Posts by slimboyfat

still, i think there must be something that would make them really question their beliefs, even their life.. i think that if witnesses were told they could take blood or that disfellowshipping was unloving, they might stop and take a hard look at everything they have sacrificed their lives for.. i know the organization has muddled these subjects before but the i think even die hard witnesses might start to second guess the governing body..

slimboyfat

In my experience the main thing that will make JWs reconsider their beliefs is a personal injustice. I have not really experienced any injustice. Well nothing major. Which is probably why I haven’t left.

But I’ve always been a curious person. So the idea that apostate information was “no go” was never a flyer for me. If it’s the truth then it’s the truth and it can withstand criticism. The idea that there is some information you shouldn’t access just seemed like such nonsense.

But most JWs display an astonishing lack of curiosity about their own religion. It always amazes me. I can’t figure out what is going on psychologically when intelligent JWs refuse to consider counter arguments. Is it overconfidence? Is it fear? I can’t understand it.

13

A wave of momentum!

by stuckinarut2 in

it certainly has to be one of the most exciting times to live in as an awake ex witness!.

the wave of momentum we are part of as thousands awaken from the hold of the society is a joy to be a part of.

the internet helps us to see that we are not alone.

slimboyfat

I've been reading this and other online websites, blogs, channels (you name it) since 2000. There has always been a steady flow of JWs out of the organisation. In Scotland there was flurry of exits around 8 years ago. (iCeltic, PasswordProtected, Ninja, HoboKen, and other anonymous members, including many who haven't posted in a long time) I don't think this site in particular is more active now than in the past. Many prominent former JWs have outgrown the community and moved on: in particular AlanF, Narkissos, LitteToe Leolaia and so on. Some have passed on too including Mouthy and Farkel and many more from a pre-Internet generation of leavers.

What has changed dramatically in the last couple of years is the Watchtower organisation itself. It seems the steady drip of leavers has finally caught up with them. Plus JW children are not getting baptised in the same numbers. That combined with their abysmal results from preaching means they are definitely at a turning point. The financial woes on top of everything else are what might cause a sudden collapse, rather than a gentle demise, as some other religions have enjoyed.

Youtube, Facebook and Reddit are also relatively recent developments that I've begun to take an interest in. In total the online ex-JW community probably is much larger and doesn't rely on old style forums so much.

Having viewed developments for so long, I had adopted the common wisdom that things will never change at Watchtower and collapse is not a realistic outcome. The developments of the last couple of years have concivned me otherwise. The organisation has already undergone dramatic changes. What's more these changes do not seem strategic or planned. They are short term measures in response to real financial and organisational difficulties. And in that context it's not unreasonable to wonder whether the measures Watchtower has taken will be enough to avert a serious organisational disintegration of some sort.

So yes I think it is appropriate to talk about a wave of momentum at the moment.

19

Hitachi TV Review

by The Fall Guy in

jw
friends

i have never reviewed a product before, but having purchased a hitachi 50 inch full hd lcd tv at the weekend, i thought i'd share my experience.

hitachi tv's are now made in turkey, and not by the hitachi company.

the uk's sole supplier is the argos company.

slimboyfat

You what?

50

JW Broadcasting: Russian Convention Travel Report w/Mark Sanderson

by pale.emperor in

https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/latestvideos/pub-jwb_201709_12_video.

a few things about this video:.

it's very nice that they managed to host a convention for the russian brothers and sisters, and that they all got fed.

slimboyfat

To answer my own questions: his parents were/are JWs. He grew up in San Diego (next to Beth Sarum) and was a "collector of Watchtower memorabilia" back in the 1980s. His mother was a JW in Canada and experienced persecution. So he may consider that he has a personal angle on persecution.

Watchman (who I think is Robert King?) says he met him in the 1980s.

http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Statistics/ASR/ASR2016.pdf

He is apparently not married. Or else it's not mentioned on either JW website or JW survey.

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20130715/new-member-governing-body/

http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/mark-sanderson-confirmed-as-new-governing-body-member

He may have been one of the key people behind the 2013 NWT revision and the new Bible collection exhibit at Warwick.

50

JW Broadcasting: Russian Convention Travel Report w/Mark Sanderson

by pale.emperor in

https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/latestvideos/pub-jwb_201709_12_video.

a few things about this video:.

it's very nice that they managed to host a convention for the russian brothers and sisters, and that they all got fed.

slimboyfat

The round face, bald head, centre of picture (and attention), and smirk when he says "maybe not a coincidence" (wink): he gives the appearance of a spoiled child.

I wonder what his background is. Are his parents JWs? Are they still alive? Does he have siblings? Is he married?

50

JW Broadcasting: Russian Convention Travel Report w/Mark Sanderson

by pale.emperor in

https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/latestvideos/pub-jwb_201709_12_video.

a few things about this video:.

it's very nice that they managed to host a convention for the russian brothers and sisters, and that they all got fed.

slimboyfat

As previously noted, the most interesting part of the video to me was where Sanderson says he was tired in January so booked a summer holiday to Finland 🇫🇮 with friends. Do the GB make such travel plans on a whim? Nice to know the lifestyle the GB enjoy. Sanderson apparently made an astute choice when he began taking the emblems in his 20s or so. Think of the other non-anointed bethelites his age stuck in dead end jobs. It's a system that rewards narcissism or lying or both.

20

Explanation please on the change of the term "worldly"

by careful in

i've picked up from several replies to posts here that the org has stopped using the term "worldly" as it applies to people.

this must have happened after i left.

would someone be so kind as to explain the "rationale" behind this shift?

slimboyfat

Hang on, I think I might have mixed it up with another JW phrase.

There was a WT article saying JWs should stop using the term "the Society" in everyday conversation. (Always a very amorphous JW phrase/concept, with overlapping references to the Watchtower as a legal entity, the Governing Body as spiritual leaders, and the "new world society")

Which phrase I think has become less common as a result, but not totally died out.

14

Listening to the meetings from the perspective of a "newly interested" person?

by stuckinarut2 in

just wondering how many others (when you were still in the org) would try and listen to the meeting programmes from the perspective of a newly interested person visiting for the first time?.

i know that i did this, and most times i did, i found it disturbing!

it was not just the "in-house" language and terminology that was odd, but also the actual doctrines, and method of 'teaching' that was odd!.

slimboyfat

The unrealistic presentations are pretty odd. Everyone knows they are unrealistic and often joke about it. But it raises the question, what's the point?

"Do you think God will make the world better?"

And the elder conducting the meeting says:

"Wow that was a very receptive householder you had there." Everyone laughs and they go on to the next unrealistic presentation.

What's the point?