Posts by xjwsrock

42

Did Jesus really suffer? Really?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

so over the course of three days he had a trial which doesn't seem to have bothered him much.

he got whipped ok that would have been agony and then put on a torture stake/ cross/ whatever yes that would have been hell.

but he was on it for a day and the whole thing lasted for three days.

xjwsrock

Yeah I see your point.

I have thought the same thing. On a scale from 1-10 of ways to die ,his death is up there - maybe an 8 but certainly not a 10. Many people have died worse deaths involving longer-lasting agony and more torture. Prisoners of war come to mind.

What bothers me more is the focus on how big a "sacrifice" it was. What was really sacrificed in the end? Maybe a human body? It was a body he didn't want long term anyway.

Everything was back to normal less than 3 days later. Jesus was kickin it in heaven. Jehovah had his favorite son back. Anybody that has lost a loved one has made a bigger sacrifice than this. His existence hit pause for a couple of days. The equivalent of a coma in our world.

When I hear speakers say Jehovah loved the world so much he gave his son, I just roll my eyes. He didnt lose his son. The whole story is overdramatized.

22

How Many Elders And Ministerial Servants Are There In Your Congregation?

by Village Idiot in

i'm curious to see how much manpower a little congregation - a hundred?

- requires to keep it running.

xjwsrock

90+ publishers

10 elders

3 Servants

13

the Guardians of Doctrine - What was your view of GB 1.0?

by berrygerry in

when i was an all-in, younger, somewhat uber-dub - i envisioned the governing body as spending 16 to 18 hours a day at the bethel library, with their noses in the bible and associated research books.

sky-j was propelling his holy spirit directly at them, maybe opening the book to the right page or paragraph, and zap, new light.. when i learned that these dudes only met on wednesday mornings, for as little as 10 minutes, and spent the rest of their time managing and traveling, it was quite a letdown.. anyone have such thoughts of our guardians of doctrine?.

xjwsrock

I pictured very studious, deep-thinking, wise men that were on a different wave length. Basically how you might picture Jesus or Aristotle.

So in other words I was dreaming.

The broadcast has exposed them for what they are. A person couldn't have my early fictional view of them today if they wanted to.

5

How About We Call It "The Trance" Instead of "The Truth"

by xjwsrock in

let's see if it works as a replacement in common phrases:.

"how long have you been in the trance?".

"when did you come into the trance?".

xjwsrock

Let's see if it works as a replacement in common phrases:

"How long have you been in The Trance?"

"When did you come into The Trance?"

"I hope I don't fall out of The Trance"

"She was a good sister, she always loved The Trance"

22

When a crime is commited?

by Drifting Away in

jw
friends

i responded to someone on another thread, but would love to know this answer.. if a victim adult or child goes to elders and claims they were abused, don't they have to have clergy confidentiality?

so i was told that they encourage the victim to contact authorities , and they contact bethel, but arent there hands tied if the victim does not want to go to authorities?

an elder made the comment to me once.

xjwsrock

I agree with much of what has already been said. The laws covering confession were written around the catholic church and what goes on there. One on one confession. It is supposed to even be anonymous. So you can imagine what gets confessed. Some stuff is true. Some is not. Who knows. But since it is just a one-time one-on-one conversation, it is of minor significance. You certainly couldn't hold a priest accountable for everything that could get "confessed" in that setting.

What JW's do is not even close to what the Catholics do and thus barely any parallel can be drawn concerning confidentiality protection. Like has been mentioned here, there is basically never a case worthy of mention that is between just the confessor and one elder.

Their entire system is setup to involve multiple elders, usually the entire body, plus the branch.

**If one minor comes forward and reports child abuse, a call is made to the branch, and 2 elders meet with the accused. if it is denied, the matter is noted at the branch and it is dropped if there are no mandatory reporting laws. They don't report anything to the authorities even though it is documented that over 90% of reports from minors are proven to be true. This shows a lack of love for the child, the other children in the family, the other children in the congregation, and the other children in the community.

