Posts by shepherdless

50

How long before The Watchtower goes bankrupt and vanishes?

by VM44 in

how long before the watchtower goes bankrupt and goes away?.

does anyone know how the watchtower is doing financially?.

.

shepherdless

We know neither the day nor the hour, but eventually this evil cult will die.

My 2c worth: Up until recently, there seemed to be a steady stream of reports of kingdom halls and other buildings being sold off. Then a couple of months ago, Watchtower sold its Columbia Heights headquarters, for a few hundred million (Was it $300 million? I can't remember exact amount, now). Since that sale, I haven't seen a report of a Kingdom Hall being sold.

Perhaps after a year or two, Watchtower will have burnt through that pile of cash, and will start selling other assets again and making further cutbacks. That will be sign of the last days.

10

JW's pressed the rain down in Ukraine

by oppostate in

jw brothersasamblea en ucrania 7.712 aguantando la lluvia que buen ejemplo para nosotros!

!que gran ejemplo y aguante!.

would you sit under torrential rain out in the open during a convention?.

shepherdless

2015 Service Report showed a decrease 6% for Ukraine. A sizable drop. Also, a 142 congs. less than 2014. What is going on there?

It is probably due to the annexation of Crimea by Russia. Ukraine has 8,423 less av publishers, and Russia has 7,675 more. Crimea's population (at 2.2 million) was about 5% of Ukraine's population before annexation.

Interestingly, apart from Belarus, countries in that region are all showing flat or negative growth.

25

Raising kids in a split faith household

by rathernotsay in

jw
friends

hi guys, don't know if this is the right place to ask but id like to hear other peoples experiences with raising kids in a household with split faiths.

just for a bit of a back story, my wife and i have been married for comming up 6 years.

we have 3 kids, 2 boys aged 5 and 3 and a 8 week old girl.

shepherdless

Hi rathernotsay,

I am in a similar position, although I am further down the track. Sorry to be negative, but I think that you are up against more than you realize.

You sound like a principled person. (I consider myself the same.) The first thing to realize is that they don't play fair. I did not get that at first, because I did not know much about JWism and I didn't expect a Christian religion to be so dishonest. They think that your kids' lives depend on them being indoctrinated, and that entitles them to say one thing and do another behind your back.

They're so young and I imagine that they will make their own minds up eventually...

That is probably the norm in most Christian religions. However this religion makes it really tough to leave. They use psychological pressure such as cognitive dissonance. It is particularly tough on kids because they tend to believe anything told to them by adults. A lot of kids do eventually work it out, but at best it is painful.

As far as solutions go, I don't have any at the moment. I am still battling. Wife and kids go to meetings. I can't stop that. None are baptized, or express much enthusiasm, but will be very defensive if I mention anything negative about Watchtower. At this stage I don't know which way my kids will go. I have managed to get a bit of TTATT into my wife, and she doesn't seem to have the confidence in it that she used to.

It is probably a good idea to keep their minds enquiring, whether about space, dinosaurs, or whatever. One think I found is that the school teacher is your invisible ally. Your kids have probably already got the message that you can not be trusted on matters concerning religion, but I have noticed that they still trust anything the school teacher says about science, evolution, etc. I have tried to give them as much info on physics etc, and when they hear the same thing from the teacher, it is confirmed as fact.

This is Machiallelian, but another thing I have done is physically move the family to where contact with JW relatives and JW's generally is difficult. As a result, my kids don't have any JW friends, and generally only see other JW's at meetings. I think that might help, in the future.

There is a lot more I could say. Anyway, good luck with it all.

