What's creepy is a bunch of under educated people managed to construct a religion built on the bones of Adventist beliefs and the Great Pyramid, set an end time, then reset it many times over, banned blood which helped to kill off many of their believers, did not encourage higher education until they needed college level volunteers, and consistently painted their religion into a corner based on faulty research and hair brained ideas.
Giordano
JoinedPosts by Giordano
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30
If you're "anointed" don't seek out other "anointed" so says the Watchtower January 2020
by RolRod inwhen i was affiliated with the witnesses, there were barely 6,000 who profess to be of the anointed remnant.
i recently read somewhere that today there are over 20,000 who profess to be anointed.
that figure may be more when you consider those who meet and partake privately for fear of the stigma of claiming to be anointed.
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The future of the Watchtower Society
by mickygrey ini left way back in 2002, seems a long time ago now and i haven't really kept up with any developments since.. i've kept one ear open and noticed recently there is talk of the wt being investigated over the sex abuse cover ups, but over the years this story has come in and out of the news.. what is everybody's predictions as to the future of the borg?
i know what most people want to happen, but realistically, are we just looking at certain elements being hit because of the restructuring they did a few years ago to protect from this very thing?
looking further ahead, you'd like to think that more people would wake up?
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Giordano
Hi Mickey thanks for stopping by.
The WTBTS is now in the same boat as the Christian Scientists and the Scientologists and any number of other made up religions that have demonstrated that they have no real value for any community.
Like these other religions the JW's made up shit and then painted themselves into a corner.
And now they have a huge pedophile problem......... similar to other organizations and churches. Don't tell....keep it a secret!....was the WT way to mitigate this problem. But for a number of reason's it's worse.
It takes two witnesses to bring charges within the JW congregation. A big part of this stems from the old Jewish rule of needing ' two witnesses' to accuse a person of a crime.
The JW's purposely go into prisons to spread their good news. It doesn't take a pedophile prisoner very long to understand that being associated with the JW community is an open pass to grooming children........ for sexual abuse.
Any pedophiles out there who understand the protections they will have ....... will more then willingly covert to the JW religion and readily take advantage of the blind sided 'friends'.
Unfortunately JW Elders are taught to view sexual crime...... as a sin ,,,,,,,so like mold...... child sexual abuse within the congregation......... grows.
It was discovered during the recent Australia Royal Commission into religious sexual child abuse............. (Google ARC or the Jehovah's Witness pedophile problem for more information).
That from 1950 to the present day, the JW Branch in Australia kept files on 1005 cases of reported sexual abuse and not a one was ever turned over to the authorities. Worse then that you could be DF if you brought the crime to the police.
Here in the USA it is possible that the WTBTS has 23,000 pedophile reports on file.
The Society is a joke and is failing every day and every way to keep their authority intact and their numbers. Their pedophile court cases are a disaster which is one of the primary reasons they are selling off Kingdom Halls.
No State or Country takes them seriously at this point in time.
JWs are paying it forward according to the Pew religious survey. 67% of born-ins no longer identify with being a JW.
Among all the religions surveyed by the Pew survey....... the JW's have the least higher education and have the least income.
All of this you can Google.
jwfacts.com provides another great service. Under 'reasons to be disfellowshiped' the Society lists over 100 reasons you can be DFed....... It's all madness.
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Algebra
by HappyDad inwhat the hell?
it's after 4 am here in minnesota and my brain just won't shut down.
of all things....in the middle of the night,algebra is bugging me.
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Giordano
I can see right from the get go Recovering that you are a serious person.
My intention was to add an extra bit of non-sequitur levity.
You should consider asking your doctor about a malaise that can effect one's funny bone.
In the words of Robert Plant "Does anyone remember laughter?"
To this day Mr. Plant is still embarrassed anytime he hears his attempt at humor.
I am therefore in good company.
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People that are shunned and those that shun mimic slavery
by Yomama inso im reading this book 1619 about slavery then it dawned on me that shunning like slavery emotionally rips apart families.
if you look at romans 1:32 study note under natural afection they tell on themselves if you cannnot love your familey you cannot love others wow just wow try shareing that point with your pimi relatives..
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Giordano
Jesus and his followers did not write anything down or if they did........ nothing survived.
So we are left with an oral tradition in the years that followed. Which means those oral stories about Jesus followed the Roman Trade Routes and needed to be translated into many different languages. And adjusted to the life culture of different nationalities.That translation process would have meant scribes in each of those languages who were themselves enslaved or freemen in the employment of rich and powerful persons.
