i know many just want to shout yes to that second question, but hold on a second.. i go back and forth wondering if there is evil intent to manipulate and lie to the "flock" through the pages of watchtower and from the platform at conventions or if they really believe most of their own nonsense.. i won't load my post with endless examples (but feel free to use them) of this.
i will post just two to make my thoughts.
sometimes, i read comments about their long-term planning to get more money or lose less money and gain more members or retain more of the captives.
they are not dummies. the inner circle of the Watchtower is mostly comprised of men who need to be in positions of power
and see the Watchtower org as the easiest way to achieve this. this was so clear at bethel. there are some humble men
mixed in but they are the exception, not the rule.
last night frontline (pbs) aired a documentary called.
"the dancing boys of afghanistan".
a euphemism for a sex slave/pederastic business that.
its so much easier to honor something that doesn't exist.
i went to the sunday circuit assembly and came back all riled up with all the nonsense.. the sunday program was on ''safeguarding your spirituality''.
''it is better to remain single and not marry.
that gives you more time for studying and the preaching work.
its sad. so many people's lives changed and not for the better. i was once that young person on a circuit assembly stage
proudly stating that I was pioneering and not going to college. thankfully I got away from the pressure of my parents
and witness friends and went to college and have had a rewarding career in banking and gotten to travel the US extensively,
made innumerable friends from all walks of life and now have a wonderful life partner who I have been with for 22 years.
your destiny is in your own hands.
hi everyone...thank you for all your well wishes for my scottish hols...it was nice..warm dry weather...lovely scenery...a good rest... what i will remember the most about the holiday is that i read ray franz's book there...in fact i struggled to put it down.
it was so revealing and informative but was also written without bitterness or malice.
it stirred many emotions within me ...too many probably...anger, remorse, indignation, sorrow, heartbreak, frustration, sympathy....you name it.... a big emotional journey for me....thanks to all for the recommend i would hate to have missed it..... loz x.
the voting on doctrine explanation was the death knell for me and the witnesses.
i used to think of leaving early.
at the end i started making excuses to leave (supposedly work related) so that i could just get out of there.
i wanted a drink!.
i used to do anagrams of the yearly text.
i volunteered to give a lot of substitute talks on Thursdays, kept my mind busy
i fantasized about the cute guys in the hall
yes, you are correct, i hardly ever listened to a single word being said.
agony, terrible agony
this years yearbook covers "albainia" as i read these experiences i get to around 1920-25 and i notice that 3 or 4 healthy congregations turn into just 13-14 publishers by 1926 after "a time of trouble.
" although not mentioned this "trouble" was rutherford's "millions now living will never die" campaign with the watchtower saying armagedon was coming in 1925. most european congregations by 1926 lost whole congregations with only 3-10 "faithful " remaining {e.g poland, romania yearbook experiences} notice how the graph starts from the 1940's to avoid and cover up showing the flat lined publisher figures after 1925.....{notice also dips after 1975}.
however, check out the 2006 yearbook page 80. romania graph, and you see a flat lined publisher figure at 1926. the witnesses had to start from scratch.
nay nay, no more 1975's. they are clearly going in the other direction. with their changes in the "generation" teaching, they
are making "the time of the end" more and more symbolic and less and less literal. its near won't go away, but some religion
has been using its near since the beginning of time.
no. haven't been since 1987. skipped 1988 to go spend a few days in a beach house with a straight guy I had a crush on.
by July I was DFed. so that's wow 23 Memorials ago.
dear congo,.
i was df'ed for apostasy (brother-in-law caught me on this web site in march of 2007) and since my judicial committee in april of 2007 and subsequent divorce in october of 2007 i never looked back.
3 years later, my son (12 years old) is completely out (has only attended the memorial since leaving), and my daughter (10) is fading as best she can.
Dear East Congregaton Valdosta, GA. and San Jose Congregation Jax, FL.
I love you all. Sorry we are separated by different belief systems. I wish you all
peace, love and happiness. I miss you.
Joel
me.. wasting time believing in such silliness is like hoping one day to turn into mickey mouse.
why not accept life now, while you have it, and understand that like all others before you, you are going to die too.
you won't wake from that.
Fantasies are always better than reality whether they involve eternal life, the hope of perfect health,
riches, the perfect mate or sex partner, etc. Reality takes work that fantasy does not require.
what are their stories and backgrounds?
is it true that there are currently only eight of them?.
only 2 of the old guard left
