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Darth Brooks posted:
As someone who was raised a JW but stopped going to meetings when I was around 12 or 13, and have basically been areligious since then, I would probably still agree that there is very little evidence in the Bible for the trinity/soul/hell. Although, JW's are not the only ones who reject those concepts, Unitarian Christians do as well I believe. And while its commendable that the JW's reject some of the mainstream bullshit, they have seemed to add a lot of their own as well. For example, I don't think there is a lot of scriptural evidence for living, modern day "annointed" (144,000) and that these are the same people who are the "faithful and discreet slave" (this phrase is normally interpreted to refer to the priesthood/clergy by most of mainstream Christianity). In addition, the rejection of most of modern biology, but acceptance of astronomy and geology (sometimes known as "Old Earth Creationism") always seemed bizarre to me, and mostly just an attempt to be "unique". There are plenty of other examples, but actually, my main question to you is: I know JW's very strongly discourage interaction with former JW's, especially ones who are interested in theological debate. And they seem to pretty much discourage any form of debating or outside research, especially online. Given that SA forums are aplenty with that kind of thing, and there are lots of us ex-JW's in the thread, how do you reconcile your desire to talk to us with the knowledge that doing so is highly frowned upon?
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Apr 3, 2015 18:55
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Drighton posted:Every year there is a ... census I guess?, in the Kingdom Ministry that shows all the stats from everyone's field service reports. It has a breakdown of each country and how many studies were done and number of publishers (iirc) among other data. The numbers were definitely climbing in the 90s and 00s. I don't have the exact numbers but I'm pretty sure growth is only happening in Africa and Asia. Numbers are actually declining in Europe and the Americas. The Watchtower Society definitely publishes numbers that make it seem like their numbers are steadily going up (and even accelerating), but I don't think they take into account the huge numbers of people leaving the organization. While there are a lot of baptisms, something like 85% of children born into the religion leave by the time they are 25. Also, they don't really consider people who are baptized but just stop showing up to meetings as having really "left," even though tons of former JWs do this so they can leave without being disfellowshipped.
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Apr 3, 2015 23:14
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Jeremy_X posted:I've been driving cab off and on for a decade now and this question, which may have already been answered and I'm sorry if it has, has been on my mind since I started.What's with the no windows? Every weekend I haul around sweet old folks to their various services and functions and the only one of the many houses of worship I visit every weekend that creeps me the gently caress out are JW meeting houses and it's the no windows thing. Also they even get super pissy if I help my passenger to the door because she's like a billion years old and can barely move. Often times I expect that if I turned around fast enough I'd find one of the dudes at the door spraying the walkway down with some sort of anti-heathen spray or something. I get JWs at my house all the time and they're nice then but by god I roll up in my cab and you'd think I was the Satan coming in for a visit. Oh and the young ones tip like poo poo if they tip which I don't expect but if you're going to do it, do it well. The elderly JWs are the best tippers and the nicest fares. They are actually really paranoid about security and combined with their persecution complex they fear that windows will get smashed, burglars will break in, things will get trashed/vandalized, etc. Kingdom Halls I've seen that do have windows usually have metal bars over them as if it were in a really shady neighborhood even when they are actually in a really affluent area. Also, apparently it's way cheaper to build a building without windows?
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Apr 6, 2015 21:31
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Psychobabble posted:I would say that that is kind of a gray area in that drugs were never really discussed in depth. Booze was fine in moderation, cigarettes were banned more because they destroy your body which is a gift from Jehovah that you should care for. But as far as pot, coke, LSD, etc., they were never discussed. The issues would really arise from the fact you are associating with bad influences that will lead you away from the church, as well as breaking the law of the land which is something you are told to respect unless it conflicts with your ability to serve God. I'm curious to know how weed is viewed in congregations that are based in areas where it is legal though Anything that could get you high is pretty much forbidden, legal or not. Altered states of mind are viewed as especially dangerous, because they could "let the demons in" (and any form of meditation aside from prayer is viewed as unacceptable for this reason as well). Also, Dungeons and Dragons. I'm not sure what exactly caused the hysteria about it, but I remember listening to entire talks about how playing the game would instantly cause you to become demon-possessed and a follower of Satan. Not many years ago my JW cousin insisted that "people have died playing D&D" while he himself is an enormous fan of role playing games that are not D&D.
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Apr 8, 2015 18:28
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Jack Gladney posted:It's because loading important-sounding titles onto impressionable kids keeps them satisfied with the crazy nonsense of their religion longer. It's like the Soviets and medals. And it's interesting how far JW's will go to do the opposite, where the titles become more euphemistic the higher you go: The men with the sole authority to change doctrine are referred to as "slaves".
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Apr 14, 2015 18:43
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