Posts by Phizzy

42

New meeting format

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

just watched november broadcast very different order to the leaked agm .

be good if someone did a deep dive on the difference and why the changes?

i didn’t time the items but it should be easy to see if edited?.

Just getting back to the O.P, and the steady dumbing down of the teaching of how to present their faith to the public, that does explain why J.W's today are so inept. They cannot defend their beliefs, they just refer a person to the god-awful Cult-like Org. Web Site.

We had many examples, culled from textbooks , of how to do it.

I even remember one from before the ones mentioned by St.George, it was called "Equipped for Every Good Work" IIRC, and was itself dumbed down, by another new book, by the time I was old enough to join the TMS.

20

I hate the way they talk.

by Riley in

what is with the jw cadence when they speak.

do they think they are teaching people ?

they sound like pro wrestlers doing promos or shakespearean actors.

Phizzy

I was on a Circuit Convention spot because of an "experience" I had in F.S. In common with a good few from my congo. I didn't speak in J.W, but told it straight. No embellishment.

After the Session ended a number came up to me and said "You guys from your Congregation certainly tell it like it is !". Yea, well, there was a reason for that, none of us liked "J.W speak".

20

What has the Spiritual Paradise of the WTS been over time

by blondie in

jw
friends

the first mention i find in the wts publications is 1958. although the wts says the index goes from 1930 to 1985, nothing appears before 1958 a search only found by using the phrase "spiritual paradise" not in the index.

in 2015 there was a clarification of the phrase "of course, we should not conclude that the terms “spiritual paradise” and “spiritual temple” are the same.

the spiritual temple is god’s arrangement for true worship.".

Phizzy

Agreed SB ! if a doctrine is overturned, it was a LIE ! never mind the "Present Truth" * utter bollocks, to use Miss da Silva's excellent choice of word (Spoken like real Lady Miss d S !).

I too knew a lovely guy who died around the same time, for the same reason. His wife would not speak to J.W's who later took a transplant, what her thinking was can be guessed at.

* The other expression used to excuse this nonsense is : "It was our understanding at the time".................. utter Bollocks as well.

21

Judicial Committees asking Details of Sex acts

by blondie in

jw
friends

i remember knowing that jcs would ask very personal questions about sex activities.

this article addresses this: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15074595 .

Phizzy

Yea Blues, but what the "Shepherd" Book says, and what really happens, are two different things, in many Congregations. Yours obviously had a responsible and moral group of Elders.

I remember several J.C's in our Congo. where the Elders had to make sure two Elders in particular were not on the J.C, as they were pruriently Pervy. One of those Elders was DF'd later for getting a very young, very vulnerable young sister pregnant.

21

Retirement

by jehovaxx in

the difference is now blatantly obvious, older ones who went against direction of the gb and planned for retirement have relatively more comfortable lives.. those who trusted and followed gb direction never got further education or training, pioneered or spent most of their lives knocking on doors for free, making just enough to get by in a part time job.. if you followed direction from the gb then you thought the end was just around the corner so no need to plan for retirement.. now these ones have indeed got old which they were given the impression they never would.

they are a burden on others.

the state has to pay for them in their old age.

Phizzy

LHG, I am glad I am long out of the org. too, but you and I DO pay for the poor deluded J.W's who followed the G.B's nonsense, we pay through our taxes.

I had to endure criticism for starting a Private pension, was told my faith was weak, because "you will never draw it you know", well my timing showed I didn't swallow the bullshit, as Satan's World was supposed to end in October 1975, I started my private pension in August '75 ! oohh ! how weak my faith was

I have been drawing on it for a few years now, and really would struggle on the paltry State Pension alone, but because of that income, I pay a few hundred £££ Tax each year, which the J.W's who didn't do as I did benefit from.

It amused me that about 15 years or so after '75, all of the "older" J.W's, who were looking at only a few years before retirement, started obsessing about Pensions !

