could another family member get access to my web searches if we are on the same phone plan?
i ask because if anyone downloads an app, everyone else knows it.
i dont want my wife freaking out by seeing jwn.
If you have a gmail account and you google things, it can show up on your home computer and other phones if (and only if) you're logged in to the same account on the other computer/phone.
Not sure what type of phone or browser you use, but on chrome (for computers and phones)there's an incognito mode that (unless you log back in) will keep you logged out and won't save any history when you browse. That's what I use for everything sensitive.
the other day i was sitting in one of those meetings where the public talk was absolutely mind-dumbing.
by minute 5 i couldn't take it anymore paying further attention to what was being said, so my mind wandered.
i looked around to my own kh and started to notice something.
New baptisms here are exclusivly born-ins or well below average intelligence. The most telling thing, though, is that even the idiots all have extinuating circumstances (most are recent immigrants) that made them more susceptible to the love bombing at the time that they began studying. These days even idiots see through the BS unless they're a total fish out of water or just had someone close to them die.
to my total astonishment, there is no mention whatsoever in the scriptures re jehovah's creative days being each of 7000 years duration.. nothing!.
zilch!.
...and yet the wt had this to say:.
I think it was based on the calculation that creation is ~6000 years old, add to that Jesus' 1000 year reign, and that's all in god's "rest day" so they assumed that the creative days were of equal length.
EDIT: I guess that's what you said....maybe I shouldn't try to post while I'm on the phone!
my active jw wife has gone to all meetings, assemblies, memorials, and service groups by herself after i faded off the radar about 5 years ago.
i asked her this past saturday as she prepared to join another sister from the kh for the service group regarding, voluntary donations.
i inquired if publishers still mention this to the householder when placing literature.
The last CO visit we had, he encouraged us to ask for money, even if at a door that had a no soliciting sign. On his last visit he went on a long rant about how some time in the states congregations don't donate enough to cover literature costs, whereas in 3rd world countries they sometimes donate more than enough, and "how bad would we feel to know that brothers in poorer countries are subsidizing or literature?"
That said, I don't think I've heard anyone all for money in years.
i am going to throw down the gaunlet.
those who know the truth but stay in anyways are complicit in actions of the jehovah witness organization.
while i am sympathetic to the very difficult choices that they have to make, their unwillingness to confront the jw enables the organization.. some of you may remember my story.
so--a question to those reading this--who are still attending the meetings--whilst knowing TTATT--------do you still donate money ?
I stopped donating long before I fully realized TTATT. When I saw the unnecessary renovations (espesially the ~$100k in AV equipment at the assembly hall) I thought, "welp, I guess they've got more money than they know what to do with, they don't need mine any more." Haven't given a single dime in about 2 years.
The addition of the credit card donations at the assembly hall didn't help either, since I still remember speakers talking about the detestible greed of churches that have ATMs inside.
i think we are already living in the age where there can be no new religions.
we have access to information like never before and anyone claiming revelations of something new and starting a whole new religion can easily be discredited.. christianity and islam may continue to subdivide but i think we've pretty much seen the end of anything new in terms of a new belief system.. .
what are your thoughts on this?.
I wouldn't discount the appearance of a completely new religion that grows to a billion or more followers. As the saying goes, no one ever went broke underestimating the inteligence of the masses.
i think we are already living in the age where there can be no new religions.
we have access to information like never before and anyone claiming revelations of something new and starting a whole new religion can easily be discredited.. christianity and islam may continue to subdivide but i think we've pretty much seen the end of anything new in terms of a new belief system.. .
what are your thoughts on this?.
As long as there are people (with money) looking for answers there will be someone ready to give them their answers. If abundance of information were something that could stop the formation of a new religion, there wouldn't be cults.
There will always be people who will accept what they're told because they want it to be true. Unless there's some way to force such ones to do their due dilligence before commiting to a new belief system, there will be new religions springing up. There will always be people selling a new message of hope to those that are looking for it.
i am going to throw down the gaunlet.
those who know the truth but stay in anyways are complicit in actions of the jehovah witness organization.
while i am sympathetic to the very difficult choices that they have to make, their unwillingness to confront the jw enables the organization.. some of you may remember my story.
How many people in the organization think my situation is BS but leave me to fight this battle alone?
