Posts by no-zombie

17

Again, More confusion about the direction of the Watchtower Society

by Truth and Justice in

jw
friends

hi friends, i have not been on this board in awhile, and i would like to get some thoughts from some of you.

i have noticed a change within my 4 siblings in approximately the last year and a half to 2 years regarding their communication with my mother and i. they have either phoned us, texted, emailed, or written a letter or card to us.

the conversation has been good, and on any topic that comes to mind.

no-zombie

I have always thought that the Organization will implode one day, burdened by the weight of its infrastructure because of fewer and fewer people being around to service its running costs. And up until recently, I never thought that the GB would try to reform the Church ... and yet now we are seeing signs of them trying.

But do they have the courage, to do a good job of it? Or will the reluctance for change, make them want to drag things out, too long? I just don't know.

But one thing I do know, is that the Governing Body has no idea of what problems the Brotherhood have to deal with, outside the walls of their gardened compound. For example, why haven't we had an article or assembly talk to warn girls about the drawing power OnlyFan sites, about the re-emergence of Cocaine as the housewife's a drug of choice or advice of what to do when your nationality is being genocidally attacked. No ... we instead just get articles about not following the 18th century custom of chaperones, and a never ending stream of happy relio-tainment.

Their understand of what practical help people really need, just seems beyond their comprehension. So it just doesn't give me hope, that they will get anything right. All we'll be getting instead I believe, is more and more confusing 'new light', to get distracted by.

17

Again, More confusion about the direction of the Watchtower Society

by Truth and Justice in

jw
friends

hi friends, i have not been on this board in awhile, and i would like to get some thoughts from some of you.

i have noticed a change within my 4 siblings in approximately the last year and a half to 2 years regarding their communication with my mother and i. they have either phoned us, texted, emailed, or written a letter or card to us.

the conversation has been good, and on any topic that comes to mind.

no-zombie

I think that there is another factor, at play here.

When you think about the average active Witness over the last 50 years, the ratio of 'die-hard' believers to the more relaxed behaving Brother, it has clearly changed. I've been in one congregation or another a lot longer that 50 years, and I can tell you that in earlier days, everyone kept to rules, rigidly. However today, the pendulum has swung clearly the other way, with the far greater majority being highly flexible regarding the application of Governing Body law.

For example, it was normal in the past, that if a CO visit was shifted over your planned holiday, you changed or canceled your holidays. If an Elder was scheduled to give a Public Talk away in another congregation, he would still make it to his own meeting, to do his preassigned parts. Its just how it was.

Thus it should be no surprise to us, that disfellowshipping behavior, has become more relaxed amongst the brotherhood as they invent more and more excuses for contact. I actually think, that most now don't even try to find excuses, they just do want they want ... as they understand that there is no value in being a hard core Jehovah's Witness.

263

Where is Tony?

by Athanasius in

jw
friends

on february 22, 2023, anthony morris iii was officially removed from the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.

a few months later it was revealed that the watchtower bought him a house in lumberton, north carolina.. however, and correct me if i am wrong, since leaving the gb nobody has reported seeing tony attending jw meetings or participating in field service.

in fact nobody has reported seeing him anywhere, not even at a local liquor store.

no-zombie

As always ... in Jehovah's Organization, its not what you know, but who you know.

144

Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions

by slimboyfat in

i’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.

from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.

there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.

no-zombie

Hi Biahi,

It was meant from their perspective.

22

Radical shake up

by Mikejw in

imagine if all the governing body resigned and a new set of brothers came in and said we are very very sorry for all those who have been disfellowshipped and disassociated over the years.

we know many mistakes have been made.

we are really genuinely sorry to all those who have been hurt and especially those who have died and been hurt by these mistakes.

no-zombie

To MikeJW,

I think that such a scenario, would work ... but not for the few on this site who comment regularly.

The people here, are thinking people. People who now highly value their own right to individual thought and paid a high price for it. However most people are not deep thinkers. They go with the flow and end up, and often in places where they don't want to be. That's how I see the majority of those disfellowshipped for fornication and adultery, in fact. So for those people ... yeh ... I think that it would work. As most of these ones, never wanted to leave the Truth in the first place.

Ultimately, people see what they want to see. And the case of of our Witness family and friends, they would just see such a change ... as Jehovah extending his loving hand.

