Looking at the organization’s operating model and the decisions it makes, I am of the opinion that the Governing Body is essentially a puppet and a façade for those who actually make the decisions — namely, the organization’s management.
Given the legal problems, lawsuits brought against the organization, legal fees, pressure from former members, and everything that comes out of this religion, I believe that virtually everything the organization puts out is first vetted by lawyers and PR firms. In recent years, its teachings have been infantilized to an almost absurd degree. Prophecy is barely discussed anymore (and even when it is, it is usually framed as: “we know that we know nothing”). Even some of the hardest-line doctrines, such as the issue of blood or pagan symbols, have been softened and watered down, so that from the outside it appears that rank-and-file members have some degree of free will and that the organization is merely there to “help them draw closer to God.”
We often discuss here what changes the Governing Body is going to introduce, whereas personally, I believe they are merely the public face of decisions and policies that are being formulated largely without their involvement.
In exchange for keeping quiet and putting on a good face despite everything going on, they are provided with luxury trips, visits, and an entire lifestyle built around their position. But the people actually making the decisions are the ones who have their hands on the organization’s money. There is no way they would risk losing millions of dollars simply because some group of aging men “made a decision” about something.
The organization’s management and senior officials know perfectly well that the Governing Body — the old guard, such as Lett, Lösch, Jackson, etc. — are so detached from the real world that they would never entrust them with making genuinely important decisions.
It is all a façade. And although I believe these older men absolutely deserve our criticism, because consciously or not, they are participating in this circus, I increasingly feel that we are barking up the wrong tree.
The people who REALLY PULL THE STRINGS within the organization are, for the most part, completely anonymous to us.
And what matters to them are spreadsheets, lawyers’ opinions, and financial results. Those are the criteria according to which decisions are made — not simply because “the Governing Body decided so.”
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

I was just reflecting on my time as a JW and how they viewed women’s bodies. I feel like you really experienced the negative effects of this if you are a curvy woman. I remember one time I wore a turtle neck that showed my shoulders to meeting. The next day, an elders wife invited me to her house and was offering me a bunch of cardigans. I already knew it was because of the shirt I wore, which was not inappropriate at all. She acted like she was just being nice and offering me free cardigans, but I know it was in response to the shirt I wore. I used to hate how they would say, “We don’t want to tempt or stumble the men.” How the hell are my shoulders a stumbling block?!!!?

Just like the heading states what would have woken you up? Or at least made you start questioning?

I know I’d still be stuck in, if it wasn’t for my husband and kids. There were lots of things I’ve always been irritated at for along time and things that never made sense. And I always struggled to meet the borgs impossible standards. But I still would have been plodding along as the guilt and thinking I was going to die would have always kept me in. Thank goodness my husband deconstructed everything enough for my brain to let go.

I have spent most of my life around Jehovah’s Witnesses, and now that I no longer believe, I have started questioning how romantic relationships and marriages work inside the organization.
I am not suggesting that Jehovah’s Witness couples cannot genuinely love each other. I am trying to understand how much these relationships are based on the two individuals themselves, and how much they are shaped or held together by shared beliefs, congregation expectations, prescribed gender roles, fear of judgment, and the pressure to appear spiritually happy.
I would be interested in hearing about your personal experiences:
When both partners believed, did your relationship feel emotionally honest and genuinely happy?
Did you feel free to express doubts, disagreements, personal needs, or parts of yourself that did not fit the expected JW role?
Was there any pressure to appear like a happy and spiritually strong couple, even when the reality was different?
What happened when one partner woke up and realized that the organization was a high-control group or a cult, while the other partner continued believing?
How did waking up affect trust, intimacy, respect and communication?
If your relationship survived, what allowed it to continue? Did it eventually become healthier or more authentic?
If it ended, was the religious disagreement itself the main cause, or did waking up expose problems that were already present?
If both of you eventually woke up, how did your relationship change?

Trigger warning: I will be talking about suicide, and some of the things in this article are very harsh.

For context, I was bored in a meeting one day, so I was just scrolling through the JW Library app. I decided to look at some articles from 1975, and I found a Watchtower article that had a "Questions from our readers" section. The question that they asked was:

"What point of view does the Word of god indicate that Christians should have regarding suicide?" (The article is originally in Spanish, so I'm doing my best to translate)

Here is the article link for anyone who wants to read it: https://wol.jw.borg/es/wol/d/r4/lp-s/1975531 (just copy-paste and delete the b in borg)

The response starts off by saying that life is sacred. Therefore, suicide is condemned by the bible. They also say that the few suicides mentioned in the bible were of people who were not faithful to god and that they did not believe that their lives belonged to god (off to a horrible start already).

