Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  48

  Jehovah's Limp Witnesses Pointed Me to JW.org When I Was Willing to Talk

  by steve2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  several months ago i approached a nice young couple who were standing by a jw literature stand in my local community.

  they were pleasant and polite but incredibly stilted when it came to answering my "innocent" questions about their beliefs.

  this was the occasion of jws featuring the article headlined "is religion dying?".

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  Doubting Bro

  The reality is that the overwhelming number of JWs HATE the "ministry". I was just with some JW "friends" socially when they were talking about a local break spot and the direct quote (from an elder) was: "breaks are the best part of field service". While he said it as a joke, I can bet that most JWs feel the same way.

  I never liked it but thought there was something wrong with me. I was out every week but once an elder, I devised a system. We lived in a rural area, so I would get a territory at least 15 minutes away, spend about half hour or 45 minutes driving from door to door, then take a break and make RVs for the rest of the morning. If it was raining, then 100% RVs.

  If the WTS were to make an announcement that JWs didn't have to report their time anymore, how many JWs would still go out in service? How many would put in pioneer hours?

  I think the community apathy and apathy among JWs as a whole has really diminished any zeal towards the ministry. Now, people simply go out to "get their time in".
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  10

  Wills - A disgruntled father making a final point

  by Listener in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  an unusual and amusing will was contested in an australian court a few years ago.the deceased man separated from his wife in 1959 and shortly after the wife was baptized as a jw.

  in the following years their four children also got baptized.

  apparently this enraged the deceased for the remainder of his life, who was himself a catholic.his will included two conditions that his four children were required to fulfill before they would qualify to receive their share of the inheritance.

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  Doubting Bro

  I don't see this as any different from when a JW parent cuts a DF/DA child out of their will and leaves the money to the WTS. Legally, you can leave your money to whoever you wish. Ideally, you'd want to continue your legacy by passing things on to your children. But, obviously the relationship was strained and thus the conditions. Was their being JWs the cause of the strain? Likely but it could have been more him than them. Really difficult to tell. At least he left things to his relatives and not to some huge non-profit organization.

  It's a shame that religion is such a divisive influence. Probably the most divisive in human history.
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  17

  Why I DON'T Fear The Future - A Conversation With My JW Mum

  by Divergent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  3 questions i hit my jw mum with:.

  first question: do you believe that god is love?

  third question: do you think a god of love would choose to destroy me for not doing something i cannot do (be a jw) because i am not convinced rather than convince me beyond doubt?

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  Doubting Bro

  But what if God has convinced you that the WTS isn't the truth. By not following His direction, aren't you willingly sinning against Holy Spirit?
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  35

  What age were you when you were counted as a publisher?

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the wts has always included minors and adults in the same categories - publisher and baptized.. i am interested in knowing how many minors, approximately, are included in the publisher count.

  and, at what age a person started publishing.

  what age was the youngest publisher reported?.

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  Doubting Bro

  Was 8 when I joined the school, 10 publisher, baptized at 17 (late).

  As far as current makeup, in my congo there are some kids but honestly maybe out of 110 or so publishers, only about 10-15 unbaptized publishers who are minors. There are just a couple of minor baptized kids.

  When I was a kid, the number of UBPs was much higher and I know we probably had 30 or so out of 100 publishers. I think that JWs aren't having as many kids as they used to (English - USA)
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  25

  Watchtower's "New Light" re Babylonish Captivity, November 2016 WT

  by Room 215 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  has anyone noticed the wt's most recent shell-game revisionism in the november study tractazine, relating to the shifting of its "babylonish captivity" doctrine, from a 3 1/2-year period around the ww 1 years, to a period now spanning about 16 centuries, or from the 4th century (constantine's legal recognition of christianity) to 1919?.

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  Doubting Bro

  Eventually, they will need to scrap everything since it's all inter-related. It hasn't fit together (well it never did but at least it used to actually work on a timeline) in quite sometime. Every time they make a change, the rest of their interpretation suddenly doesn't fit.

  Honestly, when they started making changes going back to the change in generation in 1995, that was an eyeopener for me and cracks began to form in my belief. Of course, like many here, I pushed it down and doubled down in my efforts. What an idiot!!
  
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  30

  GB "... it can make mistakes when explaining the Bible ..." Simplified version WT Feb 2017

  by freddo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  study article: who is leading god's people today?

  start of paragraph 12.. standard version: "the governing body is neither inspired nor infallible.

  therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction.".

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  Doubting Bro

  They've always said they were not infallible. It's the saying they make mistakes that feels different. The old way was getting clarifications which in fact were complete reversals of previous positions and not "clarifications" at all. But, they never couched it in terms of a "mistake" only a "new understanding".

  The more I think about this, the more I wonder if there is a major change coming.

  But, the average JW WILL NOT CARE! Seriously, there may be a few that get awakened just like with the last crazy "adjustment" with the generation. But, I'm not sure if at this point, anything they say or do would cause a major fallout. As a matter of fact, I would venture to guess that any major doctrinal adjustment would either 1) go over everyone's head or 2) get people more enthused for a short period.

  Cults change things all the time to keep people off balance. And so the GB will continue to make changes big and small and the beat will go on. Eventually this religion will bleed out by a thousand cuts but it will be a slow fade into the dark night and that will take several generations (real ones not their definition).

  I hope I'm wrong but I don't think I am.
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  9

  Circuit Organization Guidelines English (S-330-E Us)

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  circuit organization guidelines english (s-330-e us) 03/13.

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  Doubting Bro

  Much thanks go to both you and your sources!!!
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  15

  Realtors and Financial Advisors needed: Watchtower Real Estate deals

  by Hecce in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/ds/documentsearch/partynameresult?page=2.

  i don’t know if this topic has been discussed before.

  here are the public records of some of the re transactions done by the wt.

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  Doubting Bro

  The IRS couldn't keep the tax exemption away from the Church of Scientology and after that loss, I don't think they want any parts of wacky religions. In the US, freedom of religion is equated with freedom from taxes and its so ingrained in the culture, I don't see it changing anytime soon.
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  39

  The increasing WT magazine

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  apart from the interesting block color change for the title strip on the front page.... the new 2017 wt mag has some new (updated printing figures):.

  2016: produced each issue: 58,987,000 available in 282 languages .

  2017: produced each issue: 61,651,000 available in 294 languages.

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  Doubting Bro

  Interesting they say produced instead of printed. I wonder how much of that number includes downloads?
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  33

  Disassociation revealed what type of man my father really is.

  by Paul Mooney in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i began my exit from the jehovah’s witness organization about 5 years.

  i was a 4th generation born-in, with all the baggage that comes with having the “spiritual heritage” attached to the group.

  i was an elder/bethelite/pioneer/whatever other useless privilege there was, i had no family or friends outside of the organization… my entire life was that org.

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  Doubting Bro

  Paul,

  What a moving note your dad sent you. It's so sad what this religion does to people and hopefully you'll be able to smuggle something back to him.