Patiently waiting for Truth

There is so much in this little piece. Lets dissect it.
They haven't made the truth their own Which truth do you mean? The JW truth changes from year to year.  'New light' it pretend to be, but in honesty it is failed predictions.
Instead they either abdicate their free will to an organization But this is what the GB demand. The GB demand complete obedience through the Elder 'police'. 
or they blame an organization for their having left.  Now this is interesting. According to an Elder I know, no one leaves, they are all disfellowshipped.  BUT, for my part I will blame my Christian conscience as the reason I left the Org.  Although I left because of the immorality and dishonesty in the JW Org. 
"each one must carry his own load"  Yes indeed, but I didn't expect an Elder to phone my wife and tell her I had been disfellowshipped, when that Elder knew I had left of my own choice and he knew the reasons too. 
Unfortunately many of you JWs pretend that all 'ex-JWs' are wicked people that 'go back into the wicked world' . Sorry but I find it so funny that you people have to do that. You seem so insecure and need to reassure yourself by pretending that every one 'outside' is wicked.  JUST look at the paragraph I've quoted and see how many accusations there are against ex-JWs.  My first three highlights make it easy for you. You are taught to blame the ex Witness, never to blame the JW Org or the GB. 

Such hypocrisy! When critics like me do that, snowflakes like you scream Persecution!

Unfortunately it seems that it's human nature to not "speak truth to one another".
My wife is the opposite. She always says what she thinks.
I remember one time this peppy elder asked her "Don't you want to go to Bethel?" and she said "No. I'd be cleaning toilets, while X would get to do something interesting."
She was right, of course, but instead of telling the truth she was supposed to make up some BS lie about her real reasons...make it sound like more of an acceptable "theocratic" excuse.
Same thing when it came to being a circuit overseer. One CO thought I was definitely CO material - I was already a regular pioneer of 26 years and an elder and this while working full time w/my wife who was a pioneer as well. But my wife put the hammer down on that idea.
I've been thinking about group-think for a while, and I'm convinced that you can't have a group of any kind or size w/o squeezing...This is because there's always a minority which is active which wants prominence and is less tolerant of differences in opinions and consciences.
Take this one family. They always creeped me out. Later it turned out my instincts were correct, they had been into some weird stuff on the side, but at meetings they were always pushing a hard-line view. They assumed I'd be into it too, but I wasn't.
Like there are people who are card-carrying JW's who are well intentioned, but quite frankly are busybodies. How many times have I heard "Bro X. I'm concerned about...." followed up by some busybody nosiness about how shiny or not some other bro or sister appears to be in their own lives and choices.
One of the other elders agreed. "I'm sick of people being 'concerned'!' (one of my favorite e's)

Everyone uses the word Orwellian today, it is the new insult.
It is the same as how verbal pugilists, upon failing to convince the other side, describe ones on that side as “arrogant.”
It is the same as how “cognitive dissonance” has become the new phrase of insult, as in, “Your cognitive dissonance must be massive to withstand the force of MY overpowering arguments.”
Blow it all off. It is just blowhards blowing hard, as they have always done.
On average, the people of this system of things are smarter than those of Jehovah’s Witnesses, better educated. Yet that advantages is squandered by their inability to get along, to yield, to work together for common good. Witnesses run rings around them in the practical deeds of their choosing, thus triggering taunts of Orwellian, arrogance, and cognitive dissonance. 

