Jehovah's Witness

[Ukulelemike]

They are so hard to witness to because as said above, their entire religion is based upon NOT thinking, NOT ever questioning, NOT checking the evidence and reading the book for what it says. Never look at their history of date-making and their constant failures. ANY questioning of the status quo leads to immediate removal and shunning by family and friends. They will encourage even divorce if one spouse leaves the 'church'.

And then of course, there is their big money operation: salvation is based upon how much work one does, how many tracts and watchtowers and Awakes are passed out, and of course, ALL of them must be purchased and one's purchases are recorded-if you buy enough and give out enough, you'll hear about it. Any sort of salvation, such as it is, is dependent upon the organization, not a relationship with the Saviour. Noe going to Heaven if not one of the 144,000, and of course, no hell, no punishment, just blinked out of existence. 

What a mess!

[Disciple.Luke]

4 hours ago, Ukulelemike said:

They are so hard to witness to because as said above, their entire religion is based upon NOT thinking, NOT ever questioning, NOT checking the evidence and reading the book for what it says. Never look at their history of date-making and their constant failures. ANY questioning of the status quo leads to immediate removal and shunning by family and friends. They will encourage even divorce if one spouse leaves the 'church'.

And then of course, there is their big money operation: salvation is based upon how much work one does, how many tracts and watchtowers and Awakes are passed out, and of course, ALL of them must be purchased and one's purchases are recorded-if you buy enough and give out enough, you'll hear about it. Any sort of salvation, such as it is, is dependent upon the organization, not a relationship with the Saviour. Noe going to Heaven if not one of the 144,000, and of course, no hell, no punishment, just blinked out of existence. 

What a mess!

Absolutely! I agree they nearly impossible to witness to. The Governing Body uses many mind control techniques to take away their ability to think for themselves, and anything contradictory to Watchtower teachings is believed to be of Satan.

I am convinced it's all a money scam. There is no way anyone can convince me that the Governing Body isn't aware of their past false prophecies. and know Jesus is not physically directing them.

When they changed their policy to offering magazines to "voluntarily" donations to avoid tax laws, they had a back up scam in waiting. Today the individual Kingdom Halls pay for all the literature they receive, and when they get a donation it is sent back to the Society even though it's already paid for. They are double dipping.

By far the largest reason I believe it's a scam is because of their Biblical interpretations. Even a novice Bible reader could discern that Acts 15:20 has NOTHING to do with not accepting blood transfusions. Such an interpretation is false and borderline idiotic! They only way a person could read the Bible and come up with their interpretations would be by using one of their publications as a guide. Period.

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2017 by Disciple.Luke

[1Timothy115]

The last one who came to my door, a man, brought his son with him. This was a new tactic I had not seen before. I wonder if that gets them more invitations to come inside.

[Disciple.Luke]

5 minutes ago, 1Timothy115 said:

The last one who came to my door, a man, brought his son with him. This was a new tactic I had not seen before. I wonder if that gets them more invitations to come inside.

Yeah many of them go out door to door as a family unit. How old was the kid?

[1Timothy115]

Just now, Disciple.Luke said:

Yeah many of them go out door to door as a family unit. How old was the kid?

I would say 5 yo or less.

[Disciple.Luke]

I doubt having a kid with them helps much, other than the people at the door may not be as rude. Bringing their children along helps train them to grow up to be Watchtower robots more than it helps getting people to listen.

[Jim_Alaska]

On 3/14/2017 at 2:48 PM, Disciple.Luke said:

I doubt having a kid with them helps much, other than the people at the door may not be as rude. Bringing their children along helps train them to grow up to be Watchtower robots more than it helps getting people to listen.

This is a correct observation. They teach their kids and indoctrinate them at an early age. If you attended one of their services, which I do not recommend, you would see pint size JW's. They insist that their kids dress exactly like older JW's. There is no playing, crayons, or anything like that allowed. If a baby makes a "peep" they are immediately hauled out of the room. And even at that, there are stern looks from others in the congregation.

These kids will greet you just like their parents would and will also engage you in very adult conversation.

