Posts by stapler99

12

Sunday Public Talk from 45 mins to 30 mins?

by united states of nothing in

has anybody heard that starting this new year they will be shortening the public talk from 45 mins to 30 mins?.

does anybody think this might be a way to accomplish two things:.

-get meeting attendance up.

stapler99

Thanks for posting this, I had missed this news. It seems to be another step in the dumbing-down of the organization, making it easier to conform. I hear that back in the 60's and 70's when my parents were young they had district assemblies that lasted about a week, and the Watchtower study had more paragraphs. Similarly with the repeated reductions in the hour requirement for regular pioneers. I can't imagine them ever bringing these things back. If they do people will leave.

14

Facebook surprise: looks like most of my childhood friends got out!

by Awakened07 in

jw
friends

i only recently joined facebook (yes, a little late to the party).

and today i found one person there that i still consider somewhat of a friend, that i know is disfellowshipped.

this person turns out to be a 'hub', in that this person has a lot of facebook 'friends'.

stapler99

I think many of the young people who are still in the congregation are just there for convenience, I can think of some ones who socialize outside the congregation, and who only do a token amount of field service. I think it would be quite possible that someone who hasn't left would be on Facebook and even friends with a disfellowshipped person, although its quite likely that they've left too, just because many do leave (I think people reckon about 50% of youngsters do leave for good.)

50

Does paradise still seem attractive to you?

by Hiddenwindow in

jw
friends

do you think paradise, as depicted by the watchtower, an everlasting life praising jehovah and playing with what we now know as wild animals, not to mention cultivating a piece of land, is really a desirable place?

bear in mind that there is no reference to science and that personal goals are non-existent..

stapler99

I was never sure what exactly paradise would be like, but I saw it as a place of only happiness and no sadness. How that would come about was unspecified. Perhaps because it was so vague, after I was very young and had only just learnt about the paradise and found it incredibly exciting, it was never much comfort. The fear of dying in Armageddon was worse. So if I could have unlimited happiness, in eternal life, I would. This is all paradise ever meant.

63

Can anyone tell me why this "test" works...this is SO SPOOKY!

by FreedomFrog in

ok, can anyone tell me why this works?

this is so freakin' cool.

do the test as it is instructed...don't cheat.

stapler99

Pink hammer ftw

22

Using School Assignments to Give a Witness

by Mysterious in

jw
friends

anyone remember all the examples of youths being encouraged to work something about the jws into school assignments on abortion, evolution, volunteer work etc?

i remember cheekily ending an essay with "remember the theory of evolution is just that, a theory" in about 8th grade but that was about it.

i did just get a fantastic a grade mark on my philosophy paper on shoudl parents have the right to refuse life saving medical treatment for infants and children too young to decide for themselves.

stapler99

I remember that I gave an anti-evolution talk to some of my classmates in my last year of school, full of mumbo-jumbo from the Creator book about RNA and proteins. My parents didn't pressure me into it, and I never told them about it. And it was a task I volunteered for. Looking back it seems that I was really keen but I was out of the religion in a few months time.

I think I did it because I didn't want my classmates being slain during the Big A. I felt that JW's were unlike other religions - instead of relying on blind faith they had actual arguments! (Bad ones in hindsight, but at that time I hadn't realized that the verisimilitude of a good argument is not equivalent to a good argument.) I thought that I could convince them with my excellent reasoning. Maybe the realization that they were not evil people just for thinking that I was wrong helped me to reconsider my opinions.

12

Voting on hall decoration?

by stapler99 in

jw
friends

i was just wondering what people's experiences with how the congregation decided how to decorate their hall, colour schemes and so on.

was the decision made by the boe without much consultation?

were many in the congregation upset at the choice?.

stapler99

I was just wondering what people's experiences with how the congregation decided how to decorate their hall, colour schemes and so on. Was the decision made by the BoE without much consultation? Were many in the congregation upset at the choice?

This comes to mind because I heard that a vote was held on something like this, and it seems to be the only case (other than Resolutions rubberstamping decisions already made) where there was something like democracy in the congregation.

49

Would there be a backlash if the Blood Ban was lifted?

by Gill in

would there be a backlash from current jws if the blood transfusion ban was lifted and made completely a conscience matter?.

i suspect, that only those who had lost a close relative would be bothered.

the others would just be relieved that they didn't have to worry about this traumatic issue anymore and they would carry on as ususal.. so, what is it, except for fear of legal action, that is stopping the ban being lifted?

stapler99

They used to ban vaccinations and organ transplants too, but no-one remembers! I remember there was an article in the British press claiming that the Governing Body had decided at to allow blood transfusions after a top-secret meeting last night, or such-like. It was said by some JW's at that time that even if the organization had allowed blood transfusions then they still wouldn't take them. In truth the GB can probably get away with doing what they like and only a few will disagree, it will just hasten slightly the the eventual decline and extinction of this religious organization.

I do believe that there is widespread confusion about the blood policy within the ranks of the witnesses. At one book study group someone was asking about the Advance Healthcare Directive that all JW's are being made to fill in now, and the option of whether you will accept blood fractions. "Is that not still blood?" was the question, and everyone in the book study group nodded. The conductor said something along the lines of "Well, I can sort of see how one might feel that one might accept fractions, er, well, its really a conscience matter..."

13

The Watchtower Society's "Spiritual Paradise"

by Honesty in

jw
friends

there are 729 references to the "spiritual paradise" on the 2006 watchtower library on cd.. .

when you were one of jehovah's witness what was it like to live in this "spiritual paradise"?.

we would enjoy hearing about your daily walk with god the faithful slave (genesis 5:22,24; genesis 6:9) and how refreshed you felt at the end of each glorious day in paradise..

stapler99

I remember feeling guilty because I wasn't happy enough. `Start living forever now!' is one phrase I remember from a convention. I thought that if only if I had spent more time in `personal study' then this `spiritual paradise' could become a reality.

However this sort of talk did make the promised future paradise seem less attractive, by equating to the miserable now.

That said, I do believe that there was something of a friendly atmosphere within the JWs. I.e., they have a strong group identity, causing each to view the other much more favourably than a worldly person. I liked the fact that if you visited another congregation then persons would be friendly to you just because of this.

Of course this was balanced by antipathy towards the masses of humanity (personally, my field service was never motivated by `love'), and the fact that non-Witnesses can be friendly, too.

18

Remember When The Watchtower Was Printed on Paper?

by Nosferatu in

jw
friends

ah, those were the good ol' days.

you could underline with a pen and the paper wouldn't rip.

you would pinch the paper between your fingers and feel like you're holding a piece of paper instead of a tissue.

stapler99

When did the paper get worse? I don't particularly remember it changing at any point. I remember hearing someone saying that the Watchtower was printed in Britain on higher quality paper than in the USA, because it would make people respect the literature more and view it less like a disposable flyer that you might have stuffed into a free newspaper. I have no confidence in the truth of such a statement, however, unless someone else has heard something similar.

35

Odd And Unusual Words And Expressions Used Locally Or Regionally

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

odd and unusual words and expressions used locally or regionallysome time ago, i was sending a personal message to a friend in a different country .

and using the term bubba to address him.

now in the southeastern united states .

stapler99

US "fanny pack" = bum bag
US "bum" = tramp

But UK "fanny" = female genitals and "bum" = anus.