Posts by sparrowdown

26

Convention

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

gorby is as you know a long time fader.. visited the convention this weekend.. and concluded that samuel herds talk about hope was not so bad at all, it was well balanced.

made some good points.. knowing both sides of the medallion, have to admit he was humble with a focus on hope.. the saturday drama impressed me.

of course, there is a lot to say about the organization, this professional produced movie in a "true story" scenario, gave me the insight that hope is important for suffering people.

sparrowdown

Yes, they're a cult, they produce effective cult propoganda (slow clap for WT).

15

Why THAT talk? Why NOW?

by dubstepped in

in another thread there's a discussion about how the show must go on and meetings weren't even slowed down by the deaths or medical emergencies of ones in the audience.

for instance, one young brother's unbelieving father was murdered locally.

not long afterward he's assigned a part on an assembly about the resurrection or something.

sparrowdown

Back in the day, the awful koolaid drinking day, I thought that if the brother was a bad example of the talk he was giving he did not have "freeness of speech" to give that talk. (God I was naive)

Jw elders, as are many religious people, boldfaced hypocritical experts at "preaching temperance from a barstool."

23

i met an old friend last evening, a great guy, an xjw for longer than me.. during a conversation about our experiences since fading (neither of us are da'd or anything) we got to talking about the young jw's.. his wife is still in, and he has two lovely daughters who he is trying to teach the art of critical thinking so that they can make the right choice in the future.. what worries him though is that he is convinced almost all young jw's do not give a "proverbial" if it is the truth or not, they simply wish to remain in it because of the social aspects, loads of friends and activities that they feel safe partaking in etc etc.. so how do you convince these young people that they would have a better life if they left ?.

they see it as losing all their friends, and being alone and trying to build new relationships, which is mostly true.. how do we convince them to make the leap ?.

should they ?.

sparrowdown

Be the happiest apostate you can be.

12

David H. Splane: The “Slave” Is Not 1900 Years Old (Matt. 24:45)

by ToesUp in

david splane video.

morning worship.

david splane attempts to explain why the "slave" is not 1900 years old.. warning...video may cause drowsiness!.

sparrowdown

Nah, he doesn't look a day over 1500.

6

Watchtower No. 6 - More stupidity

by ttdtt in

so one of the many stupid articles deals with getting answers from the bible.. 1st question is about prayer.. ---would you say that he answers the prayers of .

some people.

what the bible says.

sparrowdown

What the WT says.

"Jehovah (the borg) is near (watching you) to all (active baptized JWs)... who call on (worship) him (the GB) in

(the )truth."

57

I got my Bethel Application approved, I start in September

by Quarterback in

jw
friends

well it took awhile.

i've downsized.

got rid of my bmw.

sparrowdown

Gee, I really wish I could care.

15

Subtle Differences in congregations

by SouthCentral in

jw
friends

i grew up in a very zealous congregation.

we had almost 40 pioneers with only 100 publishers.

the congregation was 100% black americans (i don't say african-american).

sparrowdown

I remember the racism being of the condascending, patronizing kind rather than hostile or passive aggressive kind of racism, but that was in white dominated congregations.

I think racism just like sexism and agism and any other ism common to religious people is alive and well in the borg and varies only by degree and location.

24

Can baptism be considered a legal verbal agreement?

by StarTrekAngel in

based on the requirements set forth and the questions answered at the end.

i believe this question has been asked before.

the fact that you can only be expelled after having been put under this oath of allegiance and that you have witnesses to you making this agreement ( i remember my name was shout to the crowd when i entered the pool ).. if it can be considered so, would there be a legal ground to say minors can not enter this agreement?.

sparrowdown

So by WT's standards of verbal aggreement if you promise in front of the whole congregation to brush your teeth everyday you are bound to do so forever? Shee-iit !😕

24

Can baptism be considered a legal verbal agreement?

by StarTrekAngel in

based on the requirements set forth and the questions answered at the end.

i believe this question has been asked before.

the fact that you can only be expelled after having been put under this oath of allegiance and that you have witnesses to you making this agreement ( i remember my name was shout to the crowd when i entered the pool ).. if it can be considered so, would there be a legal ground to say minors can not enter this agreement?.

sparrowdown

What if the verbal contract is a result of coercion?

How do they prove the verbal contract?

I suspect, if tested, their "verbal contract" with a minor or an adult wouldn't hold water.

There's no need to annul something that doesn't legally exist.

16

JW as a secret society - a weak link in the Information Age.

by slimboyfat in

in the late 1990s there was magazine article that asked the question, are jws a secret society?

obviously they said no, because they claim to be transparent to outsiders and new members.

but they really are not transparent at all.

sparrowdown

Much like the Wizard of Oz.

The people kept as mushrooms, the obedient members who obey the command to "not listen to the voice of strangers" know jack squat, to them WT is still the keeper of divine secrets and the arbiter of who needs to know For anyone else much of their so-called "secrets" are available online.

I still reckon they have secrets though, and not the organizational smoke and mirrors 'look we can pull a holy spirit rabbit out of our asses" kind either. They are doing something dodgy I can feel it in my buns.