Anders Andersen

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Posts by Anders Andersen

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  10

  If shunning were no longer a JW policy, how many would leave the Org?

  by HiddenPimo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  additionally - if this shunning rule was removed and everyone was made aware of the dirty secrets of the org.. (e.g.

  csa-arc / un membership / malawi - mexico contrast / etc.).

  would those leaving be higher?.

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  Anders Andersen

  Some consequences I can see if ever the mandatory shunning would be done away with:

  • Many dubs will continue shunning anyway. WT policy has become their identity; that can't be changed simply by shunning not be mandatory anymore. Only if WT would forbid shunning they'd change. Compare with the unofficial shunning of former JW who are neither DA or DF; they are shunned even though the rules don't strictly say JW must do that. Fundamentalist religionists think and act black and white, us vs them, even if shunning were not explicitly mandatory.
  • Quite a few PIMO will leave. I estimate perhaps up to 10%.
  • Many already faded dubs/POMO will finally officially withdraw themselves from the religion by DAing. I would!
  • The most interesting result would be long term though. Humans have the tendency to attribute high(er) value to things that have cost them much. And the more we have already paid for something, the more we are prepared to pay on top. Shunning your own dear friends, parents, children, siblings is as high as cost can get for JW living in free countries. Once they have resolutely shunned on command, they become even more determined and motivated to make that high emotional cost worth while. They are more likely to stay in the religion longer. Without mandatory shunning, less JW will pay this ultimate price, and I think on average the JW will become inactive and leave a little sooner. This lower retention rate translates in lower membership numbers.
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  3

  For the lovers of Jung and synchronicity - yesterday's experience

  by TheOldHippie in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  one, synchronicity.

  totally amateurishly explained, it means something like acausal meaningful coincidence.

  to make an example rewritten from jung, a woman tells him about her dream of a foreign special type of beetle.

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  Anders Andersen

  Wow, what a strange event and eerie coincidence!

  I really mean that. Also, that's as far as I'm willing to go :-D

  With accounts like these, I always wonder why - if any force would want to communicate something - they choose seemingly random events, accidents, coincidences to communicate, and only leave riddles very much open to interpretation of the spectators.

  Instead of pushing a book, why not pick up a pen and write down exactly what it is they want to communicate?

  Ah well. As long as you and your wife are ok and not freaked out, it's ok anyway :-D
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  25

  I think I made up my mind

  by paradiseseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a month ago i travelled alone to italy for three days and i had the opportunity to visit the beautiful florence and re-visit many parts of rome.. but most importantly, i had the opportunity to stay alone and think about my situation and to make up my mind.. i've had very clear for almost 5 years that i will eventually leave the religion, but i couldn't decide when.. but now i know : i will leave on april 20th, the day after the memorial.. that day i will talk to my parents (this is by far the hardest thing to do) and soon afterwards i will talk to my closest friends, then i will send my disassociation letter.

  i know that i will let them down, i will hurt them, most probably some of them will cry... but i need to live coherently for the first time in my life.

  i'm sure that living in this contradiction is affecting and will affect my mental health and it's time for me to help myself instead of others.

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  Anders Andersen

  Congrats on making up your mind!

  This surely is a big step for anyone to take. I can imagine that you can see yourself pulling out last minute.

  You have the right to live your life as you see fit.

  You are not responsible for other people's happiness, only your own.

  If people choose to feel sad or angry over your choice of religion, that is entirely up to them. That is not your burden to carry.

  However....

  I do agree with other posters on some points.

  1) Doing this right after the memorial makes the event a yearly painful event for friends and family. It also (somewhat intentionally) puts a downer on their yearly religious high. So if you do this, do it today. Or on some other non-specific date. It's more kind to everyone.

  2) DA or not DA doesn't really make a difference in your status to Watchtower. Watchtower doesn't have a centrally maintained membership list. If you DA, both the local congregation and the branch office will keep a record of your DA. If you don't DA, only your local congregation will keep a record of you being inactive. Either way, a record is kept somewhere. DA serves no real purpose, except perhaps for giving you closure. In that case, consider writing a DA letter, put it in an envelope, but don't send it. Or send it to Bethel without identifying yourself. Remember that when you DA, your family must shun you. If you don't, they probably will, but they don't have to if they choose not to.

  An alternative to DA is to quit cold Turkey. Simply stop all JW activity. Tell your friends and family "I can no longer in good conscience attend JW meetings or go to field service." When they ask for details, tell them you are willing to share your reasons if they promise confidentiality. If any elders call or text, politely but firmly tell them to get lost. This scenario worked somewhat for me. Most JW friends dropped me anyway. Some JW family too. But a few friends and family are still in touch, which they wouldn't have if I DAed...

  Anyway, regardless of all our opinions, do what you know needs to be done.

  Good luck to you! I wish you wisdom, calmness and strength to go from pimo to pomo. You deserve to live as you see fit!
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  26

  They Want More Money!

  by Atlantis in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  those wanting a copy of this file.

  https://docdro.id/fllorzffile example:4. circuit overseer assistance arrangement: in harmony with the announcement to the congregation, please arrange for a resolution to be put to the congregation, authorising payment from congregation funds equivalent to £4.50/€5.00 per congregation publisher for the 2019 service year.

  if the body of elders believes the suggested amount would impose a hardship on the congregation, the resolved amount can be adjusted accordingly.. .

