Call me a pessimist but being as this is the special talk, I expect there were more nonbelievers in the audience than is typical. He might just be aware that many people object to JWs with "you doing believe in Jesus" and decided to tailor the talk to non JWs in the audience that are used to hearing about Jesus and not Jehovah. If say it's more likely he was full-in and just using deceptive recruiting tactics than it is that he was awake.
OneEyedJoe
JoinedPosts by OneEyedJoe
-
25
Very Weird Experience During Recent Special Talk After Memorial
by Tenacious inhesitantly i attended this talk with my family and sat through it without batting an eye.. mentally i take myself out during the entire meeting some would describe this as daydreaming or zoning out.
whatever the case may be, for some reason this particular speaker, whom i know of but not personally, got my attention the way he would say certain phrases.
he cited some texts that directly advised the audience that faith in christ was the only way to salvation.
-
-
-
15
I like how it looks in other people but not for myself. A question specially for women.
by StarTrekAngel ini like how it looks in other people but not for myself.. this is a phrase i have heard often from my wife.
now i am to a point where i am trying to figure it out if this is something all women do or say.
i can understand how you would say this if you were talking about a type of clothing that doesn't go with your figure, except that you may add the disclaimer... "if i had that figure i would wear this".
-
-
OneEyedJoe
Sometimes things look good but don't suit your personality? Sometimes I see guys that have their hair dyed a neon color and it looks good on them (might even look just as good on me) but I wouldn't like the attention that it would bring because I'm an introvert. Sometimes I'll see a guy with a bunch of jewelry or bracelets or something and it looks good on him, but I wouldn't want to have to worry about putting all that stuff on in the morning. Surely you've been there too. I don't see what's so hard to grasp about it.
Another possibility is that its an easy excuse to avoid making a commitment to something new or going after something you want - sometimes people are afraid to try and they avoid doing so.
-
103
NEW BLOOD CARD w/ FORCED COMPLIANCE also LEGALISM
by apocalypse ini have looked around and i don't see this covered, so i am starting a thread.. 1) the new "blood card" goes beyond being just a "blood card".. 2) a new edict concerning compliance.. pay attention to the changes.. first, the new card is termed "advance decision to refuse specified medical treatment".
the big change with the card itself is that it includes an 'override' of your "power of attorney".
this is huge.
-
-
OneEyedJoe
I find it hard to believe that the WTS will put anything in writing on these healthcare choice documents that compels a jw to make a certain choice. Put it behind the scenes more likely. jws don't know what the meaning is a the medical choices, many just blindly do what they are told verbally by elders, COs, etc.
I'm sure the letter doesn't say "make sure every publisher signs it or they're DFed" - it'll say that they've made "provisions" for people to keep their card on file with the elders, and are encouraged to do so. We all know what it means, though. The elders will be "encouraged" to verify that they have something on file for every publisher to make sure that the publisher was aware of this provision (wouldn't want them to miss out just because they didn't know about this loving arrangement!) but what it really means is that they're supposed to hound everyone until they've all signed away their lives and have it on file. When they put coercion in writing, they do it subtly and in a way that they can claim it means something else.
-
-
-
OneEyedJoe
I'm not sure how I feel about this. It will almost certainly not free any of those in russia that are currently mentally enslaved to this cult (indeed it will probably cause them to double down in their commitment), but it may well help prevent future victimization from taking place. This also has me wondering how truthful the cult's frequent line that when under ban they often have more growth than in countries where they're free to practice. That seems feasible because it would require even more deceptive recruitment tactics, as opposed to the slightly more up-front (though still far from honest) recruiting in other countries. But it seems most things that the cult says is either a lie or wildly deceptive, I'm not so sure.
I wonder if something else might be more effective - instead of banning "extremist" groups (which is something that can be somewhat subjective to define, and will always be debated by such groups) they should ban any groups that push for deceptive recruiting tactics and do not provide full disclosure to prospective members up-front. This would be reasonably easy to demonstrate to be the case with JWs and a statement saying that you're banning a group because they use deceptive recruiting tactics and have refused to be up-front in recruiting after being given a warning sends a very different message. They can no longer claim persecution as effectively (especially if documented evidence of said deceptive recruiting is provided to the public) because they're being punished for what is essentially fraud. It would also do a lot to warn the public away from them - being banned because you're extremist can be read as being banned because you really believe in your cause which some see as a virtue. Being banned because you deceive people into joining your group has no up side to it.
