Posts by OnTheWayOut

21

Cart witnessing in the quietest in my suburb.

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

i walked to the station yesterday to meet a friend, and on the way, in what must be the quietest street in the entire suburb, were two j.witnesses and their little cart, all set with a literature display.

i wondered what point there may have been to choose that location.

i felt like grabbing one of their bibles and reading matthew 5:15 to them:.

OnTheWayOut

Yeah, I saw two lady JW's with their bookbags standing on a corner behind the brick wall that formed the sign for the public school. The wall was at 45 degrees to the corner of two streets and the place they chose to stand was on the school property- so probably why they didn't have a cart- and they were on the side of the wall that hid them from any foot traffic on the busier street, being seen only from the quiet side street.

It was clearly a waste of time.

All this b.s. that people will "see" the JW's and go to jw-dot-org is ridiculous. I suppose it's also a way of ramping up a changed way to do things because "we are almost done preaching and gathering and ready to switch to saying 'We told you so.'"

35

Is The Watchtower Corporation Facing A Meltdown Of Confidence Among Its Members?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

looking at all the narcissistic bull shit the watchtower corporation has been spewing out for the world to see about suffering of its members to as nothing worth being very concerned about and as jehovah magnificent be vindicated is much more important.

have they really gone off their rocker enough for a very sizable portion of membership to see their insanity and jump ship?.

i think definitely they are losing all respect from their internet savy members as their madness becomes obvious.

OnTheWayOut

It's 3 years past 100 years for the vast majority of JW's "in the last days." The strain of operating in panic mode for so long is getting to the elderly and near-retirement age ones who saved nothing and passed on lucrative careers because the end was going to arrive any minute now. Watchtower took their money, their opportunities, some never had children because of Watchtower, many found their JW mate no better (and maybe worse) than a worldly person.

I read that Jehovah's Witnesses is a ten-to-twenty year cult for many people. People would either wake up or be too tired of it to stay beyond that. That's wrong, but maybe it wasn't ENTIRELY wrong. Maybe it takes more than time passing with the same old bullshit. Maybe if the bullshit gets too radical, the statement comes back to play. But not in just 20 years for everyone. Serious JW growth took place in the 1970's. Those adults from then are older than 60 now.

Younger ones are not staying so much- especially those that learn things on the internet. Now, Watchtower takes members to the internet. Older ones are sick of shunning their children and ignoring their grandchildren. The Watchtower before Ray Franz didn't have them doing that. So that started in the 1980's.

I was never thrown out. I resigned as an elder in good standing. I faded out in good standing (except for being "inactive). I say that I am one of those 20-years cult members and I was fed up with the bullshit. But I saw how it got even worse after I left. I declared that the 1995 change in "generation" was the start of my road to freedom. I further declared that, had I not woken up before, the overlapping generation teaching would have had me stand up during that Watchtower study and laugh out loud at the teaching saying "OVERLAPPING GENERATION, NOW I REALLY HAVE HEARD IT ALL!" as I was heading out toward the door, never to return.

Who is to say if they are in meltdown? We will probably see after the fact.

35

Last Week's Watchtower had something that made people start questioning things?

by silentbuddha in

i just got a call from a friend who said that something in last weeks watchtower caused a number of people in various congregations to start questioning things, and several long time elders left.

i am totally out of the loop but i do read things here and i heard of no such thing.. something to the effect that jw's and governing boobies are not inspired or something along those lines?.

OnTheWayOut

jp1692
But there was something along those lines in the February 2017 WT:
"The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction." - Watchtower, February 2017, page 26, paragraph 12
But that was "studied" back in the week of April 24-30, 2017.

I cannot even fathom how they can be "Jehovah's spirit-directed organization" and also able to "err ...in organizational direction." I could see how they could tweak the teachings but I couldn't see how they could claim to take a wrong direction as an organization. Something like taking all the congregations' money to do a great building project and then saying they won't build.

I can only imagine they have been found out to have really blundered on some financial matters and are about to have to reveal it, so they limp back upon not being "inspired." Something about "Where's all the money you already took from congregations and selling off Brooklyn?" when they tell the rank and file they are broke and ask for more. I can't even imagine them asking for more, but can imagine them closing stuff down to spend less.

Maybe it was something in this week's study that set off elders because it contrasted what they were told confidentially.

