Posts by popcorn

20

Love & Living up to Dedication = Serving Abroad & Not Going to University (July 15, 2012 WT)

by pirata in

looks like there's a new series, "they offered themselves willingly".

here's how it opens:.

a young brother in italy was under pressure.

popcorn_eater

Further, talk to your Christian parents and the congregation elders about your desire

Here they are telling young ones not to talk to their non-christian parents. How much respect is that showing for them? You realize they have gone way off track when they are not teaching good bible morals, there is no stipulation in the bible when it advises to 'honor your mother and father'. Regardless of whether a child's parent is a JW or not, most still have their children's best interest at heart and can provide sensible advice, no doubt a reason why they wouldn't want them talking to them.

As a non-christian parent I can't agree more. I caught this too. They know that a non-christian parent would stop this in a second, or at least provide some RATIONAL pros and cons to doing this type of thing. A non-believer is basically nothing to them. Plus, going abroad can be a great experience for a young person. But not necessarily doing it this way. I can tell you right now that (especially thanks to websites like this) I will be doing everything I can to make sure she knows ALL of her alternatives in life after high school.

51

My Dream Has Come True latest tower last page

by therevealer in

jw
friends

"my dream has come true" i have a bullshite story in the latest watchtower..

popcorn_eater

She shoulda told her boss about the Troof about her charity work and how she goes around neighborhoods teaching people that himself, his family and billions more will be slaughtered by JayEdgarHoover in the big A if they don't join her cult. Then Lets see if da Boss man will give her time off. I think he would give her time off Permanently (Your Fiiirrrred) and thinking he hired a total Wack Job!.

Love how the boss just accepts that witnessing is the same as charity work (i.e. actually helping people). How many hours of time do JW's waste in helping people who DO NOT WANT THEIR HELP when they could put time and effort into helping the hungry, building homes, coming up with ideas to solve problems, mentoring parentless children, etc etc etc. Equating it with charity work is so awful.

35

Was everyone surprised by how nice worldly people can be?

by Inisc in

jw
friends

i, like most born ins grew up being taught that everyone who was not a jw was inherently wicked, that they were dishonest, unloving, selfish, bad parents who don't care about their children, and also sad empty people with no direction in life.. as i grew older i started to see that this wasn't always true with every one, that what i was taught wasn't equating with what i was seeing.. by high school i could see that my friends at school, (yes worldly friends eek!

) we're actually decent people with morals, they may have engaged in a little fornication here and there but not promiscuously, and they were good honest people, with goals and parents that cared for them.. but after high school i was phsycologicaly bullied into ceasing contact with my friends altogether, leaving me with little contact with outside world, and the cult mentality had more room to grow, not fully, but enough to unconsciously not fully trust 'worldly' people.. however, once i'd left the org and began to meet people again, i was amazed at actually how good, honest, loving, kind, and caring many people can be!

who love their spouses and children and try their very best to be good parents and partners.

popcorn_eater

My stepdaughter who is still in has had this experience, fortunately. One of my first memories of her was when we took her to the movies, around age 10, and she left her purse when we left our seats. A teenage girl called out to her and handed it to her. She said she was surprised the girl would give it to her instead of stealing it. I still vividly remember that moment and how much it surprised me. That was before I learned much about JW's.

Something that also sticks out at me is how we were discussing morality one day and how all JWs are very good, moral people (her opinion). I asked her if she thinks Daddy and I are moral people, kind of jokingly. She said no, kind of on auto pilot, then backtracked after seeing my reaction.

These are both the result of indoctrination against the "worldlies." I think both of these events kind of got filed away upstairs.

Something more recently in a more positive direction -- she was phone witnessing and after hanging up with a man who had told them he was a "born again Christian," the other people (adults) in the group started making fun of the man and talking about how wrong he was and how stupid. She spoke up and said to them, supposedly, "we are judging him for something we don't even understand. Stop making fun of him." That was a very brave thing to do, and I told her so. She told me that she has realized that JW's as a whole are very judgemental. Well, I've been trying to gently drive this home for a couple of years but that just goes to show that a person has to come to realizations on their own, or it won't mean anything to them.

17

Are Jehovah's Witnesses A Cult? A WT Apologist Says No

by Bangalore in

are jehovah's witnesses a cult?.

http://www.witnessoftruth.com/articles/questions/are-jehovahs-witnesses-a-cult.html.

bangalore.

popcorn_eater

From the article in question:

Word of advice, if you don't want to talk with us, say so plainly, there is no need to play hide and seek. We are commissioned to deliver a message, if you do not want to hear it, all that must be said is, "No Thank You" and close your door if you wish. When Mormons or other religious preachers knock on my door, I either talk with them or simply say "I'm a Jehovah's Witness, no thanks." I do not feel I have to hide or avoid people in my own home.

Jesus, what an asshat. Thanks for advising me pompously on how to handle unwanted intruders at my front door. "We are commissioned to deliver a message." Ugh that makes me so angry.

I guess I don't have any constructive comments but it's hard to say something constructive after reading that.

74

Will Embracing the Internet lead to Increased Growth for the Watchtower?

by jwfacts in

more important than the reduction in the size of the new magazine is that the watchtower will be actively promoting its website and encouraging people use it to download magazines.

my concern is that this has the potential to lead to an increase in growth for the watchtower.. the door-to-door preaching work has been one of the most inefficient means imaginable to gain converts, and done little more than tie up the time of active jws.

now, by directing people to the internet, witnesses can spread their message at an alarming rate for little cost.. do you feel that this has the potential to lead to a surge in growth of jehovah's witnesses?

popcorn_eater

The one thing the Internet won't be able to do is draw people in, out of a sense of guilt or obligation like the door to door work does. A lot of people who were found in the door to door work didn't really buy into what they were hearing at first but were drawn in by a sense of obligation to those nice well meaning people who kept coming back and who they just couldn't say no to.

