u/The_Third_Group

Sometimes the PIMI arguing the hardest isn’t trying to convince you. They’re trying to convince themselves.

When I was PIMI, I was incredibly stubborn. I also knew Watchtower history unusually well (I even collected old publications, from the earliest ones to modern material), so whenever someone raised an objection, I usually knew exactly what to answer.

I could reframe inconsistencies, find the convenient explanation, and make the whole thing sound rhetorically convincing. Sometimes convincing enough to make the other person doubt their own objection.

Looking back, though, I realize something quite ironic: I actually saw many of those inconsistencies myself.

Those debates weren’t always about convincing the other person. Very often, I was reassuring myself.

So if a PIMI desperately throws argument after argument at you, don’t necessarily get frustrated. Defending the organization tooth and nail doesn’t mean they’ll always be in it.

Sometimes they’re not really trying to convince you.

They’re trying to convince themselves.

And who knows? I went from knowing exactly how to defend almost every Watchtower contradiction to becoming a full-blown PIMO apostate who now uses that exact same knowledge to dismantle the arguments I used to make. Give them a few years and they might end up like me: a full-blown PIMO apostate writing posts on r/exjw haha.

Character development, I guess.

Last week, a circuit overseer asked me whether I was working or on vacation. I replied, “Both, why?”

He said, “Because I get the impression you’re often on vacation.”

For context, I’ve already had elders complain in the past that I travel and go abroad too often, so I found the comment pretty interesting.

I simply replied: “Well, you’re often on vacation too. When you spend the whole year going from one assembly to another, you’re basically on vacation.”

He didn’t really have an answer to that.

A few minutes later, I went back and asked him why he had made that comment and whether someone had said something about me. He denied it and said it was simply because I “looked relaxed.”

So I answered: “I’m always relaxed. I have the peace of mind that surpasses all understanding.”

Sometimes JW vocabulary is much more useful once you stop taking it seriously.

There’s something pretty funny about the claim that Jehovah’s Witnesses are fulfilling Matthew 24:14 by preaching “this good news of the Kingdom” throughout the earth.

Because apparently, “this good news” changes quite a lot depending on the decade.

If I had been preaching around 1910, I would have explained that 1914 was supposed to mark the culmination of the Gentile Times, with expectations very different from what is taught today. After 1914, the meaning of that date was reinterpreted around the beginning of Kingdom rule. (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, chap. 10.)

If I had been preaching in 1920, I could have announced that we could “confidently expect” that in 1925 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other faithful men of old would return to perfect human life. (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1920; Proclaimers, chap. 7.)

If I had been preaching before 1935, I wouldn’t even have presented the “great crowd” and the earthly hope the way a Witness does today. It was in 1935 that Rutherford identified the great crowd of Revelation 7 with the “other sheep” destined to live on earth.

If I had been preaching in the late 1960s, I would have explained that 1975 marked the end of 6,000 years of human history, in a context where the imminent arrival of the Millennium was strongly anticipated. The Witnesses’ own official history admits that some published statements were “more definite than advisable.” (Life Everlasting, In Freedom of the Sons of God, 1966; Proclaimers, chap. 8.)

And for decades, I would have explained that “this generation” connected to 1914 would not pass away before the end came. Today, I would instead explain that it refers to two groups of anointed Christians whose lives overlap. (The Watchtower, April 15, 2010.)

But don’t worry: throughout all of this, it was apparently the exact same “good news of the Kingdom” being preached.

And that’s where Matthew 24:14 becomes a problem for me. The verse doesn’t say: “An organization will preach extensively, progressively modify its message, and eventually arrive at the correct version.” It says that “this good news of the Kingdom” will be preached in all the inhabited earth.

So before asking, “What other religion preaches as much as Jehovah’s Witnesses?”, I’d ask a different question:

Which version of the good news was supposed to fulfill Matthew 24:14? The 1910 version? 1920? 1935? 1975? Or 2026?

