Posts by Half banana

20

In view of the dire straits of the JW org, what now?

by Half banana in

to use a metaphor; any tower built on insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall..

the origin of the watchtower organisation was in the announcement of ct russells pet theory, formed from adventism that christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. within a biblical forty years i.e.1914, gods enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the earth.

he was completely wrong.. the watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam.

Half banana

Heaven, how could they do that when all would know they would be doing it as a survival tactic and not because they believe it?

6

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

by SecretSlaveClass in

if a thread has been made about this i apologize.. if anyone has not seen the latest hbo documentary release, "going clear: scientology and the prison of belief" i cannot recommend highly enough that you watch it.

as the majority of us here are either survivors of or still trapped in a cult ourselves, this documentary will most certainly intrigue you.

it's the most in-depth and extensively researched documentary on scientology ever and features interviews with ex-scientologists who were right at the top until they fell foul of their megalomaniacal, paranoid chairman of the board, david miscavige.. i have read some of l. ron hubbard's books out of curiosity and outright dismissed them as utter nonsense.

Half banana

Would like to see this SSC...it looks like scary cults are not the flavour of the day.

20

In view of the dire straits of the JW org, what now?

by Half banana in

to use a metaphor; any tower built on insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall..

the origin of the watchtower organisation was in the announcement of ct russells pet theory, formed from adventism that christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. within a biblical forty years i.e.1914, gods enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the earth.

he was completely wrong.. the watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam.

Half banana

To use a metaphor; any tower built on insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall.

The origin of the Watchtower organisation was in the announcement of CT Russell’s pet theory, formed from Adventism that Christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. Within a Biblical forty years i.e.1914, God’s enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the Earth. He was completely wrong.

The Watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by Rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam. These questionable building blocks are the "insufficient foundations” on which the Tower stands. The initial idea was utterly worthless in concept and practice, postponing “the date” has always and will ever prove futile... but it gained supporters, made a pyramid of money and empowered its leadership.

Doomsday teaching is a good business in snake-oil circles but as a notable American once said, “You can’t fool all the people all of the time”.

The organisation now appears to be on the verge of collapse. The appalling management of funds is amplified by dramatic reduction in income...probably induced by loss of belief and commitment by the membership and drop in numbers in the richer West. Compounding these disasters is the prospect of further crippling financial awards against them.

We can see the intellectual bankruptcy by science exposing the implausibility of the Bible. Their moral bankruptcy is now apparent from the sexual abuse handling and possibly is to be followed by financial bankruptcy.

How do you think it will go from here on?

22

are there really 8 million jw's?

by wannaexit in

jw
friends

last circuit assembly there was 700+ present and 1 baptized.. recently there was a foreign language assemble of over 500 and 1 baptized.. in the last 5-10 years i haven't been to one assembly where there has been more than a handful baptized.

at the memorial all i see are the same old faces that have been coming since the flood.. the hall complex i attend has 6 congregation and several groups-there is negative growth.

when you factor in the demographically aging folk and the many who have already passed away, i don't know where they get the 8 million.. i know that most of the growth is from the developing countries, but still i think they are fudging their numbers.

Half banana

If the numbers are true, it is no gage of the quality of its membership. How many are are there now just putting in time for the sake of looking active or one step below that, just reporting time without the effort for fear of reprisals.

Religions in the main are social affairs and to be a member and to belong somewhere is one of its perks.

Doctrine can be a take it or leave it thing. Perhaps to remain in business JW org will recognise this...but I hope they fail very publicly and completely.

22

How accurate is the Bible?

by WireRider in

how accurate is the bible?

the "compiled" version (council of nicaea) was not established for hundreds, or even thousands, of years after events happened.

stories were handed down generation to generation to generation before being written down.

Half banana

Welcome to the fray Wire rider!

The Bible is no more accurate than AK Rowling's books which share the same motifs of magic realism.

The great confidence trick was that performed by the Roman Catholic Church in the fourth century onwards demanding from the illiterate masses a belief that the Bible is sacred and from God. This untruth has been handed down the generations to the gullible ever since.

Science has an infinitely better method of determining truthfulness. The Bible as a guide to everything is an ignorant superstition which has had its day.

98

My Opinions on whats going on in WT land - Insider Information

by thedepressedsoul in

first off, i'd like to state that i currently have "privileges" in the congregation and volunteer at bethel on and off throughout the year.

that's as much information as i will currently give about myself.. starting off, i think something big is coming in the form of lawsuits and bad pr.

they seem to be batting down the hatches in preparation for something the last few years and even more so the last few months.

Half banana

Fisherman, the Watchtower have already lost; for eighty years they promised that the 1914 generation would see the end of the system. God is clearly not the slightest bit interested in this cult. The men at the top are a bunch of deluded bug-eyed loons.

16

Watchtower Toledo buildings renovation designed by STATE-OF-THE-ART designer office

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

for people who already are bedazzled by the current stream of information about watchtower / jw.org real estate planning, renovation and the emergency stop on the building programma called out, i found today that the renovation design of the (impressive!

) toledo buildings for the watchtower real estate staff, is designed by a state of the art designer.

http://www.hudsondesign.pro.

Half banana

@ under the radar, like ponderous Soviet concrete; style trying to break out but not making it to freedom.

16

Watchtower Toledo buildings renovation designed by STATE-OF-THE-ART designer office

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

for people who already are bedazzled by the current stream of information about watchtower / jw.org real estate planning, renovation and the emergency stop on the building programma called out, i found today that the renovation design of the (impressive!

) toledo buildings for the watchtower real estate staff, is designed by a state of the art designer.

http://www.hudsondesign.pro.

Half banana

Frankly I can't see architectural genius at work here. It is pedestrian and rooted in the past however expensive it might be. Perhaps the company saw a client with money and poor taste or one who wanted to express financial reliability through solidity and conservative values?

447

Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

by LaurenM in

do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

Half banana

I have a friend called Rodney, he wants everyone to be good towards each other, he looks after everyone but dang! The trouble is; he is invisible. As it happens, it was he who created the universe and he told me that he will kill those people who don’t believe in him but for all those who do, they will go into an everlasting paradise.

Qualitatively and philosophically is there any difference between my psychosis and theism?

9

Wallkill, Patterson, Warwick etc - A Beginner's Guide Please?

by cofty in

could anybody give us a brief summary of what these facilities are please?.

brit who has been out for 20 years is confused.

thanks..

Half banana

JW org have a nerve to call their building at Patterson the "Education Center"...this mind twisting cult imagines that propaganda is education. They don't understand the distinction between the two. No wonder JWs are held back educationally.