplies the spiritual food. Not the FDS, the GB. I knew this was coming with some of the latest writings but now its clear.

  The weirdest thing was the playing of the new songs. When the new songbook was announced, they paid snippets of several songs with vocals. It sounded like one of those CD offers on TV. Also, at the end of that crazy drama, they had one of the new cheezy songs about kids (even though the organization leadership doesn't much care for children). I guess it was supposed to heap the guilt on parents that weren't able to keep their kids in the cult, but the result was a bunch of folks leaving for the restrooms!! I exchanged puzzled looks with several others and a few were on the verge of laughing. Not exactly the response they were looking for.

  Otherwise a fairly mind numbing experience. I need another drink.
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  41

  Number of memorial partakers given in July 2009 KM

  by Mickey mouse in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for the uk it was 275 (that they're willing to declare anyway).

  i don't know how that compares with last year.. how about in your country?.

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  Doubting Bro

  Brother Rando is even more wackier than that e-watchman dude. Yikes!! You know, the boys at Bethel must just shake their heads in disbelief that a potential convert could be searching for information on JWs only to find that. I actually think he does more damage than this site because he sounds like a true believer. Someone may discount some of the things said here as just folks that have an axe to grind. But, this Rando guy just screams CULT.

  Nice going Rando. Your efforts to push folks away from the WTS are duely noted.