Posts by Magnum

44

2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.

branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).

number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).

Magnum

I remember back in the 80s how everyone was looking forward to yearly report. Elders would go up to podium, all excited, and read the report. Rest of congregation could point out different numbers in report they thought interesting.

I was there and I remember that time vividly. It's sad to me. Back then, I thought the "new world" was imminent and I never dreamed of growing old. It's all gone now - my hope, my youth, the excitement, the religion I once would loved and would have died for, etc. - all gone.

We were the small one who was becoming a mighty nation. We were associated with locusts who were swarming, climbing walls, etc.; we thought our "locust-like" preaching work was serving as a bold warning to an entire world about to be violently destroyed. We were proud to be known as "Jehovah's Witnesses".

Now... just look. The once seemingly strong religion is now weak, cowardly, & puny. Any preaching that still exists is lame and unclear; it is now snail-like. JWs have nowhere near the depth they used to have. We used to think GB members were like dignified, scholarly monks who pored over the Scriptures in the original languages by candlelight late into the night seeking enlightenment. However, we've now seen behind the curtain and we see them as clueless, embarrassing buffoons.

Yep, I remember those days when we looked forward to those reports. Now, I look forward to them for different reasons and with a different mindset.

44

2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.

branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).

number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).

Magnum

I'm really not even paying much attention to the numbers anymore; I'm just going by the general, overall pulse/feel/look/"smell"/etc.

JWdom is dying. It is weak. It is floundering. The org used to be proactive; it is now only reactive. It is simply in survival mode... flapping at the water trying to keep from drowning. It used to be analytical and would focus on doctrine and prophecy; it can no longer do that because the internet has exposed it and equipped others to counter it. Back in my zealous days, a lot of JWs almost relished challenges, deep questions, and arguments; now they run from such and don't even know their own doctrine.

A couple of years ago, a 35ish female JW approached me in a parking lot and tried to give me a tract. I didn't make it easy on her and tried to talk with her. I found out that she had never even heard of Fred Franz. That is inconceivable to me. He was one of the most influential figures in JW history; he was their one and only guru for many years, and she had never even heard of him. When her partner (parked in an SUV nearby) saw that I wasn't low-hanging fruit, she started calling for the lady to come join her (and leave me).

The old JWdom is dead. This new thing is a shallow, "plastic", dumbed down, televangelist-like, embarrassing, shiny & glittery, cult which has become a social club as compared to the somewhat analytical, seemingly scholarly religion it used to be.

I have mentioned this a number of times, but I see benefit in mentioning it again. Back in around the '80's, just in my area alone, there were eight engineers, two dentists, a veterinarian, an attorney, two medical doctors, a college professor with a doctorate, a high school teacher with a BS in physics, a brilliant armed forces pilot, a number of smart businessmen, and a number of deep-thinking hippies who became JWs. And these are just ones I'm aware of; I don't even know who became JWs in a nearby huge city. That will never happen again! Gone are the days when JWdom will appeal to such types.

The ones referred to in the previous paragraph studied, researched, questioned, analyzed, thought deeply. Such is virtually disallowed now in JW land, because the leaders know their theology and history can't stand up to such.

So, the numbers don't tell the whole story, and I really don't even trust them. I do like seeing reports and analyzing the numbers, but I put more emphasis on the general appearance. I do believe we're going to start seeing a decline in numbers in the relatively near future. If JWdom does continue to grow, though, it will be due to born-ins and low caliber types from the outside (the unstable, the needy, the lonely, those on the low end of the intelligence spectrum, etc.).

44

Geoffrey Jackson has a beard now

by Tahoe in

.

Magnum

You can clearly see that this has been photoshopped. Look at how the hair makes a straight line on the top of his lip. Also, everything looks unproportioned. FAKE! FAKE! FAKE!

If it is faked, then eff whoever did it. I'm sick of not being able to trust stuff I see, hear, and read. Some people need to get lives; they have too much time on their hands.

