Posts by Magnum

44

What the new JW light position really is 👍

by ElderBerry in

i’m still an elder and i consider myself jw light.

as my fellow elders are.

we don’t throw our weight around like elders used to in the past, it’s all very easy going these days.

Magnum

slimboyfat, I have always enjoyed your posts and I respect your intelligence and the fact that you seem to be so well-read. However, your post above baffles me.

The JW organization is corrupt and deceptive. The GB members are clueless conmen buffoons who do not love truth as they claim to. Why do you seem to kind of hang on to the cult? If I remember correctly, some years ago you even went back for a while.

JWdom is extremely reprehensible. It has stolen many lives and caused thousands to die in extreme disappointment. It claims to have the one and only truth, yet it doesn't adequately warn/inform others. Its members run from challenges and deeper questions. If JWs were who/what they claim to be and we were deep in the time of the end as they say, then their preaching work should be like the shouts of the Israelites marching around Jericho on the seventh day or like Jonah's warning of Nineveh.

JWdom is not reforming; it's weakening. What we're seeing is a desperate organization that is simply reacting to try to survive. What motivates the changes is a selfish desire to keep the gig going - not love or anything good or noble. You have to know that. I can't believe you call what the org is doing "reform."

I just don't get your attitude. I guess you're just more liberal/pacifist than I am. I have a strong sense of justice, and I want to see JWdom punished. I want it to have to answer for its wrongs, and, actually, my attitude is in line with Bible precedent and principles.

Are you happy about a weakening JWdom? Will you be glad to see it survive as some happy clappy megachurch with members who don't even know their own doctrine and history?

JWdom can't be reformed. I can't see that it's ever been right or approved by any higher being. Is somebody like me supposed to be happy that it's loosening up??? It was extremely hard on me. It ruined my life. I served it almost every day fulltime for decades. I lived in misery and poverty thinking I was doing what was right. Is it fair to me that it loosens up now??? I got not one cent of payment and not one benefit and not a single expense reimbursement for decades. Do you think I'm going to be happy now that the org is loosening up???

You’d think reforms would be welcome and encouraged to go further if impact on current and future JWs is paramount

Current JWs? I think that any adult who could be a JW now is reprehensible, and I have no conern for any adult who could become a JW in the future with all the growing evidence the cult. JWs now are severely lacking in one or more ways - intelligence and/or discernment and/or honesty and/or reasonableness and/or humility. Not only do I not care about current and future JWs, I want them to have to face justice for supporting such a deceptive, harmful cult. JWs judge me for not believing as they do and for not 100%ly obeying their celebrity idols - the members of the GB. Do you think I have any warm fuzzy feeling for JWs?

I think you need to tune your sense of righteousness and justice. You seem to still have respect for the Bible. If so, I think you need to heed its advice more and be 'firm for truth.' Remember what the Scriptures say about the lukewarm; Jesus is going to 'vomit them out.' Most JWs now aren't even lukewarm. Remember what Christ supposedly said as recorded at Mt 7:21-23.

P.S. See Ecc 1:15 - "That which is crooked cannot be made straight."

44

What the new JW light position really is 👍

by ElderBerry in

i’m still an elder and i consider myself jw light.

as my fellow elders are.

we don’t throw our weight around like elders used to in the past, it’s all very easy going these days.

Magnum

My problem is that I just don't get how any human being with a decent dose of comprehension and compassion and a sense of justice could be anything "light" in this world we live in. I was JW "heavy," and even though I now detest JWdom, I haven't changed as far as my feelings and worldview. I am still greatly concerned by all the horror, misery, suffering, injustice, evil, ruining of the earth, etc. that exists.

For example, I have a hard time going to sleep at night just knowing the little I know about animal suffering. Just last night I was watching a YouTube video about a Russian (1950's?) who was attempting to see how many generations it would take to domesticate wild foxes. He was using foxes at a fur farm. The video showed them being kept in small steel cages their entire lives. They paced back and forth all day. Those who weren't selected for his breeding were killed (I don't even want to know how) for their fur. It was heartbreaking to see animals who wanted to be running in fields but who were confined in small cages never even being able to touch the ground. And... those foxes were treated well compared to the treatment some animals get. And it's not just humans who inflict suffering on animals; "Mother Nature" is a cold, heartless, evil hag. Nature is filled with horror.

