Posts by JW

6

Seeing Cognitive Dissonance First Hand And The Stress It Causes

by JW_Rogue in

okay, so a little update on my situation.

me and my wife have spoken more about what i've been thinking lately.

although, i didn't go as far as to say that i no longer believe.

JW_Rogue

Okay, so a little update on my situation. Me and my wife have spoken more about what I've been thinking lately. Although, I didn't go as far as to say that I no longer believe. I simply said that I've been discouraged lately by changes I've seen in the organization. I also said that sometimes I think that this is just another religion like all the rest. She agreed that sometimes she feels that way as well. When I asked why she said because of the behavior of some in the Congregation that she feels are hypocrites. I agreed with her about that although that is not my main problem. She wanted me to go further and explain what had discouraged me but I told her that I wouldn't want bring her down. My real thinking is that at this point she isn't ready for the things I would bring out and it would just lead to a fight. So we left it at that.

A couple of days later we're watching a Nova documentary on the Geological history of North America. So the first episode details how the Earth came to have land masses appear out of vast oceans. My wife is really loving all of this because so far it coincides pretty well with the Biblical account. Although if you read it carefully there are already problems with the timeline in Genesis. So that is pretty much the first episode. By the end of it she was pretty excited to see the rest of the series. Episode two follows and guess what it's all about how and why Dinosaurs appeared in North America. Episode three is about the first humans to appear on the continent 10,000 years ago. Now normally my wife would just turn it over at this point but this time she wanted to watch all of it. She kept trying to make it fit in with the Biblical account. She kept coming up with different theories that she wanted me to validate, which I did not. The end of the series was about how mankind has changed the landscape by using natural resources like coal, oil, and gold. This reinforced her belief that mankind is "ruining the Earth" as part of Bible prophecy. Still I hope something got through and caused some doubts.

77

Rumor: Discouraging news from GB at upcoming CA?

by bohm in

jw
friends

this is on the reddit frontpage and sounds super weird.

can it be confirmed in any way by anyone here?.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/4u72dk/what_kind_of_announcement_could_cause_jws_to/.

JW_Rogue

A comment was made that 'The Message' would soon be changing. I asked 'like that the ark door will soon be closing?'. Answer, 'Yes'

If that is the actual announcement then I would believe they are purposely trying to get rid of members to sell off more KHs.

77

Rumor: Discouraging news from GB at upcoming CA?

by bohm in

jw
friends

this is on the reddit frontpage and sounds super weird.

can it be confirmed in any way by anyone here?.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/4u72dk/what_kind_of_announcement_could_cause_jws_to/.

JW_Rogue

Some ideas on the new announcement:

-Midweek Meeting will be changed again, they learned that it was lame and boring LOL

-GB will no longer appear on JW Broadcasting, now they can blame any nonsense they spout on their underlings

-Private Bible Studies replaced with small classes run by select Elders, publishers just invite ones to the class

-New designation for publishers who agree to participate at least 10 hours a month

19

A Question

by FedUpJW in

i would appreciate knowing from someone in the know if the goofy carts and rain covers are given to the congregation by the org.

or if the congregation has to pay the org for them.

i am sure i read that somewhere here in my lurking days, but am not finding it at present.. if the congregation is billed for it i intend to use that as a reason for my continued refusal to donate anything from now on.. thanks in advance..

JW_Rogue

Requesting public witnessing equipment: The Congregation Service Committee will determine the equipment to be requested and where it will be stored. Public witnessing equipment can be requested in the same way publications are requested. We are pleased to provide a document entitled Public Witnessing Supplies (S-80) that contains sample pictures and descriptions of standard carts, stands, tables, and kiosks. The equipment will remain the property of the congregation. Care should be taken to request only equipment that will be put to good use by publishers who have been trained in its use. The congregation may be informed that the cost of these carts will be covered by their contributions to the worldwide work.

When the carts were first being rolled out a Bro. had told me that there was a back log of congs requesting the carts and each cong would have to get approved before getting a cart. According to this Bro. a donation of $90 was required for each cart received. In addition, new signs are printed for each special campaign. Some congs even print new signs for each WT and Awake. So money is flowing from the cart business. The carts are shipped in boxes and put together Ikea style.

9

The Watchtower Society's Purpose

by compound complex in

"the sole purpose of our existence as a society is to announce the kingdom established in 1914 and to sound the warning of the fall of babylon the great [in 1918].

we have a special message to deliver.

"--- fred franz's words to bethel family, november 17, 1979..

JW_Rogue

"The sole purpose of our existence as a Society is to announce the Kingdom established in 1914 and to sound the warning of the fall of Babylon the Great [in 1918]. We have a SPECIAL message to deliver."

