Jehovah's Witnesses lives are one big, failed advertising board of happiness detached from reality.
Only relatively few experience genuine happiness. Most experience a sort of kool-aid induced trip into a magical, imaginary spiritual paradise.
Eden
so this afternoon my roommate and i decided to go grab some dinner from the local chipotle and, as we live only a short distance from the franchise, we decided it was a good idea to walk.
little did i know that the j-dubs district convention here in sacramento was just getting out (the auditorium is literally smack in the middle of downtown and its attendees have to park in garages scattered a couple blocks away in every direction) so men in cheap suits and women in unflattering dress' were walking all over the place as though someone had antagonized their ungodly ant hill.
and, for sacramento, this of course is the complete opposite of the normative - that is to say, our streets are usually filled with well dressed, immaculately groomed, 'i know exactly where i'm going' government officials that monopolize the state capitol m-f. .
Jehovah's Witnesses lives are one big, failed advertising board of happiness detached from reality.
Only relatively few experience genuine happiness. Most experience a sort of kool-aid induced trip into a magical, imaginary spiritual paradise.
Eden
the cognitive dissonance amongst jws has never been more obvious to me then what i just experience in the last 5 min.
long story short i had a phone conversation w/my mom about some things and i mentioned to her to look up what has been going on with their beloved organization in australia.
brother geoffrey jackson of the holy governing body was caught lying numerous times about several subjects including disassociations & shunning.
Denial as a sub product of Cognitive Dissonance?
Eden
hi all, nothing to report just now.
wanted to add name to list of those awakening.
been lurking for nearly a year.
Hello and welcome J.S.Oisif
We hope you'll feel comfortable here, and be sure that you'll find plenty of support from great people. Looking forward to hear more from you.
Eden
i was reading on wikipedia about the watchtower society and it lists a william henry conley as the first president of the wt society (1881-1884).
i was wonder if this is correct and why the modern jw's have eliminated him from the societies history?
the only thing is the society was not incorporated till 1884 with russel as president.
The Watchtower started as Zion's Watchtower Tract Society in 1881, with William Conley as president and CT Russell as Treasurer. Conley was Russell's financial's backer but later they parted ways, amicably it seems. Russell then incorporated the Society in Pennsylvannia in 1884, becoming its president. In 1896 he changed its name to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. In 1908, Russell transferred the Society to new headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Eden
This will merit a separate thread, but for the time being, the news are:
My wife and I are openly discussing her fade from the Org! After nearly 5 months fully back into it, she has concluded that she cannot go back to see things as before, and she simply doesn't believe in it anymore.
I'm containing my joy, because, well... I've been disappointed before. But, give it some more time, and I'll be able to discuss it more freely.
:) :) :)
Eden
i've finally got round to joining the site (after over 2 years lurking!
i was born into jws, pioneered for 10 years (met my husband at pioneer school).
had health issues that saw me catapulted away from 'the centre of the cong' and wow what a different place that was!
Welcome, Peony! Great to hear about your experience, and it's great that both you and your husband left it together. We'd like to have your husband on board here as well!
Eden
There are VERY VERY VERY positive developments !!!!!!
:)
Eden
haven't seen jeffro in a few months.
i wonder if he's doing ok.. eden.
Hey, nice to hear from you again. Glad to know you're doing well. :)
Eden
https://jwleaks.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/2015-ewhc-1722-qb.pdfjust had a look at this 2015 legal judgement.
one of a number of things that caught my eye was the statement in (11) that "the organisational structure of jehovahs witnesses is modelled on first century christianity as described in the bible".er, hardly.
try acts 2: 44-45"all the believers were together and had everything in common.
On point 4, there's a most interesting statement from the judge:
The first defendants are the over-arching body of the second and third defendants. It is common ground that, if the second and/or third defendants are liable, then the first defendants will satisfy the judgment on behalf of the other defendants.
The first defendants are the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. The second defendants are the local congregation where the abuse took place. As it can be seen, it is established that the Watch Tower Society IS LIABLE for whatever happens within the congregations as a result of their directives and policies being followed.
Eden
hi i've been reading a web sight called borean pickets.
http://meletivivlon.com/2015/05/09/may-tv-broadcast-on-tv-jw-org/.
although the guy writes some real thought provoking stuff, i sort of don't know what to make of it.
I'm a subscriber of their emails and they're the only ones I never delete from my Yahoo account.
Some are better than others, but consistently my favorite writer is Meleti Vivlon.
Once I stopped considering the Bible as the word of God, I've become less enthusiastic about their points of view, but I must say they're razor sharp and know their Scriptures very well, and acutely deconstruct the doctrinal flaws promoted by the Governing Body using the Bible, which, regardless of anyone's current stand on the existence of God, is always a well worthy reading.
Alex, great to have you onboard here!
Eden