Posts by mynameislame

7

Sincere Jehovah’s Witnesses vs. Insincere Jehovah’s Witnesses

by minimus in

jw
friends

as far as i know, sincere jws are always welcomed here.

even though this site is not pro jw , if someone wants to ask a question or try to understand a point of view, there are many here who over the years have tried to help sincere witnesses.

if i believe someone is here just trying to push buttons, i will either ignore them or actually question their motives.

mynameislame

Whatever the reason they are here it's a chance to help them wake up. If they are here I assume they have questions, even if they go about asking them in a somewhat unorthodox method.

I would never have purposely come to a site like this when I was a JW. I would have been one of the button pushers if I did. Instead I spouted my BS in some agnostics chat room where I got schooled. No doubt it was because most of them had read something other than the Creation book to back up their claims. I chose the agnostics because you could have a discussion where the atheists seemed just about as dogmatic as the JWs which turned me off.

24

How long did it take before you realized that you missed the obvious?

by pistolpete in

remember when the public speaker in the kingdom hall or convention related the ten plagues and the parting of the red sea?.

the finale when jehovah closes the red sea and swallows pharaoh's entire army of egyptian men.. when i was a little kid about 5 years old and listened to this story, i would think---wow jehovah is strong.

when i started school and started learning compassion as early as the first grade i started wondering?????.

mynameislame

When I saw the children's version of the story of Sampson, it dawned on me that the story is really best suited to a comic book. The drawing of Sampson running up a hill with the city gates stuck to his shoulders really hit that home.

That was a while after leaving though. When I was in I didn't really give much thought to whether or not things made sense. I also feel like my reading comprehension went way up after leaving.

9

2021-March-20--Zoom Guidelines for Meeting Assignments!

by Atlantis in

jw
friends

zoom guidelines for meeting assignments.. 2021-march 20.. .

meeting attendant--page 2. .

5. at around 25 minutes into the meeting take an attendance count.

mynameislame

That seems to use a specific person's name several times. Is that going to possibly get someone in trouble that isn't ready to be in trouble?

40

Do You Tip At Eateries?

by minimus in

jw
friends

if you go to a restaurant, do you tip and typically how much?

if you were given a 90 minute time frame to eat at a restaurant, would that restriction limit your tipping to the waitress or waiter?.

also if you order a coffee and donut and pick it up, do you contribute to the “tip jar” that’s on the counter?

mynameislame

I think a lot Europeans tend to look cheap when tipping in the US When I was there the tip was pretty much rounding up the check. So having to give someone doing their job 20% to do it doesn't make sense.

I hate tip jars at fast food places. They aren't doing anything but putting stuff in a bag. Usually I still tip depending on my mood.

Pretty much 20%+ for reasonable service or better at a restaurant. A time limit probably wouldn't change that.

I've left low or no tips a couple times for terrible service.

i.e. nobody came and asked if I needed anything, I had to get up and go get something for myself.

Usually this happens at the type of place where they split jobs. Someone takes your order and someone else brings it. I tend to tip lower at those types of places in general because I don't know who I'm actually tipping.

I try to leave tips in cash when I have it.

One place I frequent told me that the bartender gets tipped on your drinks whether or not the wait staff got tipped. So a zero tip might cost your waitperson some money.

7

Wanting articles on statistics for the incidence of csa between the Catholic Church and JW

by joe134cd in

had an ultra jw relative say to me the there are only a few examples of csa in the jws.

the catholics are significantly worse.

i’m after statistical information that proves him wrong.

mynameislame

Comparing yourself to the Catholic Church to make yourself look good is like, well like comparing yourself the Catholic Church to make yourself look good.

9

The Mormons are building new Temples while Watchtower is downsizing.

by greenhornet in

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2021/4/4/22364730/president-nelson-unveils-plans-for-the-church-to-build-20-new-temples-mormon-lds.

mynameislame

You think it shows they have god's blessing? I'm sure they do.

7

Not talking about Easter but shouldn't jw's be giving a public talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus this time of the year?

by nowwhat? in

after all we do know the date when this occurred unlike his birth.

isn't this the foundation of the christian faith?

and the biggest event in mankind's history?

mynameislame

don't they usually have a special talk the Sunday after the memorial? I've been to plenty of them but I had the super-power of being able to not listen so don't remember what they were generally about. Probably more about getting the non-jw memorial visitors to sign up than about Jesus I suspect.

