i thought about this when i read the expression in another thread, "someone was stumbled", they would never tell you who the person was, and simply used it to control you, or it got worse, some times it was "you might stumble someone" .. who were these stumbling loons of which they spoke ?
not only was it a control mechanism, it encouraged you to not be your real self, ever.. i liked the response of one of my jw relatives to this, where they expected him to change the person he was, he said "these people accusing me are not perfect are they ?
no, well then, they cannot expect perfection from me".
Some JWs will say, "You're stumbling me" as a way of getting others to stop what they're doing and make them feel doubly guilty for doing it in the first place.
Of course, as Punkofnice pointed out, it's the spiritually weak, not the spiritually strong, people who get stumbled.
what i mean by the title of this thread is what has happened to a relative of mine, one who is really upset about this factor:.
this relative is a distant cousin on my mother's side of the family.
she studied as a child and got baptized at 14 1/2 years old.
Russell taught that the end would come in 1914, following a 40 year harvest period after Jesus' (supposed) invisible return in 1874.
Since then, the organization has speculated on numerous dates for the end, all of which came to nothing.
They said there was no need to go to college or plan for retirement because the "new system" was so close and because "you will never grow old in this system of things."
Despite seeing many brothers and sisters like HiddlesWife's cousin grow old with no savings, no retirement plan, minimal (if any) insurance, and no chance for improvement, most JWs continue to believe that the end is just around the corner and that they have no need to plan for their own futures.
if anyone were to come up to you claiming that they are the faithful and discreet slave, how would you go about proving them to be false, based upon scripture?.
estephan.
The Gentiles Times Reconsidered by Carl Olaf Jonsson demolishes the 607 BCE date for the fall of Jerusalem and with it the 1914 calculations.
https://direkte.vg.no/nyhetsdognet/news/jehovas-vitner-nektes-statsstoette.5z-pnao3e?utm_source=share-btn.
08:20 27.1.kristoffer solberg.
jehovah's witnesses denied state aid.
Tip to the GB: If you don't want to be controlled by those evil, worldly governments, don't partner with them by taking their handouts.
Get your library cards some other way.
it's becoming unbearable for me to attend another meeting.
i dread coming to the weekly sunday public talk and watchtower study.
the talks are ''repeats'' of a ''repeat.
When I first attended a meeting at a KH, I found it very interesting because it was so different from the church I grew up in.
But then I soon realized that WT meetings were essentially all the same.
I found the WT studies to be nothing but mindless repetition.
https://eu.recordonline.com/story/news/local/2022/11/29/jehovahs-witnesses-ramapo-campus-will-expand-growing-hudson-valley-empire/69674158007/.
Meanwhile, they are selling KHs like crazy, forcing JWs who built their halls to go elsewhere.
lol .
w54 5/1 p. 277 par.
17 - some of the “great crowd” are now serving in position of “princes,” .
Are all elders considered princes?
JWs have to obey them as if they are.
if anyone were to come up to you claiming that they are the faithful and discreet slave, how would you go about proving them to be false, based upon scripture?.
estephan.
Do dozens of false prophecies and doctrinal flip-flops qualify as disproving the claim?
If not, what would?
one of the first prayers that many people learn is the lord’s prayer, which jesus taught his followers.
this prayer is found in what is commonly called the new testament.
the prayer begins: “our father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified [or hallowed].” (matthew 6:9) yet, god’s name, rendered in english as “jehovah” or sometimes “yahweh,” is rarely found in english translations of the new testament.
Interesting that Jesus said to pray, "Our Father..." rather than "Jehovah..."
i have just started to steep the mincemeat for my mince pies in dark rum .
christmas is a big deal in my family and circle of friends.
however among ex jws it's a bit different or so l understand.
I wasn't raised in the borg so it's easy and natural for me to celebrate Christmas.
