Posts by OnTheWayOut

44

Money woes show it ain't the truth

by OnTheWayOut in

jehovahs people do not beg for money.

[...] we have never considered it proper to solicit money for the lords cause, after the common custom .

it is our judgment that money raised by the various begging devices in the name of our lord is offensive, unacceptable to him, and does not bring his blessing either upon the givers or the work accomplished.

OnTheWayOut

Page 3 replies:

Vidiot, I always felt that elders and the organization should protect the children or support the innocent victims when an issue like sexual abuse comes up, and that Jehovah would protect the reputation of the organization if there was a pedophile or serial killer among the members. I think I am saying something along the same lines:
If it were truly "God's Earthly Organization" then survival should not be at risk.

cognac, they will indeed argue such a way. They would conjure up images of prostitutes and cigarettes and bling and shiny objects and the "air" of the world in Satan's power. Still, it would seem Jehovah will make sure the magazines are paid for if He wants them out there.

sparrowdown, I think we are used to that. Good things prove they are right. Bad things prove they are right. Everything proves they are right.

44

Money woes show it ain't the truth

by OnTheWayOut in

jehovahs people do not beg for money.

[...] we have never considered it proper to solicit money for the lords cause, after the common custom .

it is our judgment that money raised by the various begging devices in the name of our lord is offensive, unacceptable to him, and does not bring his blessing either upon the givers or the work accomplished.

OnTheWayOut

cognac, cappytan: maybe we will never really know the details on their sales and money deals.

Thanks Punk of Nice.

12

Buddhists and Jehovah's Witnesses

by tornapart in

recently i have just started looking into what buddhism is all about.

i rather like the idea of a personal spirituality.

of trying to be a better person and an acceptance of the reality of life and trying to find an inner peace and contentment.. anyway, i came across this today.

OnTheWayOut

In the article, the Buddhist says of the JW, "At the end of the conversation, she was *glowing* with positive energy."

I would hate to tell him that it's just because she "placed" books with him and he promised to read them. She sees him as a potential convert or at least someone to count much time with. As a matter of fact, she will count the time of their discussion.

But on to better thoughts: You ask "Also, I wonder has anyone else dabbled with the idea of buddhism? Not as a replacement theology but as wanting to be a more contented person."

Many ex-JW's have included eastern thought and eastern reading and eastern meditating in their spiritual journey. I am one of those. I favor Tao and Zen Buddhism. Whether we were seeking God or enlightenment or just inner peace, eastern thought is an excellent place to look. The beauty of such thought is that you can embrace some of it and not all of it. You don't need to "believe" a certain way to appreciate the ideas that "less is more" or that "all are equal" and that "life is precious."

I don't care for books by "The Dalai Llama" but I have found excellent wisdom from other eastern sources. I particularly like Pema Chödrön, an American author relating to Tibetan Buddhism. She is an ordained nun and I just ignore the brief references to "master so-and-so" and focus on the thoughts when I read her books. (So even those who preach "all are equal" show that some are "more equal" than others.)

30

Construction Halts & other cutbacks - Here's what I think happened

by Listener in

to get to the point straight away i think the crane accident that occurred at warwick was a significant catalyst that has caused the org.

to change its plans suddenly.. list of assumptions, not all of them are validated.

- there was a serious crane accident that occurred at warwick approx.

OnTheWayOut

Regardless of why it's happening, Watchtower took the members' money away and spend it foolishly because of not calculating the costs.

44

Money woes show it ain't the truth

by OnTheWayOut in

jehovahs people do not beg for money.

[...] we have never considered it proper to solicit money for the lords cause, after the common custom .

it is our judgment that money raised by the various begging devices in the name of our lord is offensive, unacceptable to him, and does not bring his blessing either upon the givers or the work accomplished.

OnTheWayOut

steve2, it's the same story. Hold the carrot (or ice cream cone) in front of the little girl- "You can have it in Paradise while petting a lion."

Beth Sarim, that is a good point. But your point depends on parents that don't blindly accept whatever crap WTS puts out. Still, I imagine some start to wonder.

51

What is the best debate you've ever read on this board...

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

who won, and why?.

the rebel..

