Posts by straightshooter

37

Smoking tobacco- ex-JW's have a warped view, so what should we do?

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

i used to smoke cigarettes.

i quit as i was learning the lies of the watchtower organization.. i used to smoke between 1 and 3 packs a day depending on whether i went drinking or not.. .

i didn't really quit for the religion, but as i was learning it.. i swore to quit when cigarettes got to cost me more than a buck a pack.

straightshooter

I think that tobacco is too entrenched in society to be totally banned. Many governments already ban smoking in public places and they heavily tax tobacco. I don't think this will change, tobacco brings "needed" money into the government coffers. Right or wrong the government has to tax something to keep it going. They tax gas, property, wages, etc.

Some are talking about marijuana becoming legal and bringing tax revenue in from it. But I think that alcohol will be the next big "demon" that the governments will tax more and more.

22

Is human death permanent?

by The Berean in

jw
friends

the age old question ... is this all there is?.

straightshooter

Harry Houdini told his wife that if there was life after death, then he would communicate this to his wife after he died. She never received communication of such.

The idea of life after death does make us feel good though.

54

Is The WTS Getting Desperate for Males? KM Aug 2009

by Hopscotch in

just thought this article was interesting in view of what has been said in the last couple of years on the forum about the declining number of elders and servants and those reaching out.

add to that the large percentage of young teenage boys who leave 'the truth'.

i can't ever remember this much space in a km being devoted to converting men.. para 2 states: "when a family head accepts the truth, he often influences others in the family to join him in pure worship".

straightshooter

Last week one of my friends told me that he was asked to switch congregations because that congregation needs brothers reaching out. But that congregation has 128 publishers and several brothers. That congregation within the last 10 years removed 6 elders. According to other brothers the removals were because of power struggles within that elder body. So that congregation is now recruiting from other congregations. And this brother is not even a ministerial servant or elder that they asked.

Therefore this problem apparently is world-wide if it is in the KM. Maybe the WTBS needs to be more careful before removing the brothers they already have so quickly.

47

The desperation of JWs hoping the end comes "soon"

by sir82 in

jw
friends

i'm starting to sense a certain desperation among jws, that they feel that the great tribulation must start soon.

i think this is due, in many cases, to their own personal situation, financial or otherwise.. if the gt doesn't come soon, and these guys really start to suffer - what then?

the watchtower's promises that "jehovah would not forsake them if they put kingdom interests first" by skipping or dropping out of college, turning down promotions, "simplifying" their lives by selling their homes and moving to the hinterlands...will all prove to be meaningless.. if the gt doesn't come soon, and "jehovah" doesn't bail them out...then what?.

straightshooter

Brother Rutherford said that "Millions Now Living Will Never Die." Half or more of the Governing Body never was around in 1935 when Jehovah was to cut off the selecting of the 144,000.

When one thinks about it, the time for the time of the end is running out. I think you are right that one can say the end is right around the corner only so long, then disappointment from reality sets in.

17

SHOULD JWS PLAY FOOTBALL?

by badboy in

jw
friends

i understand that it originated as an aztec war game,therefore should jws play football?.

straightshooter

Blondie that was a definite revelation to me. I have never heard any jw condemning the college bowl games or especially the superbowl football game. The superbowl was always a jw party time / get together.

This is a perfect example of "guidance" from the faithful and discreet slave that the majority of the flock has never read or know about.

58

The Social Structure in the Congregation

by Mary in

jw
friends

ever notice how the "happiest people on earth" are also the most class-oriented?

to say that jesus said his followers should all be on equal footing, it's incredible how much the r&f witness is not on equal footing.

the social structure in the congregation is more complex than the blueprints of a nuclear warhead, but just so that you "remember your place", see if you can find where your niche was/is:

straightshooter

Mary your outline of the social structure within the congregation is so true. When I got baptized, I ass kissed to become a ministerial servant then I ass kissed to become an elder. When I did not ass kiss the circuit overseer, then the bottom dropped out and sank towards the bottom of the status level.

59

The Last Warning

by cameo-d in

did i read somewhere that wt is putting out "the last warning"?.

was it assembly topic or something?.

does this mean they will shut up now?.

straightshooter

A CO stated that the end is right on the edge of the podium and we are inches away.

But in the 70's I remember a wonderful couple I deeply loved. They were up in age and had ill health. Sadly the wife became bedridden and everyone would tell her to just hang on because the end is so close. She died a few months later and her husband died a year later. Neither got to live to see the end that was sooo near.

18

Everyone lies!

by asilentone in

jw
friends

is that a fact of life?.

straightshooter

This is just what the WTBS says about the internet. Everyone on the internet lie and can't be trusted. The only one that doesn't tell a lie is Jehovah and He doesn't use the internet. Oh my I forgot that even the WTBS has a site on the internet. I wonder what conclusion that means?

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