Posts by ThomasMore

4

No Small Change.

by Lost in the fog in

https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/08/24/charity-commission-data-shows-mass-merger-of-over-1000-jehovahs-witness-congregations/.

It has been common for JWs to buy buildings that were formerly houses of worship employed by other faiths. They re-dedicate the building to Jehovah and remodel. Keep in mind that the building is dedicated to the doing of Jah's will.

Google Menlo Park, CA to read about the first KH WTC took ownership of and sold. When the BOE objected, they DF'd some and deleted the rest. The KH was sold and now all the KHs are owned by the Trust.

JWs say that the GB has the righjt to do this. Well, read the account of Jezebel, Ahab and Naboth and then decide if this precedent isn't a near perfect fit.

Naboth had a field he cultivated. Ahab wanted it. Naboth would not sell, and said it was unthinkable to sell his hereditary possession (a gift from God). Ahab was despondent with unsatisfied covetousness. Jezebel employed 2 good for nothing men to make a false accusation against Naboth - a capital offense no less. Naboth was executed (stoned). Ahab took the field. The end for Jezebel and Ahab was gruesome and by divine mandate.

Now tell me that what WTC has done does not align perfectly with what Jezebel and Ahab did. If any elders object to the sell of a KH, WTC deletes them and may even DF them if they don't recant. WTC takes the money and the cong is left with nothing other than directions to a new KH further away.

Any apologists here? This is your chance to twist scripture and apologize for what WTC is doing.

5

Who is God's ONLY channel?

by BoogerMan in

australian royal commission solicitor: “do you [the governing body] see yourselves as god's spokespeople on earth?”.

geoffrey jackson - “ah, that i think would seem to be quite presumptuous to say that we are the only spokesperson that god is using.".

october 5th 2022 daily text: “we also need to trust in the only channel [the g.b.

ThomasMore

Ding - Maybe it did. Good for you being able to quote Jackson's testimony. I have found that most JW's don't want to hear it. They are depressed over what they know to be the case, but powerless to do anything about it. Secretly they hope it will collapse and they will be free. I experienced that right before I left.

77

A question about the contemporary generation teaching following a conversation with a JW apologist

by Giles Gray in

i would like to ask the ex-jws on this site to put their ‘apologists hat’ back on for a moment, so that i can go through the overlapping generation teaching in an attempt to make sense of it.

i apologise if these points have already been addressed on this site.a quick background for the reason for my request… having never confronted a jw apologist on the topic, i recently engaged with a jw regarding the official understanding of a ‘generation’ and unfortunately he didn’t have an answer to the points i was making.

i was left a little confused as to what the official jw response would/should be.so i was hoping that my thoughts below might be considered from an apologist’s perspective.the point in question relates to this section of the watchtower article below from 2008, as well as the jw.org video explanation of the overlapping generation:---:w08 2/15[box on page 25] can we calculate the length of “this generation”?the word “generation” usually refers to people of various ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period or event.

ThomasMore

LHG - Yes, the 1995 change. It shook a lot of B'Lites out of Bethel. Most JWs won't admit the impact of it, but it was the beginning of their end. A GB member said in 1997 that Bethel was diligently working to down-size. Why?, because donations were not keeping up with expenses. Why? Because the R&F were curtailing their donations since the end was not imminent.

Since then, WTC has operated as a business in distress. They are trying to reinvent themselves and finding that the base of support is disinterested. Their many cries of "WOLF!" now fall on deaf ears.

6

Annual Meeting 2022: Geoffrey Jackson: Why Jerusalem mattersem Matters

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/pdtwglldsza.

ThomasMore

IBSA decided that Israel had no significance for future fulfillment of Bible prophecy when Russell took a group to Jerusalem around 1913 (I may be a year off) and found that the Jews were disinterested in his message. They were not going to convert en masse. Just a few years ago, Watchtower dabbled with the same idea and again decided that the Jews in Israel were even less enthused about the message that Watchtower delivered.

The Bible is clear that the "center of the earth" is Israel - whether you subscribe to it's message or not. WTC refuses to relinquish the role that they believe they have as being at the center of all prophecies. This tainted narcissistic narrative influences everything they do and teach. When they refer to Jerusalem, it is never in relation to the future, just the past.

52

Free Will - Does It or Does It Not Exist?

by truth_b_known in

being born-in and raised as one of jehovah's witnesses i remember a common theme or phrases used by the watchtower in its theory of why things are the way they are -.

jehovah created humans.

jehovah created humans as free moral agents.

