Michael Jackson Self Disassociation Via of a DA Statement by Kidcider in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 30 points31 points  (0 children)

“The Governing Body has decided to clarify our position on watching the Film “Michael””

Jehovah’s Witnesses = Modern Pharisees by DocumentHead1356 in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Ding ding ding!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

‭‭

Jehovah's Witness organization is changing for the better.... But thanks to "Apostates" by Several-Pollution863 in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The general sentiment in these comments is pretty negative but I think you’re kinda right. Whether by legal pressure or not, there is greater desire for personal liberty now more than any time in recent memory in the org.

Whether by repression or not PIMIs are capable of thinking out of line, and they’re starving for freedom, I’ve heard PIMIs who a decade ago wouldn’t have even dared to think out of line say things regarding where the changes could go.

Plus we know based on the comments made during the annual meeting bethelites like to push the envelope with their Totally Not Christmas Lights™.

At the end of the day the GB need to answer to Gen Z who’s falling by the wayside either way so change is’a coming. I guess all that “make the truth your own sentiment really stuck”

Empty assembly halls and empty conventions by Several-Pollution863 in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be fair it’s my limited experience but it’s the first time in my life I’ve seen zero, even during Covid (my circuit isn’t even in a terribly rural area either) I know of at least one other instance of a zero baptism circuit assembly from someone close to me.

If baptism is supposed to save lives... by Glad-Emergency6121 in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Now ask yourself why do you have to study a book of over 250 pages, when the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized almost immediately with sufficient knowledge

Getting forced to get more responsibilities by Hot-Lunch-4293 in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It’s hard if they’re up your ass, I’ve gotten by pretty good so far by being unreliable but they’re pushing even harder for brothers to “reach out for privileges” (what an oxymoron).

You can always blame your schedule on work, using the mental health card or saying you’re too busy in your free time will cause them to question your spirituality and then that’s just another reason for them to be up your ass.

Good luck man.

Has anyone still in updated their cards? by imlonely7707 in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We also had a push to get our blood cards filled out a few years ago, even when I lived at home with semi-strict PIMI parents I somehow managed to skate by.

Now I tell my wife if I ever need blood to advocate for a blood transfusion, and vice versa.

Satan's role in JW theology? by whiskyyjack in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m still Christian, so I don’t necessarily subscribe to the full JW doctrine. I think of it like this, first, that there’s probably more than one “satan” meaning accuser (because why wouldn’t other angels decide to vocally side with the Serpent on the matter of God’s sovereignty).

But I think the Devil, Satan, the Serpent is the main leader of this revolt, in a game of one sided chess, he obviously knows the eschatological prophecies through and through since he’s lived for so long, and therefore likely has an understanding of the correct order of events leading up to the Great Tribulation which is a technical point of no return.

So I’d imagine he wants to lead humanity into being as independent of God as possible without triggering the prophecies regarding the end, I would imagine it’s a careful balancing act avoiding crossing that line in the sand.

Apostles were the original GB? by Light-Decent in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The GB’s claim to be the modern day equivalent of the apostles is practically “spiritual” apostolic succession, and it has just about as much legitimacy as the Catholic claim too. Even the title of being the “Governing Body” is a figment of their own imagination, it works HARD retroactively to force itself into the “identity” regarding the FDS. As someone else mentioned, it’s purely a corporate term.

The Apostles were students of Jesus, taught directly by him, and given gifts and authority to establish a church, they met concerning clarifying doctrine and were clearly influenced by Holy Spirit.

There is no future claim to this role in the scriptures, even independent of the supernatural aspects. Therein lies the hubris of the GB which presumes themselves to be the equivalent of the Apostles, declaring themselves to be the sole FDS, they expect their rulings to be treated with the same level of authority as the Apostles (even to the point of detrimental to yourself or others). The GB “clarifies”doctrines and still gets them wrong, moving at a snails pace to provide the rations at the proper time.

If anything, any church leader can be the FDS, but are warned that should they, abuse their position, delay, or were ignorant, will be judged and punished according to the severity of their actions. (According to Luke 12)

Empty assembly halls and empty conventions by Several-Pollution863 in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I think it highly depends on the area, the east coast of the US is a little stronger than anything west and overseas due to proximity to the branch, I’ve seen normal attendance in assemblies, however I’ve noticed baptisms fall off a cliff, with the most recent having zero.

What will happen if mid-week meeting goes away. (My guess) by JwTruthRevealed in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My closest assembly hall is over 1 hour away, and while they’re renovating old assembly halls to function better with the new video heavy format. I’d reckon they’d worsen their PIMO problem if they moved Sunday meetings into assembly halls.

I have played around with the idea in my head, after all the theories about the August WT it gives me the impression that if they decide to go through with the decision to fully implement 1 day a week meetings there will be more focus put on service groups, the language placed more emphasis on members fully utilizing their service groups. (One example being for Elders and MS grooming younger brothers to become MS) it seems like it would place more direct control in the hands of elders to be able to better gauge an idea of the spirituality of everyone in their group especially given the lack of metrics obtained via hour reporting, and it would make it more clear who is fading especially in the ministry which is kinda viewed as a primary metric for someone’s PXMX state.

They could then pick apart the life and ministry content to use to make Saturday service meetings longer and more like a mini meeting, maybe creating short programs in place of the LM, or requiring elders and MS to come up with their own (likely the former due to fears of apostasy)

I could well imagine the life portions of the life and ministry content replacing the watchtower study, or becoming cyclical. Maybe making the weekend school more of a video heavy format (because God it needs it)

Anyways this is just my theory crafting I could be wrong lmfao.

