w14 12/15-E Study Edition (page 5)

AnnOMaly

Ahh the wisdom from above.

Indeed. It makes the same amount of sense as Lösch's idea that going to College is like shooting yourself in the head.

prologos

I can not get myself to read this stuff, but looking at the Pictures, titles:

Frontcover : Surfing beach in Costa Rica: that is not a surfoard, it is a cheaply done assymetrical photo-shop image, like the whole wt thing; CHEAP. very.

page 5, Give money title" " How SOME choose to contribute " written in the 3d person. IT is YOU that are giving, we the receivers do not exist but in the shadows. YOU give that is what counts.

page 22 back to the bookstudy? in private homes? but look: There is only 1 bible in the room, the rest clutches the wt book only. The grinning faces, this is not persecution, they came dresses as going to the kh, not a clandestine hiding your identity. its an unrealistic remake of the basement bombshelter layout.

ilikecheese

There's nothing more delightful than going to the beach in dress shoes, is there?

ilikecheese

"Many who do not serve Jehovah lead a self-centered way of life, focusing only on what they want. Some researchers call them 'Generation Me.' By the way they talk and dress, they give evidence of disdain for the older generation, whom they view as not 'with it.'"

LOL! Clearly the GB are "with it." They're some "cool cats."

Cadellin

A quick skim shows the cultic rhetoric hard at work. A couple that stood out were (1) An exaggerated "Us v. Them" delineation, with the entire JW world lumped together as one undifferentiated mass of badness, in contrast to the JW world which is pure, wholesome and beyond questioning; (2) Strong invocation of fear as to the consequences of leaving the group; (3) the implication that there are no alternatives--everything is either this or that, and there's no room for contemplating other possibilities, in any context.

Moreover the study articles all follow EXACTLY the same template: The first few paragraphs outline a challenge or problem, then the middle section looks at a couple of Bible examples, usually at least one from the Hebrew scripts and one from the Greek, then the application is made pointedly to current member behavior, with the last paragraph mentioning something about Wonderful Benefits of Obedience. I mean, there's no straying from the formula, not even a little. And the legitimacy of the application of the Biblical examples to modern day behavior in terms of the actual "lesson" is a reach, in many cases. It's a clear manipulative device to control behavior.

Oh, wait--sounds like a high control religion.

BU2B

Great comment Cadellin! So true how they follow the same template week after week ad nauseum.

sd-7

The explanation of the 'prodigal son' illustration stands out to me. They mention that returning to the organization--by their own words--can be "embarrassing". Well, who made it embarrassing? You were the ones who designed the system to shame people. The father of the prodigal son doesn't put shame on his son, he welcomes him back with open arms and throws a party! No embarrassment there. It's the self-righteous other son who wants to shame the prodigal. There's a giant mental blank where they skip over how vastly different this illustration is from how the organization operates.

Also, the kid who stayed out late playing pool and violent computer games is pretty hilarious. Seriously? That's the worst you could come up with? Is their goal to protect kids from playing pool and Call of Duty? I'm sure that's what Jesus had in mind when he appointed the 'faithful slave'. He must be relieved.

--sd-7

suavojr

You all forget that this is obvious to us because we are awaken, but to the grand majority of the almost 8 million JW’s…. nah! It is business as usual.

Also, they are just talking like Jesus disciples:

"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?" ... Luke 9:54

sd-7

You all forget that this is obvious to us because we are awaken,

Forget? Not at all. But sometimes it's good to say it again, especially for those who might be lurking right now and thinking the same things.

--sd-7

DATA-DOG

Do you ever wonder if maybe, JUST MAYBE, the "apostate" articles that have been written are because there is a war going on in World HQ?? Even if they are deluded, there may be some GB members and "helpers" who are actually trying to be more Xian?? Perhaps in their own twisted/deluded way, some higher ups are trying to sneak warm-fuzzy phrases in to the WT?

The prodigal son illustration may be an example. They could actually believe what they say, couldn't they?? Maybe the more Xian members of the WTBTS are expecting to boot some "apostates" from the legal department out? Maybe they really are not after faders at all?? Maybe they are just covering their asses in case the public learns about all their dirty laundry??

Then again, they could be purely evil and also be planning ahead. If ANYONE gets the boot, they can say that such and such article predicted it. That would also make young ones believe that the GB had special knowledge. Just rambling...

DD

w14 12/15-E Study Edition

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