Such things move me to be "heavy" in that they make me desperately want answers and solutions. I seek such daily. I live in a state of deep thought and contemplation. I sacrifice greatly to do what I can to alleviate the suffering of others.

I just don't grasp how anybody could be "JW light." How could anybody treat the situation so casually? JWdom is a harmful, deceptive, corrupt, dishonest, false prophet, money-hungry, televangelistic, corny, goody-goody, self-righteous, condescending, smug, cowardly, shallow, dumbed down, life-stealing cult with a 150-year history of major failed predictions and looney writings. How could one even give the impression of supporting such? How could one contribute to the continuing existence of such? It is no "light" matter to me.

The cult severely brainwashed me from early childhood causing me to lose the prime of my life and be in a situation wherein I can never retire. I have bad feelings for any who support it, including my own mother.

12

Diligence and Enthusiasm - LDS vs JWs

by Rivergang in

on a scale of 1 to 100, i would put the lds in the high 90s, and the witnesses at about minus 10.. these days (well, around here at least) one encounters the mormon missionaries all over the place.

if they are not knocking at your door, they are approaching you out in the street.

of late, this has been happening all the bloody time!.

Magnum

I used to see them once or twice a year, but it has been years (probably two decades) since I've seen a single one, and I've been in fairly large cities. And... they do a two-year mission, and that seems to be it - no more "preaching" after that.

I worked for a big company a few years ago, and my regional manager had been a Mormon missionary in South America. His preaching work was over. His life after that seemed to be almost completely unaffected by his religion.

I agree with slimboyfat. Only a small fraction of Mormons preach, whereas all active JWs are at least supposed to. However, it seems to be getting to the point now that nobody really preaches anymore.

I know this anecdotal, but I'm going to mention it. A little over 30 years ago, I was conducting a study with an older man whom two Mormon missionaries were regularly visiting. One day I arrived at his house for the study and they were there. He asked them to sit in on our study, and they did. They were lost; they could not even find books in the Bible. They were extemely polite and nice, but clueless. I ended up loading their bike in my vehicle and giving them a ride home after the study because it started raining. I kind of felt sorry for them.

24

What are some of the more exceptional self-authenticating claims made by Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by Vanderhoven7 in

let's start the ball rolling with two connected claims.. the religion of jehovah’s witnesses is the one true religion.

all other religions are satanic, including all the churches of christendom..

Magnum

jhine: Magnum, how do you feel people can be qualified to preach?

They need to have common sense, to know how to carry on a normal conversation, to be somewhat articulate, to have a good grasp of the Bible and their own theology, to have some teaching ability, to have at least a seventh grade grasp of grammar, to be able to move their audiences, to be true believers, etc. Think of Jesus, the apostles, Stephen, Paul. Think of Apollos who was described as being an eloquent speaker; however, he was corrected by Aquila and Priscilla. It is important according to the Bible to teach accurately and to have abiltiy to teach.

One needs to be able to put himself in the position of his audience (whether that be one, a few, or many) and realize what his audience does and does not know and to be able to use that realization in order to determine how to teach/inform/instruct that particular audience. If I'm lecturing physicists, I can use the term "momentum" freely because they know what it is (mass times velocity), but if I'm lecturing/teaching people who aren't physicists, I can't assume they know what the term means; I would have to define it and explain it if I had to use it. It's the same with the term "acceleration;" most people don't know what it really is. They think of speeding up in a car; that is acceleration, but so is slowing down and even turning with no change in speed. I'd have to know my audience to know to what degree and how I can use a term like "acceleration."

Many JWs would use terminology others aren't familiar with. I remember this big JW dude, about 60yrs old, who was just not what I'd call a normal person. Somebody asked him a question when he was in the door to door ministry. I don't remember the question, but I remember how his answer began. He said in his very deep voice and his very slow manner of speaking, "Well, now, the faithful and discreet slave says..." I cringed. The person he was answering didn't know who or what JWs say the "faithful and discreet" is. It sounded so culty. There is so much wrong with that response. It indicated to me a lack of common sense on the part of the JW and certainly a lack of teaching ability.