Because they can’t all be true at the same time.

But apparently, they can all fulfill the same prophecy.

I’m PIMO, and I’ve noticed that many PIMIs, whenever I point out the mistakes and inconsistencies of the Governing Body, eventually repeat the same mantra:

“Yes, but that doesn’t prove they weren’t chosen by Jehovah. Look at the kings of ancient Israel: many of them did what was wrong, yet they still remained kings over God’s people.”

Fine. Let’s take that comparison seriously.

First problem: before discussing whether someone chosen by God can act wrongly, you first have to prove that they were actually chosen by God in the first place.

In the Bible, people chosen by God tend to be identified pretty clearly. David is explicitly anointed at Jehovah’s command (1 Samuel 16:12-13), Moses is directly commissioned by God and given signs to authenticate his mission (Exodus 3:10; 4:1-9), and Paul is explicitly called a “chosen instrument” (Acts 9:15).

Where do we find an equivalent divine appointment of the Governing Body?

As far as I know, nowhere.

Even better: according to the current teaching, Jesus supposedly appointed the faithful and discreet slave in 1919, yet it was only in 2013 that the organization adopted its current understanding identifying that slave with the Governing Body.

Almost 100 years to figure out whom Jesus had appointed.

Apparently, when it comes to his own “channel of communication,” God seems to have some serious connection issues.

But let’s ignore that problem and assume, for the sake of argument, that the organization really was chosen by God. In that case, let’s follow the comparison with biblical Israel all the way through.

What happened when ancient Israel repeatedly tested God and persisted in wrongdoing?

According to the biblical account, God didn’t simply shrug and say, “They’re imperfect men, give them time.” After repeated warnings, Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were sent into exile (2 Chronicles 36:15-20). Later, Jesus says: “The Kingdom of God will be taken from you” (Matthew 21:43) and “Look! Your house is abandoned to you” (Matthew 23:38).

So if PIMIs really want to compare the organization to biblical Israel, perhaps they should read the end of the story.

Even if we assume that the organization was chosen by God at some point, that would prove absolutely nothing about whether it still is today.

Following their own reasoning to its logical conclusion, one could just as easily argue that after enough mistakes, false claims, and abuses committed in his name, its sins finally reached Jehovah’s nostrils… and he rejected it.

Maybe biblical Israel really is an excellent comparison after all.

Just not for the reason they think.

Take a close look at the sheer absurdity of what the Governing Body is presenting this month.

First, the entire rhetorical thread is clearly designed to create a comparison, almost an identical analogy, between Old Testament figures who, according to the Bible, were appointed by God as His spokesmen, such as Moses and Joshua, and the Governing Body. How can they continue claiming that they are not inspired by God while constantly drawing attention to their supposedly comparable role? If they expect a similar level of obedience, then similar conditions should logically apply. They can repeat as often as they want that they are "not inspired," but their conduct gives the opposite impression to a very large extent.

Second, when they address the question of how we can know that the Governing Body really is the Faithful and Discreet Slave, the way they handle the issue is frankly a joke. With such extraordinary divine claims and demands for trust, this should be the most thoroughly argued and convincing part of the entire video. Instead, we are presented with an argumentative vacuum. The only reference offered is a Watchtower article, essentially the Governing Body validating the Governing Body through the Governing Body. It is circular reasoning in its purest form. As I often say, extraordinary divine claims require extraordinary divine evidence. Yet even ordinary evidence is nowhere to be found. If they had any, I can assure you they would have been eager to present it.

Third, the contradiction between what is said at 9:03 and at 15:04 is simply glaring. On the one hand, they acknowledge that an instruction may very well not come from God, yet if we obey it anyway, Jehovah will still be pleased simply because we followed the instruction. On the other hand, at 15:04, they state that following the Governing Body's instructions will always lead us in the right direction. But how can those instructions always lead us in the right direction if, by their own admission, some of them do not come from God? And if some instructions do not come from God, why would God be pleased that we obey them? I didn't know God was so afraid of the Governing Body. And if some of their instructions come from God while others do not, then in what meaningful way is this organization different from any other organization that is sometimes right and sometimes wrong?