4

Mormon Apologetic Article - JW comparisons etc

by dozy in

jw
friends

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-mormons-like-me-really-believe.

from an ex-jw perspective , i was quite interested in the above article , which the spectator ( presumably ) felt obligated for legal reasons to publish to allow a response to a rather unfavourable article below.. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-troubling-history-of-mormonism.

the arguments are fairly rehearsed and often used by jw "spokesmen".

mynameislame

My thoughts

I could see Mormons including the dead among their ranks. If I understand correctly there is a way for them to even baptize the dead.

It is still a high control religion where, if it is for you it works. But not so great if you want to leave.

The guy in the "What Mormons like me really believe" seems to have forgotten to mention " temple garments", The special underwear that Mormons seem to wear at all times.

And the "We worship Jesus" line is right out of cult 101.

I wonder who came up with the no-trinity doctrine first? Did we steal that from the Mormons?

One things Mormons prove is that going to college won't necessarily ruin your beliefs even if those beliefs are a bit crazy. I bet JWs have lost a lot more children by forbidding them to go to college.

Mormons do seem genuinely nice. There was a Mormon family on the 90 day fiance and they really went out of their way to make the woman feel comfortable.

Even South Park seemed somewhat pro-Mormon in the "All About Mormons" episode.

Of course that could all be love bombing and things change once you sign up.

Somehow that doesn't appear to be the case. There's plenty of people on the ex-mormon sub-reddit that would probably disagree.

20

False memorial partakers deserve to die???

by Jofi_Wofo in

every memorial, much emphasis is placed on making sure that only the (self-proclaimed) anointed partake in the emblems.

this year, however, the speaker at my wife's congregation presented it as an even more serious matter.

he likened it to individuals in ancient israel who sought position of the priesthood despite never been appointed by jehovah.

mynameislame

I saw a reddit post the other day where they asked everyone to fill out a zoom survey with how many people attended but they didn't ask how many people partook.

I wonder if that was the norm.

I think the JWs did more to diminish my compassion and trust of other people than all the violent video games and violent movies I had to avoid put together ever would have.

The problem is the JWs don't really think about the consequences of their "beliefs" coming true.

Millions now living will never die sounds much better than billions now living will be slaughtered and you'll be left behind to clean up. Even if those crows that seem to be bigger than they used to be do the majority of the heavy lifting, there will still be a lot of skeletons lying around for a very long time. I assume that not all JWs will make it either, so there's sure to be several people cleaning up their ex-best friend's dead body. But you mustn't feel sad, oh no. The consequences of that is you ending up right there next to them. Best to tell yourself you knew it all along and move on.

Let's not forget abandoned cities and infrastructure all over the place. Makes me wonder if they'll eventually be forbidden from archaeology because they might find something that gives them ideas.

I assume you won't be instantly made perfect after the big a, so there's sure to be some conflict and complaining. If bible history tells us anything, god rewards complaining by showing you that it can definitely get worse. Heck, Adam and Eve prove that even perfection isn't a guarantee of a satisfactory outcome.

Don't even get me started on what it would mean to literally live forever and ever and ever... Especially the JW version, an endless parade of picnics. Funny how there's always children in those pictures. According to bible history it took 8 people about what, 5000 years to pretty much fill the earth? How long will eight million, plus the resurrected take? Children will be a thing of the past in fairly short order. Oh yea the resurrected won't be having children. Hope they enjoy babysitting.

Finally, what happens if someone sins? Adam and Eve did and they were perfect so I expect it is going to happen eventually. Sooner or later they will all completely forget the past. That means they will eventually repeat it. Since god no longer has anything to prove sinners can be dealt with immediately. Will they just disappear? Will they be used as a warning? Will JWs still have to be ready to stop thinking of someone as a friend in an instant? At least with disfellowshipping you can hope they'll eventually come back. Not so when your best friend of 5 billion years decides he want's a bite of that apple. Will there be a world wide announcement? How will they spin it? So and So is no longer a member of living society. You won't know why but they will give a talk the next day about how it is wrong to eat apples so everyone will figure it out. Then everyone goes back to normal pretending so and so never existed and telling themselves just how wonderful their lives are.

This letter is brought to you by God through the earthly helper class, through the 144,000 in heaven, through Jesus (remember him?)

9

Social Trends - Male underwear as hot fashion

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

during australia's lockdowns and other reactions to the batty virus.

i've been spending more time studying my history interests via the internet and its many possibilities.

one area is quite interesting.

mynameislame

Gone are the days when a guy could just use an old pair of socks to impress the ladies.