Posts by DesirousOfChange

18

Steve Let has been cloned

by JohnR1975 in

he looks completely different and he doesn’t do that raised eyebrows and funny mouth that he used to.

and something is going on with his hair.

is it a combover or a wig or is that even him?

DesirousOfChange

One good thing that can be said about Stephen Lett--

I think he alone has helped many JWs determine that there is NOTHING SPECIAL* about these fools.

*Special -- well, maybe he rode the "short bus" to school.

James Peron ...

10

bethel's morning worship was concluded with the announcement that antony morris iii is reappointed at the governing body with effect from july 2, 2025.. the reason for this deeply considered decision is the new understanding of toasting before consuming a drink.

the appointment of brother morris is an evidence of jehovah's blessing on the careful and conscientious efforts of the governing body.. g. .

DesirousOfChange

At first glance at the title, of course I thought it was true.

NOTHING would surprise me anymore!

Doc

12

Demonic Influence While Intoxicated

by EisMe in

scripture consistently warns against intoxication, highlighting how substance abuse weakens judgment and opens individuals to spiritual deception.

while various herbs were used in biblical worship, they were only burned as incense, never smoked or ingested.

additionally, there is no historical record of marijuana being used in ceremonial worship, either in the bible or among ancient civilizations.. warnings against intoxication and loss of judgment.

DesirousOfChange

I always how the WTS handles it now that medical marijuana is legal in some states in the US as well in other countries?

My understanding here in the USA is that WT treats medically prescribed MJ (in States where medical MJ is legal) as any other prescribed medication, which surprises me somewhat because, it is still illegal under federal law (though not enforced, at least not usually enforced).

How is this rendering Caesar's things to Caesar?

13

Daniel 2:42 , is it really unstable democratic governments?

by raymond frantz in

in its latest front page article titled “political turmoil that fulfills bible prophecy”, jw.org once again attempts to connect current world events with the vision found in daniel chapter 2, particularly the image composed of various metals.

their interpretation of daniel 2:42 is laid out in the following paragraph: "the feet of the image are made ‘partly of iron and partly of clay,’ a combination that is inherently weak.

(daniel 2:42) today, the power of both the united states and britain is weakened by elements within their own societies.

DesirousOfChange

It never fails to amaze me how they describe things that are always happening and treat them as if they are a unique sign that can be used to mark a time period. This is such a common theme among end-times predictions.

Or as someone put it: "It was the worst of times. It was the best of times."

From "A History of the End of the World"

One of the first predictions which tried to nail down the end of the world to a particular day was given by a bishop in what is today Portugal, by the name of Hydatius. Hydatius lived in a time and place where the Roman empire had gone, and chaos reigned. His prediction for the end of the world came from the Gospel of Thomas, which is one of the apocryphal books of the bible. Those are the books of the bible that basically didn’t make the cut because they couldn’t be authenticated. Hydatius predicted the return of Jesus and the end of the world on May 27, 482. He actually died in 469, so he wasn’t around to know if his prediction came true.

Another early specific prediction came from a monk known as Beatus of Liébana, who lived in what is today northern Spain. He wrote a treatise called Commentary on the Apocalypse in 776 where he predicted the end of the world would come on April 6, 793.

On March 25, 970, the feast of the Annunciation fell on Good Friday. There were several theologians which believed this was the date that the world was created, so they figured this would be the day that it ended.

The year 1000 was a big time for end of the world predictions. Everyone was concerned about Y1K because of a line in the Book of Revelations that says After a thousand years have passed, Satan, released from his prison, will leave to seduce the nations of the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog and, as numerous as the sand of the sea, to muster them for the war “.

Now we have over a 1000 years of more "End of the World" bullshit. It never ends. That is the predictions will never end. The world might if mankind fucks up things beyond repair.

15

"Slimboyfat" response why I have Witnesses for dinner.

by Witness 007 in

he asked why we have them over for dinner....we are not disfellowshiped just faded away so we can still have dinner with witness friends now we have known for 10 years.

alot of "faders" do same.

you might listen to afew dumb scriptures from them but still friends..

DesirousOfChange

. . . . people quietly standing on the side while wholesale abuse of every sort is allowed and promoted are imho not a good person.

That's an interesting perspective. We have had PIMO friends & family encourage us to come back for the social network. But there are a few reasons why we do not consider that.

1- I don't think I could sit there through these 5th grade programs and not get caught rolling my eyes or laughing.

2- Someone might assume that we do totally support the bOrg because we attend regularly.

3- I'd end up getting "removed" because I think some of my former associates would work until they "caught me" at something they could run with to the elders. Better to be just "inactive".

