Posts by dozy

72

Not invited to congregation “get togethers”. They finally said it

by solomon in

jw
friends

we don’t get many invitations to congregational social gatherings.

we don’t attend midweek meetings and miss about 1/3 of sunday meetings.

we go in service at least once a month.

dozy

I had faded for a few months ( my wife was still attending ) when an invite came from an elder to a "going away congregation party" he was holding for a young couple who were our good friends in the congregation. To be honest , I didn't really want to go so as I thought it could be a bit embarrassing and anyway I was very busy at work so I had pretty much decided the best option , to save any fuss or hassle , was on the night not to turn up , giving as an excuse that ( delete as required ) I had been called into work or wasn't well or one of the kids wasn't well and my wife could attend if she wanted to. Even when I was a fully assimilated JW I was never really a big fan of these kind of JW social occasions.

Some of the other more self righteous elders got to hear of it and one night a week or so before the party came the dreaded "knock at the door" and two elders turned up. They were pretty nervous and told me that the elders had met and decided ( by majority ) to rescind my invitation. I asked if they had told the elder who had invited me and they said that though he disagreed with the decision he was bound by collective responsibility.

I then asked for a scriptural basis for their decision and suddenly there was a kind of "rabbit in the headlights" look and the two elders just said - sorry , this is what we have decided. They didn't even have their bibles with them. I showed them the scripture in 1st Corinthians which talks about not even eating with a man who is immoral , an idolater , drunk etc and asked into which definition they were placing me. I asked if Bro Xxxxx ( a convicted paedophile in our congregation ) would be attending and they said they weren't sure. They then shuffled away , saying that they had other congregation business to attend to. It was all a bit surreal,

My wife was very upset and said that she wouldn't attend and this was kind of the last straw for her and she stopped attending the meetings a couple of weeks later. The whole episode was just pathetic really.

20

Jehovah's Witnesses commission secret report highly critical of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

by jwleaks in

jw
friends

on 14 november 2018, australian-based barristers david bennett ac, qc and james gibson presented to watchtower australia and the jehovah’s witnesses organisation their commissioned review and opinion on the findings and recommendations of the royal commission into the institutional responses to child sexual abuse as it related to jehovah’s witnesses.. .

the review entitled “review of the commission’s investigation into jehovah’s witnesses and its ensuing reports” was divided into four parts, as follows:.

part one considered the history and powers of royal commissions in general.. .

dozy

At least on this occasion they didn't employ "Chronica" Monica Applewhite , so called "expert witness" , flown over by the Society to Australia at vast expense to give a frankly hopeless testimony.

The premise of the defence seems to be that abuse amongst people who "happen to be one of JWs" ( the phrase tells you all you need to know about how the Society views rank & file JWs ) doesn't apply. Basically , because the abuse usually doesn't occur in a JW institution ( such as a school ) then really it is nothing at all to do with the Society. The implication they are trying to make is on the basis that criminal actions by a paedophile who , for example , "happened to be a Catholic" by perhaps attending an occasional service and self identifying as a Catholic should not be blamed on the Catholic church.

What the two lawyers either didn't appreciate ( or more likely , choose to ignore to try to muddy the waters ) is the all encompassing nature of JW life. While most JWS ( other than Bethelites ) are not 24/7 in a JW building , nevertheless the religion has a huge hold on its adherents and dictates virtually everything in their day-to-day lives.

They also fail to realise that JWs are trained to , in the first instance , sort out any issues in-house , including criminal activities. They are generally somewhat suspicious of the secular authorities and are strongly counselled against "bringing Jehovah's name into reproach". For example , in the case of fraud between JWs , they are told to sort it out between themselves , possibly escalating to judical action in the congregation , rather than taking court action.

25

"Fine Witness" diluted in latest experience

by neat blue dog in

the latest jwdotorg experience starts very familiarly:.

danielle, one of jehovah’s witnesses in south africa, found a bag that a customer had left behind in a coffee shop.

inside the bag was a wallet with money and credit cards.. when the owner met her to get it back,.

dozy

Yes - isn't their a scripture about not "blowing ones own trumpet"? Seems the Society aren't aware of it.

I have a friend who is a clerk working in the local police station. They are always getting lost items handed in to them - cellphones , wallets , keys etc - on a daily basis. Also the local Facebook group constantly have posts from people who have found debit cards , phones etc.

And I agree with the previous poster -when it comes to basic honesty , I lost count of the number of times I was ripped off by JWs. I rented out an apartment to one for three months - they never paid a penny in rent , left a stack of unpaid utility bills and trashed the flat until I virtually had to change the locks and kick them out. A JW businessman in a neighbouring congregation always used to tell me that he had one golden rule - never employ or have any business dealings with JWs.

