Posts by Spiral

11

stupid questions

by road to nowhere in

paragraph 4 today: "what are we gonna consider?

" maybe that is the article title?

the other is: "what will we consider next week?

Spiral

I think the OP is referencing the question to paragraph 3 which is: "What will we consider in this article?" The word "gonna" might have been said from the stage.

I agree that the studies are so dumbed down they ask repeatedly things like what are we studying, what will we study next week, let's review what we just learned, or this item from today's study in paragraph 1: "Why can there be no doubt that God's word exerts power? (See opening picture). A staged set of pictures! Everything is directed as if the audience were small children. The questions really make the meeting slow and boring.

I find this article interesting because it's about reading scriptures in the ministry, even though they've pushed everything toward showing people something on the tablet (which is also shown in a picture). They also mention meditating on the scriptures, as if just reading a scripture and thinking about it was really meditation.

35

Is All The Bad Publicity About The Watchtower Pedophile Lawsuits Causing Contributions To Nose Dive Worldwide?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i think with all the child molestation lawsuits the watchtower corporation is and has been hit with is the main reason for all the prime property sell off recently.

the silent lambs protest back in 2001, and the dateline prime time expose probably was the death knell for the watchtower's hey day in brooklyn.. their membership is drying up, young people are leaving in droves, the situation is no doubt far worse than the annually published yearbook figures show and so they ceased it's publication permanently.

and those left remaining are experiencing a huge grab of money from their congregations accounts and now are required to make pledges about how much they can contribute which i think is a last ditch effort by the governing body to squeeze more money out of the rank and file watchtower indoctrinated drones.. i think all this is happening because even those still loyally attending are hearing reports of these tremendous pay out that the watchtower is making to the victims of their self serving policies that put young ones at great risks so that even the rank and file don't want to contribute to pay court costs and so are withholding giving contributions to a very great extent.

Spiral

I can't say that anyone in my Mom's congo (US) knows about the lawsuits. They are so busy trying to survive with little money, poor health, taking care of family members (elderly parents, family with chronic illnesses, etc.) that they can't see the forest for the trees. Not a lot of global thinking going on around here.

Having said that, the exhaustion is palpable. There is no further money to give - I don't think there are any big contributors remaining. (Good thing I have my hands on the checkbook, there's nothing coming from us.) There is awareness that the "special people" in Warwick have beautiful lodgings and a care home and I think that is resented, quietly and anonymously. The thought that they've done all that and are now short of money would really trouble people here (who live such a modest life style) but they probably wouldn't admit it publicly.

I haven't been approached or challenged in any way about my status, or asked for a contribution, or even about why I am (obviously) inactive. That tells me quite a bit.

Question, though, do I understand from a previous post that Lett actually mentioned or hinted at legal costs in one of the broadcasts? Is he trying to cover the GB's collective backsides when even just the news about the lawsuits in California become more well known? I've been wondering when that would hit the collective consciousness of the US JWs.

9

So obsessed

by incognito2014 in

i find it almost too difficult to bear.

my mother now in her 80's does not miss up on an opportunity to preach.

in fact most of the time the opportunity does not exist but she mentions something anyway.. she is so blind it's embarrassing.

Spiral

I hear you, Incognito. My mother is in her late 80s and has dementia, so it's like the proverbial "broken record".

However, if you ask around you will see that many in our age group are dealing with older parents who have outlived their cognitive abilities. If it wasn't "the truth" it would be something else, repeated over and over again.

But I feel your pain, because I also just get sooooo tired of hearing the same thing. Her generation isn't going to quit being a JW because most are by their very nature worker bees and haven't been thinking independently for years. They are never going to see the obvious because it doesn't benefit them to do so.

But the ones that are younger who can't see it..... they are the ones I really wonder about.

21

Many Witnesses are just plain tired out!

by UnshackleTheChains in

i believe that many witnesses are tired out or at least tiring out.

i know....... because i am tired out!.

imagine going to college for 20 years not knowing when college is finished.

Spiral

LongHairGal, I agree 100%. The JWs have created a whole culture of suffering and depression for "righteousness' sake". I am also far better off mentally leaving it all behind.

