Posts by Spiral

18

Underlying Resentment Among the Members

by xjwsrock in

most of us here have seen and experienced the judgmental attitude among jw's.

the pioneers look down on the publishers.

the appointed men look down on the non-appointed men.

Spiral

@freddo

Yep, and the older elders with pensions/savings seem to be absolutely clueless about how things changed for the next two generations. They sit at the top and just push their weight around. Also can't figure out why the younger wives/sisters are working (at the low paying kind of jobs you get with no education) instead of pioneering, and keep being vocal about it. Seriously, absolutely clueless. Once they get bounced from power at 80 (which is soon) there won't be much left here locally.

A lot of the older generation here (and not just the JWs, this is all of the US) do not seem to have any real idea how different the working world is for 50-somethings and younger. That alone is causing friction all around.

18

Underlying Resentment Among the Members

by xjwsrock in

most of us here have seen and experienced the judgmental attitude among jw's.

the pioneers look down on the publishers.

the appointed men look down on the non-appointed men.

Spiral

Yep, I have seen this a lot lately, but here it's resentment at always being told to do more, more, more, by older retired brothers (with incomes) who themselves sit and drink coffee all day at the local coffee shop. The next two generations don't have much financially and are really struggling. I also notice the elders don't want to appoint any of the younger brothers who are "reaching out", they are really toying with them but won't appoint them. They are getting really frustrated. Funny to watch BUT the congregation is shrinking so fast if they don't appoint some to "positions" soon they won't have anything left in a few years.

31

Why JW's Rave So Much About Conventions

by freemindfade in

"it was so beautiful, we are truly blessed!

now, they also plaster these affirmations all over social media, "this is the best life", “so blessed”, “best convention”.. why the gushing?

have you ever heard anyone say, “mmmm it was ok”?

Spiral

Every year I've listened to "the assembly was so wonderful blah blah blah", same this year except..... first one now two have told me (privately) that they didn't really like this year's convention, so serious, scary, they were made to feel uncomfortable.

Of course, in a group of JWs they would say how wonderful it was.

Shows that JWs say lots of things out of brainwashing, or out of obligation. What a headache for them.

43

Kids continue to leave in droves - so what is the organization's grand plan? This

by sir82 in

jw
friends

jws have one of the worst, if not the worst, retention rates among their kids.

i've seen numbers from 65% to 88% who leave, never to return.. you'd think this would be a priority amongst the leadership, right?

where do tomorrow's leaders come from, if the vast majority of kids leave the organization?

Spiral

They seem to think if they get the kids to get baptised at, say, 8 years old that will keep them in. But this generation is smarter than to think that they are obligated to stay in something they made a promise about as a teen or pre-teen. The GB is so full of themselves they still think they can guilt people into staying, but I had a conversation just today that proves that people are getting resentful of all the guilt. The elderly local elders keep pushing (they don't know anything else, it's all they've ever done) but this congregation is shrinking fast. Few kids and teenagers. Almost all of their adult children haven't been in a KH for years. (Amazing how they can't see the significance of that, and keep spewing the bad family advice.)

Alot of resentment expressed today about the convention and its message..... when someone feels comfortable to drop the JW act you see that coming out.

20

Don't believe anyone is up there listening - said a prayer anyway out of sense of obligation

by Zoos in

i've read many statements on this forum from people who have expressed the sentiment that you don't shove ttatt down the throat of an older person.

it would be too traumatic and its best to let some people, in some situations, simply pass on in the delusion.. its humane.

merciful.. in the initial roar of my awakening, i was unable to cuddle up to that sentiment; preferring, instead, to shove the blood curdling shock of truth down the throat of anyone i could get my grip on... age be dammed.

Spiral

You did the right thing, and you didn't add to his pain, knowing he just has a little time left.

It's the everyday kindnesses that mean everything to someone at the end of their life.

9

Some Comments On Facebook From Some Of My Relatives After Leaving EU

by disillusioned 2 in

everyone talking about leaving the eu, i am concerned and excited.

mostly i look forward to seeing bible prophecy coming true and i keep my mum in the forefront of my mind.. me too sis!.

we left eu.

Spiral

I've heard several comments like that about Brexit. These JWs also think (this also after going to the convention) that all the DF'd or inactive ones will want to come back for sure! Bible prophecy being fulfilled! Pathetic. Same craziness after any big event, you'd think they'd realize.

50

Sometimes I feel like I Should Believe something...

by freemamaof3 in

has anyone else felt like they should believe something after leaving wt?

i am an agnostic atheist and its so so hard for me to believe in a god or higher power.

it just doesn't make sense.

Spiral

It's a funny thing, given I was raised a JW, once I quit going I quit believing. Like a switch turned off. It feels great.

I realize that is unusual. I'm sure it actually means I never did believe, I just felt obligated. I do not feel the need to replace JW-ism with anything else.

61

Did others experience this on the ministry or among JWs generally?

by slimboyfat in

sometimes it's hard to know if our own experience of jws was typical and what features were peculiar to our own area or the individual jws we knew personally.

i was wondering if others experienced this among jws:.

a few times on the ministry, when we were working wealthy areas with large houses, some brothers and sisters would make the comment that they look forward to taking ownership of one of these big houses after armageddon, when the worldly people have vacated them.

Spiral

I have heard that before out in service and at the hall. Usually, it was from a JW that was barely making it but was too "spiritual" (aka stubborn) to go out and get a real job.

One brother used to give talks where he'd always put down successful "worldly" people, as in they can't be really happy and they must be working non-stop to have the nice house and car, etc. (Really???)

Meanwhile, he was frequently unemployed or working at minimum wage jobs, because he was just too hard to get along with. But, he always blamed "this system" for being against him, and he was going to have it all in the "new system" (and have his revenge). Ugh!

Overall, I think a lot of JWs said things like that and didn't even realize how wacky it sounds. Of course, this was years ago, perhaps it's not as prevalent now. But it says something about the mindset.

13

JWs not so new format for getting across their message . . .

by Coded Logic in

god is going to fix everything.

you would just not believe how great he is going to make it.

it's going to be the greatest.

Spiral

OMG that just made my afternoon!!!

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

Spiral

I do see a parallel between the Catholic Church collecting properties and monies and becoming rich (forget that vow of poverty idea) and then becoming the one and only approved faith (or, the one and only "true" faith in our time). It was a struggle for them in the first couple of centuries.

I also think the religious side of the org is a cover for the business side - a real estate and investment pyramid scheme. Only, in this scheme, the income only flows in one direction - up.

Does anyone remember the phone card MLM scheme that was so prevalent say, 25 years ago? The phone cards were expensive, and they weren't important, because the real deal was buying a spot in this pyramid and making some $$$$. The product didn't matter. Alot of JWs fell for it.

I think the org is like that now - the product (religion, feel good, you're gonna be in paradise) is not as important as the income flow. Plenty of people (even in New York) try to ignore the obvious fact that the org is now mostly a real estate investment scheme/franchise.

And yes, Warwick=Vatican.