Posts by jp1692

I got a college education and became a high school science teacher where I teach young minds how to think for themselves. I followed the Bachelor’s up with a Master’s in Education.

I also took up the study of martial arts. I enjoy the physical fitness aspects of it as well as the confidence I have gained by learning how to defend myself in hand-to-hand combat as well as against weapons whether or not I am also armed.

I watch whatever movies I want, even R-rated ones. Occasionally I’ll smoke a cigar. I tried cannabis oil a couple of times.

I swear whenever I fucking want to, or not

I sleep in on weekends if I want.

I’ve given several presentations at conferences and workshops for current and former cult members on how to heal and rebuild one’s life after leaving a cult.

I now only spend time with people who love and appreciate me for WHO I am, not WHAT I (pretended to) BELIEVE.

In other words: I’m now living my life on my terms, not one dictated to me by some ignorant, uneducated and delusional cult-leader. (Think: Stephen Lett.)

It’s all good.

jp

54

What Views or Beliefs Do Jehovah’s Witnesses No Longer Teach?

by minimus in

jw
friends

evidently they have changed their creative day from being 7000 years per day.

all blood transfusions were taboo but now blood fractions might be allowed to be taken into the body.

vaccinations were sinful at one time but not now.. can you name other views or beliefs that have changed from being considered “truth” to no longer “the truth “?.

jp1692

SBF: The term “soul sleep” is not one JWs tend to use for their belief.

This is, of course, another sign of a cult: They need to change terminology and/or redefine the meaning of words to give the illusion of being unique or special, which in reality they are not.

54

What Views or Beliefs Do Jehovah’s Witnesses No Longer Teach?

by minimus in

jw
friends

evidently they have changed their creative day from being 7000 years per day.

all blood transfusions were taboo but now blood fractions might be allowed to be taken into the body.

vaccinations were sinful at one time but not now.. can you name other views or beliefs that have changed from being considered “truth” to no longer “the truth “?.

jp1692

Agreed.

The point being that the current JW religion bears very little resemblance to what it was even a few decades ago (I joined in 1984) let alone what it's founder, C. T. Russell, had in mind.

jp

23

Sadly, This is Real

by berrygerry in

.

jp1692

Apparently Anthony Morris III's Macallan account is running low. Or maybe he's just planning ahead!

Image result for macallans

62

Reaction to GDPR / field service letter

by sir82 in

here is a thread on the new letter to be read to all congregations in all branches on adjustments in door to door work due to the gdpr:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6274619758608384/2019-boe-elders-letter-may-13-england-ireland-data-protection.

i have...connections....to a foreign language congregation in europe.

jp1692

SBF: I can think of a way they could turn this around to their advantage: Watchtower could lay a heavy stress on JWs trying to convert family, friends and acquaintances. . . . If this was part of a deliberate strategy . . . they could . . . designate the first Sunday of the month “bring a friend” day.

Except, that won't work because:

Of course JWs face the problem that they are not supposed to keep close friendships outside the religion,

Hmmm!

Self-induced wounds are always a peculiar kind of painful.

54

What Views or Beliefs Do Jehovah’s Witnesses No Longer Teach?

by minimus in

jw
friends

evidently they have changed their creative day from being 7000 years per day.

all blood transfusions were taboo but now blood fractions might be allowed to be taken into the body.

vaccinations were sinful at one time but not now.. can you name other views or beliefs that have changed from being considered “truth” to no longer “the truth “?.

jp1692

SBF, the implication was concerning beliefs which were unique to Russell's theology/religion, or at least which are commonly perceived to be unique. Perhaps I should have made that explicit.

jp

60

Fifty years ago today: One quote to demolish the Watchtower

by JeffT in

jw
friends

i did not have any connection to jw's when they published this, about two weeks before i graduated from high school.

i'm now on medicare and collecting social security.

so much for their ability to see into the future.

jp1692

In 2002 or early 2003, my ex-wife told me about that article. At first I didn't believe her. I thought she must be mistaken. (I should add that I was a congregation elder and had been for about a dozen years.)

