Posts by smiddy

68

What was it like being a JW in the 1960's and 1970's

by UnshackleTheChains in

this is obviously a question for the older generation.

i'm really curious what it was like to be a witness in the 60's and 70's?.

was the society as strict as it is today?.

smiddy

My wife and I attended 4 congregations in Melb.Aust. in the decade of the 1960`s .They were pretty conservative and took the "truth" seriously,Not much socilising at all it wasn`t encouraged back then.

When the book "life Everlasting " came out in 1969 ? with the 6000 yrs since creation speculation was rife that 1975 would usher in te "New System of Things" and the special brochures that were to be distributed around the world that time in the early 1970`s rumours were abound that 7 were to be distributed with the last couple denouncing false religion and the Governments of the world that would bring on the Great Tribulation.

Of course nothing of the sort happened.

We were in Qld. by that time where the 3 congregations we were in were much more liberal and relaxed though we did have a couple of really loony Elders.

26

August 2017 Watchtower - Screwing with J.W.'s minds again

by The Searcher in

in the latest issue of double-speak, i'd like to highlight these two statements:.

page 3, par.

2 - "...how encouraging it is to know that jehovah’s faithful servants in the past felt free to express the same question that may loom in our minds, and they were not condemned for asking it!

smiddy

Are the Jehovahs witnesses in Russia urged" to be willing to wait on the outcome" of the appeal to their being banned ?

No ? They are defying that ban by continually meeting as a congregation.

Then they are not being in subjection to the superiour authorities are they , disobeying such an authority by defying what Jehovah has put in place. Rom.Chap.13

11

u can speak against Christ but not the GB

by Damascus in

so i am in trouble for questioning the whole rats nest of deceit and lies.

in matthew 12 jesus says: whoever speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the holy spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come.

" the gb seems to replace 'holy spirit' with themselves.

smiddy

Then ask the self-righteous interrogator, "Should we accept everything we're told is truth - without question?"

I would say the average Elder would say yes ....and he wouldnt see the problem with his answer

Thats how indoctrinated they are .and clinging on to their self importance. in a small pond.

37

The Governing Body WILL be sued in America collectively and individually in the near future!

by notsurewheretogo in

so lloyd evans aka cedars says on his facebook page when he attended a reveal jw child abuse event.. .

interesting stuff but no details!.

smiddy

40 years ago even going back to the beginnings of the 1960`s I was a die-hard JW ,however I noticed even then that the public talks that were advertised and given out by leafletes in our local community they never ever brought in any members of the public.

The Jehovahs Witnesses are delusional. Full stop.

61

Mental Illness

by Tallon in

over many years i have been pondering how mental illness has impacted upon jw's due to the effects of indoctrination.

in my case; when i was 21 i had a breakdown and was hospitalised for 6 weeks.

i was diagnosed with anxiety tension state disorder.

smiddy

Their have been a few investigations in the world linking the mental capacity of Jehovahs witnesses and whether the religion improved their mental position or was responsible for decreased mental capacity in its adherants.

Was the religion responsible for decreased mental capacity ,or were the mentally unstable more likely to have joined the religion.

From memory I think one might have been conducted by the Netherlands ? (in Europe anyway)

Another I believe was conducted by someone in Western Australia.

8

Ban the Watchtower

by biblexaminer in

the watchtower magazine of january 1st, 2000, which was preached worldwide, made clear that "the anointed" at watchtower headquarters "have shown lionlike courage in exposing false religion", false religion being any and all religions other than jehovah's witnesses.

this same issue made clear to you, that we "god's watchman class" have used the watchtower "magazine in vigorously proclaiming to mankind that the vindication of jehovah's sovereignty by christ's kingdom is at hand.

as far back as the watchtower of december 1, 1966, we, god's spokesman, warned that armageddon could not be avoided.

smiddy

Do the Watchtower publications named in biblexaminers post constitute hatefill speech ?