ThomasMore

Free will definitely - but with the constant influence of our genetics and environment influencing us. For example, gravity is always exerting an influence on us, pulling us downward. We resist and it is actually good for us as exercise. We also use it to our advantage so it can be negative and positive. However, if we give in to it entirely, we lay down and die.

Some of our genetics and environment are very positive, and we can benefit from the positive influence. When that influence is negative, we can resist it and become stronger. If we do not, we may as well sign our lives over to others as we are swept along with their momentum. We still have free will but may lazily decide not to use it when it does not suit us.

77

A question about the contemporary generation teaching following a conversation with a JW apologist

by Giles Gray in

i would like to ask the ex-jws on this site to put their ‘apologists hat’ back on for a moment, so that i can go through the overlapping generation teaching in an attempt to make sense of it.

i apologise if these points have already been addressed on this site.a quick background for the reason for my request… having never confronted a jw apologist on the topic, i recently engaged with a jw regarding the official understanding of a ‘generation’ and unfortunately he didn’t have an answer to the points i was making.

i was left a little confused as to what the official jw response would/should be.so i was hoping that my thoughts below might be considered from an apologist’s perspective.the point in question relates to this section of the watchtower article below from 2008, as well as the jw.org video explanation of the overlapping generation:---:w08 2/15[box on page 25] can we calculate the length of “this generation”?the word “generation” usually refers to people of various ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period or event.

ThomasMore

We knew the org was in trouble when the generation teaching was changed. Any attempt since then to spin the explanation has done additional damage.

WTC is falling apart in huge pieces now. I sincerely regret my decades of support and apologetics. Maybe others on this forum will eventually see why WTC needs to learn to apologize instead of having their followers do it for them.

9

Is the Governing Body still considering giving an apology?

by was a new boy in

cricket australia apologised to child sex abuse survivors on monday.. https://supersport.com/cricket/news/d697602e-7832-45d7-9710-024493595f57/cricket_australia_sorry_for_historical_child_sex_abuse.

is it still foreseeable the governing body will consider giving an apology to anyone who has suffered sexual abuse in australia?

7 years ago.

ThomasMore

Uh....No

77

A question about the contemporary generation teaching following a conversation with a JW apologist

by Giles Gray in

i would like to ask the ex-jws on this site to put their ‘apologists hat’ back on for a moment, so that i can go through the overlapping generation teaching in an attempt to make sense of it.

i apologise if these points have already been addressed on this site.a quick background for the reason for my request… having never confronted a jw apologist on the topic, i recently engaged with a jw regarding the official understanding of a ‘generation’ and unfortunately he didn’t have an answer to the points i was making.

i was left a little confused as to what the official jw response would/should be.so i was hoping that my thoughts below might be considered from an apologist’s perspective.the point in question relates to this section of the watchtower article below from 2008, as well as the jw.org video explanation of the overlapping generation:---:w08 2/15[box on page 25] can we calculate the length of “this generation”?the word “generation” usually refers to people of various ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period or event.

ThomasMore

The video is a condensed version of how that conversation always goes.

16

An army of volunteers and a convoy of trucks and heavy equipment headed to Florida as we speak!

by nowwhat? in

no not the watchtower, but franklin graham's samaritan purse!

nothing on the website as of noon friday edt.

evidently all the resources are tied up making their next movie.

ThomasMore

Maybe they will build the Media Megalapolas - who knows. In the meantime, they are asking for donations and using it as an excuse for not helping anyone - including the poor folks in Florida. WTC decided 5 years ago that they were not going to give any treasure to disaster victims. Any real help would have to come from the local R&F. Today they don't even try to hide their tight-fistedness. They have no genuine love for the sheep - period, end of story, the end, over and out, goodnight John Boy!

28

JW Obession with the trinity

by Riley in

so a few years i watched a lecture series by a man named dr. micheal heiser called the two powers in heaven, jesus in the old testament.

funny thing was it wasn't even very evangelical in nature, so i turned off my religious binders and just watched it like a regular person.

it turns out that the new testament is a hinge point in the bible.

ThomasMore

The trinity doctrine is a third wheel similar to Social Security and Abortion - it has a polarizing effect. Someone close to me knows that I left and why but he is not satisfied and will not be until I accept the trinity. I guess I just think that it should be enough to serve God, treat others with kindness and enjoy a good meal. The rest will work itself out on its own. IS THAT SOOOOO WROOOOOOOONG?