Posts by Magnum

30

"we must be ready to obey, even if it doesnt sound reasonable from a human standpoint"

by stuckinarut2 in

so its now all clear!.

the reason why that damned wt article several months back said the quote:.

"we may be asked to do something by jehovahs organization, and we should be ready to obey even if it doesnt seem reasonable from a human standpoint or not".

Magnum

not worrying about our material posessions and even our pets. He essentially said that god would take care of our pets for us. This was among the many small pushes that got me to realize TTATT. Even my wife afterwards said "I don't know if I could leave the dog at home alone" and she's not even particularly fond of the dog.

So he will take care of our pets??? Why the hell didn't he take care of all the ones that I"ve had that died? I am an animal lover. I can't stand to see a suffering animal. I have had animals that I loved more than some people love their own family members. There were times when I literally begged Jah to heal an animal of mine, only to have that animal die a slow death in my arms, or go into seizures and die, or drown in it's own lung fluids, etc.

Just a few days ago, one or our cats died. She was one of the most precious creatures I've ever known. When I would come home from work, she would sit and look me in the face as if she were just studying my face. If I picked her up, she immediatedly started purring. She was so sweet, gentle, affectionate. She got sick. Was on two different antibiotics. I had to force-feed her. She finally died. Took her a week to die. Broke my heart. I begged Jah to help. No help came.

Why doesn't he take care of the animals in the wild who live 24hrs a day in fear looking over their shoulders watching for predators. Think about the horror that goes on on the plains of Africa in one single night - the sheer brutal, savage horror. Nature is cruel. And Jah's going to take care of Fluffy? He didn't even take care of my grandfather who so desperately wanted to see the end and lived many decades as a very devoted, sacrificing JW.

30

"we must be ready to obey, even if it doesnt sound reasonable from a human standpoint"

by stuckinarut2 in

so its now all clear!.

the reason why that damned wt article several months back said the quote:.

"we may be asked to do something by jehovahs organization, and we should be ready to obey even if it doesnt seem reasonable from a human standpoint or not".

Magnum

stickinarut2: Sometimes I just want to stand up and scream in the hall "AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE THAT SEES THE %^&*# OF THIS"????????????

I feel the same way. I look around at all the bobbing heads and wonder why they can't at least smell a little bit of the bad odor. However, at least my wife smells it, so I'm not alone.

stuckinarut2: Are we the only ones that can see this all so clearly??

Surely the average witnessis not that stupid?

I've wondered the same thing, but right now I think we are the only ones. Not with just this issue, but with all the other stuff - all the other changes, the general dumbing down, the different "feel" of the org now, the fact that the end is way overdue, etc. I would love to know for sure, though. I know four or five intelligent sisters in my hometown that I would love to talk with. I think they have the capacity to recognize that something's wrong. However, in the area I live in now, the average Witness is that stupid. They are clueless, lacking in intellgence, ignorant, brain-dead, naive, self-righteous, gullible, etc.

In a nearby city there is a very intelligent, humble, seemingly righteous former elder. He left a very good, exciting job to become a JW. He does very deep Bible research analyzing in original Bible languages, etc. He showed me several years ago (while still an elder) how to get older copies of Watchtower and Awake mags off internet archives and he told me not to tell anybody because somebody counseled him about it. He said "but it's our history!" I don't know how he feels about this new donation arrangement, but I know how he felt about the GB=FDS change. I think he's waking up, if not already awake. I hope to talk with him soon.

P.S. I would love to secretly poll all the higher-ups in the org and see how they feel about not only the new donation arrangement but the general direction the org has taken lately. I wonder if any of them have feelings like we do.

103

That does it ! I'm leaving ! ! !

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

jw
friends

leaving the university with my degree!.

exams are finished and it's just a matter of days before i walk.. i was certainly stressed about doing this.

i'm older than my classmates and armageddon was sooooo close!

Magnum

What did you major in? Seems like I remember from an earlier post some kind of engineering.

25

Short Online Course (Free) on the Fall and Rise of Jerusalem in 587BCE by Tel Aviv University

by digderidoo in

for those interested in the fall and rise of jerusalem in 587bce tel aviv university are offering a short 6 week online course through coursera in october 2014.. i have done a couple of coursera courses, they are always of the highest quality put together by scholars of whatever the subject matter is about.

universities tend to offer these as tasters and short introductions into their specialities.. you can get the information on the following link the fall and rise of jerusalem | coursera.

emory university are also offering a course through coursera on the bible's prehistory, purpose, and political future starting may 26th the bible's prehistory, purpose, and political future | coursera.

Magnum

Thanks. Will check it out. Am very interested in that subject.

30

What does money represent to YOU ?

by new hope and happiness in

for example does money represent to you power, love, joy and much more or does money represent to you feelings of worry, guilt, anger, sadness.. for myself i have always enjoyed living largely on little, and i can appreciate that the best things in life are free.

having said that i am glad i have been fortunate and sensible enough with money to never have exsperienced the anxiety of debt.

and it may sound silly but i dont think winning it big on the lottery would improve the quality of my life nor my family.

Magnum

Money does not represent to me "power, love, joy"; I'm not a lover of money. HOWEVER, having money would have made my life FAR easier in the past and having it now would make my life far easier now. I remember one time about thirty years ago. A wealthy neighbor was visiting because we had a death in the family. My mother said something like "people think having money is everything". I think she thought she was going to impress the neighbor and that he would agree with her. I will never forget his response. He looked up and simply said "but it sure makes life easier". I have felt that way ever since.