[1Timothy115]

On ‎3‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 7:23 PM, Jim_Alaska said:

This is a correct observation. They teach their kids and indoctrinate them at an early age. If you attended one of their services, which I do not recommend, you would see pint size JW's. They insist that their kids dress exactly like older JW's. There is no playing, crayons, or anything like that allowed. If a baby makes a "peep" they are immediate hauled out of the room. And even at that, there are stern looks from others in the congregation.

These kids will greet you just like their parents would and will also engage you in very adult conversation.

Come to think of it...he was dressed just like daddy. What a sorrowful day it will be when these folks stand before Jesus Christ and give account of their abuse of these children.

[Potatochip]

10 hours ago, 1Timothy115 said:

Come to think of it...he was dressed just like daddy. What a sorrowful day it will be when these folks stand before Jesus Christ and give account of their abuse of these children.

I encounter these people at train stations.  Subways.  They get a permit and set up in the train station.  I'm usually going thru the station pretty quick so I let them have it lol.  A nice rebuke and I'm on.  They are suckers for those higher ups.  Millions in real estate holdings and printed material one guy pointed out hey why not just put all the Jehovah's Witness material on the internet and www on the racks they use uhuh no money that way it would seem.  The "witnesses" are suckers and little profit centers for the 144k in my opinion.  

For some reason it really bothers me when they set up in the hispanic neighborhoods.  Door to door to I guess.  They don't do much at the train stations just stand there

[Jim_Alaska]

Potatochip,

They do put that stuff on their website. It is here

[Potatochip]

17 minutes ago, Jim_Alaska said:

Potatochip,

They do put that stuff on their website. It is here

I dunno thats what an ex Jehovah's witness was saying on the internet.  They don't advertise it on their outdoor racks that i can see. 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Potatochip

[Jim_Alaska]

No, unless I am not understanding what you are saying, that s their official website and all their information and publications are listed on it.

[Disciple.Luke]

1 hour ago, Jim_Alaska said:

No, unless I am not understanding what you are saying, that s their official website and all their information and publications are listed on it.

Correct. All their information and publications are on their website JW.org. Many Kingdom Halls have added the website address to their signs in front of the Kingdom Halls. There is also a JW library app you can down on apple and google play with all their publications.

Edited March 16, 2017 by Disciple.Luke

[Jim_Alaska]

Their organizational structure is very much compartmentalized. For instance I will list positions people hold within the organization.

1. The average JW: who will never miss a service, even feels guilty when sick and can't attend. There is a large majority of women in this classification.

2. The Publisher: This is the person than knocks on your door with the aim of putting literature in your hand and trying to get you to agree to a "bible study."

3. The Pioneer: This is also the person that knocks on your door, usually accompanied by a publisher and/or average JW in training. This person has applied to the elders and been approved to become a Pioneer. This is viewed as a full time ministry and all expense is born by the pioneer, they are not reimbursed nor paid in any way.

4. The Ministerial Servant: This classification is held only by men, they are the ones that pass out the microphones at meetings, do odd jobs like cleaning, running errands, visiting the sick, or anything of a menial nature that is below the dignity of an elder.

5. The Elders: These are always men who have shown a degree of leadership qualities over long periods of time. They have been recommended for the position of Elder by the other Elders in the congregation and approved for the office by both the Elders and the Circuit Overseer. These men are the ones that conduct the services by making sure that the guidelines of the governing body are followed to the letter. Usually one of them is assigned to record things such as, the performance of various parts of the services. They actually keep a written record of how the other people in the congregation are performing. This is critical for advancement in the local congregations.

This is a critical control tactic. They record things such as: How the speaker holds his bible, how any speaker pronounces words, whether or not they pause in their reading at appropriate places, proper use of punctuation, proper posture. This is not confined strictly to platform speakers, but also to audience question and answer and bible reading. People are vocally praised at the end of their presentation for their proper use of these things.

A detailed record is kept, listing exact numbers of home visits, numbers of materials passed out,  baptisms, bible studies held, numbers of attendees at both yearly assemblies and conventions, and the progress of every JW. This information is made public as an incentive for every JW to excel in his or her ministry.

