Posts by Mad Sweeney

29

Faders, How Often Do You/Did you Want to Pull the Pin on that Grenade?

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

many here have stopped going to the kh and many have just reduced activity to some degree.

while today is not that day for me, i have had the "screw it all" attitude every now and again and was ready to tell the wt off, call the p.o.

or whoever, call my mother and tell her all about the "god-damned cult" she's in and why it's just wrong.

Mad Sweeney

What stops me from going full-out right now is the potential I see in other family members. I feel like I've made significant progress with two of them and want them to be in full fade mode before I go DA.

Interestingly, fading without any visible source of disgruntlement is proving to be VERY difficult. I have another family member who was "stumbled" into their dropping meetings and service and others seem to understand that and give very little hassle. I, on the other hand, have been dodging calls trying to arrange shepherding for the last couple weeks. I guess once they know what's wrong, they leave you alone? But if they're puzzled about your behavior they interrogate until they find out? I don't know.

I do feel it would be (will be) a lot easier once I just drop the bomb and am fully out...but not yet.

26

New generation definition....has the Society "jumped the shark"?

by sir82 in

jw
friends

for those who need a refresher, here is the latest redefinition of "generation" from the 4/15/2010 wt:.

understand jesus words about this generation?.

he evidently meant that the lives of the anointed.

Mad Sweeney

I don't think hoping the WTS will go away is realistic. But there are realistic goals to consider and hope for. I don't think the growth of JWs is keeping up with population growth rates, is it? There's step one. As a percentage, JWs are shrinking in the world (if that's not the case now, at least it's something to look forward to). Step two, the JW growth in absolute numbers is bound to level off, with leaving members matching or even outpacing new members.

Once we get to that point (where is that, 10 million maybe?), I think truth, real truth, has won. You'll always have some people willing and eager to believe a lie, but if we can get to where the number of people being exploited by this org has leveled off or is shrinking, that's victory. Expecting them to go away completely just isn't realistic.

8

What do you think of the GB's new tactics?

by lepermessiah in

jw
friends

here is what i am getting at with that subject title:.

this sunday's wt study article really hit home for me what many have been talking about on the forum.. when i was growing up, there was a big deal made about the identity of each gb member - people would wax poetically about working with them at bethel, meeting them at a convention, etc.it wasn't unusual for them to be frequently named in articles, pictured in books, and somewhat glorified.. the president of the wtbs was practically on par with christ - he was viewed as practically a deity.. i had friends who could not only name the 12 apostles, but could rattle off the names of the gb members!

now, it seems like the tactic has changed, starting with the reduction of the presidents' role of a few years ago - place massive emphasis on the gb itself as a unit, but keep the profile of the members lower.

Mad Sweeney

I agree, sd-7, but it's so hard to do from outside and it's even harder to do from within.

Exposure of these clowns isn't really possible unless and until the rank and file are willing to ignore the rules on shunning former members.

49

A Demon Experience?......This was/is very serious to me.

by awildflower in

jw
friends

so when we moved here from maine to okc, six years ago this coming april, my daughter was 7. the military moved us so it brings a big moving truck to your house and unloads all of your stuff etc.

we had been settling in for a few months and my daughter starting telling me that she was hearing things in her room.

small things at first, just enough to prick up her ears.

Mad Sweeney

I don't think they're "immortal spirit beings." I'm more in line with the "bad energy" concept (though I'm far from certain of anything right now). Then again, it could have been something as simple as her sleeping posture changed with that new mattress, causing her to dream differently. I don't know why I'm posting here anyway; I don't know a thing, apparently.

37

Were You Afraid To Talk Out Loud For Fear The Demons Might Hear You?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know of many witnesses that were petrified that if they spoke about something out loud, the demons.

i swear jws think the demons.

Mad Sweeney

I used to be. Now I am kind of in a state of uncertainty. Not that there are deemunz that hear me talk, but over whether there are paranormal beings at all. I've never seen anything personally but people I know, love, and trust claim to have had demon experiences. I don't know what caused the experiences to happen but I know these people aren't lying.

