I just talked to my mom about the welfare and money she donates to KH. She said that pays only minium which equal about $1 per week on her small pension. She told me that several of the JW are on various disability programs and welfare so they have enough time for field service and use taxpayer money to give a donations.
Posts by kaik
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74They are going to charge members monthly fees now! Society Tyranny
by MysticMage inwell there you have it folks.
they have passed around pieces of paper for each publisher to write.
down how much they are willing to give the society every month for their entire lives!.
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Jehovah's Witnesses Watchtower SUICIDE . How many JW suicides can you recall?
by Anti-Cult inhow many jw suicides can you recall?.
is it more common than the rest of society?.
i personally know of 5.
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kaik
I knew entire JW family that killed themselves in mid 1990's in Czech Republic (it was either 1994 or 1995) that drove their car into countryside, put hose into their car, started the engine and died. All four of them, parents and two children. It was also widely published in the Czech newspapers at that time. They killed themselves south of Prague on the hill overlooking the river Vltava.
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How long have you been an online "apostate?"
by Faithful Witness ini really do not like that word (apostate), as used to represent someone who decided to remove themselves, or was removed from the influence of the watchtower... but i am curious.. how long have websites like these been in existence?
when did this movement begin?.
personally, how long did it take for you to dare exploring information outside the watchtower publications, about jehovah's witnesses (especially online)?.
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kaik
I was reading and posting since 1990's. I do not remember my first site, but I used to post there around 1997-1999. I remember there was several posters like Jim Moon, etc. But it been long time ago.
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CO is chasing me . Meeting him tomorrow.
by Ancientofdays inthis week is the "special week", co is back.. he phone called me this morning asking to meet together.. i replied "i don't refuse people who want talking to me, but my condition is that you must be alone, and we meet in public space.".
he agreed and we will meet tomorrow in a cafe.. .
this week he already met with my wife in the kh, and he told her "i believe your housband is apostate !!
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kaik
CO can visit and talk to children if they live with parents when CO was told that the parent is lukewarm in his or her faith. The same comes to for spouse. The purpose of CO is to keep his pack clean not to deal with a spiritual questions and doubts of the rank JW. CO are know to DF person who questioned some of their beliefs when other felt that they were not true.
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Are we seeing the beginning of the end for Kingdom Halls?
by nicolaou inafter all, "at this time,over 13,000 kingdom hall projects and 35 assembly hall projects are needed worldwide.".
hmmm, not too sure about that but all the recent re-branding seems to be heading .
could this be the long game?
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kaik
In my hometown, there were two congs and one KH that shared the same building. The branch office was closed, but the property was not sold yet.
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74
They are going to charge members monthly fees now! Society Tyranny
by MysticMage inwell there you have it folks.
they have passed around pieces of paper for each publisher to write.
down how much they are willing to give the society every month for their entire lives!.
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kaik
Vidiot, sorry, English is not my native langauge, plus there is no spellcheck here.
Ok, spent time with my mom for mother's day... and we end up talking about finances in KH, they are now required to get money regularly. People who contribute less are look as spiritually weak. Some people go for welfare to get money from which they pay KH expenses. She say that WT pulls about $1500 monthly in cash that goes out besides money they pay for KH and its utilities. Remember, this is in Eastern Europe where people's salary are around 1000 per month and average pension is between 350 and 550 per month. Some months they pull even twice that money especially after CO visit.
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74
They are going to charge members monthly fees now! Society Tyranny
by MysticMage inwell there you have it folks.
they have passed around pieces of paper for each publisher to write.
down how much they are willing to give the society every month for their entire lives!.
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kaik
I will ask my mom about it, because she recently complained that WT wants her and my JW family donate money. She literally told me that demand for money is turning into extersion.
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14
Dating the writing of a Bible book
by stirred but not shaken inwhile doing the research over the last several years that lead me to conclude that the wt.
society was in error, i was introduced to the possibility that the writings of all scripture was completed by the early to mid 60s ce.
the reasoning that is used in the publications varies.
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kaik
Probably the author of Revelation is the only person who knows the meaning. It was also a Roman power that killed Jesus. I do not think we can look into the Revelation with a present Christian thinking, nor Christianity that was defined after 325. The author was Jew and has to be looked upon the way in the context of time in the 1st century. I do not think there will be satisfying answer unless archeology discover scrolls with traces of the book before 70AD. Philip Charles Soulbieu in 1855 wrote that post 70AD authorship rests with the authority of Ireneus and was accepted by catholic church in earlier centuries. He proposed Jerusalem due analysis of the book which could not be settled by external evidence. He also points to older work written before him. However, I cannot agree with his comparision of Jerusalem with Rome as he attempts to do, as did/ do other Protestant writers to show how magnificient this city was before its sack of 70AD. Jerusalem was not the largest Jewish city anymore and more Jews lived outside Judea, especially in Alexandria than they lived in Jerusalem during 1st century. Some really moderate estimates put population of the city into 70,000, which was rather medium sized city of the antiquity. Rome had 1 million, and Alexandria and Antioch several hundred thousands. Does provincial city on Roman Empire standard sounds like a place with sailors [in landlocked city] lamenting destruction of wealth, where cinnamon, ivory, and silver is extensivelly traded? While temple was realy loaded with a wealth and Titus brought a lot of loot into the Rome, I have hard time to compare it with other large cities of the ancient world at that time that were really merchent centers (Antioch, Athens, Ephesus, Carthage). The temple was 90 years old building when it was looted out.
Any case, I have not put much into the reading of Revelation anymore to look for hidden messages and understanding. Some Protestant scholars put it before 70AD to show and prove that it was divinely inspired and the author had seen the future.
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Did Any Atheist/Agnostic Revert Back to Their Former Beliefs?
by Space Madness inare their any former atheist/agnostic on here who reverted to christianity or a belief in god.
i became an atheist back in july and it was the most unfulfilling depressive period of my life.
i'm now starting to rebuild my relationship with god and i'm already starting to feel a lot better.
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kaik
I do not believe in Christianity anymore as I am surrounded by mostly Jewish people. Faith in God is not possible to verify; it is a personal matter of every individual. I do believe in His existence as the Creator of the universe, but I am lacking a vision of specific god of Christianity or Judaism. However, I do pray. I met people who are atheists as well and they do not believe in anything. I have not find atheist more depressed than believers. I find many believers more crazy than the atheists and have often worse behavior. Some people after WT turn either into atheist or even more crazy because they think and feel that JW organization is not religious enough.
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How to cope with depression?
by make yourself ini know its very common for jws and ex jws to deal with depression.
maybe it's a side effect of cognitive dissonance or the whole outlook on life being a jw.
but what are some ways to cope with depression?
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kaik
If you suffer with depression, it is always good to talk to your doctor. There is nothing wrong with it and he or she can prescribe some short term medication. On the longer term you would have to figure out underlying cause of your depression. Generally, depression tends to increase in late winter and early spring due lack of sunshine. Exercise, and get us much fresh air and sunshine you can get.