Posts by Magnum

30

Experiences After Leaving

by Freeatlast2024 in

i am writing to ask if anyone cares to share their experience and/or offer advice for people leaving.

i was raised in the religion, and both my parents died when i was very young.

i recently stopped associating because my conscience no longer allows me to preach or support the organization.

Magnum

Don't feel it is necessary to have them understand what you went through.

Yeah, as DesirousOfChange wrote, they wil not be able to. I've tried talking to many about it, and I finally realized that their religious experience is going to church for one or two hours per month, maybe playing on the church basketball team or going to singles night, and having their religion have zero influence on their daily lives. That's all they can relate tol They simply will be incapable of comprehending what being a JW is like.

It takes years to get a complete feel for the JW religion, the JW lifestyle, etc. It's impossible for somebody to truly understand unless he's walked in the shoes for a significant amount of time.

25

"Brother Jodie jenelle began his bethel service in in 1990....."

by nowwhat? in

but what they don't say he left started and ran a real estate company and a global real estate consulting firm and apparently after making a fortune come back to bethel a few years ago.

how in the hell could a non lifer now be anointed and appointed to be a gb member.

sure can't be for his spiritual qualifications!.

Magnum

It is shocking to me that the religion I once loved and would have died for has become what it is now. Consider the three new Ireland business entitties with their top gun executives and the appointing of Jody Jedele to the governing body. The JW leaders and/or their advisors must realize that they've lost as a religion. It seems that they are almost blatantly turning the religion into a full-on business. In the 70's or 80's, somebody like Jody would not have even been remotely considererd as being GB material. Please watch the video below; it's only 2.5min long. It is referred to in the video OnTheWayOut posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdlcjdz2fvI

This was Jody in 2012 - just twelve years ago. Instead of his mind's being completely on the Kingdom, this is what it was on - at least somewhat. He was involved in commercial real estate. He comes across as not just one who did real estate part-time to support a full-time ministry, but who one put great effort into commercial real estate and now he's a GB member. Somebdy commented somewhere (I think on YouTube) and said something like "I can imagine a GB member approching Jody and saying "You know, if only you were partaking, you'd almost be guaranteed a spot on the GB [hint, hint; wink, wink)."" That person then indicated that he'd love to know when Jody actually started partaking.

So, that's what Jah wants on the GB now? Not longtime, highly experienced, greatly sacrificing fulltime servants, but commercial real estate dudes??? Putting Jody's appointment together with the formation of the Ireland entities and the recruting of the high level executives for them, I've come to the conclusion that the org wants to become a self-sustaining Berkshire Hathaway type entity. I believe that If it's not already there, it could reach a point at which it will have enough funds and real estate that it coud have enough invested with good enough returns that it could survive without any donations from the rank and file. I think the leaders foresee the decline and weakening as a religion, so they're going this route in order to survive.

Fairly recently, I thought the org was going to crash and burn because it is so weakening as a religion, but now I believe that if it pursues this investment route, it could continue on indefinitely and maybe even thrive as a business.

So, Sophia has to give up her ice cream money, but GB members can be involved in real estate (Jedele & Lett) and drink top shelf Scotch (you know who),

The old JWdom that had at least a semblance of sincerity, dignity, concern for theology, and concern for spiritual things is truly gone.

57

2024 Annual Meeting Doctrinal Change

by Listener in

a change to their doctrine came from jackson.

this isn't a transcript of his whole speech but i thought i would try and get some of his main speech in writing.. at around 1hr26 minutes he starts talking about some dangerous thinking in feeling there is some wiggle room in regards to the schedule for the gt.

but you see, we need to be careful about what we are thinking about the number of anointed ones left on earth.

Magnum

I strongly agree with Cofty and DesirousOfChange. No sympathy from me. All my and my wife's family members are still in. I cannot fathom how they can be... how they don't see what we do. They are severely lacking in something - common sense and/or discernment and/or humility and/or honesty. I don't know exactly what's wrong with them; I just know something is.

52

EXPLOSIVE NEW LEAKED VIDEO OF C.O. CHASTISING ELDERS

by raymond frantz in

jw
friends

https://youtu.be/np05twylal8?si=wjcdevvpxmlwxb2p.

shame is an ancient form of control.

shame is the mechanism used to control behaviour.

Magnum

When was this video produced? I thought they were easing up on the porn viewing thing because they were losing too many appointed men. Is this video several years old or is it actually "new" as the OP indicates?

64

Ages of each user here?

by ukpimo in

jw
friends

i'm interested to know the age demographics here.

it must be significantly different to other exjw forums.

it would be a damning report for watchtower if most of us appear to have left for decades.. you don't have to mention your exact age, you could always say "in my 50s".. i am in my 70s.

Magnum

Mid 60ish and could still take on the whole GB by myself - all at one time. That ain't sayin much, though; hell, my wife could handle most of them.

Been out at least ten years. I think I've been on this forum at least ten years.

13

1,500 Days since Stephen Lett said this:

by Chevelle in

"so the events unfolding around us are making clearer than ever that we’re living in the final part of the last days.

undoubtedly the final part of the final part of the last days.

shortly before the last day of the last days.

