Posts by DesirousOfChange

32

Can you list the positive points of being a JW as against the negative points of being a JW in your experience ?

by smiddy3 in

i was a twenty y/old when i converted to the jw religion and was a problem drinker and i was a chain smoker .when i was baptized at a circuit assembly a year later , my conversion and change in lifestyle was given as an example of the effectiveness of incidental witnessing to the audience.. so i can point to the 2 positives becoming a jw .. 1.i gave up smoking.

2.i gave up drinking for a while ,but because i still had association with my wife`s and my family who were not jw`s ,i learnt to control my social drinking when i started again.. and i have been a responsible drinker ever since ,even though i left the religion 29 years ago.. the negative points of being a jw in my 32 years of being one ?

are far too great to list here .. love to hear your thoughts..

DesirousOfChange

I think there are good things that can be said about being a JW and living by those "rules" does have advantages. I know of people's lives that have been changed dramatically for the better when becoming a JW and giving up booze, drugs, etc.. Sure they could have gotten that elsewhere . . . . . but they didn't.There is also the benefit of having a network of people willing to come to your aid in a crisis. IMO that is RARE elsewhere.

My primary gripe is the harmful affect being a JW has on personal achievement, ie, education and pursuing things that make one successful in life. One cannot give all of their time and effort to an Organization (see there, I did NOT say Cult) at the expense of one's own welfare without it having serious negative affects on their financial well-being and otherwise (even the matter of pursuing work that is "doing good" for "society". And then there are also the issues of being an "oddball" in society and the health risks (ie, blood transfusion ban).

But bottom line, there ARE some positive factors/benefits as a JW (IMHO).

117

14 kids dead and one teacher at Texas school shooting.

by jojorabbit in

another shooting, this time 14 kids dead more wounded and a teacher dead.

i am all for the second amendment and this does not change my mind.

but i do hate this kind of thing, makes my stomach turn.

DesirousOfChange

I believe that the bigger issue here is that we do not punish illegal ownership as harshly as we should,

Seems to me that we don't "punish" illegal anything now.

Also, I had to stop and take note of the commenter who compared abortions to shooting deaths.

Over 600,000 unborn babies "murdered" vs fewer than 25,000 homicides by all means, and about 500 deaths from mass shooting incidents (worst year, 2019).

We need a new bumper sticker: "(Only) Some Lives Matter"

4

Thanks for this site!

by Foolednomore in

jw
friends

thanks for this site and six screens of watchtower.

.

DesirousOfChange

Somehow I doubt Simon appreciates the two sites being linked in the same comment.

68

Prediction of how Watchtower going to be in 5 Years.

by Foolednomore in

jw
friends

i can see it that watchtower will become an online/tv based group with just con-vention hall$.. field service would be letter writing and phone preaching, door to door is done.. watchtower will have pay to view programs and still ask for donations after all that.. zoom meetings are here to stay.

kingdumb halls will be sold off except for con-vention venues, or need for new ones$.. df'ing will continue.

the craziness will continue.

DesirousOfChange

I have elders coming into my businesses and tell my that Geehovah blessed me well and I need to give back to Geehovah.

Carlin - God Needs Money - Imgflip

9

The attorneys gave us bad advice.

by Lost in the fog in

the attorneys gave them bad advice, and when contacted the wt says we don't comment on specific cases.

what a cop out!.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20220521/jehovahs-witness-elders-who-failed-to-report-child-abuse-got-bad-advice-say-local-pastors-attorneys.

DesirousOfChange

They will be applauded for "taking one [unscriptural judgement] for The Team". They suffer at the hands of Caesar who is no more than a puppet of the Devil.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

DesirousOfChange

It is a shame Lloyd Evans just isn't a better man.

THIS!

But it is not uncommon for someone who is struggling with a moral problem seeking to "get closer" to their God for some kind of penance. "Dear God, please forgive me for what I did and I will......." [do this for you].

I suspect Lloyd was a real zealot as a young JW and still would be except they kicked him out. So, not being the kind of person to just go away, he went away mad and turned his energy toward "getting even" with the group that rejected him.

So much for my Psych 101 class.

Stepping off of soapbox,

Doc

49

Start of the Great Tribulation will be announced soon

by joey jojo in

at the 2021 annual meeting, samuel herd revealed new light and claimed the anointed will all have passed away before armageddon.

it has since been revealed that while they will die before armageddon, there will be some anointed still around that will witness the start of the great tribulation.. so the question is, how many years until the existing members of the governing body have passed away?.

im not a doctor, but based on their age and various stages of obesity, im thinking 10- 15 years- give or take, sounds about right.. with that in mind, the great tribulation could be announced any day.. the new understanding has now freed the org from the burden of having to identify a particular generation in relation to the date of armageddon.

DesirousOfChange

It is threads like this that leave me incredulous - how did I , how did WE ever believe this stuff ?

DITTO

I'm embarrassed. I am certainly glad that, thanks to the pitiful accomplishments of the World Wide Preaching Work, all of my "worldly" friends really know very little about JW doctrine lest they would likely think I am a total sucker and fool.

35

What is "Brazen" conduct according to new 'Shepherd the Flock of God' book

by TastingFreedom in

jw
friends

what is brazen conduct according to the watchtower?.

here are some references from the new flock book:.

they have really pushed the envelope to bundle a bunch of things into one really evil word.

DesirousOfChange

This is the "catch-all" if they want you out but cannot really find you guilty of a "real" offense.

45

My story

by PimoElder in

hi everyone i’m a pimo elder ex bethelite and pioneer who has been having doubts for many years.

as of late i’ve come to have even more doubts mainly due to the gb pushing the vaccines and acting like salesman for big pharma companies .

i will never take these vaccines even if it meant i couldn’t go to the hall as was previously said but the gb have done a big u turn on this now.

DesirousOfChange

Don't go away mad.

Just go away!

Thanks Simon!

34

History repeated: pre-1975 trend of selling homes to ‘downsize’

by LongHairGal in

jw
friends

i saw this thread on reddit.

i think the reason for this is that the 1975 fiasco is never mentioned in the jw religion.

nobody mentioned it to me when i came in the years after.. the problem with this is that all the sad stories were never told (or hushed up) of people who sold off homes, etc.

DesirousOfChange

1975 -- you must realize that if a person isn't at least 50 years old they remember nothing about the 1975 fiasco. Thus those who do remember it first-hand have so many years invested in the religion by this time that many are likely hesitant to chuck it all away. It is a case of "where else would we go" because it's their life's network.