While I am still 'in' despite knowing TTATT, not leaving others to fight the battle alone is a big reason why I'm here. I suspect this is the case for many here. You're not alone, and your situation is unfortuante, but I think some of your anger may be misplaced. I'm not staying in for friends or family, I'm staying in because I think that's my best chance to get my wife out. She's going to take a while, but if I'm going to get her out, I feel my chances are improved if she doesn't automatically mistrust anything I say about the org. I can leave at any time, but once I leave I can't go back, so I need to exhaust all the options that rely on my being 'in' before leaving.
That said, any ill treatment by anyone (especially the elders) does not go unchritisized by me. If I get booted for pointing out a lack of love, I can live with that (especially since it will only make my point for me). However, what you need to understand is that a bunch of us standing up and leaving all at once would likely benefit a very small portion of those that are still in. That would only play into the persecution complex and strengthen their resolve. Apostates leaving also plays into their ego, as it's just another person that they can elevate themselves above and make a show of how much they always disliked that person. When someone DA's the rest of the congregation doesn't think "well he was always a smart guy, maybe he's right!" they think "he was always a smart guy - it just goes to show that no one is safe from satan the devil. He must've let his ego get puffed up because he thought he was smarter than us"
Since you've never been a JW, and presumably never been in any cult, you can easily be forgiven for thinking that those still in are complicit, but the reality is much more complex than it appears (which is why cults are so dangerous and are able to grow). If you haven't already, look up some of the stuff on Steve Hassan's website (freedomofmind.com), especially the videos on the strategic interactive approach. That will be helpful to you in your efforts to help your wife to leave. Another thread that you might find useful is here: http://jwstrugglehelpforjehovahswitnesses.yuku.com/topic/829/Getting-Your-Mate-Out-of-the-Tower-What-NOT-to-do#.U4ibV_ldU0E
You're angry, and rightfully so, but I suggest that you allow yourself to vent briefly, then re-focus not on hypotheticals and shoulda/woulda/coulda, but on your current situation. After a while speculation on what could've prevented it, or assigning blame to faceless masses is useless. Hopefully the information I've posted will be helpful, and I suspect it will be far more helpful to you than if I DA'd tomorrow.
Edit:
Let me add one thing, I do absolutely agree with you that anyone who's actively converting others while knowing TTATT, or anyone who's an elder that mistreats others while knowing TTATT is absolutely complicit in the sins of the organization. In fact, I see anyone like that as basically the worst thing in the org. What I said above applies only to those who are trying to get out, and are no longer actively pushing the organization in any way. I myself am still a (barely) active publisher, but every door I knock on is a door that won't be knocked on by someone who'd actually go back for an RV if there's any interest. If anything, my going out helps (in a very small way) to keep them from drawing more in. Every not-at-home that I don't write down and every sign of interest that I don't follow up on is an oppurtunity that they've missed to draw another poor soul into the cult.
micro expressions are involuntary facial expressions lasting for half a second or less.
these facial expressions mirror a person's true emotions and so provide a window into a person's feelings in response to a statement or question.
particular facial expressions correspond to particular emotions and the mappings are universal across cultures.
Listener - "At a guess, I would doubt that microexpressins are apparent when a person is giving a prepared speech, especially one that he has written himself or put into his own words."
You would think this, but it's not really the case. People can rehearse the words, but they rarely rehearse their body language. This is why people who are asked a yes or no question will often shake/nod their head truthfully even if they lie.
As for the GB being sociopaths, I have some pretty firm doubts that all or even most are. Especially after reading CoC, I suspect that they are mostly just a product of someone being told that the GB is directed by god all their life, then they get on the GB and they assume that whatever they do (right or wrong) must be god's will, or they'd be incapable of doing it. They've surrounded themselves with yes-men who don't dare raise concerns at the risk of having their lives ruined, and the feedback of other people accepting what they do/say as the will of god just reinforces the belief. Peer pressure is a powerful thing.
That being said, it would be interesting to know their true feelings, and to know if, perhaps, there's another Ray Franz on the GB today. Also, that's a great thought about using this sort of observation to suss out who may be awake in the congregation. Thanks for posting!
how much did your congregation and its bank account get taken for?
share your horror story!.
I talked to someone recently who lives in a fairly affluent neighborhood, and his congregation routinely keeps $50,000 on deposit with branch and $50,000 in their operating account. They hadn't passed a resolution yet, but he expects them to go with the suggestion in the letter, which would mean they're going to be 'donating' $80-90K. And they're just one congregation of 4 or 5 that uses the hall.
No resolution passed at my congregation yet, but I think we'll likely be throwing $20k to mother, no idea what the on-going vig...i mean donation will be.
