OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  40

  Has Anything Really Changed For JWs In The Last 10 Years?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2020 is days away.

  has anything really changed for the witnesses or the religion?

  ?.

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  OnTheWayOut

  The organization was fairly stable when I joined it in 1988. They were past the Ray Franz thing and 1975 was already dropped.

  So when they changed the generation doctrine in a major way, it really was a surprise to me. But older JW's said "They change things sometimes" and treated it like no big deal.

  So since then, I learned that the organization constantly has to change things according to their needs on the calendar or the wallet.

  I want to say that the more things change, the less important and meaningless those changes are. But that is only doctrine. Their big changes already mentioned like just standing by a cart for hours, sanitizing the talks at the hall and assemblies to remove personality and liveliness, using JW videos more....many more things...it all adds up to seeing them disappear down the road due to lack of real retention and recruitment. Members are dying off.

  Add in the biggest change- bigtime lawsuits over child abuse and other money woes. And the atrophy will continue.
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  71

  If You Had The Choice To Live Anywhere In The World or Any State Where Would You Be?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i do like the usa but winters suck!

  florida has some charm but it gets brutal with heat and humidity.

  california is too looney.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I am considering retirement in Hawaii. The wife and I would live in a small studio and I would have to cook most every meal at home, but I can really enjoy reading books at the beach most every day.
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  38

  FlyingHighNow

  by Ex-Witless in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello forum.

  my aunt, flyinghighnow, has passed away.

  i don't know if you remember her, but she was a long time member.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I loved her way of thinking. My condolences.
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  9

  Bible writers must of loved the number 3

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here are some examples where bible writers used the #, 3!

  were these stories ever true, or were they just fabrications and laziness on the writer's part where it just made sense to use the #, 3?.

  12-year-old jesus stays in jerusalem, joseph, and mary find him 3 days later.

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  OnTheWayOut

  The number 3 in the Bible means these "3" things: divine wholeness, completeness and perfection.
  
  3 confirms a matter.
  
  God's attributes are 3: omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.
  
  On the third day, the earth rose from the water, symbolic of resurrection life.

  And lest we forget the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  
  But also- We have a human habit of looking for patterns of 3. You hear people say all the time expressions like “three’s company” or “three’s a crowd” or “the third time’s the charm,” or “bad news (or deaths) always comes in threes.” So I would not be so quick to think that all the 3's in the Bible were supposed to be Holy. Maybe it was just people writing in that pattern.
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  21

  local, strange jw thinking

  by lancelink in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was reading today that the last star wars movie will be playing next week.

  doing a little searching, i found that there have been 12 movies in the saga total, ( box office, total (12 films): $9.323 billion.)..

  it got me thinking about when the empire strikes back came out, it was the second movie ( 1980).

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  OnTheWayOut

  I remember about 15 years ago, a bunch of JW's who would proclaim that there is "NO WAY THIS SYSTEM LASTS 15 MORE YEARS!" I am pretty sure today they are saying "NO WAY THIS SYSTEM LASTS 15 MORE YEARS!"
  
  And you know what any of them alive 15 years from now will be saying.
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  13

  So how are they going to proclaim peace and security when in the last days the kings of the North and the South are to be engaged in battle?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  OnTheWayOut

  They have always proclaimed both sides of something to cover their asses.
  Peace and security, great time of turmoil. Good economy means the end is near, bad economy means the end is near. War in the middle east fulfills scriptures, peace in the middle east fulfills scriptures.
  
  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
  
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  26

  venting: My wife is the most dangerous kind of JW

  by goingthruthemotions in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i need to vent again here.

  because i have no one else to talk with and no one who really understands except for the people here.

  my wife is the most dangerous kind of jw.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I am happy your kids are free. I cannot wake my wife up, but she seems to make what Watchtower teaches less and less important in her life. She thinks about retirement in less than a decade, not about the end of the world.
  