So maybe Jesus did say something about slavery. It would certainly be in keeping with his humanitarian side.
It occurs to me that the rich owner of a slave plantation, factory, mill or earthworks might have 'suggested' to his scribe that anything Jesus said in the oral translation that was negative about Slavery and anything he said in favor of women's rights should not be added to the account.
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Algebra
by HappyDad inwhat the hell?
it's after 4 am here in minnesota and my brain just won't shut down.
of all things....in the middle of the night,algebra is bugging me.
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Giordano
I never had a need for Algebra ......Trying to master Algebra destroyed my basic math skills for a long period of time. This was in the 8th and 9th grade,
In my entire life time, some 76 years and counting....I haven't needed higher math....shit I am higher math.....bite me.
I have never had a need for Algebra. Nor have I ever looked into a colonoscopy scope while it's up my butt.
I'd be happy to look at a bra but that's is far as I need to go.
It's all about the basics .... Algebra has nothing to do with real life, Building something ....sure. But what's important is:
How is my family doing.
How much money was in my check book or savings account.....did we forget to pay the rent or our monthly mortgage? What about my tab at my local bar?
My income and my debts.
My tax obligations.
My investments. Up. Down or sideways....will Algebra help? Hell No!
Not running out of gas. Keeping track of State auto inspections and licenses and oil changes. No Algebra there.
Getting my teeth cleaned by a dentist who still thinks I can comment on his stupid point of view when his fingers and tools are in my mouth.
Finding floor number one.......or the ground floor..... or the Basement........ it's always different in every building. when I am in an elevator. And........ I've forgotten......... for a moment........... why I am in it. It's sometimes the simplest things and a busy mind juggling two or more things that makes you stop and review where you are and why you are there. It's the insanity of daily living and balancing obligations that can stop you in place until you sort it out. Algebra can't help.
Negotiating strange airports, shuttles and rental cars. I always start with 'Why the hell am I here?. Wheres a Bar?
I never needed Algebra to bring down a deer during hunting season. To be honest I have never shot an animal but I needed to throw a shoe at my neighbors dog.....while I was climbing over their fence....long story.
I have never had a conservation with a medical doctor, Dentist etc. that involved Algebra. Just my health issues which are complicated enough.
I have never talked to an elected State official or college professor that involved Algebra. Bribes and political correctness .......sure.
The list goes on for thousands of reasons why I don't need nor have I ever needed Algebra.
Which makes me a happy man. While I may have missed out on Algebra I have also missed out of jumping out of an airplane........... when it's not on the ground.
By the way I play competitive chess once a week...... No algebra allowed ......but cigars are ok.
My world is an algebraic free world. And I stand behind that.
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People that are shunned and those that shun mimic slavery
by Yomama inso im reading this book 1619 about slavery then it dawned on me that shunning like slavery emotionally rips apart families.
if you look at romans 1:32 study note under natural afection they tell on themselves if you cannnot love your familey you cannot love others wow just wow try shareing that point with your pimi relatives..
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Giordano
Jesus didn't address slavery....he never said 'free the slaves'. There was a cost factor in caring for one's slave's but there was also a stronger profit motive. Slavery worked....... unless you were a slave.
The fact that Jesus never really addressed this issue casts a sense of doubt on his motives and actions. Slaves........ the meekest of the meek inhabited...nothing.
On the one hand you have a Jesus who is all nice and fuzzy. Then again you have a Jesus who doesn't give a crap about slaves.
Jesus was running for the office of the 'anointed one'......... Nothing else mattered.
Since Jesus never wrote anything down nor did his followers in his life time....... all we have to work with is a guy who bypassed one of the great issues of his day and kept slavery going until this very day.
He could have said slavery was wrong......he didn't. So much for Jesus and all of the Old and New testament. In fact it supported Slavery which still goes on to this day. Indentured servants....indeed.
Lets call it what it is....... slavery.
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Dumb things JWs believed
by JimmyYoung ini am not talking about the usual crap from the cult writings, but rather things idiots believed on their own.
maybe even helped on by the cult but not directly taught.
i knew an old man now long gone kunde in michigan.
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Giordano
Speaking of Chiropractors There was a congregation I gave a public talk in Northwestern Pennsylvania. This would have been in 1962 or there about. Later on I learned that the Presiding Minister, who was a chiropractor, gave a very 'special adjustment' to a couple of married sisters.
