Posts by Spiral

5

Talking to the people under the steeple

by Giordano in

i haven't found religion viable after we left the jws some fifty years ago.. oddly enough i will be conducting a session at the oxford forum which is put on once a week on a sunday by the presbyterian church.

they invite scholars, professors, artists etc.

people of interest to expose their congregation to what else is going on in this community.

Spiral

That sounds like a great opportunity to talk to people who normally wouldn't understand what an ex-JW goes through. Please let us know how it goes.

40

After leaving the JWs - Has anyone stayed with Christianity?

by rulehayl in

i recently made the decision to stop studying with my study conductor, due to a situation i found myself in that led to a high possibility of my unbaptized publisher "rights" being taken away from me.

i have since told my study conductor i have joined a new church (to which she dropped me like a hot rock, of course).... last time i posted on here, i was progressing nicely towards baptism, and was well into it.anyhoo, i like my new church, very hillsong-esqe.

so just wondering if anyone else has stayed the course of christianity after leaving the jws, and if so - where did you go?

Spiral

I would classify myself as SBNR (or, as I like to think, Ethical AND Not Religious).

Being raised a JW cured me of all religion. I agree that "Religion is a Snare and a Racket".

Happy athiest here.

45

Will the Watchtower Company in the near future start asking for a tithe?

by Sour Grapes in

it appears that the borg has some financial issues and i would think they are related to the hush money being paid out for the child molestation lawsuits to protect the guilty cult members and the fine untarnished reputation of the jdubs.. we have seen how much the borg refers to the hebrew scriptures for their guiding principles whenever it suits the borg's needs.

tithing certainly is laced throughout the old testament.

under the mosaic law, there were three tithes.

Spiral

TD:

What do you think?

The average JW just doesn't have that kind of money, as in there's very little left after food, rent, etc.

Perhaps if they hadn't discouraged college for so long, they would have a more affluent membership to rely on.

Even were this not the case, religions where tithing actually works all give something back in one way or another. (e.g. Beautiful buildings, choirs, social programs, business connections, etc.)

The JW parent organizations give nothing back and that's already a problem as it goes against basic human nature to give something for nothing. --One of the reasons why JW's are so stingy with their donations already.

The idea that this can be overcome by organizational decree seems to be popular here, but I'm skeptical..

I agree, and therein lies the big problem. Membership in the Mormon Church is expensive, but you have educational opportunities. The bOrg is still demonizing higher education, but where will the money come from?

The bOrg gives NOTHING of value back to the drones. I am hoping the drones decide they have no more to give.

17

Classic Talk Regarding KH Consolidation

by lepermessiah in

jw
friends

last night i was listening in as my spouse was on the phone line.

there was a big "local needs" talk announced and it was speculated to be about the congregation reshuffling.. that ended up to be the case.

i thought i used to lay it on thick from the platform....... this was the ultimate spin job - worthy of political office or a spot on the governing body.. one thing that stood out "while the numbers may not necessarily indicate it, it is clear jehovah is speeding up the work".

Spiral

@OnTheWayOut You have hit that nail on the head. I can't for the life of me understand why even the most indoctrinated JW can't see that for what it is.

But wait..."Listen, obey, and be blessed" (thinking portion of this equation has been deleted)

34

Growing a beard

by Coded Logic in

i've always been currious as to how i would look with a beard so i've finally committed to doing it.

over the next 30 days i'm going to grow out a full chin to ear beard.. .

ps: any suggestions or advice on how to grow a beard would be much appreciated!.

Spiral

Beards are cool!

14

Registering with JW.org

by mann377 in

jw
friends

so the wife was sick and stayed home from the meeting.

she tuned in through the phone so she could listen.

she had the phone on speaker and therefore i could overhear what was said.

Spiral

humblepotato, I have never heard of KH Donate. Sounds..... odd. But should I be surprised, no.

I still think they are trying to work their way over to tithing. (Or rather, now they are there.) Wondering if it was brought up in this weekend's two day assembly, which, of course, I did not attend.

mann377, I also wonder if they are pushing/requiring ALL publishers to register and have a login (and therefore, store a credit card number). I really really really don't know how 90% of the pubs here in my Mom's congregation could do that, it is such a poor congregation.

Should I be asked on behalf of myself and my mother, the answer will be h*ll no. Thanks for the heads up.

15

Regarding this so called judgment message..

by nowwhat? in

will our fearless leaders the gb call a news conference and invite all the major news networks and outlets and put their asses on the line and declare "you are all doomed!

" or will they have the rank and file do all the dirty work while they sit back in their gated corporate country club?!

ask any jdub that question!.

Spiral

nowwhat, that is a good question! If they really believe it, and they are so in to internet and video witnessing, then they should do the heavy lifting by publishing an announcement and putting the message on JW.org.

But they wouldn't of course, even if they thought the time had come.

34

In case you want to see mass quantities of ignorance / stupidity on display....a dinosaur thread on JWTalk

by sir82 in

https://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/34840-what-does-the-bible-say-about-dinosaurs/.

amazing how many words can be expended discussing things that people have utterly no clue about..

Spiral

My eyes!!!! Aaargh, once you read that thread you can't "unread" it!

34

Impact of GDPR on WT HQ and EU branches?

by respectful_observer in

curious if any of our eu-based members (especially those still in) have heard anything from official wt channels on how the organisation plans to be in compliance with gdpr ("general data protection regulations") by may 2018?

it's my understanding that religious organisations must comply, and that religious data is treated a "protected" and therefore subject to some enhance requirements.. specifically, how will they comply with the following requirements:.

you must disclose to the individual: what data you collect on them, why, and what you do with the data (including what other parties receive the data and what they do with it).

Spiral

I haven't been able to read all the links yet, but I think the following is problematical for them:

Data protection policy on jw.org says under point 7:

Personal data will not be transferred between branches unless necessary to accomplish the religious or charitable purposes of the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, to which all Jehovah’s Witnesses have consented by virtue of their free and willing decision to become and identify themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Having been baptised in the early 70s as a young teen in the US, I certainly was never asked or made aware of the records that the Society has kept on me. I am sure that has not changed today. When you open a bank or credit card account, you have to sign a form saying you understand privacy policy, and you get updates in the mail when the policy or the law concerning that has changed. So, how do they think they can prove the (untrue) statement above? Unless things have changed, they don't have signatures on file for each publisher giving permission to collect/keep personal data. Perhaps if they enforce a system where everyone must log in to JW.org to get literature, see videos, and make contributions (with individual accounts with passwords) they will try to sneak this in as well. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Perhaps the cart witnessing with no not-at-home records (I remember those forms, and turning them in to the congregation with the territory) is a way they've come up with to address this?

113

No Bible = No God?

by menrov in

some doubt about the bible completely, some partially.

what if the bible turns out to be a product of humans, nothing divine.

would you still believe in a creator?.

Spiral

I don't believe in God. The Bible is just a collection of old books. Somewhat interesting historically, but I don't equate it to proof of the existence of a God.