Posts by ScenicViewer

21

Never Thought I'd Say This, But I've Found Something to Look Forward to in the Meetings

by Sorry in

my therapist inspired me to start looking on the bright side.

even though i've pretty much given up listening to the bs and usually tune out the meeting by playing on my phone/tablet, i find the local needs talk oddly fascinating.

probably because it's the only part that doesn't seem outlined to death (at least at our hall), and you truly don't know what you get.

ScenicViewer

A gate has never stopped a criminal from breaking in before, so it's naive to think living in such a place will make any difference in your safety. That's the naive thinking the world exhibits. Rather silly to invest in a barrier that's not going to solve crime."

Where I live almost all Kingdom Halls are "gated," having a fence all around the building. Someone has to arrive early to unlock the gate to let cars into the parking lot.

I suppose it's for a combination of reasons - to stop break-ins and to keep people away from the parking lot during non-meeting hours (skate boarders for example) where injury could cause liability issues.

"No matter where you live, Jehovah will look out for you."

If JWs really believe that, then why are KHs gated? Is this another double standard of JWs?

15

This is the FIRST TIME I Didn't Get an Invitation To The Memorial!

by minimus in

jw
friends

and it's the first time i didn't know that it already occurred.

i must be really slipping!😈.

ScenicViewer

It was the first year for me too. There is an older couple in the congregation, wife is a pioneer, that would always mail me an invitation, but not this year.

I wonder if it has to do with last summer's convention instructions to shun inactive ones who are sinning, which can even mean something as mundane as speaking of the GB's hypocrisy or questioning a Watchtower teaching.

Or considering how the information was presented - that inactive ones who are sinning should be shunned - and considering how judgmental JWs tend to be, it might be automatically assumed by many JWs that if you have been inactive and away from meetings for a long time you must be sinning, therefore you are being treated as DF'd.

8

Biased report of JW trial in Russia

by Citizenfour in

i'm pretty sure most of us are keenly following the trial in russia via twitter or perhaps some other means, and are awaiting the results of the trial.

after the weekend, and what i presume to be a memorial break, the hearings resumed today.

i noticed however that unlike previous days, when it finally got to the prosecutor's moment to examine 4 ex-witnesses testimony on extremist behavior, the twitter feed relaying the trial information "suddenly" lost contact.

ScenicViewer

"We see that the witnesses are giving testimony based on written materials, repeating the arguments of the so-called sectological literature. Some of them are mentioned in public sources as activists of the movements that are struggling with the Jehovah’s Witnesses," a lawyer for the defendants said.

I suppose "activists of the movements that are struggling with the Jehovah's Witnesses" refers to apostates and "sectological literature" refers to apostate literature.

Why in the world would JWs try to defend themselves in a court by saying, in effect, "they are apostates your honor, you can't trust them, they are mentally diseased?" That is the kind of arguments that JWs use among themselves, elders counseling publishers for example, but what makes them think the court cares about such nonsense?

Seems like this is Watchtower shooting itself in the foot, since a defense like that will end up giving credibility to the apostates.

Bad move.

31

UK Memorial attendances up this year?!

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

my congregation had around 25 more people at the memorial last night than last year, and the two other congregations i have family in all experienced a similar increase in about 25 more people present.

umm, i'm surprised, having thought this year would see a memorial decline again.

and i'm kind of disappointed..

ScenicViewer

There was always a fluctuation in attendances due to world events.

Any place that had a thunder storm will see a Memorial attendance increase.

16

The GB wants us to read this bible passage to you!

by StephaneLaliberte in

i had a brother visit me yesterday to invite me to the memorial.

as usual, despite the unspoken passive aggressiveness, i was polite,.

anyway, this year, he started his presentation by saying: "the governing body (gb) wants us to read this bible passage to you!

ScenicViewer

By using that kind of language the elders are trying to make the GB appear loving, accessible, and close to you. It is none of those. It's just sickening creature worship.

10

Watchtower Corporation Days Are So Numbered, Thank You Information Age!

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i think if we could have a graph of how the change rate of technology has sky rocketed during the last century or perhaps the last three centuries, the point would be clearly made.. say we had a huge graph of technological progress of man since his ability to make fire, about 600,000 years ago, we'd see that a new techno advancement in the species happened every 50,000 years or so, then doubling every so often till we reached the say 14th century then the doubling must have got into high gear, till now in the information age where light speed sets the limits.

now we have information at our finger tips and no need for making a laborious trips to library.

case in point type in jehovah's witnesses in any search engine.. ignorance is in a down turn no matter how hard the governing body demonize higher education, the internet, and whatever.. as this younger generation with information at your finger tips becomes of age no matter how young you get them committed by being baptized, it spells doom for these clowns running this corporation.

