Posts by DesirousOfChange

196

would you be more happy not knowing what you now know?

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

a good question is would you be more happy not knowing what you now know?.

were you more happy pimi?

are all the pimis more happy than the the pimos or the pomos?.

DesirousOfChange

I have actually pondered over that more than once. The "red pill/blue pill" dilemma. I used to be able to think that all the injustices in the world would eventually be corrected by Sky Daddy. That's a nice thought! Now I have had to face the fact that it will never happen. There will always be injustices and "bad" peopled that take advantage of "good" people.

I have also pondered it when attending the Memorial Service of an older, faithful JW -- they "believed" right to the end (their end). A wonderful couple. He was a CO for decades. Went to prison for refusing to join the Army in WW2. The last "grandfatherly" CO that we had. Now they are all "Company Men". More an auditor than a minister. He died not realizing "the prize" but was certain he would receive it after his resurrection. They had a good life serving others, gaining the love and respect of 1000's of JW's. Would it have been better for him to have taken the "red pill"? I cannot honestly say that I think that would have been better for him/them.

36

We are now 23 Years past Armageddon as the GB stated

by JohnTron7 in

so the end was going to come by 2000 as documented in the magazines back in the late 80's early 90's.. so how did they get the time off so badly ( over two decades and still nothing) since the gb is jehovah's earthly mouthpiece right ?

.

DesirousOfChange

I'm pretty certain I have the 1961 WT bound volume posted on page 2 here. Does anyone know if it was changed when they reprinted it in the bound volume?

100

American Healthcare: How your system works

by Diogenesister in

canada has universal healthcare.

the consensus is that america never will.

can anyone explain why, please?

DesirousOfChange

Very beneficial/interesting discussion.

I learned that as a citizen of the USA, my taxes are lower, gasoline is lower ($3.19 USG), I pay less for food & utilities & housing. So I guess I'll quit bitching about my taxes. My State has an average of 8% sales tax on most items, but only 3% on food. Some States have no sales tax. Others have no State income tax. But I think we have higher cost for medical care and esp for Rx drugs.

For comparison purposes, I have a 4,000 SF (370 SM) home w/ 5 bedrooms & 5 bathrooms on 1/3 acre. Because I live in the Midwest where the cost of housing is lower than either coast, it's value is about $500,000. On either coast, it would be double, triple, or quadruple that value. My home's monthly utilities (water, electric & gas) totals about $300/MO. We have 5 cars. My highest mileage car gets 22 mpg. My lowest gets less than 10 mpg and requires premium octane gasoline at $3.59/USG but I only drive it about 3,000 miles per year. We are "middle class" (some might think "upper middle class"), but certainly not exceptional. Professional people (doctors, lawyers, engineers) earn far more than I. In the USA about 20% of working individuals earn over $100,000/year. Those in the top 10% usually earn over $250,000/yr.

I'm afraid I know very little about how that compares in other places in the world.

100

American Healthcare: How your system works

by Diogenesister in

canada has universal healthcare.

the consensus is that america never will.

can anyone explain why, please?

DesirousOfChange

Of course many Americans would like Universal Health Care. Problem is they want it for "free". Or, at least they want it at someone else's expense. The truly poor can get free healthcare, esp women & children. Free to them at least. Someone has to pay for it in the end. And of course, that's the citizens who are working and paying taxes. About 50% of Americans pay NO income tax but many still receive a "refund" via the Earned Income Credit.

Most of us (who do pay taxes) think our taxes are high enough already. For example -- If my employer pays a $10,000 bonus for Christmas (or end of year bonus) to me, the cost to the company is $10,765 (plus some other minor taxes based on that amount). After federal, state, local and social security taxes are withheld from my bonus, I will receive about $6,000 total (or only about 55% of what it cost my employer).

At what point am I paying enough in taxes to provide benefits to others (many of whom pay NO taxes)? Plus, for the 40+ years I worked, I paid all or part of my health insurance cost of premiums, plus still had to pay a deductible and co-pay (usually 10%). Now that I'm over 65 yo, I qualify for the federally provided Medicare health insurance (which covers elderly & disabled). But I still am required to pay some costs out-of-pocket. Last year that amount was $4000. Plus, often we must appeal to get procedures that the insurance company originally denies.

There ain't no free lunch.