Absolutely exwhyzee. I am an outsider and I can tell you that I have only accepted magazines due to just feeling kind of sorry for the people at the door, or personally feeling like they were nice and not wanting to turn them away completely. My atheist sister got snared in a couple of return visits for the same reason -- the people were a sweet older couple and she felt guilty about saying no. No one feels guilty about saying no to a website.

Also -- Their websites are totally not user friendly and are pretty off-putting. Terrible content aside, the sites are lackluster and not easy to find things. And they are full of totally corny suspicious looking pictures. A person who was interested in learning about the JW's would naturally want to visit the source, their own official website, but the information on the site is so clearly biased toward their own beliefs and so, for lack of a better word, "cultish" in wording and appearance, that that person would not take it completely seriously. That person will then turn around and visit the other sites the google search turned up, like JWN, JW Recovery and JW Facts.

Sites generally have to pay Google, don't they, to make their results come up first on the search? Or like "sponsored results". I wonder if they will make this arrangement.

18

Yahoo! Answers is swarming with JWs

by DilemmaGF in

almost all the questions in yahoo!

answers related to jw are answered by jws.....

popcorn_eater

You can also find a bunch of JW's posting defensive reviews on a movie Netflix used to have called "Witnesses of Jehovah". These "reviews" admit to never having seen the movie but all spout the standard crap. You are right, mind_blown, it's all cocky stuff with NO evidence or backup, same old tired bible verses, totally predictable. Also many of them say "I am not a JW but study with them and know many JW's" which is a red flag that the person is in fact a JW. The movie itself is unavailable, possibly due to it being checked out by JW's and then lost... maybe that's just a conspiracy theory. It's about 1975. I wish I could see it. I wonder if they count hours on posting stuff like this.

27

has anyone tried to "study" and get baptized again in a far away congregation?

by Sofi in

....so you didn't have to go through the process of being reinstated?

please, share your experiences!

.

popcorn_eater

I have thought about "studying" and joining the local JW congregation, getting baptized, and then disassociating myself/ getting disfellowshipped, simply because I really can't stand my JW stepdaughter's mom and hope never to ever speak to her again. HAHAHA

In all seriousness I considered (for only about five minutes) becoming a JW myself when I acquired the stepdaughter because I thought it would be a good way to grow close to her, understand her life, and make new friends. Too bad the borg is what it is. And thank heavens I researched it first. I would have to not only become indoctrinated myself, but i would have to indoctrinate others, or at least attempt to. As many of you have lived, it's not sustainable to fake being a JW long-term.

22

rules about kids going door to door alone?

by popcorn_eater in

jw
friends

my stepdaughter, who just turned 12, was telling me about her most recent door to door experience and how excited she was to get her first return visit.

i was pretending to be happy for her and not horrified, and listening to the story.

but then she said that the other person with her at the door was her 13 year old friend, also a girl.. i know the org doesn't seem to care much about children and their welfare, but is this normal?

popcorn_eater

Interesting point steve2. I too remember going door to door, in the '90s, selling candybars. But it was in my neighborhood; I knew people.

I think I am going to the memorial (unfortunately) so I was thinking that might be a good time to pull aside this one dude I sort of know, who I think is someone higher up, and voice my concern.

22

rules about kids going door to door alone?

by popcorn_eater in

jw
friends

my stepdaughter, who just turned 12, was telling me about her most recent door to door experience and how excited she was to get her first return visit.

i was pretending to be happy for her and not horrified, and listening to the story.

but then she said that the other person with her at the door was her 13 year old friend, also a girl.. i know the org doesn't seem to care much about children and their welfare, but is this normal?

popcorn_eater

My stepdaughter, who just turned 12, was telling me about her most recent door to door experience and how excited she was to get her first return visit. I was pretending to be happy for her and not horrified, and listening to the story. But then she said that the other person with her at the door was her 13 year old friend, also a girl.

I know the org doesn't seem to care much about children and their welfare, but is this normal? Should they not at least have an adult with them? She said there were adults around, but they were down the street at other doors and could have done nothing but watch if something bad happened to these girls.

Do I need to do something about this?

51

I Was Offered A Bible Study By The Elders

by minimus in

jw
friends

2 elders, the cobe and his sidekick, a former bethelite and a young ms (elder in waiting) stopped by my mom's home while i was visiting with her.

they were very congenial and eventually asked me if i got invited to the memorial and whether they could arrange a future visit with me and a possible study.

i thanked them and told them i appreciated their invitation but that i was going to "pass at this time" but thanked them for their concern.. they recited a "wonderful experience" about a young man that was raised in the "truth" but wanted out so he decided to go to asia where he could not be found by witnesses.

popcorn_eater

Assuming this isn't a trick question. If it was and I didn't pick up on it, feel free to make fun of me.

Well, you should do what your heart and intelligence tell you to do but I think most people on this forum would say H*LL NOOOOOOO! Absolutely not. Not unless you want to be sucked into a high-control organization that you will never be able to exit from gracefully. Not unless you like obeying. A lot. And giving up posting on JWN or any other sites like it. I don't know your back story (you post here a lot) but ... touching stories and nice people can be found elsewhere too, with less to sacrifice.

popcorn_eater

Posts by popcorn_eater