Posts by JWOP

29

Is it wrong to stay in?

by confusedteenager in

jw
friends

i feel like, i don't believe in the majority of what the gb teaches, but all of my friends and family are invested in this organization and i feel it would be easier on me to just play the part and continue going through the motions then try to leave right now.

is this taking the coward way out?.

i just feel like i wouldn't have much to look forward if i stepped away..

JWOP

I strongly recommend that you feel comfortable about leaving before you actually leave -- be reasonably sure of what you are thinking and believing before you jump ship.

In the meantime, you might want to get your family thinking about their religious path as well. What I mean is, don't preach to them about what you are thinking or believing, but simply ask questions and leave it for them to mull in their own minds.

For example:
Jehovah's Witnesses state that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person because the Holy Spirit is spoken of as "filling" people, and a person cannot fill a person.
The question:
If a person cannot fill a person, then how can the demons -- who are viewed as spirit persons -- possess people?

Without providing your own answers ask the questions which bother you and let them come to realization on their own. You can't force it, and it will take time.

40

Is this what I have to look forward to when I get old?

by dazed but not confused in

jw
friends

.

JWOP

Ladies, do not fear the boob-sag of age:

As a long-time worker in nursing homes, I can promise you that if you RELIGIOUSLY WEAR SUPPORTIVE BRAS you will NOT have the dreaded boob sag! Although you cannot change any sag you've already accrued, you can prevent it from going any further simply by wearing your bra every day (and a supportive one, not some flimsy cloth that pretends to be a bra!).BELIEVE ME -- it makes a huge difference!

From one fellow female to all of you other females!

52

One experience in our old Kingdom Hall that still HAUNTS me

by Newly Enlightened in

the following is a true experience and my daughter gojira101 will verify that it happened to her.

an experience from our family's past that still haunts me and started my questioning whether this is the true organization of god or not.. my daughter, who has always been a good kid, never gave us any problems [she's an adult now] started regular pioneering.

within a few weeks of her starting, she fell on a steep hill and tore open her knee and had to have several stitches.

JWOP

They always play favorites in the congregations.

In the late 1990's my nephew, "Grant" was a young adult. A young sister at the KH, who happened to be the daughter of an "anointed" brother, accused Grant of inappropriately touching her. He vehemently denied it; and it was just his word against hers, no "two witnesses" to the alleged accusation. Grant was marked, a marking talk was given, and all his congregation privileges were revoked -- he and his mother (my sister) were devastated. Several weeks later the sister confided to one of her friends that she made the whole story up. The friend told the elders about it, upon which the elders immediately gave Grant back his privileges. What else did they do? NOTHING! No public apology, and the accusing sister DIDN'T get ANY reproof/correction/discipline for her defamatory actions! NOT ONE THING!

59

Born in, Convert or 1975er?

by Think About It in

jw
friends

does a person's involvement in the jw religion usually fall into one of these 3 categories?.

a) born in.

b) convert.

JWOP

Born-in, 1968, escapee, 2004

38

Who is the biggest hypocrite JW that you know?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

JWOP

The biggest JW hypocrites I see are all the ones who read my blog and THEN proceed to berate my apostasy.

I usually tell them they need to run to the elders and confess that they've been purposely reading apostate material.

92

Your earliest doubt?

by Apognophos in

this might be an unfair question for those who have been out of the organization for decades, but i'm wondering if any of you remember your earliest doubt -- maybe something odd that occurred to you as a kid (if you were a jw then).

please try to limit to two doubts at the most :-).

i think my first "doubt" was simply realizing that at the time of the flood, every animal that wasn't in the ark died (well, besides the fish, supposedly).

JWOP

I was a born-in. I began having doubts in my teen years, when I'd notice "new light" didn't match the old light in any way, shape, or form. Of course, it was explained to me that, since we are imperfect people, Jehovah can't give us ALL of the information all at once, He has to give it to us only as we're able to understand it.

BUT I still couldn't understand why Jehovah would teach us a lie just because we weren't ready for the true information yet.....

27

the Service Meetings didn't prepare me for this

by stillin in

naked ladies at the door!

various stages of undress, including absolutely nothing on.

my response was to be cool, go into my presentation and sneak a peek when i thought it wouldn't be noticed.

JWOP

Years ago, when I was a teenager, I went to a house and a man answered the door , all unzipped and hanging out. Because I was looking at his face to talk to him, I didn't notice the "hangin' "until I looked down to get a magazine out of my bookbag. Not knowing what else to do, I just looked him right in the eye and continued with my presentation.

The other sister I was with said to me later "You handled that so well!"

Me, I never wanted to go back out in service again after that!

7

2014 - an interesting year

by alfredjones100 in

for me, i'm awaiting for october 2014.. and i'm interested to see how the brothers will react; both in print and in the kingdom hall.. have others thought that it's a bit odd that the eartly christian era was only 74 years in length ( from the baptizm of jesus in 26 ce to the death of the last of the apostals in 100 ad); but the last days are 100 years long?.

JWOP

I wouldn't be surprised if they conjure up a teaching that says Armageddon has already happened "invisibly" and that they're already in the paradise, "spiritually".

23

"There will be earthquakes..." Show this site to JW's and watch their faces

by Terry in

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/.

http://earthquakes.tafoni.net/.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/epic/.