But I looked into it and found that she was right of course. That was the beginning of the end for me, the first domino to fall in what would eventually become the total loss of my faith in the religion of JWs.

It also led to the break-up of our marriage as I investigated more about the history of our religion and learned the truth about "The Truth."

My ex, who was raised as a JW, read this article when she was 10 years old. She just turned 60.

Let's review: It's a cult!

54

What Views or Beliefs Do Jehovah’s Witnesses No Longer Teach?

by minimus in

jw
friends

evidently they have changed their creative day from being 7000 years per day.

all blood transfusions were taboo but now blood fractions might be allowed to be taken into the body.

vaccinations were sinful at one time but not now.. can you name other views or beliefs that have changed from being considered “truth” to no longer “the truth “?.

jp1692

Here, (from an old post by 00DAD), is a more detailed look at what I summarized in my previous post:

It is informative to consider that current JW beliefs are essentially COMPLETELY different than what they were when [they were] supposedly "chosen" in 1918/1919.

This brings up a logical dilemma:

If Current Beliefs are correct, then what JWs believed in 1918/1919 was wrong. If what they believed then was wrong, then Jesus would have categorically rejected them as representing either him or True Worship; or,
If JW beliefs in 1918/1919 were correct, then JW beliefs now are incorrect and should be rejected as apostate, false teachings.

You don't even have to examine any specific doctrinal points to see the power of this line of reasoning: either way JWs are NOT the true religion, not then, not now, not ever.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For clarification, there are essentially only two beliefs that have remained from Russell's time until now:

1. Soul Sleep, taken from the Second Adventists, which has two sub-beliefs:

No Hell
No Immortality of the Soul

2. Gentile Times ended in 1914 which came from:

an idea advanced by John Aquila Brown in 1823
expanded upon in the 1830's by a farmer named William Miller
later tweaked by Apollos Hale and Sylvester Bliss, whoever they were
exposed as false in 1840 by John Dowling, whoever he was
reworked by Second Adventists, such as Barbour after 1844
then finally take over by Charles Taze Russell as an end time prophecy, with the Gentile times expected to herald the conclusion of Armageddon, not the beginning of the Last Days.

So practically EVERYTHING taught in Russell's time has been since discarded except two basic beliefs, one of which he got from another religion and the other conceived of and then twisted and mangled by a bunch of crackpots all vying for one-upsmanship to prove their personal understanding of the incontrovertible Word of God!

Also, some would argue that 1914 shouldn't really be included on this list. What Russell and the early Bible Students believed about 1914 is completely different from what Witnesses believe today. They clearly and unequivocally taught that 1914 was when Armageddon was coming and that it would be THE END of things, not the "Beginning of the End." In fact, the only thing about 1914 that stayed the same was calling it "The End of the Gentile Times," but what that meant to Russell wouldn't even be recognized [today] by a modern JW.

Of the two beliefs, the evidence is clear that the second is false and the first is—from our perspective as living human beings—completely unverifiable either way. Also the idea of soul sleep is not unique to JWs, so it alone would not have gotten them "chosen" in 1918/1919. The closer you look the uglier it gets.

Nice.

Let's review: It's a cult!

54

What Views or Beliefs Do Jehovah’s Witnesses No Longer Teach?

by minimus in

jw
friends

evidently they have changed their creative day from being 7000 years per day.

all blood transfusions were taboo but now blood fractions might be allowed to be taken into the body.

vaccinations were sinful at one time but not now.. can you name other views or beliefs that have changed from being considered “truth” to no longer “the truth “?.

jp1692

For all intents and purposes, there are no current teachings/beliefs of JWs that are the same as in Russell's day except:

Soul sleep
1914 is the End of the Gentile Times

But Russell had a completely different idea of what 1914 meant than what JWs currently believe. He believed it would be The End culminating in Armageddon, not The Beginning of the End—the meaning of which would be revised at least six times between then and now culminating in the current "Overlapping Generation" nonsense.

So essentially there is only one doctrine which Russell taught that is still currently believed by JWs and it isn't even an belief exclusive to them.