144

Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions

by slimboyfat in

i’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.

from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.

there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.

no-zombie

The 'Hailstone message' is an interpretation of one or two verses at best. And I have always seen it as a warning not for worldly people, but just as another tool to scare Witnesses into not leaving the Organization.

Just as we were days away from Armageddon, then minutes and now seconds ... the Governing Body has fewer and fewer hyperboles left, to convince the Brotherhood as to the nearness of the end. Thus the appearance of this 'understanding' about a message of judgement.

But what good would it do, if it was real anyway. The telling billions of people that no matter what they do, they are soon going to die by having the flesh melt from there faces or by having their bodies crushed by oversized hail ... that is a thing that Satan would gleefully say.

No ... we are not going to hear anymore about the 'Hailstone message' if the Governing Body wants to portray their Faith as a kinder, more humanistic religion to attract the masses. Its just not compatible, with the new direction they feel the spirit is leading them.

32

New approach to ministry

by Mikejw in

jw
friends

there is a new approach to ministry where the direction is to just talk to people and listen to what they want to talk about.

the new school for the midweek meeting is completely different and is all about the new approach .

even before the no reporting changes field service dropped right off.

no-zombie

Imagine the conversation between Mr. Worldlyperson and Ms. Worldlyperson, after she met a couple of Witnesses in the park.

"Hi Honey, back from the park."

"How was your walk."

"Great, I met a couple of nice girls down there and had a chat."

"What did you talk about?"

"Oh not much, the weather, the flowers ... that kind of stuff."

"Who were they?"

"Don't know"

"Anyway, glad you had a good time"

Yep ... that how its going to go.

We've gone down from a 5 scripture 10 minute talk, to a 3 scripture 5 minute chat, then a 1 minute video, to now a 15 second happy smile.

How is this going to teach anyone anything? Its not going too,of course.

7

Does anyone have .... ?

by no-zombie in

does anyone have a good pdf of the 1989 questions young people ask, they could share?

you know ... the one with the deleted kid on the front..

no-zombie

Thanks for your effort Atlantis, but I was looking for the version that showed the Anglo-saxion boy, who was latter swapped out by an Asian one. Its quite hard for find a PDF of it ... and I'm reasonably skilled at finding stuff online.

Thanks again, though.

7

Does anyone have .... ?

by no-zombie in

does anyone have a good pdf of the 1989 questions young people ask, they could share?

you know ... the one with the deleted kid on the front..

no-zombie

Does anyone have a good PDF of the 1989 Questions Young People Ask, they could share? You know ... the one with the deleted kid on the front.

47

The First Holocaust

by nicolaou in

please, please ignore all the scientific impossibilities here, that's not what this topic is about.. let's make the assumption as many christians do that the bible is historically accurate.

the noachian flood actually happened a little less than 4,500 years ago after which eight adults stepped off the ark to repopulate the planet.. that means that approximately 60 million lives had been snuffed out, a holocaust by anyone's estimation.

as if that isn't horrific enough just think about the babies, toddlers and young children god killed.. he drowned all of them, every single one.

no-zombie

The more that I think about this topic and the way various people have commented on it, has made me reflect on something, which I'd like to share.

Its is a well known political concept that, national leaders (with their weakness, their strengths and their base personalities) are a rather accurate reflection of the people they govern, as a whole. Which breaks the basic democratic concept, that anyone could be President or Prime-Minister of their country.

For example ex. President Trump would never be elected, even to the Australian lower house of parliament as a minister, because his antics are so against the Australian national culture, that no one would tolerate him. Similarly, I couldn't I see someone like the very British, Boris Johnson becoming the US president, but he's not what Americans are.

And if this is actually true, can this concept not also apply to the God's people worship? Maybe it can be.

I've always thought about the disconnect between the God of the OT and the God, Jesus talked about in the NT. How could one be happy to arrange for the deaths of millions, eradicate whole nations and burn individuals with fire, in one period ... and then turn into a God of love and peace in another?

My conclusion is that, because the ancient Israelites were basically a collection of warring tribes (probably little better than their Canaanite neighbors), their god Yahweh, had to be a mighty warrior god, to bless their efforts of conquest. But latter in the Roman times, bathing in Greek enlightenment, many people began to accept a more peaceful deity ... because they themselves, were more peaceful.

The same thought experiment could be applied to the warring Inca peoples and their Sun God, who demanded the beating hearts of freshly killed human sacrifices.

Perhaps God didn't make us in his image ... we made God in ours.