OnTheWayOut

cognac, I am trying to fan the flames, stoke the fire, crank up THE BIGGEST BADDEST BESTEST DEBATE EVERY IN THE HISTORY OF THIS FORUM.

Nevermind, let's just get along.

14

Dubbers now sitting in flea markets to count time. Dont even try to pawn mags.

by dogon in

every flea market i go to a group of idiots sits under a tent top with a few mags on display with a cup of coffee playing on a phone with as much interest in pushing the cult as a teenage girl at the check out line has in bagging your groceries.

when i was in the cult we had to work for our time.

now its like sitting at the coffee shop bsing with the other cult idiots counting time for your pioneer status.

OnTheWayOut

Everyone should ask for a Bible. If they have one, take it. Heck, ask for another. They typically won't have one, though. Then take as much as you can carry of the literatrash and put it in a trash receptacle nearby, even if they see you do that. Say, "Oh, I was done with it."

17

My mom

by cognac in

jw
friends

i was just talking to my mom a few weeks ago.

she said, out of all her kids, i was the only one she didn't have to worry about as far as spirituality.

i always took a stand for jehovah.. she told when all of her kids were little, she gave us the option of not eating birthday cakes in school.

OnTheWayOut

You do what you think is right as far as your mom goes, but answering questions from your mom doesn't make you some evil "apostate" no matter what their organization says.

44

Money woes show it ain't the truth

by OnTheWayOut in

jehovahs people do not beg for money.

[...] we have never considered it proper to solicit money for the lords cause, after the common custom .

it is our judgment that money raised by the various begging devices in the name of our lord is offensive, unacceptable to him, and does not bring his blessing either upon the givers or the work accomplished.

OnTheWayOut

Start Page two replies:

Simon, I agree. I will tie your thought in with Mad Irishman's thought.
The average member can give what he wants and nobody will say anything personally to him. It's a beautiful thing, but at the same time that member is bombarded by all those things telling him that the congregation isn't donating enough, the attendees at the assembly are not donating enough, the need is great and the members are not showing their love and faith in Jehovah, but are taking too many vacations or wanting nice things in their home when they don't need them as badly as the Governing Body needs a heated pool in that cold NY state climate.

Plus Mad Irishman, YES- as a member of the body of elders, I felt "coerced." We had shortfalls and they asked each elder to give a set portion of that if they could (and you better back up your "I can't do it.") As a member, after dropping twenty bucks in the box at the assembly, then hearing how they are still several thousand dollars short, I felt coerced to drop in more. Maybe nobody would know, but members are trained to know that Jehovah knows you can skip a decent restaurant tonight and settle for less while out of town for the assembly.

Phizzy, He's just no good with money. Somehow, He just can't handle money.

44

Money woes show it ain't the truth

by OnTheWayOut in

jehovahs people do not beg for money.

[...] we have never considered it proper to solicit money for the lords cause, after the common custom .

it is our judgment that money raised by the various begging devices in the name of our lord is offensive, unacceptable to him, and does not bring his blessing either upon the givers or the work accomplished.

OnTheWayOut

Page one:

ToesUp, it's sad that many of them wouldn't recognize your comment as sarcasm.

JW GoneBad, it is stuff like that sheet that shows they are using (in their own words from the opening quote) "the various begging devices in the name of our Lord" and that to such a Lord, it would be "offensive, unacceptable to him, and does not bring his blessing..."

cognac, they told congregations to set a monthly amount and suggested ways that it should not be small. They have just asked for something like 2 thousand dollars from an average sized congregation for the C.O. expenses. They have had videos about contributions. The May 2015 episode of JW Broadcasting had Stephen Lett revealing a shortfall between projected income and expenditures for the forthcoming fiscal period. As part of the 2015 program of conventions for Jehovah’s Witnesses, a video was released that portrays a young girl holding a coin in her hands while in a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, imagining buying an ice cream cone after their meeting. She then sees her mother putting money in a contribution box at the Kingdom Hall, and rethinks her plans for her coin. She envisions new Kingdom Halls being built along with JW literature being produced, and then happily puts her own money in the contribution box as well.

I see these things as "all the members have been hearing is how they have to cough up more."

Stealth, it goes back to George Carlin: Jehovah "loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!”