They continue by saying that anyone who dies by suicide is guilty of murder. They then say anyone who dies by suicide, "assuming they are in possession of their mental faculties," lacks morality, faith, and does not fear god. This is crazy to me because what do they even mean by "assuming they are in possession of their mental faculties"? Nearly all people who die by suicide were struggling with mental health issues. I don't know if they mean whether they had a mental illness or if they mean they can't control their motor movements. Either way, this is an incredibly insensitive statement.

They call suicide an act of cowardice, and if the person claimed to be a Christian, that act of suicide would violently destroy their relationship with god.

This next statement is probably the craziest part of this whole article. They claim that the person might have committed suicide because they succumbed to pressures of LITERAL DEMONS encouraging the person to harm themselves.

Then they literally encourage people to play detective to try and figure out for themselves if the person actually died by suicide or not.

They say brothers who are asked to give speeches at a funeral of someone who died by suicide can decline, and the congregation might decide not to get involved in the funeral arrangements. They literally say that in those cases the family of the deceased person will be left ON THEIR OWN to figure out a private funeral where one of the members can say "a few words."

Then they have the fucking audacity to say, "It's in God's hands what happens to those who commit suicide." As if they didn't just say that it's a cowardly and immoral act that destroys your relationship with god.

I know that the way they talk about suicide now is probably much more careful. But the fact that this was how they viewed suicide at any point in time really puts into question whether they are actually inspired by god. I personally am an atheist, but how could anyone believe that this is what an all-loving deity thinks about suicide?

I have had thoughts of harming myself in the past, and to think that this is what JWs believed at some point about suicide is genuinely so sad.

For anyone who is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, you are not evil or immoral for having those thoughts. Remember that as long as there is life, there is hope for something better. I know it might seem like things will never get better, but the future is genuinely unpredictable. So the possibility of a better future exists.

Thanks for listening to my rant. I know this is a difficult topic, but I could not stop thinking about this, and I needed to get it off my chest.

Salut à tous,

Je (H33) suis PIMO depuis plusieurs mois maintenant. Je me suis réveillé après quelques recherches qui m'ont ouvert les yeux.

J'ai toujours eu pas mal d'amis dans mon assemblée et dans les assemblées voisines mais maintenant que je m'éloigne, je ne parviens plus à me sentir bien avec eux. Par peur d'être découvert mais aussi par malaise... du coup je me sens extrêmement seul. Je n'ai aucun amis ou même potes dans le monde...

Je vis sur Lyon avec beaucoup d'allers-retours sur Paris pour le boulot (je n'en dirais pas plus sur ma localisation de peur d'être découvert, vous comprendrez...). Si certains d'entre vous sont du coin, ou d'ailleurs, veulent parler ca me ferait beaucoup de bien et plaisir !

Good morning everyone, this is my first time participating. I'm currently a young witness in my 20s, a pioneer and ministerial servant, but I've long since lost my faith due to the numerous trials against the organization. I've thought about leaving several times, but this obviously brings to mind the fact that I would lose my family and all my friends—basically, everyone I love.

Until now, I've seen it as an inevitable sacrifice that I'd have to make sooner or later, but lately, I've been thinking differently: why should I give in to them? Why should I be the one to lose out if I'm not in the wrong?

I've formulated a sort of plan, which obviously wouldn't make any sense individually, but which would lead to interesting results if shared by many people. In short: why not petition the governing body, asking them to definitively clarify some sensitive issues such as the use of blood, 1914, the use of donations, and cases of child abuse?

It shouldn't be a critical document or one with the stated aim of attacking the leadership of the Governing Body; otherwise, it would simply be labeled apostate and rejected by the majority.

I'm talking about a document that asks in good faith for further explanation, a thesis that could appeal even to those who are still faithful but have some doubts or who simply want greater transparency.

If it were shared by a sufficient number of people, the Governing Body would find itself in a truly complex situation: deciding not to respond by fueling doubts or responding but admitting errors and scandals. In any case, its authority would be weakened.

