Posts by Hoffnung

24

exJW Psychology 105--"Are You Ready for The Big A?"

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

jw
friends

i don't know how many others have gotten this question that i got recently.

i wonder if it was the co that thought this would be a great question to try to reactivate someone like me:.

at the time, i was kinda blindsided by the question and gave just an okay response.

Hoffnung

hi Sauloftarsus,

welcome to this board. the ideas we were programmed to believe an defend as JW's are more deeply entrenched in us than we want to admit. please take your time to do a lot of research here, jwfacts.com and many other places on the net (by all means, consider all sides of the argument) on what you consider your belief system. after all, if it is the truth, it will stand up against all scrutiny. it can be a bumpy ride, but you will be enlightened by doing so. many others on this board like you have made the journey

Hoffnung

37

I think my fade has hit a rut. Do I need to grow a pair?

by konceptual99 in

jw
friends

so here i am after about 18 months of wake up.

the first 6 months were a rollercoster of feelings as my whole belief system unravelled.

the last year has been more stable but things seem like they are just stalling now.. my wife is aware of many of my feelings although i have held back the fact that i am pretty close to denying all belief in any kind of god.

Hoffnung

Do not underestimate the effect of feeding little nuggets one at a time. It is like removing small chips. If you have done it long enough, one small push can make the tower tumble. In the mean time it is important to be and to show you are a good husband and father, and to slosly prepare for the life beyond the watchtower, that is building a circle of non-jw friends

25

Something NEW is happening with Jehovah's Witnesses on the internet

by Watchtower-Free in

dramatic growth is being reported on facebook.

groups of xjws.. .

ex-jehovah's witness recovery group 3 admin.

Hoffnung

Peak publishers is any way not real, since it includes publishers that reported too late a month earlier are counted twice (report of previous + current month). the real figure is the avarage number.

30

New! Borg instruct to report tract placements

by pixel in

there's a new letter coming up next week to be read instructing the publishers to begin reporting the number of tracts placed in the ministry, including copies of kingdom news 38, annual invitations, district handbills and other tracts.

lol.

see, the borg is allegue about numbers, and why on earth do they tell you to start counting placement in the middle of a campaing, like the one they are doing now witk kingdom news 38 and not before it started??.

Hoffnung

an excellent way to "measure" your "spirituality", and stir up some competition among the "friends". less than a 1000 tracts last year? you are not spiritual enough for privileges.

next year the application forms for bethel will be revised with the following question:

"write down how many tracts you placed over the last 6 months. if it is less than 1000, explain why........."

morale of the story: to be a publisher in good standing, you have to "place" more tracts (or throw more tracts in the bin, whatever you prefer)

77

The murmuring phase is the beginning of an ex-JWs progression towards fading.

by Stand for Pure Worship in

jw
friends

i suppose part of the fascination i have with this board is, the exotic nature of those making up the member population.

i say exotic because, as you yourselves will agree with, folks such as yourselves don't hang around the christian congregation for long upon making the decision that truth is not for you.

(rom 1:25) this "fading" thing spoken of here likely plays a role into why christians such as me find the average ex-jw to be a bit fascinating.

Hoffnung

the reasons why people leave the organization is usually a combination of things. it is very shallow to always put the blame on those who leave and never question yourselves. Ultimately it will lead to the moral implosion of the organization. Although I did not understand back then the volume of lies I was thought by the organization, the moment when I realized that my doubts were well founded, i questioned myself and my motives, and gave ample time for the organization to convince me i was wrong, which you could label murmuring phase. However it did the exact opposite, it proclaimed theories like "overlapping generations", etc, which demonstrated in what kind of darkness they are. Never ever did I discredit the hard work of the elders, or higher official, i just realized they were applying the wrong instructions. I pondered a long time if it would be the right thing to leave, and looking now back on it, yes it is. Since there is no possibility to honestly explain to the friends the valid reasons why the organization is not having the truth, showing it by leaving an empty seat in the hall is the best one can do. I can now see, whereas inside the organization I was blind. Since those inside do not know what it means to be able to see, the only standard reaction is to call the ones who are learning to see "murmurers", instead of asking yourselves what there is to see.

