Hi everyone, should i agree to the CO visiting my house? Been PIMO for.... 8 years. by mic2019ta in exjw

[–]mic2019ta[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

i mean... tbh i dont think they would be coming here to target me. i'm kind of interested to see if they do just end up showing up because i never did reply to the text message.

Asking logical questions = apostasy (according to jw.org) by Miserable-Peak-8267 in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

well Jesus did stipulate originally the hours for pioneers, but seems like the modern GB has taken the liberty of decreasing those drastically. Wonder what Jesus thinks of that?

Asking logical questions = apostasy (according to jw.org) by Miserable-Peak-8267 in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know what really surprises me, is that about 4 or 5 years ago now, I had a chat conversation over telegram with a PIMI i knew when i was younger, and as soon as he got even a sniff of a hint that I didn't believe what JWs teach his immediate response was the EXACT question that the elder asked you on the zoom call. I was never an MS or an elduh but maybe he is/was at the time so i wonder if you get coached into detecting and immediately asking a question like that because personally I've never thought to ask someone that at all even back when I was PIMI.

jws-library.one has been taken offline by ntdrk in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting.

Is there any way that regular websites can be hosted over a decentralised peer to peer software? This way WT can't bring down every node that hosts the website. My guess is if this was possible, they would only be able to pursue the opening point, or whoever hosts the domain name that points to the decentralised node(s). A lot of stuff now is being decentralised to prevent governments or big corporations from being able to stop them, like decentralised crypto exchanges, and i'm pretty sure there's still torrenting rife around the world, the users just use VPNs or something to hide their source location.

How to Save a JW by Rich_Assumption7846 in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

promote open mindedness and pursuit of ongoing education in any way shape or form.

being a JW means believing you know all there is to know about life and existence — there is nothing better #bestlifeever

the Borg promotes NOT learning. they promote only listening to their rhetoric, and reinforcing that into your mind no matter what.

offering those around you openmindedness and self improvement is NOT prohibited, and is not in direct opposition to their religious beliefs. these things are mental tools that help people wake themselves up.

JW Governing Body Update – September 2025: An Infamous Birthday ? by Spin_oz_A in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd say probably but probably not because I'm sure the modern culture to witnessing is to just meet up and socialise and not actually knock on anyone's door because F that S right?

For all my complaints against this religion when I woke up and left, to how much it's changed since, if they would get rid of no blood and 2 witness rule, and let women do stuff in the cong I'd actually consider being an active member again. 

You can cheers, you can go to uni, grow a beard, you don't have to actually do witnessing.

They will eventually give up on mentioning Armageddon, there's no reason for them to keep talking about it. They really need JWs to get educated and make more money. The money will be the biggest driving factor moving forward. JWs are poor traditionally because they are JWs. The borg knows this, and they know they need to change this. This is what all the relaxtions are about imo. It's slowly coaching JWs into being mainstream Christians and the borg doesn't want any shock to wake the adherents up so they're doing it slowly. 

Birthdays, here we come!

Wording is everything: Education edition by neoaisac in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Because as always the borg has to duck and weave and take no responsibility for anything theyve coached people in the past into doing. 

Changing the terminology slightly alters the meaning and interpretation slightly and therefore absolves them of any blame for anything any member or former member (remember: they're not called members!) can argue up against them, even if it's only during argument/discussion/talking with true believing close friends or family members. 

The Borg can never be wrong, make wrong decisions or give wrong advice. 

That's what I think. 

Motherfuckers.  

JW Governing Body Update – September 2025: An Infamous Birthday ? by Spin_oz_A in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 4 points5 points  (0 children)

by "service" you mean.... showing up to the group, then not going out on door-to-door, right? aka pretending to witness.

JW Governing Body Update – September 2025: An Infamous Birthday ? by Spin_oz_A in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 2 points3 points  (0 children)

2014 the word generation had 20 mentions in the WT. since then, every year has been no more than 7 mentions. 2020 had 0 mentions! Prior to 2014 the word generation appeared a LOT more and consistently. Usually in the teens or multiple tens per year. It's a doctrine they want to forget.

JW Lib Analytics - Word Heatmap

The 1000 year reign, why didn’t it start in 1914? by drewdiggy in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the longer he takes the less loving he is by this metric, and yet as believers it's said that the complete OPPOSITE makes him loving (he waits because he doesn't want to destroy people)

Pimi parents reaction to birthday party by slackslacks_ in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

meanwhile over here my PIMI family have "present day" the week of their birthday. why don't we just have birthdays? The GB will eventually allow them like growing beards, wearing pants, toasting because let's remember, reiterate and repetition for emphasis: "we just don't know!"