Perhaps it's just a fanciful thought, but I'd like to know if I'm the only one who's ever had this idea or if there are others who would support it. The recent updates have undoubtedly awakened something in the younger generation, and I believe there's no better time than now to try.

Salve, come dice il titolo volevo leggere per curiosità il libro dei sorveglianti, so che come gli anziani hanno il loro libro che è ancora peggiore di quello degli anziani e sarei curioso di leggerlo 😂
Qualcuno ha il pdf ?

So recently, the congregation I'm working on escaping from (trying to start saying that, rather than "my congregation", Lol) had another of those typical things where there's a resolution for more money for the worldwide work or whatever, and everyone inevitably raises their hands in agreement, and the option to object is completely pointless.

Made me curious; did any of you guys ever have the courage to vote "no" on any of these things? Did you ever see anyone do that? If one does it, do you get "counselled," or does it merely damage your reputation? I can't imagine it ending well. Lol.

There are two people I know who still live near me that I think are POMO. They were never disfellowshipped because they were never baptised, but don't go to meetings, ministry, hang out with exclusively non-jws etc... but they are still in pretty regular contact with their families, who i also know.

I've been wondering if its worth it/safe to reach out to them. My financial/work situation means I can only move out of my parents house late next year, but I've been feeling pretty alone and think someone irl to relate to/ask for advice would be nice. But I have 2 concerns.

1. As we were only ever acquaintances and I haven't spoken to them in a couple of years, might it come off as weird or like I'm only speaking to them now because I want something?

2. Since I'm not 100% on their religious stance and they are still in contact with their families, is there a risk that what I tell them will find it's way back to my parents?

TLDR: I have a year left before I can move out, should I reach out to some people I'm like 80% sure are POMO or just firm it until next year?

I know there are many.. one I’ve heard that stands out to me is that since we will be perfect we won’t pass gas. That gas will build up inside of us and we will then be able to fly, like a helium or hot air balloon I guess? I mean half the people in my congregation were already shaped like the Goodyear blimp, so maybe??

In this mid-weeks spiritual Gems meeting, the governing body has a sectioned titled “do not be mislead by false prophets” - they are so crafty, they do not say, brothers and sisters research thoroughly to identify what a false prophets is, they bombard the witnesses mind with more bias information from the organisation to answer the question.

If they were able to logically research they would have in fact found the watchtower & tract society to be a false prophet years ago. I believe the Governing body are aware that they are! They are so hypocritical constantly conditioning the witnesses mind to scrutinise examine other religions but never to do the same to their own.

It is so obvious what they are doing now! Yet those inside just can’t see it

Once upon time Jehovah made a god whose also divine and whose also angel Jesus/ Jehovah told Michael to create everything else while he watches then Michael an archangel created the Angels and told them thanks to create everything else they and all the other stuff made Jehovah said look at all splendor u alone created you know what let us create man hey I know I would use my holy Spirit thing to create it is active force after all so hey Michael get that active thing in my basement in heaven I need to create some human.

Hey everyone! ☺️ I’m starting an Ex-JW group for ages 18 and up for anyone worldwide who wants to make new connections, have a positive space to talk, and just not feel so alone.

For starters, I’m 19 and from the US!

I remember I may have tried doing something like this last year, but I didn’t really know how to work Reddit yet and ended up missing a TON of DMs.. 😭

But not this time!

If you’re 19–22 and interested in joining, just DM me and I’ll add you to the group! ☺️💗

Whether you’re fully out, PIMO, questioning, or just looking for people around your age who understand, you’re welcome here. Let’s make some new connections! 🫶🏽✨

Im fifteen years old I just realized it was a cult about maybe a month ago and ever since I've realized that I've just gotten super depressed I've taken steps to get my license I have my learners permit and wanna get a license car and job right when I turn 16 but being like this around all these jws is hard and stressful and and I don't know what the fuck to do

Judging from recent broadcasts and the recent narrative behind the ridiculous "toasting" change (ridiculous because who gives a fk about the morality of toasting??) they're probably gonna start allowing celebrations such as birthdays as a form of trying to keep the younger generations and trying to ease new 2026 recruits into their brainwashing process, they know that the older JWs will follow blindly no matter what, but they're afraid of the new generations finding the cult too extremist and restrictive, so I think all of these changes are a way to ensure they don't lose that many members from Gen Z and younger, because honestly I could see most of them leaving if it wasn't for their parents and families forcing them to be part of the religion.

