Posts by OnTheWayOut

69

JW's Would Stay With The Org Even If 1914 Was Dropped

by pale.emperor in

i asked the question on quora: .

if the governing body abandoned the 1914 teaching, would you leave jehovah's witnesses or you would remain a member regardless?.

https://www.quora.com/if-the-governing-body-abandoned-the-1914-teaching-would-you-leave-jehovahs-witnesses-or-you-would-remain-a-member-regardless.

OnTheWayOut

The organization grew when 1914 wasn't what they said it would be, when the prophets were not resurrected in 1925, when the end did not come in 1975 and all those other years, SO YEAH- they would mostly stay.

20

Who stands to benefit from the JW scam

by cognitivedizzy in

jw
friends

guys, i've always wondered about this ,.

all the money grab,selling, consolidation of kh, real estate scam , who is the one who benefits from this elaborate scam, what's the deal ?

who is the mastermind, do the gb or whoever really runs the show really believe what they sell.

OnTheWayOut

Just because Watchtower doesn't have a current L.Ron Hubbard character doesn't mean that nobody benefits from the scam.

The men at the top worked in the trenches and slaved for the organization as pioneers of some sort. Then they got their golden ticket. It may not be quite the same as being billionaires, but being likened to JW rockstars is better for them than walking away would be. Ray Franz could write, and he wrote some books. Still, he didn't make money hand over fist. The current lot in the Ivory Tower are not able to write nearly as well as Ray, and they know it.

So traveling on someone else's dime, staying in hotels when they travel (they don't stay in some lowly publisher's second bedroom), having people practically worship them- that's pretty good for them. Plus, someone cleans behind them and they get to award lawyers and realtors and contractors big paychecks and have them grovel at their feet.

12

Letter to elders: Say what brothers?

by pixel in

to all bodies of elders .

re: audio at sign-language meetings .

dear brothers: .

OnTheWayOut

Oh, it sounds genuine to me. It's a way of saying that the "hearing" should benefit by hearing the wonderful sounds from Watchtower produced videos. It's stroking their own egos. Plus, they just don't get it how the deaf feel about these "wonderful hearing people taking care of them." Many of them wish the congregations would just be made up entirely of deaf people.

19

Venting, Wow, found out just how indoctrinated my wife is

by goingthruthemotions in

just had to share this, tonight we had a heated conversation about the religion.

she said everything they teach is 100% true and any mistakes are cleaned up and corrected, that the payouts for the child abuse is not an issue even if its taken from donations.

because, she believe 100% the org knows what its doing.

OnTheWayOut

Sad to read. But I imagine it's fairly normal for many JW's still.
My own wife and mother and mother-in-law would probably be pretty close to the same, adding that any payouts for child abuse were caused by members who are not true JW's, then they would not look into the cases as to how Watchtower was complicit

I was there for my best friend when he was DF'ed, but years later when he is "spiritually strong" again, he wasn't there for me when I was fading, not even DF'ed. It's because he's just as heavily indoctrinated as your wife.

It's not much comfort to me either, that many people are PIMO. I find some comfort in that, but I am way more hopeful for my own wife than for others. But I have to accept that some are falling away as a hopeful sign.

Maybe something will crack your wife's perfect "faith." You never know.

50

Overwhelmed

by Freedom rocks in

does anyone else feel overwhelmed on what to believe?.

i've been doing lots of research on beliefs, evolution, creationism but i feel no further forward about what i truly believe.

for example i looked at the fossil record and tiktaalic and thought great it proves a lot but then i've seen counter arguments on youtube of people basically saying its a load of rubbish and doesn't prove anything.

OnTheWayOut

Perry:
My basic premise is that while all people are equal, ideas are not equal. And, while we cannot go back in time and see for ourselves what happened, we can try to ground certain conclusions with things we know to be facts (premises) now. Things like:

1. All life comes from previous life

2. All information comes from a mind

3. All books have authors

Etc.

A Transcendent God (one outside of our 3 dimensional universe) conclusion doesn't contradict the premises I listed above.

See, there is an example of self-imposed nonsense. Perry feels he needs to know and demonstrate that the creator exists, so he falls for the "outside of our 3 dimensional universe" theory. That really means "I have no answers, so my god is exempt." I don't point this out to poke fun at Perry, but rather to demonstrate that you are better off to accept "I don't know, and that's okay."

