Posts by OneEyedJoe

59

On the subject of Child Baptism - Video

by cappytan in

so, the latest "kids" kingdom melody video is out.. here are some screenshots:.

.

yep, that's right, they showed a kid with a teddy bear getting baptized.. here's the video in full for documentation, if you can stomach it.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ellrtyj_maq.

OneEyedJoe

OrphanCrow -

The difference between then and now is that prior to 1980, or thereabouts, someone could disassociate themselves without the enforced shunning that someone today would experience in those circumstances. Plus world conditions probably made it seem considerably more reasonable to make that particular bet and get baptized, with WWI a recent memory and WWII starting in 1939.

Today, world conditions are better than ever and armageddon is clearly nowhere near the horizon. Meanwhile, the punishment for changing your mind is much harsher. This time it's clear that the motivation is 100% control, not some altruistic desire to see these children survive the wrath of the desert god.

13

Will they jump of the building?

by John Aquila in

during the depression people committed suicide because everything they had invested in was gone overnight in an instant.

many people are very fragile creatures.

if by some freaking chance, (like enron, tiger woods, or the morning of august 1945 in hiroshima) the wts gets caught in a humongous scandal, say like links to human sex trafficking, (i can fantasize right) and the government steps in to investigate and finds them guilty and legally shuts them down permanently, will there be tons of suicides?

OneEyedJoe

I think the persecution complex is built up enough that quite a few would only redouble their efforts to remain loyal to the cult if the government tried to shut them down. If, on the other hand, some freak natural disaster (an asteroid strikes the new cult compound right after completion and kills the entire GB and most of the higher-ups - now who's fantasizing?) I think there could be something like what you're talking about.

There's been too much preparing (even the recent "gog of magog" change) for a government to try to shut them down that I think it might actually have the opposite effect and pull in a lot of the fence-sitters and doubters.

5

Trolley Witnessing Saves Money?

by TTATTelder in

i was just wondering, do you think the trolley cart stationary witnessing is to slow down the literature distribution at not-at-homes?.

it basically traps several shifts of pioneers to a cart or table and keeps the placement count way down compared to leaving something at every door in a neighborhood.. is money the main motivation here?

(besides staged facebook pics lol).

OneEyedJoe

I don't see why money would be the main motivator. They're constantly pushing their stats on everyone, and one of those is placements and distribution numbers, so I don't think they're really motivated to place less literature. Perhaps they want to place literature more efficiently (i.e. only people who want it enough to walk by and take it, not just getting rid of the cultists on their stoop) which is a reasonable goal.

In the end, I agree with Driving Force - it's an act of desperation. They'll try anything at this point.

62

Hello, just introducing myself

by Miss Behaving in

jw
friends

i've just signed up two days ago, but i've been lurking for about a year and a half.

here's my story if you're interested:.

my parents converted when they were in their first semester of college.

OneEyedJoe

Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to hear that you've had such harsh retribution taken out upon you for the sole crime of daring to live an honest life with integrity. It's such a shame and is treatment that no one deserves. If you ever feel like talking more privately, feel free to message me for a listening ear. I'd love to help if I can.

It's stories like yours that serve to remind everyone just what this cult is. It DOES destroy families. It DOES cause people immense pain. It's not the harmless, benign group that they love to paint themselves as and it causes very real pain to thousands (maybe millions) every day.

I hope you can take solace in the fact that you're by no means alone in what you're dealing with, and there are many here that have been through what you're in now and came out the other side. You'll make it through too. Just keep going and start building your new support network and your new life. The possibilities are endless from here on out!

22

How do JW's know that the bible is inspired?

by cappytan in

asked a friend of mine this question the other day.

here was his answer: "well, because paul said, 'all scripture is inspired of god...'".

but seriously, that argument is like saying, "the bible is inspired because it says so!

OneEyedJoe

Wouldn't it only be circular reasoning if the Bible were all one book, which it isn't?
Didn't the friend refer to fulfilled prophecies?

If there were some other proof that the letters to timothy were inspired (hint, there isn't) then it would not be circular logic to use this to prove that the rest of the bible is inspired too. However, using this as the sole proof that the bible is inspired most certainly does qualify as circular logic:

The bible is inspired because it says so and I can trust what it says because the bible is inspired.

22

How do JW's know that the bible is inspired?

by cappytan in

asked a friend of mine this question the other day.

here was his answer: "well, because paul said, 'all scripture is inspired of god...'".

but seriously, that argument is like saying, "the bible is inspired because it says so!