I checked it out; it actually looks real to me. I think that straight line you're seeing might be a reflection.

3

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Religion.

by LostintheFog1999 in

i spotted this article on an irish news channel's webpage and thought you might have something to say about the idea.

perhaps in the future jws will replace their robotic elders with actual robots, what do you think?

we could consult with ai jesus to see what he thinks about the idea.

Magnum

Evidence of any kind of intelligence would be an improvement.

😂

9

Load is getting lighter and yolk so kindly it’s hardly there👏

by jehovaxx in

i heard an answer recently about how jesus said my yolk is kindly and my load is light.. he actually as good as said jwlite but not in so many words.. he said jehovah and jesus know it’s getting harder in these critical times so have made the load even lighter and the yolk even more kindly with padding.. all the changes recently, no more reports, beards allowed it’s jw lite with actually calling it such.

zoom meetings and ministry groups, new meeting format in january that is so easy there is no preparation needed.

anyone could turn up on the day not even having looked at the material and give any item as it’s all on rails.. people were talking after the meeting “there is so much new light it’s as if jesus is saying we know you are finding things hard, here let me make the load even lighter still.”.

Magnum

There is so much new light it’s as if Jesus is saying We know you are finding things hard

Where the F was Jesus when I was slaving and suffering and sacrificing in misery and poverty as a fulltime JW for decades. I lived in an old barn loft, a dirty warehouse, two old travel trailers, and in other primitive ways. I always had old, high-mileage cars that stressed me out because there was always something wrong with them. Life was sheer misery. I lived in an area prone to natural disasters and I was so miserable as a JW that I liked natural disasters because they gave me a break from the misery of the JW routine.

These lame-ass JWs today don't know what "hard" is. And, if Jesus thinks they're having hard times, then he's not qualified as a judge.

18

Caleb & Sophia

by MissDaSilva in

jw
friends

always felt really uncomfortable with these kids propaganda videos.

.

beyond creepy and it reminds me of the hitler youth.

Magnum

Speaking of the video implying children should give their ice cream money....

Well, some on this site said that Tony's buying top-shelf Scotch was not a big deal. I say and always did that is a big deal, and the ice cream money thing is one of the reasons.

So.... little children should refrain from having ice cream, but the adults can have top shelf Scotch??? A child should give his/her last few cents, but the adults can spend almost a $1000.00 on liquor??? Shouldn't the adults set the example for the children and give up their liquor money?

Back to the main topic. Yeah, the cartoon thing just doesn't feel right. It's undignified for such a supposedly serious matter. Billions of lives are at stake according to JWs. The end of the whole damned world is imminent according to them. They ought to be out really warning (not doing the lame-ass witnessing they do) and not producing cartoons.

Also, if they really think the end is imminent, then why are they worried about training children right now? The end is coming any minute and those children will grow up in and can be trained in the "new system."

9

The 'Tower has no Face

by NotFormer in

just thinking about how the wt has evolved over the century of its existence.

before the gb tricked knorr into making them the ones responsible for everything, the president at the time was very much the face of the society.

after franz, it all became a bit nebulous as to who was in charge.. is the current situation more advantageous to the wt or less?.

Magnum

peacefulpete, I somewhat agree. The difference is in the quality. As I wrote above, in my day, JWdom attracted engineers, doctors, etc.; it won't do that anymore. The org's glory days are over. It will now only appeal to the down and out, the social misfits, to those lacking critical thinking ability, etc. That's why the new focus in the ministry is going to be on love... not doctrinal, analytical stuff. JWs will not just draw in the lonely widows who want company, etc.

"I wish I could agree that in the Information Age, controlling minds and loyalties is more difficult."

I think it is more difficult in the information age. I and many others left because of the availability of info on the internet. I think its a huge factor in the weakening and dumbing down of JWdom. Some of the "vested people" that you refer to might remain, but quality people won't come in from the outside anymore.

