Posts by neverendingjourney

38

JW upbringing - the gift that keeps on taking

by Simon in

the things they take from you:.

first they take your childhoodthen they take your familyfinally they take your memorieswe all know that you limit your social interactions so you have few school friends who are not jws.

they openly promote this in their magazines and it's repeated at meetings throughout your formative years.

neverendingjourney

I was raised a JW but my parents were inactive. Unfortunately, I became heavily involved when i was 15. My complete disillusionment began when I was 23, but I wasn't completely out of it until I was 26.

As a result, I feel like I've been, and continue to be, 10 years behind in my emotional development. Even though I'm in my mid 30s I feel like I'm in my mid 20s emotionally. When I first left I thought female coworkers wanted to have sex with me if they invited me to lunch. I had no idea what dating was like in the real world.

I will forever be stunted in my development as a human being since I spent my youth living in a fantasy world that did nothing to prepare me for the real world. There's no fixing that. There are permanent effects to having been a part of this religion.

24

New Light related to Watchtower Society Isolation closing the shop? A scenario

by Gorbatchov in

i was thinking about the next scenario:.

the united states (and western world) are losing influence compared to china, india and other new economy's.. with this decline of influence, the watchtower society, a true american religion and it's subsidiary's corporations are losing profits and losing it's base in much country's under china / india / indonesia / brazil influence.

what i see is that the watchtower society is selling it's main assets: landmark buildings in optimal condition.

neverendingjourney

their CEO Marsha Evans made just under $652,000 .

The GB could certainly draw a salary, and a rather comfortable one at that, and not run afoul of the law. I didn’t mean to imply that they can’t reap financial reward from their position. Some non-profit CEO salaries can rival private-sector CEO salaries. Money is a fantastic motivator. Power is even a greater one. Personally, I don't think the GB is motivated by money. The kind of power they enjoy in their world is rare, almost unique.

The point I was trying to make is that the GB cannot simply liquidate the religion's assets and convert it to their own personal use. Not without becoming some of the most highly sought after criminals in the world. The religion's wealth has been accumulating tax-free for over a century. Uncle Sam is not going to be okay with them simply absconding with the corporation's assets. Also, non-profits can be wound up, but there are very complicated rules that would require that any remaining assets be put to public use. The type of "GB will run off with the money" scenarios need to factor in the incredible crime it would be for them to do so.

24

New Light related to Watchtower Society Isolation closing the shop? A scenario

by Gorbatchov in

i was thinking about the next scenario:.

the united states (and western world) are losing influence compared to china, india and other new economy's.. with this decline of influence, the watchtower society, a true american religion and it's subsidiary's corporations are losing profits and losing it's base in much country's under china / india / indonesia / brazil influence.

what i see is that the watchtower society is selling it's main assets: landmark buildings in optimal condition.

neverendingjourney

How does the fact that no governing body member sits on the boards of directors of the legal entities (and therefore have no legal control of the money) fit into this scenario? Would the current boards just hand over the money because the FDS said so? Also, these entities are registered as not-for-profits. Fleecing these companies as you describe would result in jail time (think Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker).

7

The Watchtower: Roots, Shoots, and Those in Cahoots

by neverendingjourney in

i'm typically not a fan of jw criticism from a christian point of view (the jws are silly, but everything i believe in is truth), but i think this video does a solid job of putting into historical context the religious influences behind the jehovah's witnesses.

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it's pretty eye-opening for those who have not yet researched the origins of the religious movement and who, much as i did, once belived the doctrines originated from the "great minds" of past watchtower society presidents.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_c-pdt0sse.

neverendingjourney

Does every century have its millenarian groups?

I'm certainly no expert on this subject, but Christians began speculating about Christ's return since right after his death (Lord, are your restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time Acts 1:6). The masses didn't have access to the Bible during the Middle Ages, which probably prevented millenarian movements to some degree as the Bible was whatever your priest told you it was.

An interesting thing is that Isaac Newton used his considerable genius to postulate the end of the world in 2060 through his studies of the Bible.

It gets complicated because "Millenarianism" is a more generic term that applies regardless of religion and can be applied to social/political movements. "Millennialism" is a Christian form of Millenarianism and "Millerism" is a subset that describes William Miller's ideas and those of his followers.

Wikipedia actually has entries that describe these movements in great detail.

