When I first found this forum back a year ago someone wrote about being invited to bethel to help out the printing and graphics department. Anyway at one point in time he was having a discussion with the head of the department and noticed a very expensive graphic printing machine that cost a million dollars and it wasn't being used. He asked why and the answer was that they hadn't found someone who could run it who was spiritually mature enough. The society hasn't changed a great deal since I left in the 1960's. It occurred to me way back then that the society was set up much like the Soviet Union. The communist way gave special privileges to those who were most doctrinaire in their approach to what ever issues came up not the most qualified. Negative news was hidden away all was well right up to the moment when it all collapsed.
Giordano
JoinedPosts by Giordano
-
32
JW leadership vacuum - explained!
by sir82 injw leadership shows an appalling lack of creativty and originality.. -- meeting attendance down across the board?
let's keep the same 1940's format anyway!.
-- missionaries quitting their assignments?
-
-
-
23
I must admit, I sometimes wonder, what IF?
by Greybeard inwhat if the watchtower stuck to their guns and didn't change the "generation" understanding?
when they came up with this totally ridiculous "overlapping generation" concept, i knew something was wrong.
there are people still alive who lived in 1914 today, they could have stuck to their guns or went with genesis 6:3, "after that jehovah said: my spirit shall not act toward man indefinitely in that he is also flesh.
-
-
Giordano
I was pioneering in the 1960's and slowly but surely began to realize I really didn't believe any of their teachings, I had statred with the mind of a child and by the time I was twenty-one I had grown past it. My wife agreed that it was load of crap and we walked out together.
To this day I am aghast that people will die over their pathetic blood issue, not educate themselves or their children and cling to a belief that billions will perish at a make believe Armageddon. JW's make the Mormons look normal.
-
-
-
Giordano
Zid did you ever read the series of books by S.M Stirling? The first in the series is Dies the Fire he uses the premise that people who were members in a Medieval re-creation group would become some of the most fearsome survivors when people can no long depend on modern weapons.
Giordano Bruno (1548 – February 17, 1600) was an ItalianDominicanfriar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited worlds populated by other intelligent beings. He was burned at the stake by civil authorities in 1600 after the Roman Inquisition found him guilty of heresy
I'm a chip off of the old block today.............. but if I lived in those days I'd have chickened out.
-
90
I told the baptist church pastor that I'm gay!
by TimothyT inhis reaction wasnt as liberal as i hoped it would be.
he said that we needed to discuss it.
however, gone are the days where im putting myself in the firing line and not sticking up for myself.
-
-
Giordano
While your exploring churchs in your area you might be interested in this: http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/2009/10/manifesto-from-our-friend-bishop-john.html
John Shelby Spong was/still is(?) a Bishop in the Episcopal Church, he's been out spoken in defense of gays for 3 decades. The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love by John Shelby Spong Is a good place to start.
Good luck with your search.
-
43
Mass defection possible?
by stuckinamovement inthere are many of us who are trapped within the religion and are looking at leaving.
i was wondering..... if there was an organized and well publicized effort to leave the organization en-masse on a certain date yet to be determined, how many do you think would participate?.
one person leaves the org and it creates a small ripple.
-
-
Giordano
If they do away with shunning how many would walk out? Easily more then 50,000 maybe 100,000. If they commanded the believer to love the non believer and keep the family unit togther how many would walk out? 500,000? Shame them into doing those two things and it's a whole new ball game.
-
311
"Mentally diseased" article to be published in The Independent tomorrow
by cedars inhi everyone.
as a parting gift to you all before i take a much needed break from this forum, i thought you would be pleased to know that the independent, a leading uk newspaper, will be publishing a piece on the "mentally diseased" watchtower article in tomorrow's edition.. i would like to thank everybody who has assisted the journalist, jerome taylor, in his investigation.. best wishes to all of you,.
cedars.
-
-
Giordano
Hey JW's here's some real light getting brighter!
