smiddy

Joined

• started 536 topics
• posted 8,695 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by smiddy

• 
  20

  Confused

  by confused3426 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am a newbie, and yes current jw.

  i have been dealing with a lot confusion for months now.

  i guess it started last year when i found myself losing my zeal, desire for spiritual things.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  Welcome confused3426

  ",The searcher" on this forum pointed out their are something like 30 scriptures in the New testament that state Christians are to be witnesses of and for Jesus Christ and that his name is to be above all other names either in Heaven ,on Earth , or under the Earth . Phil.:2 10

  Their is no scriptures in the New Testament (Christian Greek Scriptures ) that say Christians are to be witnesses of Jehovah , not one.

  Isa 43:10-12 written well before Christianity to the Jews right ? did they ever identify themselves as Jehovahs Witnesses ? No ,were they ever chastised by Jesus for not doing so ? No

  It`s an interpretation invented by the JW religion to distinguish themselves from mainstream christianity,to set themselves apart with no basis for doing so.

  I wish you well on your journey for the real truth,take care.
• 
  221

  Judge sanctions WTS - $4k per day penalty for not producing sex abuse documents

  by Simon in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  judge sanctions jehovah's witnesses.

  imposes $4000-a-day penalty for not producing documents in sex-abuse case.

  by dorian hargrove, june 24, 2016. a san diego superior court judge has ordered the church of jehovah's witnesses, also known as the watchtower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, to pay $4000 a day for every day that it fails to produce documents requested in a civil lawsuit brought by former parishioner, osbaldo padron, who claims a church elder sexually abused him when he was seven years old.. in a june 23 ruling, expected to be made final today, judge richard strauss admonished the church for willfully ignoring a court order to produce all documents associated with a 1997 body of elders letter that church leaders sent to parishes around the world in a quest to learn about sexual abuse of children by church leaders.. over the course of the past year, the watchtower society and its lawyers have fought hard to keep the letter confidential, claiming that turning over the documents would infringe on the privacy of those mentioned in the letter that were not associated with the case.. in march 2015, the church turned over a heavily redacted version of the letter.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  So a judge imposes a $4ooo dollar a day penalty for not producing sex abuse documents and it is now 8 months ? since that court a san diego Superior Court Judge made this judgement against them ?

  And still nothing is done ?

  Forgive me for being cynical but I see this all the time

  Threats are there by the authorities , the WT wears them down in time and nothing is done to bring the WT to account for their actions.

  No wonder I am cynical to whatever is said about bringing the WT /JW religion to account for their abhorrent treatment of child sexual abuse victims by not reporting any of these 1006 cases to the appropiate authorities.

  that means up to over 3018 Elders who were privvy to this information and never let any authority know about these abuses.

  And nobody is prosecuted ? After all this time ?

  G.Jackson was not charged ? Vincent Toole was not Charged ? for giving false evidence misleading the ARC ? The Elders who gave evidence were not charged for failing in their duty of care and protection of children by not reporting dangers of a sexual nature to ninors once they knew about it ?

  Their are so many things they could have been prosecuted against ,but nothing was done ,Why ?

  you tell me.

  Thats why I am a cynic.
• 
  32

  Sister at Kingdom Hall visibly upset "they took jehovahs name out of song"

  by hoser in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went to meeting today and the sister in front of me was upset song 134 now song 139 no longer contains jehovahs name.

  they took it out.

  i never even noticed .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  That was pathetic ,anybody watching that would run a mile wouldnt they? If they had a brain in their head they would anyway

  Maybe someone should remind this sister that Gods name they look up to was devised by a spanish monk in the 13th century , before that it was only four hebrew letters that never contained the letter J

  The letter sounding J does not exist in hebrew.

  The GB knows this but they are sticking with a bastardisation of Gods name instead of going with the more appropiate name Yahweh.
• 
  9

  money

  by pepperheart in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  now they are not printing between 40 and 60 million magazines a month what do people think they are doing with the money?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  Anybody who doesnt think someone somewhere is not siphoning off some of this money has to be very naive.

  Just who and how many people are in control of all the money that the WT generates from all the various means money is coming from .

  Real Estate sales : Millions of $$$$$$$$$

  Donations from 8+ million members ? :millions of $$$$$

  Kingdom Hall donations ,loans ,Pledges , KH`s owned by the WT and re-sold , Gifts from estates ,Wills left to the WT,publications sold and bought by 8+ million members ,Investments ,Interest from banks ,off shore bank accounts ,and lets not forget the money kids forego their ice creams to donate.

  I`m sure their are many more money trails I have overlooked ,however how many lawyers , financial advisers ,accountants ,treasurers ,etc., do they have looking after all this money ?