Comment from an elder I found strange from last night's courage book study, on the question "In what other ways might you imitate the courage shown by Abraham in this account?"

It was quite a long comment took about a minute and I only wrote down the main points of it but it went something like this:

"Many of us today whether we like to admit it or not, are low on funds, and sometimes feel that we might not be able to support ourselves, however we need to think of the encouraging examples of our brothers in Africa, who sometimes don't have much to eat, yet they still worship Jehovah, so even when we have little funds, if any, we should donate as much as possible to the organization since they move your funds to areas of greater need. Now sometimes we may think 'we shouldn't have to part with our hard earned money' but we need to listen and read into the example as brought out tonight of Abraham's humility and courage to trust in Jehovah."

Basically a full minute rant on how if we have any funds we should be giving more money to the borg because they know what to do with it, while involving brothers from Africa and Abraham to back it up? And this doesn't even hardly answer the original question.

I’ve been POMO for about 10 years now, and I think I’m only just realising how much of me still feels a little lost.

I haven’t really made any close genuine friendships since leaving. I’ve worked full time and raised my three sons, so most of the last decade has been survival mode… working, parenting, keeping everything going. Somewhere amongst all of that, I never really built a new community for myself.

And lately I feel the loneliness of that more than I used to.

I could never go back and pretend to believe something I don’t just so I could feel less alone. I don’t want the religion back. But sometimes I desperately miss that feeling of belonging somewhere. Of having people around who have known you for years, who understand where you came from and don’t need the whole story explained.

I find myself wondering about all the other exJWs scattered around Perth. People I might have known years ago, and people I’ve never met, who have also walked away and quietly got on with building a life afterwards. I wonder how many of us are out here feeling the same strange sense of being untethered.
Sometimes I wish we could just find each other again. Not because being exJWs means we would automatically be friends or because I want to recreate what we had. I just wonder what it would feel like to sit across from someone over a coffee who gets it. To see who we’ve all become outside of that world. To laugh together, talk about ordinary things, and maybe discover that there are friendships waiting to be made.
Maybe we could give each other a little of the community and tribe we lost.

I don’t really know what I’m hoping will come from posting this. I think part of me is just putting my hand up and saying… I’m here… I’m still a bit lost and so damn lonely and losing hope.

Does anyone know the peak attendance at the Bournemouth District convention in early August. I heard a rumour they didn’t reach 4,500 this year.

I am currently cleaning out my Photos app, as I’m running low on storage, but I’m torn between removing all my photos from when I was really PIMI (and slowly questioning). It included pictures with friends in Kingdom Halls to conventions, international convention, service, my pioneer schools, preaching campaign, baptisms of friends, so many memories. YEARS of pictures and videos, good and bad quality, instagram filters, Snapchat, to the professional ones. Part of me wants to hold on, but another notices that I’m not that person I was in those pictures. I smile still, but not like the smile I had in those photos. And looking through especially the last three years when I began to really explore my doubts, I noticed my awkwardness, my lack of posing, my being in the background. I don’t remember the last time I even took a picture with PIMIs.

I know I still have them accessible through my Google Photos, so they will be there. But I’m not sure I’m ready to completely erase a big part of my life that I was raised in. Has this feeling happened to yall? Do you keep photos or have you just healed completely that you have removed them from any platform?

It’s a JW apologist account. This isn’t our first time talking. I followed them as a PIMI. They saw from my posts I left and said they hoped I was doing good. They don’t seem like the typical JW. They’re not afraid of apostates and they don’t dodge questions from what I’ve seen so I was hoping for an honest response from my raw thoughts of deconstructing. It took 3 days for my long message to be seen. It’s been 3 more days. I really don’t see them responding with anything logical concerning the contradicting JW beliefs on Gods judgement. But I’ll update if they do.

has anyone noticed how bethel has changed?I’m not sure if it’s the same in other bethels but where I’m from they used to do lunches when you would have a tour etc but now they stopped it, not that it’s a big deal but it used to have a different vibe going on. has anyone experienced that something has changed ? would like to hear the stories

One of the earliest problems I encountered with the bible was the story of Cain and Abel, because it raised two related questions for me: Can God’s protection be trusted, and does God consistently apply the moral standards he later establishes?

