Posts by ThomasMore

23

How did it come to this?

by New day in

i am now in my early 60’s.

i was baptized in 1980. i served as a ministerial servant and an elder.

i gave my all for many years but about eight years ago i started to question many things.

ThomasMore

Enoughisenough - I am glad you are free. I sure hope you have recovered/are recovering. I appreciate your posts as they have made an impression on me. At least know that.

11

Anthony Morris no longer a GB member

by joe134cd in

just wanting confirmation on this.

.

Bethel has a long-standing policy that being dealt with judicially is a disqualifier for a Bethelite. He/she must be dismissed. Tony was not dismissed so it is unlikely that he was subjected to a Judicial Hearing.

It is more likely that he was pressured to resign from the GB or possibly voted off. The convenient arrival of the 2 new members sounds like a developed plan put in place in the recent past.

I wonder if either of those 2 fellows ever served in PA? Hmmmm. I doubt it. If they aren't squeaky clean when it comes to that developing investigation, then WTC is not as saavy as I thought. At least one was selected as a replacement for Tony. As for the other - time will tell.

773

Breaking News: Anthony Morris III no longer serving on the Governing Body

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

this has been announced on the jw's official website, in the "jw news" section.

this is not a joke.

anthony moron da turd is out as a gluttonous body member!

ThomasMore

If you know WTC - and most of us here do indeed, the first explanation is almost always a lie. it's second nature to them.

So I am suspicious about why he is no longer serving on the GB. True, they have not offered an official explanation, but the leaked info about the drunkeness at parties - certainly sounds like the truth, but I doubt it is why he was asked to resign or removed from the GB. Some of us here have seen GB after too many drinks. They didn't get removed for it.

I suspect that this is a Red Herring to deflect from the PA investigation which likely involves him in some way. He is not a pedo but his relationship with Ted Jaracz put him in the crosshairs for being called out as an enforcer - a shielder of pedophiles - a bully toward victims.

The timing is just darn suspicious.

Also, the investigation will focus up to 2019. Why? Is it because, as I have heard, that a copy of the abuse database(s) was leaked to the PA AG in the not too distant past - stolen around 2019 so that is where the records ended? That would explain a lot. Let's say Tony's name was flagged. I can easily imagine Warwick deciding that being a drunk was a sufficient cover story (and believable as well) so they hung it around his neck and let it slip that his family was upset over his drunkeness. That will work for a lot of PIMIs better than hearing later that a GB member was arrested for shielding pedos. It might still come out but most indoctrinated JW's will say "His judgement was poor because he was a drunk which came from the atrocities he experienced in Vietnam".

Already that sounds like a softer landing even to me.

As for the other new GB member, he may be a future replacement for someone in particular, OR maybe just a backup when Loesch, Herd or Lett are no longer able to beat people like they did in their prime.

Whatever the case, Bethel is not a place where secrets are kept for long. The narrative story eventually gets replaced by loose lips telling the truth.

61

Why are so many Jehovah’s Witnesses Angry and Rude?

by Vanderhoven7 in

why do you think many jws are hostile and rude?

or is that just my imagination?.

mark jones writes: the vast majority of jehovah’s witnesses are nice people.

ThomasMore

PeacefulPete - you cut me to the core. My comments about seeing things in B&W and deciding that JWs are not good people may very well make them feel unwelcome. That was not the intention but probably was the truth.

So, I apologize to any PIMI JWs who were offended. You are welcome here and I should have been more civil and I wish you the best in your quest for truth. I truly believe that you can find it in large quantity on this forum.

28

Bait and Switch "Bible studies"

by Vanderhoven7 in

mark jones, a witness for over 30 years describes what jws call bible studies offered to the public.. .

"they (jehovah's witnesses) offer you a free home “bible” study - which turns out to be a study of a watchtower publication with the bible brought out as an afterthought to try and prop up whatever current idea the governing body are claiming is “the truth” this week.. i think it’s underhanded.. when my parents became jehovah’s witnesses and they offered people a free home “bible” study, this is what they brought to study with them:.

what, did you think they were going to study the bible with you?.

ThomasMore

Blotty,

I have explored some of the "other" websites that offer to teach the Bible. They never tried to rope me in so that would become a donating member (at least not the ones I explored).

When WTC offers to teach you the Bible, they want you contacted by a congregation, who then tries to persuade you to come the the KH. Soon they are counting you as a member of some variety and expecting you to donate. If you chafe at getting baptized past their grace period, the criticism starts. If you get baptized, you are expected to compete on the hamster wheel. If you try to leave, the rumor mill demonizes you. Shunning follows.

You said " I think the hate the Watchtower gets is woefully unjustified in many respects".

