howdy,.
do you think the society has a planned campaign where they will state that armageddon will be upon us within the next 10 years and actually state that armageddon will definitely hit by 2020?
we all know that they have been drumming into us that "the end is just around the corner", but can you see them pulling another 1975 stunt in order to bring in additional members?.
no, they have repostioned themselves quite nice from being an end of the world cult.
witnesses pride themselves more on being separate from the wicked world, although
most activities that were frowned on in my teenage years are pretty much accepted now.
most witnesses have many non-witness friends and a large percentage go on to college
to pursue a career. college is basically a necessity today. No, the end of the world
will continue to be part of their litany, but not the focal point.
how many of you have been to the beach with one of the anointed and the son of one of the anointed (different annointed)?.
i worked by knorr's wife at Watchtower Farm. she was a nice lady. she collected odd names. i worked on one of the graphotype machines in subscriptions so i would let her know whenever I found one. Favorites were Pearl Ring, Fernando Foo and others.
how many of you have been to the beach with one of the anointed and the son of one of the anointed (different annointed)?.
How many of you have been to the beach with one of the anointed and the son of one of the anointed (different annointed)?
randy/dogpatch has posted some interesting material about troubles in the organization.
this info generated a lot of skepticism about the possibility of watchtower fragmentation.
frankly, it is very easy to be skeptical considering everything that ordinary witnesses are willing to believe or put up with.. i think it would be useful to realistically consider what sort of event(s) would bring the watchtower down or cause its fragmentation?
they've got lots of money. they have a message that many people crave to hear.
i don't see them disappearing in our lifetime.
they claim they are 7 million and growing.
is this true?
i haven't been to a meeting in 12 years but i know of at least 100 people i grew up with that have left the congregation.
i also think they are probably accurate according to their new counting procedures. they report peak publishers not average publishers now. if they do that for every country that would add around 10% to the old totals which was average publishers.
my mom says they are bursting at the seems at their kingdom hall. 4 congregations inhabit 2 halls. one of the congregations is a fast growing Spanish congregation.
the watchtower org is alive and strong and will be well after our lifetimes have past.
jw's can be rotten, but what about the "brutally honest" jw strangers at assemblies?
i have had some issues with the general meaness jw's are to people that they do not even know, and are jw's.. example 1: i was maybe 13 years old and i was a fast developer, i had big boobs basically.
well a dress i had was really nice...my parents would not have let me wear something that was not apprepriate for me, but i guess the dress was low (i didn't think so) and when i was in the bathroom at the assembly at the mirror, a woman just came up to me and was like "you are showing all the assets you have to offer" or something to that effect.
some of the meanest things ever said to me was when i was at Bethel.
but there were plenty of other times too.
but we're all imperfect.
the excuse that covers all behavior and allows it to continue.
what was it like to live in the 1950's 1960's and early 70's as a jehovah witness.when they started to push the 1975 date..
I was at the Sunutko talks about 75. In 1968 I was 10. I remember counting up how old I would be when the persecution started and hoped that at 17 I would be able to stand bamboo shoots under my fingernails and other forms of torture. So the picture of 1975 in my head was quite vivid.
As 75 approached all of my friends my age dropped out of high school. I was "marked" for not only staying in school, but liking school. There was quite a bit of pressure to pioneer from family, congregation and friends. This didn't really let up immediately after 1975 because the society quickly came out with the "time between Adam and Eve" theory that kept the pressure. on. But it made less and less sense as time went by.
I didn't start college until I moved away from home in 1981. There was no way to go in my home town.
It was an unnecessary lie. We were supposed to be serving God because we loved him not because the end was near. It really sullied the message and left me forever skeptical about "faith".
i, along with many others, received our latest freeminds email.
i was shocked at the following underlined statement.. the second thing they are emphasizing is that those who claim to be of the "anointed" (now that they have admitted the number may not be limited to 144,000) not only have no say into what goes into the watchtower magazine, and have no special knowledge or place in jehovah's organization, so don't look to them for answers.
the governing body is the faithful and discreet slave as far as the jws are to be concerned.
i don't think they are saying it is figurative. I think they are saying it is fluid. no set date when
they were all picked. no guarantee that once you are annointed, you stay annointed. this fits
an ongoing pattern of making things fluid, no more hard dates or deadlines. same with the 144000.
yes its a set number, but the people in the group are not set, allowing for number of partakers
to go up or down without question. if nothing is a set fact, much easier to defend.
enjoy life. one thing you'll find out is how kind and giving "worldly"
people can be.
i'm trying to impress upon my sister the damage this cult has inflicted on our lives.
it really affected the decisions i made.
i'm a nurse but i never really wanted to be one.
I wanted to be a Mathematics Professor or an Oceanographer.
I had scholarship offers. I was afraid to even talk to my parents about them.
My father would go into a violent rage at the mere hint of college. So.
I spent 30 years in business, mostly as a business consultant, made a good
living but really not enjoying work life very much except for the friends I made.
Now I am trying to become a successful clay artist. It will be an uphill climb,
but this time I am deciding the direction my life is taking. It is rewarding, trying
to build one's own business.
