Posts by wisdomfrombelow

53

Are the J.W's reaching a "Tipping point"?

by karter in

jw
friends

i haven't been to a meeting in 15 years but my mother and sister are hard as j.w's.

the brothers they are appointing elders are at best suspect like one guy from my old hall made elder,big time drug used before becoming a j.w his talks are all over the place and would have struggled to make m,s years ago but with at least 60 to 70 % of young ones leaving the pool to pick from is at best reduced.. 2 other recent elders both young and zero life experience both on benefits one not well at all falls asleep all the time.. the decent,kind elders mostly older and are decent people with alot of life experience are burning out fast as there are so few of them left like 3 per congro of 100 publishers.. then you have the rich elders who wouldn't ever think of inviting some poor older or mis-fit person out to the expensive placers they go to as they couldn't afford to go so they are above the r&f and the r&f get pissed off with them.

then we have the ones who have "put the kingdom 1st" who are now old worn out and barely getting by from welfare cheque to welfare cheque that are saying "the system should have been over many years ago" it's still here and they are struggling everyday.. then there are the pioneers who have a low payed reduced hour job that seem to think anyone who has anything is totally materialistic and looks down on anyone getting a new car buying a house ect.. along with the child abuse issues,the generation change,access to information the the g.b don't want anyone to know ,not to mention the issues around blood.. is there a tipping point coming????

wisdomfrombelow

People are still people, their methods haven't changed, they have made some good decisions from a corporate perspective as well. I think they are here to stay people.

I don't think even a mass exodus would extinguish them. Just looking back at their history, the 1925 debacle would have made any sane person walk away. David and the other ancient worthies being resurrected to life? It didn't happen and the the nucleus that remained got more powerful and more out of the mainstream.

For some people, they have sacrificed so much and being a JW is so much of their identity that they can't leave even if they wanted to. And if they were kicked out they would do all they could to get back to "mother." Having a large membership helped them distribute a large amount of literature which helped generate income for them for a very long time. Since that model is broken and things are available online, their costs can be greatly reduced and they can survive with much fewer adherents, even if the adherents are less educated and less financially stable.

4

Friends of All Sorts....

by wisdomfrombelow in

when i hear people say that you can't keep your jw friends when you leave i can understand why they say that.

however, i can also see how that is a generalization.

i remember my life growing up as a jw and having good friends who were jewish and catholic and protestant and buddhist and hindu and muslim and atheists.

wisdomfrombelow

I am glad that I had a diversity of friends growing up because of school and that had helped me be tolerant of different points of view.

20

I need some advice

by SpunkedTeen in

jw
friends

i dont think ill be able to leave the organization,you see i have no close friends in or outside the jws and my entire family is part of the cult,if i leave my mom and the rest of my family will be heartbroken and i dont want to be the reason they are hurt.

im not particularly close to any of my family members but i still care for them.

i could really use some advice because i have no one else to turn too..

wisdomfrombelow

You already know the answer. If you want stay in, stay. If you want to leave, prepare yourself for a less painful exit. Lots of people don't like their job but only a few quit when they haven't prepared to find a new job or have a lot of bills and need the money. Use common sense (which might not be so common) and "count the cost", to borrow a witness phrase, and prepare for your next step, whatever that may be.

4

Friends of All Sorts....

by wisdomfrombelow in

when i hear people say that you can't keep your jw friends when you leave i can understand why they say that.

however, i can also see how that is a generalization.

i remember my life growing up as a jw and having good friends who were jewish and catholic and protestant and buddhist and hindu and muslim and atheists.

wisdomfrombelow

When I hear people say that you can't keep your JW friends when you leave I can understand why they say that. However, I can also see how that is a generalization. I remember my life growing up as a JW and having good friends who were Jewish and Catholic and Protestant and Buddhist and Hindu and Muslim and Atheists. I didn't try to force my religion down their throat and I respected them and they respected me. School and work expanded my exposure to different viewpoints. I also had some JW friends (and a lot more JW acquaintances.) As some of JW friends faded or were kicked out I still kept in touch because they were first and foremost, friends. Later, when I became a ex-JW some of my JW friends still kept in touch and visit and call. I guess because they are real friends and that is rare because they risk expulsion if discovered.

People who are "in" probably don't ask of their friends "if one of us were to leave the JWs would be still keep our friendship?" I guess that is something they might want to consider before determining who their friends are. If you can't be honest and truthful with your friends then you need to find new friends. Is there anyone else out there who has managed to keep friendship with JWs after they exit or kept friendship with exJWs when they were still in?