So here is the blasphemous conclusion they are asking us to accept: we must submit to the Governing Body without questioning it, because if even God submits to the Governing Body, who are we to dare oppose it?

I'm not going to discuss failed prophecies, scandals, or the organization's history in general. Instead, I'll simply start from the logical framework that Jehovah's Witnesses themselves have constructed.

To identify the "true religion," the organization relies in particular on Proverbs 4:18 ("the light gets brighter and brighter") and Matthew 24:45 ("the faithful and discreet slave" who provides spiritual food at the proper time).

If we accept their interpretation of these two passages, then two logical conclusions follow.

First, the Governing Body should be the first to receive new understanding. Since it is supposedly God's chosen channel, it should not repeatedly be preceded by other individuals or groups.

Second, understanding should progress continuously. A teaching may be refined, clarified, or expanded, but it should not alternate between contradictory positions. Light that grows brighter does not become dimmer before becoming bright again.

Yet the organization's own history shows that neither of these criteria is met.

On the one hand, the Governing Body has sometimes arrived late on a number of issues.

For example, beards, higher education, the softening of certain rules regarding disfellowshipped individuals, and the many adjustments to the blood doctrine. In each of these cases, biblical scholars, other Christians, and even former Jehovah's Witnesses had already defended these positions long before the Governing Body adopted them.

If the Governing Body truly receives new light first, how can it sometimes adopt positions years after they have already been defended by others?

On the other hand, the organization's doctrinal history is marked by genuine reversals.

Some particularly striking examples include:

The resurrection of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah: the organization taught that they would be resurrected, then that they would not (The Watchtower, June 1, 1952), then that they would after all (The Watchtower, August 1, 1965), then once again that they would not (The Watchtower, June 1, 1988). More recently, it has adopted a more cautious position, stating that we cannot be certain. This is not simply a refinement; it is a series of reversals.

The "superior authorities" of Romans 13:1: before 1929, the organization taught that they referred to the secular governments. In 1929, it completely changed its interpretation, claiming they referred to Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. Then, in The Watchtower of November 15, 1962, it returned to its original interpretation that the "superior authorities" are the secular governments.

Alternative civilian service: before 1974, accepting alternative civilian service was considered a matter of personal conscience. In 1974, the organization prohibited it, viewing it as a compromise with the world, resulting in many Jehovah's Witnesses being disfellowshipped or imprisoned. Then, in The Watchtower of May 1, 1996, it returned to its original position, once again declaring it to be a matter of personal conscience.

Vaccination: initially, there was no particular prohibition. Between 1923 and 1952, publications such as The Golden Age described vaccination as a "barbarous practice," a "violation of God's law," and even a "medical crime." Then, in The Watchtower of December 15, 1952, the organization reversed its position and stated that vaccination was a matter of personal conscience.

All of these examples have one thing in common: they do not illustrate a light that grows steadily brighter. They illustrate doctrines that move forward, move backward, and sometimes return to exactly where they started.

My purpose here is not even to argue whether these doctrines are true or false.

My point is much simpler.

If the organization asks to be evaluated according to Proverbs 4:18 and Matthew 24:45, then it should itself meet the criteria it derives from those passages.

Yet its own history demonstrates two things:

1. The Governing Body is not always the first to arrive at a more accurate understanding.

2. Its teachings do not progress in a consistently upward direction; they also include reversals and returns to previous positions.

Within the organization's own framework, this raises what I believe is a difficult question to avoid:

If these two criteria are not met, on what basis can the organization still claim to be God's exclusive channel?