16

Fancy Dancer....JTB's Death

by peacefulpete in

it might surprise some to find that john the baptizer's (jtb) death is described a number of ways in the traditions of the gospels, josephus and the mandeans (jewish gnostic sect that followed jtb).

first g.mark says john was reluctantly killed soon after he baptizes jesus by "herod".

this herod is described mark 6:.

Phizzy

I agree fully with your post above, I think it is a pity that many XJW's do not get in to this kind of Scholarship and Thinking.

So many have vestiges of "belief" that leave them in a painful Limbo, once you see how the O.T and N.T were put together, all of that goes, and you are free to appreciate the literary value of the Bible. And of course extra-Biblical works, and Ancient South West Asian literature too, which of course is the basis of much of Scripture, the O.T. of course, but the N.T too, as the incomparable Leolaia pointed out years ago !

30

FDS 1919 Declaration Date

by NotFormer in

did rutherford have any "prophetic" justification for 1919 as the date that jesus declared him (ahem, the wt organisation) the fds?

such as some calculation attached to 1914?

that in 1919, jesus would come looking for his true organisation?.

Phizzy

"Please read '' The Gentile Times Reconsidered'' by Carl Olaf Jonson.*

It puts the WT theology of 607 BCE,,,to bed."

A contributor on here Jeffro had a Web Page that was very easy to understand, plus a good number of Threads and comments on here.

It is vital to appreciate the error and nonsense of 607 BCE, as then the whole Tower of Lies falls, like a House of Cards.

No 1914 = no 1919 "choosing" = Today's G.B are self-appointed Charlatans ! Which means their opinions on anything are just that, the opinions of deluded fraudsters.

* When I was just "waking up" I used to long for 1914 to be totally debunked, I was shocked to read C.O.Jonson's Letter to the Org. from before he wrote his Book, explaining the 1914 error in such detail they could not mistake the import of what he said, I thought to myself "They knew all along it was wrong ! They still know, but carry on conning the J.W's and the Public ! What Liars !".

16

Fancy Dancer....JTB's Death

by peacefulpete in

it might surprise some to find that john the baptizer's (jtb) death is described a number of ways in the traditions of the gospels, josephus and the mandeans (jewish gnostic sect that followed jtb).

first g.mark says john was reluctantly killed soon after he baptizes jesus by "herod".

this herod is described mark 6:.

Phizzy

JTB has always been a figure who interested me immensely, even when I was a believing J.W, I found him mysterious, other-worldly.

As you rightly say, confusing ! a number of Scholars rely too much on the Gospel and other N.T. info, not only with JTB, but with things like dating events.

I wonder if JTB has become so entwined in pre-first Century expectational Myth to unravel who he was, and when he lived ?

25

Where is everyone? 😆

by MissDaSilva in

jw
friends

i had a day off today and needed to get some errands done in my local town.

2 carts have allocated here but i never ever see anyone out, even on very nice days.

70% of the congregation don’t work.

Phizzy

I was astounded they made this move, no more hours to report for most J.W's, but it moves even further away the legal liability of J.W's being Agents of the Org.

But it may hasten the demise of the Org. What incentive is there to try to make converts in any real way ? what incentive for young men to "reach out" ? and how do they signal they are doing so ?

May the Org. wither and die soon.

46

Nobody else understands

by ElderBerry in

if you once were fully pimi and truly believed jw doctrine to the core like i once did, when you come to the reality that it is not the truth at all it can be extremely devastating.. i think only other ex jws could ever understand.

i wasted my entire life i thought the real life was yet to come to wasted the best years knocking on doors.

now i’m so angry.. i can understand why so many top themselves when they realise it was all lies..

Phizzy

I was never truly happy until I ceased to believe. The adjustment period was hard, and as the Thread Title says, nobody understands if they have not left a lifetime of Indoctrination.

I found that researching, properly Fact Checking, and using Critical Thinking Skills enabled me to eradicate any vestige of Indoctrination.

There then followed a lot of time spent coming to terms with my mortality and other things, but I ended up a very, truly, Happy Humanist Atheist.