i thought it would be interesting to see just how many people have climbed aboard jwd within the last 6 months.
it will give us an indication on how many people are actually coming away from the borg.. i may not be replying all the time but will pop in every day of so.. lets keep this thread going and use it to welcome new ones.
may i be the first to say welcome.
First post July, 2007 or thereabouts. Lurker since about 2001. Even though I don't post too often, I read DAILY! I think this takes the place of the meetings I used to be addicted to.
Now that I look at it all from the outside, it really smells like CULT. It does feel great to be mentally FREE, if not physically (family still in). I think the floodgates will soon be opening and the 'little one' will become a THOUSAND here at JWD...
ha ha ha !
that was just to get your attention !
here is the class system as it appears to me in wt world .
Love the categories! Currently in snubbed class #4 and oddly enough, appreciating it!
Get at least to THINK for myself.
Eventually, hopefully will be able to speak OUT LOUD...a la dawg!
after reading elaine pagels book the gnostic gospels, ive wondered if theres ever been a statement made by the wtbs regarding the origins of the nwt, besides the painstaking efforts made to keep the translation accurate despite how the rest of the world translated the bible.
as jws we were taught to follow the example set forth for and by the first century christians, however no doubt many of those first century christians were or became catholic as at the time that was the first legitimate, or universal, christian church established in spite of opposition and persecution from the romans.
in essence the great harlot herself defined many things that modern day jws still see as fact.
This is precisely what got the wheels finally turning in my head...in the All Scripture Is Inspired book (woefully out of date - last updated 1990, I believe) in one of the chapters towards the end of the book which deal with the 'Greek Scriptures' (otherwise known as the New Testament) they make a statement to the effect that, and I am paraphrasing here without the book in front of me:
"the Catholic Church 'claims credit' for fixing the Bible canon, but in reality it was Jehovah God who did so because the early followers of Christ themselves more or less decided on which books were viewed as authentic and restricted themselves to using only those..."
Absolutely amazing how, in that one sentence, they are able to discredit the Catholic Church's role in fixing the Canon. END OF STORY!
folks, surly one of you can tell me what the scriptual reasons the jws have that only the so called "annointed" should partake of the evening meal as the laughable jws call it?
have i pissed someone off?
did i not bathe this week?
Dawg, I also love your fire!
I think it has something to do with their belief that the anointed are to RULE with Christ in heaven and what is the point of ruling if there are no subjects? So the great crowd are supposedly going to be the subjects that the anointed are to rule over. It all has to tie up nicely with Adam and Eve, who, had they not sinned, were to live forever on a paradise earth; hence, you have to have 2 groups, come hell or high water.
Like Journey-On said, they HAVE TO make this FIT with the Old Testament, er, the Hebrew Scriptures, but it takes the pretzel method (great analogy!) to do so...
just my 2c
long time lurker, first time poster.
i won't be able to say much... you understand why some of us can't risk identification... a lot to lose.
and i might not be able to post very often.
Welcome, nondescriptex (great name, by the way!) I, too, lurked for a LONG time and finally posted but am unable to post too much.
Boy, do you have a way with words - 'can't get any air' or something like that, can't remember exactly - great line!
That is precisely why I've more or less ditched the meetings - stale, stale air with nary a breath of 'fresh' and I recall when the talk from the platform was so against breathing in the 'air of this world'. Well, my, my how the tide has turned...the air in the Kingdom Hall is progressively becoming more and more unbreathable and this site, as you say, is our conduit to stimulating and invigorating discussion and debate.
Methinks the atmosphere in the Halls will eventually become so choked up that a mass exodus becomes inevitable - religions do invariably yield to the prevailing climate and there is indeed climate-change going on!
Again, welcome! Hoping to hear more from you,
i guess it's about time i write my story.
i've put this off for a long time... primarily becuase, while i thought my story was bad, i've read so many worse and heart-rending stories here.
i think, though, there is some therapeutic value in 'letting it all out' with others who know what 'it' was like.
Your story is heart-rending and brings tears to my eyes...it is amazing that you have been able to rise above it all. The abuse - verbal, physical, emotional and spiritual - that you and your siblings had to endure is something no child should ever have to deal with and absolutely horrendous just to READ about. The ultimate insult is that these folks think they are joint heirs with Christ?!! God save us from any future under them. They need to have their heads examined, as do the purveyors of this God-disgracing organization.
