Posts by Quendi

15

Hitler's and Rutherford's plan for a New World

by Lady Lee in

i have mentioned this before but never quoted it so i think for many it was not really paid much attention.

but today i pulled the book off the shelf and found the quote (which i posted on another thread but i want to add a few things to the quotes.. after russell died and rutherford illegally seized the presidency of the wts he was faced with the huge problem that russell's "organization" was a rather loosely organizations that were independently controlled by the local congregations.

the society had little control of what people believed.

Quendi

Thanks, Lady Lee, for this. Of course, it directly contradicts the WTS version of how the “theocracy” was established in the organization. While admitting to appointing a “Service Director” by the Society for each congregation, the official version is this was done only to facilitate work in the field service—work which Rutherford himself never engaged in, being “too busy” as he said with writing and administrative work. Also, the Society claims it was a congregation in London which asked the Society to appoint all of its officers rather than have them chosen by direct election in the congregation. That was in 1938, but this request fit in with Rutherford’s program all along.

The truth is, as you point out, that Rutherford had been planning all along to turn the WTS and the congregations of the International Bible Students into his own personal kingdom. I have also read the book 30 Years a Watchtower Slave and was appalled at the abuse and evils Rutherford committed during his all too long 25-year administration. It is clear that Rutherford no more valued human rights and freedom than any other dictator has. Starting with his purge of four of the Society’s directors after he assumed the presidency, he worked steadily on destroying the autonomy of the individual congregations and melding them into a single organization which he alone would control.

Looking at the sad state of the WTS today, we can see the roots of the tyranny it now exercises and the cult it has created in the actions of J. F. Rutherford more than ninety years ago. Rutherford’s successors have never relinquished control over the individual congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses and never will. The only course for those who value their freedom is to leave and never look back.

Quendi

63

Are the Witnesses Really Losing Their Young People?

by What Now? in

that article about jehovah's witnesses having the lowest retention rate for born ins keeps popping up every now again ... i'm just curious if any of you have noticed that this is actually the case.

in the congregation that i grew up in, i'm going to say that 95% of the young people in their teens to mid twenties are either regular pioneering, regular auxiliary pioneering, serving in foreign language congregations or where the need is greater.

both of my younger sisters are regular pioneers - and the young people in their hall even organize 8 pm to midnight service on friday nights of their own accord.

Quendi

I completely agree with the assessment steve2 has given about this night-witnessing arrangement. It is unsupervised and the elders and parents who have allowed it are clearly naïve. These young people are using their time alone to explore things that are hardly spiritual in nature.

Many older people are clueless about how youth spend their time. When I taught in high school, I saw plenty of youths who led double lives. They would come to school dressed one way, but would change into different outfits they had stashed away in their lockers upon entering the building. The clothing they wore were not items their parents would have permitted them to wear at home. When the school day ended, they would change back into acceptable wear. Their parents had no idea this was going on until the kids’ teachers informed them.

I’ve engaged in night witnessing but certainly not on a Friday night and not into the late hours either. The night and the hours these young people have chosen should have immediately raised suspicions and not have been allowed. There are plenty of other alternatives for witnessing on the weekends that don’t involve going out on Saturday morning. But I also believe that neither the elders nor the parents of these young people really want to know what is going on. They are willfully and deliberately ignorant, as is so often the case.

Quendi

35

Shunning a myth says jw spokesman

by doofdaddy in

http://www.theage.com.au/national/jehovahs-witnesses-a-cruel-cult-20130315-2g5x3.htmlit's hotting up in australia regarding cults, especially tax free like jws but how is the response of vin toole (the australian wts legal mouth piece) regarding shunning!.

.

Quendi

I’m looking forward to the result of your letter of inquiry, Steve_C. I doubt that Toole will have the courage to directly answer you, but by all means, please keep us in the loop.

