Posts by redvip2000

21

KHConf - I had no idea how big it has become!

by sir82 in

jw
friends

if you are a jw in the us or canada, you probably already know about "khconf".

it is a business that has been set up (presumably by some jws somewhere) that supplies call-in numbers and teleconferencing for shut-ins to listen to kingdom hall meetings.. they have their own website: www.khconf.com.. .

what i didn't know is how much they've spread!

redvip2000

Unless the owner of this service has struck a deal with the ORG, this might be one of the worse business ideas ever.

Think about it, even if this is a good service and the price is right, the risk is beyond reasonable. All it takes is for the ORG to catch wind of this and decide that they can offer that service as well and charge the congos. Or they can just decide that congos should simply not use it.

They are one letter away from losing all of their business.

My suggestion is to be proactive and contact the Org to strike a deal to be their service provider, and offer to provide them a kick back for every subscription. Win-win because in that case the ORG would actually promote (force) the congos to use their services.

26

As a JW Did You Prefer a “Stricter” Congregation or a More Liberal One?

by minimus in

jw
friends

in my experience, there were three types of witnesses.

some were barely witnesses while others were extremely conservative types who followed the letter of the law.

and then you had those in the middle who just went with the flow.. i knew many witnesses who “felt safe” being in a stricter environment.they were actually proud that they belonged to such and such congregation because it was filled with strict bethelites..

redvip2000

I think for most Jdubs that feeling that they are not part of the world and that they are not special, is predicated on tight rules and norms that exist in the Org. If it was more liberal then many Jdubs would lose that feeling.

Though curiously, I do think that due to concerns for image and PR, the Org is beginning to lean towards being more mainstream.

10

Why dont the JWS see that they are supporting a corrupt and commercialized false Gospel ?

by Finkelstein in

its astonishing to reflectively realize the jws are supporting a group of men who teach and profess a false and tainted commercialized gospel of jesus and his the new kingdom order.

out of hundreds of christian faiths in existence only one teaches that 1914 was the year christ returned and has taken to his heavenly throne in heaven.

according to the bible this date setting is an act of disloyalty and apostasy through the very words of jesus.

redvip2000

what astonished me was the amount of otherwise sane, intelligent , successful men i came across in my time that were active dubs.

Agreed, it's a remarkable thing. I still know several active Jdubs that are some of the brightest people I've every met. Crazy how the mind can compartmentalize in this manner.

Curiously, I've heard my mother use this to defend the Org -- claiming that she can't imagine brother A or B being wrong about the truth when they are so bright.

17

I finally did it

by paradiseseeker in

jw
friends

it's done.. during the last month i've been talking with my closest friends about leaving the org and yesterday i finally talked with my parents.. it's been almost 5 months after i said that i would do it, but i think that this extra time has been beneficial.

i've said several times that i would opt for sending a resignation letter, but after talking to my best friends some of them suggested me becoming inactive and blocking my congregation's elders.

i've changed my mind and i will do that because the people that i care the most now know what's going on so they won't be worrying about me not attending the meetings.

redvip2000

As a fader myself, I encourage you to take this approach. There is a lot of upside to this. Also, why give them the legitimacy of notifying them via a letter? Just stop going, be vague about it, unless you notice someone is asking with the intention of actually listening and not judging.

16

The infamous WT article "Why Has God Been So Patient?"

by days of future passed in

i went to my sister's house because she was cleaning out the garage and she thought i must have tons of stuff left there.

i didn't but there was a box of unplaced mags in one.

i pulled out one when i got home and it was this one.. i'm sure that if i had read it when it came out, i would have felt that the wt had feelings of sadness over these children.

redvip2000

Why then, has God not long since destroyed ungodly men? Because there have been issues to settle and important matters to arrange.

So much for multitasking. So let's see, God is not able to resolve the issues he has to resolve and still feed children? Doesn't he have Gzillions of angels at his disposal?

What a tremendously weak God. Even earthly government are able to work to resolve multiple problems in parallel.

Not to worry though, because at this point, there are more obese people on earth than starving ones. The credit of course goes to man, the only real thing we can depend on.

