Posts by Half banana

183

JWs have more good points than bad

by lsw1961 in

1) many who were on the destructive path have been transformed by their teachings (this includes me who was once vicious, and presumptuous and atheistic).

2) equal monthly pay to all members of the bethel community regardless of whether they are bc members or sweepers.

this is something that still remains as an unattainable dream for the world.

Half banana

Isw have you thought what good is and what bad is?

Good usually refers to the things which will enhance or promote the values of the society in which we live... and bad, the things which go against our culture. In New Guinea, to have the skulls of warrior people from neighbouring tribes hung from your roof was seen as a positive thing! So it would be unfair to make a comparison of good JW things with good non JW things.

This means we have a choice of what is good or not and why we choose to be a member of a particular community. So I question the wisdom of making a list of the merits without recognising that good is not absolute but relative to the community.

We could however look at the effects of being a JW under the GB instructions and compare with those who optimise their freedom and education in a secure democracy outside of it.

To be a JW means to be beholden. Even one’s conscience is handed over to the governing body...this is a dire blow for individual freedom. To be a JW means never fully expressing one’s own desires or fulfilling personal ambitions...to be a JW is to have our lives and learning and income cramped and limited. We never mature, we remain infantilised!

Here is where we who have left can relate the experience of real freedom.We left usually not for the sake of freedom but because the WTBTS was in error. I lost my wife and two of my children to the cult by leaving yet my optimism and happiness have increased enormously. I am no longer in thrall to the seven magic dwarves of Brooklyn; I can fully enjoy my human entitlement to free expression and self determination.

I look back with pity on my kids and I have loathing for the small minded cult leaders who have caused me and my family the greatest trials in our lives but I am very thankful now to be free.

(Personally, I think the shrunken head of Tony Morris would go well dangling on a cord from the ceiling of my office... if it were pickled properly.)

29

What actually DID you learn?

by punkofnice in

my jw friends that still speak to me, tell me that they love the meetings because of the things they learn.. i wonder what they think they're learning?

it an avenue that always perplexes me because their replies are just so wishy washy or i get a blank stare when i ask.. what's you r experience?.

Half banana

Punky, these are subjects to die for...how could one live without this knowledge? But then again these choice items, prepared so lovingly by the FDS, are just the peaks in a swamp of ignorance...(gosh I'm getting very sarcastic in my old age)

183

JWs have more good points than bad

by lsw1961 in

1) many who were on the destructive path have been transformed by their teachings (this includes me who was once vicious, and presumptuous and atheistic).

2) equal monthly pay to all members of the bethel community regardless of whether they are bc members or sweepers.

this is something that still remains as an unattainable dream for the world.

Half banana

Well done Isw 1961 you have an independent mind! That is not the JW way but it will eventually allow you to realise that the WTBTS do not have a monopoly on truth...and if they don't, then they are not God's appointees.

If you are genuine about finding what is real it would be worth reading Raymond Franz's authoritative appraisal of the workings of the Watchtower in his book Crisis of Conscience. This explains the fact that for the sake of keeping a large stake-hold in the religious scene in Mexico, the WTBTS was prepared to accept that bribing officials for exemption to military service would be in their interest. However in Malawi they declared that the compulsory purchasing of the national party card would automatically be a disassociation matter and the consequences for those who did not buy had severe repercussions. This was gross hypocrisy and use of "two sorts of weights".

How can this be condoned?

Have you heard of the matter of the Watchtower joining its avowed enemy the UN as an NGO? Another case of gross hypocrisy...and why they did it is even more telling.

183

JWs have more good points than bad

by lsw1961 in

1) many who were on the destructive path have been transformed by their teachings (this includes me who was once vicious, and presumptuous and atheistic).

2) equal monthly pay to all members of the bethel community regardless of whether they are bc members or sweepers.

this is something that still remains as an unattainable dream for the world.

Half banana

Welcome to the site Isw1961. Glad you are here and think it worthwhile to post your thoughts.

Ex JWs do ”go on” a bit don’t they! Its because we are suffering from the disastrous effects of having been a Witness and we’re still receiving the fall-out...families broken and separated from us by the edict of the governing body.

When we were JWs we never saw the bad things about the org because we were so much a part of it, like fish don’t see the water.

As humans and therefore social beings... we look at the society we live in as a guide to what is normal. We were hermetically immersed in a community which we took to be not only admirable but God ordained. We have left that group and now we have our own conscience and will to guide us. It can be bewildering at the start... so we understand your situation.