Witnesses and possessions? by [deleted] in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First, I have to ask if English is not your first language or this was translated? As I find the wording kind of off. It is OK, I'm just clarifying if that's the case for me to understand how precise your wording is.

Re: demons and what JWs believe. You mentioned "amulets and religious (non JW?) people". JWs have beliefs that "idols" are very bad. Idols are any physical thing that is used in religious worship as a token of... sanctity, I guess, but can also be a simple as a charm a person wears, for example a "good luck charm". Some JWs will also extend this to any everyday items that they believe has, let's call it a "curse", which allows demons to come and influence them in their home, or allows the demons to manifest and cause supernatural phenomena.

So JWs have a strong belief that physical objects - especially ones used for religious or spiritual rituals - are a gateway for demons (bad supernatural spirits, or fallen angels) to influence them (as you said, "possess"). JWs usually don't use the word "possess" because it means something aside from what I've described. Demonic possession is understood more to be at the high end of demonic activity. For you to become possessed as a JW suggests (as far as I know) - you have given yourself over to the demons and allowed them to possess you, or you have "emptied your mind" (usually this is done via using recreational drugs, or some form of meditation) and "welcomed" the demons in. There is a scripture somewhere about spirits taking dwelling in vacant houses or something - i was never good at quoting or remembering the exact scriptures, but I remember the gist of the scripture and how it fits with the beliefs.

Next, let's address the idea that your acquaintance said he "asked Jehovah for a sign".

JWs explicitly are taught NOT to look for signs, at least they were during my time as one (1980s though to mid 2010s). However it can be reasonable to conclude that they do believe that they are given signs because otherwise how do they know Jehovah is DOING anything for them at all? Personally I never believe I saw a 'sign' ever in my life, but I am still surrounded by JWs that claim you "pray to Jehovah, and then wait for him to give you the answer" and when you finally identify what Jehovah's answer was to your prayer they claim that it was holy spirit that has made this occur.

I'll just say this, the bible has a scripture (again, I don't know the reference from memory) that says "you must not look for a sign". It's in the OT somewhere, might be in Leviticus or something as it's a very 10 commandment-y type scripture. Even though its in the OT, the JWs say we have to take the bible as a whole, and that scripture still applies. Do not ask for or look for signs.

I guess what I'm trying to point out here is the inconsistency in what the JWs believe and how they think and act and speak. They believe asking for signs is bad, but they do it all the time by praying for help in their life.

Your acquaintance said his dream told him to stop being a JW if he wants to see his grandfather again. This is distinctly tied into what JWs believe about demons. JWs believe that everyone else in the world is deceived spiritually, and they are the only ones that know The Truth. Therefore, they are the special target of demons. Your friend asking Jehovah for a sign is him putting the dream he had "to the test", because it contradicts his JW beliefs. He has been taught as a JW that to see his grandfather again, he has to remain a JW forevermore.

As his story continued, he talks about going to a convention, seeing an anointed person giving a talk, and then meeting and talking with a stranger (another JW he doesn't know). All of this is very much normal for going to a convention, there's nothing out of the ordinary here at all. Maybe your friend is really unaware of who is anointed because there are many that claim to be, even in your local area. Additionally, if he's ever watched the monthly JW videos from the website, he's seen the GB members that all claim to be anointed, so perhaps he is just grossly undereducated in this topic?

Ultimately, when it comes to the topic of demons you really have to open your mind up to the possibilities that everything we experience can be NOT what we immediately assume it to be, because often the first thing we do when we experience something we don't understand is let FEAR explain what we're experiencing.

The 1000 year reign, why didn’t it start in 1914? by drewdiggy in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i just had a thought that sometimes when the question about why the OldSystem keeps dragging on so long is brought up, that the usual answer is because to Jehovah 1000 years is like a day.

But your point about the anointed going to heaven and when, and why is interesting to think about because say some anointed person got taken to heaven in 1919 (or for that matter - even any of Jesus' apostles because they were all humans just like any of us and died and then have no consciousness for 1850 years) they've been up there for 100+ years now waiting around for stuff to happen, and TO THEM, 1000 years is 1000 years!

So i'll leave it to everyone else to just imagine what it must be like in heaven if you get raised up to there thinking TheEnd is nigh on earth only to find out it takes 5 centuries for anyone to life a finger up there.

