Posts by Anders Andersen

25

WT predicting smartphones back in the 20s?

by paradiseseeker in

jw
friends

i've come across a jw friendly article about watchtower predicting smartphones in the 20s.. .

of course, in the comments section there are a lot of jws freaking out saying "there is no doubt that this is the only true organization!

", "thanks jehovah that used his faithful and discreet slave to tell us some useful information about the future!

Anders Andersen

The writer was more right than he could ever imagine. Right before the highlighted sentences about smart phones he writes:

Conveying ideas by printer's ink has furnished to the opportunity for much cheating and lying. Much of our news has been false propaganda, int the interest of the few, to control and keep in subjection the minds of the many. But ingenious devices are appearing on the horizon that promise to eliminate opportunity for fraud in conveying ideas.

Spot on: Watchtower is going down by means of the internet!

A side note: the first 10 pages of that issue of Golden Age is some weird ass article about girls. Ten. Freaking. Pages.

'out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks'....that also applies to Jesus I guess?

40

DF’d or DA???

by DATA-DOG in

so, i think i’m going to be df’d, but elders are out of town and no decision has been officially reached.

what would happen if i sent a certified overnight letter and said that i was going to disassociate before they have their meeting??.

i know the two conditions are similar, but i’m just curious... dd.

Anders Andersen

Elders manual states:

A judicial committee should not continue an investigation into alleged wrongdoing if the accused person makes known his decision to disassociate himself. (w84 7/1 p. 31) However, at no time should the elders ask the accused if he desires to disassociate himself. If the elders are handling a particularly difficult case and there is a question about whether the person has disassociated himself, it would be best for the committee to contact the branch office for further direction. If an individual is determined to disassociate himself, then the committee would prepare a summary of the alleged offense(s) and the evidence of such. This would be kept along with information regarding the disassociation. If the person later requests reinstatement, these matters would need to be considered with him at that time.

52

New to the truth

by MatthewHewey in

jw
friends

i have been meeting with member's of the kingdom hall, and i have attended a few times now on sundays.

i'd like to discuss experiences with this group since i'm new.

so far, i love it.

Anders Andersen

I'll make an analogy that you might be able to relate to: In many ways Jehovah's Witnesses operate exactly like street gangs!

The contact starts by just hanging out with some members. All is cool. No pressure.
During this initial period, you may be asked to run small errands, make some small changes in your life.
After some time there's a big initiation that makes you a full member of the group.
Once your in, you can't get out without being damaged somehow. The pressure to stay in is enormous.
There's a dress code: tattoos and hoodies in a specific color, or suits, ties, skirts and a fake 'Kingdom smile'
The leader is always right and cannot be contradicted. Do not doubt their decisions. Loyalty trumps all else.
You're not allowed to be friends with people in other gangs/groups. Can't date a rival either.
The group cultivates and us vs them mentality, whether that be our gang vs rivals or police, or our religion vs 'the world'.
Fear is used as a motivator.

Well...if you have to choose, please join the JW. At least they aren't shooting people up or selling drugs.

But if you value your own freedom to make decisions, to live your life as you see fit, you might want to reconsider....

15

O no!!! The HQ song

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

never througt there would be a jw.org hq song.. they have become mad.. https://tv.jw.org/#nl/mediaitems/latestvideos/pub-osg_40_video.

g..

Anders Andersen

Just...wow.

Their appearance reminds me of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Except their clothes actually match...including their underwear :-D

And that cult does know how to make music...

If I have to watch a cult choir, I'll take ~~LSD~~ LDS any day :-)

340

Calling Cofty and others regarding evolution

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

so i have started down the path of trying to understand evolution, and to get the linear lies that the jws planted in my head out of it.

i bought an audiobook called "evolution: what the fossils say and why it matters" by donald prothero.

i heard it recommended on an atheist podcast that i listened to.

Anders Andersen

I recommend reading a book or two on the subject. That way you'll get a structured approach to the topic, as opposed to piecing bits together yourself.

