Posts by Amelia Ashton

the jehovah's witnesses claim that the holy spirit is none other than a force... however when we compare scripture with scripture, we begin to see that the holy spirit is a person.as the jehovah's witnesses dispute this, the question still remains..."who/what is the holy spirit?".

the holy spirit can :.

be grieved.

Amelia Ashton

Was Cinderella's shoe really made of glass or was it plastic or resin or a very translucent fabric. Is it important, who cares and does it really detract that much from the story not knowing absolutely? She dropped it and ran :P

At the end of the day men wrote a book that was in a language that today can be translated and interpreted multiple ways into meaning variable concepts and more often than not used to manipulate the gullible.

It is a story. It isn't real. It doesn't matter. It is unnecessary trying to convince others (especially atheists) one viewpoint is more accurate or valid than another because at the end of the day it is all just a bunch of fairy tales and no-one should be wasting time worrying that much about ancient Jewish folklore but should be getting on with their lives, loving and caring for those around them. Life is too short to worry whether holy spirit is a force or a person and makes not a jot of difference to real life events and just causes vexation and frustration to those arguing for opposite viewpoints with no evidence or proof either is right as all of it is only opinion.

13

I bought Alexa and she said not to attend the afternoon of the Assembly Day

by RubaDub in

i really like my alexa.

a little creepy at first, but quite interesting.. i asked her if i should attend the assembly day on saturday.. she said "in your case, just go in the morning, walk around, see everyone, then at lunch walk to your car while talking on your cell phone.

then just leave.

Amelia Ashton

I have a Google Home. I asked her if i should join Jehovah's witnesses and she told me not to listen to just their side of the story and study just their Bible and literature but research others as well!

70

The Reasons for Cart Witnessing

by Simon in

whatever we think of it, you have to admit that it's quite "genius".. the door to door ministry as done in western developed countries where the jw quirky religion has probably reached their saturation level was a complete and utter waste of time in terms of the effort expended to recruit people.. at the same time, it was rarely something that anyone enjoyed which led to people being labelled as inactive, being pressured to doing more and maybe ultimately deciding jwism wasn't for them and leaving.. there was also the issue that many jws are actually pretty bad at knowing and articulating their beliefs so were pretty incapable of getting any meaningful message across.. they solved all this with the cart witnessing.

the real point isn't to recruit, it's to make life easier for jws.

now they can stand and chat with their friend, have a coffee, not talk to anyone or make eye contact and still act as a walking billboard for jw.org.

Amelia Ashton

I never let on I'm an exjw when I approach the JWs on the cart but I wonder how many suspect that anyone coming up to them to ask a question is actually not a genuine member of the public but an apostate targeting them?

I have yet to see any of those supposedly responsible for sounding the alarm about God's imminent destruction of the world actually stop and warn a single person.

How they can call it "urgent work" when they just stand in front of a shop window idly chatting to each other not even attempting to attract anyone's attention to Armageddon is a joke.

70

The Reasons for Cart Witnessing

by Simon in

whatever we think of it, you have to admit that it's quite "genius".. the door to door ministry as done in western developed countries where the jw quirky religion has probably reached their saturation level was a complete and utter waste of time in terms of the effort expended to recruit people.. at the same time, it was rarely something that anyone enjoyed which led to people being labelled as inactive, being pressured to doing more and maybe ultimately deciding jwism wasn't for them and leaving.. there was also the issue that many jws are actually pretty bad at knowing and articulating their beliefs so were pretty incapable of getting any meaningful message across.. they solved all this with the cart witnessing.

the real point isn't to recruit, it's to make life easier for jws.

now they can stand and chat with their friend, have a coffee, not talk to anyone or make eye contact and still act as a walking billboard for jw.org.

Amelia Ashton

If Jehovahs Witneses manning a cart is all they need to do to be "a witness to Jehovah" these days then surely the "dog collar" worn by vicars means vicars have been "witnessing" since 1884.

In fact any religious garment could do that job so if JWs just wore a baseball cap with the JW logo on it when out that could be classed as "witnessing". Look at the hours they would clock up. They could be witnessing full time then if wearing the identifying cap while at work if such caps were allowed, out shopping or in fact anywhere there were people. A JW sticker would be witnessing.

When going d2d some days there were no people anywhere but then we were "witnessing to the angels" just by being out.

By the ever decreasing standard of effort required to be considered "witnessing to jehovah" wearing a logo will soon be enough no matter what activity you are doing.

What a merchandising opportunity for the GB to replace dwindling donations. Forget magic underwear. Sports gear, baby strollers, jumpers, coats etc etc. All with the JW logo attached. The list of items it could be displayed on is endless no longer limited to just buildings.

Stripes or stars could be added to clothing to denote ms/elder/pioneer status etc.

