no playing with children of other faiths.. no reading of non-watch tower books.. no birthday parties.. no holiday celebrations.. no christmas presents.. no easter egg hunts.. no halloween activity.. the list goes on and on .this ensures isolation that brings almost total separation from all others for whom christ jesus died.. the feelings of "persecution" begins early in the teen years:.
no saluting the flag or engaging in any religious activity.. no school sports, plays, or social activities.. no close association with "worldy classmates".. and before "new light", no vaccinations.. the young person stands out as "weird", "different", and this by design.. continuing in this process means rejecting of normal relations with neighbors ( fellow schoolmates ) instead of relationships, the young witness is involved in multiple indoctrination sessions and public displays of religious activity ( street corner and door to door work ), which locks him or her into the control of the watch tower system.. further, the witness must associate only with other members, date only other members ( "a chaperon" was required under fred franz ).marry only other members, ( earlier marriage was discouraged ) but if he or she does marry and has children, they must be prepared for the cycle to be repeated.. this lifestyle robs them not only of the joys and delights of childhood, but also handicaps their preparation for a normal life.. from the "four presidents", edmond c.gruss.page 71,72.. i know how true this is , having raised my children,from birth to adult-hood according to the society's process of raising families in the indoctrination of the watch tower.
the New York assembly in 1958. I can't imagine Armageddon being much worse than that
Hey Gary,
I was there in 58.It was one LONG BORING time for a little kid. Day after day they droned on with all those wonderful new truths.
Of course most of what they taught then has long ago been tossed on the trash pile. It was not so much what they taught but the long repeditive brain washing that happened at events like that. 250,000 peple all learning how not to think for themselves.
They love to have the little children start this unlearning process early in life.By the time most of these are adults they will never have an independant religious thought again.The BORG has them for life.
When thinking about this as a possible therapy we must consider the bibles viewpoint.Will our maggots ONLY consume flesh or is there a chance that some BLOOD may also be consumed. To keep ourselves free from blood guilt and to also keep the maggots free from blood guilt I know that your "bible trained concience" will reject this demonic snare for Jehovah's people.
We all look with longing to the fast approaching,imminent, on the threshold and not forgetting SOON new order when all maggots,leaches,mosquitoes etc will go back to sucking nectar as God's purpose was in the beginning.
Remember also that the leg you lost because of taking"a firm stand for the truth" will regrow and you and the maggots will live for ever and ever in that paradise earth so close at hand.
i feel for the elderly who have put all thier hopes in the society and now really have no one to turn to.my mom is reaching 70 and was converted in the late 60s she still believes it is the truth but i think because she has nowhere else to go i think it is true also for all the elderly in the hall i bet some still believe some of the old doctines and have no idea about the new ones but are still hanging on because they feel thier is nowhere else to go, they basically sacrifsied thier lifes for the organazation.
Raymond Franz had the guts to get out after 60 years - so one never knows!
Ray went on leave and then was DF'ed on phoney pretext. He may or may not have left the org if it was up to him.
Many old people are just hanging on with a wait and see attitude. Most no longer have friends or any kind of "life" ouside of the hall. I think a lot are just napping throught the meetings,putting in their time and waiting to die.They are after all now part of the "generation" that WILL die even though Jehovah did make that promise that they would live forever and never die. (OH WELL)
He informed me that the A & B portions of the circuit had been merged. He also said he "heard" one of the two congregations meeting in his hall would be dissolved. He didn't look happy.
O.K.....You are starting to cheer me up. Lets hope someone else can add to the downward spiral of the WT. Please anyone else...Is the WT down sizeing or going into damage mode in your area????
have you ever attented meetings at a kh where they locked the doors once the meeting began?
i've attended a few in my life.. if you're late you have to knock on the door and be recognized through the peep-hole before they will unlock the door.. they usually joke that it's like noah's ark... once the doors close you're screwed.. .
recently i had occasion to speak with an elder i hadn't seen in a while.
(although i've been out for twenty years now, my wife and some of my children are still locked within the org's tender embrace, which led to my happening to encounter him and our resultant conversation.
) he's someone i consider a really good guy at heart, truly caring and sincerely working at being a good shepherd as he sees it.
As garrybuss has said this is how I feel.Most if not all of the elders would throw you into the gas chambers if they were ordered to.They after all are obeying a "higher power" and they don't have to think of the end results of their actions.
To not think is a way of life for all dubs.They would make good NAZIS!!!!
Do you think all 13 unanimously agreed to resign on October 7, 2000? Me thinks they are now nothing more than decoys. I think as far as publishing and policy, they don't carry any weight at all
I agree with garybuss. What we had with all the members of the GB resigning at once signalled a power shift back to the corporations. The person who controls the printing press controls what direction the borg will go in.Having said that I do believe that GB members such as T.J. still have lots of clout but that should be seen less as time goes on.