Spiral

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Posts by Spiral

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  23

  2 questions about Warwick

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have two questions about warwick.

  see the picture included.

  1) at the other side of the lake you see other buildings.

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  Spiral

  @Vidiot, I guess you are right, how scary is that thought!
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  24

  The JW governing body are all overweight, creepy looking little men

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  having seen a few of these tv productions and some youtube clips of their assembly parts, how can jehovah's witnesses really take these silly little men seriously?.

  you take one look at them; their overweight, fat little bodies.

  their entirely shabby, overhanging suits.

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  Spiral

  Yes, yes, yes. The first time I saw bOrg TV I was just appalled..... ok, I had been out for quite a while, but the whole effect is fundie-creepy!!! It made me see the bOrg in a whole new, ugly, sticky, creepy light.

  If I hadn't faded/left already, that would have pushed me out the door.
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  23

  2 questions about Warwick

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have two questions about warwick.

  see the picture included.

  1) at the other side of the lake you see other buildings.

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  Spiral

  Hi Bohm, I can imagine that before the downsizing they could say this was all needed, and it may make sense to build as planned.

  Hi Barrold, from the $$$$ standpoint it all makes sense (real estate, the best investment).

  But - So many publishers out in the "field" who don't know, I just am wondering what they think is going on? As they sacrifice and live a "simple" life, while the bOrg builds these extensive properties, for what? Of course, it's obvious, they are making profits for just a few to enjoy.

  But, alas, I see that the average publisher doesn't even question what is going on. Meanwhile, the bOrg is making money on real estate, and the income all flows uphill to the GB.

  Sad, really.
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  40

  Sisters running microphones?

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so our sunday meeting was on the 25th (christmas) and my active jw wife and i were out of town enjoying some family time with relatives.. apparently there were many others in our congregation that missed as well.

  so few were there in fact that sisters ran the mics.

  (actually it was a sister running one of the two mics) a friend of my wife commented to her about how the brothers just aren't stepping up and it "makes her want to cry.

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  Spiral

  Way back in the day, when desperate, the congregation would have to let sisters do various "duties/privileges" (gag). I remember as a small child (late 60s, early 70s) sometimes the sisters would have to read at the bookstudy or at the WT study, as no qualified brother was in attendance. The sister who read had to sit in the audience because she couldn't be on the stage with the conductor (again, gag). At the bookstudy we would take turns reading.

  This was humiliating to any brother that was there but was then outed as "not qualified" because he wasn't used, being on private reproof or whatever.

  Meanwhile, at our book study, several would comment how great it was to let the sisters read. Sadly, the usual "qualified" brother had reading difficulties (remember, this was in the day of the Babylon book and several others that took some skill and vocabulary to read properly - not the fluff stuff they produce today). It made the book study drag along (worse than normal). If everyone read, at least it went faster. (BTW, looking back I feel sorry for that brother now because I'd bet you $5 he was dyslexic or something like that and didn't know, he was really embarrassed by his lack of "skill".)

  As for the territory servant sister, I've seen that too, under cover of "assisting" a brother who couldn't keep records well (often the husband).

  I wouldn't be surprised if this starts happening again, as the younger generation is less interested in this kind of religion. I wish I had thought about all this more when I was young!
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  23

  2 questions about Warwick

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have two questions about warwick.

  see the picture included.

  1) at the other side of the lake you see other buildings.

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  Spiral

  I also have a question about Warwick. If they aren't printing much literature any more, what are they telling the R&F all of this is for? If you don't need printing any more, how do they justify building a compound of this size? Is the TV studio that big? (Not to mention everything else they are building.)
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  13

  Article: Jehovah’s Witnesses Holds Women Back

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/jehovahs-witnesses-women-religion-serena-williams-news-81664/.

  by lydia segebrecht december 16, 2016. an open letter to serena williams about jehovah’s witnesses’ treatment of women.. dear serena,.

  i want to start by applauding everything you said in your open letter that was reproduced on the guardian website last week.