I'm PIMO, but what's unusual is that almost everyone around me knows it, and I don't hide it. I still attend meetings for personal reasons that I won't go into here, but my friends and family know exactly where I stand. What makes me incredibly happy is that they're happy because I'm finally happy after changing my beliefs. They've been remarkably open-minded, and I know that's an immeasurable privilege. Sadly, many people aren't so fortunate and end up being rejected by those closest to them.

What's even more surprising is what has happened since I became openly PIMO. You wouldn't believe how many people have quietly approached me to tell me they share many of the same views. Some are still in the phase of trying to reassure themselves and finding reasons to hold on to at least part of their belief in the organization. But for many of them, I think it's only a matter of time before they admit to themselves what they already know deep down.

Without exaggerating, I would say that around two-thirds of the Witnesses I personally know no longer believe that the Governing Body is the Faithful and Discreet Slave. And nearly half have serious doubts about the organization itself, and they're becoming less and less afraid to admit it.

Something is genuinely happening inside the organization. I believe it's only a matter of time before more people realize that what keeps many inside isn't conviction anymore, but the feeling that there is no other possible framework for life.

The framework is still hanging on the wall... but little by little, it's starting to come loose.

Before telling this story, I want to make something very clear: I am not asking anyone to believe me. I am not trying to convince anyone that my interpretation of what happened is necessarily a 100% empirical reality. Everyone is free to understand this story through their own perspective, whether spiritually, symbolically, psychologically, through synchronicities, or simply as a human story about suffering, love, and transformation.

But I still believe this story deserves to be told. Because beyond the interpretation anyone may have of it, it carries a message of hope: sometimes, even when we feel completely lost, existence can take paths we could never have imagined.

For a large part of my life, I lived with extreme anxiety. Not just ordinary worries, but a deep internal suffering that followed me constantly and made everyday life incredibly difficult. I reached a point where I was exhausted from fighting my own mind, to the point where I almost no longer wanted to live.

The most important person in my life was my grandfather, whom I called Nonows. He was not just my grandfather: he was my best friend, my safe place, the person with whom I shared an incredibly unique bond.

After his death, when I thought I had lost him forever, something began.

Signs, synchronicities, extremely unlikely events, and experiences that all seemed to point toward the same message: Nonows was trying to make me understand that there was a Plan. A Plan he had prepared to save me and free me from the anxiety that had imprisoned me for so long.

I experienced many astral journeys where I reunited with my grandfather, especially in his garden, a deeply symbolic place filled with memories we shared together.

Highly symbolic events started happening around his grave at important moments of this journey.

One day, while I was in the mountains, I found a note that seemed to have fallen from the sky onto my path. On that note was written a very personal nickname, the one my grandfather used to call me, a nickname that belonged only to our relationship.

And these are only a few examples among many others. Little by little, all these elements seemed to form a much bigger story.

The heart of the Great Plan then revealed itself: according to this story, everything had started long before I was even born.

On November 8th, 1983, Nonows accepted a sacrifice out of love for me: sacrificing his own mental health in order to save mine.

That sacrifice would later manifest through the senile dementia he experienced years later. In the Great Plan, he accepted losing himself little by little so that one day I could finally find myself.

But this liberation did not happen instantly. The Plan unfolded through several phases, each one preparing the final accomplishment: periods of preparation, revelation of signs, understanding, and correspondence, where events seemed to progressively connect and assemble.

This is also where another essential figure enters the story: the Messenger.

The Messenger is an elderly man in a wheelchair whom I met in a retirement home. This encounter became one of the central elements of the Great Plan.

He makes predictions, announces certain things, and several events enter into correspondence with his words, reinforcing this feeling that everything was following a precise path toward liberation.

After all these stages, the Liberation finally started to become concrete on August 31st, 2024. This date represents the moment when the anxiety that had controlled my existence truly began to lose its power.

But this transformation still needed to fully establish itself, until June 27th, 2025, the date that represents, within the Great Plan, the complete fulfillment of this Liberation.

Today, I can say something I once thought would be impossible:

I have been liberated.