19

Normal people don't give a darn if you're a witness

by XBEHERE in

jw
friends

this was posted on exjw reddit, check it out if some of you never have.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/13q6k5l/normal_people_dont_give_a_darn_if_youre_a_witness/ .

i find this to be the case, people in general are so not interested in religion that they really could care less about jws.

DesirousOfChange

The vast majority of people neither know nor care what JWs believe. ~ Ding

I'd add to that that the vast majority of JW's do not know what they believe.

7

Dr Heather Ransom's Story in the Daily Mail newspaper

by LostintheFog1999 in

following on from the rebekah vardy tv programme last week, dr heather ransom's story is in the daily mail.. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12097861/my-family-friends-rejected-fled-jehovahs-witnesses.html.

DesirousOfChange

There's more "out" than still "in." ~ Wing Commander

I believe that is true now! I am constantly hearing that so-and-so is "out" or "not attending".

8

My neighbour's views on J.W's

by Phizzy in

jw
friends

i came across a thread on a site for neighbours, which includes quite a wide area really, many square miles containing a lot of villages, and a couple of towns.

it is so we can swap unwanted goods, inform each other of local crimes and scams etc, and we can vent.. there was a post that said the lady did not want this crap coming through her door, a letter and a tract from a j.w.

i won't post the thread here , as at least one xjw is on there, but all the comments below her post were anti-jw !

DesirousOfChange

I do not find that surprising. People are constantly harassed by unwanted solicitations, though here it is mostly unwanted phone calls from "robots". Being on the "Do Not Call" list has no affect. We receive many solicitations by a card placed on our door knob or stuck in the door (kinda like JW tracts), but almost no one actually knocks any more. For one thing, I think most are smart enough to have come to the conclusion that no one is at home in at most residences during the day. At least the letters are easy to toss into the "round file" and typically they look so unprofessional (hand written, by kids who are "pioneering"). I think the heydays are over for WT.

23

All the Old JW Acquaintances Passing Away

by StephaneLaliberte in

yesterday, my dad told me an older sister passed away.

she wasn't too old (in her 60s), but i knew her 30 years ago and haven't seen her in 15 years; the main reason being that i faded 10 years ago.. yesterday, i seriously considered attending the funeral and catch-up with old jws i used to know.

after thinking it over, i decided against it.

DesirousOfChange

Many older ones here, for whom we had great respect have passed.

Word is they are getting their reward in Paradise via "the underground".

So sad that they wasted 30 or 40 or 50 or more years clinging to an empty hope.

81

Acts 15:29 - "keep abstaining from blood"

by aqwsed12345 in

for a christian, only the moral commandments of the old testament are binding (as they cannot change), but the various liturgical, social, and other so-called casuistic laws no longer apply to them.

this includes dietary habits, such as the prohibition of pork or fat, as well as the prohibition of blood.. take a look at the following verses: mt 15:11, mk 7:15-19, acts 11:7-9, 1 tim 4:3-5.. the jehovah's witnesses say that, yes, but in the acts of the apostles (15) the consumption of blood, idol meat, and strangled animals is also prohibited, meaning the new testament still forbids it.

for catholics, the council of florence settled this issue, stating that this apostolic regulation was only a temporary measure to facilitate agreement between jews and gentiles in the early church.

DesirousOfChange

Sorry. I can no longer GAS.

10

Do Your Own Research.

by LostintheFog1999 in

there were several times when i was inside the congregation that i met up with a problem in my life and on mentioning it at a group i would be told to do my own research about it.. of course, they didn't mean for me to research worldly material for the answer but to use the wt indexes and look into the wt society magazines.. it was only when i started to do my own research outside of the wt that i began to see the limited scope of the society's magazines as all problems usually fell into the category of 1. read the bible, attend meetings, go out on the work, and pray; or 2. this isn't going to be fixed now but in the new world god will sort it out and the former things (what you are suffering from now) will not be called to mind.. i wonder how many people still in are struggling and are not being encouraged to research away from the organisation where they would receive practical and valuable advice?.

DesirousOfChange

I recall "researching" the 1995 generation change. I had about 40 WT publications stacked up on my desk. Of course, I finally determined that it "made sense". That decision cost me another 15 years of my life. I did NOT do that with the change to "overlapping generations". In fact, I did not even need to "research" that. It was so clearly Bullshit that I couldn't even get past the smell.

Doc

The greatest revenge is living a happy & successful life!