6. The Circuit Overseer: This man has an assigned "territory". He makes his circuit on a regular schedule, visiting every congregation in his territory at least once per year. His job is to make sure things are being done correctly, supervising the Elders, making sure that the rules of the governing body are being followed, writing evaluation reports to the home office. He also helps out with any problems that the Kingdom Hall may encounter.

He is held in high esteem by all, almost to the point of being seen as an Apostle, although not called one. They are not paid a wage, but are required to demonstrate that they can be self supporting. They are afforded a very small stipend to help with travel expense.

7. The Governing Body: These are the men headquartered at what they call "Bethel" in New York. They are the ones that dictate all material used by all JW's. Design lesson and "talk" material, produce lesson movies and videos and generally run the whole show.

At Bethel there are also servants that do the menial tasks like the printing material, videos, conducting tours of the facility.

I could go on and on, but it would take quite a bit of writing time, which I don't have this morning. Suffice to say that they are a highly organized cult that is possibly the most influential cult in the world at this time.

 

[Disciple.Luke]

On 3/24/2017 at 0:09 PM, Jim_Alaska said:

Their organizational structure is very much compartmentalized. For instance I will list positions people hold within the organization.

1. The average JW: who will never miss a service, even feels guilty when sick and can't attend. There is a large majority of women in this classification.

2. The Publisher: This is the person than knocks on your door with the aim of putting literature in your hand and trying to get you to agree to a "bible study."

3. The Pioneer: This is also the person that knocks on your door, usually accompanied by a publisher and/or average JW in training. This person has applied to the elders and been approved to become a Pioneer. This is viewed as a full time ministry and all expense is born by the pioneer, they are not reimbursed nor paid in any way.

4. The Ministerial Servant: This classification is held only by men, they are the ones that pass out the microphones at meetings, do odd jobs like cleaning, running errands, visiting the sick, or anything of a menial nature that is below the dignity of an elder.

5. The Elders: These are always men who have shown a degree of leadership qualities over long periods of time. They have been recommended for the position of Elder by the other Elders in the congregation and approved for the office by both the Elders and the Circuit Overseer. These men are the ones that conduct the services by making sure that the guidelines of the governing body are followed to the letter. Usually one of them is assigned to record things such as, the performance of various parts of the services. They actually keep a written record of how the other people in the congregation are performing. This is critical for advancement in the local congregations.

This is a critical control tactic. They record things such as: How the speaker holds his bible, how any speaker pronounces words, whether or not they pause in their reading at appropriate places, proper use of punctuation, proper posture. This is not confined strictly to platform speakers, but also to audience question and answer and bible reading. People are vocally praised at the end of their presentation for their proper use of these things.

A detailed record is kept, listing exact numbers of home visits, numbers of materials passed out,  baptisms, bible studies held, numbers of attendees at both yearly assemblies and conventions, and the progress of every JW. This information is made public as an incentive for every JW to excel in his or her ministry.

6. The Circuit Overseer: This man has an assigned "territory". He makes his circuit on a regular schedule, visiting every congregation in his territory at least once per year. His job is to make sure things are being done correctly, supervising the Elders, making sure that the rules of the governing body are being followed, writing evaluation reports to the home office. He also helps out with any problems that the Kingdom Hall may encounter.

He is held in high esteem by all, almost to the point of being seen as an Apostle, although not called one. They are not paid a wage, but are required to demonstrate that they can be self supporting. They are afforded a very small stipend to help with travel expense.

7. The Governing Body: These are the men headquartered at what they call "Bethel" in New York. They are the ones that dictate all material used by all JW's. Design lesson and "talk" material, produce lesson movies and videos and generally run the whole show.

At Bethel there are also servants that do the menial tasks like the printing material, videos, conducting tours of the facility.

I could go on and on, but it would take quite a bit of writing time, which I don't have this morning. Suffice to say that they are a highly organized cult that is possibly the most influential cult in the world at this time.

 

Very accurate!

The LDS Church is compartmentalized in a very similar way, but I believe they are even tighter in structure from the top down.