Posts by truth_b

12

Is "Active Publishers" a new concept?

by jwfacts in

i just saw the congregation analysis report for 2020, a form i have not noticed before.

it asks for the number of "active publishers.

" this is a term i have not seen specified before.

truth_b_known

As much as Jehovah's Witnesses leadership would like to separate the Watchtower corporation from the religion, they can't. They attempted to back in the mid-1990s be adopting the name "Christian Congregation of Jehovah's WItnesses" and ordered members to refrain from citing the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society as their ultimate authority (e.g. the phrase "The Society says..." was and is sometimes still used by members, but it is frowned upon now).

The Watchtower is a publishing company (i.e. a business) masquerading as a religious organization to obtain tax exempt status. The fact that they even today still refer to members as "publishers" is proof of this.

pub·lish·er

/ˈpəbliSHər/

Learn to pronounce

noun

a person or company that prepares and issues books, journals, music, or other works for sale.

"the publishers of Vogue"

I became a publisher in my youth in the 1980s. We still sold the magazines for $0.25 a piece. Books were like $1.50. We purchased the publications from Watchtower with cash and then re-sold them to the public. Monies collected from the public were then donated back to the Watchtower. So, the Watchtower was making $0.50 a magazine. All with free labor.
Any corporation has reporting duties and has to due to as they are held accountable to one or more persons or groups (shareholders, the government, etc.). Knowing how many door-to-door salesmen there are that are active, how many hours a month they are working, and the amount of literature being sold is crucial to a publishing company.

6

Potential Truthiness

by Terry in

jw
friends

potential truthiness?.

the comedian stephen colbert wrote a book, "truthiness".truthiness is the belief or assertion that a particular statement is true based on the intuition or perceptions of some individual or individuals, without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.. to me, this perfectly defines the term: potential.as in "potentially true" or "potentially lying.".

such labels poison relationships destroying reputations.potential labels are subtle and also just under the radar of committing libel or defamation legally.. that key word is "potential" positing a shadowy inference, suspicion, propaganda point.do you feel me?do you understand the point i'm making?.

truth_b_known

Words are tokens of ideas. We often soften hard truths or deceive through carefully chosen words that misrepresent the truth like a magician uses slight of hand. Some common things most of us have done are things such as -

1. "I can't..." When we say we can't do something what we are often really saying is "I don't want to." However, by using the word "can't" we are making it appear (to ourselves and others) that the situation is out of control. The next time you find yourself confronted with such a statement ask "Is it truly impossible for such a thing or are you just unwilling to do it?"

2. "I need.." or "My needs..." Air, water, food, and protection from the elements in the form of clothing or shelter are the only things we need. Everything else is a want or desire.

3. "?" End any sentence with a question mark and you can remove liability of liable or slander. People make accusations in the form of a question and then defend themselves with the statement "I was only asking a question. I didn't make any claims." However, when we hear a question we naturally draw a conclusion because the human brain hates mysteries.

We also excuse behavior by the way we describe things - "We are not at war. We are simply using our military to conduct a peacekeeping action in a foreign nation." "These are undocumented immigrants."

6

If you enjoy a challenge, then read this book

by Doug Mason in

if you enjoy a challenge, i recommend this book: mind the gap: how the jewish writings between the old and new testament help us understand jesus, by matthias henze.

fortress press.. one example from the book:.

while there are several individuals in the bible who are said to be anointed, the word “messiah” or “anointed one” is never used in the old testament to designate a future anointed redeemer figure.

truth_b_known

The Watchtower, like most Protestant Christian religions, believes in the Lutheran dogma of Solo Scriptura or "By Scripture Alone." They believe that the Bible is a complete record of all Godly teachings and beliefs. They believe you can come to a complete understanding of Judaic and Christian belief by reading the Bible. They believe you can use one part of the Bible to explain or bring understanding to another part of the Bible. Martin Luther was an Apostate on steroids.

I wonder how the Watchtower explains the origins of -

Israel making synagogues

Rabbis

Scribes

Sadducees

Pharisees

The Jewish belief in an afterlife as taught by Jehovah's Witnesses was not adopted until the Pharisees came on the scene. The Gospel accounts even record that the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection.

So that makes for any interesting challenge to present to Jehovah's Witnesses - "Using only your Bible, show me the origins of Rabbis, Synagogues, Scribes, and Pharisees."

27

How do you switch off the thoughts of being raised JW and feelings of anger

by Zeds Dead in

raised as a jo blow and married into it.

37 years in it and now last 7 years out of it which feels great.. have memories of being a kid in school in the uk and just hating everything about being the jw kid.

bullied, embarrassed in front of others and self-esteem went into the toilet.wished i was born into a different family.. what angers me is the messaging i would receive at home when i talked about being bullied.

truth_b_known

So many great posts! Well done everyone. Here is an example of one of the best ways to use this website.

27

How do you switch off the thoughts of being raised JW and feelings of anger

by Zeds Dead in

raised as a jo blow and married into it.

37 years in it and now last 7 years out of it which feels great.. have memories of being a kid in school in the uk and just hating everything about being the jw kid.

bullied, embarrassed in front of others and self-esteem went into the toilet.wished i was born into a different family.. what angers me is the messaging i would receive at home when i talked about being bullied.

truth_b_known

Great question. I too have experienced similar thoughts and feelings. I will just share my viewpoint.