46

Nobody else understands

by ElderBerry in

if you once were fully pimi and truly believed jw doctrine to the core like i once did, when you come to the reality that it is not the truth at all it can be extremely devastating.. i think only other ex jws could ever understand.

i wasted my entire life i thought the real life was yet to come to wasted the best years knocking on doors.

now i’m so angry.. i can understand why so many top themselves when they realise it was all lies..

Magnum

I think only other ex JWs could ever understand.

I think you're right. I have tried explaining to never-JWs what it was like, but they just can't grasp it. At most, some of them can only relate it to going to Church once or twice a month. They just will not be able to grasp how all-consuming being a JW is and the sacrifices that are made and the way JW lives are controlled and the never-ending hamster wheel of life-consuming activity. They just won't be able to grasp that if one is a real JW, he will always be behind and he will never have any free time - no weekends, no evenings, etc.

I have virtually given up on trying to explain. Many of my associates go to church once or twice a month. Outside of that, they do whatever they want whenever they want. Their careers aren't affected, their choices of education aren't affected, there is no preaching, there are no meeting parts to work on, there is no one scrutinizing their lives, etc.

9

The 'Tower has no Face

by NotFormer in

just thinking about how the wt has evolved over the century of its existence.

before the gb tricked knorr into making them the ones responsible for everything, the president at the time was very much the face of the society.

after franz, it all became a bit nebulous as to who was in charge.. is the current situation more advantageous to the wt or less?.

Magnum

JWdom is dead/done as an org that will attract outsiders (at least quality ones). Back when I became a JW, there were in my area eight engineers, two dentists, an attorney, a veterinarian, two medical doctors, a college professor with a doctorate, a high school teacher with a BS in physics, a number of deep-thinking & intelligent ex-hippie types, and a number of smarter, successful businessmen who became JWs. JWdom will never again be attractive to such types.

Therefore, in order to survive, it has to internalize - to focus on keeping what it has and indoctrinating the born-ins. I think that a Franz type figure would serve better for that purpose. He at least seemed to be deeper, more intelligent, more scholarly, etc. than the GB members of today. Though we now view him as being eccentric and maybe delusional, he did seem to be a sincere true believer. He seemed to focus on the Scriptures rather than cartoons, talk shows, pop music, etc. He wrote much deeper material. He was put high up on a pedestal back in earlier decades.

Some might justifiably argue that the new JWdom (dumbed down, trying to be hip and relevant) will serve to better retain current JWs and their offspring. It might, but I don't think so. I think JWdom will continue to weaken with its current "personality" and atmosphere. I think that a Franz type would better serve the org in retaining what it has - especially the smarter ones. Take, for example, types like my deceased JW grandfather. He was a zealous, true believer. He thought Franz was in Jah's right hand. My grandfather was smarter and more level-headed and reasonable than current JWs. I honestly think that being in the current JWdom would have awakened him, but with a Franz type leader, I believe he never would have awakened. He might have been baffled as to why the end didn't come when it was supposed to, but he would have trusted in the org and excused mistakes.

The org is just so shallow and dumbed down and corny and cheesy and embarrassing now... the leaders are so obviously not qualified... that I think the org will continue to bleed. I think that a change to a Franz type leader would infuse strength and life into it. However, it's a different world now. The internet changed everything. It would be hard for the org to become analytical and (seemingly) scholarly again because the masses have been equipped with a way to instantly fact check and research.

So, I think the org would fare better with a Franz type, but it can never again be like it was in earlier decades. The glory days are over; the heyday is over.

5

Edgerton Gospel

by peacefulpete in

regarded as likely the oldest (or tied with oldest) gospel fragment we have is that named the unknown gospel or the edgerton gospel.

sadly it is very fragmentary.

debates regarding it's relationship with the 4 canonical gospels have continued since it was found.

Magnum

Looks interesting and would love to discuss, but I'm too ignorant of the topic right now. I had never heard of the fragment. Thanks for mentioning it. I want to research it. By the way, I did a google search and found it to be spelled "Egerton."