Posts by megaboy

55

Quality of newer membership

by Lostandfound in

on a previous post mamacita29 pointed up the low quality of new jw converts.. is the quality falling even more as the society use lower than low meeting, talks, broadcasts etc.. when i was active initially the organisation and standards seemed totally different today.

i have seen hard working intelligent elders fall by death or exhaustion.

the younger generation that came along never really grasped responsibility hence shortage of good elders, never mind the watered down to almost nothing quality of meetings.

megaboy

Wanted to say that I while I think JWdaghter's post is good I don't think it is the definite scenario to the situation. Intelligence has nothing to do with being pulled into a trap, you can just be ignorant or lack information. Being stupid comes from willfull ignorance or having no desire to learn at all, failing to apply any level of critical thinking. From what I read the old format of the org created the illusion of this, but today it seems they don't bother. And just go straight to the brainwashing tactics convincing people to come via conditional displays of love. There seems to be nothing to develop them into reasonable challenge in debate, these guys would be eaten alive by first century opponents like Celsus.

By comparison, I'd say besides the cult like destructive nature of the org, its illusion of psedou intellectual strucure that it seems to have had in the past is a bit better than most Western Christian platforms today. If they got rid of the glass wall blocking independent research (which would obviously destroy them), they would deffinitely 1up most western christianity education structures.

Going deep into ancient studies on my own, I've found that a lot of "Gate Keeper" scholars for Christianity in the west will actually blantantly lie, and use their PhD title as an excuse to trust them, from there, they can omit the need to fully site sources and will do as the org does and take sources completely out of context, and hope you are too stupid to fully read the source that they do bother to give you.

No different than the WT really, only its not constrained to the cult and anyone can go to it. The WT org is just an isolated case of a bigger issue.

14

Overcoming the influence of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Christophoros in

some things that have helped me in my journey... .

since a major part of what the watchtower society does, involves the twisting of the real meaning of the bible and specific verses... it makes sense to me, whether a person has some kind of belief in the bible or not, to go to the source of the twisting, get it's real meaning, unravel the the knots and chains, and walk free.. for me, a huge part of the unravelling process has been spending time in the gospels.. the pharisees.... i used to read the gospels, and listen to audio bibles, and every time the pharisees showed up, i would sign/groan/mockingly laugh:.

matthew 9. matthew 23 .

megaboy

For their use of demons they don't seem to really have deep info on them according to hebrew lore. They imply that they are this omnipontent force when they have to be summoned or invited to cling to humans and tend to habitat very specific areas of the earth.

Of course that doesnt mean there's not some kind of demon or spirit over this organization. All it would take is one higher up dealing with it.

28

Fading or Disassociating

by Saethydd in

hello, i'm new here.. i'm a college student who has been raised in the "truth" for my entire life.

i was baptized at 10 years old, and looking back now i know i didn't fully grasp everything involved, for one thing i don't even recall ever going to jehovah in a special prayer to dedicate myself to him, but anyway that's the past and my focus is really on the present.

i'm currently pursuing an associates degree, but i find myself desiring to pursue a bachelors in my chosen field so that i may have a somewhat more secure future.

megaboy

Maybe you could read some of the stuff your parents gave you and write up and counter everything you can, siting sources and complete proof. That way you dont have to talk to them and go through emotional loops in a conversation. They'll have the document to have a clear understanding.

A rotten tree can NEVER produce good fruit. A house that is built on a faulty foundation can not support itself.

129

Hi forum

by A Believer in

i proably shouldnt be on here but i feel like saying this.

i have been for the last couple weeks been studying religion.

i've learned the only ones who today do what the bible says to is jw.

megaboy

I will say this. That "Two powers in Heaven" book is VERY close.

Unknowingly, I actually said something similar to what the Messiah said regarding the same topic.

"You are not far from the Kingdom of God"

This is in response of the scribe deceptively spinning the words in the Greatest commandment, claiming that the God of heaven was "one". Mark 12:32-33 I think is his response where he adds in "One".

But its interesting those so called rabbis who developed the foundation of that book couldn't solidify the answer. The ancient Hebrew language pretty much gives them the answer to that mystery.