I was also angry and resentful towards my parents for raising me as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. What I found was that anger and resentment (a form of anger) are natural feelings, but harmful. Underneath anger lies the root of any issue - fear and anxiety.

Anger tends to come in the guise of a protective friend with airtight logic. That logic however has a very narrow view and prevents us from seeing the whole picture. We have laser like focus on the reasons for our anger and tend to have a blind eye to anything good that may be there. Anger is also a defense mechanism from both physical and emotional harm.

It has been said that he who can forgive anything can understand everything. If you can empathize with your enemy you understand him. Put yourself in your parents shoes. They truly believed in the story the Watchtower has spun and truly believed that what was best for you was to raise you in their belief system. They truly believe you would die at Armageddon and be lost for all eternity. Like most parents - they did the best that they could with what they had.

The hardest part is not the youth we think we lost out on. The hardest part is the shunning we experience and being separated by their fanatical devotion of a publishing company that is about to go belly up. True happiness comes from freedom. We cannot have freedom is we are unwilling to hold on to anger or anxiety.

23

So the elders gave my 19 year old daughter a shepharding call depression ensues!

by nowwhat? in

against our wishes she got baptised at 16 because she got brainwashed by her cousin.

the last year or so she hasn't been so gung ho about the "truth".

anyway the elders came down on her for not getting her time in the last couple months because she absolutely hates zoom letter writing.

truth_b_known

NowWhat? -

It breaks my heart to hear your story, but I thank you for sharing it with us. Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses while suffering from things such as depression or anxiety is a recipe for disaster. Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses means being subjected to endless guilt and being made to compare yourself to others, which is ethically and morally wrong.

There is a video I wish I could find that you might share with you daughter. Here is the basic message -

1. You are not what you possess. The things you own or obtain have no bearing on your self worth.

2. You are not your achievements. College degrees, titles, certificates, professional licenses, etc are not you and have no bearing on your value.

3. You are not what others think of you. Regardless of what others think of you has no bearing on your self worth. You cannot ever truly know what others think of us. We actually tend to believe we are what we think others think we are, which is false. In the words of Lao Tzu, "What others think of me is none of my business."

Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses involves a form of torture in which you sacrifice until it hurts and then you are told by your leaders, "Well, that's nice and all, but can you sacrifice a little more?" At some point we must reply, "No! I cannot sacrifice anymore," to which you will be branded a heretic and shunned.

41

Is There a Higher Conscious

by LetTheTruthBeKnown in

most of the individuals here from what i have read have gravitated to believing in evolution for various reasons and no longer have a belief in a creator.. the questions begs though, is there a higher conscious in the universe than mankind's.

i am sure everyone agrees that animals are conscious, but to what extent can they reason?.

here is the link to dr. rupert sheldrake's - is the sun conscious.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfhsobpja8a.

truth_b_known

Humans have a higher level of consciousness than animals. Animals do not seems to comprehend, understand, or show they are aware of the displays of human higher consciousness. It would seem logical that if there were a level of consciousness higher than that of humans we humans would not be able to comprehend or understand it.

9

Another suspect JW experience

by neat blue dog in

the latest jwdotorg experience tells of using video conferencing to hold congregation meetings inside jail for prisoners.

it says that the prison director himself and his wife have also started attending the zoom meetings and quotes him as saying.

“these meetings are of great importance for the spiritual and emotional well-being of the prisoners during this period of social isolation.

truth_b_known

Usually 100% of all inmate communication is monitored by correctional staff for security reasons.

1

Is it just me?

by greenhornet in

jw
friends

when i go to jw dot org.

i would watch there videos and turn them off about 30 sec into them.

they just grate against me, there way and style is like there talking to 3 year old child.

truth_b_known

I feel like the people speaking in JW dot Org videos sound like Ward Cleaver speaking to the Beaver.

27

Ok, We Need To Talk About The Latest Caleb & Sophia Cartoon

by pale.emperor in

(as of 10 sep 2020) there's a new caleb & sophia cartoon in which the org puts into the minds of children the idea that celebrating a birthday will cause jehovah to not want to be your friend anymore.. https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/trailer-jehovah-forgives/.

can you imagine being 6 years old and thinking god himself is no longer your friend because you blew out a candle on a birthday cake or wished someone a happy birthday?.

as bad as all this is, the birthday thing is just one of many jw rules that isnt even supported by scripure.

truth_b_known

The whole birthday prohibition is definitely a feet of mental gymnastics and no evidence on behalf of the Watchtower. There is no mention in the Bible of anyone celebrating anyone's birthday. Even the two Biblical incidents the Watchtower uses in which they state "the only 2 mentions of birthdays in the Bible someone is killed" are not identified as birthday celebrations in the Bible.

The Watchtower reasoning of "birthdays give honor to a person and all honor belongs to Jehovah" is also non-Biblical nonsense. "Honor thy father and mother" is in the Bible. Even Jesus quoted that. Last time I checked fathers and mothers are people.

truth_b_known

Posts by truth_b_known