The reason there is an expression “skeletons in the closet” is that until very recently most people succeeded in keeping them there. Since it is “human nature,” I am not sure why humanists would think it is something bad that must be overcome.
This is called being “no part of the world.” If it is wrong, then it is the Bible that is wrong, for that is what it consistently advises for Christians.
I agree with this. It is what it is. Anti-JW rhetoric is watered down by the fact that everyone is venting about something these days. The world is a swirling mass of discontent, and to think people are going to focus on just one aspect is wishful thinking on the part of ex-JW activists. 
Witnesses are used to presenting the gem of the truth through a facet of their choosing. Now, the internet makes possible for others to present it through a facet of their choosing. But it is the same gem. “The game is the same, it is just up on another level,” writes Bob Dylan. It is the theme verse of TrueTom vs the Apostates.
”The truth is such a beautiful thing. It’s a shame that Jehovah had to waste it on humans,” one cynical brother said (who is no longer a brother). Humans have their flaws and will taint anything they touch. It is true no less in Bible times than today. That is why I coined the expression: “The trick is not to sanitize the present. It is to desanitize the past.”
I kind of like it when pure loons (and I don’t count you as one of them) or unhinged hate cases represent the JW opposition. Given that there are 8 million JWs and that this forum has worldwide reach, I think the handful that participate here is really tiny. And most of those who do visit quickly take note of the voracious opposition, and thereafter take their leave.
Still, I wouldn’t mind if we trained those inclined that way in how to use the internet, rather than be fearful of it & avoid it almost at all costs. I agree with counsel to avoid harmful association, yet everything is a matter of degree. If opponents mount a new offense through modern media, so be it. Learn to defend the truth from all attacks, not just the ones you prefer to address. One chapter of TT vs Apostates is of the Apostasy movie. Don’t go into conniptions that the fellow made it. Learn to provide an answer to it. And no, I haven’t seen it. I know the Witness backdrop as well as he:
https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2019/01/the-movie-apostasy.html
Those with their eyes on the “real life” of 1 Timothy 6 will develop different viewpoints from those whose focus is exclusively on this life. There is no need to run from this. There is no need to pretend that there is not a downside to being focused on the real life. Admit it. There is. There is no need to pretend that unbalanced people will not have negative impact, but even if presented “properly,” the Bible way of life will be derided from those who choose only this life. So? It is still easily worth being focused on the real life. 
Let those whose focus is on this life make all the points they want. Anything to highlight the two courses God puts before all people today. Obviously there is an element of delayed gratification in choosing the “real life.” Acknowledge it and move on. There was a time when delayed gratification was seen as a virtue, not the roadblock to happiness that it is today. Force advocates of this life to tell their upside. There barely is one, other than for a few decades they might be free of “control.” In focusing on the petty freedoms that this world has to offer, they end up oblivious to the real ones that serving Jehovah offers.

Most JW members have not yet realized this.

I get it and agree.
I believe (am sure) most non-JW's are not interested in JW or ex-JW experiences. Because they have "their life" and are not interested in some religious minority that has problems of this or that nature. It seems to me that there are very few newspaper articles about JW and their structure, at least about the public side of JW. Internal problems can rarely, if ever, be heard about. CSA experiences have only recently drawn attention to religions and thus to WTJWorg, too. WTJWorg cultivates introversion, closed culture inside organization, and only what is "public" is preaching service. Individuals are taught, by organization, to be secretive about internal things. But that is not nothing new, most institution, religious or non-religious working on same principles. So, WTJWorg is as any other "worldly" organization in this matter. Or to put it much more simply, it is in human nature (let dirty laundry stay inside home, ...especially if I personally smeared or contributed to it happening.  ).
Ex-JW's changed that picture by openly speaking about own and other members experience. Speaking about your experiences and problems in a public way can be part of “healing” from that part of your personal life, dissatisfaction, trauma, or disappointment. How long can or should it last? I do not know. But it is obviously not simple or easy. On the other hand, it may be the only way for the public to know what WTJWorg would never honestly and openly admit about itself and how GB runs the organization and what is “sold” under the “God and Truth” label.
It can be. But i don't see as a problem. In the environment of the assembly, such an individual was under pressure from the environment, and he realized that speaking openly about something brings condemnation from the members. In this new environment (you tube and the like) he can say and try to defend his views, more or less successful. In comparison with previous, he was not allowed to do any of that in the assembly.
In fact, many of the current JWs here on the Forum are proof of what we are saying. Because if it weren't so, everyone "real JW" would be in "real preaching service", not here where they "outwit/bicker with the opposition" :)))
Stay well.

