Posts by OnTheWayOut

21

Why haven't you been to the meetings?

by Zana in

jw
friends

some cong-member asked my wife this question (in the street, stopping her on her bicycle) in a rather police-like fashion.

i wasn't there so i don't know her immediate reaction and response, but she got very upset afterwards and one day later this still occupies her mind.

i believe it's an emotional mix of anger, sadness, shame and guilt.. she doesn't like this intrusion in her privacy from some jws and on the next occasion she will try to make this person respect her boundaries (or just ignore her).

OnTheWayOut

You might focus on the fact that they didn't stick to being friendly and concerned in a "How can we help you?" way.

14

Would you have done what Adam did?

by thinker11 in

every religious group know the story of adam & eve.

for me, i understood what they did was wrong but i never felt they were bad people and considering that they never murdered anyone and seemed to live normal lives after being kicked out, i found it hard to accept that they deserved to die forever and that we would be responsible for suffering for their mistakes.

i personally feel like i might have done the same thing adam did when eve offered him the fruit.

OnTheWayOut

My take on the Garden story is that the writer was trying to convey the thought that God was actually withholding something from the pair and the snake did not lie to Eve. That makes Eve right to partake. Why would God want humans to remain ignorant of "good and bad" unless He wanted them to be slaves or puppets?

They did not die that day, they gained a knowledge.

6

Why are the Scientologists Getting All of the Attention?

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

there are more jws than scientologists.

jws shun their ex-members, too, and have beliefs just as weird.

we also have had our celebrities .... michael jackson, prince.

OnTheWayOut

I know, right?
It bugs me that we were sort of in the third place cult of America.
Mormons are huge, practically own Utah. They have that Tabernacle Choir and all the fringe break away groups with polygamy still existing.
Scientology is batshit crazy and has all those current Hollywood types.

With JW's, someone's gotta die to even get a mention.

Hey, don't forget that the JW's are loaded with pedophiles. That ought to get them into the news more.

51

A New Words With Friends Player Just Told Me That She Was a Jehovah's Witness And That's Why She's So Smart!

by minimus in

jw
friends

i saw she went under the handle of lovejahforever.....she said she is very smart and had cleaning jobs and was going in the ministry this morning.. when she told me she looked forward to beating me (she won the first game) she sid she was smart because she's a jehovah's witness.

my response was we will see how smart she is.. what next?

any suggestions??

OnTheWayOut

I only read the OP, so I don't know if something changed.
BUT.....there's a website somewhere that allows you to cheat at WORDS WITH FRIENDS.
Do a little research and you will find it. It will allow you to enter your letters and find the best words that can be made with those letters, and you can add the blank for additional letters and search for that open letter to play.

In short, beat the crap out of this JW so she doesn't feel so smart. Tell her that reading at a higher level than WTS literature would expose her to the words you are playing.

This might not be the best cheat site, but it took 20 seconds to find it: http://www.wordfind.com/words-with-friends-cheat/

15

Higher Education - is it really the end of the WT?

by OutsiderLookingIn in

as a non-jw, before i started looking into things, i must say i only encountered intelligent jws.

so i was quite surprised to read here and in the pew report about their low overall educational achievement.

granted, my exposure was limited (less than a handful of people over a lifetime) but i met two of them in post-college education (graduate school) at a very good school.

OnTheWayOut

I say all that to ask, why do people believe that higher education is a sign of trouble ahead for the WT? Is it because they’re going against official stance on education? If they still hold up the party line (no birthdays, pride in being a JW, even field service), then what is the excitement about? It’s a great personal achievement for sure, but in my experience, it doesn’t mean they’re moving from the WT. I’ll add that this was all within the last 10 years in case that makes a difference to your analysis.

In many cases, a good education will not wake someone up to the fact that Watchtower is a doomsday cult. But the statistics suggest those will be the minority as the level of good education increases.

First of all, properly educated people learn that man really did evolve from lower life forms, and they learn that the earth could not have had a global flood thousands of years ago, let alone that a small group survived that. Going beyond learning that the Bible is a fairytale, properly educated people learn to question everything. EVERYTHING. The only stronghold Watchtower has over that is lifelong training to tell it's members to question everything EXCEPT THEM. So smug JW's getting an education will fool themselves into believing that they do question everything, and they will allow God to be the exception and they will allow Watchtower to be God's mouthpiece.

The reason that often doesn't hold up is because most JW's are not smug, many who get an education value the education over strict obedience to the letter of Watchtower's commands, and education teaches them that there exists flawed thinking. When members discover that flawed thinking, they see some of it within the pages of Watchtower magazines.

Philosophy can destroy a faithful JW also. Philosophy will help them understand that if God wants to aid strangers to the "truth," God can do better than sending goofy people to their door on Saturday morning. And philosophy will further teach them that God should not see people as inherently bad because they don't become JW's. Philosophy is a huge part of a proper education.

24

Things JWs Say VS What A Normal Person Would Say...

by JW_Rogue in

when someone says "merry christmas" or "happy holidays".... a normal person: responds in kind.

a jw: says "thank you" or launches into a speech about christmas' pagan roots.

when a couple is celebrating their wedding anniversary... .

OnTheWayOut

When someone says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"...
A JW: Says "Thank you" or launches into a speech about Christmas' pagan roots

If only that was it- "Thank you." I find they often need to declare the latter or some such thing. When asked if they enjoyed their "holiday," they need to say how they enjoyed "time off from work."

When a friend gets a promotion at work...
A JW: Are you sure you'll be able to make your meetings still?

....or reminds the person how Satan is pulling at them.

When someone passes away...
A JW: Launches into a speech about the resurrection

....and further declares how YOU must stay faithful to Jehovah if you ever want to see that person again.

22

Russell's chronology was right after all!

by Vanderhoven7 in

the kingdom of god is already begun, which is pointed out in prophecy as due to begin the exercise of power in a.d. 1878, and that the "battle of the great day of god almighty" which will end in 1914 with the complete overthrow of the earth's present rulership, is already commenced.. i just did the math....and russell was right.

christ returned invisibly in 1874 and took rulership (restored kingdom reign) in 1878.. 2520 years minus 607 when jerusalem was destroyed = 1913 (accounting for no year zero) = 1914. that`s 2520 - 607 = 2014. but wait, that`s 2520 prophetic years of 360 days, not solar days of 365.25 days.

to convert to solar days then one must multuiply 2520 x 365.25 which gives us 2,484 actual years.

OnTheWayOut

I am confident that there are any number of Bible dates and rules to apply and come up with any convenient date for the Great Tribulation or the second coming or Armageddon. It's magic.

It helps to pluck 607 BCE out of thin air. How can one argue with such a date? Well- except for this: The Book GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED.

72

Waking up - introduction

by Dreamerdude in

i am a male, born into the jw cult(ure), baptized as a teen, now mid fifties.

most of my life i dreamed of hugging pandas and lions, punctuated at times by nightmares of armageddon or jw drama and politics.

still going through the motions for still-in wife.

OnTheWayOut

DreamerDude, you will become my kindred spirit.

I am in my young 50's and my wife is still a captive to the JW's. I have read the same things and more, as I have been out close to 10 years now, purely from waking up because of the things they try to pass by us.

Good luck rescuing your wife. I won't go into my efforts because I don't want to discourage you- your outcome can be completely different. But I never give up hope and look for opportunities still.

I hope to hear more from you. I am in middle USA. I meet with many other former JW's and even travel to Flippers Summer gathering of ex-JW's in South Lake Tahoe, California every year.

6