Posts by William Penwell

56

2014 increase in Memorial Partakers to 14,121

by jwfacts in

i have updated the article at memorial partakers with the figures released for 2014. no surprises here, it has risen yet again, this time by 6% over last year, and is now 14,121.. .

.

William Penwell

I can recall one memorial the elder giving the talk went into a lengthy explanation on to what it means to be one of the anointed. The reason was is that the previous year there was an increase in partakers and he wanted anyone that would partake fully aware of their decision. I don't know if this was a direction from the society or he took it on himself. The other reason was that at that time the society taught that was a sign of the end as not many of the 144,000 were to survive the big A. Times have changed.

I agree on the posters that said that a lot of them are mentally or emotionally imbalanced. The few memorial partakers I knew over the years, most of them were not right in the head and the other ones were a little delusional.

17

Jehovah's Witness pi$$ing contest

by hoser in

jw
friends

ok more about the jw wedding i attended.

there were these two couples at our dinner table that were having an all out pissing competition as to who was the most spiritual.

they were comparing who was in "the truth" the longest, who pioneered where and for how long.

William Penwell

They get that honestly from the borg where anything that you do is never good enough for them.

31

The WBATS has officially become a Fortune 500 company they are going public Monday buy your shares soon while they LAST!!!

by ADJUSTMENTS in

jw
friends

with the recent leak and viewing of the elders video on the new standard construction kingdumb halls the rank & file brobots have officially become employees of a billion dollar publishing and now real estate company, equipped with 7 ceo's and many businessmen as shrewd and as money hungry as any rival fortune 500 company.. the new kingdumb halls look like (i have to give it to them) expertly designed commercial properties that any major office, restuarant or commercial leasing company would package as a ultra versatile space!!!

the old kingdumb halls where a tough resale to the general public because of the custom designing aspects of the old kingdumb halls.

they have completely done away with that issue with these new versatile properties which can be converted to an office/restaurant/repair garage/clinic.

William Penwell

They sound like a bunch of sleazy salesmen. Also why does Stephen Lett sound like he is a little slow?

Splash got it right I think that Stephen Lett is a condescending buffoon or I would say Pr....

303

The best reasonable, rational, intelligent discussion on religion I've ever seen

by TerryWalstrom in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl6e4emx-4k

William Penwell

I listened to the interview with Reza Aslan. A couple of points I noted. He said that the scholar Josephus refers to Jesus. This passage is believed to have been added centuries later by Christian scholars. When he refers to the gospel accounts he says, "The Gospel accounts are based on revealing truths, not facts". Again the statement doesn't make sense. It comes down to believing something based on faith not facts. I like how he also said there were dozens of messiahs during the time of Jesus that were all persecuted and crucified. Like the interviewer added, why was this man Jesus any more special?

54

Mom says, "CO says there's only 15 years left!"

by Separation of Powers in

i don't typically hear from my mom often, but i tell you, over the past couple of weeks, i have heard from her several times.

you heard the comment about "our way of worship will be altered" and thank you for your posts by the way....but yesterday, she calls and is asking about the kids and then, in typical jw fashion mind you, says:.

"you know, you should really get back to meetings.

William Penwell

The strange thing is that all us ex-JWs have vivid memories of it all and yet if you ask current JWs about it they will feign having no recollection whatsoever.

I can recall a discussion about the 1975 thing with my sister and her version of what happened was very different than mine. They say memory is not reliable as it is very selective. I think from my sisters point of view she only remembers the positive things about the religion and chooses subconsciously to forget the negative things. Again when a person has two conflicting belief systems going on, they will choose one or the other. It is a social network for them and to know admit that their train of thought is wrong they would have to deny the last 50 - 60 years of their belief system.

That CO that said the 15 years time line I would say is someone that is now in the 50 to 70 age group and knows his days are numbered. I would say it is his ego and the fear of death that he thinks he is that important that this world cannot exist without him. I think that is the only way he can go on pushing the religion. I did notice with my parents although they would never admit it, we were not supposed to die in this system, the last few years of their life when they knew the reality was that they were going to die, I noticed that it was like their spirit was crushed. I know to their grave they never gave up the hope but it is so sad to think that all your life you chase a dream only to realize in the end it was all a lie.

143

Prank call to Governing Body member Anthony Morris III gets through

by Watchtower-Free in

alert..............alert.....breaking news .......... john cedars of jwsurvey has pranked called governing body member anthony morris iii at bethel .

over 2 minutes of pranking .

as i type he is editing the recording into a video .

