Posts by WontLeave

48

True Friendship Only Found In the Organization?

by What Now? in

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often times, i read in the magazines that only among jehovahs people will you find true friendship.

WontLeave

Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. - 1Cor 13:4-8

If YOU were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because YOU are no part of the world, but I have chosen YOU out of the world, on this account the world hates YOU. - John 15:19

Which more closely matches Kingdom Hall "friends"?

26

Society doesn't follow it's own advice: Aug 15, 2011 WT "Internet Eve"

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i thought this extract from the august 15 wt (study edition) was very telling.... .

today, anyone with an internet.

connection can become a desktop professor,.

WontLeave

Who published this material? What are the author’s credentials? (New World Translation? Everything else?)
Why was this published? What motivated the writer? Is there any bias? (Proclaimers? Faith in Action DVDs? Everything else?)
Where did the author get the information? Does he supply sources that can be checked? (Some names are changed? Misquotes? Cherry-picked qoutes and scriptures which contradict the context?)
Is the information current? (We aren't responsible for anything we've said in the past.)

33

Lies about Suicides in Congregations

by EXMS in

have you ever noticed what the elders say when a depressed person commits suicide?.

i unfortunately knew of two people in my area, one a guy about my age, the other was in his mid 40's that commited suicide.

both times, at their memorials, the elders from stage said that they were home alone and was cleaning their hand gun/ rifle when it accidently fired and killed them.

WontLeave

When did the WT start allowing brothers to own fire arms?

The congregations are allowed the latitude to be bigger control freaks than the Watchtower requires them to be. There are officially still some "conscience matters" - like hunting, but the elders are perfectly free to start throwing the 'stumble' word around and forbid things that aren't forbidden. Then, if you don't obey them on this supposed conscience matter, you're not "submitting to those taking the lead" and then you get into more trouble.

Ultimately, you can be marked, reproved, or DFed over "conscience matters" and the Society won't bat an eyelash. Take it from someone with first-hand experience with this: If you write to Patterson, it will be ignored. If you call them, you'll be blown off. Your complaint will go into your file at the Hall and the elders who totally violated documented procedure will now know you went over their heads and take it very personally.

26

To All Elders/MS's/ Publishers Who Come Here

by metatron in

jw
friends

in the past, you were told that you have the opportunity to prove the devil a liar.

this is a nonsensical claim, given that about 2000 years of martyrdom by christians has already passed.

there's nothing left to prove or disprove.. however, you have the opportunity to prove that the watchtower society is lying: that their organization is unclean and overrun with corruption - as proven by an endless stream of elders/ms's and publishers who come here, wishing that they could leave.. you also have the opportunity to prove that their published statistics are false - by reporting fake hours and placements.. if they don't like it, too bad.

WontLeave

I thought it was odd when our C/O came for his visit he was proud to report 100% participation in the field ministry when neither my wife nor I had reported anything for months. Somebody's fudging the numbers. Others have told me the same thing happened in their Hall, when the elders put in time for them, even though they reported none.

All for the circuit overseer... No, JWs don't worship men.

75

Unrest in the Governing Body

by JWFreak in

jw
friends

one of the many questions that i am asked is what are the current gb members like, who are the hardliners and who are more moderate.. because of my previous job, at a european bethel, i had dealings with most of them with the exception of sam herd.. these are my observations of my conversations with them and how others who had dealings with them.. other ex bethelites may have contrary views to mine, but i would be surprised.. i had spent a lot of time with splane, lett and morris.

hardliners.

david splane, without doubt the one who commands the most respect and attention.

WontLeave

This just in: The "new world" of the Bible will be a handful of people who survive Armageddon ruled over by billions of miscarriages and aborted fetuses. Meanwhile, other billions who didn't believe in the man-made dogma of the Trinity will be burning in Hell for eternity. Thank you fundie Baptist and Pentecostal freaks for driving exponentially-increasing numbers of people to atheism with your bizarre beliefs. Go handle some more snakes and roll around in the aisles while babbling like an infant. That's what Jesus would do.

30

What do you think about the "United Church of God"?

by tia.dalma in

here is a link to their main site.

http://www.ucg.org/.

i've read a little about them and they do not believe in trinity, and have similar believes as jehovah's witnesses.. they also try to keep all ten commandments, in addition to that.. i did not research all their doctrines, but a lot of them look familiar to me.. what do you think?.

WontLeave

you were suggesting that the WTS is not a destructive cult.

All churches are destructive cults. That's my point. Those who don't destroy the person directly like the easily-identifiable cults, destroy faith and doctrine.

the church that Jesus started that was built on peter and the apostles and has been in existence for some 2,000 years.