I remember one JW guy who was reading Rev 21:3,4 in the ministry at every house he went to. In the New World Translation, verse 3 says something like "the tent of God will be with mankind" (I know the word "tent" is used). He would read that verse as "the tenth of God will be with mankind." I was thinking that this guy doesn't even know what he's reading; how can he teach others?"

Remember, we're talking about (according to JW theology) lives being at stake and representing the highest being in the universe. That calls for being able to articulate a message clearly in a way the audience can grasp it; it also calls for being able to move an audience to response/action. Since my life was effed up financially by my years of being a fulltime JW, I daily look for job openings that might appeal to me. I see, for example, even many hotel maintenance jobs that call for people who can speak well and represent the business well. No lives are at stake there and that only has to do with a local business.

It might not be right, but people are judged, at least initially, on their appearance and more so, the way they talk. I've often told my wife that she can present to me a person well-dressed, and I can start to formulate an opinion of that person's intellect, abilities, etc. just by looking at him/her, but let that person open his/her mouth, and I can determine much more; the situation could go north or south very quickly.

I saw JWs being asked questions, the answers to which could be simple and brief. However, those JWs slowly rambled on incoherently and never answered the question. That indicates a lack of discernment, teaching ability, and even plain old common sense.

If JW theology is right, then their ministry is a critically important life and death matter. It should not be entrusted to individuals who are not qualified for such no matter how sincere they are. The Bible refers to being qualified to teach. Men with certain flaws were not allowed to serve at the temple. JWs participating in the ministry should be qualified. It's not something trivial or simple like selling Girl Scout* cookies.

I'm not saying that people have to have perfect grammar, be highly educated, etc. I've known of JWs who were not very educated, yet who were knowledgeable and could present a really good , moving argument. So, it's the overall qualifications that matter. The main overall qualification is that that person should be able to present the message clearly in a way that others can understand and in a way that moves them. Many JWs fall far short of that.

*Do y'all have Girl Scouts in the UK? I don't want to be guilty of what I stated above - using terminology with which my audience is unfamiliar.

24

What are some of the more exceptional self-authenticating claims made by Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by Vanderhoven7 in

let's start the ball rolling with two connected claims.. the religion of jehovah’s witnesses is the one true religion.

all other religions are satanic, including all the churches of christendom..

Magnum

One of their biggest self-authenticating claims has to do with their preaching work.

10 They are fulfulling Mt 24:14 and they are the only ones doing so.

However, even when I was at my peak as a zealous, believing JW (late 80's / early 90's), I lamented the way the preaching work was carried out. I really believed in it and wanted it done in an appropriate way to an appopriate degree. However, it wasn't.

I wanted to use the Bible and have discussions, but I was forced to place magazines using brief presentations. Those magazines were filled mostly with fluff. There might have been a few good sentences or sometimes an entire good article in some of the mags, but they were often buried in fluff.

I found that most JWs were simply not qualified to do such an important work. I was often cringing when working with other JWs as I observed their ineptness.

Now, the preaching work is almost non-existent. It is still mosly fluff and it is carried out by JWs who are mostly not qualified, but, now they are much less qualified than they were a few decades ago. They are much more ignorant of their own doctrine than JWs were a few decades ago. They lack the boldness that a lot of JWs used to have. They run from deeper questions and challenges now. The quantity and quality of the preaching work have decreased. It is, at best, a faint whisper now - puny and weak.

If JWs were who/what they claim to be, having the one and only way to salvation for billions about to be violently destroyed (according to their doctrine), their preaching work should be like the shouts of the Israelites marching around Jericho on the seventh day or like the warning work of Jonah in Nineveh. However, the preaching work of JWs is nothing like those things.

I remember hearing/reading when I was in JW Land that JWs had progressed greatly beyond the days when they used phonographs to preach. Now, though, they've gone back to the same method, just with updated technology; they simply point people to their website or use recorded videos.

