Posts by Bugbear

It looks like many of us are in the 70 ties. My story is very similar to many of yours. I was an elder, with big doubt’s. But I kept on holding speeches, sheep herding , smiling, doing the service. Studding with my family..this until I totally mentally collapsed. Doctor told me I must “no man can under a longer time keep up with so many missions” it will end in a catastrophe! So I resigned “temporarily” , as un elder, and started to fade…. Missed meetings, slowed down service hours, all with regard to my situation. But my doubts grow. The more time you release for your own thinking, the more you realize the impossibility of soc. teaching. During a period of five years I got 4 hart strokes. This definitively stopped me attending any meeting at all. What a relief. No more high blood pressure..

Today I spend 2 hours daily obligatory walking in e nearby forests. I count my eagles, my foxes, my moose. Then home, and then spend 2 hours of reading from historical literature, that I can obtain from a nearby university. I have spent 3 years of university studies within the fields of History of Ideas and science. Philosophy and history, exactly the subjects that the socs. thinks no witness should pay any attention to….(I do understand that know)

But I got my peace in mind, no more hart attacks, no more depression, no mental collaps……but I also got free from a mind prison that unfortunately my wife still is in…

and I don´t need no sleeping pills anylonger

33

Have you ever thought what the primary teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses is?

by Half banana in

it is not “preach the good news” nor is it “believe in jesus and get saved” neither is it “believe in the governing body of jehovah’s witnesses and get saved” although in practice they do teach this.

no, everything they claim depends on a belief in another doctrine which logic decrees cannot be found in the bible.

the leadership of jehovah’s witnesses put absolute faith in a protestant doctrine which is given a latin name, sola scriptura, meaning “by scripture alone”.. good evidence of the governing body believing in the primacy of this doctrine was when being questioned by the australian royal commission, they resorted to the ‘authority’ of scripture to defend their stance on having “two witnesses” when they are investigating child abuse cases.throughout the hearing they paraded their naive trust in the bible as the highest possible authority proudly ignoring the fact that most people regard it as having been superseded by modern scientific evaluations of what is true.. .

Bugbear

Half Banana

It looks like you are still looking into some comfort in believing that there are some thoughts in what is said in the “Bible”…Science has shown that there is not. It is only a collection of old ancient “iron age” stories that all of them contradict each other of them. I suggest that you on YouTube, look up Bart Ehrman, to find what the really tell us. Bart is a distinguish Professor I the old Greek language and he knows what is said in all these Papyrus and Pergamum scriptures are. Sorry to say that none of them seems to bee accurate.

41

Why dont practicing JWS cant accept the fact that the Watchtower Corporation is a commercialized false prophet ?

by Finkelstein in

to the majority of people who investigate the activities of the wts from its beginning history there were obvious false proclamations and doctrines propagated by the wts.. a matter of fact the wts produced a long list of literature that posted proclamations on the front cover and went into detail of things that were suppose to happen, from jesus returning changing the world in which we live and so on.. wonderful things one might say but not factual or either theologically correct .

.

Bugbear

Finkelstein

There is no such thing as theological or philosophical facts! It is only emotional or social behavior “facts” that counts. At least for JW dub´s. It is more important to be accepted in your own “group” then to tell the truth.

23

Poisonous chicken

by zeb in

jw
friends

last night my wife prepared dinner.

chicken and veg.

as she was cooking the chicken it gave off the most vile smell.

Bugbear

Zeb

Haven´t you learned the most simple lesson yet,

Never ever let your wife do the cooking for you, that’s men’s work…

6

good article on how the Bible could have easily proven it's from God

by defender of truth in

www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/02/13/six-and-a-half-reasons-why-the-bible-is-not-divinely-inspired/.

Bugbear

Good article

So you could say quite simple that God failed in his most important dissertation, sorry God no examine try again, do something better next time and study more. By the way your last try, wasn´t it just before the flood?

23

The Governing Body Doing The Math As Corporate CEOs

by Brokeback Watchtower in

lett announce to his braindead indoctrinated rank and file masses the wt corporation is short on funds and so they have money problems.

he made light of his role and the rest of management's predicament by saying on a public broadcast: "in doing the math we found that the amount of money flowing out will be much greater than the amount of money coming in at this time".

clearly the guys on the gb have very little business sense to let things get so out of hand with tons of projects in the works and having to close all of them except for warwick, and one in england.. i have to wonder just what type of math these dead heads on the gb even know or consider when making all their plans for the future of the corporation they have leadership over.