Quendi

140

WT Society holds EXTREME Responsibility for 1975 and False Expectations

by flipper in

jw
friends

however- many jw's who have come into the jw organization from like 1985 forward virtually may have no knowledge of the wt society's 1975 debacle and false predictions of the end times or armageddon predictions.

just like in in the book 1984 by george orwell the wt society has a way of not only erasing it's history so no newer witnesses will be aware of their false predictions, but also they are re-writing their history as if those false predictions never happened.. so for those of you here who may have never read or heard of how whipped up into an emotional frenzy witnesses were in the years just before 1975 by the wt society claiming the end was any day now- this threads for you.

to see the pressure that was put on jw's by the wt society to get rid of everything before " armageddon " .

Quendi

I haven’t read all the pages of this thread but wanted to contribute my experience. I first came in contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses as a boy in 1968. The frenzy leading to 1975 was well underway by then, having been incited by the book Life Everlasting—In Freedom of the Sons of God which had been released in 1966. By the time I started studying on my own in 1974, that frenzy was out of control.

Many of us had very high hopes as “the critical year 1975,” as Awake! breathlessly proclaimed, finally arrived. I remember the Memorial celebration that year was held on 27 March. After our congregation held its celebration, many of us walked outside the hall and stared up at the full moon and speculated that this might possibly be the very last Memorial we would ever celebrate. It was all very heady stuff for Yours Truly.

But, even though the 1975 talk was all the rage, not everyone was caught up and swept away by the hype. The man who studied with me, Terry Wheat, was far more circumspect that most. He constantly reminded me that my dedication to Jehovah was a lifelong one and would not terminate once Armageddon had come and gone. In his view, it didn’t matter when the end of the world came. What was more important was for each Witness to continue to live up to his dedication. I never forgot that.

Nobody in my Tuscaloosa, Alabama congregation sold homes or businesses. As a matter of fact, life continued as normal for all the Witnesses I knew. Many of them led ordinary and uncomplicated lives anyway and saw no reason to make radical changes. Quite a few had families to raise and elderly parents to care for and weren’t going to disrupt their lives on the hope the End would come. Seeing those examples definitely helped me to keep my emotional balance.

So while I felt disappointment when 1975 came and went with nothing happening, I stayed the course. I got baptized in January 1976 and labored in the WTS vineyard for many years thereafter. The first seeds of doubt were sown in me by the November 1, 1995 issue of The Watchtower with its twisted explanation of what a “generation” meant. I knew then something was seriously wrong with Witness theology, but it would take another twelve years before I finally realized that I needed to leave the cult forever.

Quendi

69

Do You Believe In ANYTHING That The Witnesses Taught At This Point In Your Life?

by minimus in

jw
friends

for example, they pride themselves in what they don't believe such as immortal souls, the trinity, hellfire, etc.. some exjws still believe it is the "truth" and support the basics.. .

Quendi

When it comes to the core beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I still believe in most if not all of them. I don’t believe in hellfire, the Trinity and the immortality of the soul; however I do believe in the eventual rule of God’s Kingdom over our planet. But I have discovered that there are others who espouse the same beliefs, and that these are not nor ever have been unique to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Today I have embraced preterism, or modern preterism as it is called by some. Among other things, I believe that the prophecy Jesus gave on the Mount of Olives was essentially fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70 although there are still other elements which have yet to come to pass.

I’ve gone back to celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays and observing some of the minor holidays. I will also become a registered voter this year for the first time in my life. But I still will not salute any flag nor sing patriotic songs because I see nationalism and patriotism as divisive.

Quendi

17

Pterism and partaking....

by DATA-DOG in

i had a very nice conversation with a christian man the other day.

it was so nice to speak to someone without fear.

i really just started unloading my burdens upon this man, and he was just awesome.

Quendi

As a “partial preterist” I also believe that partaking of communion is no longer relevant for Christians. Hence, when I attend other church services which feature communion, I remain in my seat. At the same time, I have no problem with those who do participate and partake in the ceremony.

Quendi

104

Yet another "Shunning is good for you, honest!" quote in the June 15th 2013 Watchtower

by cedars in

hi folks.

that's right, the new june 15th 2013 study edition is out now on this link.... http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/28/w_e_20130615.pdf.

the following quote caught my eye, from the final study article on page 28.... .