Magnum

I'm trying to make a document showing the many failed predictions of JWs. Does anybody know the date on which Lett stated that? Is the video still online?

markweatherill, thanks for mentioning that Watchtower reference; I was not aware of it and have now recorded it in my notes.

40

New lawsuit against the Watchtower in Ontario, Canada

by yalbmert99 in

the new class action lawsuit against the watchtower for having covered up child sexual abuse will begin in court on may 13-14-15, 2024 in the province of ontario, canada.

it is not the same as in the province of quebec because the laws aren't the same.

i don’t have more details.

Magnum

ThomasMore, I agree with your entire post.

One litigant was advised to settle before WTC collapses financially.

I've thought about this before concerning my own case against the business.

86

New light on shunning?

by Mikejw in

one theory why tony was booted out was because he was a stickler for not changing the shunning doctrine.

he actually said the words we will never ever change it.. they are slowly deleting all of tony’s videos and now losing court cases and losing government hand outs in places like norway.. it’s looking very likely they will release new light on shunning policy after losing this latest one in norway.. .

what are the odds they coincidentally get new light from jehovah and lighten up their shunning policy ?.

Magnum

Mikejw: I called it

You damn sho did! You slam dunked that one!

Elena: They are in panic mode.

Yep, they really are. I also call it survival mode. They are simply just trying to survive now. They are selling out. If they really believed their doctrines and thought they had the truth, they'd die for their beliefs, but they are changing to fit in, to be more hip and relevant, to survive, to get governments off their backs, etc.

I really think they've consulted with a PR firm that is advising to be more like a megachurch with casual dress, pop music, videos, cartoons, movies, relaxed policy, etc. Somebody posted on this site a few years ago relative to the softening and modernizing "What's next... congregation softball teams?" I wouldn't be surprised now if they did have softball teams soon. Anything to keep the gig going so the GB can continue to be rockstars in their own little worlds. Without the cult, it's "Welcome to WalMart" for the GB members.

194

GB Update #2, March 2024: Women allowed to wear pants, no ties/coats required if not giving a talk, & now able to greet DF ones in the KH!

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

you heard me correct, this is not a joke, and it is not april fools day!

the asl portion of the governing body updated #2 (march 2024) has been released a bit early and someone caught it.

summary: .

Magnum

WingCommander: These changes are them attempting to SURVIVE at this point, to come across as new, fresh, progressive even. They are in panic mode. No way in hell are these changes due to "the love from the Governing Body" or any other such nonsense. Can you imagine the hemorrhaging of people and MONEY that must be occurring for them to stoop this low? They are completely re-active at this point.

Abso-damned-lutely!!! They just want to be a hip & relevant megachurch now. They know the old JWdom is gone... that they lost... that they were wrong.

It's like some weird fever-dream.

Yep, my deceased JW grandfather and others like him would be shocked if they could come back and see that it's 2024 and "this system" is still here and that their religion has become what it is now.

++++++++++++
So, like, Jehovah's leading them??? He aint' leadin them anymore than he's leadin Joe Biden. These charlatans are simply reacting to societal changes, court decisions, etc. and are trying to keep their gig going for selfish reasons. I just texted my wife and told her that our relatives who are still in are damned fools.

49

What the Trinitarian perspective on John 8.28?

by slimboyfat in

this is not a verse that i’ve seen feature heavily in trinitarian debates but it seems to me it presents a problem for the trinity.

if there are any around i’d be interested to know your perspective, or anything you can find on the meaning and how it doesn’t contradict the trinity.

the verse says:.

Magnum

aqwsed12345, I quickly read (I'm at work) what you posted, but I will consider it more thoroughly later. I'm actually interested and I am (at least I think I am) reasonable and open-minded.

Here's the issue I have right now with what you posted, though... I have far better comprehension and ability than most of the population, and that's something I'm more and more convinced of with every passing day. However, even I have difficulty grasping your point. It's just so confusing. How do we expect the masses to comprehend and make sense of something so unclear and hard to grasp? It just makes more sense to me that the Father and Son are two distinct entities, the father being the creator and superior to the son who was created by the father (I know you mentioned something about their distinctness). I can't even tell from my brief reading of your posts if you believe that.

Please articulate clearly for me your point. Please answer these questions:

1) Is the son a created being (having a beginning)?

2) When the son was on earth, did he pray to a completely separate superior father who was in heaven while the son was on earth?

I say that the Trinity concepts presented in this thread, if true, condemn the masses to eternal destruction because they're just too complex for most people to grasp. It seems to me that something as simple as the father/son concept is being turned into something deeply mysterious and hard to grasp. Why would a supreme being use such "father/son" terminology with humans, knowing what those terms mean to them according to their everyday experience and expect them to realize he was referring to some confusing, mysterious concept that only a few will grasp? That just doesn't make sense to me. Jesus invited the masses to drink of life's water freely. Yes, some parts of the Bible (like parables) are presented in a way to see who would put forth effort to find the meaning, and I'm glad of that. I think such shouldn't be easy - that it should require effort in order to separate the deserving from the undeserving. Consider the parables, though. When the few returned to Jesus and said something like "Tell us, what does this mean?" He explained clearly and simply in terms they could understand. He didn't give them some deep esoteric answer.

However, again, I will consider what you posted more thoroughly later.