Indeed. Few organizations have more of the Orwellian spirit than the Watchtower religion.

Pilate asked Jesus, What is the truth? And Jesus didn't respond. If I ask You, What is "the truth" ... for You?, will you and what you would answer? 
Let me help you. If someone had ask you 30, 20, 10, 5, 2,5 years ago what is "the truth" taught by WTJWorg, would you have the same answers as today? 
If you stayed in that truth from 30 years ago, because you built it firmly into yourself, then you would not accept "some new truth" that the same organization would offer you later. So the question is; Did the organization "have made the truth their own ”? Obviously not! Well, what is in common for people who stayed and organization who changed?
People who stayed are people described in first part of sentence. People who left have various, different reactions. As for me, for example, i don't see why i would blame organization for not celebrating my birthdays in the past 53 years. :)))
People (can) have regrets for decisions or for either because they were deceived, or because they allowed themselves to be deceived and so on. WTJWorg "institutional settings" are made in such a way that members can rightly have objections and can blame the organization for many injustices and failures. In this sense, I do not see why individuals should be blamed for resenting the “organization” and its "official representatives" or even other ordinary members who were unjust to their fellow believers because of their “blind obedience to the organization”.

I think a lot of people who have left and a lot who have stayed have a lot in common. They haven't made the truth their own. Instead they either abdicate their free will to an organization or they blame an organization for their having left. In either case if the shoe fits is that "each one must carry his own load". Now you can't look at someone and know what box they fit into, but obsessive focus on the organization and the GB is, of course a clue. Supposedly we're supposed to be intently looking at and studying the perfecter of our faith - Jesus.
Elders aren't magical wise men, neither are members of any governing body. You can of course cherry pick and create whatever movie you want to play in your own head as the manner of your life and whether you're happy with it or not - still it's your own bed - you made it, you continue to make it and you must lie down in it.
Happy people will be happy, and unhappy people will be unhappy. As soon as people "stop kicking against the goads" and know that they are solely responsible for their own choices and the consequences which flow from these, they can begin really living. (as much as living can be living in this particular rendition)

The federal government has given institutions named and shamed in the royal commission into child sexual abuse an extra eight years to sign up to the national redress scheme.
It is the second time the deadline has been extended, this time until 2028, a transcript of the parliamentary inquiry into the operation of the scheme shows.
An independent review of the scheme is due to be finished by the end of February which should canvass issues that include further ways to ensure institutions join the scheme.
Of the 158 institutions mentioned at the royal commission, three have not flagged their intention to join.
A further 16 have said they are intending to join but have not yet signed up, and there are 11 institutions that have been assessed as “unable to meet the legislative requirements”.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses is the only national organisation to declare they will not be joining.
Jehovah’s Witnesses abuse survivor and advocate Lara Kaput said it felt like the government was “buying themselves time” while they decide how to handle institutions who have not signed up.
“There is no clear government strategy to make the Jehovah’s Witness leaders accountable that has been shared with survivors,” she said.
Full article: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2021/02/07/national-redress-child-abuse-extension/

You are not noticing what is going on in the real world out there. Human trafficking brings in 38 billion dollars per year...... child trafficking the most disgusting part of it. In schools all children are being sexualized with the new transgender doctrines and taught critical race theory.....in every class.... so yes - incase you have not noticed the entire world is going back to the time of Canaan - Sodom and Gomorra.... where anything unmoral is ok to indulge in - turning people into mere animals.
As I said before - satan wants every person on earth morally compromised so that they lose their opportunity to be redeemed.

You put yourself in a box...... a box I frankly would not like to be in.

