i can`t believe the tidbits i`m finding out about the changes ,dumbing down of the meetings i used to attend and participate in up until the late 1980`s ...
I totally forgot about the Written Review. That thing was harder than a tests I took in high school. I could only imagine springing one of those on Witnesses who have only been in since the dumbing down of the religion has taken place.
"No, brothers. 'Go to JW.Org' is not the correct answer to this question. Not any of them. Stop writing that for all your answers."
there was a time when brooklyn bethel was emblazoned with the words; "read god's word the bible daily" but it seems to me now that even the bible has taken second place to jw.org.
i remember having lots of studies using the 'truth' book.
we asked the students in those days to prepare well and look up the scriptures in their own copy of the bible.
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Go to JW.Org. I don’t have the time or knowledge to answer your question.’” - Matt. 22:36, 37 NWT
Yeah. It is that pathetic.
i can`t believe the tidbits i`m finding out about the changes ,dumbing down of the meetings i used to attend and participate in up until the late 1980`s ...
The Theocratic Ministry School and Service meeting were two 45 minute meetings with a song/prayer on each side and a song in the middle. For that 90 minutes of program there was about 3 to 4 hours of study prep before the meeting if you looked up every scripture sited. Study prep involved getting deep into the subject matter to have well prepare, heartfelt, insightful answers during the meeting.
I have not been to a meeting since the change, but my understanding is that it is now shorter, there is little to no study prep because any answer is to be a quick reciting of the words in the source material. Other than that, most parts are prepared and presented in video format by headquarters in New York.
What used to be like attending college courses to prepare the congregation to be public ministers is now a weekly indoctrination and brainwashing. Leave your brain at home. Watchtower will do all the thinking for you.
myth:.
speculation... .
expectation... .
Be careful when using the words "all, none, always," and "never."
myth:.
speculation... .
expectation... .
Truth - Was, Is, and Will Always be a fact.
Myth - A belief that evolves to keep it alive.
at one assembly(tm), i was asked to relate an 'experience(tm)' which i did.
however, during rehearsals, the geezer in charge elder or co or some such title, told me that i shouldn't tell it the way it was.
i did a 're-enactment(tm)' with another 'brother(tm)'.
To make matters worse, how many of these "experiences" that were enhanced were of JW kids only to have the other parents berate their own children by saying "You should be more like Johnny Experience on the stage"?
have you ever reinstate somebody even if they are not that repentant?.
My wife and I did something before she was legally my wife.
have you ever reinstate somebody even if they are not that repentant?.
I went to the elders once because I felt guilty over a sin I committed. I was an exemplary brother, had every privilege they could give me, had no disciplinary record, and it was impossible for me to commit that sin again. Verdict - We believe you are truly repentant. However, you still must be punished. You lose all privileges until further notice.
Confessed sin? Check
Repentant? Check
Forgiven by Jehovah? Check
Still need a organizational punishment? According to 3 elders who had less time in the organization than myself - yes.
At that point I pretty much knew that Judicial Committees being "Spirit guided" was all a lie.
ok, to start, i no longer believe the scriptures are inspired.
may be some writers were influenced but that does not mean all what they wrote was correct.
does this mean there is no creator?
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Jesus of Nazareth, Luke 17:21
By oneself is evil done,
by oneself defiled,
by oneself it’s left undone,
by self alone one purified.
Purity, impurity on oneself depend,
no one can purify another.
Siddhartha Gautama (the first Buddha), The Dhammapada 12:165
500 BC a man in Nepal by the name of Siddhartha Gautama was born. Gautama claimed to achieve enlightenment at the age of 30 and shared his enlightenment the best way he knew how - through a common ground of religion. Gautuma is the first Buddha and gave us his teachings (the Dharma), which have a Hindu tone as Gautuma and his contemporaries were raised as Hindus. However, Gautuma was a revolutionary and despised the religions class. This too was apparent in his teachings. Gautuma taught that in life we unnecessarily suffer and he showed the path that would end suffering. There is no god in Gautuma's teachings. In fact, he taught that if we are to obtain enlightenment and end our suffering it is only by our own acts of selfless love that we do so.
Five centuries later another man in Israel by the name of Yeshua was born. By the age of 30 Yeshua gained enlightenment and shared his enlightenment the best way he knew how - through the common ground of religion. Yeshua used the teachings of Judaism as a vehicle to convey his enlightenment. Yeshua was a revolutionary who despised the religious class. He taught that through selfless love we can reach the kingdom of God which is inside each of us.
2019 december brd newsletter.
https://docdro.id/odvxhqr.
2019-s-1-e-congregation field service and meeting attendance report.
The Sunday "Public Talk" was just that - a talk designed for the non-JW public that JWs were supposed to invite to hear during their public ministry. I was born in and got our in my mid-thirties. In over three decades I could count the number of people who attended a Sunday meeting that met this scenario on one hand.
This is a letter of surrender. The "Public Talk" is no longer a public talk. Its just another talk that the rank and file have heard time and time again. Its just another opportunity to gather the flock to be guilted into being fleeced.
