Posts by Jeremy C

16

Was there ever a GOOD time to be a JW?

by gaiagirl in

considering the history of the "organization", and how beliefs, practices and attitudes have changed through time, was there ever any time that a "international bible student" or jw was relatively more enlightened or had more freedoms than members of other religions?

or have they always been enslaved to one set of superstitious beliefs or another, to a greater degree than most other religions?

Jeremy C

Adolescence can be a good time to be a JW; as it was with me. The JW lifestyle - as austere as it was - did provide a rich social fabric that was satisfying in some respects.

Giving talks and helping out on construction projects did provide a gratifying sense of "being a part of" that other youths did not experience.

This phase of life allowed me to go along with the program, receiving approval and congratulations for my fine conduct - which was a boon to a low self esteemed youth. No critical thinking skills were necessary. Simply read, retain, and repeat was all that was necessary to be a good Watchtower Witness.

Entering adulthood is where the cognitive dissonance began to emerge and haunt me as I attempted to be an apologist for teachings I could not fully reconcile. Attaining the skills of reasoning, logic, and critical thinking is what began to make my JW life miserable.

It was like eating a horrible meal your friend has just cooked and sitting there trying to convince him / her that it tastes good.

70

Let's predict the next 10 years of "noolite"

by Awakened at Gilead in

the past 15 years or so have seen incredible "advances" in the new light agenda of the wts.. there have been changes in the generation (twice!

), sheep and goats, celestial phenomena, opening up the way to heaven (closed since 1935), the "composite sign", "blood fractions", along with major organizational changes, such as paperbacks, once monthly awake!

's, cult edition of the wt, along with the reduction of the meeting nights and change to the po nomenclature becoming the coboe (ssdd).... some of these changes have been foreseen by posters here on jwd, or were suggested by information in apostates recomended reading lists (i.e.

Jeremy C

I believe that the most significant reforms will not necessarily be doctrinal, but will be major shifts in policy and organizational procedure. Here are some of my thoughts:

1) Reporting requirements will most likely loosened; and all publishers will be allowed to report time in 15 minute increments. This will accomplish two things. First, it will significantly boost the reported hours as millions of Witnesses routinely have 15 or 30 minutes extra time each month that they are not allowed to report. Second, it will allow many Witnesses to remain in "Active" status that would have otherwise been considered "Irregular" or "Innactive". It will allow Witnesses to report time (via informal Witnessing) without having to go door-to-door.

2) Study publications will continue to be "dumbed down" and presented in boiler-plate fashion to serve the foremost purpose of controlling the flock and maintainig conformity.

3) District conventions will be reduced to two days.

4) Younger and younger "annointed ones" will begin to pop up at the headquarters in order to fill vacating Governing Body slots. We may even begin to see "non-annointed" ones be appointed to the body.

17

The Great Tribulation

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

isn't the gt before armeggedon?

i forget when is that supposed to start, what are the signs for it.. .

purps.

Jeremy C

The current teaching of the Watchtower is that the Great Tribulation errupts first. It is sparked (without warning) with the attack on Babylon The Great. There is a period of tribulation which is then followed by Jehovah's final execution of judgment (Armageddon).

This is why the current hysterics within the JW ranks regarding the financial crisis being the sign of the end makes no sense. It totally contradicts the Watchtower's current teaching. But then again, the Watchtower belief structure totally contradicts all rationality anyway.

20

2008 Drama what a joke -cheesy fake characters communist propaganda!

by Witness 007 in

"don't lose the love you had at first.

" my mum sent me the dvd hoping it will "save" us.

i love how there is always a super spiritual group and a villans group of brothers who end up ruining their lives.

Jeremy C

I believe that the Governing Body is still making desperate attempts to indirectly respond to Raymond Franz without actually mentioning his name. As regressive and reactionary as the GB is; they certainly do keep tabs on the trends taking place within the organization as well as with ex-JWs. Several people at the headquarters are very well aware of the enormous damage that Ray's two books have done to the organization's credibility. And really, all Ray did was to reveal what the organization had tried to hide.