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  Spiral

  @ A Believer - that means nothing if the men control everything and they think you are a "weaker vessel".
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  17

  Jehovah is unjust (outrageous article on slavery in last WT for public)

  by Master_Bob in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the last paragraph of the article entitled "escape from slavery—then and now" (wt#2, 2017).

  jehovah god felt grieved by the harsh treatment of israelite slaves in egypt; he must feel the same way about similar injustice today.. .

  if you call modern slavery "injustice", wasn't the slavery during moses time also "injustice"?

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  Spiral

  Among many things, this has always bothered me about what churches teach, and certainly what JWs teach.

  Jehovah is bothered by many things, he looooooves you all, he haaaaates wickedness.

  But - God seems (to me) to like to watch it, test people, let all sorts of horrible things happen. How does this demonstrate that he loves humanity? I have just never seen it. Yes, there was a "ransom" (what is that, really, and why is that really needed?) but nothing comes of any of his efforts to put down wickedness. It's always later, tomorrow, next generation, then God will do something. "Wait, let's test more people and see if they will be "loyal" to me." God seems to be saying. How is this okay?

  That is why I am now an athiest.

  As for the JWs, they read this stuff and think, Jehovah hates slavery! He hates injustice! He hates abuse! Look how he loves us!

  How on earth could anyone come to that conclusion?
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  6

  "Brexit? What's that?"

  by schnell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  having shared the arc report on facebook and shaken up my network of jw friends, uhhh... i am now learning how unfortunately ignorant they have become.

  so far the overall response to the report has shown that well enough, but it got worse.. a friend of mine moved to the uk from california a few years back.

  after he saw my post, he pmed me, essentially checking up to see if i'm alright.

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  Spiral

  Hi Schnell,

  Now that I am around JWs again (after a 10+ year break) I notice the same thing. They all seem to have absolutely no idea what is going on in the real world. I can only speculate (after being at some meetings and seeing how dumbed-down the content is) that none of them are paying any attention to the news or current events.

  Funny, growing up as a JW we were encouraged to watch the news, etc., to know what was going on and to have something to talk about at the door.

  Now, it seems they are being isolated from the "world" all the more, and so many of them just go along with it. If you factor in the fact that many have no higher education or technical job skills, so are self-employed in service-type work (cleaning, etc.) they really have no exposure to the wider world.

  Of course, they cooperate in their own isolation. But the ignorance of what goes on in the real world is astounding.
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  46

  New Resolution?

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  had our midweek meeting last night.

  they had a resolution to send an extra (i wanna say $1100 but i only remember it was at least $1000) per month to forward the kingdom preaching work etc.. you know how they work in the kh...no one votes against anything.

  i abstained as i almost have always done.

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  Spiral

  Wow, that's actually a significant increase. No way my mother's congregation could afford that. Most are on welfare, food stamps, or disability already.
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  12

  1 Step Forward and 3 Steps Back: Trying to Get My Mom to See 'The Light' (Oh the Irony!)

  by Sorry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  recently, my mother's been hounding me to do personal study (i think she's slowly realizing i'm becoming disillusioned with the organization and is trying to reign me back in).

  i don't know what made me do this, but i decided to test the waters by challenging 'new light'.

  she asked me what i learned in personal study, so i brought up organ transplants and the wt flip floppy stance on them (thanks jwfacts!).

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  Spiral

  Hi Sorry,

  First, don't be sorry. You're on the right track. You are not the crazy one.

  Second, your mom wanted you to do "personal study". As NotAlone mentioned, witnesses (these days) really don't like to study, and they really don't know what it means. What your mother really meant was, read the latest magazine over and over again until you are brainwashed. She doesn't see that (unlike earlier decades, pre-1980, when the JWs really did take pride in study) they've all been dumbed-down to the point that they can't really think and reason at all. That's where the mantra "listen, obey, and be blessed" comes from. There's no studying necessary for that.

  So, I say keep studying and bringing up questions (go carefully as your situation warrants, they can only take a little bit at a time) if you are asked about it. My thought is that your family will stop asking you about your personal study, as they'll see that it brings up more questions than answers.