Not everything about JWs is bad you say and that must be true because JWs are generally decent people, the source of the problem lies is in the authoritarian leadership of the org. Once it has been accepted by an individual that they (GB) are gifted with God’s exclusive approval; then anything goes, they have holy privilege. Could this be true?

You mention how good the day’s text is. Looking back I would now see it as part of a package for inducing total WTBTS mind control. You may think that is a bit extreme... but it won’t seem so, after you have been out for a while.

Every last thing the Watchtower says and prints is propaganda. It is entirely designed for compliance to the organisation but for what purpose? It is for the securing of the power of its leadership. Take for example the complete lack of compassion and psychological welfare for the victims of child sexual abuse within the organisation. The cover up is in the interests of the leadership and their spotless standing in the world at the expense of the abused. It is an abusive religion.

This organisation is a corrupt and heartless propaganda machine which stunts the intellectual and emotional development of its members and has never taught anything of any use...it has for one hundred and thirty six years been feeding off its supporters gullibility only to mislead them.

Welcome to the real world.

17

JW Religion same as Stock Market/Gambling (Concept)

by Da.Furious in

for the last few days i was discussing with a colleague of mine at work about the stock market and how some people, even when losing money, they will hold onto their shares because someone said they will rise again.

this may lead to lost opportunities or even losing all their money instead of de-risking and offsetting loses by buying another stock, in other word jumping ship.. this got me thinking about jws (knowing that i am still in).

took one step back and looked at our family and what we have done by sticking to this religion.

Half banana

Perhaps the GB thought that God's name was riding on those shares...

Of course the rank and file aren't allowed to gamble but the GB have a special license to do whatever they want.

51

One Year Later - A Thank You to Tony Morris.

by cappytan in

jw
friends

dear anthony morris, iii:.

i wanted to send you a note of "thanks" on this special day.. why is this day special, you may ask?

one year ago today, you, tony, woke me up to the fact that the governing body could not have jehovah's blessing or direction.. last year, on november 8th & 9th, 2014, the united states branch visit was broadcast to over 1,000,000 jehovah's witnesses across the country.. as i sat at the kingdom hall listening to the "historic occasion," i was ignoring certain doubts that had surfaced in the few months prior.

Half banana

Well done Cappytan and well done Tight Pants Tony, a win-win situation!

11

A paradox or a contradiction? Titus 1:12

by James Mixon in

paul quoted a cretan who said, "cretans are always liars".. ok, if this was said by a cretan and cretans always lie, then he.

too was lying, but if this cretan was lying when he said cretans always lie,.

then cretans do not always lie and there is a lie in the scripture.

Half banana

James, I know it isn't an answer to your question but this verse is ridiculous.

Was it God's holy spirit which prompted the bigot Paul to repeat a popular contemporary saying which condemned a geographical group of people?

Holy spirit my foot! The scripture shows how the Bible reflects purely human prejudices.

31

The Shit Has Just Started Hitting The Fan For The WT Corporation, Nightmare Stage!

by Brokeback Watchtower in

as with any course which is based on pure wishful thinking(which is the wt corporation based on) has different stages.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wishful_thinking.

some psychologists believe that positive thinking is able to positively influence behavior and so bring about better results.

this is called "pygmalion effect".

Half banana

I think it could be expected for the organisation to go pear-shaped.

One significant factor must be the present GB are inheritors of a system and mindset which had been built on a timescale based on the 1914 generation. How can they be God's agents on Earth when they always get their predictions wrong? Even doomsday cults need some plausible evidence for their authority. The present incumbents cannot point to anything they have done which would demonstrate divine intervention.

WT style religion is being replaced by a more modern approach which does not require an "organised" hierarchy. A private spirituality without a need for preaching satisfies many today.

25

Warwick to finish EARLY

by wifibandit in

ok, story time.. anon asks me via pm:.

just heard from a wallkill bethelite that warwick will finish early.

can you confirm?.

Half banana

Warwick itself could then be sold in a few years time when thousands and thousands have left the organisation.........

"Superb lake-side residential village, ideal retirement community location." They might even get back what they spent!

One excuse will be that Jerhoover has gone electronic and very few buildings are now required when all is computerised or on TV. Who needs books and magazines?

The other excuse will be that Armageddon is imminent...

16

5 Steps to be a good cop inside the congregation...

by hardtobeme in

how many of you did this steps to keep the congo clean?.

.

Half banana

I guess there is only one way to run a police state...