15

Australian Bethel propose building a media complex

by Listener in

there's a post on exjw reddit stating that the ibsa are planning on building a media operation at the sydney bethel.. the estimated cost is $10 million aud and this in spite of the fact that they still have not joined the redress scheme or attempted in any monetary way of assisting abused victims within the organization.. the link below includes detailed plans.

they will be converting part of the current printery into a media complex.. they also propose to build a theme park in the form of a historical biblical site, including a man made mound and what one person suggests is a temple.. its not surprising that a bunch of old men in new york has dreamed all of this up - film sets in new york, england and now australia.

they are bonkers but it's a novel way of getting money from their followers.. https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/ernz3y/new_media_centre_at_the_australian_sydney_bethel/.compact.

dozy

If the Society really believed Armageddon was imminent they would be bunkering down ( no pun intended ) and simplifying things , just as they are always telling the rank & file to do.

9

JW Elder Swan Sermon

by Vanderhoven7 in

what happens when an elder learns the tatt.. https://youtu.be/tkyujamfziq.

dozy

The speaker was the poster called "Little Toe" about 20 years ago - he used to post here but I think he has moved on now. He is currently a church minister in central Scotland.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/20680/going-out-bang

https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/experiences/littletoe-disassociation-talk.php

16

Just one foot in...

by Jofi_Wofo in

...with one foot out.. *deep breath*.

from day one, i've felt like i was one foot out of this religion, but it took me until over a decade to reach the point where i am ready to move on.

i'm a newly registered user to this site.

dozy

Welcome...

13

Did you understand the individual books of the bible ?

by Steel in

the last couple years i have been really getting into watching these videos called the bible protect.

there is no real dogmatic axe to grind.

just simple 10 -15 min videos on the individual books of the bible and kind of how it’s all connected together.

dozy

Most JWs - myself ( as an now ex ) included - just have a pretty superficial knowledge of the bible. It is anchored on the basic Society principles of "obey the slave" and "go out and preach". It's basically a kind of kindergarten level. Remember - JWs are actively told not to do any external research or to learn any hebrew or greek.

I remember an elder asked me to accompany him on a return visit he had on a guy who was a 20 year old theology student. We discussed things like the early history of the church in the NT and the trinity. Both of us thought we "knew our bibles" but the guy totally tore us apart - showed scriptures and used reasoning that we had never come across.

The Society quotes we used ( eg from the early Christians ) were shown to be pulled out of context or embellished. 80 combined years of attending meetings between us counted for nothing - we were left furtively looking up the concordance at the back of our bibles trying to make a defence. It really brought home to me just how little we actually knew and was a big "eureka" moment in me realising that this wasn't the truth.

65

Would You Ever Go Back To The Witnesses??

by minimus in

jw
friends

every once in a while you hear people say they actually “miss” their old witness friends and or family.

some would have even stayed in the organization if they became a bit more liberal and open minded.

.

dozy

No. I do sometimes miss my old friends and family but I'd never return.

27

Ever notice a lot of JWs don't have pets?

by JimmyYoung in

i was told by several elders to not get a dog when i was looking for one in the 80s.

the end was close and we needed to focus on the preaching work.

i know some have pets but a lot don't.

dozy

I don't recall any illustration in the Societies publications or any JW dot Borg video showing a family with a dog or cat. Even the "New Order" ones tend to depict them petting lions etc rather than any domestic animal.

For any "strong" JW committed to the religion , having a pet , particularly a "higher maintenance" one like a dog , is difficult to combine with the hamster wheel of never ending Watchtower related activity.

39

Who make up the new memorial partakers?

by jwfacts in

when the doctrine regarding 1935 being the close of the calling was done away with in 2007, it was not unexpected to see the number rise.

over the next few years it went from around 8,500 to 10,500. this seemed to indicate that there were a couple of thousand people that may have felt they had the calling all along, but too shy to profess it.

for the 30 year period between the mid 1978 and 2007, parktakers had barely dropped.

dozy

I have often wondered about the mechanics of JWs becoming "anointed". Presumably it is a kind of "born again" style psychosis as explained here https://www.huffpost.com/entry/christian-belief-through_b_216364

But it often doesn't seem as emotionally charged - it is as if the individual has "a strong feeling" that they are chosen without the kind of emotional fanfare. And as other posters have said - rather than being encouraged by the Society , it is positively discouraged and other JWs are , at best , usually somewhat unimpressed by the person becoming "anointed". Maybe it is a kind of "born again lite".