Posts by Half banana

74

The Watchtower's Real Crisis

by JeffT in

jw
friends

when discussing the watchtowers financial problems, i've generally been of the opinion that they probably are not in a real financial crisis.

i've come to believe that money may be something of an issue, but its wrapped up in a much larger problem.

this came to me this morning when reading about the annual meeting.. i think the society's leadership is just plain out of ideas.

Half banana

Yes Jeff, I think that the heart of the JW religion is undergoing necrosis (word of the day!)

It is absolutely true that the propaganda is on sausage machine mode, same old drivel, all rehashed and the reason is that there is nothing new to say! What further can you add when you have been crying wolf for 138 years? What drives any new material now is rear guard action to keep the faithful from backsliding or daring to look outside of the org.

Nowadays the JW social club activities are far more important than doctrines and you can actually speak with your friends and go out on the town with them. Dogma is for dogs.

In all seriousness, I feel they have reached an impasse, possibly the end of the line. The death of the 1914 generation has left the GB with egg on their collective face with no credible alternative vision and even if the faithful sheep don't understand the enormity of the "generation" teaching failure; the GB most certainly do. Compounding this with adverse publicity, the financial burden of potential mass litigation and membership stagnation; it is not surprising that the heart of the organisation is dying.

12

Recent JW Literature Trolley Experience

by Athanasius in

the j ws have set up a literature trolley in one of our local shopping centers.

since the goodwill thrift store at the center has an excellent selection of second hand books, i stop by twice a month and buy a book or two that catches my interest.

as a result i've become friendly with the j ws who mind the trolley.. usually the minders are two 70 something j w ladies.

Half banana

I agree Tiki, it's a religion driven by emotional spin and dreams. There are many suffering JWs with all sorts of conditions mental and physical who hold on with grim determination to their promises of hope for relief from their disability. The JW promise is as the Irish used to say; a fairy gift fading away, never to be realised.

The greater tragedy for disabled people is that to wake up and lose the hope could be worse than having no hope at all.

Yet "waking up" for any JW has a big price to pay emotionally.

6

$66 Million Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada

by Alfred in

not sure if this was posted or not, but here it is.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ewsigoad1g.

Half banana

Should the legal action proceed, it might be cheaper for the JW org to pay up in one lump sum rather than respond to thousands of individual cases dragging on for years and costing more than the Class action would.

But imagine-- this is only Canada! What could the cost be if multiplied by the demands of each country throughout the Western world?

Question for GB members: Are you sleeping well in your beds at night in the new HQ?

32

Interesting conversation with JW friend

by Jules Saturn in

i was withh a friend of mine who is a jw still and for whatever reason we started talking the bible.

i asked him about lazarus and how is that when he died he paid the price of sin, but then jesus resurrected him.

and i asked him "where is lazarus today?

Half banana

Without wishing to discourage your good conversations with JWs Jules, it is worth reminding ourselves the origins of the Bible. When discussing scriptures it makes no sense to infer anything of importance from it.

The fact is that the Bible is mainly borrowed from earlier pagan sources just as the account of the resurrection of Lazarus was. What a coincidence that the Egyptian Christ Horus also resurrected "his friend" Lazarus thousands of years before 'Jesus' did.

Truly no one is ever brought back from the dead, these are just religious stories, they were never meant to be truthful accounts.

If you read a book which tells of dead people living again, animals which speak human languages and of impossible magic events, then we know for sure we are reading fantasy literature and not fact.

14

October 1, 1914 -- October 1, 2017

by Alfred in

“october 1, 1914, on taking his place at the breakfast table in the brooklyn bethel dining-room, he in a strong voice denoting conviction announced: “the gentile times have ended!” “ – watchtower july 15, 1950 page 216 paragraph 1. .

.

Half banana

Fudging the dates, deception, moving the goal posts and grandiose proclamations are all par for the course in a doomsday cult.

