Posts by MrMonroe

18

What is the best book about JWs (written by non JWs, of course), in your opinion?

by Chemical Emotions in

i've never read any, so i'd like to know everyone's opinion..

MrMonroe

"Counting the Days To Armageddon" by Robert Crompton is an excellent piece of scholarship that trawls over HOW they came to the dates and chronoogical systems they did .... and why they were later changed. It taught me (like most of these books did!) much more abut the religion and its teachings thn any WTS publication. Crompton's book is a real eye-opener. It's very thorough and dissects the origin of the teachiungs all JWs just take for granted.

Also check out "Crisis of Allegiance" by James A. Beverley. He is a non-JW and the subject of the book is the ructions that took place in Canada surrounding the expulsion from the religion of James Penton. He highlights what a nasty, conniving bunch of a-holes the WTS leadership and middle management is and the lengths they went to in order to achieve their goal of getting rid of someone who dared to question their teachings.

For anyone interested in the early organisational and doctrinal development, "A People For His Name" by Tony Wills is also excellent. It again is very well researched and very thorough.

"The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses" by Heather & Gary Botting is a fun read that hammers the point of the similarities between the WT organisation and Big Brother in its information control and dictatorial methods.

Beckford's book is very good though a little dry in parts, Holden's is excellent as well -- both of them analyse the thinking and behavior of Witensses as a group and why they act that way, and they provide many lightbulb moments as you realise they're describing your own behavior of the past.

Those books should all be required reading for JWs so they can gain a better view of the life they have chosen to lead. Unfortunately because many of them contain information that's critical of the religion, JWs will never read them, because they've been trained not to read critical material. I'd love to ask a JW how many people they meet at the doors where people won't change their religion because they never fully analayse it. (JWs would always say, "Yeah, people are born into their religion and never examine it. They're so close-minded.") And then ask them if they've ever read books by outside sources that examine their religion. Ask them if they're allowed to read such a book. And what they have to fear. And what it says about their religious leaders who forbid them from reading books that criticise their religion.

63

Did you have any Elders CO's/DO's that were "Hung up" on certain things????

by karter in

jw
friends

we had an elder that was hung up on mens haircuts he had a real thing about how short mens hair should be and even told one bro off for parting his hair down the middle.. even told one bro to shave off his sideburns.. a c.o who was paronoid about sound always telling the bro in charge off.. .

a d.o who orded the attendants to remove crying babys from assemblys on more than a few occations...hans hubler for those that know him..

MrMonroe

Reading through these comments, it makes you realise how many small-minded, narrow-minded nobodies are elevated to position of power and authority within this organisation and given the freedom to boom out their inane thoughts over PA systems to simpering, sycophantic audiences.

I've been in congregations where window cleaners with huge inferiority complexes became elders and suddenly began lording it over people, relishing the opportunity for the first time in their life to be able to tell people what to do. A congregation secretary used to make me bring the monthly accounts to him when I was accounts servant and sit there silently while he added it all up himself on his calculator before dismissing me.

When another dickhead elder out on the territory concluded we'd finished a block on the map, he wouldn't tell us which block we were moving to next so we could make our own way there and be less conspicuous. He just said, "Follow me!" and began striding off. I said to him, 'Keith, can you just tell me where it is?" and he glared at me and said, "Follow me!" He loved the idea of 15 people following him down the street.

34

Why do Jehovahs Witnesses preach from house to house?

by mankkeli in

jw
friends

this explanation is extracted from the reasoning book, page 205. .

jesus foretold for our day this work: this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.

he also instructed his followers: go .

MrMonroe

1. To buy salvation with good works.

2. To make JWs feel unworthy, and uncertain about their salvation at Armageddon, because they all feel they're never doing enough.

3. By forcing Witnesses to go and tell other people about the religion's beliefs, it forces them to believe it themselves.