JWOP

At one point the WT did concur that the frequency of Earthquakes has not actually increased, just the damage from them has:

(Awake! March 22, 2002, p.9)

...the number of earthquakes has not substantially increased in recent decades. In fact, the U.S. National Earthquake Information Center reports that earthquakes of 7.0 magnitude and greater remained “fairly constant” throughout the 20th century.
Note, though, that the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy does not require an increase in the number or power of earthquakes. All Jesus said was that there would be great earthquakes in one place after another. Furthermore, he stated that these events would mark the “beginning of pangs of distress.” (Matthew 24:8) Distress is measured, not by the number of earthquakes or how they rate on the Richter scale, but by the effect that they have upon people.

15

Jehovah's Pagan Witnesses?

by smmcroberts in

recent responses to teeny's "siestas are bad" blog on jwb have seen witnesses defending their stance against birthdays on the basis that the practice has "pagan origins".

that got me wondering how many things with a "pagan origin" a witness accepts in their daily life without a fuss.

upon examination it seems they may be nearly as "steeped in paganism" as the religions they condemn.. for the details (and at least one good chuckle) please see my latest blog:.

JWOP

Let's not forget the Pinatas!
(Excerpt from my newest book: Jehovah's Witnesses -- Masked Mysticism, pp.72-75)

For example, even though they prohibit Christmas and Easter due to the inclusion of ancient pagan religious ties, the Watchtower Society does not prohibit the use of piñatas in spite of the fact that piñatas are as equally steeped in ancient pagan religious rituals as Christmas and Easter.

How close are piñatas tied to ancient pagan worship rituals?

According to the Watchtower Society's article “The Piñata – An Ancient Tradition in the Awake!, September 22, 2003, pp.22-24, they state that the Chinese made piñatas, and upon breaking them open they'd burn it to ashes and keep the ashes for good luck [Superstition and luck is considered to be inspired by Satan: Awake! March 2008, pp.10-11]. The article goes on to state that explorer Marco Polo brought the piñata back to Italy from China, and eventually the piñata became a customary activity during the first Sunday of the Lent season.[The Watchtower Society teaches that Lent is also fraught with forbidden pagan practices, The Watchtower, March 15, 1966, p.188]. Additionally, the article states that the ancient Aztecs used a clay version of the piñata in celebration of the birthday of their false god Huitzilopochtl, using the treats contained within as an offering to that god[Clearly a case of idolatry].After these admissions to the piñata's strong roots in false religion, the article continues on to state:

“ ...the piñata became part of the festivities of the posadas during the Christmas season and continues as such to this day... Breaking the piñata is also considered indispensable at birthday parties...

[The Watchtower Society generally does not approve of activities which are associated with Christmas due to the view of Christmas being a false religious holiday, Jehovah's Witnesses and Education, 2002, pp.16-18]

After explaining all of these things, the Watchtower Society then tries to soften the piñata's image by explaining that “the piñata has lost its religious significance and is considered by most to be just harmless fun...A main concern is, not what the practice meant hundreds of years ago, but how it is viewed today in your area.” The article closes with the idea that the use of a piñata is a conscience issue – meaning it can be acceptable so long as it doesn't “stumble” another fellow believer.

After reading this article, one has four particular questions come to mind:

Since the article admits that piñatas are “ indispensable at birthday parties ”, and Jehovah's Witnesses refrain from holding birthday parties (also due to ancient pagan religious customs)1, why should it be acceptable to use an item that is so strongly associated with birthdays? Even though a Jehovah's Witness may not be using a piñata for a birthday party, that is tantamount to displaying a figurine of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny on your bookshelf out of season – indespensable items for holidays – something no self-respecting Jehovah's Witness would do.
Since Christmas customs, Easter customs, and piñata customs all stem from strong backgrounds in false religion which were absorbed into Christian worship, what makes one acceptable and not the others? What is the difference?
We also have to ask: Since they have already admitted in the article that piñatas are currently used for Christmas “Posadas” 2 festivities, how can it be said that they've lost their “ religious significance ”?3
AND... If assimilating pagan rituals into modern celebrations is an insult to Jehovah, then why is it acceptable to assimilate piñatas into modern celebrations?

When a reader wrote to the Watchtower Society questioning this acceptance of piñatas, the Watchtower Society replied “...if it is very obvious that a custom has no current false religious significance and involves no violation of Bible principles, each Christian must make a personal decision as to whether he will follow such a custom.” (Awake!, July 8, 2004, p.30).

So now we have to wonder about this response of theirs: Although they admit that piñatas are currently used globally for the Las Posadas Christmas festivities – which they view as false religion – how can they say the custom has “no current false religious significance” – especially since Las Posadas is celebrated by roughly 350 million people worldwide (that is equal to the entire population of the United States)4 – and that it is not counted as being in “violation of Bible principles?

Clearly, the Watchtower Society is contradictory in their view as to what is acceptable and what is not.

1Reasoning From the Scriptures, (1989), pp.69-70

2“Posadas” is a nine-day celebration in which celebrants commemorate Joseph and Mary's search for “posada” – lodging. Since this is a Bible based celebration, it is certainly of religious significance.

3“Las Posadas” is a widespread observance in Hispanic-influenced countries such as Mexico, The Philippines, Guatemala, the United States, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Columbia, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, etc.

4According to current world population statistics,(2012) this would be roughly 5% of the world population, i.e. 1 out of every 20 people in the world celebrating Las Posadas each year, complete with piñatas.