Some I've read and liked (in recommended reading order):

Why Evolution is True - Jerry Coyne
The Greatest Show on Earth - Richard Dawkins
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
Your Inner Fish - Neil Shubin

2

Service report for all countries published on JW.org

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

an 'old style' service report for 2017 has been published on jw org.

so far it appears to be only for igbo language.. https://www.jw.org/ig/akwukwo/akwụkwọ/2017-service-year-report-of-jehovahs-witnesses-worldwide/.

i wonder if this is a fuck up, or other languages will be posted later, or igbo readers can have this while others can't?.

Anders Andersen

Thanks Darkspilver!

I wasn't paying attention....

2

Service report for all countries published on JW.org

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

an 'old style' service report for 2017 has been published on jw org.

so far it appears to be only for igbo language.. https://www.jw.org/ig/akwukwo/akwụkwọ/2017-service-year-report-of-jehovahs-witnesses-worldwide/.

i wonder if this is a fuck up, or other languages will be posted later, or igbo readers can have this while others can't?.

Anders Andersen

An 'old style' service report for 2017 has been published on JW org. So far it appears to be only for Igbo language.

https://www.jw.org/ig/akwukwo/akwụkwọ/2017-Service-Year-Report-of-Jehovahs-Witnesses-Worldwide/

I wonder if this is a fuck up, or other languages will be posted later, or Igbo readers can have this while others can't?

5

How can?

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

with all those happy holidays gorby took some time to search in online dutch newspaper archives.

great to see how much information is on the net.. i searchedon the subject jw and many articles, from negatie to positive and all in between came on the screen.. like the blood issue, 1975 worlds end, ray franz incident, former witness, finance,etc etc.. the question i asked myself, is that if there is so much kind of scandals and negative information over the years,how can a person ignore this?.

if it looks like a pig, it smells like a pig and makers the noise of it... it has to be one.. g..

Anders Andersen

To take myself and my wife as an example:

We don't read any hardcopy newspapers.
We don't watch TV news.
Both of us normally only read news online through a single source (nu.nl)
In the car we have the radio on, so once or twice a week we may hear the news there.

So even with the recent avalanche of news paper articles in our country, my wife saw exactly....none of it.

JW aren't interesting enough (yet) to make headlines or be top articles online. Unless you have a decent (hardcopy) newspaper that you read front to back, it's unlikely you ever see those JW articles.

And it's not like the JW that do see them share them on Facebook or talk about it with others....don't want to stumble anyone yo...

I now have Google alers set up to notify me of JW related news. But my wife doesn't...

So she only knows about these issues if someone tells her about it....as a return visit did some weeks ago...

58

Don't you think that some people are just better off within the org?

by paradiseseeker in

jw
friends

this is my first post, i will introduce myself later.

first of all, i must say that english is not my mother tongue (i'm spanish), so excuse me if i make any mistake.. do you think that some people simply can't cope with being outside the jws?

some of them are too worldlyphobic to be around non-jws, too dependent on a fixed set of rules in order to carry on with their lives, too dependent on the hope of paradise and resurrection, too unable to leave their personal comfort zone within the organization.

Anders Andersen

Don't you think some people are just better off within the org?

No.

They may suffer from anxiety, loss of identity, loss of structure or whatever when exiting the cult, but all that can be addressed by education, therapy, etc.

The JW mind disease is contagious. Any JW who exits the cult is one less recruiter that can ruin someone else's life by drawing them into the cult.
If a JW leaves others may be triggered into waking up as well.

Any JW who exits the cult is one less money source to keep the cult alive.

Any JW who exits the cult is one less seat filler. Less filled seats equals less 'encouragement' and a lower morale for those who stay in.

So even if there is no apparent improvement for some individual, their exit may likely prove beneficial for society in general, for people both in and outside the cult.

Therefore I'll likely try to wake up anyone I can, regardless of their individual benefits.

14

Important spiritual food

by moreconfusedthanever in

todays watchtower study is all about singing complete with instructions on how to sing.,............

"but we all have the responsibility to sing praises to jehovah.

so hold your songbook up high, lift your head, and sing with enthusiasm!".

Anders Andersen

They seem to be suggesting that Jehovah is hard of hearing.

Well.....they know he is. Everybody knows that. Or is prayer useless for different reasons?