Posts by outsmartthesystem

24

The Problem with the problem

by Terry in

jehovah's witnesses have an invisible problem which is as unseen as jesus.

the problem with their problem is that it is unseen.. what do i mean by this?.

no future.. the future jehovah's witnesses prepare for is not their future at all.. the jw future is armageddon (very soon!

outsmartthesystem

So many people even outside of the organization just don't understand the importance of compounding interest, starting to save early....and what it means for your retirement prospects.

And then you have the organization making problems worse. And you know what the worst part is? What they say isn't reality. Sure....they'll SAY everyone should pay attention to their future needs (while putting their FOCUS on the kingdom of course).....but that isn't the FEELING they give off. I know a ton of witnesses under the age of 40. Very few have retirement accounts. They all think the "end" will be here by then. Now...is the borg telling them they CAN'T have retirement accounts? Of course not. But the borg knows the mentality of their servants. They know very well that witnesses all bank on the "end" coming before they have to retire or before they die. And any reasonable organization would see this problem and address teh seriousness of it immediately. But no. Not the borg. 30 years from now GB 3.0 will say "but we never discouraged anyone from saving for retirement. We've always stressed the need to be vigilant and careful".

And you know what? All the 20 and 30 year olds will say "See? The organization has always told witnesses to save $ for the future and be careful. I just don't understand why all these old apostates fall away and then blame the loving organization that tried to help them plan for the future years ago."

By then there will probably be a Proclaimers book Vol 2 out.....and it will re-write the history of 1993 through 2030.....just like the real Proclaimers book did about the organization's true history from infancy til the 90's. And all the witnesses will eat up this "truthful" and "candid" information and wonder why there are so many bitter ex witnesses.

6

JW's and Amway

by Mad Dawg in

i just happened to have amway come to mind.

i was involved in three different multi-level-marketing (mlm) scams: scamway, pre-paid legal, and 1st fitnesss.

i don't remember many jw's in cramway, but there were loads of them in the second two scams.

outsmartthesystem

Eric Hoffer....an American philosopher in the 20th century wrote a book called The True Believer. It basically was a report on mass movements and what gets people to join them (whether they are religious, social groups, money making schemes etc). By his estimation, about 1/3 of the population in the world can be classified as a "true believer". That is .....followers taht want to give away whatever power they have....looking for answers/meaning/enlightenment and hoping they find someone else who HAS the power and can give them the answers/meaning/enlightenment they've been seeking. These people are "eternally incomplete and insecure". They can easily be turned into fanatics who will gladly work, live and die for teh cause they now believe in....whatever it may be. This type of person is bound to be involved in some sort of group (like I said....religious.....social...money making etc). Meaning....if they ever lose faith in this "cause"....odds are before long they will find another...similar organization to commit themselves to.

In my opinion....the Watchtower org is a big pyramid scheme.

I believe that the majority of witnesses are "true believers" by nature. They are followers that want/need to believe in a purpose and be led. THat's why so many of them are also involved in other schemes. Amway, ACN, Bodywise vitamins etc etc. They even had a demonstration at the DC a few years ago....warning witnesses not to push their business and lifestyle ideas on others at the KH. They wouldn't have had a demonstration if it wasn't such a problem.

If you fell for the story that witnesses told you and you bought it....then unfortunately....you are ripe for the picking to fall for another type of scheme.

224

When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed? Why It Matters - What the Evidence Shows

by wannabefree in

obviously 607 is a problem, watchower coming out full forces on this one in the latest public edition.. http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/wp_e_20111001.pdf.

outsmartthesystem

Dammit! Sorry SD-7

224

When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed? Why It Matters - What the Evidence Shows

by wannabefree in

obviously 607 is a problem, watchower coming out full forces on this one in the latest public edition.. http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/wp_e_20111001.pdf.

outsmartthesystem

Diamond - All the society says is that they noticed that 606 less 2520 years takes us to 1915.....and "research made it necessary" to change the date back to 607BCE. Thus preserving the 1914 date. What they've never made known to the best of my knowledge is just what "research" was done that "made it necessary" to do so

38

Empathizing with homosexual struggles as a hertosexual

by sabastious in

when i was a bible fundamentalist jehovah's witness it was easy for me to dismiss homosexuality as a sin and move onto the next, more interesting, topic.

it is much more complicated than that for me at this point in my life.. i think about it this way:.

what if i, a heterosexual, were raised in a community where everybody was homosexual and heterosexuality had a harsh taboo attached to it.

outsmartthesystem

Thanks for the replies

NC - I have another sincere question. If you don't accept the bible or its moral code....why do you have a pastor?

