for nearly two years i have not seen any jehovah's witnesses going door to door in my neighborhood.
that was not the case when my wife and i first moved here (north central oregon).
in fact, our neighborhood was visited at least once every 4 to 5 months - even in the coldest winter months.
I've had two door-to-door visits in 4 plus years. They don't hang around long, even when (TV going, door open) it's obvious someone is home.
I once knew a pioneer sister who told me (and not in jest) that she started her time the minute she started putting her pantyhose on. Another I know gets up and immediately sends a text message to an "interested person" and then starts her time. Total time counted, several hours. Conversations, zero.
i’ve been out for many many years.
i still like to know the latest jw news although i find myself not as excited by things..
Personally not at all, but I do keep an eye out for "new light" and changes, because we still have family in and we need to know what's going on. Although, I don't know why, because most of the time they don't talk to us (especially the last few months) unless they need something. I do have a couple of longtime friends that are still JW, but they seem to know not to chat about "kingdom news" with me.
@Magnum, I hear you. It's tough in the job market when you're 50+, and if you have no college, it makes it worse. The bOrg cost our generation a ton of money and opportunity. THAT'S part of why I keep up, it makes me feel better to see the craziness exposed.
what’s your opinion of having alexa ?
is it something you would get if you don’t already have it?
?.
Let's be honest, there is no real privacy these days....
I have several Alexa devices. My mother (who has dementia) can still remember to ask her a few questions, and play her music. That, in itself, is priceless.
I have the lights, etc., running through Alexa devices. This enables me to work while caring for my mother, and still be sane. I listen to music, news, and bluetooth my other apps (meditation, etc.) via Alexa.
Meanwhile, my mother and her aides can also listen to the daily text, etc., via Alexa.
The value for me far exceeds worrying about someone listening to my trivial conversations.
So, I am a Alexa fan. Makes my life 200% easier.
is it your understanding that any jw can have holy spirit indwell them or is that an experience a part of the anointing that the wt teaches is reserved for the 144,000?.
please provide references if you can..
No, only the very special can have HS, namely the (really, truly, verified) anointed.
The regular JWs have nothing, they just have to follow along.
No references, just what I learned as a JW growing up.
watchtower's ignorance around the historical background to many biblical directives has had a very negative effect on the lives of witnesses.. for instance paul said women should cover their heads because in corinth prostitutes walked the streets plying for business with their heads uncovered.
hence head coverings were never a symbol of headship but a directive very specific to that period, as was the blood directive!!.
watchtower leaders have been lawyers, businessmen, civil servants and door-to-door book salesmen, never, ever historians or biblical scholars.
Well, there's no way of telling at this point in history if Paul even wrote all of that, and if so, in what context. He doesn't come across as someone who respected women as equals, but really we can't tell from this distance. Many writings were in circulation at that time under many different names. No way to verify anything.
In any case, personally, it doesn't matter to me what was written or decided 2000 +/- years ago. I don't think anyone, man or woman, should be held to those rules, however they might be interpreted.
That's the essence of it for me.
i was in full time service for six years including bethel.
once i got out of bethel, i figured i had already given them six of the best years of my life (ages 18-24) working as a slave/drone in their factory, so i rationalized that i had given them enough... so over the next 27 years i would say maybe $200 bucks is it.
i think their whole "voluntary contributions" idea is biting them in the ass, because over all jehovah's witnesses are a cheap group people with a few exceptions.
Not much, we were always too poor to give much.
so the organisation has developed a new software for the coordination of nearly everything!
i just want point out a few things i notice about the new hub icon logo.
the image contains twelve pillars with the 2 at the front being the prominent.
Well, I don't know about all the Masonic theories, but I find it a bit creepy that they have software for reporting everything. Goodbye, happy little local congregations, hello overly controlling mega-church.
this week, while talking with some old friends, i realized that there were at least 14 kids from a congregation in which i grew up that all left the jws.
that is, 30 to 35 years ago, there were at least 14 kids going to the hall that were of the same “generation” (5 to 13 years old).
in the last 30 years, they have all left “the truth”.
I know - Jehovah's "happy people" are wrecks. I'd like to know how many people from my generation are still in, but none of us are in touch. (Well, actually, that's not true, one turned in to a rabid elder who emailed from time to time. We ignored him and he stopped.)
Looking at a congregation today and tell them that most of their kids will not stay in?
Where I am right now they do know - but no one's discussing it. Head in the sand to the end!
the fact that there are pomi ex-jws who have been disfellowshiped or inactive for years who still live in constant fear of armageddon indicates that watchtower will manage to exist in one way or another for years, if not decades, to come.
watchtower, like all other religious cults, operate on the premise that "you can fool some of the people all of the time...and that's enough!
".
I don't think they are going to fold any time soon, but I'm hoping that what's left is less charged up about going after people who want to leave. I know the vitriol that's coming out of JW.Borg, but here in this area, the pubs are just worn out. Local second language congregation is folding. No one is going after the faders. People are in contact with DF/DA family. ("Don't ask, don't tell" is the rule of the day.) That in itself is a relief. Sure hoping that trend gets traction throughout the bOrg. It's one thing the whip the horses in videos to go after "lost ones" and shun DF'd people, it's another thing to actually make it happen. I'm hoping that people who are being mistreated by their JW families will finally get some relief.
I think over time they'll become just another TV church with some dedicated followers, a few hangers-on, and much less visibility on the street.
the donald has recently suggested that he would like to look into buying greenland from denmark in the same manner that alaska was purchased from the russians.
i think the danes would be smart to look into selling it as it is costing them money every year with very little returns for their investments so far.. the alternative might well be that donald declares greenland a national security threat and invades them so that the world remains safe for democracy.
i would suggest to the danes that as any other real estate transaction that they put it on the open market and see how much russia or china are willing to offer .
The Donald seems to think everything is for sale, just like what little may be left of his soul is.