16

"Intelligent" Witnesses

by megaboy in

after reading some experiences, i have found that this organization has had quite a big change in its operations within the last decade.

back when i was talking to the ocassional witnesses at a local hotspot i remember some of them having respectable intelligence.

what i want to know though is those who have been aquainted with who they felt were more educated and independent in thinking, how they handled the rapid changes.

megaboy

Ah I assumed the biggest block for the others was that they NEED somewhere else to go. Unfortunately the best thing they can do is do personal study and gather with like minded individuals only looking to knowlegable people who have earned their personal trust.

10

New and confused

by Catareta in

jw
friends

please don't hate on me.. im a 30 something blind woman, who has been aware of the witnesses a while.

after my dad died five years ago - i questioned my own faith - christian (anglican).

tried everything - the occult, new churches etc.. 3 years ago i was suggested to have a study by a good friend who is jw.

megaboy

You ask no question in your opening post. Though that does illustrate you legitamately being confused and unsure. What are you wanting to know?

Other than that, if you read the texts you should notice that the JWs rely on logical fallcy language to convince people of things. Its written to sound reasonable when the conclusion is not truly reasonable.

16

"Intelligent" Witnesses

by megaboy in

after reading some experiences, i have found that this organization has had quite a big change in its operations within the last decade.

back when i was talking to the ocassional witnesses at a local hotspot i remember some of them having respectable intelligence.

what i want to know though is those who have been aquainted with who they felt were more educated and independent in thinking, how they handled the rapid changes.

megaboy

I got the impression that most people here were kind of just there, maybe not fully IN to it. But I guess I mean someone really invested beyond just maybe family ties and has some reasonable thinking ability. Maybe higher ranking ones?

I guess the "Huh" answered my question. Wonder how they spun that.

16

"Intelligent" Witnesses

by megaboy in

after reading some experiences, i have found that this organization has had quite a big change in its operations within the last decade.

back when i was talking to the ocassional witnesses at a local hotspot i remember some of them having respectable intelligence.

what i want to know though is those who have been aquainted with who they felt were more educated and independent in thinking, how they handled the rapid changes.

megaboy

After reading some experiences, I have found that this organization has had quite a big change in its operations within the last decade. Back when I was talking to the ocassional witnesses at a local hotspot I remember some of them having respectable intelligence.

What I want to know though is those who have been aquainted with who they felt were more educated and independent in thinking, how they handled the rapid changes.

Did they give a benefit of doubt to the organization despite the clear signs that there is no solid respect for "truth" and its really just like other religions?

Did anyone experiences others that had wake up calls and leave? Did most choose to fade? Did others make statements before leaving?

I had researched that their HQ had a lot of layoffs and people were homeless and were lied to by the head honchos. Did this have any large scale effect? Was it kept under raps and spun?

What is interesting about these new guys I've met, is that when I talked to them, they don't seem to be intelligent individually but merely memorize talking points, its not a conclusion they made personally. I'm sure some of them had to have been aware of this.

22

Are witnesses even trying anymore?

by megaboy in

havent had an encounter with a witness in a while, almost 10 years, though at this point i could run circles around them in the scriptures, this encounter was very strange.

was eating with my son at a coffee shop, guy comes up using it as an opening.

i'm use to this because people find my son beautiful so i was open to him.

megaboy

Thanks for the feedback. Now it makes morse sense to me. The way he opperated was more focusing on getting me to go to the website. Though some responses leave even more questions for me. I'll open a new thread for that. This is very interesting.

29

Watchtower April, 2017 Overview

by Listener in

i'll start with the first study article.. this study article deals with vows made to jehovah.

three main vows are discussed.. 1) your dedication to jehovah.

we are told that it is not possible to claim that our baptism was not valid .

megaboy

Interesting, but if you make a vow to something that doesn't exist, IE the god that personfies "Jehovah", it means nothing and the baptism means nothing. A vow is an agreement, you can't make an agreement with something that doesn't exist. The same as putting a plate of food in front of an idol statue will not result in its consumption.

The JW version of god does not exist. Guess they are desparate if they no longer use scripture.