16

Bring to ruin those ruining the earth, but what if we change.

by pleaseresearch in

this has come up recently with two family members who are jws.

if they are talking about this you can bet that others are too.

they seem to be all excited that a lot of attention in the news right now is about climate change, greta, extinction rebellion etc... as you can image they are very smug saying see.

redvip2000

I have witnessed Fundamentalist Evangelicals saying there is nothing to be concerned about because God created the Earth and he will not allow it to be ruined.

Right, and this is what is pernicious about the religious right-wing ideologies we see. No only do they deny much of the harm we are doing to the planet as part of group-think, but they assume -- as you rightly point out -- that this is not possible, because there is a man in the sky keeping a close eye on things.

The reality is that humans are good at responding to catastrophes and things that cause immediate disruption, but in the case of the environment, we are very slow to react, because there is an apparent sense of normalcy. After all, even as we inch along towards the precipice, our lives seems to be just fine. There is still food on the table, the car still works, paycheck still coming in, favorite series is still on TV. What could be wrong?

I suspect that the rate of response will increase as commensurate with the impact. So once seas rise to the point where flooding makes life impossible (Miami is close to that) in many cities, and weather patterns start shifting, causing agriculture to collapse, or causing massive population displacement, then of course government will take drastic measures, at a time when it will clearly be too late.

37

"Do you believe that the 'faithful slave' is God's channel of communication?"

by The Fall Guy in

if a jw had the nerve to ask me this question, i'd say to them, "you go first.

using only scriptural proof, show me why you believe that the wtbts/ccojw is god's choice and i'll tell you if i agree with your scriptural reasoning.".

wait for the silence and the rabbit in the headlights moment.. i searched on the wt cd rom for references of "channel of communication.".

redvip2000

Wait for the silence and the rabbit in the headlights moment.

You think that JWS won't have an answer about this? They most certainly will.

Here, i'm gonna put my JW hat on, and answer your question:

Well Fall Guy, we wouldn't expect that the bible would tell us the exact make-up of the GB, location or the number of members, etc, but the bible does indicate in multiple places that there will be a faithful and discreet slave responsible for dispensing spiritual food at the right time, such as Mat 24, Mark 13, Luke 12.

God has always communicated with its people via a channel, and if we think that our organization is the only truthful one, then logically someone must take the lead in teaching and organizing the worship. How else could we make sure that the brotherhood is learning the same things, and is coordinated in preaching the word of the good news?

6

Has anyone ?

by Steel in

showed the tony morris video to an uber?

.

redvip2000

Right, and i guess to use your quote from the literatrash article, if this brother was working in an adults-only video store, this would not be acceptable, but if it's a store that happens to also have questionable items, then I guess this is fine.

6

Has anyone ?

by Steel in

showed the tony morris video to an uber?

.

redvip2000

don't you agree that porn stores also need to hear the good news?

When i was still a JW, a brother that i was good friends with, worked in a small video store ( if your under 20, you might not even know what that is). In any case, video stores had an adult section in a separate room. The elders from our congregation would often pass by the video store, and check if this brother was inside the adult section. They actually challenged him a few times about handling adult videos, stocking them, returning them, etc, which he often had to do.

It was kind of a grey area, but despite the complaining, they never actually threatened him, or took any action.

97

Removing Mr. Trump from office.....

by mikeflood in

former fbi deputy director mccabe confirms: there were discussions within the department of justice about invoking 25 th amendment to remove trump from office.... .

i mean the us democracy isn't a third world country, a least the people involved should be reprimanded, they acted like trying a coup d'etat..

redvip2000

I mean we're paying taxes so they work in the many challenges that this country has. Improve the infrastructure, fix healthcare, let's work guys! This impeachment thing has been going for years now, each day worse than the other.

I agree that the power struggle is pathetic. But sometimes we fail to realize that we really should care, because these things are consequential. Even if it seems our lives just carry on unaffected, this is an illusion. The incentives that government creates do trickle down in to average joe's life.

If the US has an administration that -- while bowing to the fossil fuel lobby -- makes it a priority to invest on coal mining and processing, and oil, etc, this will affect all of us at some point.

Coal and fossil fuels (to pick one topic) is not the way of the future. Coal jobs are not coming back (nor should they). We should be investing and focusing on things that are on the right side of history, and incentivize greater demand via policy and fiscal incentives.

Whoever controls government controls the the incentives that determine the direction of the country, and this is why impeachment or not, is consequential.