All cults practice secrecy. The watchtower society is a cult, ergo it practices secrecy. Try not to over think it.
OneEyedJoe
JoinedPosts by OneEyedJoe
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18
Why all the secrecy in Gods organisation?
by Truthexplorer inlooking back and seeing all the secrecy and cover ups throughout wt history such as the secret elders books, the branch correspondence guidelines, the shameful lying and deceipt exposed during the arc questioning, the in-house way of dealing with things, the lack of openness to the media on issues such as blood or child abuse or anything controversial for that matter.
could this relate in some way to russell's alleged past as a freemason?
it seems quite strange that the founder of the bible students quite possibly may have been a freemason, (an organisation well known for its secrecy).
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Why Faith is Self-Defeating
by cofty inthe god of christian theism values faith.. "without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists" - heb.11.
faith and evidence are inversely proportional - the more evidence there is that god exists the less faith you need in that proposition and vice-versa.. so how can a christian criticise any other faith-based belief?
for example they can protest that all the evidence is against the claims of scientology, but that just means that scientologists require more faith than christians.
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OneEyedJoe
This is a bit of a tangent, but I'm not even completely sure that, in isolation of other factors, the claims of scientology really require more faith to believe than the claims of fundamentalist christianity. It's just easier to believe the christian claims because there are more people who do, and it's seen as "normal." But is Xenu any more implausible than the god of the bible? Are thetans any more implausible than angels and demons? At least scientologists accept evolution. -
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OneEyedJoe
Lovely. 3 days of spittle-flying invective against dirty, evil apostates
You lack vision. There's so many ways JWs can be loyal:
Show loyalty by shunning disfellowshipped (screw that, shun inactive ones too!) family
Show loyalty by giving of "valuable things"
Show loyalty by doing whatever the elders tell you, even if it's immoral or against the law (protecting pedophiles or destroying documents!)
Show loyalty by preaching in the face of opposition (or, more likely, boredom and lack of results)
Show loyalty by not pursuing education
Show loyalty by sticking with it even though all it's done is cause pain (from the sound of it, this is the theme of day 2)
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Are faded jw;s still counted as members by the sect.?
by atomant inlm certain the sect would have an accurate figure would be interesting to know how many though.
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OneEyedJoe
They're not counted in any official figures (unless they go to the memorial still). I would have to agree that I'd be surprised if they weren't tracking some (unreleased) stats on the number of inactive ones that are out there and what their demographics are. These stats are probably a big part of the recent push to contact inactive/dfed ones. That, and they probably realize that publishers are much more productive at reactivating latent indoctrination in those that left but didn't find TTATT vs trying to convert someone they talk to at the door. -
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Did any of us ever enjoy meetings?
by stephanie61092 inthis is a legitimate question.
did any of us ever find real joy in being at the meetings?
did any of us ever finish a meeting and think "i feel so enriched"?
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OneEyedJoe
I did when I was about 12 and could answer up as good as the adults. Made me feel like a grown-up. But that makes sense because the material studied was at roughly a 6th grade level back then (probably 3rd or 4th grade nowadays). After that it was all downhill. -
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"I hope Disfellowshipped ones do not attend the Memorial"
by AFRIKANMAN ind---head comment ...by someone called jay witness on that forum-.
what a smug bunch of pharisees they breed !
"""it makes me feel odd to invite tons of worldly people who are obviously fornicators and idolaters and then not be able to even show a little love such as a "hello" to a disfellowshipped brother or sister.
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OneEyedJoe
I don't know... That post almost seems like a parody/satire to me... -
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The bible teaches that money is the answer for everything!
by EndofMysteries incontrary to what the wt teaches, they ignore the wise words of ecc 10:19 "ecc 10:19 "a feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
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OneEyedJoe
Money doesn't guarantee happiness but it definitely enables it. So there'll be plenty of rich, unhappy people, but proportionally fewer than unhappy poor people. A number of studies have shown this to be true. -
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Got my memorial invite yesterday...
by OneEyedJoe ini wasn't sure how this would be handled since the elders haven't harassed me as much as a lot of others have gotten, plus we live a ways outside of the territory so i figured there was a shot they'd leave me alone since it's inconvenient.
guess not.
two elders showed up unannounced toward the end of their recruiting shift.
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OneEyedJoe
Nope, no brochure. It's a shame, too, because I had prepared what my response to that would be. -
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Got my memorial invite yesterday...
by OneEyedJoe ini wasn't sure how this would be handled since the elders haven't harassed me as much as a lot of others have gotten, plus we live a ways outside of the territory so i figured there was a shot they'd leave me alone since it's inconvenient.
guess not.
two elders showed up unannounced toward the end of their recruiting shift.
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OneEyedJoe
" The reason I shall not be coming is because.... IT IS NOT THE TRUTH ! "
Yeah I was ready to go with that, actually, but they never asked why I wasn't at meetings or why I wasn't planning on making the memorial. The impression I got is that they don't care. They're just doing their duty and trying to pressure people to build up the attendance numbers. In fact, I think they specifically don't want to know why I'm not around anymore.
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Got my memorial invite yesterday...
by OneEyedJoe ini wasn't sure how this would be handled since the elders haven't harassed me as much as a lot of others have gotten, plus we live a ways outside of the territory so i figured there was a shot they'd leave me alone since it's inconvenient.
guess not.
two elders showed up unannounced toward the end of their recruiting shift.
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OneEyedJoe
I wasn't sure how this would be handled since the elders haven't harassed me as much as a lot of others have gotten, plus we live a ways outside of the territory so I figured there was a shot they'd leave me alone since it's inconvenient. Guess not. Two elders showed up unannounced toward the end of their recruiting shift. It was definitely well planned, because it's the only two elders that I actually sorta liked, and they're not in the same service group. Anyway, there were a few points that came out of the ensuing conversation that I thought were worth noting.
Their appeal to me to try to get me to come to memorial was purely personal - no mention of its importance, no mention of god's forgiveness (since I'm sure they assume I'm guilty of some secret sin) nothing more than "I know I would sure love to see you there" said in a few different (and seemingly sincere) ways. How hollow this cult is. In the end it really does boil down to doing crap you don't want to do to please people that have to be given an assignment to seek you out for a conversation.
The other fun point was their first attempt to sell returning to meetings after I told them I wasn't going to be at memorial. "We have a new format now." Seriously? Do they think I'm not there because of the meeting format? He went on to explain with clearly false enthusiasm that "now there's a chairman for the whole program! It's like a convention!" It was really difficult to hold in a sarcastic "holy shit, I'll be at the next meeting now!" But no he continued on explaining that now it's much easier for my father-in-law (former school overseer) and in a moment of unscripted honesty said "I think he's actually the only one that likes the new format."
So there you have it. The best reason they could come up with to convince me to come to memorial was to make them happy. Next best reason to be at meetings is they've changed the talks slightly, and no one likes it. How will I ever live with myself if I don't make it?