Posts by smiddy3

11

Jehovah’s witnesses and compulsory voting in Australia.

by Longlivetherenegades in

what do jehovah’s witnesses do during election period in australia?

i learnt voting is compulsory in australia and those who choose not to vote are fined.

do jehovah’s witnesses pay such fines?.

smiddy3

usually goes along the lines of having given their allegiance to Christ’s Kingdom and being neutral to human affairs.

They post their forms back to the Electoral Commission and no more is heard.

Yes that is what I and my wife did for many years as there are legitimate excuses that can be given and one is objection on religious grounds.

I also believe that some would go to a polling booth on voting day write on the form some scripture and place that in the box.

That way the Govt. wouldn`t know they were a religious nut.

14

Is it difficult to believe in a loving God?

by Kosonen in

jw
friends

is it difficult to believe in a loving god?.

if yes, i understand you.

it has been difficult to me too.

smiddy3

IMHO Jesus could not possibly have been a perfect human being. His mother Mary was an imperfect human being ,no amount of mental gymnastics can alter that fact.

So the whole house of cards fall flat

Simple as that.

The Bible record speaks for itself proving God is not a loving God when you consider his treatment of humans either directly or indirectly.

48

What is the harm or downside of being PIMO?

by PimoElder in

what is the harm or downside of being pimo?.

i get all the good things about being in the cong, good social life lots of invites to bbqs and meals out.

lots of interesting gossip 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

smiddy3

For the life of me I can`t get my head around how anyone, PIMO, could still go D2D in FS ??

If that in fact is what any PIMO does.

7

My personal favorite Jesus story (in woodgrain)

by Terry in

jw
friends

my favorite jesus storya couple of years past retirement, i moved into a "retirement community" .

old folks home) which was convenient like a hotel.. once a week there would be a coffee and doughnuts meet and greet get-together so you would know who your neighbors were.. well .

.. i attended a few and missed a few.

smiddy3

t-b-k

I`m sure I`ve seen images of Jesus in WT publications over the decades , your not suggesting they could be fake are you ?

Sheeeesh ! What`s the world coming too .

23

What are Jehovah's Witnesses' stance on home ownership?

by timothytha in

what do people usually think of when they buy a house?

"i will probably live here for a long time" (you're invested with your time), "i will save money by building equity over time".

(you've invested in yourself financially for the long run) of course, i wouldn't be able to list the numerous reasons why people want to buy a house.

smiddy3

I think it depends greatly on where you are located.The first couple of congs. I attended in Melbourne were very conservative and cold ,however most people worked for a living.

The Presiding Overseer as he was then known worked for a Life Insurance Co. as a salesmen and his brother was an Assistant to him, 2IC and he also worked for the same Co. as a sales rep.

When we moved to S.E.Qld. a lot of the brothers were either self employed in the building industry or in other cases working full time ,and was a very relaxed cong, and very social .

My wife and I were very much in the "in" crowd socializing with the Elders and MS as I was one.

Restaurants ,eating and drinking was a big part of our socializing after meetings and conventions.

Camping get-together`s and having meals at each others place on a rotating weekly basis we had a great social life.

Completely different from our Melbourne experience.

32

Can you list the positive points of being a JW as against the negative points of being a JW in your experience ?

by smiddy3 in

i was a twenty y/old when i converted to the jw religion and was a problem drinker and i was a chain smoker .when i was baptized at a circuit assembly a year later , my conversion and change in lifestyle was given as an example of the effectiveness of incidental witnessing to the audience.. so i can point to the 2 positives becoming a jw .. 1.i gave up smoking.

2.i gave up drinking for a while ,but because i still had association with my wife`s and my family who were not jw`s ,i learnt to control my social drinking when i started again.. and i have been a responsible drinker ever since ,even though i left the religion 29 years ago.. the negative points of being a jw in my 32 years of being one ?

are far too great to list here .. love to hear your thoughts..

smiddy3

I was a twenty y/old when I converted to the JW religion and was a problem drinker and I was a chain smoker .When I was baptized at a Circuit Assembly a year later , my conversion and change in lifestyle was given as an example of the effectiveness of incidental witnessing to the audience.

So I can point to the 2 positives becoming a JW .

1.I gave up smoking

2.I gave up drinking for a while ,but because I still had association with my wife`s and my family who were not JW`s ,I learnt to control my social drinking when I started again.

And I have been a responsible drinker ever since ,even though I left the religion 29 years ago.

The negative points of being a JW in my 32 years of being one ? are far too great to list here .

Love to hear your thoughts.

45

My story

by PimoElder in

hi everyone i’m a pimo elder ex bethelite and pioneer who has been having doubts for many years.

as of late i’ve come to have even more doubts mainly due to the gb pushing the vaccines and acting like salesman for big pharma companies .

i will never take these vaccines even if it meant i couldn’t go to the hall as was previously said but the gb have done a big u turn on this now.

smiddy3

Welcome P E ,you will find this to be a very supportive community here .And I would suggest you and any other new person to the forum to take advantage of the search button at the top of your screen to look back at an encyclopedic of information about the religion its practices and flip flops over the years.

Pick a topic and I`m sure you will get some factual info you never thought of.

Their are and has been some very intelligent and informative ex-JW`s who have contributed to this site.

You say their are many good people there, and of course there are and you will find their are many good worldly people out the in the real world as well.

I wish you well and take care.

16

Disassociation letter

by joao in

i sent my disassociation letter two days ago!

i couldn't stand it anymore!

so many lies, the exploitation of sincere people, the ridiculous amount of rules and all this protection of pedophiles, plus the life of gb as if they were wealthy dictators!

smiddy3

Welcome joao ,I wish you and your family well.

One other lie the WT/JW religion teach is that when a person leaves the "truth" they become immoral and and practice all sorts of debauchery .And that all people outside of the religion are evil and immoral .

What a load of crap.

You can find real friends and lovely moral people that put many practicing JW`s to shame.

It just takes time ,it`s time to live the life you are entitled to and not by the dictates of a few self appointed men who claim to speak for God.

How did I ever get sucked into believing that as a 20 y-old ?

Take care

1

Praying for the Government.

by Lost in the fog in

i was thinking about the fact that this year marks queen elizabeth ii having given 70 years of service to the british people.. "i therefore exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, offerings of thanks, be made concerning all sorts of men, concerning kings and all those who are in high station; in order that we may go on leading a calm and quiet life with full godly devotion and seriousness.”—1 timothy 2:1, 2.. can i ask, in all the years that you were attending jw meetings did you even once hear a prayer of any sort be made from the platform relating to the higher government authorities, especially the offering of thanks for them not clamping down on the organisation like other dictatorial countries?.

in all my years i don't know of one occasion where i heard a prayer in honour of the king (2 peter 2:17) or her majesty the queen.. another example of straying from what the bible actually said that christians should be doing..

smiddy3

That`s a good question Litf , couple 1Tim.2:1,2 with Rom.13:1-3..." where the existing authorities stand placed in their relative positions by God....he who opposes the authority has taken a stand against the arrangement of God.."..

And they will receive judgement from God.

In my 32 years as a JW in 6-7 different congregations in 2 States ,I`m sure if anyone had ever done that they would be hauled into the back room and counselled by the Elders because JW`s teach that " the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one" 1John 5:19

Does that have to mean the Governments are controlled by Satan ? Not according to the previous scriptures mentioned .

26

When did JWs stop reciting the Lord’s Prayer together?

by slimboyfat in

does anyone know what year?

.

smiddy3

My understanding of the religion was that the lords prayer was only a guide as to how one should pray not that IT was not THE the prayer his followers were to use.