OneEyedJoe

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Posts by OneEyedJoe

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  31

  Picture in latest Watchtower . . . What is it?

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in this picture from the latest watchtower, what in the world is the guy watching on the left side of the picture??

  it looks like a female vampire holding a lightsaber.

  am i missing something?.

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  OneEyedJoe

  It looks like the ice king from game of thrones holding his ice spear.
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  11

  matured mentally

  by Akid48 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i dont know if any one else is feeling this but after waking up i feel like i matured mentally etc.. im only 13 maybe its just me but i wanted to know if any had this feeling just a quick post..

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  OneEyedJoe

  Yeah, you mature a lot when you leave the cult - they seek to keep people trapped in child-like thought patterns of good/evil, black/white dichotomy and complete belief in and reliance upon authority figures. Once you start to question, start to realize that there are shades of grey and that no one has authority over you unless you give it to them, that's when the world starts to become so much more complex and interesting. When you start seeing the world more accurately and more critically, it can really change how you think and act in big ways.

  Also, I second the congratulations on waking up at 13. It took me 15 years longer than it did you - you're going to do well in this life. Just hang in there dealing with your family for a couple years and you'll be great!
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  38

  Is There Any Thing That Would Make A JW SERIOUSLY Question Their Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i realize that jehovah’s witnesses have been dumbed down for long time now.

  .

  still, i think there must be something that would make them really question their beliefs, even their life.. i think that if witnesses were told they could take blood or that disfellowshipping was unloving, they might stop and take a hard look at everything they have sacrificed their lives for.. i know the organization has muddled these subjects before but the i think even die hard witnesses might start to second guess the governing body..

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  OneEyedJoe

  The only thing that I think could pooooossibly do it for everyone would be if they received "new light" that shone there's no hope for a paradise earth. That's the carrot that everyone's following.
  

  There could be new light that said that it was all a bullshit scam made up by 7 lunatics and some still wouldn't leave - they'd set up a spinnoff group. Similar things have happened before.
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  38

  Is There Any Thing That Would Make A JW SERIOUSLY Question Their Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i realize that jehovah’s witnesses have been dumbed down for long time now.

  .

  still, i think there must be something that would make them really question their beliefs, even their life.. i think that if witnesses were told they could take blood or that disfellowshipping was unloving, they might stop and take a hard look at everything they have sacrificed their lives for.. i know the organization has muddled these subjects before but the i think even die hard witnesses might start to second guess the governing body..

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  OneEyedJoe

  There's nothing that will make every JW that knows it question. The cult finds different footholds in every member's mind. Most JWs probably could be moved to question things if they picked up the right bit of information, but it's anyone's guess what that might be. It's a personal connection...what works for one person is completely dismissed by the next. That's why it's so difficult to wake someone up - you have to know what holds them in first - just telling them what did it for you is unlikely to have the same effect.
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  23

  Why Jehovah witnesses don't say, "Bless you" ?

  by Issa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  bless you, that was a big sneeze you let out sister.. sister- ah, what does "bless you" mean?.

  oh, it's pagan.

  because people bless the soul of the person so they don't escape from their physical bodies.. sister- right, it is difficult to change the little things, but we can please jehovah by staying away from those things.. .... this is a scenario that happened when i accidentally (naturally) said "bless you" to the jw sister.

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  OneEyedJoe

  The doctrine, as I understand it, is that saying bless you in response to a sneeze is a pagan or false-christian practice.

  The real reason for that rule, and many others like it, is to enforce behavioral control on JWs and to reinforce their alienation from the rest of society. When a JW is around a non-JW and the non-JW sneezes, the JW will be aware that it is considered courtesy to say "bless you" and they will feel social pressure to do so - but they will refrain because of the cult. This serves to reinforce the importance of the cult (through cognitive dissonance - the behavior of not saying bless you serves to reinforce the cultist's notion that the cult is more important than their relationships with non-cultists.) It also alienates them from society because when a JW is in a group of non-JWs and one sneezes and they hear the rest say "bless you" it becomes imminently obvious that they are not like these other people. It's one of innumerable small cues that tells the JW that these people are "other" and helps to make things like the complete destruction of non-JWs more palatable by reinforcing the in-group/out-group dichotomy.

