Posts by no-zombie

Just as the move for the congregations to look more modern by requiring publishers to bring ipads to the meetings didn't do anything, wearing suits, beards or bathers isn't going to make any difference to worldly people either. In actual fact, it might be more off putting, for a newly interested person to visit a meeting for the first time, only to see a confused bunch of tablet holding Mennonites.

Has beard wearing Jehovah's Witnesses cracked the news cycle yet?

No ... it just another non even.

38

the toll of being PIMO

by enoughisenough in

for those of you who are pimo, how do you feel it may be effecting your mental and physical health?

is it easy to pretend to be what you are not?

how do you feel about falsely supporting the pimi which builds them up and therefore an org you don't believe in?

no-zombie

Talking from my own experience as a PIMO, I'd say that there is an emotional cost in being one.

The lack of being able to express yourself or talk about troublesome doctrines for me has been hard. As to, is the fear of being outed by somebody I may know. HOWEVER, it was part of the calculation I made and accepted, in view of my own family circumstances.

But in actuality I understood, that there is no pain free option for people like us. Deliberately sinning to get disfellowshiped, disassociating oneself or just walking away, all come at a cost, too. And for some in their own unique situations, they might have chosen one of them.

Ultimately though, I believe that not playing the victim and accepting the responsibility of my own decisions, whatever they may be, is the key in keeping stable mentally.

Hope it helps.

67

Thoughts on annual meeting “new light”

by FFGhost in

so, i finally saw the annual meeting video part 2.. this is the one with the “new light” on who might survive armageddon, vs. those who do not.. in summary, for those of you fortunate enough not to have to sit through it, it’s something like this:.

old light: once the “great tribulation” starts, that’s it for non-jws.

the “door of the ark” is closed.

no-zombie

A few years back I had an interest in unreadable psyphers and communications, from the likes of number stations. And while no one other than the recipients can decode these messages, an important thing that can be not hidden is the frequency messages are sent. When messages are sent regularly, most intelligence services are not that interested, however if the tempo increases, then they become concerned.

You could apply this thinking to what is happening now, regarding our 'new light'.

Typically, a doctrine or view changes every now and then, and we get informed through a letter, a District convention talk or at a AGM. However the last 18 months has seen a level of change not seen since the 1980s and to me, this is the clearest indicator of a turmoil existing within the Governing Body.

Now, while we may not not know the real reason why the Governing Body has really flooded us with this quite radical 'new light' (at the moment), the volume of it, for me is more telling than the actual messages themselves..

14

Is the 1000 year reign literal?

by gavindlt in

to all those on this students on this forum, i would love to know what your view is?.

no-zombie

Gavindit, if this is a serious question, a better question to ask would be ... When does the 1000 year reign begin? This is because, it has moved over the years with the dates involved in the establishing of Christ's Kingdom.

36

Why are the 2 newly appointed Governing Body Members from Bethel, when there are anointed ones all over the world? they could have used.

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

library.

books & brochures.

enjoy life forever!—an interactive bible course.

no-zombie

Despite the fact that every Jehovah's Witness denies it, it is very clear the Faith is American ... and becoming even more so over time. Why, even its doctrines and laws prove this point. Just look at the previous ban on beards, university study and sexual moral attitudes, and see that they all come from a purely American centric view.

For example, it is well understood that the link between beards and the rebellious hippy movement was not that defined out of the US, nor is the reason for tertiary education based on peoples' desire to get rich and make a 'name' for themselves. The United Sates on the other hand, has always had a problem with anti-establishment expression, as it does with its attitude towards money and non-traditional sexual practices.

So we should expect that new Governing Body members will always be American citizens, and any idea a truly international and ethically diverse Faithful slave, will only exist in our dreams.

55

Ban on Independent Meetings

by lssjr in

source - march 2021 announcements - - https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5085868283920384/2021-march-147-english-german-announcements-reminders.

this is a sobering reminder of what happened some 40 years ago when raymond franz and others were literally kicked out from the jehovah's witnesses for having pre-arranged private spiritual discussions.lesson: paragraph 7 is another example of the i and t in dr. steven hassan's bite model of the 21st century cult - information and thought control at its best!!!!

"my gosh, there must be a lot of independent meetings these days.

no-zombie

Blondie, I remember this time (the 1980 to 81 period) quite clearly, it was relatively common for a local Elder to arrange a Watchtower pre-study group for the 'young ones'. We'd prepare for the coming meeting and it would give us the encouragement to answer up. Afterwards we'd have cake, biscuits and a cup Tea or coffee, which was a very nice and wholesome way to associate and grow together. Similarly, other Elders would arrange for the occasional congregation picnic down at a park, to a kick ball around and have a BBQ. These were nice family times, where those without a family in the 'Truth' (like spiritual orphans and those in divided homes) could enjoy some needed downtime.

