Posts by shepherdless

8

When clerics wear hats they're a hoot!

by oppostate in

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shepherdless

I always found Shiite cleric hats amusing; like giant marshmallows:

But if they are anti-american, then the white marshmallow turns black, as if influenced by Hollywood:

Nothing beats those Orthodox bishops, though, in the silly hat competition:

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

shepherdless

Just an anecdote in support of Island Man.

Until my wife became a "return to Jehovah", I thought JWism was just another quaint fundamentalist Christian religion. When I heard the "Jesus is Michael" thing, it definitely made me think that JWs were just a bunch of silly nutters. This was well before the ARC, and before I had stumbled on sites such as this, or found out the bOrg was a cult.

33

JWs biggest problem is not doctrinal issues

by Chook in

it's biggest problems are associated with its lack of genuine love and concern for the rank& file.

the average person doesn't need a food critic to tell them their hamburger is shit, in the same manner the average person can discern kindness and love.

gbs fake love and concern is evident in the way head office deals with victims of sexual abuse by jw clergy.

shepherdless

Looks like you are right, joe134cd. I read the wrong numbers somewhere.

33

JWs biggest problem is not doctrinal issues

by Chook in

it's biggest problems are associated with its lack of genuine love and concern for the rank& file.

the average person doesn't need a food critic to tell them their hamburger is shit, in the same manner the average person can discern kindness and love.

gbs fake love and concern is evident in the way head office deals with victims of sexual abuse by jw clergy.

shepherdless

JWs biggest problem is not doctrinal issues

Absolutely!

if you compare ex-JW reddit to ex-Mormon reddit and ex-sda reddit, you will notice that ex-JW reddit has nearly TEN times the number of subscribers as the other two COMBINED.

Why? Well each religion has dubious hidden history, and each religion has flawed theological doctrines that are unbiblical and wrong on close examination. I what makes JWs stand out is the appalling way it treats its adherents. Mormons and SDA do shun, but as far as I can make out, the shunning is not as regimented, absolute or enforced. SDA have also ceased excommunicating people about 20 years ago. Also, neither Mormons nor SDA kill adherents with arbitrary rules about permissible medical procedures. Mormons and SDA encourage education. And from memory, stats from the Aust Royal Commission, child abuse rates are half the rate, or lower, in the other 2 religions. What I am trying to point out is that those other two religions do make an effort to look after their adherents. The bOrg on the other hand has a history and culture of treating its adherents like dirt.

I suspect that 95% of the reason sites like this exist is because of the way the bOrg treats people, not the bOrg's flawed theology.

31

Homophobic "story" in June 2017 WT

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

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shepherdless

As I remember it, Rosebud was the name written on the side of the sled (ie the name of a favourite toy) that Kane used to play on before he was sent away from his parents.

33

So how did JF Rutherford function...?

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

every picture i have seen at him at beth shirim and other private places are with a bottle of alcohol.. while for me personally i couldn't care less anymore.... for jw's this is low moral character.

so i'm an going to guess he was a functioning alcoholic... how did that work with his closest workers?

was he gay too?

shepherdless

Some details on Rutherford personal life and personal behavior are set out in the old threads below:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/154191/rutherford-exposed-story-berta-bonnie-redux

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/239384/rutherfords-smear-campaign-must-read

19

I think it's possible for a change of trend in JW growth

by Chook in

just like after decades of memorial partakers declining and now reversed.

this information age might reverse the trend of jw membership.

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shepherdless

I am looking forward to seeing the published numbers this year. I expect to see either zero growth or negative 1% for virtually every European country, USA, Canada, Aust, NZ, etc. This may seem unremarkable now, but even 2 years ago, it would have sounded overly optimistic (or pessimistic depending on your p.o.v.).

They will probably still get growth in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Phlippines etc, unfortunately. It will be interesting to see how much.

11

Reject WT Thinking - November 2017 WT article commented (p. 20)

by Master_Bob in

i really liked this kind of articles when back in borg, because they address the issues i was most concerned about.

or at least i thought that they address, because they don't.

i marked all the deceptive techniques and logical manipulations they use as a mental exercise and would like to share with you.

shepherdless

To quote from the cartoon series your avatar is from; "Good job, Bob!"

I particularly like the reference to increasing cybercrime.

12

JW Definition of "Apostate"

by Saename in

so recently, after having a conversation with a jehovah's witness, i started wondering about how jws define the term "apostate.

" officially, every elder would tell you that an apostate is one who leaves the jehovah's witness faith.

but did anyone else notice that this is not how they use the word colloquially—that they're sort of dishonest about it?.

shepherdless

If you look up "apostasy" on Wikipedia, and scroll down, you will see a separate subsection for Jehovah's Witnesses.

In dictionaries, the word is usually defined along the lines of a renunciation of one's reliigion (or principles or cause etc), but most Christians, if they use it at all, tend to restrict the term to those who abandon faith in God altogether, not those who change religious denomination, or those who dispute individual teachings or leaders within a denomination.

24

Aust census: incomes: JWs falling further behind?

by shepherdless in

time for some more stats, for your interest and comments.... it has been well documented in the past that, as a group, incomes for jws are lower than virtually any other religion, in australia.

rather than repeat that exercise here, i set out some detail about the gap between jws and ordinary australians.. 1. jws typically earn much less.

here is a bar chart of income brackets, comparing jw incomes against other australians.

shepherdless

Hi konceptual, my response and anecdote about the old couple was in response to Ruby's question. I didn't see your comment before posting mine. I had a perception that people move less in the UK but I have never spent a long period there, so I don't actually know the extent of it.

Anyway, this is all a side-track.

Ruby, I doubt that JWs are in less debt, compared to what they earn, but I don't know. I also doubt that financial strain is a primary explanation for the "return to Jehovahs", but that is a topic for another day.

Edit: I wrote the above before seeing the last two posts.