Topics Started by Borges

18
VOW OF OBEDIENCE AND POVERTY
by Coded Logic in
1. watchtower
2. scandals
i didn't know the wtbts had an order.

anyone ever heard of the "order of full time servants" aka "the order" within the jehovah's witnesses?.

(below is a legal document from the wtbts).
13
Does Bethel have any woman Medical Doctors?
by VM44 in
1. watchtower
2. scandals
the watchtower does not usually place women in positions of authority.. so, does anyone know if there have been any female medical doctors (any type, md, do or chiro) that worked at bethel recently?.

the only one that i know of was dr mae j work, but she was at bethel over 70 years ago!.

.
25
The Internet Proves JWs Are a Joke Now
by jw07 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i'm a born in, born in the 1980s and old enough to remember studying beefy (albeit full of crap) material like the the evolution book and revelation book (which we studied over and over and over and over).

books and brochures were wordy and chock full of legalistic language explaining away teachings and policies, some explanations slightly above the iq of the average person.. watchtower studies were longer (30 paragraphs sometimes), talks were longer and thus meetings were longer, pioneering was harder (70 hours if i remember correctly), assemblies and conventions were longer, and there were intricate food provisions to feed thousands of people (for a cost of course).. the average jw could recite watchtower propaganda for hours to indoctrinate others or defend their faith.

jws were interested in having meaty discussions at the door and challenging even pastors on doctrinal points.. i know this has been said many times, but the organization has gone through a massive dumbing down.. i can't figure out if it's due to the oblivious nature of the current governing body, a premeditated attempt by them at dumbing down the organization, or just the effects of life becoming easier around the globe due to reliance on technology.. i can only speak on my era, and i know that from the early 90s until around 2004 the organization was allot more doctrine savy.. over the past decade or so i'd say the collective iq of the followers has moved from 105 to 85.. indoctrination and blind belief has allot to do with being prone to be emotionally manipulated, but thinking ability has a say in that too.. social media is a decent gauge of how and what the average person within a certain demographic is thinking, and doing a simple hashtag search on twitter, instagram, or facebook reveals allot about how the current generation of young jws (15-28 or thereabout) are thinking.. many have become self obsessed, internet obsessed, hubris filled and passive, i can see an even bigger decline in growth over the next 5 years.. take a look:.
4
The last step
by Borges in
1. jw
2. friends
it is now almost six years since i left the witnesses.

many things have happened in the meantime.

in the beginning, right after i found out that i had been raised in a cult and all the fairytales ive been told for so many years were just this- fairytales, i had the strong urge to do something.
54
Would Your Family Stone You to Death?
by cofty in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
ot law required jews to take the lead in stoning a family member who became apostate.. the watchtower has lamented the fact that the law of the land now forbids them from doing so.. if the law permitted it, as it does in some musim countries, and if the watchtower required it, would your family obey?.

my parents are good people and i believe their love for me is genuine, but i think they would follow orders.. what about yours?.
48
Jesus was a False Prophet - But was he deluded or deceitful?
by cofty in
1. watchtower
2. bible
any objective reading of the gospels makes it plain that jesus believed his parousia would happen within the lifetime of his generation.. his followers believed in his imminent return until the day of their deaths.. his false prophecy damaged the lives of his disciples in a similar way to that done by the lies of modern cults like the watchtower.

peter and others walked out on their wives, children and businesses to follow him around palestine.

jesus taught them to put their families and other normal concerns in second place to their task of spreading his message - which turned out to be false.. the question is what he was up to?.
41
I NEVER Hear A JW Talk About Never Dying & Living Forever In Paradise Anymore!
by minimus in
1. jw
2. friends
i was raised with this belief, that we would never die and actually make it into the "new system".

mu faithful jw aunt still talked about my mother (her sister) and her walking together into the great tribulation--- and never die at all!

she spoke of that 2 days before she passed away.. i believe most witnesses expect to die and then get resurrected.
17
Germans Play Monopoly
by cofty in
1. social
2. humour
if karl marx, sigmund freud, and friedrich nietzsche had a game of monopoly....
74
Has the Governing Body Become More or Less Authoritarian in Recent Years?
by cofty in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
it seems to me that this is a no-brainer but i have been out since '96.. so based on your personal experiences what do you think?.

lots more - a bit more - just the same as always - less - a lot less?.

if you think more or lots more can you spot a time or event when it started to change?.
2596
The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday
by cofty in
1. jw
2. experiences
yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.