My two cents. May you heal in peace. Don't know how to do hugs on the computer but I cry with and for you and your siblings.
from my own personal experience the watchtowers position on war always appeared to be one of the most difficult issues to navigate.
a number of times when i was first leaving the wts i spoke with jws who all used this argument to show me how "wrong" i was about the "truth".
while i knew the watchtowers arguments where wrong, i had a very difficult time figuring out exactly why it was wrong.
Good arguments...
I used to follow the witness way of thinking UNTIL I read a little about Martin Luther's thinking on this matter. Not that I agree with all of Luther's theses, but I was blown away by his musings on the scripture where Jesus said (and this is an interesting use of the word "IF" (vis a vis proplog2)
"IF my Kingdom were part of this world, my attendants WOULD HAVE FOUGHT"
Lots to think about there...not a lot of time to post...wish I could expand more but that has been fodder for my brain for quite a while now....
new poster here.
in the borg for 30+ years.
out and free about 10, inactive, not df'd.
I'm one of the few who think that in 10 years the Borg will become completely IRRELEVANT and only a shadow of its former self.
There are a number of reasons for this;
Firstly, the information age - more people are more exposed to more information - good, bad, ugly, pro, con so minds are bound to be opened.
Secondly, movies and books like the Da Vinci code blew open to a vast audience the notion that maybe all is not well in what Christianity purports to be...many are perhaps clandestinely reading historical/spiritual books that probe the history of the Bible itself.
Thirdly, even the world and many of the world's religious leaders seem to be tackling problems that the world is facing and most importantly of all, OTHER RELIGIONS are acknowledging that faith needs to go hand in hand with RESEARCH and HISTORICAL ACCURACY. Many of these mainstream churches are acknowledging the need to address the concerns that their parishioners are having with the flood of knowledge in all areas of inquiry and realize that to stifle anyone's questionings will only harm their institution in the end.
The Witnesses, of course, continue in their ostrich with its head in the sand mentality and will therefore LOSE a very large proportion of their adherents, I suspect in the NEXT TEN YEARS!!!
HALLELUJAH!
Just my .02 cents...and I know I may be alone in my musings...but thanks for listening!
we had an interesting local needs.. first it clearly stated if you are not making all the meetings you will not make it in to the new system period no exceptions.
they twisted the story of the red sea to make an example.
saying you can not disobey once, or else you be left stuck in the bottom of the red sea.. from now on the elders will be making shepherding calls on those that are not attending regularly.. also, it was stated that if you know of any not attending regularly.
Ok - we've missed quite a few meetings lately (and loved every extra ounce of precious time spent doing the things life is meant for). And we've received a couple of invitations for the proverbial 'shepherding' call.
Just wondering - would the price of gas lately fly? I mean, once you add up all the driving expenses in time, money, wear-and-tear on the vehicle, etc. you seriously have to ask yourself, if as WT Wizard said, you are getting any VALUE for your expenditure...2 hours of the same old, same old.
I seriously think they are more interested in back ends parked on seats, who cares about minds? Most of them are half-asleep anyway, from what I have been observing, elders foremost!
Which brings me to another matter. What I have been seeing at the hall on the few occasions I've been there lately is a FULL parking lot, but a lot of empty seats inside...so it seems to me that people must each be driving one vehicle. Years ago, many would travel together but with busier schedules, it would seem this is no longer possible. Heck, in some families, even the wife and husband arrive separately - he earlier to deal with 'congregation' responsibilities, so there's 2 vehicles for 1 family.
It really is sad that the meetings have to be about meeting attendance - or as another poster put it the other day on another thread - announcements are about future announcements.
Can the END for this cult truly be far away?
i'm inviting former jws to file a class suit against the watchtower for psychological, sociological, physical, intellectual, biological and financial damages.
a. psychological damage:.
1. followers are made to believe that the christian bible is the sole and exclusive word of god.
I am with you on this!
What I have come to see is that although Witnesses have fought for 'freedom of speech', ironically, there is no freedom of speech within the Kingdom Hall.
Just as the day came when the Catholic Church lost its stranglehold over its adherents, the day will come when the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society will become irrelevant. I believe we are in a period of mass awakening, so that a 'class action suit' may become a real possibility. Consciousness of the Watchtower's dark side is dawning on a lot of us and some of us are just starting to get ANGRY!