34

THIS Is How JWs Feel About The Cut In Magazines And Content

by pale.emperor in

i asked the question on quora "how do jehovah's witnesses feel about the announcement that the public edition of the watchtower and awake!

magazine is being reduced to just 3 issues a year and the number of books, tracts, and online content are being discontinued?".

https://www.quora.com/how-do-jehovahs-witnesses-feel-about-the-announcement-that-the-public-edition-of-the-watchtower-and-awake-magazine-is-being-reduced-to-just-3-issues-a-year-and-the-number-of-books-tracts-and-online-content-are-being-discontinued.

Spiral

pale.emperor10 hours ago10 hours ago

Were you actually expecting active JWs to put in writing how they may really feel about it? The act of writing becomes a serious filter for those living in high-control groups.

I knew they'd put a positive spin on it. I was hoping they'd give me an indication of how they personally are processing it positively.

PE, the problem is they don't "process" anything. I have come to think that most JWs want a religion where they don't have to think - that's why they are JWs. The outside world is scary to them but the crazy culture of bOrgdom is comforting. Can't tell you how many times I've heard "the brothers know what is best for us". UGH Any amount of discussion is just a waste of time. *SIGH* That is what started part of my waking up, got so bored with so little "spiritual" food.

But now, this religion is a western religion for the generations who learned how to use the internet and tablets. Not only does it leave behind people in other parts of the world without access, it also leaves many senior citizens behind because they were so righteous they never learned how to use a computer. They were taught that the internet was from Satan, remember. How are they supposed to get any literature?

19

Two coins of little value? Ok! Sure (!)

by purrpurr in

last thursday meeting was the verbal begging bowl item.

in which having told the audience that wt doesn't ask for money... proceeded to then ask for money.. among the usual scriptures cited "honor god with your valuable things" etc was also the widows mite story "she dropped in two coins of little value..".

and it occurred to me, two coins of little value in the uk would be two one penny coins!

Spiral

IDK, I'd have to say in my Mom's congregation tithing wouldn't collect very much. Too many poor people. All the successful professional types that were here two decades ago are elderly or gone. The elders and M servants here now are all poor, several just living on social security. Congregation half the size of what it used to be.

The Mormons have the other half of that equation right, because they encourage education. The local Mormon congregation here is larger and wealthier.

2

EVENT: Middle Tennessee Conference - Understanding Abusive Spiritual Systems and Relationships

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://www.icsahome.com/events/midwest.

middle tennessee conference .

understanding abusive spiritual systems and relationships .

Spiral

Thank you for posting this!

Just the agenda is food for thought about what we all experienced, and what our still-in loved ones are still experiencing. Wish I could go.

34

New light!.....DFed without being DFed

by Tight Pants Twinkle Toes in

it now appears that the wt can df you just by marking you.

this happened to my me and my wife a few week ago.

a marking talk was given at the mid-week meeting in which no names were mentioned yet a detailed description of the "offending bastards" was delivered so that there as no doubt who this "pond scum" might be.

Spiral

And to think I was just recently told the JWs don't "mark" any more, what a joke.

DK, best wishes to your whole family!! It's problematical to have a JW cleaner (I know this from experience) so it might be better for you to have someone who doesn't report back to the elders. Sheesh!

21

"The battle for your mind" july 17 WT

by Bad_Wolf in

this is such a strange article.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2017488.

notice the parts about one won't get truth if it's spoon fed.

Spiral

I agree, when I saw that article, I thought it was weird even by JW standards. One could hope it was written out of a sort of desperation to keep the worker bees under control.

But, the JWs I know were totally taken in. "Look, they say they don't brainwash us, so it must be true! I can have my own thoughts as long as they are WT approved thoughts!"

UGH

23

How many "leave the truth" because of the behaviour of harsh elders?

by stuckinarut2 in

just wondering how many are assisted to wake up after experiencing harsh treatment from "the loving shepherds of the congregation"?.

perhaps some were starting to wake up, and such behaviour or treatment gave them the push to leave?.

as jesus supposedly said "come to me all who are toiling and loaded down, and i will refresh you.

Spiral

@joe134cd: problem is, if the publisher/MS/Elder can't count the time because the elderly sister is baptised, there's no motivation (bOrg-wise) to do so. I've seen that here where I am. The sisters will go visit (repeatedly) elderly, home-bound ones to make return visits, but the elderly home-bound congregation members are never visited.

Sad, isn't it?