Because of being JWs and not having money, my entire adult life has been very hard. My wife and I have always had to drive cheap, old cars. There is always something wrong with them. At times we have been without transportation. We spend countless hours trying to work on cars ourselves becuase we can't afford repair shop fees. It would be far easier to just take the cars to be repaired or call a mobile mechanic to come out and fix them. We have to repair our own appliances and everything else. We need to rent equipment to do repairs on our house, driveway, etc., but can't becuase we have don't the money and we don't have the time because we both work low-paying jobs and have different schedules so we can't coordinate our days off for jobs that require two people (like renting equipment to do repairs).

We've found out that living "simple" as the org says is actually more complicated; our times are not like the first century. Jesus could live with just the clothes on his back. One, especially being a JW, cannot do that nowadays. For one thing, many localities won't allow it. And being a JW requres one to have more clothes, shoes, books, etc. When we pioneered, we lived in several structures that were very small and tight. There was no room to put anything. We literally sat on bound volumes to eat. It was not simple.

So, again, having money would have made our lives far simpler and easier. It would free us up to retire, but we will never be able to because we swallowed the JW hook and thought the end was imminent and made no plans for retirement.

59

"They've made us debt FREE !!!"

by gingerbread in

jw
friends

so proclaimed the brother that read the wt letter tonight that explained the new kingdom hall funding arrangement.. everyone in the hall claps .... well, like it was the last talk on the district convention.. he says 'what bank would wipe out a debt of $200,000 ???

only jehovah's organization!

isn't this wonderful !!!".

Magnum

I swear I see more and more every day what idiots they are. "Wipe out a debt" - what??? They just extended the debt into perpetuity.

60

I had a funny feeling he was a Witness... and now I need help.

by noontide in

jw
friends

im in a bit of a bind and im not quite sure what (if anything) i can do about it.

i was recently hired as a business consultant for a rather large company.

the company that hired me mentioned that they are concerned about a certain department and the way its being run, as this department affects every other department in the company.

Magnum

I also agree with rip van winkle. Say everything you said to us minus the JW part.

17

I was a door-to-door magazine salesman...but I didnt know it!

by Londo111 in

both jws and former jws dont seem to remember that up until 1990, jws sold magazines, books, and brochures from door to door.

you went to either the magazine or the literature counter and bought publications that you were going to sell.

pioneers would get a slight discount.

Magnum

Londo111: Back then, there was a reason that the magazine and literature counters were locked and inventory was taken, and ministerial servants were in that role functioning as cashiers.

I was an MS at that time working the lit and mag counters, and I know of a congregation that had its credit with the Society cancelled because the numbers didn't match up. The congregation was put on a cash basis. The org would not ship any literature to that cong if the cong didn't pay cash in advance.

Wasanelder Once: I stopped asking for money years before they decided to change to the "voluntary donation arrangement". I felt like a magazine salesman and was never comfortable.

I stopped asking for money, too. I found that the donation arrangement felt far worse, though. It seemed sneakier. We went through our spiel, placed the mags or other pubs in the hands of the householders, and then at the end mentioned the donation arrangement. It just felt wrong. It cheapened the work.

13

Jehovahs Witnesses immediately formed a disaster relief committee to aid the victims.

by suavojr in

first, i thought they closed the branch in chile?

and second, check out the comment:.

+1 718 560 5000. chile: jason d. reed, tel.

Magnum

Disaster relief is all about making money for the org. It gets free labor. Locals feed and house the free labor. The only thing the org pays for is materials and a lot of that is donated or procured at a discount. The org then gets the insurance check. On many jobs, the labor is the most expensive part; and, again, it's all free for the org. It makes a killing on disaster relief. It gets a check for what the entire job should have cost, and the only thing it paid for is some materials.

157

WTS buys £1,000,000 luxury sea-front property in Wales, UK

by Simon in

shower room.

office.

games room.

Magnum

never a jw: Don't see a big problem with that purchase. They need to house people working there for whatever interests the WT has. End of issue. Luxury? maybe, not lavish. I don't intend to minimize the WT possible misuse of funds, but this would never top my list, nor would it be a big deal even if a member of the governing body uses it as a vacation home. There's much bigger problems with this organization.

What??? I'm taking it that, as your name indicates, you've never been a JW. If you had been a JW like me and had lived in all the different primitive settings I have for 30 years (because of being a JW), you might see a big problem with it.

As Oubliette quoted above, Jesus said: “Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head” (Luke 9:58). Aren't they supposed to be like Christ? If they need to house people, they could put them in trailers like FEMA uses and set an example for the flock. If you've never been a JW, you have no business presuming to make a comment like "nor would it be a big deal even if a member of the governing body uses it as a vacation home." My 30 years of misery & suffering as a JW give me the right to have a problem with it and find it to be a big deal. I didn't suffer, sacrifice, and donate for 30 years so they could buy stuff like that. It's a huge deal to me. It was a huge deal to me when I worked behind the scenes at circuit assemblies and saw circuit overseers turning in receipts for $75.00 steak meals with drinks (alcohol), knowing that many publishers who couldn't afford gas for the ride home contributed money to pay for those fancy meals.

They have no right to claim there is a need for money in the org if they're spending it on stuff like this luxury house. There are poor JWs who go without medical and dental treatment to give money that they trust will be used for truly noble, good causes - not providing luxury vacation homes for the JW elite.

Because of being JWs (and pioneering a long time), my wife and I have gone without medical and dental treatment. I have had some pets that were dear to me that had to be euthanized because I didn't have the money needed to treat them. My heart is still broken from that. What have you given up for the org? It burns my ass up that they bought this - as does their building their new luxury compound in Warwick.