7

The Watchtower: Roots, Shoots, and Those in Cahoots

by neverendingjourney in

i'm typically not a fan of jw criticism from a christian point of view (the jws are silly, but everything i believe in is truth), but i think this video does a solid job of putting into historical context the religious influences behind the jehovah's witnesses.

.

it's pretty eye-opening for those who have not yet researched the origins of the religious movement and who, much as i did, once belived the doctrines originated from the "great minds" of past watchtower society presidents.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_c-pdt0sse.

neverendingjourney

Many years ago I was witnessing to a guy who had spent some time in Central America with the Peace Corps. There he was introduced to Millenarian thought. In fact, while there he converted to the baha'i faith.

He went as far as reading the Revelation Grand Climax book. He was struck by how similar it sounded to the ideas he was exposed to in Central America, particularly from a Seventh Day Adventist couple he was close to.

It didn't really sink in at the time, but years later after I left the religion and began doing some research it all started coming into focus. Conditional immortality, anti-trinitarianism, gentile times...their eschatology in general, pacifism, Russell was part of a greater movement and many other denominations maintain similar positions on issues which at one time I thought were almost unique to JWism.

Rutherford was able to build a viable religious organization and Knorr after him was able to capitalize on the post WWII environment to grow it into what it is today. Most off the other branches that emerged after the Great Disappointment of 1844 weren't as successful, but that doesn't mean that Russell had any unique insights.

7

The Watchtower: Roots, Shoots, and Those in Cahoots

by neverendingjourney in

i'm typically not a fan of jw criticism from a christian point of view (the jws are silly, but everything i believe in is truth), but i think this video does a solid job of putting into historical context the religious influences behind the jehovah's witnesses.

.

it's pretty eye-opening for those who have not yet researched the origins of the religious movement and who, much as i did, once belived the doctrines originated from the "great minds" of past watchtower society presidents.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_c-pdt0sse.

neverendingjourney

I'm typically not a fan of JW criticism from a Christian point of view (the JWs are silly, but everything I believe in is truth), but I think this video does a solid job of putting into historical context the religious influences behind the Jehovah's Witnesses.

It's pretty eye-opening for those who have not yet researched the origins of the religious movement and who, much as I did, once belived the doctrines originated from the "great minds" of past Watchtower Society presidents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_c-PdT0SsE

54

Is This Site As Active As It Was In The Past?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i'm just curious if jwn is as busy as it was even a year or two ago?

.

sometimes it seems this place buzzes and other times, not so much....but maybe it's all in my head..

neverendingjourney

I miss the feature that used to allow you view the most popular topics of the week/month/year/all time.

I do, too. I'm at the point in my post-JW life where i check in here maybe once a week. It'd be great to have a way to easily pick out important JW news. Those topics were always at or near the top of the most-viewed list.

9

Mark Sanderson NOT listed in Wikipedia's GB Page. Did I miss something?

by neverendingjourney in

wikipedia still shows 7 members: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/governing_body_of_jehovah's_witnesses.

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was this appointment confirmed?.

neverendingjourney

It WAS on Wikipedia, I saw it. It must have been removed recently.

I saw it there as well. Oh well. At some point it'll make it into the publications somehow and you'll have a source you can point to. They won't be able to remove it after that.

9

Mark Sanderson NOT listed in Wikipedia's GB Page. Did I miss something?

by neverendingjourney in

wikipedia still shows 7 members: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/governing_body_of_jehovah's_witnesses.

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was this appointment confirmed?.

neverendingjourney

Wikipedia still shows 7 members: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governing_Body_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses

Was this appointment confirmed?

25

If Sparlock is wrong...

by TD in

jw
friends

...then what else should a jw parent forbid under the same rationale?

jehovah hates magic).

i started a mental list and it boggles the mind.

neverendingjourney

Gerrit Losch (GB member) specifically mentioned Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings as being off limits for Witnesses. This was at an assembly some 7/8 years ago.

It's a slippery slope. When I was growing up, the Sparlock rationale was always promoted by the hardliners, but deviations from orthodoxy were tolerated. If you take the Sparlock rationale to its logical conclusion, how could a Witness graduate high school? He'd have to refuse to read half of his English assignments (Shakespeare, Ancient Greek mythology, etc). Absurd.