what is a cult and what is a religion?
its open to debate.
who has the authority to say for certain what is a cult and what is a religion?
You ask "who has the authority to say what is a cult and what a religion"
Those who have qualifications and study cults would have the authority.
This is not a mystery subject, there are criteria for "what is a cult."
Better question: Who would NOT have the authority?
The bloody WT that's who.
we talk a lot about most jws being uneducated, uninformed, and that they lack critical thinking skills, but in my area there is a lot of jws that went to the university, medical school, law school, and came back to the organization.
in my circuit, that i know of, we had two electrical engineers, one computer engineer with a ph.d. eight teachers with a bachelors degree and three of those with a masters in education.
we had two medical doctors, one was a pediatrician who closed his business about 3 years ago and went to bethel.
Indoctrination and cult recruitment has nothing to do with IQ or education.
Stephen Hassan was recruited by the Moonies at University if I remember correctly.
its been a little over 2 years since i left the watchtower.
in that time the magazines have been cut, the birth of jwtv, jw-org.
carts for preaching, removed district overseers, cut assemblies, demand all the money from the congregations, stop construction and layoff bethelites, change the format of the tmschool .
@Dunedain- " They have no clue what they are doing."
I think they know exactly what they are doing. Their WT universe has come about by design , not accident.
many people are understandably upset and angry at the notion that jws have the right to shun people.
it seems such an obvious "no brainer" cruel and inhuman thing to do - it must be wrong ... surely?.
of course we look at things from the perspective of those hurt and harmed by shunning.
Of course the right to withdraw from social contact from whomever you choose is a personal right unless you are legally/morally/ethically responsible for that person, as in the case of underage children and a spouse.
But the point is, it should be an individual decision to do that NOT mandated by a religion that YOU MUST SHUN any and all who no longer wish to remain in your religion including your family, otherwise YOU will be "shunned" yourself.
for a prank perhaps somebody found a cart spot (busy one), and they set up a phony carts site and do things that will sure to get people to complain to the cart people when they take the spot again?
i'm bored sorta and the idea just pop up and i thought about sending into internet hyperspace.
http://www.warwickadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20151001/news01/151009998/warwick-seeks-amendment-to-town-code.
supervisor michael sweeton also sought a resolution to reduce the performance bond from pledged collateral account control agreement with the watchtower bible and tract society of new york, inc. from $22.6 million to $7.3 million and to authorize the release the difference to the organization.the watchtower bible and tract society jehovahs witnesses world headquarters is advancing in its new construction.
the 45-acre development site on the tuxedo-warwick border, in sterling forest, is set to be completed by the end of 2016.the motion passed..
I almost feel sorry for the GB.
Standing there at the half completed heli-rapture-pad at Warwick with their little carry-ons packed waiting for the midnight plane to heaven that just never comes.
its been a little over 2 years since i left the watchtower.
in that time the magazines have been cut, the birth of jwtv, jw-org.
carts for preaching, removed district overseers, cut assemblies, demand all the money from the congregations, stop construction and layoff bethelites, change the format of the tmschool .
its been a little over 2 years since i left the watchtower.
in that time the magazines have been cut, the birth of jwtv, jw-org.
carts for preaching, removed district overseers, cut assemblies, demand all the money from the congregations, stop construction and layoff bethelites, change the format of the tmschool .
They will switch out the GB's eyes for hyponotist spinning wheels in the broadcast videos.
There will be goat shaped demons, phalic symbols and dollars signs hidden in the big blue spinning globe -or is there already........
anybody know?
"Jehovah's chariot has been experiencing mechanical problems"
Announcement: Jehovah's chariot has been put in for service due to the appearance of inconvenient facts.
the dream stage of wishful thinking eventually crashes with reality and slowly turns to the nightmare stage do you see the predicament the gb is in and what extremes they cause in human suffering for their followers that they are willing to put them thru?
please feel free to vent on these maniacs.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wishful_thinking.
the fantasy cycle ... a pattern that recurs in personal lives, in politics, in history and in storytelling.
That description of the "fantasy cycle" would make a good computer game.
The thing with WT's fantasy cycle is that they are hell-bent on infecting as many as possible with their WT fantasy virus.
