Posts by Heartsafire

74

Jehovah's Witnesses May Have Peaked in Membership at 8 Million (+/-)

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

i don't have all the details of their new "service year" numbers, but i have read enough on jwn to state my opinion pretty strongly.. memorial attendance for 2015 was down.while they kept saying they were going to build a bunch of new kingdom halls, and everybody is still in recovery from watchtower taking all the local money away, they say pretty much that there isn't enough money to build new kingdom halls.putting gb members on the videos at jw .

org has allowed people to really put a face and personality to these guys and remove the mystery of how they should be such deeply spiritual serious men.

instead they see silly thoughts about tight pants and, really everything that comes out of lett's mouth is delivered ultra-goofy, along with the money reports.. the gb lost credibility a little more with every new light that shone down, with the strangest one being "overlapping generation.

Heartsafire

In the USA it seems the largest increase is divided by demographic. The Hispanic congs are increasing while the Anglo congs are dying out. The one thing I think spells disaster for WT with regard to the Hispanic communities is the closeness of the families. I personally know of families viewed as very strong in the troof who have df family members, and they do not shun them. Not to say that there isn't shunning going on in these congs, but for the most part, Hispanic families are extremely close and blood before water is just a given in their culture. Anyway, just a generality, but I hope things slow down and eventually the wheels come off the WT wagon completely.

49

Who would you vote for Today?

by James Mixon in

jw
friends

d. trump or h. clinton and why.. i would vote for gun slinging trump..

Heartsafire

Hmm...not sure. In the past I've quietly rooted for democrats, but lately I have more conservative leanings, however, Trump? No thanks. I'm conservative, not crazy😜.

5

A decade later I'm back

by Defd35 in

jw
friends

hello all,.

after many many years i decided to stop by and see what's going on in here..

Heartsafire

Hi there, and welcome back. I joined the forum this year.

If you haven't heard, so much has been going on with the Borg lately. It seems members are getting out of the cult in increasing numbers--if not physically then mentally and emotionally. The general view is that WT is collapsing in on itself especially after the child sex abuse cases, the halting of major building projects after a series of money-grabs, and the massive reduction of printing literature.

So, what's new with you?

51

My first post

by thewalker in

jw
friends

hi, i just joined the board and wanted to present myself.. i'm active, in fact very active in congregation activities serving "where the need is great" in a foreign language congregation somewhere in western europe.

as a young brother, i'm seen as an example as i'm doing all a good witness should do.. i had doubts years ago but i decided just to ignore them and move to another congregation to preach more.

that worked for some years but i'm now at the exact same point.

Heartsafire

Walker,

Welcome to the forum and your English is very good!

I am in the USA, but I have seen the same problems as you. Desperate immigrants are targeted in ministry here too. Also, it is impossible to find a supportive congregation.

I really enjoyed your post, and I hope to hear more of your story.

Congratulations on waking up!

HAF

16

Comment during the WT

by OneFingerSalute in

so ofs got to comment again this morning and thought the comment might bring a smile to someone.the second half question on par.

15 was, "we cannot actually see jesus, sohow can we look intently at him?".

ofs commented, "of course, we cannot literally see jesus as peter did.

Heartsafire

Ugh. I didn't have the stomach to sit through the WT BS today. When the public talk was over, I finished the app game on my phone and left. Couldn't get out of there fast enough!

7

Kudos to Those in Military Service or Happy Belated Veterans Day

by Perry in

in recent years i have come to value our military more and more as time goes by.

as a jw, i was trained to view those in military service as murderers; or misguided fools.

they are true heroes that help bring order to society.

Heartsafire

Perry, thanks for that link. Ive recently had this discussion with my husband. He has strong anti-military viewpoints, and I've mentioned Cornelius to him as an example. I can always use more supporting info, and hopefully this link will help.

Also, Happy Veterans Day (belatedly) to all those who serve or have served.

44

Why do people follow demonstrably False Prophets?

by WireRider in

why does everyone just turn a blind eye to the false teachings of the watchtower?

the bible warns us many times and in many ways not to follow false prophets - including the lake of fire.

fundamentally why do the followers of the watchtower just ignore the very bible they claim to live by?.

Heartsafire

JW's are content to believe lies because they are in a cult that uses fear and guilt to control them. As long as they accept the teachings from WT, they are allowing their minds to be controlled by the org instead of using their own thinking capacity and common sense. There are high control groups everywhere--secular, political, etc. JW's just so happen to be a commercial cult parading around as a religious group. Steve Hassan's book "Combatting Cult Mind Control" really opened my eyes to this aspect of the JWs.

29

My fade might well start today.

by StarTrekAngel in

many here whom have read my previous posts know more or less my situation.

wife is not hardcore but we still bump heads from time to time.

if it wasn't for this cult, and while it was not an issue, we had an almost perfect marriage.

Heartsafire

Please keep us posted. I've seriously considered seeing a therapist myself just so I can get some unbiased feedback on my relationship. Of course, my husband is real charmer and will say and/or do anything to win a person over. This is a big reason why I've put off couples therapy. It would turn into round after round of he-said-she-said with him only attending the meeting with the goal of winning over the counselor.

As for the lottery ticket thing...you are right she is not a hardcore witness. I'm just baffled that she would defend her stand as a JW and then turn around and buy one. Double standards or confusion maybe?

Everyone's situation is different. Only you know what you can and cannot live with. I can't help but think of the old saying...hope for the best, prepare for the worst...something like that.

Anyway, we're rooting for you STA. Hope all goes well for you.

18