Posts by OnTheWayOut

17

The Book of Mormon

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

my wife and i went to see it today at the encouragement of some of our new friends.

we laughed until we cried, and it was so cathartic to sit in a room full of hundreds of people laughing at the ridiculousness of religion.

sure, the subject is mormonism, but it was very poignant and applicable to all religion.

OnTheWayOut

I bought group tickets about 2 years ago and went with 14 other ex-JW's.

As long as you can laugh at "religion" it's funny. To our group, it was hilarious.

46

If You Could Ask the GB Or One Of Its Members...

by Cold Steel in

...one question about anything and get a straight answer, what would it be?

historical, philosophical, theological, eschatological, anything.

.

To me, saying "and get a straight answer" puts your question in the realm of that riddle where you have to choose the safe door from 2 doors where one is guarded by a liar and one is guarded by a truthful guard.
There is an answer for that riddle, but it's not realistic. Where and when would that actually really happen? Same question with getting a straight answer from a GB member. Where and when would that actually really happen?

So in the realm of philosophical riddles, my question would be, "Do you really believe God works through you and the 2/3rds vote and actually accepts the doctrines of you men like the overlap generation to be representative of what HE meant?"

28

Is everything a sign to the jw's?

by karter in

jw
friends

of publisher numbers go up its a sign jehovah must be blessing the work if they go down it a sign the end must be near .

if there's an earthquake it a sign.if there's a war it's a sign ..i'm sure donald trump is sign.

karter.

OnTheWayOut

Every last big event, trend, news event- all of it are signs.

Wars, famine, all that bad stuff are signs that we are close to the end.

Good economies, advances in science or education or medicine- signs that Satan is drawing people away from God therefore the end is near.

Somehow, efforts and results toward "peace" are part of the cry of "peace and security" so not only wars, but peace is a sign that the end is near.

Just as Barack Obama being elected American president had to be a sign of people "putting their trust in men" instead of God, therefore the end is near, somehow Donald Trump will also be a sign of "the love of the greater number cooling off" and therefore the end is near.

Good economies are signs of the love of money, therefore the end is near. Bad economies are signs that people are ready to throw their money into the streets as Revelation mentions somewhere, therefore the end is near.

The Australian Royal Commission and lawsuits against Watchtower because of pedophiles are signs that the governments of Satan's world are ready to attack true religion, therefore the end is near.

Somehow, JW's now manage to lump any natural disasters in with their thought that earthquakes are a sign that the end is near. So forest fires, hurricanes, tsunamis etc. are all part of that.

21

Warwick and transport to meetings

by berrygerry in

i would imagine that most brooklyn bethelites attended congo meetings via subway.. how do they manage transport from warwick?.

OnTheWayOut

Duplicate post. Ignore this post. Hi, how are y'all?

21

Warwick and transport to meetings

by berrygerry in

i would imagine that most brooklyn bethelites attended congo meetings via subway.. how do they manage transport from warwick?.

OnTheWayOut

meaningful field service

Now that's a HUGE oxymoron.

21

Warwick and transport to meetings

by berrygerry in

i would imagine that most brooklyn bethelites attended congo meetings via subway.. how do they manage transport from warwick?.

OnTheWayOut

Like sparrowdown, I am sure they will keep many "in the compound." Sure, they will send many out, but when there is no way to get them there or the congregations are saturated, many will be assigned to stay at the "Compound Congregation." That is a great congregation name.

27

Do you still go to meetings?

by NikL in

jw
friends

as i was sitting in the meeting last night i thought about this question.. sometimes it feels really lonely because i don't connect with most others in the congregation and i have to be so careful with the ones with whom i do associate.. quick rundown on my life...got baptized at 17...married at 20...became inactive at 28 wife still active though...came back to meetings with her 20 years later just to keep her quiet and see if they had changed (for a while i actually thought they had)...now i am still inactive and haven't gone out in service or anything.

i just go to meetings with my wife who is happy as a lark to have me there with her...just go to meetings and think...and think...and think.... anyway, i just wondered if there are any out there like me who are going to meetings and nothing else?.

OnTheWayOut

I have an active JW wife, but I just cannot go, will not go.

I faded out quickly 10 years ago, went to a Memorial as my last "regular attendance" meeting. Went to the Memorial one year later and have since been to a couple of funeral services at the hall.

I went to my father-in-law's funeral service at a Kingdom Hall this year. I mean- I want to be able to show my wife that I am reasonable and fair, that my reasons for not going regularly are not like her superstition of stepping into a church. Except for the closest family, I wouldn't even go for a funeral, though.

Take it for what it's worth, but I wouldn't go regularly to make my wife "happy as a lark to have me there with her." My wife regularly goes to different Kingdom Halls, supposedly to accommodate her other events in life, but I believe it's partly because her assigned congregation knows me and that they make her feel poor that I am not there with her. It's her misery to choose to go, I let her have it. I would rather go do anything else.

138

Jehovah God is Real

by TakeOffTheCrown in

there are many on this site that do not believe that jehovah truly exists; that he is not a real being.

but, he is as real as next breath you draw into your nostrils.. some of you say that there is no evidence that he exists.

yet, none of you can prove that he does not exits.. cofty, (you come to mind), i appreciate that you have stated, without reservation, that you do not believe that god exists.. yet, you cannot prove it.. hope in jehovah..

OnTheWayOut

Hope in:

Zeus
Jupiter
Odin
Ra
Marduk
Durga
Izanagi

I could go on. Yours is just one on a long list of gods.

45

Why Did JWs Abandon Brooklyn for the Sticks?

by Room 215 in

i may have missed this, but can anyone tell me what was the pretext the gb concocted to justify their abandonment of a perfectly suitable, high-profile, high-visibility complex in what is arguably the world's greatest metropolis for the bucolic isolation of upstate new york.

any how does the move square with their purported belief in the imminence of armageddon?

.

OnTheWayOut

Selling it to the rank and file was mostly telling them that being in NYC is bad when things like 9/11 happen.

I imagine hardly anyone considered how a cult compound needs to be isolated.

12

Taking up a Cause

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

so recently, my jw wife asks me if i ever considered taking up a cause.it was a question out of the blue, coming off of a discussion about politics.

so while it was unsaid, she was really getting at whether i was considering being politically active in some way.. i already have a standard answer that i have used before with other people, so i said it.

"no, i will be content to work and get by then retire and sit in the sun with a good book and a cold water.

OnTheWayOut

Replies on page 2:
LongHairGal- Okay, so you give me more to add to my answer.
"No, I will be content to work and get by then retire and sit in the sun with a good book and a cold water. Other than random acts of kindness and helping out in a crisis or disaster, no specific causes for me. I picked up a specific cause once before, and I was so deeply involved in it, really thought it was important and put so much of myself into it, but it turned out that I was SO WRONG. I don't want to do that again."

JRK- Okay, I could go that route too.
"Well, I am involved in a cause. I am spreading peace and love and rock 'n roll, one concert at a time."