Posts by sparrowdown

36

Why are JWs so sensitive to criticism?

by Half banana in

i remember a roman catholic priest acknowledging on the bbc that the outrageously anti-clerical tv comedy father ted was a humorous mocking of his church but an acceptable thing.. try mocking the jw religion to a believer and the result is so very different.. just why is it that jehovah's witnesses can never take even the faintest hint of criticism of their religion?.

sparrowdown

I think it's due to the brainwashing. You cannot be fully indoctrinated to a dictatorial regime and be prepared to die or go to jail or shun even your closest friend or family for the sake of it and be wishy washy about someone criticizing it. Remember, JWs themselves are not allowed to criticize their religion just like in Nazi Germany no one could critisize Hitler or you could be turned in by a neighbor or so -called friend.Same kind of fear based reaction with dubs or any cult.

41

What Comes After the Watchtower Collapse?

by schnell in

i was going to put this in my thread about pyramid schemes, but i thought it's discreet enough to warrant its own.

1) there are many faithful jws.

2) there are many men and women who could take control and fill the void if the watchtower collapses.

sparrowdown

Like others have said, WT isn't collapsing just morphing into something else.

I'd say everthing we see even their doublespeak as to the "work moving ahead at an accelerated pace" and at the same time "more money going out that is coming in" is all just to distract and keep people guessing, while the incremental (emphasis on the mental) transformation is talking place.

How do you boil a frog??

55

Let's Be Honest - You or One of Your Ancestors Was an Idiot

by Simon in

why were we ever a jw?

were we mad?

we must have been .... well, my excuse is that i knew nothing else.

sparrowdown

Ahh, no need for pity, look on the bright side, at least now you can make a modest living out of all the past, present and future "idiots."

62

The status of women in early Christianity

by Leolaia in

the watchtower society maintains a very strict gender dichotomy in its organization.

this is news to no one.

although men -- in many cases, unqualified men -- are expected to reach for advancement within local congregations (e.g.

sparrowdown

I wasn't around when Leolaia was here, but wish I had because she seems intelligent and polite without a trace of bitchiness. Proof you can state your case without intimidation or causing others to feel small in the process.

20

RBC Used Tools Liquidation - 80% Off Cost!

by thedepressedsoul in

has anyone else received this email?

"items priced to move, up to 80% off cost".

i'd post the email but i worry they put secret identifying marks on it somehow.

sparrowdown

Watchtower Used Tools and Tractors Society ???

21

The physical effects of Cognitive Dissonance

by stuckinarut2 in

most of us here have gone through, or are going through the various stages "cognitive dissonance".. this is a term used to describe a situation where our minds, and hearts just know that something is "not quite right", and therefore we find ourselves in a muddle trying to reconcile the things we know with the things we are hearing or being told.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cognitive_dissonance.

so just wondering, how many of you found yourselves (or still find yourselves) becoming phyiscally ill in some way during the time of fading?.

i know that when i look back, for several years even before i was awake to the many issues and facts about the society, i would feel ill at assemblies or conventions.

sparrowdown

How could the amount of intellectual and emotional denial required to be a JW not cause stress related psychosomatic symptoms?

I used to get back pain and muscle stiffness at conventions and blamed it on the seating and high heels, and while I'm sure the seating arrangement was crap and the high heels didn't help I never get same aches and pains now when I go to seminars or concerts where I am sitting for long periods of time.

The differences are the subject matter or performance is something that I chose and find interesting/entertaining. I'm not concerned that the people around me are judging me. I can dress however I want, leave whenever I want, and I don't have to like it. Or, if I do like it I can un-self-consciously whoop it up with the rest of the audience at the end and go and have drinks guilt free afterward.

15

Worship of Men and Emphasis on Titles

by HereIgo in

i remember a few years back at a circuit assembly, a few bros were introducing themselves to the co, they made sure to mention that they were an ms or an elder from such and such cong.

i was also an ms, but was the only one that introduced themselves by just my first name.

i was so irritated and blown away at the arrogance by these bros, trying to impress men with titles!

sparrowdown

When you have so little to be personally proud of.....

Many JWs that are pioneering or reaching out for more privileges have minimum education, minimum wage jobs, no hobbies, no sports, no outside-the-cult interests, no individuality or outlet for self-expression.

Let's face it JW life is all about denying self and never doing enough so their (meaningless in the real world) titles become hugely important to them. They overcompensate for deep down feeling like a worthless piece of crap by bragging about their JW credentials and pedigree.

Sick, sad little cults like WT wield a stick and hold out a carrot - the titles and accompanying bragging rights are part of the "carrot" program.

37

More speculation on Kingdom Hall closers and money grabbing?

by Crazyguy in

there continues to be more and more rumors of more halls being sold off some even taking the first offer.

the borg trying to get thier bond money back from the court in san diego asap and there's been elders meetings about this consolidation.

my questions is why after selling off all this real estate in new york for over a billion dollars are they still acting like thier broke?

sparrowdown

Don't worry bout it. It's all part of the GB's final solution..I mean master plan.

It goes something like this.

Sell off all the halls except for maybe one big "Potters House" style Hall where only the creme de la creme, invitaion only, demographically approved dubs will go and the meetings there will be broadcast. That's when they will become an internet sensation, amongst jws anyway. Add to that the perpetually overlapping generations and they're good to go for another 100yrs.

38

Were Conventions, Asemblies and the Memorials boring to you?

by HereIgo in

conventions always just seemed like more of a vacation to me than anything else, especially if you had to travel out of town for it, but definitely were exhausting especially toward the end of each day.

for some reason i didn't mind the special and circuit assemblies too much, probably because they seemed like more of a social event than anything else and only 1-2 days.

the memorial always was kind of boring to me.

sparrowdown

They were so boring I would volunteer to do a few shifts at "mothers and babies" and also volunteer for the restroom cleanup crew - now that's the sort of I'm so bored I'm talking about here the "I'd rather be in the company of even more bored crying small children and clean dirty toilets bored!"

Next phase was "just shoot me, shoot me now."

If total mental breakdown occurred I entered into the silly bored phase then a great game to play at big conventions is too roll up tiny pieces of torn paper and see how many you can sit on top of the person's head in front of you before they shake their head. I think my friend and I got to about 5 it also helps if the person has big hair.

Yes, sessions were f***ing boring. Pre-sessions were vacuous, tedious "you're so vain" style meet and greet social torture.

33

Petr Muzny: A Law Professor Explains His Faith

by konceptual99 in

this is absolutely feckin' priceless.. https://www.jw.org/en/publications/videos/viewpoints-origin-of-life/petr-muzny-law-professor/.

in yet another appeal to authority, jw.org has trotted out a professional to vouch for creation.

this guy is a law professor.

sparrowdown

"If the law professor supposes that - then the law professor is an ass!"