Really? For hundreds of years, there was only one church and it was torturing people for reading the Bible. You going to tell me that was it?

Jesus' true church is true followers of Christ. It's not a building, an organization, or a magisterium. "God's organization" made a golden calf, persecuted God's prophets, killed Jesus, and tortured Christians. This claim that there is a "true church" organization has been beaten into the ground by JWs and every church thinks it's them. The churches all claiming to be the "true church" pave the way for cults like JWs to offer that physical group everybody's looking for. Well, it doesn't exist as a denomination.

This is one thing Russell had right: No church, just doctrine. If someone wants to keep attending their church and disregard its doctrine in favor of something they understand to be true, so be it.

In the following matters, I don't praise you. Your meetings do more harm than good. First, here is what people are telling me. When you come together as a church, you take sides. And in some ways I believe it. No doubt you need to take sides in order to show which of you God agrees with! - 1Cor 11:17-19

21

Just finished the DVD

by EntirelyPossible in

what a piece of work.

couple of thoughts..... - i know they aren't in it for the money, but not a single member of the gb was wearing less than a $700 fitted suit.

might have been more expensive and tailored, couldn't tell.

WontLeave

I just watched the DVD too. I think they are making these propaganda pieces to combat the Internet. Any rational person met in service who shows any interest would obviously look up the Watchtower online. Until he gets seriously involved, he won't really know how to research or what subjects to search for, to get to the bottom of what the JWs really teach or their true history. I know I tried before I joined and I found 6 Screens and some nutty fundie sites, which just solidified in my mind that "apostates" are mentally diseased and demon-possessed.

The DVDs mention a lot of the things that should be damning, but downplay and spin them into the same positive BS they do in the magazines. It's also a preemptive strike on "apostate" information. A JW simpleton who is confronted with failed prophecies, insane teachings, the hostile take-over by Rutherford, Beth Sarim, etc..., can honestly (in their mind) reply "Yeah, I already know all about that."

In JWland, they really believe an honest, unbiased study of JW history and doctrine can be had with only JW literature. It's astounding, the hypocrisy, when JWs tell outsiders all about their religion from JW literature, exposing the lies. But when they research their own religion, use only insider material. I'm not sure if JWs are insane, lazy, or just plain stupid; maybe some combination.

11

JWs having children lack faith

by Lore in

jw
friends

if you're a witness couple and you choose to have a child together, it means you think armageddon is not going to arrive for at least 9 more months.

and then you'll be nursing it for at least 6 months.. that's almost a year and a half.

if armageddon started within that time: woe to you!.

WontLeave

Are you kidding? The entire JW brain is a cesspool of cognitive dissonance. We're spirit-guided, but we'd never claim to be spirit-inspired. We have one leader - Christ - but we follow the Governing Body. We each are allowed our own conscience, but we must conform to every detail lest we stumble someone. The Bible is our sole source of doctrine, but the Watchtower explains that the words don't mean what they say. The list goes on and on but the more I type out the more pissed off I get, so I'll let that suffice.

Really, you can't figure out why a JW would do something totally contrary to what they claim to believe?

30

"We missed you SO much at the meeting...."

by Duncan in

jw
friends

WontLeave

Download Google Chrome and never use Internet Explorer again. Mircosoft is the Devil.

91

Why do Americans still dislike atheists?

by behemot in

jw
friends

by gregory paul and phil zuckerman (washington post).

long after blacks and jews have made great strides, and even as homosexuals gain respect, acceptance and new rights, there is still a group that lots of americans just dont like much: atheists.

those who dont believe in god are widely considered to be immoral, wicked and angry.

WontLeave

@OTWO

Not to pick a fight, but this sounds a lot like a JW talking:

If my 8-yr-old could not keep his beliefs to himself

Don't you really mean if your 8-year-old couldn't keep your beliefs to himself? Let's face it, even as adults, it takes us years or decades to finally start figuring things out, after decades of life experience, education, and sporadically researching various subjects. I'm in my 30s and been engaging in serious research for about 10 years now and I'm still tweaking my beliefs. To even imply an 8-year-old has beliefs is disingenuous. An 8-year-old merely mirrors his/her parents' beliefs, whether they be "Catholic", "Muslim", "atheist", "Jehovah's Witness", etc...

One of the major problems people have with JWs (for damned good reason) is manipulating children into testifying in court against their own blood transfusion, as if it's really their idea. That is flaming disgusting and parents who do that should be skinned alive and rolled in salt. While not as extreme, convincing a child he/she is an atheist is along the same vein of totally wrong. Perhaps you are an atheist, but an 8-year-old is a kid who really has no horse in the race other than the desire to please you.