But it reminds me of this quote:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not not speak out --- because I was not a socialist,” goes through a series of other oppressed, but ignored, groups, and ends with, “and then they came for me --- and there was no one left to speak for me,”

The greatest revenge is living a happy & successful life!

15

"Slimboyfat" response why I have Witnesses for dinner.

by Witness 007 in

he asked why we have them over for dinner....we are not disfellowshiped just faded away so we can still have dinner with witness friends now we have known for 10 years.

alot of "faders" do same.

you might listen to afew dumb scriptures from them but still friends..

DesirousOfChange

Its hard to walk away from friendships but I found that over time, the hardcore JW friends I had couldn't handle any doubt cast on their beliefs and it was easier to part ways.

I find that true. I "stepped down" 25 years ago and started my doubting phase about 5 years later. Then took another 10 years to completely fade. I had one elder friend (elder in both ways) who kept in touch and we exchanged calls every couple of months. That final phase finally ended a year or two ago when the calls stopped.

I wonder what keeps him going as he is an intelligent guy and has witnessed all the same issues that caused my doubts, but he's still there. Most of his children are PIMI, so he has that at risk if he would leave, but at 80-ish, "where would he go"?

66

They are running out of people to do their stuff.

by liam in

this is the watchtower study article being studied today.

so it’s the current new light!.

what are the new qualifications to be an “elder-aka older man...and circuit overseer?.

DesirousOfChange

There is a window just under teens or perhaps early teens and if the young person doesn’t get baptised at that time then that’s it. They go through to 20s unbaptised then that’s it they leave

And based on events I am hearing, they are aggressively working to keep that generation from leaving. A PIMO family member tells me there is an unbaptised 10 or 11 year old son of one of the prominent elders who is now walking the mics.

7

What was your deconstruction process from being a jw?

by Touchofgrey in

i became aware of jws and the un ,so i checked the internet and found it was true that they were a member, and that led me down the rabbits hole and started to look into the history of the bible students and the behaviour of russell and rutherford etc ,and how much the teaching changed and the internal politics and the failed end of the world teachings etc.. i then found myself in a no man's land regarding god and the bible, i then began to use critical thinking regarding the bible and if there was a god , looking into the origins of the bible and it's stories eg adam and eve story, flood legends, exodus from egypt and if the jesus story was historical or not etc .. looking at the origin of our universe and the planet earth led me to the conclusion that no god exists.

.

the purpose of this topic is just to understand your deconstruction purpose from the jws and not to get into arguments about our now held beliefs or lack of.

DesirousOfChange

I was a true believer. Hook. Line. And sinker. I even convinced myself that the 1995 "generation new light" (to'te) made sense. (WTF was I thinking?)

But the several events made me question the divine direction of the Holy Spirit.

An MS who was appointed to Elder while he had been carrying on an adulterous affair for 8 years.

An Elder who was assigned to give the Keynote talk at the District Assembly while having an adulterous affair with a women with whom he was "studying". He even delayed resigning and confessing until after the convention as he still believe the HS had elected him because he was "the best speaker to deliver that talk". (He only planned to be DFd for a little while.)

Either they fooled the HS, or. . . . . . there is no HS direction.

Seems like there is an obvious answer to that now.

13

Fancy dress up parties were banned by Elders after our 2nd one

by Witness 007 in

so i grew up in a small town with lots of witnesses so being bored we had two fancy dress up parties now some brothers came with swords and fake guns as pirates or cowboys one brother who was a pioneer came dressed as a woman!

the elders smashed us in a talk they gave and these fun parties were cancelled..

DesirousOfChange

Country Line Dancing was "banned" in our circuit many years ago when it was popular. Seems that too many couples went from line dancing to the "horizontal tango" with each other's wife.

6

Video: I Am Not An Apostate . . . I Had The Courage To Think For Myself (By Exjw Danny)

by AbaddonProvesIt in

i had the courage to think for myself!

they’ll call us apostates.

but really, we just had the courage to think for ourselves.

DesirousOfChange

They must accept that Jehovah will [very, very] frequently mislead his people by giving the GB the wrong information or knowledge. (I fixed that omission for you.)
If you come to the perfectly reasonable conclusion that a group of men who have to constantly correct themselves may not be getting their information direct from God... you are an apostate.

Of course, they are not infallible nor inspired and they admitted in writing in the WT rag that they can "make mistakes in doctrine and organizational direction" and at the Annual Meeting they admitted ~~sometimes~~ often "they simply DO NOT KNOW".

Deut 18:20-22

20 But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god must die.’

21 “But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ 22 If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.