-
80
2011 Global Survey of Jehovah's Witnesses
by cedars inif you are visiting this site for the first time, or for the first time in a long while, i would appreciate if you could click on the following link and participate in the 2011 global survey of jehovah's witnesses.
both active jehovah's witnesses and former jehovah's witnesses around the world are invited to participate anonymously, and the results will be forwarded to the governing body and world's media.. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/t7zm5zc.
this thread will be updated with the results of the survey (for the time being at least) should you be interested.. in its first 3 days, the survey collected close to 400 responses.
-
-
Giordano
I think a survey is a great idea. Congratulations on formatting yours. One outcome after reading through your questions was that it encouraged me to think about some questions I would like to have answered. Especially for active witnesses who were able to answer honestly. Is the organization as placid as their public demeanor would suggest or are their areas of discontent?
If you are a JW and the WTBTS did away with shunning would you be inclined to leave the organization? Limit participation?
If you were assured that you would be treated respectfully would you stop going door to door? Attend all or limit meetings?
Are you satisfied with the role women can have in the WTBTS?
Do you agree that higher learning should be discouraged?
If the ban on Birthdays was lifted would you enjoyed celebrating with family and friends?
Those that fill out a survey must be assured that they will be anonymous and if it's possible anonymous to you as well.The fear factor for those still in and/or who still have family in will inhibit a larger response. I believe that a survey with a reasonable sampling (2 to 3,000) would give us some important data to evaluate and discuss.
Considering how many people visit this site it would be interesting to learn more about our fellow posters and lurker's..........statistically that is. I for one would enjoy seeing your survey on a secure accessible site like this one or JW Facts or Freeminds that would provide an opportunity for Ex and current JW's to have a voice either pro or con.
To accomplish a meaningful survey you'll have to balance your status (we are all guests on this site) with concerns that it's owners and moderators may have when it comes to protecting all of us from scams and conduct that goes beyond the norm.
Thank you for taking the time to contribute your survey questions and ideas.
-
24
Ponzi scheme - 75% of investors were Dubs....
by RagingBull inhttp://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/sep/25/alleged-ponzi-scheme-leaves-lives-shattered/?prefetch=1.
funny how many of the dubs didn't want their names mentioned in the article.
lol.
-
-
Giordano
There is an intense reaction that witnesses, in general, have for more succesful witnesses. Probably because it helps them validate their beliefs .Unfortunately it also makes them easy targets.
I can remember to this day my mother literally glowing with pleasure about how wonderful this brother or that brother was. She was not refering to a simple pioneer or elder but to someone who was rich and/or well educated. People like that proved that she was in the right religion.
-
220
Are you sick of conspiracy nuts?.....9/11
by Witness 007 inyes apparently the staff at the twin towers on 9/11 didn't notice the explosives strapped to all the beams on each floor......of course a plane fully loaded with jet fuel going so fast it nearly flew through the building {blew out the otherside} would not be enough to cause a collapse.
the building were glowing red!
people jumped due to the heat and smoke.
-
-
Giordano
What I said before............. nut case ex witlesses, trying to figure out stuff they don't have a clue about! This is the most investigated national tragerty ever, with documented papers written by a number of specialities up against a number of self employed specialest looking to cash in. RFeminds me on a simpler level of the Kennedy truthers.
-
82
Are YOU a Believer, Atheist, Agnostic, Active JW or WHAT?
by Greybeard insorry if this has been asked before but i would love to know the current ratio on this forum.. i'm a believer/christian former jw for 45 years... born in .
what are you now and what were you?.
.
-
-
Giordano
Hi Zid, Started at 13 left at 23, walked away with my wife some 47 years ago! We are non believers .........what other sane option is there! Called myself an agnostic for a number of years....grew a pair and started calling it what it was......bull.
We live on a planet that is 3 to 4 billion years old in a universe that is 13.5 billion years old. I am descended from humans that might be 200,000 years old and I am supposed to believe what a bunch of Hebrews wrote down 3500 years ago?