Posts by exwhyzee

97

Just ask simple questions and make street witnesses move along

by OnTheWayOut in

you don't have to know much to talk to jw's and show them they don't want to really discuss the matters.they consider a discussion on the matter they are pushing to be "confrontational.".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfw_txpmsj8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lqtadagucq.

exwhyzee

If JWs choose to set up shop in public places they need to be ready for questions. After all they turn up at stranger's doors uninvited and ask (what some would consider to be) very personal questions, just so they can tell the householder how wrong they are. That's rude!

Yes... "IF" they were to ask the householder very personal questions for the sole purpose of telling them how wrong they were, that it would indeed be rude. "IF" they showed up at the householders doorstep and asked personal questions, videotaped their responses then edited and posted them on youtube , that would be rude as well as unkind and just plain wrong. To be fair, as bad as we may think they are, I'm sure we can agree, not even the worst JW's intent is to ask questions just to show a householder how wrong they are.

As much as my life was and is adversely effected by JW's, I don't like to see older more experienced and prepared persons (the cameramen) publicly humiliating younger ones like this. These young folks are victims of this organization and are still at an age where they are trusting and are under the influence of those who went before them and who passed on this way of life to them. To me,it was a form of bullying to ambush them with a camera like that. The presence of a video camera and the nature and the setting of their work, placed them at a disadvantage. If the cameraman truly cared about them as individuals or getting answers to his questions, he could have spoken to them off camera as they asked him to do several times. It was his sole intent to put them on the spot. There was no way for them to come out ahead in this situation. If they'd have given him the perfect answers, we'd have never seen this video because his agenda would have been foiled and likely wouldn't have been posted on youtube.

In addition, if the cameraman truly cared about the homeless man laying on the sidewalk, he could have interviewed him, gotten his permission and aired his plight on youtube and possibly made a difference somehow. Instead (it appears) he chose to go after these well meaning yet easy targets who were quietly standing on the sidelines with their literature.

Sometimes on this site JW's are condemned for bothering people at their doors or asking too many questions and also condemned when they stand quietly and wait for people to approach them. We've got to cut them some slack once awhile and give them some credit now and them.

Videos like this make me really question if I'm on the right track here. I don't want to be in any shape or form,"that guy".

97

Just ask simple questions and make street witnesses move along

by OnTheWayOut in

you don't have to know much to talk to jw's and show them they don't want to really discuss the matters.they consider a discussion on the matter they are pushing to be "confrontational.".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfw_txpmsj8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lqtadagucq.

exwhyzee

I felt really bad for these nice kids having been put on the spot like this. With all the JW training in overcoming objections still burned into my brain from my growing up years as a JW, I was rooting for them and hoping they'd come through. I have two son's, so the father in me wanted to jump in there and help them out. There were any number of responses they could have given and I'm sure later, they though of all the things they could have said. These kids aren't used to being around harshness or rudeness nor were they prepared to have a camera shoved in their faces and asked questions from someone who was more interested in proving a point about JW's rather than having his questions answered.

It may have been perfectly legal to video them like this but it just wasn't a nice thing to do.

JW's +1

Cameraman -0

43

2015 Regional Convention Theme - unofficial-

by WatchTower87 in

news about 2015 regional convention theme?.

list of my preview:.

- the end is at hand.

exwhyzee

Prov 3:9 Honor Jehovah With Your Valuable Things. ( 2015 Give Us The Money District Convention)

Prov 3:9 Honor Jehovah with your valuable things,

With the firstfruits* of all your produce;*+

Then your storehouses will be completely filled,

And your vats* will overflow with new wine.

52

Why I like Jehovah's Witnesses

by undercover witness in

i keep reading that jehovah's witnesses are in effect monsters.

i keep reading that they kinda leave chaos and distrust in their wake.

so i simply wondered if anyone had anything nice to say about them?.

exwhyzee

Not everything they say or do, nor everything they believe, stands up to examination from the heart, but the vast majority of what they say about the Bible is correct and can be demonstrated by them from every version of the Bible. And they mean you well. Without hatred in their hearts nor money on their minds.

So I simply wondered if anyone had anything nice to say about them?

There's woman who just started doing temporary receptionist work in our office. She's working with a government program that helps older minority women get back into the workforce. After the holidays I was standing nearby and heard her mention to someone that she's a JW and doesn't celebrate Christmas. Today I told her I had overheard her say that and wondered if I had heard correctly. She replied very respectfully and solemnly "Yes Sir...I've been a Jehovah's Witness for over 30 years now". It felt strange to have a older black woman address me, (a white male) as "Sir" that way because I am not her supervisor or her superior in any way and I had talked to her one on one many times before without that kind of reacition. I realized she might have just been saying that because she was in full JW mode and wanted to make a good JW impression.

Anyway, I told her that up until a few years ago I had been a JW myself and was even a Bethelite at one point but had stopped going to meetings for various reasons. She gasped and was very impressed about me having been a Bethelite. She asked me if I'd ever thought of going back. I told her that it had crossed my mind but that too many things had happened for me to ever feel the same.

She asked me what happened and I told her that I didn't want to go into too much detail here at work but one thig was that my father died a horrible death from not taking a blood transfusion after a surgery and then about 2 years later the Governing Body decided that taking blood fractions was OK. I told her that those fractions would have most likely saved his life.

