Posts by NotFormer

That "article" looks like it is pretty well the WT press release in its entirety. How long did the marketing department at Bethel spend, coming up with "JW Box"? 🙄

85

Disaster preparedness

by ElderBerry in

as your family considers its disaster preparedness plan, please ensure that the secretary has up-to-date contact information for you and your emergency contact.

also, we have re- peatedly seen good results when brothers and sisters are prepared with go bags and are ready to obey direction when they face various kinds of disasters.

please be sure you have a go bag, and review its contents at least once a year.

NotFormer

road to nowhere, interesting thought. Like the KKK, the WT leadership is concerned with looking after its own.

32

Kingdom hall cleaning

by Farmer Jim1 in

jw
friends

what are your memories of hall cleaning?.

i actually enjoyed it on the whole, my dad as the elder always tried to keep it to under one hour but in my later years in a hard-line congregation it was a chore.

the po's wife had a printed list and we had to complete it all before left (or got disapproving looks if we left after an hour).. as well as vacuuming the whole building the lost said you had to dismantle the vacuum and clean and polish all the internal elements.

NotFormer

No idea what it was like, of course, but in a high control environment with little in the way of social diversions, I could imagine it could be quite fun for the right group. As OP suggested in the first part of his post. But as OP says in the rest of the post, once the regime changes, its potential to be a horrible chore can be realised.

27

LEAKED 2024 USA SERVICE REPORT

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/lov1gsxj4tg?si=ze-fdc8yswirahwx.

this is a mini report on usa that includes an update on ramapo as it was delivered during the british bethel inauguration few days ago....

NotFormer

Harbour ministry has been around a while then (a while by JW standards, that is).

What is the video being shown in the background of the audio recording? It looks like something dramatised. Is it meant for public viewing (those of my ilk) or is it for internal consumption (for encouragement of JWs)? I assume it is a product of the new* video ministry that the WT is now starting to emphasise?

Out of curiosity, when did this video ministry begin to become a thing?

* New to me i.e. started up within the last two decades.

27

LEAKED 2024 USA SERVICE REPORT

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/lov1gsxj4tg?si=ze-fdc8yswirahwx.

this is a mini report on usa that includes an update on ramapo as it was delivered during the british bethel inauguration few days ago....

NotFormer

3:30 mark: Losing everything gets you used to the idea of being a JW?

What video is playing in the background? How does one get to view it?

2:10 mark: What's a "boooo-dist"?

Harbour ministry? When did this start as a JW programme? Do they just preach, or do they offer practical help to seafarers, like the Mission to Seafarers does? https://www.mts.org.au/ MTS has been around since 1835.

"Leaked"? Is this not for public consumption?

20

Waking Them Up When They Feel Safe

by KerryKing in

good morning all, i would love some genuine advice please.. i have an old friend who is still in the org, but has never been the very staunch type.

however, she is going through a very rough patch in life, (past deeds from youth caught up and now is in prison) and i reached out to her by old fashioned snail mail.. by her reply she sounds more pimi than ever and finding some sort of comfort in the literature.

would i be wrong to attempt to wake her up, would that actually be a cruel thing to do right now?

NotFormer

It's a real conundrum. On the one hand, she's in a difficult situation where she might be open to questioning her reality. On the other hand, if she's drawing comfort and strength from her WT beliefs (and presumably getting some support from her congregation) while in what is a pretty dire situation, it might not help her much to pull that rug out from under her at this time. Some JWs are happy (well, I assume that there must be some who are happy), and she might be happy and content with what she currently believes during these trying circumstances.

16

JW (?) murders wife and mother-in-law

by Chevelle in

according to several spanish ex-jw youtube channels, this is a jw family... but i'm still trying to confirm... .

https://www.fox29.com/news/mom-daughter-found-stabbed-philadelphia-basement.

NotFormer

Sea Breeze, does that explanation often crop up as an officially reported aspect of such cases? Or is it common speculation by people outside the organisation?

I don't doubt that it could be a motive in a JW who's gone nuts.

Is the idea that death absolves a person of their sin debt discussed often enough in JW circles that it could make an impression such that an unhinged JW might decide to kill their loved ones in order to "save" them?

26

Still Confused About The FDS

by NotFormer in

this was prompted by another thread where it was revealed that the gb were referred to as "our future kings" in a wt video.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4911685446402048/fun-moment.

if i've got it right, the 144,000 are (or were until recently) the fds.

NotFormer

Riley: "Building core theology around the book of revelations that basically voids the new testament for anyone but 9 men is pretty bloody silly."

That's a pretty succinct summary. I wish I could remember something like that for when it comes up in conversation. 😅 The whole adventist movement grew out of people saying "I've figured out Revelation!", and as you said, built a theology around it while ignoring all the other 65 books (maybe not Daniel, though).

12

Constant Pleas For Money

by NotFormer in

it comes up from time to time: that the wt's "constant pleas for money" signifies their precarious financial state due to the pressure of the csa settlements.

is there any way of demonstrating that to be a fact?

i ask because i've always been under the impression that "constant pleas for money" is the default state of the organisation, possibly going back to rutherford's time.

NotFormer

JW GoneBad, they're only "a" root of many injurious* things. Unfortunately, one among many.

* How long did they spend in the thesaurus to find that alternative to "evil"? 😸