27

The two paths of exJWs

by Simon in

it's easy to think of exjws as being a single amorphous group but the more i think about it, the more i believe that there are two distinct sub-groups and wonder if you agree.. there are those who believe and those who don't.

i know that seems obvious but let's break it down a bit more.

there are those who don't and never believed and some who are looking for a religion to match their beliefs.. i used to think this split would be between born-ins and converts but of course it's possible for born-ins to be believers although i suspect that many, like with other faiths, do so simply because they have never experienced anything else or made a conscious choice.

shepherdless

Simon - There are those who believe and those who don't. I know that seems obvious but let's break it down a bit more. There are those who don't and never believed and some who are looking for a religion to match their beliefs.

I don't think this is unique to JWism. It seems to be in the DNA of many humans to seek out or imagine a god or gods. Virtually every society in the past invented gods of one sort or other, and that deity (or deities) significantly defined that society. Perhaps humans with the "god" gene had a genetic advantage because they were more easily aligned into large groups or tribes and had a survival advantage over those not so aligned.

To quote Voltaire in around 1770: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."

91

My brother died last night

by LisaRose in

jw
friends

i found out this morning that my brother died last night, he was also an ex jw, 73 years old and died of heart disease and kidney failure.

it was not totally unexpected, as he had been in poor health, but it's a blow, especially as i just lost another brother two years ago.

there were six of us, now only four.

shepherdless

Condolences, from me as well.

150

I'm getting baptized

by BlackWolf in

jw
friends

i know i've started similar topics before but this time i'm serious.

my parents have been constantly pressuring me and after yesterday's watchtower study they asked me if i was going to be baptized this summer... and i said yes.

i probably should have thought about it more before making a final decision, but they're pretty much forcing me to do it anyway.

shepherdless

Hi BlackWolf, plenty of good advice from others here. I can't add to that. The strategy of Lisa Rose a couple of posts above, is a good strategy.

I was once pressured into something major when I knew it wasn't right. I know how that feels. I can tell you it is a lot worse, long term, if you give into that pressure.

It sounds like you are not going to make the same mistake. That takes strength of character. Well done! Things may be tough now, but if you get through this, you will look back on this episode of your life, and be proud of yourself for being true to your principles.

Best wishes

241

Another generation....

by joey jojo in

it has been 21 years since the 1995 article that pretty much buried the idea of the '1914 generation'.. remember those guys?

the ones born in 1914 that would still be alive when the end of the system arrived.. i'm glad i'm old enough to remember going from door to door, preaching this belief.

the reason i say that is because i have a lot of 'still in' jw friends and family.

shepherdless

Marked - 1935, "great crowd" vs "other sheep"

22

When a crime is commited?

by Drifting Away in

jw
friends

i responded to someone on another thread, but would love to know this answer.. if a victim adult or child goes to elders and claims they were abused, don't they have to have clergy confidentiality?

so i was told that they encourage the victim to contact authorities , and they contact bethel, but arent there hands tied if the victim does not want to go to authorities?

an elder made the comment to me once.

shepherdless

I agree with Sir82. I add the following:

Do they have penitent clergy confidentiality? Depends on country, and in some countries, which state you are in. Laws protecting penitent clergy privilege only exist in some countries, and tend to be broader and more defined in various states of USA than anywhere else in the world. Even in USA, pertinent clergy privilege does not seem to extend to anything much further than a penitent confession. It certainly would not cover a victim accusation.

Do they encourage the victim to go to the authorities? From the ARC, the answer would appear to be a clear no.

Are their hands tied if the victim does not want to go to the authorities? In some jurisdictions now, there are mandatory reporting requirements where children are concerned. It would be a criminal offence not to report.

28

Proof God Does NOT Exist

by Hadriel in

o.k.

here's just a little fun, you guys can run with it.. if god existed would he allow the whacktower to be in business?

just sayin... lol.

shepherdless

Thanks prologos. The question has me stumped as well, and has for years, which is why I asked it here.

28

Proof God Does NOT Exist

by Hadriel in

o.k.

here's just a little fun, you guys can run with it.. if god existed would he allow the whacktower to be in business?

just sayin... lol.

shepherdless

Prologos, who or what created this time-lord?