Quendi

Thanks for sharing your experience, rowan. It has only strengthened my resolve to never return to the cult. I also appreciate the point Billy the Ex-Bethelite made about the many who do not return. Only one-third of those who leave ever get back into the cult. As I told my judicial committee, that is a failing grade in anybody’s book and is evidence that this procedure does not have any scriptural or divine backing. Furthermore, the assertion the WTS makes that serious sinners are not disfellowshipped if they sincerely repent is a lie. You can be judged guilty of “practicing sin” as I was and no amount of contrition will prevent your disfellowshipping. My judicial committee told me that they didn’t want to put me out, “but we have no choice but to disfellowship you.” That judgment was based on the arcane and inhuman rules in the Flock guidebook all elders have.

Quendi

104

Yet another "Shunning is good for you, honest!" quote in the June 15th 2013 Watchtower

by cedars in

hi folks.

that's right, the new june 15th 2013 study edition is out now on this link.... http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/28/w_e_20130615.pdf.

the following quote caught my eye, from the final study article on page 28.... .

Quendi

I’ve noticed something about WTS-speak that has infiltrated my own speech and which I am working hard to root out. When speaking of different situations, the WTS often does not talk about the people involved. Rather, the organization is fond of using the word “ones.” An example has been cited already when The Watchtower talked about a “balanced view of disfellowshipped ones.” This has the subtle effect of dehumanizing everyone involved because we are not talking about living, breathing disfellowshipped people. Rather we are talking about disfellowshipped “ones” and can thus refuse to acknowledge and recognize their humanity.

While it is true that recently the focus has sharpened on disfellowshipped family members and those words as well as “relatives” have been used in the literature, the organization still endeavors to get its followers to dehumanize their former friends and fleshly family. Sometimes it is subtle and then there are times when the WTS stoops to name-calling and ad hominem attacks to get its point across. We’ve been talking a lot about the latter since that has come to the fore more recently, but I don’t think we should forget the indirect approaches which the organization also likes to use.

Quendi

98

It,s time to fight back, this is getting out of hand.

by jam in

any suggestions to bring a end to the attacks on us who have.

left the borg and continuing efforts to alienate our love one still.

in the borg.. how about this, we all send letters to hq, flood the mail room with.

Quendi

I find myself in complete agreement with Suraj Khan when he says nothing will sway the leaders of this execrable cult to change their thinking on both disfellowshipping and the subsequent shunning. One need only look at what their printed organs are saying about the practice. The entire blame for the situation has been placed on those who have been disfellowshipped or have disassociated themselves. As Theocratic Sedition sarcastically noted, all these erring ones have to do is “come back to Jehovah” and all will be forgiven. The fact that they also make returning very painful and difficult is something they will never publicly admit.

I also think that punkonice is right to say the best way to fight back is to keep the spotlight shining on this cult by spreading the word far and wide about its practices and beliefs. Breaking up families and ending friendships are only two of their myriad crimes, human rights abuses and hypocritical stances. We need to bring all of these other elements into the discussion as well so that outsiders can see how completely corrupt this organization is.

I don’t think that Data-Dog’s idea of a lawsuit based on defamation of character would work. The announcement now being read to congregations simply states, “So-and-So is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Where is the defamation in that? The WTS will simply say in any trial that is what disfellowshipping means and they will maintain their public stance that individual members can choose whether to shun family and friends. I love the idea of contacting somebody like CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

Quendi

104

Yet another "Shunning is good for you, honest!" quote in the June 15th 2013 Watchtower

by cedars in

hi folks.

that's right, the new june 15th 2013 study edition is out now on this link.... http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/28/w_e_20130615.pdf.

the following quote caught my eye, from the final study article on page 28.... .

Quendi

I find myself in complete agreement with sseveninches that the experience is absolutely fake. How could it not be? I remember what AnnOMaly pointed out that this was a recycled story. Only the names were changed to besmirch the innocent. This cult absolutely has no shame. The day of its demise can’t come soon enough. To follow up on what 00DAD said, snail mail will be allowed only if the matter is one of extreme urgency. Otherwise, you can be sure that oversight will be corrected to state that not even snail mail exchanges are permissible.

Quendi