So, the whole world is about to be violently destroyed and JWs are providing an appropriate warning??? Hah, we getter better/clearer/stronger warnings in our area for a local thunderstorm. If JWs are who/what they claim to be, they are going to have blood on their hands. They are nowhere near close to fulfilling Mt 24:14. They don't have a clear message and never have. Clarification: Maybe they had a clear mesage, but they never presented it clearly. By far, most people on earth have no clue what the JW message is.

No, their ineffective preaching work does not authenticate them.

14

PIMA is best so it’s not a shock to the system if the tower collapsed

by JohnR1975 in

i know most people here are totally out and that’s fine.. many these days are staying physically in for the social life and that is also fine.. i feel being fully mentally in is dangerous as it could be such a shock mentally if or should i say when the tower collapsed.. im sitting in the fence like so many others here.

mentally agnostic if god exists or not and if the bible is his word.. when i talk to people who are physically and mentally still in i can tell that they so need it to be true.

i’m worried for them when they wake up to the fact that they have been lied to 1914 wasn’t true 1975 wasn’t true 1999 wasn’t true and now here we are 2025 it’s all not true.

Magnum

I'm sitting in the fence like so many others here. Mentally Agnostic if God exists or not and if the Bible is his word.

I'm in that category.

the amazing social life and the fact they are so well taken care of

Huh??? The JWs I was with for decades were a drain on me - at least in the later years (the smart ones I knew left). They were intellectually lacking, self-righteous, and mostly ignorant. It was a chore to me to go to JW gatherings. I've been completely out for a good ten years and havn't missed any of it for one second (my wife hasn't, either). I miss the hope I once had and the feeling of security, but not anything social. I hated meetings, the ministry, etc. Meetings were a total waste of time. I often think what I could have accomplished with all those thousands of hours sitting at mind-numbing meetings - what I could have studied and learned, etc. Hell, I could be a master of Mandarin Chinese now (always wanted to learn that and recently saw a job opening that requires it).

6

Coroners Report New South Wales Australia

by jonahstourguide in

hi folks.. spotted this.. coroner condemns jehovah's witness blood transfusion rules after follower's hospital death.

by giselle wakatama.

abc newcastle.

Magnum

Yep, DOC & Balaamsass2, it is faulty/erroneous reasoning and people are dying for it.

The whole point has to do with respect for life which is sacred. I agree that life is sacred, precious, etc. and that we should have great respect for it. However, the Bible shows that one should be willing to give his life for another. So he can give his life, but not the symbol of his life, to save another???????? That just does not make sense. I can jump in front of a speeding train and die to save you, but I can't give a few ounces of the symbol of my life to save you??? You can accept my life, but not the symbol of it???

What's more important - a symbol or that which it symbolizes? What's more important - peace between two nations or a dove which symbolizea that peace?

I think somebody at headquarters knows the reasoning is faulty, but the leaders can't change it because of all the lives that have been lost because of it. That's why they came up with the fractions nonsense.

20

Watchtower July 2025

by St George of England in

i just saw the new wt is up and available.

the cover picture looks to me like the one that should have been used on the august 2024 wt but was pulled at the last minute and released with a different picture many weeks later.

someone on here uploaded a low res version of the picture last year.. of course we all know why the picture was pulled in the first place........ george.

Magnum

slimboyfat: Will you enlighten us (or me at least)?

I would like to be enlightened, too.

9

They were trying to spread Transgender ideology, DEI, Green New Deal to the entire World

by liam in

the plan the democrats in the usa were trying to implement world wide was their ideology.

they wanted open borders for every country, they wanted to rid the middle class entirely.

they wanted a small group of people to run the world.

Magnum

Upvote from me. I strongly agree.

37

serena williams

by FreeFallin in

not really a scandal, but serena williams doing the crip walk on national tv wtf .

Magnum

liam, that makes sense. Thanks for the info. So, you reallly won't be able to comprehend, and I understand why; no fault on your part.

Back in those earlier days, any congreagation I'm aware of would have been shocked to see a JW do what Serena did, and it's really not the dancing, but just being there in that situation... and her look which would indicate extreme "worldliness" or friendship with the world to a JW back then.

It is so different now. The religion back then was strict. The endtimes mindset was strong. The separateness from the world mentality was strong. You'd just have to have experienced it.