On a little bit of a tangent - the JW usage of that scripture is a great example of how the cult emulates the Animal Farm world by redefining words. Truth=cult lies and freedom=forced to follow never ending rules about everything in your life.
OneEyedJoe
JoinedPosts by OneEyedJoe
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"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free"
by stuckinarut2 inah yes... how do the words attributed to jesus feel now?.
"you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free ".
knowing "the truth about 'the truth'" puts so much extra meaning into those words, right?.
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Finding my mental condition getting worse not sure what to do?
by Crazyguy ini'm pretty sure i have ptsd because of this cult.
i now experience headaches pretty much daily and find myself poping excedrin migraine pills 3-4 a day.
also i'm drinking alcohol a bit to take the edge off.
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OneEyedJoe
Feel like your mental health is declining? Seek help from a competent mental health professional. It really is that simple (at least as a first step). Try to stay away from anything habit forming, you'll just end up with two problems instead of one. -
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A violation of the separation of Church and State?
by Londo111 inso i went to dmv this morning.... can someone explain how this does not violate the separation of church and state?.
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OneEyedJoe
I'm not suggesting discrimination. People of all beliefs are welcome to the government service provided there. However, should any religious group be allowed to proselytize and promote their views on state land?
Typically the rule is that if they allow one group, they must allow any group. The other option is to allow no one to do it. That's why you end up with things like this:
C/N: Colorado said that religious organizations could proselytize in schools and have the schools distribute their literature to kids. Christian organizations passed out bibles and pamphlets, so atheists passed out satanist stuff to mock theism.
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78 to go and hopefully something good comes of it. Please do your part and sign up. Thanks
by Tenacious inonly 78 signatures are needed in order to send the request to the irs that they revoke or at the very least investigate the borg.
come'on guys, support it.. click here to support and sign up!.
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OneEyedJoe
Signed it.
It would probably be beneficial if the statement also included a mention of the fact that the WTS actively encourages its membership not to do charitable works.
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Could they make not donating a disfellowshipping offence?
by purrpurr ini'm wondering at how far the borg could go in begging for money?
their halls are already resembling the"money changers in the temple".
as they get sued more and more due to their pedophilic paradise their coffers will be ever more drained.
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OneEyedJoe
They can do whatever the hell they want. That's part of the allure of being a cult leader. Though I don't think they will, mainly for the reasons already stated here. They'd have trouble selling it, and there are enough of those that are donating that would stop if they push too hard and in the wrong way.
They've already shown their plans on how they're going to try to raise the funds, and they're fairly clever. Things like the congregation-level tithe work perfectly because it puts the pressure on the elders to pressure the members. The elders aren't getting directly beaten up about their contributions, but since they have to give local needs parts and announce the shortfall, many will give more to avoid seeing themselves as hypocrites. At the same time the members see the pressure from the elders as a local issue, not a systemic one and they have their excuse for the hypocrisy.
They're doing the same thing with the assembly hall costs - raising per-publisher rates to create a group debt, then pressuring everyone to pay it off. They're also doing more special events with live streams and ordering that any funds donated at the kingdom hall for those events be sent in to the org. They do a pretty good job of keeping everything a group debt and letting elders do the legwork. They also do a pretty good job of making the R/F think they're actually getting something whenever there's a money grab - assemblies, "forgiven" loans and the LDC handles your remodel, etc. Of course they don't actually get anything, but as long as they create the appearance most JWs will go along because they don't want to see it for what it is.
In line with what Vidiot was saying - they'd probably not make it a DF offense anyway, because the whole point of such a policy would be to get people to donate more, they would probably use punishments that are more easily revoked once it has the desired effect. If you started DFing people for not donating (especially those that just couldn't raise the cash at the time) a lot of those would never come back. If you use social pressure, they'll stick around and start donating when they can.
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Quick question...
by Vidiot in...why the f**k do i so often see banner ads for "jehovah's witness dating" here?
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OneEyedJoe
We sometimes get people that wander in here thinking this is a site full of active JWs, do you really think the automatic systems that serve banner ads by keywords are going to do so much better? -
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Medal of Valor given by Obama to JW Grandmother - Check her Lapel Pin
by Da.Furious inthis grandmother found the best way to advertise jw.org by wearing a huge lapel pin.. .
some of the comments are really interesting.. link to article:.
http://www.phillyvoice.com/obama-award-medal-valor-family-slain-philadelphia-police-officer-robert-wilson-iii-monday/.
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OneEyedJoe
Her grandson couldn't have possibly been a JW if he was a cop, right? That was always what I was told, anyway - you couldn't work in a job that required you to carry a gun and that might require the use of lethal force. -
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what more cuts might be in the pipeline
by pepperheart inthere have been so many cuts in the past few years in the jw world what do you think might be next?
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OneEyedJoe
2 day conventions will probably still generate 90% of the income of a 3 day, with lower costs.
Asking individual JWs or congregations to print study literature themselves if they don't have an iPad.
On the flip side (revenue generation) I expect the number of zone visits and special broadcasts like that to increase, since the boe is instructed to forward all donations from these events to HQ
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New Article - Watchtower View of Homosexuality
by jwfacts ini have thought about writing this article for many years, and the awake!
2014 no.4 was the final straw.
there it states that jehovah's witnesses show no prejudice towards homosexuals, and "they neither mock nor mistreat people whose practices differ from their own.
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OneEyedJoe
It shows how all-controlling Watchtower leaders want to be, when a well dressed man in a business suit can be counselled for their clothing.
Either change this to read "when well dressed men" or change "their" to "his" in order to make the pronoun match what it is referring to.
In the video, Sophia does not appear judgemental of Carrie's parent's
Just parents, without the sky comma. It's plural, not possessive.
</Grammar Nazi>
I can't find it, but I do recall a thread a while ago about some videos shown in the elder's school that addressed the issue of non-practicing gays. If I remember correctly elders were told to be on the lookout for those that act gay and this would disqualify that person from holding "privileges" in the congregation. This is in direct conflict with their claim that they are not bigoted against gays, and are only upholding the Bible's moral guidelines. The implication, again, is that homosexuality is a choice and in order for someone to be accepted they have to go beyond not acting on their desires but root them out entirely - in other words, they must become heterosexual.
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What should I visit while in New York
by wannaexit ini am planning a trip to new york and trying to develop an itinerary.
t will be my first time.
what do you suggest i see?
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OneEyedJoe
Definitely swing by please don't tell. Great cocktail bar.