Posts by NotFormer

74

Doctrines and Bible Interpretations

by IWant2Know in

i would like to know if ex's and formers who are not church christians, believe that many of jws' doctrines and bible interpretations are correct, or do you feel that they aren't?

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NotFormer

"But JWs aren't the only ones who interpret Michael to be Jesus."

There's a small amount of truth in that. I believe I heard (this was decades ago, so my memory may be faulty) a Christadelphian say that Jesus was Michael in some prophetic sense. But they wouldn't have had the same belief as JWs, even though Russell probably got his non-Trinitarian views from the Christadelphians. The Christadelphians don't believe in any pre-existance of Jesus before his conception, while Michael was around before that.

The blood doctrine is totally unique to JWs, probably a hobby horse of Franz. You'll note that it wasn't implemented until after Rutherford's death. He was in ill health; perhaps he needed transfusions.

144000 Israelite male virgins referring to Christians of both genders and not being necessarily celibate is unique. The nature of those people is apparently "symbolic", but their number (12×12×1000, extremely symbolic biblical numbers) is apparently absolute.

25

February 2024 Study Watchtower -

by BoogerMan in

february 2024 study watchtower p. 2 par.

2 - "however, a question may arise: 🤣 what will happen to christ’s “other sheep” who will be serving jehovah faithfully on earth during the “great tribulation”?

(john 10:16; matt.

NotFormer

St George of England, I have read on here that Malcolm was so peeved with the whole thing that he eventually joined the military.

52

Manners and Respectfulness

by IWant2Know in

i would like to know if there are any ex's or formers who still appreciate good manners and respectfulness?

but i hope this question isn't offensive to this forum.

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NotFormer

IWant2Know, those are valid points. It can be a bit of a free for all. But at the same time, there are plenty of respectful people here. I'm not sure Simon introduced the monster avatars as a middle finger to anybody, maybe he saw it as cute and endearing. Superficially, it might appear rough, but most JWs adapt. Some of the rudest and most arrogant posters have been current JWs hiding behind their online anonymity. Or at least, they could cut it with the rudest "apostates".

23

JW Restrictions on Children

by NotFormer in

issues raised in this thread:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6496820625145856/non-jw-parent-dating-jw-who-wants-children.

i'm trying to list all the things jw children are not allowed to do, or are discouraged from doing.

NotFormer

Balaamsass2, that's a good list. 👍 Or, should I say, that's a bad list! JWs say that they don't believe in Hell, but at the same time, it sounds like they made life Hell on Earth for you.

Martial arts is another one for the list.

I assume fly fishing was objected to on a time wasted basis? Scuba, because the money was better spent on "the Kingdom"?

Making kids carry the blood card is a whole new level of evil!

23

JW Restrictions on Children

by NotFormer in

issues raised in this thread:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6496820625145856/non-jw-parent-dating-jw-who-wants-children.

i'm trying to list all the things jw children are not allowed to do, or are discouraged from doing.

NotFormer

Carla added some things on the above quoted thread:

"Occult themed" cereal like Lucky Charms or Count Chocula (these were never a thing in this country. I think you can get them at The Reject Shop)

Voting (I assume JW kids can't vote or run for school, class president, etc.)

Non-JW friends

Tertiary education ambitions (trade school might be okay)

29

The FDS Photoshop

by Vanderhoven7 in

for those interested in the latest version of the faithful slave.

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from the february 2024 watchtower .

NotFormer

There's something kind of heartbreaking about the way Tony Morris has been purged. Sure, he was an arsehole, and many exes were happy to see his demise, but how must it hurt to be suddenly stripped of everything you had, and under normal circumstances could have expected to continue until you died?

Which raises the question which still hasn't been answered: what the heck did he do?? Was it as simple as the bad visual effect of Bottlegate? There's plenty of JW apologists on Quora, etc. who happily explain away that event and pretend that it's not a gotcha of any kind.

A very tight lid seems to be in place on this particular incident. I wonder if we'll ever see any Bethel leaks that explain this case. Maybe the Bethelites are afraid to leak. The Bethelites could well be being fed different stories in order to out the moles.

I don't see any upside to being a JW; it must be like living in the old Soviet Union or East Germany!

3

11/25/23 Daily Mail :"Former Jehovah's Witness lifts the lid on the brutal isolation he faced as a child

by Balaamsass2 in

interesting read.

while the daily news is not a high-brow paper, it does get a lot of views.

(i have known jw families this extreme towards children).

NotFormer

The obligatory comments by JWs: "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on television", or as it is always phrased "I'm not a Jehovah's Witness, but I have friends that are, and they are the sweetest, kindest people I know". I always want to ask these people if they also have friends in "Christendom", and if they are sweet and kind too.

Plus the instant dismissal: "Absolute rubbish!"

And "So what? It's not like this is anything new!"

Those three JW apologists always seem to appear whenever anything negative about the WT appears.

I'm so glad that testamonies like these are gaining more prominence in the mainstream media. The stories of the victims need to be told.

52

Manners and Respectfulness

by IWant2Know in

i would like to know if there are any ex's or formers who still appreciate good manners and respectfulness?

but i hope this question isn't offensive to this forum.

.

NotFormer

"...Sister Insult-the-Christendom-Householder..."

We had her at our door once. She gave us "what for" about our belief about the current status of our deceased family member, only days after the death.

I remember feeling at the time that she was "somewhat ill-mannered". 🙄

52

Manners and Respectfulness

by IWant2Know in

i would like to know if there are any ex's or formers who still appreciate good manners and respectfulness?

but i hope this question isn't offensive to this forum.

.

NotFormer

From what I've read about JWs and the indoctrination process, manners are something that could be a casualty. Manners are a way of showing respect to your fellow human beings. My understanding is that JWs are taught not to respect anything or anyone from outside the Kingdom Hall environment. Also, that they don't respect anything done in kingdom service; no-one gets a pat on the back for anything. That would be taking the glory away from Jehovah. The GB likes to use that bible verse that says something like "we are just slaves, we did our duty" (most other bibles translate "doulos" as "servant").

Against that backdrop of basic disrespect, I wouldn't see manners as being pushed as important. The arrogant higher ups could get away with disrespect for people lower down the pecking order, and their attitudes would be pushed down the line to those "lesser ones".

The OP seems to be of the opinion that you'll find manners and respect in the Kingdom Hall, but not among exJWs. For the reasons above, I don't see that as automatically being the case.

29

The FDS Photoshop

by Vanderhoven7 in

for those interested in the latest version of the faithful slave.

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from the february 2024 watchtower .

NotFormer

"I'm pretty sure they have a valet in addition to the (necessary) secretary."

'No man is a hero to his valet'

That would be the guy(s) to spill the dirt on the organisation. Imagine if a GB valet left Bethel and became an exJW! 🙀😱