wow.
i was surprised this week by calls from active jws complaining about the new magazine format, and more begging for money from the platform.. frankly i was surprized by this reaction since this is old news to jwn members.
i guess actually shuffling to the bookroom and grabbing the new "awake tracts" minus the inside cover forward ...awakened many sleepy, catatonic, bored jws who never read the things or go on the internet anyway.. any feedback from other areas?.
We always loved to see the improvements in the magazines...what a hype when they went full color! All the JWs were SO proud to carry them door to door, so maybe the downsize and formats seem like a cop out to them now, a shameful thing rather than the opposite.
Perhaps as well, with the demonization of the internet well planted in their minds, being told to go to the internet for more information might also be seen as a cop out...
I hope so anyway!
Oz
he's asking if i've read the first page of the new watchtower.. says page 8 admits and exposes the society's mistaken expectations.. says that both mags have been adjusted to reflect the understanding of generation.
asking if it is my position that witnesses have made claims to be inspired prophets.... and saying if it is, maybe *we* can consider together some examples in the bible of others who have had wrong expectations and have gone ahead of god's timetable and see how god handled that..
not a lot different to what they have said at other times when they feel the need to justify themselves.
just a load of generalized dribble about better to be ready than not and no harm done.
NO RESPECT at all for the bullshite they published to fool the public, and to comfort the rank and file over why they are still here.
oz
the jws just called.
they are new to the congregation since i left in 2002/3.. they were offering a dvd for deaf people to 'learn what god requires of me".
i said there were no deaf people here.. the other guy that was just standing there asked if there were deaf people in this area.
perhaps you could have asked them if it was the video about masturbation...
oz
imagine that it was possible to precisely measure the amount of suffering in the world at any given moment - a cosmic "pain meter".
decide for yourself what the unit of measurement would be.. we can only imagine a fraction of the combined suffering that is being felt right now.
physical pain, emotional despair, grief, desperation, loss, terror and hopelessness.. of course if there is an omniscient god then he knows to the last iota what that theoretical meter would read right now.. the bible contains a number of answers to the question of suffering - ever since the babylonian exile one popular answer has been to blame his nemesis the devil, "we know that we are children of god, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
Personally i position myself as Deist
i think god for want of a better word, is off on the far side of the galaxy playing pool and screwing as many sexy under godesses as he likes.
Oz
they had book bags strapped to their shoulders.
they watched me as i turned my car around and i think they might have thought that i was going to clip them.
the younger 20 something year old man, raised his hand to acknowledge me as if to say, "hi and thanks for not hitting us".. they continued their s l o w "pioneer shuffle" and i went my merry way..
well perhaps a sunglass-less red dot driving a car is scarier than one with sunglasses?
I mean, sunglasses give and instant 'cool' factor you know...but just a plain red dot, in an angry shade of red to boot just might flip out any pedestrian. They could probably see the red of your eyes.
perhaps they thought red meant El Diablo...
oz
this is my first time now that i'm registered.
i've been reading here for a while though.. it's been a long journey to get here, but now i have turned my back on everything i've known for such a long time, but a new road lies ahead, and this is one of the first steps on it.. .
welcome and yes that is a great story.
Do you look back and wonder how on earth they got you in the first place?
Oz
today marks the 49th anniversary of president kennedy's assassination.
please share your stories of that day if you were around then.
it is said that almost everyone in america who was around then remembers exactly where he or she was when they heard the news.. .
I know I shit my nappy that day...
on another note, i just finished reading Stephen Kings novel 11.22.63, about a guy who goes back in time to stop it. Fascinating fiction.
oz
just found out that the australian governong body member known as geoffrey jackson got engaged to a sister about two weeks ago.
it really shocked me at first but then i remembered how other members of the gb have remarried in the past like daniel sidlik.
what made me say "woah" was hearing that the holy bride to be is really young!
At the end of the day, regardless of ages and whatever floats boats, the hoo har really is about why 1/8th of the Faithful slave desires to take a wife in the first place considering the very very very near at the door i can hear it breathing armageddon?
I would hope that at least a few get stumbled out by this.
I guess he just can't resist the desires incidental to youth advancing years...
oz
hope you don't mind me posting.
i'm a freelance writer, and am currently writing a story on the jehovah's witnesses church for a melbourne magazine.
i've spoken with an elder/spokesperson of a melbourne jw church, who explained the official positions of the church at length, but i'm really interested in getting more of a sense of the day to day experiences of jws, both current and former.
Thay are a dangerous bunch, mark our words.
i just rescued two teenagers form them recently
Curious as to what angle you plan to take with the article.
there are so many angles that you could write several books let alone a magazine article.
Personally the best article will be one that alerts the public to just how much mind control they practice and to the Candace conti case in the U.S.
stick to cold hard facts.
sorry, i dont mean to tell you how to do your job! I just hate seeing them portrayed as just a slightly annoying alternative to mainstream christianity... they are down right dangerous. Dont be fooled by any spin doctor from them.
Oz from south australia
i was having a conversation with a jw relative recently i casually mentioned how much better the world is than a few centuries.
obviously the jw was incredulous.
the next day i found an email in my inbox listing a few qoutes from notable people saying how the world has gotten much worse since 1914 and that 1914 was a pivitol year.
A good reply but I would have ignored their points in reply as they did yours.
challenge them to answer yours one at a time.
ask for facts to back up their statements.
by the way, a great list of how things are better than ever.
oz