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  Anders Andersen

  Don't you just love the terms and conditions that apply?

  They're requesting money to help COs, but the money can go to anything the org deems necessary.

  If Watchtower cuts number of CO and money is left, the org surely wouldn't inform the congs to adapt their donations correspondingly.
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  21

  It doesn’t make Sense

  by HappyBlessedFree in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so my husband and i had a long conversation last night about why i no longer believe.

  this is our 10th conversation about all the same things which we have been talking about for the last four months.. he says “you have let yourself be deceived”.

  i try my best to show him my sincerity in my motives.

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  Anders Andersen

  He says “You have let yourself be deceived”.

  That's actually a great conversation point. Start a general conversation about how one can find out if they are deceived or not. Don't drag JWism into that conversation; if anything, try to keep it out.
  First try and see if you both can agree on how a person can discover if they are (being) deceived.

  Could anyone be deceived? What about you? What about him?

  What personality traits and behavior would make people have a higher/lower risk of being deceived?
  Would unquestioning trust put someone at risk?
  What about limiting one's information intake?
  What about declaring some topics as off-limits for doubt, discussion, dissent?

  etc.etc.

  Once you can find some common ground there, you can build on it to see if either of you are deceived. At first you could present it as a way for both of you to find out if you are deceived. Don't try to be right. Don't try to defend you. Try to make him think, even if it's a single hidden 'aha' moment in his brain.
  

  He is the type of person that will never admit he’s wrong. Thinks he’s the smartest man around. And admits he struggles with humility.

  Interesting. Just this week I read this: Intellectually humble people tend to possess more knowledge, study finds. People who think they know it all, actually know less. Lol.

  He compared me to Eve.

  At first I thought that's just lame and sad. But when he brings that up again, don't take it as an insult of trying to blame you for his own failure (which it really appears to be).
  What he is also saying is that he loves you more than he loves Jehovah, and he loves living and dying with you more than living forever without you. So thank him for that (sincerly, not sarcastically). Or ask him if that is his motivation. Because that would be really sweet.Additionally if you look at it that way, there is zero need to feel guilty...(Of course it could also be that he doesn't yet know he doesn't actually believe in the JW God and paradise and eternal death).
• 
  79

  Preparing the sheeple for finally abandoning the significance of 1914

  by under the radar in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we all know the society would love to get rid of all the problems caused by clinging to 1914 and all they claimed it meant for the last 100+ years.. it looks like they are laying the groundwork for easing away from the whole concept of 1914. this would also let them do away with the ridiculous "overlapping generation" bullcrap.

  what a diaper load that has been.... anyway, the following is from their super secret marching orders for april, 2019. draw your own conclusions.... "3.

  “100 years of faithfulness”: the coordinator of the body of elders, or another elder, should be invited to read the following special announcement.

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  Anders Andersen

  April fools for sure. Oo good to be true. Also groundwork for new light is normally carefully packed in the magazines and convention talks. This letter is way to blunt.
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  22

  Went to the KH a few days ago.

  by nowawake14 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i actually visited the kh a few days ago.

  i just needed to see some friends.

  i hadn't been in months.

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  Anders Andersen

  I just needed to see some friends.

  People with actual friends just give their friends a call, visit them, or invite them if they miss them.

  No need for religious meetings to provide the opportynity to see their friends.

  Why don't you?

  Or won't they take your call, invite you in, accept your invitation?

  In that case, they're not friends. They're people you used to know.

  The sooner you realize that, the sooner you will start building new friendships with people who actually care about you.
  
  

  
  
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  22

  Went to the KH a few days ago.

  by nowawake14 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i actually visited the kh a few days ago.

  i just needed to see some friends.

  i hadn't been in months.

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  Anders Andersen

  Don't let the cult be your comfort blanket, they may smother you with it.

  What a nice analogy!
  
  
• 
  29

  Funeral Fashion

  by ThinkerBelle in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a funeral to attend for a non jw family member and the jdub family member reminded me that i should not wear black.

  for the life of me, i can't recall where this belief came from in jw teachings and i'm born in.

  is there something in print or is that just a personal opinion belief?

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  Anders Andersen

  Could just be that the deceased wanted everyone to show up in something colorful?

  Or did you know that wearing black at funerals was originally a ruse to escape the attention of evil spirits said to be lurking on such occasions?

  
  

  Watchtower: don't buy into the ridiculous idea that the color of your clothing may attract evil spirits. Haha what silly stuff people believe! Rofl

  Also Watchower: caution! The home you live in, the gifts you received, the second hand stuff you bought, the music you listen to and the movies you watch may attract evil spirits that are lurking for such an occasion!

  They are just so silly and they contradict themselves so often it's hard to keep track of.
  
  
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  24

  The Incredible Shrinking Watchtower -- What's Up?

  by Room 215 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what's up with this?

  it seems that with the january study magazine it's been trimmed by by four pages.

  have any of you commented on this?.

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  Anders Andersen

  Currently, there is one Asleep! rag per month, and it is only 16 pages. The washtowel has been split up into Showcase edition (which is placed in public, and has 16 pages) and a Kool-Aid edition (which is studied at the boasting session, contains the hard core doctrines, and still has 32 pages). The Showcase edition is monthly, and the Kool-Aid edition is also monthly.

  Nope, that was until some years ago. Then Asleep! and the public edition Watchtower were rescued to just 6 issues a year.

  Since 2018, both are down to just 3 issues a year!