ScenicViewer

I hope it's true. I personally don't expect the Watchtower religion to go away in the foreseeable future, but go into decline? Absolutely! And unless we are all misreading the signs the decline has already started. I wonder what the religion will be like in 30 years.

30

I'm 90% PIMO but events in Russia made me stop and think maybe Jehovah is real and helping

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

i'm at the stage where i'd love a big scandal to come along showing clearly that the j.w's are not the true religion, but sometimes i get touched inside by various thoughts or events, the russian court trial being one of them.. i mean, j.w's are understandably fixated with attending the memorial, so why didn't the court say it will resume on monday or tuesday, instead setting wednesday 12 april as the date?

part of me believes the comments from pro-j.w's that jehovah moved events so they could attend the memorial.. it seems the j.w's will not be banned, which makes my mind and heart wrestle between thinking jah's behind it, or maybe the ministry of justice is just woefully prepared compared to the superb australian royal commission team who did their homework.

it surprises me the russians seemingly haven't done any homework..

ScenicViewer

I mean, J.W's are understandably fixated with attending the Memorial, so why didn't the court say it will resume on Monday or Tuesday, instead setting Wednesday 12 April as the date?

Are you personally aware of the schedule that court uses? Maybe Mon and Tue are used for other types of business. Remember the trial started on Wed, not Mon or Tue, so to resume on Wed doesn't seem terribly odd.

Aren't you making a leap in assuming Jehovah had something to do with it?

30

I'm 90% PIMO but events in Russia made me stop and think maybe Jehovah is real and helping

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

i'm at the stage where i'd love a big scandal to come along showing clearly that the j.w's are not the true religion, but sometimes i get touched inside by various thoughts or events, the russian court trial being one of them.. i mean, j.w's are understandably fixated with attending the memorial, so why didn't the court say it will resume on monday or tuesday, instead setting wednesday 12 april as the date?

part of me believes the comments from pro-j.w's that jehovah moved events so they could attend the memorial.. it seems the j.w's will not be banned, which makes my mind and heart wrestle between thinking jah's behind it, or maybe the ministry of justice is just woefully prepared compared to the superb australian royal commission team who did their homework.

it surprises me the russians seemingly haven't done any homework..

ScenicViewer

Oops, duplicate post.

30

I'm 90% PIMO but events in Russia made me stop and think maybe Jehovah is real and helping

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

i'm at the stage where i'd love a big scandal to come along showing clearly that the j.w's are not the true religion, but sometimes i get touched inside by various thoughts or events, the russian court trial being one of them.. i mean, j.w's are understandably fixated with attending the memorial, so why didn't the court say it will resume on monday or tuesday, instead setting wednesday 12 april as the date?

part of me believes the comments from pro-j.w's that jehovah moved events so they could attend the memorial.. it seems the j.w's will not be banned, which makes my mind and heart wrestle between thinking jah's behind it, or maybe the ministry of justice is just woefully prepared compared to the superb australian royal commission team who did their homework.

it surprises me the russians seemingly haven't done any homework..

ScenicViewer

You said,

I'm at the stage where I'd love a big scandal to come along showing clearly that the J.W's are not the true religion...

Then you said,

... the superb Australian Royal Commission team who did their homework. [Reference to Watchtower's child molestation issues]

Why isn't that scandal enough?

37

Abandoned literature carts, maybe the end of them?

by sp74bb in

jw
friends

an innocent picture of a city in my country, spain.

the pic says everything.

many jw are really disgusted about everything, even their new preaching cart.

ScenicViewer

Hecce: It is possible that the two persons at the end of the sign are the publishers, they have been instructed to stand away from the carts; not to scare away the interested people with their presence

TheWonderofYou: Why should a nice smiling person scare somebody? Thats absolut stupid thinking.

Maybe not so stupid at all. As Hecce said, it's their 'presence,' not their 'faces,' that would scare people off. People could be scared away by someone's presence in the sense that they don't want to be engaged in conversation about religion or they don't want to have to hear a pitch by someone looking to make converts, not because the 'smiling faces' are frightening in themselves.