41

JWS is a fraud...

by vilot in

jw
friends

wes and april started an exjw discussion board thinking simon would end this board...it attracted many new members and grew into a bit hit in the exjw world...but a funny thing happened they started to ask for funds to keep the site up and asked for donations they poured in and yet it was not enough they keep ask and the funds keep pouring in...month after month and yet it was never enough...then it dawned on the members they were just pocketing the money and holding the members hostage..."send money or the site will go down"...they kept sending and they kept pocketing the money.... .

avoid these people like the plage they will just rip you off and pocket the money....

Mad Sweeney

I don't know the site but I know that there are free hosts out there. I participate in a couple boards at freeforums. They don't always offer the features of paid boards, but I would say that if April and Wes are paying $60 a month for hosting then THEY are the ones getting ripped off.

26

Jehovah's Witnesses - The Religion of "Increased Light"

by AllTimeJeff in

in the april 15 2010 watchtower, this quote stuck out to me like a sore thumb.. "this magazine has .

long been used by "the faithful and discreet slave" .

as the primary channel for dispensing increased .

Mad Sweeney

Paul: "They've been consistent from the beginning regarding the core issues, right?"

No. The paradise earth was a later add-on. The great crowd used to be (correctly, IMO) in heaven. It used to be ok to pray to Jesus and/or Jehovah, not Jehovah exclusively. They used to not deny the cross.

Paul: "I had heard that the name was only inserted where there was a quote from the Hebrew scriptures and the Hebrew text had the name. Is that wrong?"

Yes, it is wrong. It was added where there are quotes from Hebrew scriptures PLUS numerous other places. There may also be Hebrew scripture quotes where they did NOT add it in, but I'm not sure about that. They imply that they only insert it where there is an Old Testament tetragrammaton quote but that simply is not true.

8

Mediator Bomb Against the WTS?

by metatron in

jw
friends

for you strict bible believers: i would point out that you now have the framework of a spiritual weapon that could bring down the watchtower.

specifically, if you could focus broadbased attention on the issue of jesus as mediator for all men, this could be devastating.. it would serve to separate out the few remaining witnesses whose faith is actually based on a personal knowledge of the bible.

while this knowledge is distorted, nevertheless, this core of believers may be critical to watchtower survival.

Mad Sweeney

I have been told that this blog:

http://www.nailedwithchrist.blogspot.com/

is written by one of the DFd British Bethelites. But I don't know anything more than that.

17

Help - my husband wants to buy scratch off tickets!

by doublelife in

jw
friends

but, i don't see that as a bad thing.

he asked me over lunch if i think it's wrong and i told him no.

we discussed why the society says it's wrong and i told him why i don't agree with it and he agreed.

Mad Sweeney

In most states in the USA the money from lottery proceeds go to schools. Education is EVIL to the borg.

8

Mediator Bomb Against the WTS?

by metatron in

jw
friends

for you strict bible believers: i would point out that you now have the framework of a spiritual weapon that could bring down the watchtower.

specifically, if you could focus broadbased attention on the issue of jesus as mediator for all men, this could be devastating.. it would serve to separate out the few remaining witnesses whose faith is actually based on a personal knowledge of the bible.

while this knowledge is distorted, nevertheless, this core of believers may be critical to watchtower survival.

Mad Sweeney

They've been DFing those who believe in Jesus for decades and nobody's said "boo" yet. I don't think your average householder approaches it in the right way to get a JW thinking. They almost always say, "You don't believe in Jesus." What they should say to the JW at their door is, "You JWs believe that Jesus Christ is mediator for only around 10,000 people living on earth today, 144K in all history, but the Bible says Jesus died for ALL mankind, and we all pray through Jesus Christ. So what scriptural support do you have for not believing Jesus is your personal mediator?"

Or something like that...