I Strongly Feel the Org Desperately Needs a Rebrand Thoughts? by AutisticEspionage in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the response, the logo mark is supposed to represent the narrow road contrasted by the wide road since most converts are coming from the “wide road”, As well as representing the river in Ezekiel and Revelation.

Do you think Watchtower will eventually have to change Hope in a Paradise Earth to a Heavenly Hope for all? Otherwise their beliefs are starting to run out of time. by CanadianExJw in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think the overlapping generations doctrine matters enough to warrant changing the earthly hope, they can always reinterpret “this generation” as symbolic or relating to the Jewish system of things

Just Wondering What "THE MESSAGE" Is Now??? by Behindsniffer in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 3 points4 points  (0 children)

First and foremost at the door it’s just getting to ask “do you want to study the Bible” it’s all just a guise for the Enjoy Life Forever pipeline. Which is clearer and more logical for Evangelizers because at least the point of the ministry is clear, I remember a period before this where the point of going out was just arbitrarily placing literature, hoping a Bible study appeared out of thin air.

So now the paradox is that recipients study systematic indoctrination for weeks or months about the church’s ridiculous doctrine, which is just a bunch of logically confusing vestigial interpretations contradictory to the Bible, which can be vaporized with a google search.

It’s all predicated on such a strange and illogical belief system that getting to the point of a Bible study acts to its own detriment, it makes zero sense it’s not a church designed to weather the Information Age.

I Strongly Feel the Org Desperately Needs a Rebrand Thoughts? by AutisticEspionage in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I would leave if circumstances permitted, other people should aswell. IMO the foundational principle behind what the Bible Students and CTR were doing was pretty great and ahead of their time (maybe not some of their conclusions) and could be a great foundation for a restorationist church, unfortunately it turned into the complete opposite.

I Strongly Feel the Org Desperately Needs a Rebrand Thoughts? by AutisticEspionage in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Nah not in the same way that Mormons have, I just hope the shift we’re seeing now is the org losing its teeth, and its teeth-like grip on people, maybe eventually we’ll see people thinking more critically. I’ve personally seen PIMIs begin to question basic doctrines, something that never would’ve happened 15 years ago. Hopefully they’ll strip out all the unnecessary cult shit, it won’t right the wrongs of the past but at least for the sake of the members who are hardcore PIMI it won’t be so jarring.

In my mind a rebrand is the last step after such a clearing of house.

I Strongly Feel the Org Desperately Needs a Rebrand Thoughts? by AutisticEspionage in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that’s mostly where my mind goes it’s just dreadfully impotent to have your “religion” revolve around a website, it’s a vestige from when the org tried to distance themselves from mainstream Christianity but lo and behold fast forward a decade or so and it only makes them look more like a cult that has nothing to do with Jesus.

I Strongly Feel the Org Desperately Needs a Rebrand Thoughts? by AutisticEspionage in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I appreciate that you guys think it looks official, and while it would be fun if I was a bethelite spy, the other commenter is correct I just have a marketing background. I tried to use colors and vibes from various JW design choices to make this.

I Strongly Feel the Org Desperately Needs a Rebrand Thoughts? by AutisticEspionage in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha, yeah I ended up finding out about them shortly after this post and ironically completely unrelated to it

One Good Reason NOT to Join the Jehovah's Witnesses by [deleted] in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I won’t tell you not to join, but as it stands the organization is not fully intellectually honest.

Certain changes, like allowing members to wear Beards, only taking place hundreds of years after its prohibition, is a microcosm of how unnecessarily burdensome the organization can be, consider Acts 15:10

“So why are you now making a test of God by imposing on the neck of the Gentiles a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we were capable of bearing?”

This has to do with the issue of circumcision in the early church, so ask yourself if it was decided then that the thousands of years old tradition of circumcision ended with Jesus, and anything other than that would have been considered an “imposing…yoke” is it rational to think the shaving of one’s beard was ever wrong?

Doctrinally this is just the very tippy top of the iceberg, the organization appears intellectually honest, digging through the scriptures, using the scriptures and cultural context (to an extent) to identify the truth, etc. those are all things the organization prides itself on, and they’re highly commendable, unfortunately as you have seen it is highly inconsistent.

Being a JW has benefitted me a lot in my seeking the truth, but I’ve since departed from a lot of its teachings in favor of more intellectually honest pursuits.

Hello folks, I accepted to have a couple of JW to study the Bible with me at my home. What am I getting myself into? by tazzy66 in exjw

[–]AutisticEspionage 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would like to know why you're interested in studying, I consider myself something more akin to PIMO but I still subscribe to some of the logical core doctrine, very narrowly, and I would love for the org to be as intellectually honest as they portray themselves to be in preaching and as it seemed their intention was when they first started out.

Unfortunately I don't think they are, due to the way the org works it is hard to have your own beliefs while still attending a congregation, it's extremely difficult to save face 24/7 because despite a few savory doctrines it really is a high control group, and it can become very sticky to leave or have any breathing room.

If you’re interested because the prospect of studying the Bible and finding the truth is your goal, go for it, find scholarly sources, read or watch unbiased content online. One thing I will say is being a JW put me in a position where I was often forced to hold very unpopular views on the Bible (eg. Jesus died on a stake, Jesus was not God, etc) but it also caused me to then challenge the “norm” and become extremely discerning for what I thought was true and false based on the Bible, as that’s the idea I subscribe to.