She looked puzzled and said she never heard anything about blood fractions and wasn't sure what I was even talking about. I told her that a few years ago the Governing Body decided that if whole blood was separated out into its various components or fractions, certain fractions could be used for medical purposes and still be considered "abstaining" from blood. Anyway we simply stopped going to meeting after this and a few other similar things happened one after another. My wife and I are pretty much friendless now because no one but a few family members will associate or talk to us, even though we've done nothing other than stop going to meetings.

Her phone rang just then but before she answered it she said "Well, I've never heard anything about blood fractions but I wouldn't have stop talking to you".

I'll have to wait and see if she want's to hear more the next time I see her.

Anyway, to answer your opening question, I'd have to say that JW's as individuals are typically lovely people and I can think of lots of nice things to say about them. They have their faults like anyone else but I find that so many of them are unclear or unaware of many important details about their own beliefs and how they have evolved over the years and the price so many have paid from altering their lives around those now changed beliefs. JW's are prepared to die or let their children die, upholding beliefs they aren't really clear about. As an organization, because of their beliefs and the enforcement of them, JW's are directly responsible for prematurely ending lives or permanently altering whole family lineages. On the surface it all looks well and good. But it's only when you have a crisis or conflict yourself or when you become aware of the experiences of (likely) millions of individuals who's experience as a JW has been less than ideal, do you get a true picture of the impact of this organization and why it's beliefs and members are sometimes viewed as peculiar .

14

deliberate deception by org

by Magnum in

there is ample evidence of the jw organizations being deceptive (for example, misusing quotes in publications such as the trinity brochure and the creation book), but a few years ago i noticed one glaring example of deception that is worth noting..

part #4 for the theocratic ministry school for the week of july 21, 2008 was how can false prophets be identified?

the material was the reasoning book beginning on page 132 (there was a similar service meeting part the week of 8-26-13)..

exwhyzee

If this isn't a case of outright deception, it does at the very least demonstrate that these folks are not worthy of our trust when it comes to furnishing reliable unbiased information.

In terms of Watchtower teachings, the expression "Trust...but verify " comes to mind. JW's trust the organization without question and most rarely verify the information that is furnished. The ones who do, wind up in the same situation as most of us here.

23

i know this has been talked about. but isn't wearing JW.org stuff idol worship

by goingthruthemotions in

jw
friends

so i am getting really frustrated...i see jdub's wearing jw.org items and .

isn't this idol worship.

respond if you like...i just want some .

exwhyzee

Idol worship....really?? This may be taking the fault finding of JW's a little too far. JW's believe that people can learn life saving"Truth" when they go to JW-dot-Org .Their goal in wearing the button is to make people curious enough to go to the website or make the website known so that more people discover their organization and what they call "The Truth". It's basic advertizing. They still say they worship Jehovah and believe that making his name known is part of their worship of him and they believe these buttons and banners advertizing their website will help others to do the same.

22

Seen smoking a cigarette

by Godsendconspirator in

i won't say i got "caught" because that would imply i was keeping my habit hidden.

i'm tired of constantly doing that with these guys.

yesterday, my friend and i were waiting for some people and decided to smoke a cigarette to pass the time.

exwhyzee

"Abstain from smoke!" Any "scripture" that really and actually forbids smoking? Didn't think so!

Isn't there a scripture that says something like..."Again I tell you, it is easier for a pack of camel filters to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a smoker to enter the kingdom of God."

33

Proud JW.ORG Photos everyone needs to see! The Watchtower Sanctified the Internet for Preaching!

by Trailer Park Pioneer in

i am proud to be a jehovah's witness in the last days, what religion has done this much to proclaim the message about the organization?

other religions are preaching about jesus, some wear the crucifixion, other's wear shirts with fishes but we wear shirts with jw.org!

no other religion has our courage!.

exwhyzee

The photo of the bus looks to looks like one of those (motor home sized) rental car shuttle busses they use at the airport and it appears to be heading to a construction site. I'd say this is a society owned vehicle and it is transporting workers to an Assembly Hall build or something similar.

To me these buttons are similar to wearing the assembly lapel badges to restaurants etc during the assembly. They give the wearer the feeling that they are making a difference somehow but usually no one notices.

Either way, I've really noticed lately that individual JW's are always on the look out for proof that they are a legit religion. They don't seem to be all that sure and think if they say it enough times, it will be so.

29

What are your new year's resolutions?

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

do you have any?

exwhyzee

Attend the funerals of people I know who died trying to live up to their New Years fitness resolutions.

13

Did you ever hear yourself as a JW say something and think, did that just come out of my mouth?

by Wasanelder Once in

i was driving with a long time non-witness friend when a song by supertramp came on the radio and i changed it.

she asked "why did you do that?

i like that song.

exwhyzee

I used to feel that way every time I was asked to pray out loud for a group, especially if asked to pray out loud before eating. Everything one says is pure rote and simply mimicking what everyone else has said a thousand times before. It felt so fake and unnatural. I never understood where the idea of praying before every meal came from. To thank Jehovah for providing our food is to say he is also responsible for the starving people not having any. Toward the end of my JW career, I began turning down requests to pray out loud. I remember sitting at a table full of people when it came time to say the obligatory prayer. I had my head bowed hoping they wouldn't ask me. Of course someone said "exwhyzee, would you like to say the blessing?" I simply said "no thank you" and kept my head bowed. It was awkward but it worked.