it just breaks my heart when i read some of the posts on this websites and hear all of the horror stories about people and families suffering because of what the church or religion did to them.
not just jw's or mormons, but catholics, born-agains are also included in this group.
i bet you could find just as many disgruntle ex-catholics and ex-born-agains out in the world who have been severly hurt by their church.
Most of the posts by ex-jws 99% of them are bashing JW's and the WTS and how they ran to another church for healing and happiness.
I don't think you really came to that number scientifically. There are a ton of ex-JW athiests/agnostics/freethinkers on here. There are Wiccans, Catholics, Muslims. My gut tells me that 99% of exJWs are irreligious, or at very least out of the church habit.
there is a discussion on the board new jwd members on the horizon!
that suggests many of those who were pushed out of wt headquarters will leave the wts and some may find their way here.. i hope that is what happens.. but i have a sinking feeling that the opposite might happen.
in leon festinger's book when prophesy fails he states:.
This thread totally delivers. Best thing I've read on here in days.
Confession:
"Okay, so you don't believe this is the Truth. Well what do YOU say is the Truth??"
Every single JW I've tried to talk to about this, discreetly, has said some variant of that. EVERY SINGLE ONE. And I used to say it, though I approached the concept from a different direction. My take on it was: "Sure, the organization is imperfect and has made mistakes, sure they have some incorrect teachings even now, but is there any other organization or religion that is close to the truth?" That "closest to the truth" argument, though it made some Witnesses uncomfortable (since it's supposed to be THE Truth), is what kept me going as a Witness for many years.
That, right there, is one of the fundamental, most primary, most pernicious of the Society's teachings. Being able to counter that is fundamental. It should be the #1 conversation stopper in the Apostate Reasoning Book.
i remember years ago when i was on "fire" as a devout jw's a girl at the bus stop handed me a book crisis of conscience in 1981. i did not know what the book was all about and she told me that jw's was a "cult" and very satanic in nature.
she told me that i should leave the jw's if i wanted salvation in jesus christ.
she handed me some born-again christian tract and invited me to her church.
He told me that Apostates are always lying about JW's and would never debate with JW's in public because JW's would tear them apart and expose their lies.
Hah! I've heard that one before too. In reality, though, nobody from the WTS would EVER, EVER debate an "apostate" in public. The R&F would see it and it would raise questions in their minds, questions that can't be answered.
This is also why the Society is so unspecific and vague when referring to teachings of apostates. They don't tell the R&F what the actual teachings are or try to refute them, because they know that their defenses would sound pretty lame.
wow.. so, you know i'm an active witness, very active.
hah.
and i'm not laughing at y'all, but wow, i can't believe how extensive this is.
I still don't get what the "laughing" is all about.
if this topic has been discussed previously, i apologize, but next week i unfortunately must attend the dc which is being held at the local assembly hall.
there are benefits to this as i don't have to rent a car or room for myself and family.
the downside to this is that it will now be harder to miss segments of the program or an entire day without being scrutinized.
There is a big trend towards having more and smaller DCs than before. As an example, in the Pacific Northwest of the US, they used to have a DC in Tacoma, WA for much of the surrounding tri-state area (OR, WA, and ID) but they are now having one in Portland, OR and also in Tacoma, WA.
Some have posited a profit-based motive for this, though I personally feel the supporting evidence is inconclusive.
hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia: the fear of the number "666".
apparently it is common enough that someone felt the need to coin a new word for it.
the most amusing thing, of course, is that "666" might actually be a mistranslation.
hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia: The fear of the number "666".
Apparently it is common enough that someone felt the need to coin a new word for it. The most amusing thing, of course, is that "666" might actually be a mistranslation. There is enough evidence to cast doubt on it--some feel that it was probably "616". The Roman Catholics believe that the number refers to Roman Emperor Nero, not the Antichrist.
Some noted examples of hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia:
i stopped going out in service about a year ago.
just couldn't take it anymore.
after that, i still continued "studying" with my kids and "counting the time" for that.
Again, thanks all for the input.
MinisterAmos: I think YOU are missing the point of this fading business. The idea is to not make waves, not suddenly make gigantic changes that will draw attention to myself. I would like nothing better than to just stop going to all the meetings. But I want to maintain my relationship with my extended family and especially with my wife, and at this time that means still going to most of the meetings.
is the wtbts preparing the r and f for a large doctrinal change?.
the july 15th watchtower is dealing with murmuring?.
subheadings 'an evil assembly murmurs against jehovah'.
W-A-C:
Guy Pierce used to be my CO. He is a nice guy and a lot of people from out here really like him and have fond memories of him. He does lean pretty far to the right, as far as doctrinal positions, talks, and comments go. He's rather old school. He's also not the sharpest tool in the shed, if you get my drift--he has a very black-and-white mindset and a simplistic way of looking at the universe.
However he was one of those rare COs that the elders all really like--and unfortunately for them he was followed up by one of those slave-driver COs that all the elders hate and can barely contain their hatred for and the publishers pick it up and dislike him too. This guy that we have now has been trying to make a name for himself and has summarily removed 20 or 30 elders out of our circuit. A real "cleaner."
Anyways--Guy Pierce--not a bad guy.
let me begin by saying i was raised in a witness household.. now that i am older i like to question things and see where they really come from.
i always found it strange that so many people would blinding think they the society has any real power or knowledge.. first of all the origins are probably evil.
as russel was a 33rd degree mason, and founed skull and bones an evil satanic cult and jehovah's witnesses?
Welcome to the board.
I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy; but you are right on the borderline of claiming that Russell is a shapeshifting lizard-man, and therefore right on the borderline of losing my attention on this. I'm afraid the Society is probably a lot more mundane than people could hope.
since so many of you keep avoiding the primary issue in two other threads, chew on this one!
terry said this: .
>life is at the basis of reality for humans.
You pick a lot of fights.