47

The GENERATION explanation is now a BOLD FACE LIE

by scotoma in

jw
friends

when i first heard about the new "generation" explanation i was confused because i didn't see clearly how they were explaining it.. now it looks like they finally figured it out for themselves and it is no longer confusing.. it is now a simple, ignorant, bold face lie.. this is from the january 1st watchtower.

(and i hope to hell someone from writing gets wind of this).

paragraph 15 page 31 blue stands for the exact words in the watchtower.

Hoffnung

In essence JW are coming from the Millerites, who did not see Jesus come in the 1800s. Instead of recognizing the failure and moving on, explanations have been cooked up to cover the unfulfilled prophecy. it is very near, already for more than 150 years...

6

Best proof to give a JW that humans history is older than 6000 years?

by Mr Fool in

looking for proven evidences.

can it be proven that jerichos walls were built 8000bc?.

.

Hoffnung

you would 1st have to prove that the flood was not a worldwide event, which is easy enough, and only when that hurdle is taken, you can move on

15

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TESTING WITH EVIL NAD ALLOWING OTHERS TO DO IT?

by blondie in

jw
friends

*** w09 4/15 p. 6 par.

16 job held high the name of jehovah ***.

even when crushed by the news of the death of his children, job did not ascribe anything improper to god.

Hoffnung

Keep in mind it was intended as poetry

6

So what exactly is GB 2.0 ?

by EdenOne in

i've seen it mentioned by several people here, this expression "gb 2.0", but somehow i'm not entirely sure what is meant with it.. i tend to read it as governing body version 2, as in "post-milton henschel governing body", that is, when the governing body became separated from the board of directors from the watchtower society, or when the wts no longer had a member of the gb as its president, i.e.

the end of the "president's era" in the wts.. is that your understanding also?.

but in that case, with the death of russel and the takeover from rutherford, wouldn't that be also a watchtower 2.0 of sorts ?.

Hoffnung

According to the "organized to be apostates" book page 0, its the generation of overlapping gb members that were appointed during the time that still some "original gb members were still serving. Original members could be Carey Barber, john barr. Overlapping members: tony the turd, sam herd, gerrit losch, david splane.

41

All Things Fulffilled In The1st Century

by maccauk11 in

all things were fulfilled in the 1st century.it was obvious the messiah was talking to the people in that generation not a generation 2000 years later.. christianity has for 2000 years placed itself in the shoes of those 1st century beleivers and think all things pertainott hem today.when infact none of it does.

the prohecise of the messiah cmae true in the 1st century including revelation which is symbolic, metaphorical apocolyptic language showing all tha thad been done .

the kingdom is here.the king rules and has done for 2000 years.

Hoffnung

I agree with quite a lot of what cassuk11 wrote. The biggest problem I see, is that it is generally accepted that the book of Revelation was written in the last 5 years of the 1st century (which I am not going to doubt, there are no tangible indications that it has been written earlier). to have the letter or scroll circulated throughout the congregations would take also a considerable amount of time. hence it is logic to look towards a fulfilment somewhere around 125 AD. The only candidate for this, would be the more complete destruction of Jerusalem in 132 AD I believe. Apparantly it was that bad that the romans had a plow going over the remains of Jerusalem. It also at this point that christians got thrown out of the synagogues. Unfortunately this period is less documented than the destruction in 70.

However I believe also that the return of Jesus happened in 70, and that God stopped his detailed dealings with humans latest about 60 years later. Death has been overcome by resurrection, and not by eternal life in the flesh or by lifting of bodies into heaven. The Kingdom was founded at or around pentecost 33, there is no reason whatsoever that it should not have happened very shortly after the ransom was paid. There is absolutely no foundation whatsoever to project any of this to our time. Unfortunately we are just humans with a mortal body, that can get a resurrection into a spritual one, which implicates we will live our lives until we die, and only then can enter the spiritual realm as described in the bible. Big daddy is not going to come to miracoulously intervene in our life time to give us an eternal life on this planet.