William Penwell

I did not read all 13 pages of posts on here but skimmed through some of the comments. I have to agree with the posters that felt that a great opportunity was wasted on asking some serious questions and getting some answers. Now it just makes the ex JW's look bad in the eyes of maybe some fence sitters. You know the WT will not waste a moment on this to twist it to make them look good. i.e. these evil apostates verbally attacking one of the Governing Body members. It would just justify their reasoning that they are being persecuted in the name of Jehovah thus they must have the truth.

54

Mom says, "CO says there's only 15 years left!"

by Separation of Powers in

i don't typically hear from my mom often, but i tell you, over the past couple of weeks, i have heard from her several times.

you heard the comment about "our way of worship will be altered" and thank you for your posts by the way....but yesterday, she calls and is asking about the kids and then, in typical jw fashion mind you, says:.

"you know, you should really get back to meetings.

William Penwell

"this is our Armageddon car! It's the last one we'll ever buy!"
I said that about a new car I bought in the last century. I wore it out plus another 2 or 3 since then.

This was in the mid 80's, now thirty years ago when my ex father in law gave me a pep talk on playing around in this system and how it can't last much longer. The funny thing is none of my ex in laws are dubs anymore.

54

Mom says, "CO says there's only 15 years left!"

by Separation of Powers in

i don't typically hear from my mom often, but i tell you, over the past couple of weeks, i have heard from her several times.

you heard the comment about "our way of worship will be altered" and thank you for your posts by the way....but yesterday, she calls and is asking about the kids and then, in typical jw fashion mind you, says:.

"you know, you should really get back to meetings.

William Penwell

After I left the "Organization" I started to play cards for fun and profit. Don't judge you learn a lot of about psychology doing that. I think a lot of JWs exhibit what is known as "loss aversion" - aka "chasing your loses". You watch people at the table invest/lose $1000, then they lose $10,000 trying to gain their original, $1000. They can't walk away from their original loss and in a few hours their down $100,000. And because of desperation they play badly and recklessly.

In psychology they refer to, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. Wikipedia.

What I get out of this is if the new reality contradicts their old beliefs they won't give up their old beliefs, so they keep on having this mental stress that they know their old beliefs were wrong but they don't want to admit it as they have all this time and effort invested in that idea. I know myself it took me years to accept that my own belief system was wrong and that I wasted all those years pursuing a lie. Most people are content to keep believing the lie as they have all this time, money and emotional investment in the lie. To me it is the stronger person that is will to stand up and admit they were wrong and move on with their lives.

Away from my point above, I also recall the day I was DF'd 20 years ago. The elder said to me, "don't play around to long in this old system as it is nearing its end." I know at least two of those elders on my judicial committee are both dead a few years after that.

54

Mom says, "CO says there's only 15 years left!"

by Separation of Powers in

i don't typically hear from my mom often, but i tell you, over the past couple of weeks, i have heard from her several times.

you heard the comment about "our way of worship will be altered" and thank you for your posts by the way....but yesterday, she calls and is asking about the kids and then, in typical jw fashion mind you, says:.

"you know, you should really get back to meetings.

William Penwell

I was told in the 1960's that I would never finish high school. Well let's see...I finished high school, my children finished high school and some of my grandchildren have finished high school. I have been told...."Well just think how much closer we are now than when your were in high school." When I tell some JW's that are my age that I have accepted that I am going to die in this system of things they at first look a little surprised and then I see in their eyes that they know that is the truth, they just can't say it themselves.

Growing up in the same generation our family was not going to age but all of us were supposed to walk hand in hand into that paradise earth. I have just seen my parents age and die and us children are not that far behind. I know I will age and die in this system like everyone else. I think my brothers and sisters have all come to that conclusion but don't want to admit it. Thank you WT for all the broken dreams.

54

Mom says, "CO says there's only 15 years left!"

by Separation of Powers in

i don't typically hear from my mom often, but i tell you, over the past couple of weeks, i have heard from her several times.

you heard the comment about "our way of worship will be altered" and thank you for your posts by the way....but yesterday, she calls and is asking about the kids and then, in typical jw fashion mind you, says:.

"you know, you should really get back to meetings.

William Penwell

Sounds like the 1960's when the end of the system was right around the corner. I recall my brother in law about 1973-74 saying we would not see 1975. How some elderly people were waiting for the end so they could be young and healthy again. One poor old fellow that was dying of cancer said if he could only hold on for a few more months. He died that same year. Fool me once WT, that is all you got to keep your members in line is fear.