In Franz's book "In Search Of Christian Freedom", Ray destroys many of the organization's most cherished policies and dogmas. One of them is the assertion that all Christians are to regularly go from door-to-door distributing literature and counting their time. As Ray pointed out in the chapter covering the door-to-door work, the New Testament provides no clear precedent for a centralized body to direct members to engage in a door-to-door work. The book of 1 Corinthians points out many of the varied methods of serving within the "Body of Christ" and their is no suggestion that Christians were to all conform to a rigid "one size fits all" program of activity.

Because of the internet, the distribution of Ray Franz's books have exploded - even into Eastern Europe, where he has recently lectured at ex-JW conferences. More and more people are waking up to the propoganda that the Watchtower has foisted on it's members. The Watchtower leadership is quite aware of all of this and they are worried. But, what do reactionary people usually do? They react - and often make asses out of themselves.

This latest drama is a shameless piece of sectarian propoganda. The very fact that they would have to fabricate a ficticious Bible character and attempt to force a modern organizational policy into first century history is pathetic. It reveals a true desperation on the part of a group of old out of touch elitists who have to resort to demagoguery in order to maintain their little Brooklyn fiefdom.

32

Ex Jehovah's Witnesses, Why Did You Leave The Watchtower?

by Tired of the Hypocrisy in

jw
friends

my new question at yahoo answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081009225436aanewp1.

please add your reason..

Jeremy C

1. Within the religion, there is a subtle form of idolatry that is promulgated toward the organization. The leadership is constantly demanding its members to give "allegiance to", "obedience to", and "sacred service" to the organization. The organization is presented as the only means for salvation; whereby Christ Jesus is inseparable from the organization. There is absolutely no precedent in the Bible anywhere to give allegiance to or to put one’s salvation into an organization. The organizational concept is something that is post-apostolic, and post-Biblical.

2. Jehovah’s Witnesses are commanded to place complete trust and obedience into the printed pages of the Watchtower. Although the Watchtower makes no claim to be "inspired" or infallible, the organizational leadership commands JWs to treat it as such. If a member disagrees with the Watchtower; they are viewed as disagreeing with God. Again, this is a concept completely foreign to the Scriptures. Nowhere in all of the Scriptures will you find any precedent for placing uninspired writings on an equal level with the inspired Bible. The organizational leadership also claims that one cannot be blessed with Holy Spirit if they do not regularly study WT publications. This concept of Holy Spirit operating through uninspired writings is also totally foreign to the Scriptures.

3. The Watchtower organization uses several methods of mind control in order to maintain absolute unanimity within its ranks. Unity is something natural, organic, and flexible. That is what makes unity so strong and durable. Unanimity on the other hand is manufactured, rigid, and enforced through punitive methods. The "truth" is able to stand upon itself without having to be propped up with methods of manipulation, coercion, and mind control. The "truth" should be able to stand up to any scrutiny. It does not have to hide, gloss over facts, or shield itself from scrutiny. The Watchtower’s claim to exclusive truth is betrayed by it’s very tactics of coercion, manipulation, glossing over the facts, forced unanimity, and shielding itself from scrutiny.

4. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society originally borrowed many of it’s core doctrines (1914 chronology, the concept of "new light", etc.) from the Second Adventists. Why didn’t Jehovah just direct the Adventists to readjust their thinking and doctrines to conform to his "truth"? Why did Jehovah have to cause C.T. Russell to split off and start up a whole new movement that had most of the same doctrines anyway? The core foundation of the Watchtower organization as "God’s exclusive organization" is built upon contradictions, delusions, and wishful thinking.

40

The End is Here....The JWs gleefully watch the economy crash!

by LovesDubs in

jw
friends

dont these idiots know yet that when it goes it takes them too?

have they not learned from the depression?

or either world war?

Jeremy C

There is something very pathological about a religious movement that rejoices in the heartache of their fellow man. The Watchtower mindset is in effect a set of scales; whereby when the quality of life of everyone else (the world) goes down; their "happy-o-meter" goes up.

I know many Christians personally; and none of them demonstrate this kind of jubilance toward a financial melt-down. This is because they are much more engaged with their neighbors and communities, and share others’ heartache. Watchtower Witnesses only care about the welfare of their fellow Watchtower Witnesses.