Tom, you never know how true that can be. There was this woman at work "Carmen" who apparently got wind that I was a JW and all and decided to start hitting on me. In the break room on a Friday she asked me to go to happy hour with her and her gf's. I said, looking at her seriously "Carmen. Happy hour begins at home." Then she said "But what if your wife has other plans?" I said (in front of a bunch of the guys) "Carmen, my wife has nothing better to do with her free time than to spend it all with me." All these guys busted out laughing.
This stuff happens all the time I'm sure w/brothers because what you can't have is what you want sometimes.

Of course ...they lost me at "Huffington Post". Also, to me the chronic fascination humans have with body parts is odd. I don't obsess over a drumstick or a bowl of oatmeal. Why would I obsess about body parts?
It strikes me that people like this are lacking in imagination.
I mean mathematically speaking, there are a finite number of configurations and things which may be done with or to a human body. It's all really dull.

It's none of my business, but I'd encourage people to follow their bible trained consciences. Personally? I think not. How it's all going to go down, I don't know. Will it be a wipeout and restore operation? Does the scripture which says "those slain by Jehovah will be from one end of the earth to another" be that which Jehovah ALLOWED or CAUSED to be slain by some cosmic event which has been on it's way to this planet for thousands of years?
I think the overweening concern with judging others alive or dead or living at that time is out of place. What it really means is that the individual imagines either what some organization told him is going to happen is true and moral when it's neither true nor moral (and not at all what Jehovah is up to) , or they simply don't trust God to be a moral God.
If the latter is true, then we're all screwed. I don't think that's the case, however and I avoid the apparent joy and relish some have at contemplating the destruction of anyone. Certainly God has said he takes no delight in the death of the wicked. So we ought not either. In either case, you are right that some in the organization have said these things, but when you read the fine print there's always an asterisk * "*" - meaning we don't really know.

Please don’t tell me that 4Jah is now assuming the role of Jesus. He really has advanced since leaving the godly organization.

@Srecko Sostar Has shown clearly how the Leaders of the Watchtower deliberately deceive the congregation over which they have complete control. Of course the Leaders of the Watchtower / JW org are to blame.  In the 1940s they predicted Armageddon. in the 1960s they again predicted Armageddon. And Srecko has shown that in the 1980s / 90s again the Leaders falsely predicted Armageddon. CRYING WOLF gets them attention, and frightens the congregation, which in turn keeps the congregation under the control of the Leaders.  And of course anyone that disagrees gets disfellowshipped for 'causing a division in the congregation'.  Being d/fed means losing everyone you know, being totally isolated. So, you cannot blame the congregants, they were just doing as they were told.  
(As a side note, I had to Google BDSM, I had no idea what it meant. I kinda prove to myself that I am no part of this world)

Wow, I didn't realize that you believe your Watchtower / JW Org / GB to be so Evil. 
The leadership of the Watchtower has for many years taken away the free will of it's congregants. 
One obvious way was the deliberate misuse of the Superior Authorities scripture, so that congregants had to obey the Org or be 'removed'.  
This is a quote from you xero from another topic. 
You know, that the core beliefs of JW's don't differ significantly from the bulk of other nontrinitarian religions except in ways which, quite frankly are conscience matters. This is a big issue in my world. Too many brothers want to override or supplant the consciences of others. If there is a defect, that would be it -
And again evil shuns free will.
Point proven.  Hence just one more reason I'm glad I left the JW / Watchtower dishonest, immoral, Organisation. 
I actually think it is your Org that has shunned this :-
 "I am the way, the truth, the life - no one comes to the father except through me" Jesus said,
What have your Leaders done ?  Refused to baptise people properly. Not using the scripture which says to baptise "In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy spirit"
But telling people that have to be baptised into the JW org. Telling people that they have to be a baptised JW 'to be saved' at Armageddon. 