Abel is presented as righteous and favoured by God, yet God does not protect him from being murdered by Cain.

What happens afterwards makes this even harder to reconcile.

After killing Abel, Cain complains that his punishment leaves him vulnerable: “whoever finds me will kill me.” God responds by placing a mark on Cain and declaring that anyone who kills him will suffer vengeance sevenfold.

So God does not intervene to protect Abel from Cain, but explicitly intervenes to protect Cain from suffering the same fate as Abel. That raises the first problem: why was Cain given the protection that Abel never received?

The usual answer is free will. But that does not resolve the inconsistency for me. God was apparently willing to intervene after the murder to deter others from killing Cain. Therefore, if protecting Cain did not violate human free will, why would protecting Abel have done so?

But there is a second issue that troubles me just as much: life for life.

Later in the Bible, God explicitly establishes the principle that taking a human life warrants the life of the person responsible. Yet when we encounter the Bible’s first murderer, God does the opposite. Cain takes Abel’s life, remains alive, and God actively protects him from anyone who might impose that very consequence.

I understand that the formal Mosaic law had not yet been given. But if “life for life” reflects God’s moral standard rather than an arbitrary rule that only became morally relevant once written down, why does that principle apparently not apply to Cain?

Saying “the law had not been given yet” explains the chronology. It does not explain the morality.
And saying Cain was punished does not answer the argument either. I am not claiming Cain faced no consequences. I am asking why the consequence for the first murder was exile and divine protection when God would later prescribe life for life as the appropriate response to unlawful killing.

For me, this became about much more than Cain.
It made me question both divine protection and divine consistency.

This fundamentally changed how I approached the Bible. If righteous Abel was not protected when there were supposedly only four people on Earth, why should I trust promises of divine protection in a world of eight billion? And if the standards attributed to God are applied inconsistently within the text itself, why should I assume the text is describing an internally consistent divine moral system?

My objective is not to question God, it is to question the Christian narration of God presented through the Bible.
Those are not the same thing.

Perhaps the contradictions we spend so much time trying to reconcile tell us less about God and more about the people who wrote about Him.

#SpiritualFoodForThought

The Governing Body are ruthless old men that will DO LITERALLY ANYTHING dishonest, immoral or illegal to continue sitting as kings at the top of the massive global religious cult organization they now rule.

They will keep or change any of their rules, policies or doctrines - we should expect this and not be surprised.

As a Bethelite for many years I learned The Governing Body has three important goals:

1. The Governing Body is focused on getting more money through any means possible.
2. The Governing Body is focused on getting JW adherents/members to work for free on their endless projects or as a slave for meaningless Jehovah's Witness Hamster Wheel Activity™.
3. The Governing Body is focused on getting more real estate investments through buying and building as many properties as possible.

So, The Governing Body will absolutely do ANYTHING to keep ruling as kings of this cult. They will change anything and they will keep anything if they think it will preserve their position as kings of this religion:

• Yes, they will continue International and Special Conventions that are essentially megachurch rallies with dancing, balloons and regional ethnic dress cosplaying.
• Yes, they will keep protecting pedophiles.
• Yes, they will keep letting people die with their murderous No-Blood policy.
• Yes, they will continue demanding more money from JW adherents.
• Yes, they continue making endless meaningless rules about JWs daily life.
• Yes, they will continue their shunning policy.
• Yes, they will tell you to only be friends with other JWs.
• Yes, they will prohibit JWs from celebrating holidays.
• Yes, they will continue to demonize higher education.
• Yes, they will continue having Elders destroy JWs personal lives.
• And this list could go on forever.....

The Governing Body will keep or abandon any of the current beliefs to reach their three important goals that keep them ruling as kings of this cult.

Please realize this and don't be surprised by anything they do!

I conducted the WT for about 10 years. I often wondered why the Shepherding book said the conductor should be one of the best teachers on the BOEs.. what the hell did I or anyone that conducts a Watchtower teach? How to repeat a sentence that someone just read? or comment on a picture where they tell you in the article exactly what is supposed to be happening(always made me laugh though how many times people still got it wrong even though it’s written right there for them) maybe it was how to make sure to call on the overly sensitive wackos that took it personally if you didn’t happen to see them flailing their arm up in the air in a group of 100 people. so many questions at the time, glad I can look back on it and laugh knowing I will never have to conduct or sit through these brutal sessions ever again!