They reached their peak. The may even be at their peak right now. However, from here on is downhill all the way, membership and finances. The only thing to speculate about is how long this is going to last.
never a jw
JoinedPosts by never a jw
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19
WTS Rich or Hurting for $$$
by Zeds Dead inseen a few discussions asking if the wts are hurting for $$ or still sitting on a mountain of gold.. regardless of their child abuse legal fees and ongoing broadcasting for more dough, i believe they have piles and piles of cash.. talked with a diff'd accountant who sat in the accounting dept.
at the conventions for years.. a football stadium (or the like) costs them about $70 - 90,000 to rent for a 3 day dub show.
they take in $400,000 in donations from the r&f.
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never a jw
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33
Disassociation revealed what type of man my father really is.
by Paul Mooney ini began my exit from the jehovah’s witness organization about 5 years.
i was a 4th generation born-in, with all the baggage that comes with having the “spiritual heritage” attached to the group.
i was an elder/bethelite/pioneer/whatever other useless privilege there was, i had no family or friends outside of the organization… my entire life was that org.
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never a jw
Welcome Paul,
Best experience I have read in a while. The best to you, your family and especially your Dad. Tell your Dad that he has plenty of backbone, the backbone that is needed to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. He loves your family too much to go rogue and independent.
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The facts on crucifixion, stauros, and the "torture stake"
by Leolaia infinally, i will look at biblical and patristic evidence bearing on the crucifixion of jesus in particular.
we need to examine the earliest known descriptions of the kind of crucifixion adopted by the romans and the specific terms they used to refer to it.
apparently the society believes that crux still meant "stake" in the second century a.d., when tacitus composed his annals.
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never a jw
3 years ago
Is the OP the longest post on the forum?
It may be the longest post, but every word is needed and counts to produce a masterpiece of scholarship. It's the antithesis of Watchtower writing
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Finding out that jws are not what they make out to be
by nomorepain13 in*warning this is long* it all started on the last day of the "remain loyal to jehovah" convention.
a little background story, i've been raised as a jw, been in and out of the religon, never baptised but was made an unbaptized publisher about 3 years ago, always felt out of place in the congregation, blamed myself for this because if i had just went to meetings and did all the right things then i would have friends and not be in the mess that i was.
right after becoming an unbaptized publisher i met my now fiance, end up leaving my mother's house to live with him, elders haven't contacted me about my situation even though i'm sure they know as my step father is an elder...but anyway on the last day of the convention my fiance came with me as i was visiting my mother and had planned to go with her and her husband to the convention.
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never a jw
You just reached the point of no return. Be happy! You will still be shocked, angry, disappointed, sad. But things will get better soon after. Welcome to freedom!
Read Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz, a man who was totally the opposite of the leaders of the Watchtower
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Coming to a Kingdom Hall near you
by FatFreek 2005 inputting it simply, kingdom halls are no longer the property of a local group of the folks that paid for and constructed it.
the lender, the watchtower society, now says that once a mortgage is satisfied, that congregation must then declare a resolution which says it will continue to make payments, usually equal to the amount they were paying on the mortgage.
and they must do so indefinitely.
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never a jw
Amen to that!
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I don't think I will be able to escape the JWs ...
by nevaagain ini know i will get a lot of backslash on this forum for saying this, but as it looks like, i won't ever be able to escape the jws.
i have been a born in, third generation jw and awoken in one way or another (i joined this forum 15 years ago) for a very long time.
but i have adapted to the jw lifestyle to a point where it does not bother me anymore.
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never a jw
You are fine, the "worldly" world is not for everyone. The "worldly" world is a lot more fun, with way more choices, from the worst to the very best. The world offers the opportunity to get much greater sense of accomplishment. You can be selfish and give yourself every material joy available to you without a sense of guilt, or you can do great acts of philanthropy and attain maximum sense of fulfillment without the judgement of fundamentalists who expect only acts of worship to the leaders and mythological figures. The world also offers the opportunity to discover and learn the universe as is, not as we want it to be. Lastly, the spectrum of worldly girls is far larger than in a fundamentalist religion, but not everyone has the skills to get la creme dela creme. If you found your niche and is in your area of comfort, then enjoy it. Life is too short.
One last comment: Given the state of affairs in the Watchtower, I think its "useful" life is not going to be longer than your own. Make some preparations for the imminent days of the Watchtower's decrepitude and obsolescence. Get your zealous girl while they last, and remember you have to be a ministerial servant to be worthy of a JW girl.
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Selloff Hinted At Assembly
by thedepressedsoul inthe last talk at the assembly made an interesting statement, "we can show faith by following direction if we're asked to move to another kingdom hall for better use of dedicated christian funds".
this statement has everyone talking.
i spoke to multiple individuals and they heard the same thing at different assembly's.. i know they have been "evaluating" all kingdom halls the last year or two.
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never a jw
If congregations are consolidated, then donations will shrink even more. Now, instead of two small monthly donations to Brooklyn (Warwick), you have one bigger donation that may not add up to the sum of the two smaller donations. People donate less when they know there's plenty of other heads to contribute.
Yet another sign that they are not thinking about long term. The end maybe upon us!
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Jehovah's Witnesses ARE Christians, why do so many ex JW's deny this?
by nicolaou injehovah's witnesses accept jesus as christ, the son of god.
they try, in their own way, to live by his teachings and imitate him.
they pray, read the bible and meet together regularly for worship.. i won't minimise any of the harm and damage they cause but for the life of me, i can't see how anyone can credibly deny that they are christians.. why do so many former jws have a problem with this?
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never a jw
Yes, they are christians, but they are JEHOVAHERS in a much bigger way. Most other forms of Christianity are big on Jesus and the Gospels, but care almost nothing about the childless God of the Old Testament, except when there's a prophecy about his future son. Most other Christians care about the God of the New Testament because he is the father of the big hero of Christianity, JESUS CHRIST. It's all in the name CHRISTIANITY. -
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Double speak of the Watchtower
by never a jw insorry, this may have been covered ad nauseam before, but since it is blatant double speak of the watchtower, i felt it would be good to write a reminder of that.
below is an extract where the watchtower makes an effort to point out to the royal commission that among their members there are professionals with higher education, such as doctors and lawyers.
what they conveniently fail to mention is that the wt leadership repeatedly in writing and in approved public speeches discourages, even denigrate the pursuit of higher education.
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never a jw
"At times, Jehovah’s Witnesses are the subject of misconceptions."
What misconceptions???...
that you are against higher education,
that you are as a religious group one of the least educated,
that you advise suicidal victims to pray more, don't fail Jehovah and don't listened to the taunter, instead of advising the victim to seek professional help,
that you encourage homophobia,
that you protect pedophiles and money more than children,
that you promote a persecution complex among your members in order to distrust outsiders including government and media,
that you tailor your Bible to your preconceived ideas.
that you destroy families by prohibiting contact with those whose only "sin" is to use critical thinking skills and research
No, those are misconceptions, those are facts that are proven by the evidence in your speeches, written material, policies, manuals, videos, books, assemblies' lectures.
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I found a list my Wife is makingof subjects i have told her about the BORG.
by goingthruthemotions inso me and my wife have not been on speaking terms for about 5 weeks, and when we do .
talk…it is arguing about the jw cult and more of a barrage from me telling here all the stuff i have learned.
i know i shouldn't do this....but, i get so freaking p.o ed aobut what this cult has done to my family.
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never a jw
If you fear trouble, then get rid of the evidence. Files get lost, tablets get stolen or damaged by spilled coffee, or people sit on them.