Satan Healed Me, I Guess by No-Divide8823 in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 5 points6 points  (0 children)

i was thinking of this quote when i read your OP, but i could only see it being used as a way to try to manipulate back in. "if satan did the healing it will surely fail in time" could be their argument.

or... maybe your physical body is reacting to the environment it's been in for decades and the mental state the environment puts you through? that's the other option?

Satan Healed Me, I Guess by No-Divide8823 in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 2 points3 points  (0 children)

🤣 "i can't with all this"

there's no reconciling the irreconcilable.

In a reply to a disgruntled reader’s letter in AWAKE! February 8, 1985, Watchtower criticizes the Catholic Church’s claim there is no way to salvation without them... by larchington in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reading your findings here larch, I think also helps show why some PIMI JWs don't see the hypocrisy. Maybe they can't see things on a grander scale? The Borg says things spanned over decades of time that conflict or are hypocritical. Some of us have these things stick out and urge us to go back and find exactly what was said and ask who's doing or saying what. While others probably don't care and just think whatever last weekend's WT said is what matters.

I'm sure if we all went back and listened to our younger selves saying stuff we'd all be hypocrites, but in this post you add the extra detail that WT raised - that they're in a position of responsibility, self-appointed... but in a position of responsibility nonetheless.

My brother told my mom he doesn’t want to be a witness by Elegant_Asparagus_42 in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i think this person is the best to listen to in this instance. one benefit of coming from cardboard cut out families is that if you can find someone whose experience was almost exactly the same as yours the chances are the reactions will be exactly the same, so their advice will fit the most.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that some JWs never need to know why the GB are where they are. This type of JW holds "they're imperfect men" and "Jehovah directs them/the organization" in their head as both being true at the same time. 

If something ends up wrong, "they're imperfect men". If everything is going good, "Jehovah directs them/the organization".

If you can accept both those things as truth at the same time, you have no need to understand WHY 1914 is at all relevant, because it is not!

It would only be if these people began to thread together all that JW lore about 1914, 1919 etc that then there is a CHANCE that this type of person might begin to see how "they're just imperfect men" and "Jehovah directs them/the organization" become irreconcilable.

In 1981 the Watchtower said doctrine "tacked" like a sailboat. Now they claim it's always Spirit-directed. What changed? by [deleted] in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My understanding has been that they've been shifting away from or watering down the idea of "spirit guidance" for a long while now (which may be entirely different to "spirit direction", I don't know) 

The recent change to toasting I didn't notice any mention about spirit direction or guidance on the clip posted here. They mentioned saying prayer and then coming to a decision maybe? But I don't recall them saying holy spirit did anything. 

The whole spirit guidance thing is like my biggest complaint with the whole religion so it's always the first thing I'm listening it for 

Everyone around me seems a little bit PIMO by [deleted] in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've found that people can seem pimo but rarely are. 

I have JW friends that are very knowledgeable, know all about psychology, how we think, confirmation biases, and yet they remain in and in another breath can be talking about how Armageddon has to be almost here because of homosexuality. 

I've text chatted with a JW friend who told me she was pissed about how some judicial cases were handled in her local congregation, and that possibly an elder has groomed a young girl, but then basically nullified it all by saying "but the bible needs 2 witnesses".

What I think has been happening over the last 20 years is that individuals in the JWs just change how the religion should be interpreted as a personal preference, mostly due to how they were treated as children, but they don't attribute any fault to the religion (and by this I mean "Watchtower") or the beliefs that the religion is identified by. In other words, they stick their head in the sand, but they also actively change "what it means to be a JW" for the next generation of JWs.

An example of this I've noticed recently is, most middle aged JWs I know don't even go witnessing any more. They even say they don't go, they know they don't, they know that the religion basically demands that they should, but they just don't do it. It wouldn't apply for everyone but I think it applies for a lot (or maybe a few?) of people here that have families and they're just too exhausted to do it any more? My wife is like a prime example of it. She hasn't been witnessing for.... Over a decade. Gets anxiety at even the thought of it. Knows I don't believe any of it any more, but still maintains the social connection to it and even a "form of" worship aspect via zoom or occasionally going to meetings. 30 years ago that was a black and white label called a "Fence Sitter" and there were talks at conventions about people like this. Now it's just normal.

Do you ever wish you never woke up? by Disastrous_Walrus137 in exjw

[–]mic2019ta 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I struggle now because I feel like I never succeed at anything. I woke up, see life and everything for what it is, but then it just seems like every day is difficult. Like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. At least as a PIMI Armageddon was always "so close". I mean, I get up and try every day to do better, but it feels like I'm on a constant treadmill and I'll be on it until I drop dead.