31

Bill Cosby Gets Sentence Of 3 to 10 Years!

by minimus in

jw
friends

wow!

i thought he might get less than 2 years incarceration..

OnTheWayOut

To me, the conviction was the victory. A short term sentence is okay with me. He is sick and would cost taxpayers more money to be locked up a long time. Let him pay for his own medical stuff.

18

I'm considering putting off my leaving

by paradiseseeker in

jw
friends

i just wanted to share with you the thoughts that i've had lately.. my plan was to get a job, become independent and then leaving the org throughout this year 2018. i'm going to achieve the first step in a matter of weeks, the second one soon afterwards but maybe i will wait a little longer for the last one.. one year ago a friend of mine was reinstated.

we weren't very close friends back then, although we got along well.

but, since no many jws in my town want to hang out with him (because of his being a former disfellowshipped), we started to talk and go out more often and in a matter of half a year we've become very close friends, like brothers.

OnTheWayOut

All are free to do as they see fit. It's really a matter of what you can stand that will guide you.

I lingered for years within the organization, but I wasn't convinced it wasn't the truth. Once I knew what I needed to know for sure, that it wasn't the truth, I was completely physically out within 9 months. But in my case, I just couldn't waste time in that organization and I didn't care to hold on to local "friends." I did feel bad that I lost my best friend (who lived 500 miles from me) over this, but I had hoped better from him before that happened.

50

Overwhelmed

by Freedom rocks in

does anyone else feel overwhelmed on what to believe?.

i've been doing lots of research on beliefs, evolution, creationism but i feel no further forward about what i truly believe.

for example i looked at the fossil record and tiktaalic and thought great it proves a lot but then i've seen counter arguments on youtube of people basically saying its a load of rubbish and doesn't prove anything.

OnTheWayOut

I needed an answer as to how life, the universe, and everything came to be. And as I satisfied SOME of my need, I came to realize that the need itself was self-imposed nonsense.

If I didn't know whether life itself has a purpose, it doesn't stop me from making my own purpose.
If there are gaps in any explanation, speculation is okay.

Some may say they need to find the right path to please their "creator" but that is self-imposed nonsense too.
Even if there were a creator needing our worship and obedience, I would figure he would let us know what he wants, or be satisfied with our path of curiosity and understand how we got out of that cult and give us some slack.

Personally, I am satisfied that there is not a creator demanding certain things of us, but he would know my cell number if I am wrong.

28

What are they trying to hide

by UnshackleTheChains in

ok. we are all aware of the scandal around the non reporting of child abuse cases to the authorities by the elders and how it was part of watchtower policy.. this has probably been discussed before, which i apologize for now if it has.. the obvious view that most of us make as to why the gb are so reluctant to comply with the authorities by revealing their database around child abuse allegations, is that the leadership at watchtower hq likely were trying to safeguard the reputation of the organisation.. however, (just a theory) are they hiding something more sinister which could in effect devastate the organisation ie could it be they are hiding some things within the gb itself, whether it be some individuals within the gb of the past or even present who might have had some serious allegations made against them which the authorities are never going to know about?

i mean why the hell are they going to such lengths to hide everything???.

any thoughts?

OnTheWayOut

As already said, it is probably as simple as them lambasting the Catholic Church for this very problem, using it as proof that that organization is "from Satan." Then they realize their own problem stemming from their 2-witness rule has caused the situation to be just as bad (worse percentage-wise).

We already know there has been some high level problems with this. But I doubt any current new pedophiles cover-ups would go too high.

13

The "Faithful And Discreet Slave Class" is it still a Doctrine / Belief ? of Jehovah`s Witnesses today ? 2018 ? or is it old light.

by smiddy3 in

i have listened to steven unthank`s podcast and found it very informative and interesting and thought i would ask this question for anyone who is still a practicing member either a pimo or a pomo who only goes along for a family member ,whether this doctrine is still a part of the religions teachings ,or whether it has been dropped altogether .. your replies are much appreciated ..

OnTheWayOut

Most any "anointed" members outside of branches and headquarters are old coots looked at as kind of unusual, or they are viewed as fake anointed or mentally disturbed people seeking attention.

So I highly doubt members really had a problem when GB seized the "class" and dismissed the rest of them.

Edited to add: Including the GB, I think they really are faking it or are mentally disturbed people seeking attention.