I think WTC does not get its fair share of criticism.

28

Bait and Switch "Bible studies"

by Vanderhoven7 in

mark jones, a witness for over 30 years describes what jws call bible studies offered to the public.. .

"they (jehovah's witnesses) offer you a free home “bible” study - which turns out to be a study of a watchtower publication with the bible brought out as an afterthought to try and prop up whatever current idea the governing body are claiming is “the truth” this week.. i think it’s underhanded.. when my parents became jehovah’s witnesses and they offered people a free home “bible” study, this is what they brought to study with them:.

what, did you think they were going to study the bible with you?.

ThomasMore

I once suggested that it should be OK to conduct a Bible study using just the Bible. I was immediately told that was apostate thinking. Who knew? I certainly didn't. MESSAGE: Don't read the Bible and certainly don't encourage others to do that.

I asked why the message was painted on the side of the factory building so that 100's of thousands of people saw it each day? Not much of an answer was given - in fact no answer was given. It sounded like noble direction but it was removed when WTC sold the buildings. They certainly did not paint it on the side of the building at Warwick. I believe that they were finally glad to get rid of it altogether.

WTC produces a Bible that is word-smithed to be like 2 synchronized swimmers. One repeats their narrative and the other seems to agree in unison. Just don't encourage anyone to study it without the 'steadying influence' of their narrative publication or you will be labeled an APOSTATE.

Don't believe me? Ask some who tried.

7

The Mandalorian is an Apostate

by neat blue dog in

i wonder how many jws will squirm watching the upcoming 3rd season of mandalorian in which out of compassion he was obliged to break certain rules of his religion and is now labeled an apostate.

awkward!.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ye7fue220.

ThomasMore

I recall that in an episode.

I also recall Peter denying Jesus 3 times but he was never labeled an apostate. With JWs, they throw the word around like a baseball.

10

Law of Diminishing Returns

by Rattigan350 in

the law of diminishing returns states: the law of diminishing returns is an economic principle stating that as investment in a particular area increases, the rate of profit from that investment, after a certain point, cannot continue to increase if other variables remain at a constant.

as investment continues past that point, the return diminishes progressively.. from 1900 through the 1980s, the more witnesses that got baptized and pioneered, the more bible studies that could be had and the more additional witnesses that could join and then congregations would get bigger and they would divide and form in other areas.

but in the 1990s the law of diminishing returns kicked in, particularly in the bigger cities.

ThomasMore

PP - I suspect you are right but the JWs probably will soon be less than a footnote at the rate they are hemorrhaging members (and by that I mean countable bodies at KHs). Probably it is death by a thousand cuts, but the internet gets special mention for their woes. Finally the pandemic arrived and gave many chained-up members the time away necessary to wake them up - THEY WERE FREE! And they liked it.

I see photos of congregations in session and most have less than 20 people. There may be some on Zoom but they are NOT at the KH. Some will argue that they are growing, but they clearly are not. Numbers can be manipulated (remember Enron?), but photos and reports of empty congregation meetings tell the real story.

18

Does Jehovah have a visible organization?

by Vanderhoven7 in

why do jehovah’s witnesses say they are god’s organization so matter of factly as though such an audacious claim is an undisputable fact?

here is how one person sees this claim.. "the entire jehovah’s witness religion is founded on unsubstantiated hubristic claims which are continually repeated until they are assumed by adherents to be a proven fact.. never is this more evident than when the beliefs of a jehovah’s witness are successfully challenged.

the more compelling the evidence against them, the more they resort to repeating their convictions with a sense of insistence, as if they are chanting a mantra.. confirmation bias is prevalent in all religious ideologies, but particularly with jehovah’s witnesses.

ThomasMore

Vanderhoven - your friend woke up with a full omelet but probably did not realize it was mostly a baloney omelet. Today, JWs still dance around their false prophecies. 1975 is just the tip of the iceberg.

LongHair Gal - you are right. JWs have a disproportionate number of low income members. As you pointed out, it is because of their distaste for higher education (and education in general). The real problem is that they STILL think that they are smarter than everyone else.

Jesus disciples were unlettered and ordinary but they did not arrogantly act as if it made them better. Paul and Luke were probably a rarity among the early Christians as well. Nevertheless, I read of no organized effort to keep people stupid like WTC advances today.

69

Did Jesus COME with the clouds of heaven in 1914?

by Fisherman in

take for example revelation 21: 10. .

“….and he showed me the holy city jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god.

here john sees something happening, action.

ThomasMore

I cannot believe anyone could draw the conclusion that WTC did about Jesus' second coming. It's an embarassing yoga contortion explanation if there ever was one.