That is correct, Jan. As far as the WTS is concerned, the most important things a JW reads are the articles, books and statements written by the organization. Anything that is not provided by the organization may cause a JW to 'stumble' and become confused or misinformed. It's one of the classic signs of a cult- information control.
TonusOH
JoinedPosts by TonusOH
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26
What are some of the more exceptional self-authenticating claims made by Jehovah’s Witnesses?
by Vanderhoven7 inlet'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..
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What are some of the more exceptional self-authenticating claims made by Jehovah’s Witnesses?
by Vanderhoven7 inlet'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..
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TonusOH
The impression I always had was that the WTS encourages the rank-and-file to read the Bible, but they are to leave the interpretation to the Governing Body. I don't recall ever hearing an explicit encouragement to read it, but they do (did?) have a program where they would review the Bible --three chapters at a time-- every week. If you followed along, you would eventually read the whole Bible.
In the past, Russell claimed that his Studies in the Scriptures were a such a superior guide to understanding the Bible that reading the Bible was unnecessary. In fact, his claim was that someone who only read the Bible would 'fall into darkness' unless he made sure to also read SitS. Thus, there was a time when it could be said that the WTS openly discouraged reading the Bible.
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New GB member Judy Jedele critizing Job's "humility" while wearing $20,000 Rolex, gold cuff links, coloured suit. Incredible!
by WingCommander ini 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.
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TonusOH
I feel like I'm the only person here without some kind of expertise on watches.
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Examples of Watchtower flawed interpretation of Bible passages?
by Vanderhoven7 inasking jehovah’s witnesses to interpret specific passages is a great way to demonstrate their interpretive abuse.
got any clear examples?.
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TonusOH
Journeyman: Could the "slave" be illustrative of a group?
If I am remembering correctly, this is one of the reasons they started referring to the "slave class."
The WTS insists that it does not use a heirarchical structure like the Catholic Church. Then they start referring to various "classes." You are of this class, they are of that class, and so on.
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What are some of the more exceptional self-authenticating claims made by Jehovah’s Witnesses?
by Vanderhoven7 inlet'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..
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TonusOH
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.)
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JWs and the Lord's Prayer
by punkofnice inhow 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?
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TonusOH
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.
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A stupid, pointless story of "humility" on JWTalk
by ukpimo inhttps://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.
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TonusOH
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.')
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I think I may be becoming an X-X-JW
by joe134cd ini 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.
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TonusOH
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!
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It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh 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.
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TonusOH
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.
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Oral and Anal Sex flip flop? March 2025 Announcements and Reminders
by ukpimo injust 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?.
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TonusOH
I agree that we shouldn't use Paul as a role model, given his view that women were objects with "uses."