  My personal belief albeit with no evidence is that sooner or later their will be a scandal where millions of $$$$ will be unaccounted for in the religion ,its human nature and just a matter of time ( if it hasnt already happened )

  I personally know of an Elder in a congregation who used congregation money for his own benefit but was caught out and he was under the hammer to pay it back or the police would be called in.

  He claimed he had every intention to pay it back when his deal was finalised .

  You dont think JW`s can do such things ?

  Check out crimes committed by Jehovahs Witnesses ,every crime you can think of has been committed by good standing Jehovahs Witnesses.
• 
  36

  Anyone know what this sculpture is of the "torture stake?"

  by charity7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey guys!

  i'm new on this site and am a non jw here married to a jw.

  my husband's family are active members and they daily post articles on facebook from jw.org which i know is meant for me to see and read.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  Welcome Charity 7

  ,Jehovahs Witnesses like to make a big deal about the instrument of Jesus crucifixion and by doing so cloud the reason for his crucifixion in Christian belief.

  Its a pity they dont make such a fuss about the name of GOD they claim to believe in and its more correct pronunciation of Yahweh instead of Jehovah a name a Catholic spanish monk came up with in the 13th century.

  Hebrew never had a J sounding letter.

  You could almost believe JW`s worship the Torture Stake instead of the cross the way they harp on it.

  Edit to add:This statue hung in the pleasure palace of one of the caesers of rome as romans were known for using the torture stake.
• 
  13

  Article: Pinoy Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia face deportation (About Philippine JWs in Russia)

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://globalnation.inquirer.net/152841/pinoy-jehovahs-witnesses-russia-face-deportation.

  pinoy jehovah’s witnesses in russia face deportation.

  philippine daily inquirer / 05:40 am february 24, 2017. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  So can anybody give us an update on the figures that are involved here about how many Phillipines will be deported ? and what that effect it will have on their partners?
• 
  46

  jehovah witness elder molest his daughter ... Lynn Gardner

  by jaydee in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boizyklif4q.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  Lynn Gardner suggests abuse victims go to the authorities by inference either child sexual abuse authorities or the police. and not just leave it up to the congregation Elders to sort it out.

  Has lynn Gardner done either of these options herself ?

  Hopefully she has taken her own advice

  If she hasn`t done so I would ask why not.?

  She has come on this public forum making these claims ,I would hope she has also made these claims public to the appropiate authorities to get justice for the abuse she claims have been made against her.

  I have attempted to make lynns case and appease those who question her integrity.

  I wish you well Lynn Gardner in your recovery and peace of mind.
• 
  21

  Becoming the average JW (and what I found out about the average 'Joe Witness')

  by Skepsis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  until a couple of months ago i was an uber-spiritual pioneer, only having association with other pioneers, elders and others who would fill in the category i classified as "spiritually acceptable" friends.. but since stopping pioneering and having more time to think about my doubts and what i really believe (or better said, what i no longer believe), i have started getting to know other less spiritual brothers and sisters of the area.

  in fact, my old friends are starting to forget me quite quickly, i must say.

  so, i guess my next move in fading is becoming what i call the average witness.. and what did i discover?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  I would consider ourselves as being on the fringe of the "in" club of the congregation I was a MS with two well behaved kids that Elders respected

  A couple of Elders and MS all got together for camping excursions ,resturants ,and associating at each others home for scrabble or sporting events that would come up generally a real social group.

  We were all quite liberal in the sense we always had beer or whiskey as was one elders favourite drink however it was all in moderation but certainly a lot more than what conservative JW`s would consider as moderate.

  Actually they were good times.But you cpould never have discussions about the "truth" or religion at these gatherings the consensus was "we get enough of that at our 5 meeting attendances and witnessing" these were times for socialising and a break from religion.

  This congregation was the exception to all the other cong.we were ever in and it was the one we stayed in the longest in our 33 years of activity as JW`s.
• 
  35

  Do JWs Regard You As An APOSTATE?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i doubt people consider me an apostate but you never know.🤓.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  I disfellowshiped them with my DA letter ,so I guess they would judge me as an apostate.

  I now live in another state so do get them at our door from time to time and I just give them an anti-witness
• 
  6

  JWs leaving the cult, here is a story of one family.

  by Crazyguy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so a friend of mine will start with him.

  he's a typical jw goes to meeting helps out a lot uses his truck to move stuff around for the cult etc.. his wife gets bored with life and goes on a fornication spree and then gets dfd.

  he didn't like the way it was handled and himself during this time of emotional chaos has a minor indiscretion and gets privately reproved.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  smiddy

  I couldnt agree more carla , I too hope they all go on to happier times and more fruitfull lives

  It can only be a plus exitng JW`s couldnt it ?