7

JW do alot of bad... and we are all collectively responsible for this!

by StephaneLaliberte in

i know someone who was working for an elder.

when she got disfellowshipped, he gave her two weeks noticed and paid for one... she didn't bring that sob to court as it was her own father.

that happened about a months ago.. another example is that me and my family have become inactive.

wisdomfrombelow

if we were ALL doing it, then, they would realize that these things happen everywhere, all the time. These are not the exceptions but the very life of JW

How to get someone to think outside the box? How to get them to ask the right questions that lead to the right conclusions? Many witnesses haven't learned to think critically or reason deeply. They wouldn't know what to do if everything wasn't spelled out in minute detail for them.

Shunning is horrible and there are many other bad decisions that get made because of institutionalized complete dependency on the "mother organization". The more they invest in it the more painful it is to leave.

28

True believers never save their money

by stillin in

it's an article of faith.

either god is going to save them or he is not.

since one local elder proudly told me that he never saved a nickel until just before his retirement, i've given this subject some thought.. savers are worldly..

wisdomfrombelow

It's an article of faith. Either God is going to save them or He is not.

That makes no sense at all. If they were really faithful they would be saving because they would not want to put God to the test as Jesus said. There is a difference in making the accumulation of wealth the main purpose in life and being wise and shrewd. People just try to justify their own action (or inaction) but that doesn't mean saving for retirement is a lack of faith.

39

The Paranormal

by Peony in

jw
friends

i'm interested to know if anyone has been to see a medium/clairvoyant since leaving jw's.

i must admit now i can make my own choices i seem to have a fascination with it although haven't acted on it as a) am i just jumping into believing another load of rubbish?

and b) what if it really is the demons pretending to be loved ones!!

wisdomfrombelow

Definitely A...another load of rubbish

6

When is a commandment ever worded with "IF"?

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

acts 15:28 for the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you except these necessary things: 29 to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.

if you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper.

good health to you!.

wisdomfrombelow

I thought the Society admitted that the "good health to you" was nothing more than a common greeting of the day. Not to be interpreted as following the command would result in good health.

39

Let’s Speculate!!!

by John Aquila in

you know the organization is slowly going down.

not as fast as we would wish, but nevertheless it is crumbling.

five (5) year old child baptisms, smaller magazines, child sexual abuse exposed, smaller annual growth, no one wants to reach out, young ones leaving.

wisdomfrombelow

What will the Watchtower look like in 30 years?

It will look very much like it looks today. Slowly changing and trying to always be 20 or 30 years behind the progressive times so they look conservative and elusive.

Will there still be a Governing Body? - yes, someone needs to be a scapegoat

Will they finally drop 1914? - nope, it was the start of WWI so they will point to it but not really explain it with chronology anymore.

Will the blood doctrine finally be dropped? - nope, they need something to make them seem different. It might weaken but the truly faithful will be as resolute as ever.

Will disfellowshipping be dropped? - NEVER. As long as there is freedom of association in the USA they will keep their ace-in-the hole.

Will there still be Circuit Overseers, Elders, Pioneers? - Nope, they will find a new name for all of them. Overseer seems like a dead word, maybe coordinate of the circuit or something goofy like that. The positions will remain

Will there still be Judicial Committees? - Yep

Will they still have conventions 3 times a year? - 2 times a year, one circuit (or whatever they will call it then) and one regional (or whatever they will call it then)

How many meetings will they have a week? - 2 meetings a week so they can get maximum usage of the kingdom hall and put as many congregations in them as possible.

Will they still go door to door preaching? - yes, people need a busy work that keeps them isolated. If they were to spend time reading the bible or thinking or helping the poor it would help them break free of the cult

Will they drop the name; “Watchtower Bible and Tract Society?” - They won't but that is just a legal name. It owns all the publishing. I think "Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society" owns all the real estate.

How many members will they have worldwide? 10 million

23

Getting the Urge!

by Theburstbubble in

jw
friends

evening folks, so as some of you may know we have recently decided to leave the witnesses and can see it for the man made organisation it is.

so, why do i get the urge to go back and feel guilty for not being there!

it's like my mind is telling me to be logical about it all but then something keeps pulling me back.. don't get me wrong i really want to break free from it all and i'm resisting the urge to go back as i have been miserable in the truth for a long time as i've known it's not right and want to do the best by my daughter.

wisdomfrombelow

Everyone has the fear of the unknown. If you were a born-in then that is all you know and the outside world can be scary. I don't know how old your daughter is but giving her better more positive world view will be important in the choices she makes. Just find something to do on the midweek meeting night and the Sunday morning meeting time and soon it gets easier the more meetings you miss until you don't miss them anymore.