WT simply chooses business interests over the welfare of children and their families. This apparently is how Jehovah runs his organization and Jesus runs his congregation.

3

Hello! I am back!

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

i am back!

i just bought ioad pro recently.

all i had was my i-phone, i did not feel like posting from my i-phone.

xjwsrock

When did you last post?

One thing that is different with the org is the change of meeting format mid-week. They dropped the kingdom ministry for a "workbook". Really it was just a reshuffle of the meeting to bring in more digital content and be a distraction from their financial problems /construction shut-down / bethel layoffs / special-pioneer layoffs and such.

18

A world without religion? Any different?

by punkofnice in

i wonder what it would be like, without any religion in the world?

i don't think it would be like 'imagine' by lennon.. i don't believe it will ever happen.

even if it did, people are the same.

xjwsrock

Politics/Nationalism can take on religion-level extremism.

Actually it can be argued that the problem with Islam is that under the surface it is a political/nationalist movement using guerrilla tactics.

Lines get blurred between labels when an ideology gets so fanatical that the followers start killing people over it.

"Spiritual" groups that promoted gratitude, charity, peace, and working to be a better person would be an asset to society. Beyond that though the slope gets slippery.

No group regardless of label should be able to teach that non-believers or non-members should die. That is common sensical line that shouldn't be crossed.

Jehovahs Witnesses cross this line btw...😡

10

Marking Talk of Couple

by Hadriel in

at no time did the elders ever mention apostasy.

days later after a shepherding call which only covered child abuse handling they are being marked as if they are trying to get their own followers etc.

so so sad.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktm7fsqwrw.

xjwsrock

For the record I have enjoyed the "black jack" videos and I appreciate the stand they are taking concerning child abuse in the org. While that stand is commendable and will help many stand up themselves, it comes with consequences in a our-way-or-the-highway cult like Jehovahs Witnesses.

10

Marking Talk of Couple

by Hadriel in

at no time did the elders ever mention apostasy.

days later after a shepherding call which only covered child abuse handling they are being marked as if they are trying to get their own followers etc.

so so sad.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktm7fsqwrw.

xjwsrock

It is sad, but to be honest this is a slap on the wrist. There are many boe's that would have disfellowshipped them by now. They have gone on YouTube and such speaking out against the org. This is a cult. Plain and simple. They are barbaric village leaders of the Middle Ages in their mentality. They make people wear scarlet letters and they burn dissidents at the stake.

This marking talk is just the beginning I'm afraid, and it is par for the course.

55

Just wondering who on this board has a spouse that is fully in and your awake?

by goingthruthemotions in

i am just curious who on this board is in the same situation has i am?

a spouse that is fully brain doogled in and you are awake to ttatt.. without going into serious detail and no names are given.

i would like to possible talk with one of you all, it's just so helpful to communicate with someone in the same situation as me.. i am located in the southwest united states..

xjwsrock

I'm an awake elder begrudgingly still serving simply trying to play my cards right with the wife. Timing is important. My fade so far is just getting off the service committee and off the fast track to being a COBE. Can you imagine? So much for holy magic.

The wife enjoys the status of not just being a plain Jane publisher. I must admit it has it's perks - like not being messed with by elders. Elders are scared of other elders. It's weird. Unless you have a real a$$ on your hands, you can get away with a lot as an awake elder. Hard as hell to give comments or parts though. I edit out so much material, there is hardly anything left to talk about.

Anyway, the wife is full-in but I think she doubts more than she leads on. I have dumped ttatt on her a couple of times. This last episode led to a crying fit and her throwing things across the room. It's scary when you see stuff come out of your spouse that you have never seen before. The indoctrination is diabolical.

I think something broke in my wife during this last knock-down-drag-out. She hasn't been the same since. It happened a couple of months ago. I referred to accounts in the Bible as just "stories". That was too much too fast. She is actually going to the doctor for meds for anxiety this week. She is blaming other stuff, but I know it's what I have told her (ttatt) combined with the realization that my thinking isn't "coming back around to Jehovah".

Hang in there everybody. We'll survive this. We aren't the crazy ones.