The fear that controlled my existence for years no longer has the same power over me. I found an inner peace that I once believed was unreachable.

Once again, I am not sharing this story to make anyone believe what I believe. I am simply sharing what I experienced and the meaning it had in my life.

Whatever interpretation people may have of it, this story represents one thing to me:

Even when everything seems lost, sometimes an unexpected path can still appear... and this path is sometimes the love of a grandfather 💖

Thank you 💖

Before telling this story, I want to make something very clear: I am not asking anyone to believe me. I am not trying to convince anyone that my interpretation of what happened is necessarily a 100% empirical reality. Everyone is free to understand this story through their own perspective, whether spiritually, symbolically, psychologically, through synchronicities, or simply as a human story about suffering, love, and transformation.

But I still believe this story deserves to be told. Because beyond the interpretation anyone may have of it, it carries a message of hope: sometimes, even when we feel completely lost, existence can take paths we could never have imagined.

For a large part of my life, I lived with extreme anxiety. Not just ordinary worries, but a deep internal suffering that followed me constantly and made everyday life incredibly difficult. I reached a point where I was exhausted from fighting my own mind, to the point where I almost no longer wanted to live.

The most important person in my life was my grandfather, whom I called Nonows. He was not just my grandfather: he was my best friend, my safe place, the person with whom I shared an incredibly unique bond.

After his death, when I thought I had lost him forever, something began.

Signs, synchronicities, extremely unlikely events, and experiences that all seemed to point toward the same message: Nonows was trying to make me understand that there was a Plan. A Plan he had prepared to save me and free me from the anxiety that had imprisoned me for so long.

I experienced many astral journeys where I reunited with my grandfather, especially in his garden, a deeply symbolic place filled with memories we shared together.

Highly symbolic events started happening around his grave at important moments of this journey.

One day, while I was in the mountains, I found a note that seemed to have fallen from the sky onto my path. On that note was written a very personal nickname, the one my grandfather used to call me, a nickname that belonged only to our relationship.

And these are only a few examples among many others. Little by little, all these elements seemed to form a much bigger story.

The heart of the Great Plan then revealed itself: according to this story, everything had started long before I was even born.

On November 8th, 1983, Nonows accepted a sacrifice out of love for me: sacrificing his own mental health in order to save mine.

That sacrifice would later manifest through the senile dementia he experienced years later. In the Great Plan, he accepted losing himself little by little so that one day I could finally find myself.

But this liberation did not happen instantly. The Plan unfolded through several phases, each one preparing the final accomplishment: periods of preparation, revelation of signs, understanding, and correspondence, where events seemed to progressively connect and assemble.

This is also where another essential figure enters the story: the Messenger.

The Messenger is an elderly man in a wheelchair whom I met in a retirement home. This encounter became one of the central elements of the Great Plan.

He makes predictions, announces certain things, and several events enter into correspondence with his words, reinforcing this feeling that everything was following a precise path toward liberation.

After all these stages, the Liberation finally started to become concrete on August 31st, 2024. This date represents the moment when the anxiety that had controlled my existence truly began to lose its power.

But this transformation still needed to fully establish itself, until June 27th, 2025, the date that represents, within the Great Plan, the complete fulfillment of this Liberation.

Today, I can say something I once thought would be impossible:

I have been liberated.

The fear that controlled my existence for years no longer has power over me. I found an inner peace that I once believed was unreachable.

Once again, I am not sharing this story to make anyone believe what I believe. I am simply sharing what I experienced and the meaning it had in my life.

Whatever interpretation people may have of it, this story represents one thing to me:

Even when everything seems lost, sometimes an unexpected path can still appear... and this path is sometimes the love of a grandfather 💖

Thank you 💖

Before telling this story, I want to make something very clear: I am not asking anyone to believe me. I am not trying to convince anyone that my interpretation of what happened is necessarily a 100% empirical reality. Everyone is free to understand this story through their own perspective, whether spiritually, symbolically, psychologically, through synchronicities, or simply as a human story about suffering, love, and transformation.