  It's possible your wife just wants to wake up in Paradise. Sorry to read that.
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  12

  Jesus to rule for 1000 yrs yet he started in 1914?

  by krismalone in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i believe when we were in the jw cult, our brains and thoughts were hijacked by the governing body.

  i truly believe the gb thinks all members are stupid and they laugh at them in their wednesday morning secret meetings.. one such teaching that i never heard anyone bring out or question yet the absurdity and contradiction is blatantly obvious is: revelation chapter 20 says that christ will reign for 1000 years.

  it doesn't say he will reign more than a thousand yrs but only 1000 yrs.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I think Ray Franz exposed a truth that is probably still true of today's Governing Body. I believe even their brains and thoughts were hijacked by the organization and working your way up to the Governing body might allow you to wake up some, but most just learned to cooperate because they feel like they finally got the brass ring. The individual GB members probably think that the other members are hardcore believers but that "I see that the emperor is naked." They probably do, to some degree, laugh at the rank-and-file in their Wednesday morning secret meetings.

  They are duped themselves, no matter how much they realize its all a scam, into believing it is of the utmost importance to protect the organization ahead of any individuals. Changing doctrines becomes a game of making it all work somehow yet changing it radically to fit the calendar or money situation.

  They say all the different things to cover whichever way they later might need to go. Jesus' 1000-year reign started, did not start. The anointed will still be here, they will all be in heaven already. God's loving kindness is a free gift, you must earn undeserved kindness. YADDA YADDA YADDA!
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  42

  When was it time for you to walk away from your congregation meetings and the WTBTS?

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the basic virtue for a human being is to be true to yourself – the integrity of thought, emotion, and action.. .

  ten years ago ( after 32 years as a jehovah's witness), i finally decided that my own mental sanity and being true to myself was more important than attending congregation meetings and serving the watchtower society.

  i stopped (years before) field service, the ministry school, answering at the watchtower studies, missed numerous meetings and walked in minutes before the meetings started and left after the closing prayer, i knew it was time to leave.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I needed it to be "the truth." Long story, but I fully invested in that. I came in in 1987 and got baptized in 1988 as an adult with a JW mother. There was relative stability for a few years at that time. The shakeup of 1980 was unknown to me and I was too young to know much about the 1975 doctrines that captured my mother.
  
  1995's generation change started me realizing that even "the truth" wasn't constant. And that bugged me, but I plugged along. 10 years past 1995, I had seen double standards and nepotism, elders thinking they know what Jehovah wants more than others because they can spout off scriptures and paraphrase the Watchtower article that elaborates on them. The religion wasn't about upbuilding each other, it was about staying in line.
  
  So a series of events that seemed non-Christian to me (well- unloving and controlling) started me to examine Watchtower. I pioneered for a year, giving Jehovah one last chance to prove himself to me in my life, but I also started reading secular thoughts on Bible history and science teachings on what fossils, archaeology and the universe say about where we came from and how we came to be. I actually held back for awhile about actually going to "apostate" materials. But one day, I said to myself, "What prevents me from googling 'Watchtower' and going wherever it takes me?"
  
  Between my personal experiences and the internet, although it had taken me a long time to realize that the Watchtower did not have "the truth," it only took me a short while to know that the organization always puts itself ahead of the individuals and that any good people within were only good despite the Watchtower. I didn't need to stay within the organization.
  
  So my eyes opened fast to read about false prophecies and a Governing Body member with a book and coverups over various stuff. I resigned as an elder in 2006 and faded extremely fast to stop going to meetings at all by the Memorial of 2007.
  
  Before fading away, I actually hinted strongly at problems within the organization and I am pretty sure the C.O. instructed the elders to steer clear of me. Y'all know- Somehow, I could weaken their faith too. So they have given me very little attention in all the time since then despite my never disassociating.
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  17

  Disability Discontinued for Lifting Religious Pamphlets!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  disability discontinued for lifting suitcase of pamphlets!.

  https://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20191202/news08/912331976/disability-discontinued-for-man-caught-lifting-religious-pamphlets .

  petra!

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  OnTheWayOut

  That JW should be thrilled that Jehovah "cured" him and he can go back to work.