@Srecko Sostar Has shown clearly how the Leaders of the Watchtower deliberately deceive the congregation over which they have complete control. Of course the Leaders of the Watchtower / JW org are to blame.  In the 1940s they predicted Armageddon. in the 1960s they again predicted Armageddon. And Srecko has shown that in the 1980s / 90s again the Leaders falsely predicted Armageddon. CRYING WOLF gets them attention, and frightens the congregation, which in turn keeps the congregation under the control of the Leaders.  And of course anyone that disagrees gets disfellowshipped for 'causing a division in the congregation'.  Being d/fed means losing everyone you know, being totally isolated. So, you cannot blame the congregants, they were just doing as they were told.  
(As a side note, I had to Google BDSM, I had no idea what it meant. I kinda prove to myself that I am no part of this world)

Wow, I didn't realize that you believe your Watchtower / JW Org / GB to be so Evil. 
The leadership of the Watchtower has for many years taken away the free will of it's congregants. 
One obvious way was the deliberate misuse of the Superior Authorities scripture, so that congregants had to obey the Org or be 'removed'.  
This is a quote from you xero from another topic. 
You know, that the core beliefs of JW's don't differ significantly from the bulk of other nontrinitarian religions except in ways which, quite frankly are conscience matters. This is a big issue in my world. Too many brothers want to override or supplant the consciences of others. If there is a defect, that would be it -
And again evil shuns free will.
Point proven.  Hence just one more reason I'm glad I left the JW / Watchtower dishonest, immoral, Organisation. 
I actually think it is your Org that has shunned this :-
 "I am the way, the truth, the life - no one comes to the father except through me" Jesus said,
What have your Leaders done ?  Refused to baptise people properly. Not using the scripture which says to baptise "In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy spirit"
But telling people that have to be baptised into the JW org. Telling people that they have to be a baptised JW 'to be saved' at Armageddon. 

I don't know, sometimes the explanations seem forced, like some soft-headed new-agers looking for signed and reading into things, stuff that's not there.(at least not yet)
Exegesis over Eisegesis.
So I'm not making an argument, that all that's wrong,(an I'm sure a lot of it's right) but I am saying that when you find yourself living in an information bubble, you can get to thinking you've got it all figured out. I don't think anyone I've read so far has it all figured out. JW's seem really close, but there are places which seem wishy-washy.
Take the 8th king, that springs from the seven. The image of the wild beast. Perfectly fits the idea of the UN. It's a reflection. But the actual power of the UN is the US at this point, but more and more it's China. 
That all the governments will give their power to the UN seems a way off. I see it as the CNN of government at this point.  The UN is supposed to hate the harlot of false religion and do away w/her completely, but that seems like it would be really hard to do. And why would they do it, since so many give way to whomever happens to be in power? The pope sounds like a socialist. Would it be the tide of Islam? A nuclear exchange in the middle east via Iran? 
Seems to me that a lot of things are brewing, but nothing has gelled to the point where you can draw a straight line from (to phrase an old pub "Kurukshetra to Armageddon")
Along other lines I've been considering...Is God waiting to cash in the value of the ransom at the most opportune moment? When might that be? Moreover, it's clear that none of us know how much knowledge/and/or obedience is required of one at the point of finding onesself at "the plain of decision". Take the Sentinilese. These people probably have IQ's of 60 at best. They don't even know how to make fire. They can't read, and they are probably animists of some kind. I have a hard time imagining Jehovah will simply wipe out these ignorant, backward people simply for not having the good sense not to be born a Sentinilese.
I can see wiping the slate as it were at Armageddon, letting some survive and gradually bringing back these kinds of people to see how these react, but simply not being a baptized card-carrying member of the community of true Christians at Armageddon doesn't seem to be a great argument as to deciding on their ultimate fate.
I had one sister once say "I don't care as long as I'm there." ... That struck me as honest, but also evidence of moral defect.
I know, like Paul said that in me, there dwells nothing good. It's not false humility on my part to acknowledge that there are a lot of non JW's who are way better than me. I used to say to people "I'm not better THAN anyone, but better OFF for trying at least to stay in line w/the bible."
 

