u/JWTom

No offense to Teletubbies! You can get great Teletubbies outfits on Aliexpress.com, if interested!

I saw a cart recently that was setup right next to another vendor selling tickets with a similar table/cart. The vendor was selling tickets that people wanted. Inspired me to make this post.

Apparently, Jehovah's Witnesses don't realize they look like weird religious fanatics when they stand like statues at carts.

When I was still PIMI, my PIMI wife and I never did carts. Had no interest in doing carts and if asked would tell people no thanks. We do not want to do the carts!

Today, Jehovah's Witnesses standing at carts feels like nothing more than a loyalty test to see who is willing to worship The Governing Body and do LITERALLY ANYTHING they come up with as an idea. No matter how outrageous, ridiculous or downright demeaning it might be.

There are so many things in life for people to enjoy and get pleasure from.....but The Governing Body is focused on robbing Jehovah's Witnesses of joy, satisfaction and the rewards that can be experienced today. Let's make a list:

• Career Success - Frowned upon and in some cases outright discouraged. Why? Career success takes away from JWs working for the GB. Note: Not all career success is related to money.
• Financial Security: The GB has been discouraging JWs from being financially secure for decades. Why? You should not pursue it, you should instead be working for The GB.
• Joy from Anything: This covers a lot, basically if you derive satisfaction from something...then you really shouldn't be doing it. Why? Because you could be channeling that joy and satisfaction into something that benefits The GB.
• Relationships: You can't have meaningful relationships unless it is with another JW. They don't want you having relationships with any non-JWs. Why? That could take you away from supporting The GB.
• Medical Care: Many JWs are not able to have it due to points 1 and 2. In other cases, The Governing Body has banned things like vaccines, organ transplants and life saving blood products. Why? Because they said so, that's why.
• Helping Mankind/Being an Active Member of Society: The military, politics, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, sports and you could list an endless number groups/associations that JWs are effectively banned from being part of. Being an active member of society is about giving and not just receiving good things. Why? Two reasons. Because The Governing Body said so! And doing those things takes you away from working for the Governing Body!

See the trend.....if you are not doing something to benefit the 11 Governing Body Members in New York, U.S.A.........then The Governing Body does not want you doing it.

What other positive things do you think The Governing Body prohibits?

For decades, The Governing Body has promoted the idea that anything demonic in a movie, TV show, book or any type of publication is something inappropriate for a JW to consume.

But now, The Governing Body is producing videos with demonic content based on the Bible and they want everyone to watch it.

From infants to 90 year olds, they want you to watch their bible-based video stories about demons.

Episode 4, 5 and 6 of the Jesus videos at the link below.

Remove the b from borg.
https://www.jw.borg/en/library/videos/

The Norway verdict has caused the complete range of emotions across this community. While it is disappointing to see this result, it has always been hard to predict what will cause The Governing Body to change harmful policies or to make tough decisions about downsizing the organization.

You have an enormous amount of power as a result of being part of this community and please don't underestimate the impact you can have.

Each person here can do things today that have a direct impact on Watchtower's slow spiral down:

Ask for Help: If you are here, you likely need help navigating the difficult process of waking up. Consider joining this community and asking for help from this great group.

• You can join this group anonymously and the links below outline how to do it.
• https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1k0nfg4/for_the_jws_lurking_how_to_create_an_anonymous/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/wiki/privacyguide/
• Asking for help is one of the best things each of us can do when we need it.

Give Help: It takes time to help people that are waking up to being in a cult. During times of peak activity here, there are many posts that go unanswered.

• You can post your story and experiences that help others learn how to manage JW life.
• You can comment on posts to help those navigating the waking up journey.
• You can support other Activism + Advocacy initiatives that are promoted here.

Fake It Until You Make It: For many young people, this may be the best way to plan your future life. Living with PIMI parents is very difficult. Instead of just trying to "deal with it"on a daily basis, think of it as a project that you need to work on until you are legally able to leave home.

• The links below outline help for young people that need to plan an exit from toxic PIMI parents.
• https://www.reddit.com/mod/exjw/wiki/stuckinyouth
• https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/wiki/exitguide/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1mob8mr/the_waking_up_guide_by_jwtom_latest_edition_for/

Stop Supporting JWs: This is the most impactful thing any person her can do today. Stop supporting or volunteering in any way you can! I can't stress this enough! When people stop supporting congregations, assemblies, conventions or any JW activity - it has a real impact!

• Stop cleaning Kingdom Halls, going in service, being on the ministry school.
• Stop being a volunteer for anything at an assembly.
• Stop anything you possibly can.
• The Stop Volunteering Guide covers this in more detail: https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ldu1vn/you_can_stop_volunteering_for_jehovahs_witnesses/
• Sometimes this is difficult to do. Ask for Help if you need it!

Plan, Plan, Plan Your Exit: Waking up and navigating how to exit the Jehovah's Witnesses Organization is incredible difficult. It is designed to be difficult - The Governing Body wants it to be incredible difficult and damaging to you personally. This is on purpose.

• You don't owe any JW anything, you don't have to explain or justify your decisions!
• You Do need to plan carefully, be careful what you say and be realistic about how complicated it can be to leave this religion.
• The Waking Up Guide is designed to help you do this: https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1mob8mr/the_waking_up_guide_by_jwtom_latest_edition_for/
• You may need more help though.....Ask for Help here when you need it!

TLDR: The title. Why do you think this is the reality in many countries?

Even though I am POMO, I still have interaction with JWs in my life. A recent experience with a local congregation highlighted the two points in the title. This congregation is exactly as follows:

1. JW congregation adherents are mostly women. According to PEW research, women consistently make up 65% of congregations.
2. JW congregation adherents are commonly an aging group such as a high quantity of 50+ people across all genders. All you have to do is look at meetings, assemblies and conventions to see a sea of gray hair in many parts of the world.

But why? Here are a few thoughts, but I don't have all the answers to these questions. What do you think?

Why are women drawn to Jehovah's Witnesses?

• Social connections that all have the same idealized goals and beliefs.
• Clean morals and lifestyle that transmit the idea of safety and protection.
• Weaponized loneliness (dependency) means that women trying to leave face the loss of their social network as a result of religiously mandated shunning.

Why the aging demographic in JW Land? This seems easier to answer.

• The sunk cost fallacy causes many aging people to feel that they are unable to leave due to the years or decades they have invested in being a JW.
• Isolation due to the loss of loved ones can cause aging adherents to feel they would lose their social network if they left (see also weaponized loneliness point above).
• The fear of death and the loss of restored health in the "new system". Aging increases awareness about mortality.
• Two-thirds of younger people leave this religion causing the age demographic to tilt heavily to an older set of people.

The Governing Body does not want any demographic data about JWs to be available. They want to hide the reality that JWs are a group that is mostly women and is also rapidly aging.