Hi Larc, well how vast the wealth is none of us will probably ever know. My point was simply ita important to them to maintain their corporate status and the wealth that comes with that. Therefore all the cutbacks may not be because they are "just getting by" but because they want to make sure that the funds that they do have are not swiftly depleted. They are, after all, adding an enormous addition to the Bethel Farm in upstate New York so they aren't exactly begging for money. Like all corporations sometimes you have to shift here and layoff there to insure your continued existence.
Top STUPID criticisms of the WTS
by JanH 95 Replies latest jw friends
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lastcall
Larc, with all due respect, I think you are splitting hairs.
The question really amounts to , " Is it stupid to criticise JW's by defining them as a cult?" My opinion is no. There are many ways to define something, a dictionary is just one. In this case, books by sociologists may be another ( and it may be the most authoratative from a technical standpoint)
That said, the "common definition" that many hold must also be considered. And when you think about it, it may be the most important definition of all.
Ultimately words are defined by how PEOPLE commonly define them. What do people think of when they think of the word "cult"? Really that is the most important definition, though perhaps not completely accurate in a technical sense.
Cults: Isolate themselves, control people, replace peoples families, are extreme in their beliefs(blood,flags,politics,holidays, shunning, detruction of all opposers, devoted at the expence of nearly everything else). That's my, and dare I say, most peoples loose definition of cults
Of course this is only my humble opinion.
Edited by - lastcall on 26 June 2002 0:45:34
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larc
Marilyn, There buildings are fixed assets. They can not use the money tied up in buildings. The only thing they can work with are liquid assets, cash or cash convertibles, e.g., stocks. Therefore, what matters is their cash reserves, not their buildings. Buildings require maintenance and maintenence costs money. As Dutchie pointed out, it really is not possible to determine if they are cash rich or cash poor. My hunch is that they are hurting, based on the reasons I gave.
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tdogg
Best thread I've seen here for quite a while. Nice work JanH.
If you make an argument against the WTS during conversation with JW family, friends, etc. and use these "stupid criticisms" you will likely end up looking, well, "stupid" and prove only that you are the mislead apostate they thought you to be.
For example, it was mentioned that the WTS is protecting pedophiles. Yes they are. But if you argue that the motivation is to protect pedophiles because the GB likes pedophiles, are pedophiles, and maintain some kind of pedophile underworld for the sake of evil itself then your argument loses all credibility. The pedophile issue is a side effect. The real problem is that the GB thinks they are directed by God and that the organization itself is perfect, even if those in the organization make mistakes. It appears that they will do almost anything to prove that to be true even if it means mistreating the innocent members whom they are supposed to be guiding.
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professor
Agreed. This is how the pedophile issue is skirted by the society. They know there are people out there saying "Jehovah's Witnesses are child molesters!" So they come out with an obvious statement "we abhor this" and, of course, this is true, and JW's say "What a silly idea! Boy! Satan sure is working overtime!"
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Imbue
Larc the real money is in estates and they have been collecting an investing...
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lisaBObeesa
Thank you JanH and everyone else who posted for this interesting thread.
My thoughts:
Repeat the following once in your personal study, once when you study with your family, and once at the meeting on Sunday:
Read paragraph one: We would never speak to apostates!
Question for paragraph one: Would we ever speak to apostates?
Answer to paragraph one: We will never speak to apostates!
They might as well break out the pocket watch to swing before our eyes as they whisper, You are getting sleepy.
I call this mind-control or brainwashing. Maybe there is a better term but this is what I mean, and I think what most people mean, when they say 'mind-control' or 'brainwashing.' Maybe Im wrong
And as for being a cult: they control every minute of your life, who you speak to, what kind of clothes you wear, how you style you hair, what movies you see, what books you read, and how you can think. It is not an exaggeration: they actually control a persons whole life. For a JW t o evade that control takes careful planning amd secrecy. And it usually causes a great deal of fear of being caught, if it can be done at all without getting df (death sentence).
I dont think this is just a religion. I think t his is something more. I think this is a cult that empoys mind-control techinques to indocrinate, control, and keep followers.
-LisaBObeesa
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larc
Imbue, I will give you that. They get a lot of money from inheretences, money that should go to the children, not the Society. Lastcall, I don't think I am splitting hairs and I don't think JanH was either. Go back and look at my explaination of the difference between brainwashing and indoctrination in my answer to OUTLAW. Words are important, and the meaning of words should be carefully determined, as well as the use of such words. Let me ask you a question. What is the difference between being paranoid and being suspicious? There is an enormous difference, even though the two words are often used interchangebly.
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professor
They might as well break out the pocket watch to swing before our eyes as they whisper, You are getting sleepy.
LMAO!
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terafera
lisaBObeesa,
Perfect point!! I've thought the exact thing...they dont need to sit you down, starve you and force you to spit back the same rhetoric...they do it much smoother than that. Let you go to 3 meetings a week and feed you a mentality, ask you to say it back and let you think you came up with it in the first place. It's still a mindf*** no matter how you look at it.
You all have me confused with this thread....now I'm thinking I should go back to the meetings!!