He (Jesus) has told us that the “generation” of 1914—the year that the sign began to be fulfilled—“will by no means pass away until all these things occur.” (Matthew 24:34) Some of that “generation” could survive until the end of the century. But there are many indications that “the end” is much closer than that! - https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1984165
1) This kid girl told the truth. 
2) Watchtower study magazine made false statement/prediction/prophecy/claim/doctrine.
JW members refusing to play anthem but accepting to believe false doctrines. .... And despite such reality, yours and others JW people reality, you @Arauna ask me "trivial" question about different issue and dare to put me in a box you created for people like me. Funny, unnecessary and missed :))  

The Huffington Post is oblivious to this. It celebrates her BDSM as a triumph of the human spirit. From their point of view, there is nothing sordid about it at all. This article tells me more about the Post than it does about the Witnesses.
The portion of the story quoted is only that which makes the Witnesses look bad, so it is reasonable to think that is the intent or whoever quoted it. But the article in its entirety celebrates humanism more than it seeks to put down religion. Her JW upbringing is just setting the stage for the main event.
No, I don’t think she is blaming, either. The “context” is supplied by whoever quoted just the Witness portion of the article. She views her life as a triumph. So does the Post. Whatever ‘blame there is may be implied by detractors who hope to embarrass Witnesses by pointing to her “downward spiral” and what a fat reward THAT is for a JW upbringing. The Post is trying to have it both ways; impute shame over a “backwards” Witness upbringing while at the same time painting BDSM favorably. Given that they feel BDSM is a triumph, they might just as easily praise her JW upbringing for lining up the circumstances to lead her to it.
Essentially, the parents are guilty of living their faith. They may or may not have had their personal quirks to heighten or lessen theocratic training. It isn’t easy to raise kids. All are different. This story is no more than “Demas has forsaken me because he loved the present system of things.” Do you think Demas thereafter reminisced of how balanced those early Christians were? Or did he paint them as narrow, repressive, even brainwashing? The Post is happy to discard faith. All its focus is on the here-and-now.
Surely there is a tragedy in settling for a life of atheism, but the article conveys none of it. Rather, it conveys just the reverse. It’s a little like the guy who loses millions in the stock market. “Oh well, they were just paper gains anyway,” he says, as he celebrates the few thousands he has left.
That is what’s “wrong” with the article. It celebrates the amoral short term, completely oblivious to the long term—the “real life” as Paul puts it.

I never sang the anthem or any religious songs because this will put one on the side of a human government or other religions who do not accept the name of Jehovah as their God.
. Yes, there are classical composers like Tchaikovsky who was homosexual ...... but his preferences were not in his music...... he was forced to commit suicide when it came out in high society that he was homosexual. I watch several ballets with his music and listen to his symphonies and sing a song he wrote.
Do you not think that sexually explicit posing for pictures awaken  fleshly desires in men?   The bible warns about this....... thinking in a fleshly way and promoting fleshly desires. To you it seems to be nothing - but it will not bring approval from Jehovah. But maybe you do not care? It is nice to be an attraction when you are young....
There are many JWs who have given up a life of making a lot of money or making a name for themselves. They follow the example of Jesus who did not go after materialism or a kingdom with influence. It is called "the narrow road"..... but some find it too narrow....... they are not prepared to give up selfish pursuits.
We have been in the perousia a long time but now we are in the first lockdown in the history of the world!  The signs are here and yet people are still eating, drinking and going on as normal.  Did the bible not warn us that people will start mocking about the end and that the love of many will cool down? 
I have been in the Truth since the age of 21. I did not grow up in the Truth. Did I make mistakes, yes I did. Did I get up after falling and go on under Jehovahs hand.  Yes, I did.  Am I happy that I did not follow a world-carreer (which was in my grasp).  I do not look back one day! Jehovah has been kind to me and we will soon be under a very totalitarian government....... just as bible predicted. One will not be able to buy or sell if you stick to the moral principles of jehovah.
Habakuk said.... the time is panting to the end.  Jehovah wants the lost sheep to come back. Are you back?