Posts by Londo111

94

American democracy in crisis

by slimboyfat in

okay cut to the chase.

the united states has got a problem.

hillary clinton is so unpopular that practically any republican who ran against her would probably have beaten her.

As an idealist, I'd say there's been a problem for a long, long time. Unfortunately, America is not designed for more than two parties, and it is in the interest of these two establishment parties to keep it that way and perpetuate themselves. The elite hire lobbyists to influence things their way.

As a pragmatist, I've to work with what I've got. I've to vote for the lesser of two "evils". Not that I think Hillary is evil... yep the primary did not go the way I voted, she is the candidate the establishment wanted...but I'm not for or against her and don't really understand the "scandals" that seem mountains made out of molehills. Besides nowadays it seems that a vote for anyone but Hillary Clinton is a essentially a vote for Vladimir Putin.

21

Describe your witness self, then describe yourself now.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

my witness self :-very hollow, slightly lofty, characteristically judgemental, overwhelmingly convincing.. my non-witness self:- and in my imperfect way no longer taking the passive attitude to reality, and most importantly no longer feeling an outsider with my " true" friends..

Londo111

When I was in: high anxiety, guilt, gloom & doom, stressed and repressed.

I’m much happier now.

Of course, there are core qualities that I had that were positive that I still have, just unpackaged from cult indoctrination. I feel the good aspects of who I was are still there, only grown and unrestricted from growth.

27

"Confidentiality" of Elders!

by stuckinarut2 in

something struck me the other day.. elders are told to maintain confidentiality with regard to the details of judicial cases or congregation "discipline" in an attempt to dignify individuals etc.. this is even the case for known child abusers!.

yet, if they suspect someone of being an "apostate", for instance being a member on this forum, they will spread such information far and wide, through the witness "grape vine" to congregations miles away (or even in other countries).

so, does that mean they place more importance on "apostasy" rather than child abuse?.

Londo111

This reminds me of the Bunker videos and how everyone sat around and gossiped about Kevin.

"We tried to help him, but..."

49

Warning: Watchtower computer dept. registers accounts on Ex-JW sites, coerces people to divulge their personal details

by WTS Archive in

jw
friends

we had a bad experience with watchtower trying to infiltrate our forums.

let this story be a warning for all you guys here.

if you value your privacy do not ever send your real contact details to anyone, even if you trust them (because their accounts could be hacked or accessed by their relatives - and yes, this happened to people i know several times already).

Londo111

The Watchtower MO is to deny involvement and let the individual fall on their sword...

36

Three graphs in connection with the Watch Tower's current financial situation

by slimboyfat in

a number of public statements by the governing body indicate that they are experiencing financial difficulty and they have appealed to jws to donate more money.

public information on the financial situation of the watchtower society is limited.

but what does the information they do publish indicate about their situation?

Londo111

I do wonder how many vendors there are that surround the organization, those whose vested interest is that the organization continue and do business with them.

36

Three graphs in connection with the Watch Tower's current financial situation

by slimboyfat in

a number of public statements by the governing body indicate that they are experiencing financial difficulty and they have appealed to jws to donate more money.

public information on the financial situation of the watchtower society is limited.

but what does the information they do publish indicate about their situation?

Londo111

I agree about the bunker mindset.

It is an organization centered around the belief of the immanent end of the world and continual increase until then.

It wasn't supposed to go past 1914, 1925, 1975, the generation that saw 1914, the end of the 20th century...Even after that, I believe the GB thought Armageddon was the ultimate solution to any 'short term' problems: legacy costs, child abuse lawsuits, any mounting debts.

Growth began to stagnate in the mid-90's...I believe there will never again be a heydey of recruitment as it existed from the 60's to the 90's. Now it's a matter of member retention and yet the members are part of the segment of society that is least educated, and therefore, contributions are not on the increase.

I do wonder if people vote with their wallet before they vote with their feet. There is a captive audience (awake JWs), and there are those who believe in it somewhat but are worn down or aphetic as well.

42

JW broadcasting and doubts

by Colinconfused in

hi everyone to cut a long story short, ive been away from the meetings for over 10 years.

i recently reconnected with the congregation and started a study.

cant get my head around all the changes and jw broadcasting.

Londo111

Colinconfused:

What you are seeing if a symptom of a much larger problem.

This red flag will hopefully give you opportunity to examine the history of the organization as well as the validity of central beliefs (607, 1914, 1919, Faithful Slave, Generation, ect), as well as the org's current scandals and coverups.

36

Three graphs in connection with the Watch Tower's current financial situation

by slimboyfat in

a number of public statements by the governing body indicate that they are experiencing financial difficulty and they have appealed to jws to donate more money.

public information on the financial situation of the watchtower society is limited.

but what does the information they do publish indicate about their situation?

Londo111

Interesting stuff!

If only Watchtower were an open and transparent organization that did not practice "theocratic warfare" especially when it comes to numbers.

Then again, if it was, it wouldn't be the type of organization that we'd have to worry about.

8

Interracial Relationships and JWs

by HiddlesWife in

jw
friends

i've noticed that within the past couple of decades, i don't see a lot of interracial relationships (ir, for short) in the org.. i, myself, was involved in an ir over 2-3 decades ago and was engaged to get married [my ethnicity is: african-american and latina; my ex-fiance's ethnicity is: scottish and italian].

he broke off the engagement, after three years of friendship and two years of dating, because his uncle and another brother (who was a temporary volunteer at bethel) pressured him to end our relationship [p.s.

: his mother was quite close to my mother, one of my sisters and one of my close cousins.

Londo111

This was the stance at one time in the organization and my parent's sentiments were like (discouraging me to date anyone black, while swearing up and down were not racist). But from the 90's onward it seemed interracial marriage was more common than any other in my area, including mine in 2001.

It seems Anthony Morris's family have an interracial marriage and in the publications nowadays seems positively portrayed from the illustrations of married couples.

21

Openly converting to another religion but not disfellowshipped

by R Franz Ferdinand III in

jw
friends

odd.... friends of mine recently became members of an evangelical church.. up until they got baptised in this church, they still were visiting the jw meetings on a regular basis.they weren't really fading in the true sense of the word.. they came out of the closet about their new conviction quite publicly and even didn't shy away from getting in debate with the elders on biblical topics.. the elders are obviously very aware about their position and as they still were attending the meetings not so long ago, they clearly can be considered as people associated with the jw organisation.. as far as i know it seems they won't get disfellowshipped.

as long my friends don't harrass fellow witnesses with their 'renegade ideas' and 'false religion', elders seem to comply and leave things as they are.. this puzzles me as defecting to babylon the great always has been one the most worst offenses a jw could possibly commit.. could this be a case of local elders interpreting/applying things their own way or is there a (new) general policy trending ?.

anyone who knows about similar cases ?.

Londo111

As said, it is viewed as disassociation (which is the consequences as being disfellowshipping, namely shunning) if the elders decide to go after them.

The question is why they haven't gone after them. I think John Free pinpointed a possible reason...they've are overworked. I believe quite a few elders don't actually want to play judge, jury and executioner, and sometimes will procrastinate doing so or defer their responsibility to someone else.

Of course, when the CO comes to town, he might prod the elders into action...