Posts by Magnum

I see nothing wrong with the opening post. I'm glad hardtobeme posted it. He merely shared something that he (and I, too) found interesting. He said "I don't know if it's true," so he doesn't have to vouch for its authenticity. He admitted it might not be authentic. However, to me, it's worth at least considering and keeping an open mind about.

If we jump on people for posting stuff like that, many might shy away from posting and we might miss something important. Yes, we might have to wade through some stuff that might turn out to be untrue in order to find the really good stuff, but, to me, it's worth it.

Thanks, hardtobeme. Keep it coming.

43

Whoooooooooo hoooooooooooooooo eeeeeeeeeee!!!

by beksbks in

jw
friends

that is all.

Magnum

problemaddict: Only think that could be worse is having President Romney or warhawk McCain presiding.

How do you know? Got a crystal ball? Could have been much better under them.

I remember seeing people wearing t-shirts with "CHANGE" in bold print on them soon after Obama was elected. What happened to the change? What about the promised transparency? I think Mr. Obama found out it ain't so easy.

13

Any Educated Guesses...........??

by sparky1 in

a friend of mine is trying the 'slow fade' like i did.

he is a third generation witness and comes from a prominent family in his circuit.

his uncle stepped down as an elder because he had doubts and could not serve anymore (although for now he remains a witness in good standing).

Magnum

Almost all the old-timers that I knew when I was a child in the seventies are gone, and I hate it. I so desperately would love to talk with them about all the changes and the situation in JWdom now; I'd love to know what they would think. These were people who told me that I'd never drive or graduate from high school (graduated almost 40 years ago).

The org will be able to virtually start all over soon with a clean slate. It will have members who know nothing of its history, failed predictions, craziness, lies, hypocrisy, etc. It will have made all the old literature unavailable.

8

THE REASON JW.ORG is a strawman tool of evangelism

by Terry in

if everybody watches what you do--they will notice all your mistakes.. the same is true of religions and religious leaders.. http://theevangelists.blogspot.com/2011/04/hall-of-shame.html.

too much exposure proved disastrous for jimmy swaggert, bob tilton, rev.

haggard, peter popoff.

Magnum

I agree 100%. If they are confident of their doctrines and they really believe that billions of lives are at stake, then why don't they use TV, radio, etc. to advertise their message? They know they can't defend their doctrines. There are too many skeletons in the org's closets. There are too many failed predictions. There is so much crazy stuff in the older publications and in the org's history. They would get clobbered. You're right in stating "Too much exposure for religions and leaders leads to scrutiny and curiosity which will BRING YOU DOWN" and "PUBLIC SCRUTINY is never good when you have secrets, scandals, failures and controversy to downplay or hide."

At least Russell would engage in debates. The GB wouldn't stand a chance in debates today. If they really thought they had the truth, they could engage in YouTube debates, be interviewed on TV, etc. But they hide; they stay off the front lines because they know they wouldn't stand a chance.

19

Delusional E-mail from my dad.. So sad

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i sent my dad the fred franz talk "my story" when he somewhat candidly discusses the failed prophecies, 1925 etc.

i was hoping it would plant a seed of doubt in his heart.

however my parents eat sleep and breathe wt.

Magnum

Jehovah's spirit is moving them along like an unstoppable locust plague! It's like they have wings on their shoes!

Holy $#*t. I spent three decades in the ministry and I never saw any locusts; all I saw were snails. "Unstoppable"... like what??? A McDonald's restaurant will stop them dead in their tracks. "Wings on their shoes"... during all my thirty years it wasn't wings on their shoes; it was lead.

Fascinating to see how his faith only grew stronger through the wrong expectations and adjustments in understanding.

JWs are the only people on earth I know of who make being wrong a selling point. You can't win with them. If they're right, it's good; If they're wrong, it's good. They can't lose. They turn all their faults and wrongs into something good. If their numbers are increasing, it's Jehovah's blessing - speeding up the work. If their numbers decline, "Oh, the love of the number is cooling off; we're so near the end. Isn't it wonderful?" Again, they can't lose. They can bash everybody else, but nobody can bash them.

edit: I somehow missed Oubliette's post before I wrote the above. I guess we were thinking the same thing. [see below]

Oubliette: So being "wrong" is somehow PROOF of being "right"?