I believe that this mindset emanates from the top down - that it is conditioned through the constant indoctrination of the publications they study. A vast number of Witnesses have been conditioned and indoctrinated from an early age to feel a subtle malice toward "the world". (Much of this comes from applying Old Testament prophetic writings to the modern day JWs) Therefore, when the "world" suffers calamities, the Watchtower Witness is inwardly joyful that their "oppressors" are getting what they deserve, and that their "deliverance is near".

Many of the Watchtowers’ publications (demonizing the "world" and "worldly" people) have the same effect on JWs that the publication The Protocols of the Elders of Zion had on unsuspecting readers here in the U.S. Just as the Jews were scapegoated for much of Europe’s economic troubles, the "world" is scapegoated for much of the JWs individual problems, and the JW is able to be above the natural human empathy and compassion when calamity befalls that very system that they were indoctrinated to despise.

25

Economic Crisis!

by the sage in

have we arrived?.

rev.16:16 then they gathered the kings together to the place that in hebrew is called armageddon.. rev.16:19 the great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed.

god remembered babylon the great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.

Jeremy C

I have to say i think Americans are ignorant thinking that the suffering that may be feeling or going to feel is "so bad and couldn't be worse". Try telling that to the hundreds of millions that barely have enough to eat every day of their lives.

Yes, so very true Paul. Whatever befalls the U.S. economy will not come close to the dismal conditions under which the subjects of the Soviet Block lived - just to give one example.

I have heard it said by historians that a person's historical perspective begins the day they are born. Many people lack the intellectual curiosity to read up on history; therefore, their historical perspective is only a few decades long. Not only do many Jehovah's Witnesses suffer from this lack of perspective, but they have a form of "selective amnesia" when it comes to the countless predictions of the Watchtower regarding "then end" of this system.

I believe that the U.S. goes through certain cycles that repeat themselves. I believe that the current conditions are quite similar to the early to mid-1970s. There was a costly and unpopular war, an incredibly unpopular President (Ford), and worsening economic conditions (high inflation, 9% unemployment, and an energy crunch). At this time, JWs saw around them the "undeniable evidence" that 1975 was going to bring Armageddon.

A large number of JWs were not even in the organization back then. Those that were are now repeating the same hysterical "end is near" mantras as they were back during WWII and during the 1970s. Some people refuse to learn from history.

33

More cryptic messages from the writing department!!

by 1914BS in

this quote from the sept?

wt was posted in a earlier thread by member passwordprotected .

when faced with trials or apostate ideas or when carrying out challenging assignments, god's loyal ones can be confident of jehovah's guidance and support.. .

Jeremy C

Yes, the Watchtower writing department is certainly sending subliminal messages within it's articles. How could I as well as everyone else have missed this obvious scheme? Here's something else that everyone may have missed:

If you take all of the items and prices listed on a drive-through menu; cut out certain words and rearrange others - you will get the Periodic Table of the Elements.

If you take the writings of Paul in Romans; and cut out various words - you will discover that he was subliminally admonishing the worship of Satan.

If you take the "1914BS" alias, and subtract the "1914" - you are left with the synopsis of this thread: BS

13

WBTS foresees end of economic system (with help from finance experts)

by easyreader1970 in

jw
friends

did your wife pick that article out for you?

Jeremy C

It's strange and perhaps amusing how selective JWs are when they dig up these old dusty articles. I've noticed that they never dig up old articles which emphatically pointed to 1975 - using world events as the "undeniable evidence" that the end was near. What about the "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" campaign? What about the talk J.F. Rutherford gave during WWII; stating that single people should not get married because of the end being "oh so close" ?

Me thinks the JWs have a case of selective amnesia.

41

CONFIRMED - POs no longer POs

by stillajwexelder in

jw
friends

november km announcement - confirmed.

pos are now "coordinators of the body of elders"

Jeremy C

The Watchtower certainly loves to play semantical word-play. This name change is a distinction without a difference. I am wondering when the Governing Body will rename themselves the Coordinating Body. Jesus could be referred to as the coordinator of the Christian Congregation, and Jehovah could be re-sold as the "Great Coordinator". All Jehovah's Witnesses would thus subject themselves to the "coordination arrangement".

Here is the next Watchtower study article: "Beware of this uncoordinated system of things with Satan the Devil; the Great Anti-Coordinator".