Maybe not so much when they were written but now in 2017 such language is not permissable and could very well come under hate speech against other religions.

Could that language also be identified as Cult speak ?

Shouldnt the powers that be whoever they are in Government circles look at the tax exemption ,charitable status of an organization that produces /prints and disseminates such hatefull literature in our communities ?

25

If an elder decides he wants to report child molestation to police.

by poopie in

jw
friends

can he be sued for violating clergy pertinent privilege by the person that confesses to him?.

smiddy

Jehovahs Witnesses speak out of both sides of their mouth .

On the one hand they are on record as saying they have no clergy / laity class .

On the other hand they claim Clergy penitent Priviledge in a law court.

Clergy penitent privelidge is between a a confessor and a spiritual head/priest/pastor. of a religion a one on one confession.

Nothing of the sort occurs within the Jehovahs witness so called confessions.

For one thing their are three "Elders" who hear the confession that is then passed on to the legal dept,God knows how many view that ,so its certainly not a one on one experience.

And sometimes more than one body of Elders are involved in a Judicial confession which means another three Elders are privy to a confession.

Another point to be considered is most Judicial Committees convened are not inititiated by the confessor but are brought about by a third or second party making an accusation against the one under investigation .

So those cases are not to be considered as a person seeking a confessional for absolution of a sin.

In other words most Judicial Committees should more likely be termed as prosecutions against a person guilty of a sin or crime themselves .

Which in any case is never reported to the appropiate authorities by any Elders.

16

Has China Already Become the Equal of the USA - superseding the Knorr/Franz March of World Powers?

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

i would personally say, this was going to happen, but not quite yet.

but then i noticed this recently published story in the south china morning post (a newspaper once owned by rupert murdoch, but now owned by jack ma, one of china's richest men).. quote:.

how china has become america’s equal, as showcased at a harvard forumauthor: robert delaneyon the campus of harvard business school this past weekend there was little doubt among corporate leaders and investors gathered for an annual conference that china had arrived as an equal to the united states.keynote speeches, panel discussions and a business pitch competition at the 20th annual harvard china forum convened under the theme “sharing the road ahead” in english.. and, i got to thinking about donald trump's reversal of all the things he said he was going to do to china in his campaign speeches, and the reality now that he acts as president of the usa.

smiddy

The green book "Your Will Be Done On Earth" about Daniels prophecy can evidently be put in the garbage now.

As "old Truth"

49

Do religious people fear that their religion may be wrong???

by James Mixon in

because there are so many religions in the world and it is obvious that no matter what the truth is, a large population of people will be wrong about it.

we at one time believe we had the truth and 99% of the world population were in darkness, but i wonder about folks in other religions today.

speaking with a christian friend about this and he told me," that's for god to decide, i hope i'am serving god"...the sad thing about all of this if one die and still believe in his religion, he will never know he was in the wrong religion.

smiddy

I would think the more than 40,000 Christian sects would all believe they alone have the truth .

Granted , a small number of those would also believe that no matter what christian sect you belonged to , you would be saved.

While I cant speak for most other non christian religions ,

I`m bloody sure Muslims don`t fear their religion maybe wrong.and a good percentage of them are prepared to kill anybody who may speak otherwise including other muslims .

61

Mental Illness

by Tallon in

over many years i have been pondering how mental illness has impacted upon jw's due to the effects of indoctrination.

in my case; when i was 21 i had a breakdown and was hospitalised for 6 weeks.

i was diagnosed with anxiety tension state disorder.

smiddy

While i agree with steve2 `s assesment to a point it is not only mental illness that attracts people to the religion of Jehovahs Witnesses and then is exacerbated by it ,Vulnerability , low self esteem ,being an isolationist ,not being able to mix freely with others ,hermit like tendencies ,while they in themselves dont warrant mental illness do indicate a lack of fitting in with "normal" society and are rife for the utopian like society that the WTB&TS provides.