4. It's a means of discerning which among them is "spiritual" and obedient to the organisation.

5. To save their own backsides by "showing love" and "warning the world" of impending destruction.

6. To demonstrate to their brethren how righteous and self-sacrificing they are.

Few Witnesses actually care about the people they witness to. They do it because they have to, and do only as much as they need to in order to put an acceptable figure on their monthly report.

43

Australia Newspaper alerts: JWs likens "defectors to 'contagious deadly disease'

by Gayle in

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/jehovas-witnesses-defectors-cop-a-blast/story-fn7x8me2-1226155212128.

MrMonroe

Pig, problem is they're not showing the comments. Email a letter instead. They may publish it, which will keep the issue alive.

63

Did you have any Elders CO's/DO's that were "Hung up" on certain things????

by karter in

jw
friends

we had an elder that was hung up on mens haircuts he had a real thing about how short mens hair should be and even told one bro off for parting his hair down the middle.. even told one bro to shave off his sideburns.. a c.o who was paronoid about sound always telling the bro in charge off.. .

a d.o who orded the attendants to remove crying babys from assemblys on more than a few occations...hans hubler for those that know him..

MrMonroe

1. When I was studying the elder visiting me used to go on and on about how God was going to use antimatter to clean up the world after Armageddon.

2. There was an old dude in one congregation who, when giving the Godly View of Sex and Marriage talk, said it was a good idea not to have chocolates or spices, or worcestershire sauce, before bed. "It will irritate the body openings and you will want to comfort yourself." He said brothers should sleep with their arms and hands out of the blankets so they didn't comfort themselves.

3.Elders in one congregation became obsessed about guys' haircuts in the 1990s that had what they called the "DH" look. DH stood for dickhead: it was that style of the time when the hair would be thick on top, but kind of short and shaved halfway down. It was supposedly a gay thing, meant to mimic the look of an erect penis. The elders would look for any guy who had a "definite line" in their hair, so they couldn't do magazines or microphones. "Sorry brother, that's what we call a DH haircut. You'll have to go back and get it trimmed. Get rid of the definite line."

4. In congregations in the South Island of New Zealand a circuit overseer introduced the idea of The Stone. (Maybe Sizemik can correct me here. It may have been a District Overseer). Each group doing territory would pick up a small stone and the pair of JWs seeting off at the head of the pack would leave it on the letterbox of the home as they went inside. The theory was that the pair following them would see the stone, realise someone was at that house (though they'd probably see them at the front door anyway!), pick up the stone and leave it on the next letterbox when they went down the driveway. The idea was that it avoided accidentally calling on a house minutes after someone else had done it, and if in the unlikely event that a couple would get invited inside, the others would keep moving to the next door. (Though it was far preferable that if we lost a couple because they'd been invited inside, we'd just stand around on the footpath talking until they reappeared. It was a great way to use up your time!)

The problem was, sometimes you'd miss the stone and go halfway up the street, then realise it and have to backtrack. Idiot Witnesses would be peering into people's letterboxes or newspaper delivery tube to see if they could find it. And other idiots, as they left a house, would stop at the letterbox and start rummaging around and trying to work out if the stone was still there. Householders woud stand there and watch the JWs fiddling round with their letterbox and wonder if they were trying to pinch their mail.

JWs being the institutionalised idiots they were, they insisted you HAD to have the stone when you were witnessing, even when it was obvious where people were. In their minds, the CO had once suggested it as an idea, particularly when you were doing rural territory where there were long, long driveways, but because the CO had suggested it, it was a rule.

But my wife and I hated the stone. We thought it was a dumb idea. So we'd just ignore it and go on to the next house. You'd work out who the front pair were, then overtake them and do the next house. And next thing you'd have these idiot JWs coming up behind you bellowing, "Where's the STONE? What have you done with the STONE? We're using the STONE today, brother!" And they'd get grumpy and go back down the street looking in all the letterboxes for the goddamn stone.

What a bunch of fruitcakes.