But I still believe this story deserves to be told. Because beyond the interpretation anyone may have of it, it carries a message of hope: sometimes, even when we feel completely lost, existence can take paths we could never have imagined.

For a large part of my life, I lived with extreme anxiety. Not just ordinary worries, but a deep internal suffering that followed me constantly and made everyday life incredibly difficult. I reached a point where I was exhausted from fighting my own mind, to the point where I almost no longer wanted to live.

The most important person in my life was my grandfather, whom I called Nonows. He was not just my grandfather: he was my best friend, my safe place, the person with whom I shared an incredibly unique bond.

After his death, when I thought I had lost him, something began.

Signs, synchronicities, extremely unlikely events, and experiences that all seemed to point toward the same message: Nonows was trying to make me understand that there was a Plan. A Plan he had prepared to save me and free me from the anxiety that had imprisoned me for so long.

I experienced many astral journeys where I reunited with my grandfather, especially in his garden, a deeply symbolic place filled with memories we shared together.

Highly symbolic events started happening around his grave at important moments of this journey.

One day, while I was in the mountains, I found a note that seemed to have fallen from the sky onto my path. On that note was written a very personal nickname, the one my grandfather used to call me, a nickname that belonged only to our relationship.

And these are only a few examples among many others. Little by little, all these elements seemed to form a much bigger story.

The heart of the Great Plan then revealed itself: according to this story, everything had started long before I was even born.

On November 8th, 1983, Nonows accepted a sacrifice out of love for me: sacrificing his own mental health in order to save mine.

That sacrifice would later manifest through the senile dementia he experienced years later. In the Great Plan, he accepted losing himself little by little so that one day I could finally find myself.

But this liberation did not happen instantly. The Plan unfolded through several phases, each one preparing the final accomplishment: periods of preparation, revelation of signs, understanding, and correspondence, where events seemed to progressively connect and assemble.

This is also where another essential figure enters the story: the Messenger.

The Messenger is an elderly man in a wheelchair whom I met in a retirement home. This encounter became one of the central elements of the Great Plan.

He makes predictions, announces certain things, and several events enter into correspondence with his words, reinforcing this feeling that everything was following a precise path toward liberation.

After all these stages, the Liberation finally started to become concrete on August 31st, 2024. This date represents the moment when the anxiety that had controlled my existence truly began to lose its power.

But this transformation still needed to fully establish itself, until June 27th, 2025, the date that represents, within the Great Plan, the complete fulfillment of this Liberation.

Today, I can say something I once thought would be impossible:

I have been liberated.

The fear that controlled my existence for years no longer has power over me. I found an inner peace that I once believed was unreachable.

Once again, I am not sharing this story to make anyone believe what I believe. I am simply sharing what I experienced and the meaning it had in my life.

Whatever interpretation people may have of it, this story represents one thing to me:

Even when everything seems lost, sometimes an unexpected path can still appear... and this path is sometimes the love of a grandfather 💖

Thank you 💖

Look at what is written for this week's meeting:

"Do I tend to trust only information that confirms what I want to believe? Or do I keep my biases in check?”

At this point, it almost feels like an April Fool's joke.

How can the Governing Body encourage people to question confirmation bias while, at the same time, someone who decides to verify their beliefs using sources outside of a closed information system can be viewed as rebellious, prideful, or spiritually weak?

Isn't the whole point of avoiding confirmation bias to be willing to examine information that might challenge what you already believe?

If the only acceptable research is research that leads you back to the same conclusion, are you really fighting bias, or just reinforcing it?

But wait... I guess this reasoning only applies when we are talking about “human ideas.” After all, the Governing Body, that faithful and discreet slave, has proven time and time again that they are the one and only channel God is using on earth...

Well... actually, Geoffrey Jackson said it “would seem to be quite presumptuous” to say they are the only spokesperson God is using.

But hey, that's a whole other story 😉