  I remember many times JWs giving comments at meetings about how they would meet other JWs while traveling or on the street and they could immediately tell that they were another JW without knowing how - it was often said because they were somehow more pure or something, but more likely it's because of the many very small cues like this. Much of cult control is about creating a community that's acceptable and then shutting the rest out. Some cults do this with walled, secluded compounds, JWs do it with little bits of behavior that act as virtual walls to keep normal people at a distance.
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  6

  Scientology opens up H.Q. in UK

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41697303.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Scientology uses real estate investments to hide money all around the world. They're likely doing something similar here. It's quite unlikely that they've suddenly expanded and need a new HQ.
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  22

  “There’s nothing out there in the world for you...”

  by Jules Saturn in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  how would you guys react if or when you were told this phrase by a jw while having a conversation?

  another phrase is “this world...” or “this system, like gum will chew you up and when it’s done with you, spit you right back out.”.

  one i’ve been personally told was from a convert that had told me “whenever i speak to young ones that want to know if the grass is greener on the other side, i tell them i was a part of it.

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  OneEyedJoe

  My response would be "There's nothing in the cult for me." Possibly replacing the word cult depending on how charitable I'm feeling. If I need to elaborate - relationships predicated on my believing things that I don't, endless regurgitation of the same nonsense, authoritarian control of my life, etc. All to gain, what? To be told that I'm happy and that I'm doing the right thing? Thanks, but I don't need your approval.
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  18

  No other religion is as guilty as JW religion—you know why?

  by venus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  all other religions have myths that show satan as inferior to god almighty.

  but only jw religion portrays satan more powerful than god through their teaching of “issue of sovereignty” which implies god almighty needs validation from satan as though he waits till satan is satisfied which has not happened even after killing of jesus 2000 years ago and things like ethnic cleansing, spilling of oceans of blood ….

  etc..

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  OneEyedJoe

  You've done nothing to demonstrate your thesis. This one doctrinal issue seems, to me, to be a non sequitur until you're able to draw a line from your premise to your conclusion.

  Furthermore, your argument proves too much. What about hinduism? They'd be far more "guilty" (I'm not sure even how you're using that word) by your argument since they present a myriad of gods to be more powerful than the, in their view, fictional yahweh.
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  14

  Listening to the meetings from the perspective of a "newly interested" person?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just wondering how many others (when you were still in the org) would try and listen to the meeting programmes from the perspective of a newly interested person visiting for the first time?.

  i know that i did this, and most times i did, i found it disturbing!

  it was not just the "in-house" language and terminology that was odd, but also the actual doctrines, and method of 'teaching' that was odd!.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Yeah I definitely did this and I'm certain it was instrumental in preparing me for eventually waking up. Paying attention from the perspective of someone that hasn't had the layers of thin explanations and scripture-hopping justifications for clearly controlling, restrictive, and poorly-justified doctrine left me with the realization that had I not been born a JW, there's no way that I would've ever converted to being one. Initially, I thought this lucky. Later I realized that if god is loving then such luck surely was either not deserved or ought to have been extended to everyone else like me that would never convert, but this was obviously not the case. I started to wonder often if maybe it was the case that I was unlucky to have been raised in a religion that otherwise would have failed to captivate my thoughts for even a moment.
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  16

  Trivial stuff about the AGM

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  lots of good comments already about the content of saturday's agm broadcast.. i just thought i'd add my (trivial!

  ) comments about the magnificent 7:.

  -- loesch - was he intentionally trying to be boring?

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  OneEyedJoe

  Re: Lett turning orange - he always reminded me of Marshall Applewhite (of heaven's gate mass suicide fame) with his facial ticks. It sounds like he's trying to hit a color match now too.