the round of "international" conventions that started in the middle of last year in the states "wrapped" up last weekend in new zealand.
there was some media converage (from which i derived the information that follows).
(someone who knows how to copy links may be able to provide the relevant media links?).
These figures show the convert rate is quite low...plus, in years past, they had Watchtower articles about 'Responsible Childbearing' and they actively discourage people from having kids, as kids took time away from pioneering. I bet now they wish they had encouraged having kids, so there would be someone to get baptised!
So many couples in my age group put off having kids until the "New System" or "New World", now some I've talked to wish they hadn't taken the Borg's advice, and had families.
once i was little boy in fort worth, texas living with my maw maw and paw paw and mommy.. then, i was an 18 year old 6'4'' skinny 165lb religious nut being dipped in a baptismal during a local assembly.. suddenly, i was 20 and listening to a jail cell door clang behind me as a conscientious objector.. wow!
23 years old and put on parole until my 6 years sentence was ended!
i got married to a nice jw girl and had 3 kids!.
Happy birthday!
i picked it up in a 2nd hand shop .
j.k.van baalen is the author.
"the chaos of cults!!!".
marking for later
the following is a true experience and my daughter gojira101 will verify that it happened to her.
an experience from our family's past that still haunts me and started my questioning whether this is the true organization of god or not.. my daughter, who has always been a good kid, never gave us any problems [she's an adult now] started regular pioneering.
within a few weeks of her starting, she fell on a steep hill and tore open her knee and had to have several stitches.
What an experience for the both of you! Thank you for sharing it. Those marking talks are horrible, calling people out for their own personal sins. I've never heard one given because of a true sin, like child molesting, they keep the serious sins close to the chest and just call people out for minor infractions...hypocrites!
we have decided to let the world know what happened when our websites were shut down earlier this month by means of this new video..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_9efi84qnc.
huge thanks to nugget for lending us her gorgeous voice, and also to cantleave for his cameo role as the voice of the big bad watchtower!
cedars.
bump
if jehovah can read hearts then why did he test abraham by ordering him to kill his son ?.
AGuest-Why is killing the son of Pharoah considered righteous because Pharoah was warned? If Pharoah was the problem, why not just kill him, instead of making his son pay for something he didn't do? Visiting the error of the fathers upon the sons, I suppose.
may you have an even better 2013 than 2012~!.
and remember , i am always here if you need anything...just ask.
Isn't 'chum' the chopped up, bloody stuff they feed to sharks?...Oh, wait WE were fed to the 'Borg' sharks!
i would like to thank everyone who is a part of this community.
i have been abused by this billion dollar evil religion since i was born.
i am now in my late thirties and have been battling depression issues over my former abuses by this nongoverment organization.
Defiant-Wow! I'm glad you are here, we understand your pain. It is astonishing that a little child can make out the lies of the org. better than adults can. Your parents were ripe for the picking by the org., as you indicated. The 'borg' seeks out misfits, as they are prime targets for culthood, seeking acceptance. I hope you are able to find peace of mind regarding your family.
Just a thought, maybe your wife would benefit by reading JWN, she could see the pain inflicted upon others and maybe grasp how you are feeling.
PTN
i spend allot of time with other young witnesses my age, and am very close to a few of these friends.
my question is, is there any way to safely talk about doubts?
for instance, i've been learning allot about evolution and the science behind the flood (or lack thereof).
Howdy and welcome.
first up, happy new year .
hi everyone, ok i guess this is controversial, but im doing it as therapy for me - so im not bitter about the way i was raised.
plus i want to see if i can be the op of an "epic thread"!!.
I loved that we would go camping in at Sequioa or Yosemite Nat'l Parks with another family with a lot of kids, or a whole group of families. We kids would play 'cowboys and Indians', the girls were always the Indians. One of the boys pulled a yucca spear off a plant and slit my throat with it, because I escaped. Yucca Spears are sharp, he really did cut my neck...we all had to make up a story of what we were doing, because we weren't supposed to be playing anything with weapons. We would also go for hikes while at the Parks, and go swimming, listen to ranger programs and watch the rangers trap bears for removal to elsewhere in the park. It was fun.
We also went to the ocean fairly often and swimming with other witnesses. Sometimes we played mini-golf with a group of kids. There was an elderly sister who loved kids and she would sometimes have kiddie parties, complete with Pinata and a hired clown!
On Halloween, we went to Knott's Berry Farm, with a whole group of JW's for the night and rode all the great rides. Knott's started closing, around 1973? on Halloween, so we ended up at some go-cart park instead, it was a let down from Knott's!
My parents then decided we had to go save all the extended family members in Minnesota before 1975, so we moved from lovely, sunny, warm Southern California, to fridged, economically depressed Northern Minnesota, we ended up dirt poor, cold, and out of work, living with my granny. I never really had fun again. The Minnesotans thought of us a weirdos with strange accents, the extended family got sick of my parents preaching and shunned us to shut them up, I ended up with cold induced health problems and became a latchkey child for the first time, as mom had to try to save us from starving.