Bugbear

I think that good old Italian bookkeeping is the principle here. There are two sides of the business. The first side is income statement, and the other is balance sheet. The first is showing cash coming in and going out.. The other shows the overall result and the total assets that the Company/business has achieved during a longer period.

I think that the money from all these “sell outs” is immediately transferred to The Watchtower INC. in Pennsylvania (the off shore bank accounts where it can be hidden in the Cayman Islandsis not needed here, WT inc. is already registrated as a tax liberated Inc. ) , and their capital trustees specialists, consolidating the watchtower treasure funds such as the Henrietta Riley fond and others. These people are eager to increase their fond values, because they normally get paid in percent of the increasing value.

I don´t know if any of the GB members is invited to eat a bit of this good cake, but I do know that this corporation is registered as a none profitable organization and therefore tax exempted according to US law. This is the same layout as those in Panama papers and recently the Malta/paradise papers.

17

JW leadership hypocrisy 1975

by Half banana in

it is felt that there is one law for the rich and another for the little people who are made to toe the line.

money equals power and it is a sad historical fact of humanity that where there is power there is abuse.. andersoninfo a few days ago produced the facts here that in 1975 the watchtower had spent nearly 2 million dollars to buy the neo baroque building in new york known as the towers.

when they sold it recently for 200 million dollars they made a profit of more than 10,000%.

Bugbear

I think that in good old Italian bookkeeping there are two sides of the business. The first side is income statement, and the other is balance sheet. The first is showing cash coming in and going out.. The other shows the overall result and the total assets that the Company/business has achieved during a longer period.

I think that the money from all these “sell outs” is immediately transferred to The Watchtower INC. in Pennsylvania, and their capital trustees specialists, consolidating the watchtower treasure fonds such as the Henrietta Riley fond and others. These people are eager to increase their fond values, because they normally get paid in percent of the increasing value.

I don´t know if any of the GB members is invited to eat a bit of cake, but I do know that this corporation is registered as a none profitable organization and therefore tax exempted according to US law. This is the same layout as those in Panamapapers and recently the Malta papers.

59

A Little Direction Please

by Brian J in

i'm an active elder, cobe, just got home from the meeting where i handled the treasures part and concluded by announcing a friend of mine has been d/f,.....blah blah blah...and over the last year have woken up.

i simply cannot spill my guts to my wife and children as it would be family suicide.

i have zero desire to bash, spread my feelings, or become an "apostate".

Bugbear

Brian!

Thanks for your post. Your situation is very similar to mine. Only that I faded 15 years ago. I left my books and papers 20 years ago, saying that my health and the pressure being a father of 6 children and having a full time job… made all extras not possible. 20 years later I find myself in a much better position.

As I remember in my congs. there was a number of elders, who was suffering from the same “problem” …. None of them is “within” today. Most of them “went on pills” suffered from severe depression…

I managed to stay outside during a long long period, trying to be nice to all the “friends”.. Not obviously being an apostate…. And the result is that all my children today are on my side. None of them are a JW,s. And to quote another poster

Despite everything, I have never been happier (or in better health!) and our life has never been better. My wife is still active with the local cong. but we have come to an understanding about where we each are and are able to accept each other as we are. I truly hope that you are eventually able to accomplish this. Please let us know how it goes.

28

Why I lost my religion

by Sour Grapes in

i was a jw for over 50 years and recently just stopped cold turkey going to the meetings.

years of sitting at the meetings with the boredom, the gloom and doom, repetition of doctrine, the gloom and doom, the fake love, the gloom and doom, the end being so close, do more - do more, just got to be too much for me to stomach.

i stopped praying to god and no longer thank god for the food before i eat.

Bugbear

Sour Grapes

Good post and very similar to my thoughts. But why blame God? It stroke my mind suddenly and intensive: “the reason for all this mess is simply because there is no God. He or She doesn’t exist.” All kinds of life from flowers, trees, animals, humans, insects, fishes, is simply trying to survive, by eating the others. There is no purpose, there is no test no salvation,,, just the simple fact “try to survive”.. There are no one to blame, No God, No satan, no Jesus, no angels… But from who comes the feelings of love, the love for music, humanistic thoughts? Why does mothers care for their children?

I was a member for more than 30 years. I am now +70, and I live with No God no explanation, and still very happy with my knowledge. My wife is still in, but all my children have been saved, and so my grand children… will come back with more thoughts