Oops I forgot. There is no hierarchy in that religion. :p

11

The Dinosaurs.

by I Faded Twice in

was anyone else taught that dinosaurs even old t rex was a vegetarian ?

i remember as a kid my parents contradicting what school taught.

they reasoned that meat eating was not allowed before the flood.

Amelia Ashton

I was told that.

Someone answered at a Watchtower they knew of an experiment with lions fed exclusively on straw and it turned them tame again! The elder neither corrected them or questioned which experiment, by whom or when but moved on as if this could actually have been true not even hinting the statement was outrageously false

13

My brother is shunning me (but he's not a Witness)

by john.prestor in

i didn't know where to post this but it's been on my mind and i'm looking for support and advice from people who know what it's like being shunned.

i was raised in a fundamentalist baptist church, so what i'm experiencing is a little different than most posters on this site.

i've been out of that church for years, and my brother's been out for a while too.

Amelia Ashton

My parents have been no contact for 25 years. They can't blame JW doctrine as they never were even though the previous generation on my mothers side of the family were and she had no contact with them but I never knew why. I never even knew my mothers side of the family til i met JWs and joined them and found my maternal grandmother and the rest of my family in my middle 20s.

My point is some families and people are just toxic even without JW influence (my mother is a narcissist but I didn't know that until I was in my mid 50s) and although it hurts having no contact sometimes that is less stressful and hurtful so for the best if you want a peaceful happy life.

39

This Is It?

by Nevuela in

i can't say much out of fear of getting caught, but i overheard a jw i know on the phone with a friend talking about "how close we are to the end.

" yeah, yeah, i know.

we've been on the brink of armageddon for well over a century, but what struck me about this particular instance was what she said next.

Amelia Ashton

"So, I googled "has Matthew 24:14 been fulfilled" and it led me to a thread on this board."

I wonder how often JWN threads come up when Watchtower researches type in a subject matter they have been instructed to write about?

25

Abuse Survivor's $4M Judgment Against Jehovah's Witness Umbrella Organization Upheld by Court 12/10/18

by Not_Culty in

https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2018/12/10/court-upholds-abuse-survivors-4m-judgement-against-jehovahs-witness-umbrella-organization-389-52222/?slreturn=20181111101406.

Amelia Ashton

“On July 15, 2006, [J.W.] and three other girls were invited to a slumber party at [Simental’s] home. [Simental] had a daughter near the age of [J.W.] and the other invited girls. [¶] During that afternoon, [Simental] joined the girls in a pool in the backyard. While in the pool, [Simental] sexually molested [J.W.] and another girl (Doe 1) in separate incidents. Doe 1’s sister, Doe 2, had previously been molested on two occasions by [Simental].” Doe 1 and Doe 2 told their mother about Simental molesting them. The mother contacted an elder of the congregation, and a judicial committee was convened. Simental admitted he molested Doe 2 on two occasions, and that he molested Doe 1 twice on July 15. The judicial committee reproved Simental. The principal of Doe 1 and Doe 2’s school was notified of the abuse, and s/he reported it to law enforcement. Approximately two months after July 15, J.W.’s parents received a telephone call from the Murrieta Police Department asking if Simental sexually abused J.W. J.W.’s father (Father) spoke to the elders of the Mountain View congregation who advised Father that J.W. did not have to speak with the police. J.W. and her family began attending a different congregation—the French Valley Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Unbeknownst to J.W. and her family, Simental also moved to the French Valley congregation. Approximately one year after July 2006, J.W. informed her parents of the extent of Simental’s sexual touching. J.W.’s parents spoke to the police and then to the elders of the French Valley congregation.

The elders came to J.W.’s home and “interrogated JW, who was approximately ten years of age, about the abuse in explicit detail. JW, and her parents, were very upset by the explicit nature of the questions asked, and the depth to which the Elders probed for information.” Father told the elders that he was thinking of requesting a restraining order against Simental. The elders told Father that he did not need to speak to the police, “and that to do so would bring reproach on the congregation.” In two criminal cases, Simental was found guilty of molesting Doe 1, Doe 2, and J.W.2 J.W.’s first cause of action was for negligence. J.W. asserted Watchtower had a duty to protect J.W., who was entrusted to Watchtower’s care by J.W.’s parents. J.W. asserted Watchtower had a duty to control Simental and prevent him from sexually molesting children. J.W. alleged that Watchtower was “aware, prior to the sexual abuse of [J.W.] herein, of [Simental’s] dangerous and exploitive propensities. [Watchtower was] also aware that [it] had the ability to place restrictions on [Simental’s] access to children, service and preaching activities, give warnings to the congregation, and otherwise control Simental’s conduct.”

Watchtower's defense is that the slumber party was not a watchtower sponsored event and I stopped reading after that.