let's start the ball rolling with two connected claims.. the religion of jehovah’s witnesses is the one true religion.
all other religions are satanic, including all the churches of christendom..
Their view that non-JWs are doomed is perhaps the most striking difference as someone who was born in and is now outside of the bubble. I think that it is one of the views that helped me get out over time, because it's impossible not to meet people that you feel don't deserve that fate.
5. The WTS is a spirit-guided organization-- its leadership is informed by Jehovah through his holy spirit.
(5a. Jehovah somehow manages to give them the wrong information from time-to-time.)
how often do you hear the lord's prayer at the meetings or in jw homes?.
i don't know if they revised their stance with the new leaders in america, but i don't recall it having much weight when i were a wee'un.. i think the nwt said, 'pray then, this way....'.
so, jesus gave instructions on how to pray, as in actual words to say.......so the jws don't?
I used to follow the Lord's Prayer when I was saying prayers at meetings or meet-ups. It made sense to follow that format, it was the one given to us by Jesus, after all. I never got pushback for using it. As long as you made sure to bless the GB and ask for Jehovah to look after the faithful, you weren't going to get grief for it.
https://jwtalk.net/topic/60143-sighjust-another-lesson-in-humility-for-tim.
if you can stomach reading this brother's experience via this link, please let me know your views.
for one thing, i'm absolutely dumbfounded that this website jwtalk even exists considering all the warnings the governing body have given the org on not creating their own websites.
I find it interesting that a person who was already engaged with his local elders decided to go to another elder (who was not involved in whatever was going on) for "advice." Sounds like the guy was shopping for an opinion or information that would help him, and he knew that most elders will offer advice if asked. I'm thinking that the person who sent the text --apparently without clarifying what was really going on-- is the person at fault.
Sure, "Tim" should have been a bit circumspect, but if this is a person who had his personal number and was sending texts, it's easy to understand why his guard might have been down. Plus, lots of elders I knew were busybodies and this seems to extend to the organization itself. It's the perfect setup for something like this to happen. And now, "Tim" will respond to future cries for help with hesitation and suspicion...
(I'm also curious as to what his information consisted of and how it affected the situation for the other two elders. Looks like they didn't like being undermined or perhaps exposed for a lack of knowledge or understanding. It would explain why they were so direct and forward in dealing with 'Tim.')
i think i may be moving on shortly.
i officially joined this web-site 12 years ago as pimo about to exit the organisation.
i had spent about a year before that, as just a none commenting member.
Best wishes with moving on, it's a good step to take. We can't get back the time wasted in the JW religion, but it feels good to throw off the chains. Hope it goes well for you!
uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
He meant grifting for donations was intended to save his own life.
He's been fighting to get the numbers up for a while, because when he had almost 900 people donating he must have been making a very comfortable living. And that is before we count any other sources of income and the people paying for his travel and vacations and so on. I can only imagine how much money he was getting outside of Patreon and YouTube, and that flow of cash has probably dried up completely now. I don't recall him mentioning holidays or vacations anytime recently.
just in.
a jaw dropping announcements and reminders for elders this month.
how can you serve as an elder and believe this organization is spirit directed after reading this letter?.
I agree that we shouldn't use Paul as a role model, given his view that women were objects with "uses."
https://youtu.be/lpwusxk8ckc?si=d4nb1ciwccql8dox.
a man, like new gb member jody jodele, dripping in wealth—$20,000 rolex, freemasonry ring, cushy life in upstate new york—pontificating about job’s suffering.
it’s a fair jab to question how someone so detached from hardship might approach a story of utter loss.
A point of clarification: Jehovah lectured Job because Job had expressed the expectation that God would explain to him why he had been made to suffer. When the false friends told Job that he was suffering because Jehovah was a strict and harsh god, Job disagreed. He was confident that God would explain himself at some point.
Jehovah's response to this was to remind Job that he had no right to expect such an explanation, as he was a mere human and God was, well... God. Job's defense of God was not an issue, as such praise and recognition are what Jehovah always demanded from people. Expecting him to explain himself to a human was akin to placing an obligation on him, and humans are... not the boss of him, to coin a phrase.
I suppose I should also note that the story does not state (or even imply) that Jehovah explained that Job was subjected to this treatment because of a disagreement between himself and Satan. Thus, Job's expectation of an explanation was sufficiently offensive to God that he chewed him out and left the matter at that.
uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
LMsA: He sounded fairly cocky about the chances for success, at one point threatening people directly who were named about seeing them in court.
I always thought that was his ego talking, and that he knew the lawsuits were a sham. But maybe he really did think something would come of it and that he could use the Croatian courts to bring his enemies to their knees. He seems deluded enough to have believed that. Now, it hangs from his neck like an albatross. And it's a self-inflicted wound, which means the only person he has to blame for it is himself (although he will never do that).
i swear, you can't make this shit up!
for years and years growing up in this cult, i had to constantly hear from my parents, from the stage, in the literature, about "keeping your eye simple", not being "materialistic", not "having a showy display of one's wealth.
" of course, this never seemed to apply to the wealthy business owning elduhzzzz who ran and lorded it out over the congregations, but i digress.
I think points 3 and 4 are the most relevant. Should they be trying to appear wealthy and sophisticated, with fancy looking watches and nice suits? Is that the example they learned from Jesus? They want brothers and sisters to dress modestly and be presentable. Shouldn't they set the example? Look nice, not wealthy.
i swear, you can't make this shit up!
for years and years growing up in this cult, i had to constantly hear from my parents, from the stage, in the literature, about "keeping your eye simple", not being "materialistic", not "having a showy display of one's wealth.
" of course, this never seemed to apply to the wealthy business owning elduhzzzz who ran and lorded it out over the congregations, but i digress.
Giving tax breaks to religious groups is one thing, but when you see these TV pastors buying mansions and personal aircraft worth millions of dollars, it's clear they are taking advantage of the system. The WTS sold billions of dollars worth of real estate. Are they free from taxes for those transactions, or are capital gains exempt?