43

Australia Newspaper alerts: JWs likens "defectors to 'contagious deadly disease'

by Gayle in

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/jehovas-witnesses-defectors-cop-a-blast/story-fn7x8me2-1226155212128.

MrMonroe

Still no comments on Herald Sun website and the story can only be found by Google news search; it doesn't even appear on the Herald Sun website search button.

But you can always email letters to them. [email protected]

Keep it short.

43

Australia Newspaper alerts: JWs likens "defectors to 'contagious deadly disease'

by Gayle in

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/jehovas-witnesses-defectors-cop-a-blast/story-fn7x8me2-1226155212128.

MrMonroe

Mum said that not everyone that leaves the organisation is an apostate... only those that speak negatively of the organisation.

Light bulb, she's right ... to a point. If I left and never criticised the WTS, but began celebrating birthdays or attending another church, I'd be an apostate. If I leave, I leave because I disagree with them. But the only way I can avoid being branded an apostate is to never ever say anything critical about the organisation. It's a form of blackmail to ensure people never say anything critical of the religion once they leave.

If I'm true to myself, why should I never be allowed to discuss with friends, workmates ... or other JWs ... the reasons why I left and the reasons why I disagree with them?

17

I Just Knew This Was the Truth as Soon as I Heard It !

by bigmouth in

i can't count the number of witnesses i've heard, or experiences i've read, who say this.. this is the basis on which they decide to join a high control religion ?.

do you make important decisions based on gut feeling or intuition or do you spend time researching a matter first ?

i've made some dumb decisions based on emotion and had to repent at my leisure.. actually, i was thinking about the mother with a missing child who just knows she's alive somewhere and is coming home.

MrMonroe

It's a religion that places a huge amount on emphasis on rational belief. They like to take mysticism out of it as much as possible (except where it comes in handy, like explaining how God uses the FDS to provide new light....).

I confess I found many of their teachings appealing because they made sense: why God wouldn't create humans with the intention that they'd die, why an intelligent creator suggests an intelligent purpose ...

Other teachings I just learned to swallow because they were part of the package: that God has an organisation, that only 144,000 go to heaven, that a complex set of hidden clues pointed to 1914 being a pivotal year in human history etc etc. And blood and birthdays were part of that as well.

The problem is their teaching methods, restricting information to a very narrow, predetermined course, with pre-provided answers to the questions they ask, is a very clever, and very insidious method of teaching. Indoctrination, really. You have to ACCEPT certain points before you can move on to the next step. It simply forces people to accept the whole range of teachings without room for alternative views. And that's where the mind control starts.

43

Australia Newspaper alerts: JWs likens "defectors to 'contagious deadly disease'

by Gayle in

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/jehovas-witnesses-defectors-cop-a-blast/story-fn7x8me2-1226155212128.

MrMonroe

Unlike some other papers, the Herald Sun removes stories quickly from their website, though the links remain active for years. If you visit their website, you'll find the latest story only by searching for it in the little box at the top. For that reason they don't bother adding reader comments on most stories .... anything to do with footy or crime will get tons of messages, and they'll display them all, but other stories will have none.

Still, it's Australia's biggest selling newspaper, so people will have seen it in print even though it's pretty well vanished from their website. And the JW grapevine being what it is, the Dubs themselves will soon be aware of it.

41

You All Need To Read This New Letter Sent To All Conregations In Victoria Australia About Police Checks For Elders

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

police minister peter ryan has written a letter to mr unthank advising that jw's are now applying, in mass, for the wwc in victoria.

to little to late.

criminal charges still stand and cannot be backdated!

MrMonroe

I have made some inquiries with the Victorian government over any developments over the Working With Children Checks.

Its response includes the following statement:

The Department of Justice has been in regular contact with the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to ensure it is aware of its obligations under the Act. As a result, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has now advised that they will now require all Jehovah's Witness elders to apply for a WWC Check.