OnTheWayOut

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Posts by OnTheWayOut

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  24

  When did "The Last Days" of JW Organization Begin? Will This Generation See It End?

  by steve2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a growing discourse on this forum has been around what "the end" means.

  as jws, many here spent varying proportions of our lives waiting for the end when an unsettling realization was that the end that approaches is more likely to be from old age than the world's end.

  through the centuries, group after group, has claimed it has "inside" information on the end of the world, drawing in the desperate-for-comfort like moths to flames.

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  OnTheWayOut

  I have to agree with D.O.C. about the "Chicken Little" effect wearing thin when members declare that the sky is falling for over 100 years.

  But somehow, Watchtower has been able to come through that before. Different this time is the 100 years anniversary of the beginning of the short time, and the age of Google for young ones. But a huge factor is the death of print.
  
  The beginning of the end was abandoning of any urgency in the recruiting work. Regardless of what they say, the members see that it is unimportant to get literature into people's hands.
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  24

  the GB's coup of the FDS

  by Magnum in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i believe the gb's takeover of the fds was an illegal coup - not illegal relative to the laws of land, but illegal according to jw "laws" or doctrine.. according to jw doctrine, the fds is god's channel of communication between heaven and earth.

  before the coup, the fds was defined to be all the anointed on earth, and the gb was part of that group and merely the spokesman for the group - individual gb members having no more authority than non-gb members of the fds.. however, a few years ago, the gb, independently of the other members of the fds, decided that it alone was the fds.

  that, to me, was an illegal overthrow of the body (fds); it was a coup.. suppose the u.s. president decided that he has all power, and that he removed the powers of the u.s. congress.

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  OnTheWayOut

  It's a cult.

  The "leaders" were stuck with old doctrine that says anybody can be FDS.
  
  Many rank and file, deliberate or not, decided to be FDS. Even though they had no real power, they were told they did have some. So yes, the governing body had to deal with these people.
  
  Since it's a cult, the "leaders" got rid of the old doctrine that says anybody can be FDS and just tweaked it enough to say they can be anointed, but their rule starts in heaven- so shut up and follow the leaders.
  
  It's a cult.
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  21

  Is the Bible truly inspired?

  by MrRoboto in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so i was reading the book of daniel, starting with chapter 4 (nebuchadnezzar's famous tree chopping/banding dream where the 7 times is introduced) but i noticed that when you don't cherry pick verses and just read straight thru - it really seems like some children's book that was poorly written.

  even though the borg says that this book as written by daniel, chapter 4 is clearly written by "king nebuchad·nezzar to all the peoples, nations, and language groups dwelling in all the earth" after the tree chopping business.

  ) of the rest of the chapters seem to be written in 3rd person (odd, if you are writing about your experiences).

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  OnTheWayOut

  If the Bible was inspired, then we would not have "different" Bibles which depend on which particular books your beliefs accept. The accepted books should have offered something incredible ahead of time that was known to be ahead of time and immensely helped people- something about avoiding the plague or cancer, or even just a warning to save a hundred thousand children from a tsunami in 2004.

  If I was 100% wrong, I would still not be wanting to base my life on what the Bible says when I read about slavery and men ahead of women and the reasons for killing individuals, groups, and whole nations.
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  19

  Alternative witnessing

  by Zyron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  those of us still attending meeting are actively encouraged to use out tablets or smartphones to direct people to jw.org.

  how about, after doing the standard presentation casually say to householder, you can also look at this forum to read of experiences of life as a jw as well as the official version?.

  obviously you need to be working by yourself or with a pimo jw..

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  OnTheWayOut

  I typed it, but don't see it above. If you work by yourself, don't bother to do anything like that.
  Just tell people that might be the slightest bit interested something like, "I am just in it for family." Nothing else.
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  59

  What can the leadership at Watchtower do to turn things around?

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let's play devils advocate here.. put yourself in the governing body's shoes.

  they are well aware of all the issues they are facing.

  they know their numbers (they 'do the math' as they say in the us).

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  OnTheWayOut

  Good point, Flipper. The Mayan calendar expired and there was no apocalypse. So too, the Watchtower calendar has run out because of the grand promises made. They will not turn that around, they will just take all the money they possibly can before it all topples over.
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  19

  Alternative witnessing

  by Zyron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  those of us still attending meeting are actively encouraged to use out tablets or smartphones to direct people to jw.org.

  how about, after doing the standard presentation casually say to householder, you can also look at this forum to read of experiences of life as a jw as well as the official version?.

  obviously you need to be working by yourself or with a pimo jw..

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  OnTheWayOut

  How about, after doing the standard presentation casually say to householder, you can also look at this forum to read of experiences of life as a JW as well as the official version?
  Obviously you need to be working by yourself or with a PIMO JW.
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  59

  A Little Direction Please

  by Brian J in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i'm an active elder, cobe, just got home from the meeting where i handled the treasures part and concluded by announcing a friend of mine has been d/f,.....blah blah blah...and over the last year have woken up.

  i simply cannot spill my guts to my wife and children as it would be family suicide.

  i have zero desire to bash, spread my feelings, or become an "apostate".

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  OnTheWayOut

  Only you can know how far to go. I will tell you that I needed out for my own mental health and my wife did not receive it well. She is still in more than a decade after I left, but I am so glad I left.

  If I had kids, I would not have faded away, but would have offered a way for them to have a more normal upbringing by disassociating.

  Regardless of your decision on how to go about this, you may want to shake loose of those elder duties.
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  8

  Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Jehovah's Witnesses sell The Towers, a storied Brooklyn Heights hotel

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2017/11/1/jehovahs-witnesses-sell-towers-storied-brooklyn-heights-hotel.

  jehovah's witnesses sell the towers, a storied brooklyn heights hotel.

  the jehovah's witnesses have sold the towers, a storied brooklyn heights hotel.

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  OnTheWayOut

  The BORG, which stood for Brooklyn ORGanization, will remain like the fictional Star Trek race of conquerors in many ways. Maybe we will keep the B for "Billions." Ha.
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  92

  San Francisco Giants vs. Kansas City Royals - World Series Winners ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  once again for the 3rd time in 5 years my favorite baseball team the s.f.

  giants are headed to the world series !

  so who do you think will win this years series and your reasons for your predictions ?

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  OnTheWayOut

  Game 7 was really about the first 2 innings for Houston. They got the better of the starting pitcher and then kept it exciting enough the rest of the game.

  But the Dodgers- inning after inning of leaving men on base. WOW! Things could have changed at any time, but it was a great game for the fans.
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  11

  Witnessing Just After Sunrise

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  about everytime i go to the grocery store just after sunrise, i can see the witnesses sitting and waiting inside their cars to distribute literature.

  it is not against the law for them to do that.

  i was wondering do they allow parking lot witnessing in your area?.

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  OnTheWayOut

  The one that gets me in a big city is seeing them inside the buildings and tunnels of commuter train systems. Of course they don't belong there.
  
  As for parked car witnessing. I remember a JW motioning me over to the car as I was walking on the sidewalk. It was a public street, so no private/public parking issue. When she asked me if I would like to read the Watchtower and Awake, I lit into her a little bit.
  "You wave me over for that? Maybe you should get out of the car and try to engage people where they walk instead of just sitting there." ....and I walked away.