17

Want to get JW friends' thoughts on their "new" preaching methods.

by compound complex in

jw
friends

the subject of jw.org and its tentacles reaching everywhere has already been discussed at length; however, jw kith and kin are going gangbusters on social media.

i lost it when i saw da vinci's most famous lady wearing a jw.org button as a brooch.

in hand, she had a tract, which i assumed had not yet been perused (she was distracted, apparently, while posing for the real master).. my dear and otherwise studious jws -- many very good at preaching and in human relations -- are obeying wt directives and just handing out the tracts in service and advertising up a storm on the internet.

Magnum

I am shocked and baffeled by the change in the preaching work (and other changes in JWdom) and am still trying to mentally process it. My opinion now is that the preaching change came about as a result of the fact that as time goes on there are fewer and fewer JWs who are capable of preaching and teaching as in the old days. Many have not even read the Bible. As I mentioned on another thread, some literally couldn't put the following in chronological order: Jesus, Abraham, Paul, Moses. Also, the org knows that its doctrines and it itself are becoming less defendable with the passing of time and the increasing availability of knowledge. Therefore, the org is playing it safe by having JWs just hand out tracts and trying to keep them from situations in which they could be asked hard questions.

DocHouse: if YOU don't preach, you are a hypocrite for playing judge.

I am quiet capable of and justified in playing judge. I have a PhD in preaching. Was expert at it. Pioneered for years the hard way. Turned in 140 hours some months.

DocHouse:

Fact is, more and more will read from a website than a Bible.

So the website really helps many.

Completely illogical and meaningless. How do you know that it's a fact that "more will read from a website than a Bible" and what does that statement even mean - that more people will read from the internet (in general) than print? Are you saying that more people who are interested in JWs will read from JW.ORG than they would the Bible? That's a very vague statement.

You follow up your statement of "fact" with "so the website really helps many." How do you arrive at that conclusion? I could say "more and more people will eat at fast food joints than at home, so fast food joints really help people." The fact that people might be more apt to do something doesn't necessarily mean that doing it helps them.

25

The Internet Proves JWs Are a Joke Now

by jw07 in

i'm a born in, born in the 1980s and old enough to remember studying beefy (albeit full of crap) material like the the evolution book and revelation book (which we studied over and over and over and over).

books and brochures were wordy and chock full of legalistic language explaining away teachings and policies, some explanations slightly above the iq of the average person.. watchtower studies were longer (30 paragraphs sometimes), talks were longer and thus meetings were longer, pioneering was harder (70 hours if i remember correctly), assemblies and conventions were longer, and there were intricate food provisions to feed thousands of people (for a cost of course).. the average jw could recite watchtower propaganda for hours to indoctrinate others or defend their faith.

jws were interested in having meaty discussions at the door and challenging even pastors on doctrinal points.. i know this has been said many times, but the organization has gone through a massive dumbing down.. i can't figure out if it's due to the oblivious nature of the current governing body, a premeditated attempt by them at dumbing down the organization, or just the effects of life becoming easier around the globe due to reliance on technology.. i can only speak on my era, and i know that from the early 90s until around 2004 the organization was allot more doctrine savy.. over the past decade or so i'd say the collective iq of the followers has moved from 105 to 85.. indoctrination and blind belief has allot to do with being prone to be emotionally manipulated, but thinking ability has a say in that too.. social media is a decent gauge of how and what the average person within a certain demographic is thinking, and doing a simple hashtag search on twitter, instagram, or facebook reveals allot about how the current generation of young jws (15-28 or thereabout) are thinking.. many have become self obsessed, internet obsessed, hubris filled and passive, i can see an even bigger decline in growth over the next 5 years.. take a look:.

Magnum

Band on the Run: I disagree. It was always dumbed down. Nothing new is happening. I never heard of any encounter with ministers at the door.

I disagree with the above comment and agree with the opening post. It might have been dumbed down, but it was not nearly as dumbed down as it is now. JWdom is far more simple-minded now. The older publications were meatier. I remember the days of JWs doing doctrinal battle with all sorts including ministers. I myself have personally debated with numerous ministers.

I think the reason for the dumbing down is that the org knows that now with all the access to knowledge (internet), it can no longer defend its doctrines, so it's playing it safe.

32

Have you ever been called for Jury Duty? before or after registering to vote?

by EndofMysteries in

jw
friends

i've never been called for jury duty and i'm not yet registered to vote, although i'm hoping to get that done this month.

i know someone who within a few months of registering to vote was called for jury duty.

i've read some articles that said voter records 'used' to be used to call on people but that was a thing of the past.

Magnum

Was just called this month for the first time. Never registered to vote.