A couple of Sisters? Goodness how did they sit in a KH and listen to this guy. Or meet and greet their fellow congregants?
I never followed up if all involved got divorced....... apparently the circuit wasn't in favor of letting people know about this.
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Dumb things JWs believed
by JimmyYoung ini am not talking about the usual crap from the cult writings, but rather things idiots believed on their own.
maybe even helped on by the cult but not directly taught.
i knew an old man now long gone kunde in michigan.
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Giordano
Hi Jimmy,
There has always been a fascination with false information in the Witness world especially quick cures that don't work and false conclusions posing as real science.
You can go back to the era of Miracle Wheat sponsored by Russell. Wheat that was sold to the Bible Students for many times more then regular wheat.
On March 22, 1911, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that Russell was accused of gaining profit from a strain of wheat named "Miracle Wheat" by K.B. Stoner of Fincastle, Virginia, who claimed to have discovered this strain. Russell sold the wheat for $60 per bushel, far above the average cost of wheat at the time. Throughout 1912 and 1913, the Eagle continued to report on Russell's alleged fraud. Russell sued the Eagle for libel, but lost. A government expert investigated the "Miracle Wheat" and said it "was low in the Government tests". Prior to entering the court, the Eagle declared that "at the trial it will show that "Pastor" Russell's religious cult is nothing more than a money-making scheme."[87]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taze_Russell#'Miracle_Wheat'
And of course there was the entire pyramid fiasco.
I remember on a personal level the friends were more then willing to believe in false cures especially relating to cancer..
I recall that there was a certain loaf of bread that could cure cancer, there were coffee enemas and grape therapy and that aluminium cookware was a cancer cause.
In the 1950's they tried to make the case that Blood transfusions were dangerous. A part from scripture it was medically wrong. This was after World War Two , Korea and Vietnam. And millions of troops saved.
All in all we lost two members of our family well before their time that needed blood for a surgical procedure one to cure a heart defect and the other to be able to stay on the surgical table while they cut away tumors. Her blood pressure dropped with out blood and they had to stop the surgery.
I guess there was a lot of misinformation re the Societies input on medical issues.
I learned to never trust a corporation when they presented a 'certainly' as to an outcome. Especially anything from a religion.
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Ever notice this about X JWs
by JimmyYoung inits not just x jws but religious people in general.
they feel free to post this crap on the internet about jesus is lord share this post, or some drivel but then if you post any thing that questions it you get jumped on like someone saying the earth is a globe at a flat earth convention.
they can say what ever they want but don't dare question it.
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Giordano
I think Vidiot has the truth of it.....at least in our case. My wife and I fled the Society in the mid 1960's.......... my mother despaired over the length of my hair. She couldn't get past it.
She remained an uber JW. Died at the age of ninety still believing Armageddon was right around the corner.
It was a looser religion in that era....a lot of parties, drink fests. International assemblies....... pioneering where the need was great and of course avoiding Vietnam.
Then as the 1960's progressed it all unraveled in the late sixties for our generation. 1975 turned into a laughing stock.
The Elder arrangement was reinstated, Raymond Franz questioned why the JW's couldn't study their bible where one or two gathered together. He was spanked soundly and shunned and the beginning of the end started.
We are definitely in the last days folks......at least for the WT Society you can't stay viable if over sixty percent of born-ins leave.
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How many here believe the WTS really has has 8.5 million followers / 8.5. million members
by Hotpepper ini think it's closer to 5 million with all the selling of kingdom hells and branch bethel's all over the world.
it's even hard to get a hard copy of the lastest craptower or afake mag now in new york city..
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Giordano
How many turn in deceptive or misguided field service reports will always be a question.
Counting numbers is more of a business way of keeping track. Since this religion is more of a corporation then a religion the numbers misdirect.
The Mormons list a membership of 18 plus million Mormons. But they get to that figure by counting every one who was born-in or joined the Mormon religion but turned inactive.
In the past....... JW yearbook surveys included.....Baptisms, Peak Publishers and 'Leavers'. Check the memorial attendance and deduct peak publishers and you have an idea who shows up once a year out of respect or curiosity.
Leavers could be JW's who died, or JW's who left the religion. The numbers I saw indicted that half of those who identified with the religion left it one way or another.
While you can still leave........ as long as you don't mind being shunned in one form or another .........prior to 1980........ a person who left without having committed a major sin simply left. Family and friends could stay in contact. The friendships usually faded, but family ties could be maintained.