10

Don't expect any more downsizing announcements at annual meetibg

by nowwhat? in

expect a day of fluff, more bells and whistles and boasting.

they are not going to throw shade on their glorious day.

but shortly thereafter when everyone's feeling good about themselves expect the hammer to come down during a morning worship broadcast..

Half banana

DD you forgot to add the important new ruling allowing brothers on the platform with tight trousers even those which have been designed by homosexuals.

19

Two coins of little value? Ok! Sure (!)

by purrpurr in

last thursday meeting was the verbal begging bowl item.

in which having told the audience that wt doesn't ask for money... proceeded to then ask for money.. among the usual scriptures cited "honor god with your valuable things" etc was also the widows mite story "she dropped in two coins of little value..".

and it occurred to me, two coins of little value in the uk would be two one penny coins!

Half banana

There is a big difference in paying ten percent of one's income to the Mormon church to how it would be to the JW Org.

The Mormons fund many social schemes which apart from the emotional comfort derived from their nonsensical beliefs, gives the Mormon an important welfare safety net and on top of that, entertainment to boot. In these respects the "whole person" appears to be catered for by the religion.

I believe that in some if not all of the Adventist faiths who tithe, also have social welfare provided along with a healthy lifestyle ethos. Their claims are that tithing is a sacred thing to do for the purpose of funding the spreading of the word.

The JW faith has always played the hard line doomsday cult; believe it or get chucked out. Their financial dealings are usually hidden from the members except their obvious pride and pleasure in property ownership. From soon after its inception it was noted by outside commentators that it invested in property to its great advantage, a habit it has never relinquished.

Surely, if the imminent end of the world was really being preached, it could be organised by volunteers from a small office HQ.

Nevertheless the point is that JWs would be changing their 'spots' were they to justify tithing. Firstly on the religious account that their private sacred beliefs preclude literal application of OT injunctions (unless it is expedient to do otherwise!) and secondly, if they were to justify the vast income generated they might feel compelled to actually give something back!

The fact is that they are constitutionally unable to get involved in any practical, compassionate help for their members, not even when they are the cause of it being needed.

36

"Circumcision is a sign to set you apart from the people of the nations"

by stuckinarut2 in

we know that the hebrew scriptures, or old testament states that the practice of circumcision (of males) was supposed to be yet another sign that set the jews apart from the "people of the nations".

but apart from so many odd things, how dumb is this?.

i mean, how did someone know if a male was circumcised or not??

Half banana

Good points D_J but certain people prefer to promote their assumptions as divinely ordained before researching the facts.

However the words at Deut 14;1 showed that cutting the flesh, albeit for the dead, was a no-no in Israelite society of that time and Paul in Phil 3;2 equated dogs and evildoers with cutters of the flesh.

Why persecute foreskins?

7

Who goes to heaven?

by theplains in

hello,i found this on the jw site.https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/go-to-heaven/it says:"jesus said: "no man has ascended into heaven.

(john 3:13) he thus showedthat good people who died before him, such as abraham, moses, job, and david,did not go to heaven.

(acts 2:29, 34).

Half banana

The worms go in thin and they come out stout.....nobody goes to heaven, heaven is a fiction.

59

Need help understanding the Overlapping Generation teaching

by Jules Saturn in

so this is a topic that seriously boggles my mind and please correct me if i'm wrong.

to me, the jw definition of the overlapping generation teaching is that the lives of the anointed from 1914 overlap with the lives of the anointed right now.

david splane used the example of fred franz and how he finished his "earthly course" in 1992 but while he did, he had a lot of "contemporaries" that outlived him and are currently living today.

Half banana

(Sorry Waton, I changed my first sentence to avoid directing my wrath at an individual!)

One of the several illusions about religious belief is that it implies 'certainty'.

How can anything other than dreams be constructed from dreams? The absolutist view of religious texts gives hope to the gullible and empowers zealots to do their business. However it does not help the world achieve world peace neither does it further the human spirit in moving forward to learn new ways of coping with the human condition.

Bible doctrine is unfounded and unscientific, it is in conflict with itself and studying it will get you nowhere. Better I think, to learn almost anything else!