However, it was all ripped away literally overnight, with the sudden and unexplained cancellation of these arrangements. And it was only many years latter, did I learn why ... but I can tell you that it was the beginning of the end of the Brotherhood, as being a Jehovah's Witness now became nothing but work.

Yeh, good job ... Governing Body.

109

Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself

by TheScientist in

this topic i digress about why the watchtower relaxing the rules of disfellowship is essential for its survival.

many things i'm going to say are not my ideas, some are, the point is, i'm condensing everything in a logical and concise way.. the first thing we have to keep in mind is that the wt's main objective in instituting disfellowship has always been not to lose members because of the damage that a dissident could do, or to avoid gaining new members because of the bad reputation of a confessed sinner in the his/her region.

in the end, the more active members, the more money to the coffers.. in this case of disfellowship due to apostasy, to avoid any spark, texts were sought out of context that even prohibited saying "hi".

no-zombie

While I'm fully away of the segment of mankind who likes to draw attention to their own doomsday predictions (whether its climate change, global economics or the WBTS), I'm just trying to draw peoples attention to a inescapable timetable derived from well established modeling.

That being said, the Governing Body does not have a ten or twenty year window of opportunity to turn things around. No ... they must do things now. This is because generations of people do not die off gradually in a linear manner, they are call population cliffs for a reason. And in our case, as the greatest bulk of the Brotherhood are already in their latter middle-ages, they will ALL be dead or in nursing homes in 10 years time. Doubt what I'm saying ... then just study this topic by looking at Japan. And then think of the taxation issues (by that I mean the taxation of manpower and cash) the Governing Body will have to deal with, when the Brotherhood is halved.

And you can't just say ... oh well, 8 million Brothers divided by 2 equals 4 million, that's not too bad ... no, it just doesn't work like that in real life. Other biological, psychological and economic tipping points come into play, that generate their own addition downward pressures.

Yeh ... all negative stuff for sure. And while there maybe a little time left for the Governing Body to do something, I'm not convinced that they is smart enough or brave enough, to work it out.

109

Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself

by TheScientist in

this topic i digress about why the watchtower relaxing the rules of disfellowship is essential for its survival.

many things i'm going to say are not my ideas, some are, the point is, i'm condensing everything in a logical and concise way.. the first thing we have to keep in mind is that the wt's main objective in instituting disfellowship has always been not to lose members because of the damage that a dissident could do, or to avoid gaining new members because of the bad reputation of a confessed sinner in the his/her region.

in the end, the more active members, the more money to the coffers.. in this case of disfellowship due to apostasy, to avoid any spark, texts were sought out of context that even prohibited saying "hi".

no-zombie

Once again I'm amazed at the denial of the death dive the Organization is in. While I tend to use the publisher numbers as my indicator (which I know is quite rubbery), the global baptismal figures work just as well to prove that the Jehovah's Witnesses faith is dying, and may actually be irrecoverable no matter what the Governing Body does. Thus I have to say it again, the age demographic pattern of the Society is the only proof that anyone needs, to see how critical their situation is. And quite frankly ... any organization (or country) that does not have a growth rate of over 2.5% it is not even keeping its population stable. I mean come on guys, this is basic high school geography stuff.

To recover from this death dive, the Governing Body will have to do something as crazy as paying people to come to the meetings or offering free meals after the Watchtower study. That's how bad it is. But saying guys can wear beards or latter allowing you to come the Kingdom Hall in t-shirts and jeans, is almost a laughably weak response.

109

Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself

by TheScientist in

this topic i digress about why the watchtower relaxing the rules of disfellowship is essential for its survival.

many things i'm going to say are not my ideas, some are, the point is, i'm condensing everything in a logical and concise way.. the first thing we have to keep in mind is that the wt's main objective in instituting disfellowship has always been not to lose members because of the damage that a dissident could do, or to avoid gaining new members because of the bad reputation of a confessed sinner in the his/her region.

in the end, the more active members, the more money to the coffers.. in this case of disfellowship due to apostasy, to avoid any spark, texts were sought out of context that even prohibited saying "hi".

no-zombie

People here have to understand that the Governing Body does not care about stumbling the Brotherhood. The rank-and-file are already their captives. No ... all they care about is recruiting new members and the operating capital they bring. As a result they will ultimately do anything, overturn any long held belief or tradition, just to grow numerically. It is true that they might not like doing it (in fact it may even cause divisions within the Governing Body itself), but as things become more desperate, you can be sure that extraordinary things will happen.

Thus the disfellowshiping regulations, the higher education ban, political neutrality, birthday celebrations, and core time-based doctrines, will all be seen as negotiable items at some point ... as survival is the strongest motivator of change.

We have to remember that ... even an animal will chew off one of its own legs, to get out of a trap. Will the Governing Body be any different? I think not.