It might be harder to implement something like that, though, in a legal setting. But it would probably still cover everyone that they want to target - extremist groups and cults all use deceptive recruiting.
-
103
NEW BLOOD CARD w/ FORCED COMPLIANCE also LEGALISM
by apocalypse ini have looked around and i don't see this covered, so i am starting a thread.. 1) the new "blood card" goes beyond being just a "blood card".. 2) a new edict concerning compliance.. pay attention to the changes.. first, the new card is termed "advance decision to refuse specified medical treatment".
the big change with the card itself is that it includes an 'override' of your "power of attorney".
this is huge.
-
-
OneEyedJoe
I remember they did this when I was an elder in the mid 90's. I thought they abandoned the forced compliance.
Yeah, I thought so too - I remember the days everyone would be scurrying about in the back of the hall to get a witness to their signature and all that. I think the last time that happened was in the 90s like you said.
-
103
NEW BLOOD CARD w/ FORCED COMPLIANCE also LEGALISM
by apocalypse ini have looked around and i don't see this covered, so i am starting a thread.. 1) the new "blood card" goes beyond being just a "blood card".. 2) a new edict concerning compliance.. pay attention to the changes.. first, the new card is termed "advance decision to refuse specified medical treatment".
the big change with the card itself is that it includes an 'override' of your "power of attorney".
this is huge.
-
-
OneEyedJoe
When is this supposed to happen?
If this pans out, I guess they're not backing away from the blood ban after all. They'd gone a while without talking about it much (though recently they did have an article in the WT study that went into it again, but that was the first thing in a while) so it seemed like they might have been trying to ease off on this embarrassing policy. I wonder if their doubling down comes from not wanting to appear to be capitulating to their critics or from the realization that having people quite literally sign away their life in loyalty to the org is a powerful tool for creating CD and controlling people.
-
13
Lame and werid sample presentations at the meeting
by purrpurr inthey used to let bro's and sis's do the sample presentation and give them the leeway to put it in their own words thereby making it more natural.
not so anymore!
these days the sample presentations are beamed from mother website.. they seem to have been written by someone who has no experience of how people talk in real life.
-
-
OneEyedJoe
I think they have up on training JWs to convert people d2d a while ago. These presentations are simply there to reinforce to JWs how a householder with the right "heart condition" should respond so as to reinforce the feeling that JWs are preaching truth and have it right, in spite of the fact that no one in the territory takes to it. It also subconsciously tells them that if they're not getting results, it's because they didn't get the presentation right, not because the message is utterly insane. -
21
JW Tattoos
by bradford ini'm sure there are countless opinions on whether you should get a tattoo or not.
my personal view is that if you were to get one it should mean something.. anyone get a tattoo to remember their jw roots?
i was thinking of getting a tetragrammaton somewhere.
-
-
OneEyedJoe
I'm thinking of getting one that says "TTATT"
I mused on that thought briefly. Decided that I probably would get tired of being asked why I got a tattoo that says it's a tattoo. Which would probably be followed by someone pointing out that they spelled tat wrong.
-
6
USA Today article: Majority of people in Scotland have no religion
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/04/05/scotland-majority-no-religion/82660980/.
majority of people in scotland have no religion.
trevor grundy, religion news service 6:47 p.m. edt april 5, 2016. .
-
-
OneEyedJoe
They may not all become atheist right away but they're likely less dogmatic. It's also a lot easier to transition into atheism when you don't have the constant reinforcement of superstitions from going to church. Also, when you see church as a family thing or use it for social support you're less likely to reexamine your beliefs than you are if they're doing basically nothing for you. -
2
New TV series: The Path (It's about family members in a fictional cult!)
by Skedaddle inthis looks interesting... a new tv series about a cult and they say it's a hodge podge of various cults used as a template for the show.. here's a write-up on vanity fair with interview from stephen hassan;.
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/the-path-cults.
here's the show details on imdb;.
-
-
OneEyedJoe
I know you're only the latest to the party, but how many threads do we really need for this show?
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4858401343406080/hulus-path-portrays-family-life-inside-cult
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5691566077247488/hulus-path-portrays-family-life-inside-cult