A Note on Forums
Forums, bulletin boards, discussion groups, newsgroups, etc. are all versions of essentially the same concept. They offer the opportunity to exchange ideas and interact with others. Whether you choose to just lurk or to participate, forums are a great way to learn, to keep current, socialize, meet persons of similar and disimilar views and to vent your own ideas and feelings. In large part, the quality of the forum depends on the site administrator, moderators and regular participants.
Active Jehovah's Witnesses (who are so concerned) should note that few forums promote solely "positive" information and viewpoint about the Organization or restrict participant membership to active "baptized publishers in good standing." Therefore, be prepared to encounter critical information/viewpoint of the Organization and Jehovah's Witnesses at virtually any forum that you may visit on the Internet. (There are some out there that do make such an attempt to limit critical information or to maintain a membership consisting only of Jehovah's Witnesses, but I am not familiar with them. You are welcome to email me the url and I will include such groups here.)
In my opinion, the POINT of having a forum in the first place is to bring to the "marketplace of ideas" a variety of viewponts and diversity of participants. A forum that consisted of only participants holding the same views would not only be truly pointless, it would be terribly boring.
If you know of a forum that should be listed here please drop me an email with the url. -EBL
This new forum is the official forum of this website and is also administered by me. I hope that it will gain in popularity and eventually become a nice place for open discussion. I wish to encourage all viewpoints. - EBL
Simon Green's board, usually referenced as JWD, is probably the best and most active on the Internet/Web today. Since March 23, 2000, it has served as a valuable forum for active and past Jehovah's Witnesses and for others. The board has a great interface and the quality of information and participants is very high. You can also browse the postings (except the private ones) without having to register which is a feature I really like.
Please note, that the vast majority of regular posters are moderately to highly critical of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Organization thus the site is severely lacking in balance. There is also a tendency for the few pro-JW posters to receive a lot of criticism and sometimes personal attacks by other (regular) posters. It is assumed that there are a good number of active Jehovah's Witnesses who merely lurk and who do not participate. Despite these flaws, JWD is highly recommended for anyone wishing to check out a forum.
Back in the day, Rick's board was the hottest place for JW related discussion. This is the forum resurrected. I believe that Rick and the moderators are trying to keep things a bit more "balanced" and this may be a more "palatable" site for some. Participation levels seem moderate and you can browse without registering.
This is a nice little forum that touts "censorship free discussion" and appears to have moderate activity. The owner-administrator is Dan Ferro. It may be worth a look. One negative is that you have to register to browse the postings.
Slippy's site has a little more attitude than others and also is a bit broader in scope. There is a moderate amount of postings and traffic. One negative is that you have to register to browse the postings.
Initially this forum began as a support resource for victims of sexual abuse and molestation but it has broadened in scope a bit. It has a moderate size with a core of regular participants. You can browse without registering.
This is a link to a page in ExJW.net, one of Randall Watters' websites, which has a large list of other forums. Some of the links are outdated or broken.
Formerly known as "Paradise Cafe", this is one of the few "pro-JW" discussion boards that I know about. It is owned and administered by "e-Watchman" aka Robert King, who was mostly a JW apologist, but who has recently taken a much more overt stand against the Society. Friends who are worried about getting too much "negativity" from the other boards may be very happy with Paradise Cafe, so long as you agree with Mr. King's views. No registration is required to browse the board.
From the Site: "The purpose of JWForum.com is to provide current and former Jehovah’s Witnesses and friends and family a research tool, a support forum and a community to share and exchange ideas on the religion and other topics. It is a place to make new friends and hopefully fill the void some of us have felt as Witnesses or while thinking about leaving the organization."
I think the name speaks for itself.