OneEyedJoe

Yeah, that was never enough to keep me believing in the bible. What did it for me was that I never bothered to research the evidence that the book of Daniel was a forgery and written much later than most believers will claim. I know that the prophecies in there about cyrus and alexander the great, etc, are what have many of the more intelligent JWs that I know still stuck mentally believing in the bible. I know one elder in particular, who likes to talk about having been agnostic prior to his wife's indoctrination (he joined not long after) and that's always the proof he cites that the bible is god's word.

They like to go on about the advice being timeless and only god could do that, but unfortunately the advice is only timeless when you cherry pick what suits you. When you have a written work the size of the bible, it's not that difficult to find "timeless advice" in there for most situations.

The cult offers so many different (and all inherently flawed) explanations to convince people that the bible is inspired, but it seems most JWs just hold on to whichever one it is that makes sense to them, and dismiss what seems spurious or too complicated. It's the shotgun approach - give 'em 100 reasons and even if they see through 99 of 'em, the one that sticks will keep 'em trapped.

16

Do you think the 'Rama Singh misquote' situation is uncalled for?

by neat blue dog in

let's be honest with ourselves, even if you have an ax to grind with the wts.

i mean, the quote in question was merely a statement of what he believed to be a fact, or else he wouldn't have said it.

there was nothing in the quote (and everyone has the right to make accurate quotes under the fair use doctrine), that even remotely suggested that he was pro-creationism or anything like that.

OneEyedJoe

From the 1/1/2003 Watchtower, page 27:

A THEATER critic for a newspaper once went to see a certain play. He did not much like it and afterward wrote: ‘If triviality is what you happen to be wanting, by all means go and see this play.’ Later, the promoters of the play published an advertisement that featured a quote from the critic’s review. The quote was: ‘By all means go and see this play’! The advertisement accurately quoted the critic’s words, but it lifted them out of context and thus grossly misrepresented his view.
That example illustrates how important the context of a statement can be. Taking words out of context can distort their meaning, just as Satan distorted the meaning of Scripture when he tried to mislead Jesus. (Matthew 4:1-11) On the other hand, taking the context of a statement into account helps us to get a more accurate understanding of its meaning.

They condemn themselves. They have themselves stated that lifting a quote out of context in a way that misrepresents the VIEW of the author is akin to what Satan did when attempting to mislead Jesus. Rama Singh's view is that some educated people reject evolution, but this is not a valid stance. The Awake misrepresented his view by using this quote to substantiate that creationism IS a valid stance.

In no way can this be construed as anything other than outright deception. The hypocrisy is magnified first by their claim to be "the truth" and second by their constant criticism of others for the very kind of hypocrisy that they commit here.

In short, no this has not been blown out of proportion. We well know that they lie and misrepresent things constantly, but most of their lies are more subtle. In this case, it's right there in black and white. This was an intentional misrepresentation of the truth, and based on their claims about how thoroughly they research and that they can be trusted completely, this is clear evidence to the contrary.

53

Ties at the Kingdom Hall

by CloseTheDoor in

couple of weeks ago an elder took a young man aside and crawled all over him after the tms for wearing a "skinny" tie.

it was one of those 2 inch wide ties.

nothing bright or scandalous about.

OneEyedJoe

God forbid the pagan phallus on your neck be too small.

18

What to say to JWs at a funeral

by dogon in

my father passed away this week.

we are going to have a funeral for him.

he was not a witness for many years but a lot of his family is still associated.

OneEyedJoe

I'd just say thank you. Like you say, it's probably the wrong time to make a thing of it...just acknowledge their intent - to be comforting - and move on.

11

A prospective juror(JW) really ticks of Judge!

by truthseekeriam in

jw
friends

an appellate court has reversed the conviction of a bacliff woman who recorded her boyfriend raping his 14-month-old granddaughter on her cell phone, saying the trial judge tainted the jury by arresting a prospective juror during jury selection.

alisha marie drake had been sentenced in 2013 to 15 years in prison for using her cell phone to record the act.

her boyfriend, jason grant, was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and possession of child pornography and is awaiting trial.

OneEyedJoe

If you believe in God, God wants you to protect the children.

At this point Juror 48 stood up and said authoritatively, "Not my god! He wants child-rape to be swept under the rug!"

I don't see why the judge was insistent on this man being a juror. I would have let him go and go on to the next potential juror.

I suppose it might have something to do with people trying anything/everything they can to get out of jury duty.