5

Well this is bad

by Akid48 in

so like a week or 2 ago i got mad a my bible teacher and we started to debate a little.look i now that was a dumb move but im not a the best point in my life and my angry is not in the best control.

so little did i know i had a family member was listening.

so the family worship we had turned to convince me that the jw life is the best life.. after that my life is turning into shit as of now i have been having depression and now its 2x as bad..

OnTheWayOut

Hey, no matter what, things will be tough on you with immediate family blind that they are in a dangerous mind control cult. You will have to pick some battles here and there to stand up for yourself. Otherwise, you will shock your family later when you become inactive. Better to let them see you using your mind properly to question some of it.

I wouldn't recommend debating at the hall and I would not think you should always debate. But personal and family study time is proper now and again.

The worst they can do to you is assign you to a Bible study and take away your birthday and not help you go to college. But they do that anyway.

30

My return to the WT...a terrible mistake

by JustHuman14 in

i haven't posted for quite a bit, decided to share my thoughts on this one, so it is a reference topic for anyone who decides to return back to the org, knowing all about the tatt.

being way for quite long for almost 15 years and all wt's activities, i have missed quite a lot including the "new light" latest updates, i found it quite hard to follow up what was going on to the meetings.

new songs, wt broadcast, videos, internet (so wt now is in favor of the internet) cartoons, and everything seemed completely new and weird to me.. reason for going back it was the severe pressure from close family members to return back to the "truth".

OnTheWayOut

I am very sorry for you as I read your story. I do admire you for making an attempt for family relations and I do admire you for sharing your story to warn others.

One suggestion: If you cannot fade away slowly, then try fading away fast. Just walk away. You may lose connections with people, but you would lose them anyway in a slow fade. You may retain a good connection or two to family members if you were never disfellowshipped.

Good luck whatever path you take. Keep us posted and thanks for sharing.

36

White supremacy is an ideology of peace

by OneEyedJoe in

i'm tired of hearing these constant attacks on white supremacists after the events in charlottesville.

why are moderate white supremacists being lumped in together and sharing the blame for the actions of one reprehensible man that misinterpreted the ideals of white supremacy and became violent?

clearly the motivation of such attacks on white supremacists is nothing other than racism.

OnTheWayOut

We don't need to argue over who the Democrats are/were. They changed. They are different.
Meanwhile, white supremacy is the same old tired argument. Nothing changed, they are the same as before.

36

What is the watchtower going to do when

by pepperheart in

what is the watchtower going to do when the money runs out ??

?.

OnTheWayOut

If a handful of people in New York only make a few million a year and pay no taxes on it, they will close/sell/layoff until they are just fine. If they have to close the kitchens (not likely in our lifetime) they will dine at restaurants or have the rank & file bring them food.

26

Some Things Just Dont Add Up, How Did We Miss This???

by pale.emperor in

some things i just didnt notice at the time which now seem so obvious:.

the bible tells us that the end will come like a thief in the night, when we least expect it.

(matthew 24:44).

OnTheWayOut

One of my favorites.

46

Do You Think Jehovah's Witnesses Are Typically Ignorant People?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i think most witnesses are simple minded.many are ignorant.

there are a lot of basically "good people "in the religion but i believe many are kind of dumb, including many elders.

do you agree with my thoughts??

OnTheWayOut

I was naive. I was exposed to the JW's as a youth, but did not join then. I went from being a high school drop-out stoned, drunken teen to the military and then became a JW when I reached my bottom. The point is that I knew nothing- I knew little about Christianity and non-Christianity, I knew less about science and education and certainly never heard of faulty logic, cognitive dissonance, and cults. I could have been approached by Scientologists or Mormons or Seventh Day Adventists and been on a completely different "Ex" forum right now.

Most "born-in" JW's remain deliberately ignorant of science, education, philosophy, psychology, and even what's happening politically. Most converts have a better grip on some of that, but not much better.

They just learn to scoff at everything and think they "know" something of far more value than learning "worldly" things.

29

Relaxed rules toward oral sex?

by Socrateswannabe in

these people won't state anything definitively, but here's an excerpt from the study article entitled "making christian marriage a success", in the august, 2016 watchtower.

it does make me wonder.. although the bible does not provide specific rules about the kinds and limits of love play that might be associated with natural, sexual intimacy, it mentions displays of affection.

(song of solomon 1:2; 2:6) christian marriage partners should treat each other with tenderness.

OnTheWayOut

It might have something to do with being referenced at a later time just in case they want to lighten the rules.

But the last part is more telling.

Christian marriage partners should treat each other with tenderness.

Seems to me, they want to suggest husbands stop beating their wives.