43

Stupid rules

by MrFreeze in

there was no end to the amount of stupid rules put in place.

one that always bugged me was "no shirts with slogans when doing kh yard work or at jw gatherings.

id always get talked to about it when i'd wear shirts with a band on it or whatnot.

outsmartthesystem

Agreed - for me it was no colored shirts allowed on stage

I was not allowed to wear any shirts with a band or athlete dipicted on it as it as an idolization of that person

I had a friend that was not allowed to wear or even profess to like any sports teams (doing so encourages divisiveness and hatred)

Another big one for me is the no clinking of glasses or saying of toasts. Ya know....the clink of a glass is SO closely assocatied with spiritism today that if you do it....Jah will hate you forever! What's weird is taht we avoided that like the plague because Jehovah is holy. Yet we still watch a newly married couple eat their wedding cake even though the wedding cake was of pagan origin to symbolize fertility and prosperity. I guess Jehovah must not be offended by that one

38

Empathizing with homosexual struggles as a hertosexual

by sabastious in

when i was a bible fundamentalist jehovah's witness it was easy for me to dismiss homosexuality as a sin and move onto the next, more interesting, topic.

it is much more complicated than that for me at this point in my life.. i think about it this way:.

what if i, a heterosexual, were raised in a community where everybody was homosexual and heterosexuality had a harsh taboo attached to it.

outsmartthesystem

I have a very ignorant question to ask. Thankfully none of you know who I am so the worst lashing I can get is only electronically. It has been only about a year since I've really let myself start reading and investigating everything I used to believe. I've focused all my time on history adn doctrine and not really thought about the gay thing. Personally, I have absolutely no problem with gays or lesbians. I have one gay friend (who is actually a competitor of mine in my professional field). But for those of you that may be gay or lesbian and still believe that the bible is God's word (I haven't given up on that quite yet....but hey...only time will tell), what are your thoughts about the condemnation of "men who lie with men"?

THis is an honest and heartfelt question

224

When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed? Why It Matters - What the Evidence Shows

by wannabefree in

obviously 607 is a problem, watchower coming out full forces on this one in the latest public edition.. http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/wp_e_20111001.pdf.

outsmartthesystem

Here's a gem for you all:

This article uses the cuneiform tablet BM 33066 to prove that Babylon fell in 539BC. Yet the Watchtower also says this in teh Feb 1, 1969 WT (p89-92)

"And what about the cuneiform tablets themselves? How accurate are they? Can they always be depended upon?"

Those questions were answered by bringing out that these tablets that have been found may have been copies made from earlier damaged texts.

Incredibly, the OCt 1, 2011 WT....in the very same box that touts the BM 33066 admits that it contains errors!

Don't you just love how for one argument they will tout a piece of evidence showing that history confirms their theories. Then for another argument that doesn’t fit their theories they will demonize that evidence….questioning its authenticity or accuracy?

Why was I so blind to this reasoning of theirs for so many years?

46

Review and Comments on the New Elders Book

by MrDarkKnight in

i recently completed an exhaustive review of an unofficial copy of the new elders manual.

my father, who is currently serving as an elder told me a friend of his in the service department told him it was on the internet so i eagerly looked for it and found it.

yes, i know it was a violation of copyright, but while at bethel i made copies of many technical manuals which is also a copy of copyright so the wts hypocrisy does not concern me.. i was appointed as an elder the year the pay attention book (manual replaced by this one) was released so i have very good working knowledge of the old book and could compare the two books.

outsmartthesystem

So....hypothetically speaking....how could one relatively new guy on here obtain a copy of this new book?

25

Survey - Are DF'ed ones allowed to be around for the prayers at the meetings where you live?

by StandFirm in

and please state the general area you live in, if you could.

thank you..

outsmartthesystem

New Chapter and Noni......You are killing me! I do love good hearted sarcasm

In answer.....of all the DF'd people I've ever seen attend meetings....ALL stay for the prayer and then high tail it outta there when the meeting is over.