That about sums it up. What makes them unique has always been contrived doctrines taken from vague bible prophecies.

60

Are they either leaving or going full on 'cult mode'? No quarter.

by punkofnice in

it might just be me imagining things.. i hear things from my jw spies.. from all that's being said, it seems to me that the rank and file(tm), are either waking up to the scam and fading/leaving.

they are going full on 'cult mode' and acting like 'spiritual police'.. is it just me and my imagination?

have others noticed this?.

JW_Rogue

Yes, they are getting more persistent in the calls for loyalty and making the org your one and only priority in life. You just have to look at some of the videos lately to see that they want everyone thinking about how they could pioneer or do more in some other way. They are especially going after young people to try to discourage them from getting a well paying career. There are still people "in the middle ground" but more and more they are looked down upon by those with titles or in the popular groups.

22

Song 146 - You did it for me

by Listener in

the watchtower 1970 4/1 emphasis the principle that singing at the kingdom hall is part of worship to god and is one of the most beautiful ways they can show this worship to him.. of all the ways in which we can worship and praise jehovah god—by prayer, by public talks, by our field ministry and by our exemplary conduct—one of the most beautiful of them is this literal singing of songs to jehovah’s praise....and, above all, let us pay more than usual attention to the words.

it is by the words that we worship jehovah god, bringing praise to him.

as an introduction to song 146, jw org states -jesus considers any act of love and support for his anointed brothers as though it were done for him.

JW_Rogue

LOL These guys in heaven with Jesus? Face it, JWs never cared much about Jesus, they prefer the old testament Jehovah. Now the GB wants to insidiously replace Jesus with themselves, the only problem is they have nothing in common with Jesus at all.

27

Demonizing the Watchtower

by IslandWoman in

jw
friends

our 'beloved' old faith tried to teach us to hate other religions and all things that smacked of anything that was worldly.

they demonized all things outside of their religion.. are some of us in danger of carrying that same thinking over to our new lives as former jws?

could some here at first start out as an anti-cultist but in time allow this to become a 'religion' in itself?.

JW_Rogue

Yes, some were DF, some have lost children to the blood issue, some are shunned by family and friends and they are also unable to see their grandchildren and have been prevented from attending the wedding of their own son or daughter. Yet, they move on. The Watchtower is no longer a god but neither is it a satan. For them, it is simply nothing.

If something has affected your life that greatly then it will be very difficult to move on, especially when you know it is still affecting other people in the same ways. Would it be right to "move on" when you know others will be hurt as well? Whether or not the organization has bad intentions isn't really important. They are damaging people's well being, some have been damaged more than others.

It is also true that many of the things JWs are criticized for are being done by other religions. The difference is that JWs set themselves up as the one "true" religion. They put down other religions but do the exact same things in a secretive way. So I see nothing wrong with them being called out even over seemingly small matters.

36

But where else should we go? Can you answer this question?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

having watched many jc youtube videos one question that gets asked is "where else would you go?".

in other words if not jehovah's witnesses then what other religion or organisation would you go to?.

it's one that i have trouble answering, what would you say?.

JW_Rogue

In other words if not Jehovah's witnesses then what other religion or organisation would you go to?

I would say that I have a personal relationship with God and so it wouldn't matter where I go (even though I don't really believe that anymore). I would quote the scripture where Jesus said that we are to worship in spirit and truth and it didn't matter what physical place we were at. You could also quote the scripture where it says that whenever two or more are gathered in Jesus name then the spirit would be there also. Jesus never said anything about an organized religion at all.

15

For those that carry on as JWs secretly not believing.....

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

my heart goes out for all people stuck in all high control groups, either with insight into the falsehood of their beliefs or none.. to remain a member whilst knowing it false however, must be soul destroying.. my question is, would you carry on living the lie if you discovered that we get one life, one go at existing.

it's short, it's fragile and nobody in 100 years will care we even existed..... .......if you came to that realisation would you quit?.

.......if you had children, would you leave in order to set them an example in strength and appreciation of the short time we enjoy?.

JW_Rogue

It is tough to bite your tongue with some of the ridiculous comments made by believing JWs. Even in casual conversations JWs will relate almost anything back to JW doctrines. It is tiresome but they are my family and friends. I realize that for them it will appear like I changed suddenly if start disagreeing with everything JW related. So sometimes I just try to give a slightly different viewpoint or point out something humorous. Over time I will reveal more but without dropping the apostate bomb on them. Soon they will get used to this as the new normal, hopefully. LOL

JW_Rogue

Posts by JW_Rogue