dothemath

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Posts by dothemath

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  3

  My Pseudo-Education Hasn't Hurt Me None, I Can Still Read the Writing on King Belshazzar's Wall~Part III

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  before i go to extreme south texas, let me acknowledge an early influence that gave me self-worth, self-assurance, self-esteem and the feeling that i was as good as any damn person on this planet.. larry ranch, my congregation servant in renton, washington(home of boeing aircraft), was on my dad's judicial committee.

  my dad had sexually molested my sister, sandy, repeatedly.

  my dad got probation from the judicial committee.

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  dothemath

  Always interesting to read people's backgrounds, yours is an extreme example.

  Hard to understand how your sister could stay in after all that!
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  4

  Religion: Overselling and Under Delivering

  by Simon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if you've worked in any kind of business where one group of people sells things that another group has to deliver as a service, you inevitably run into problems.

  this is especially true in it services where poor sales people over-sell things.

  that is, they can't sell 6 months of work but they can sell 3 months of work or throw in some other promises ... so they do ... and some techy person then gets landed with an impossible task and is viewed as under delivering while the sales-person gets a bonus for their great sales job unless their management is savvy enough (they never are).

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  dothemath

  The goal posts keep on moving.......I've lost count now how many times.

  i think they would prefer the next generation to forget all the failures, and to not "over-lap" at all.
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  5

  Would Prince Rogers Nelson Have Been A More Effective Spokesperson for JWs Than Stephen Lett?

  by TMS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hearing about governing body member stephen lett, i had to check him out on you tube.

  in short, were i still a jw, i would be embarrassed to be represented by this mouth-agape, cornpone, dufus.

  he would be the kind of public speaker the local congregation might appreciate, but who you would not send out to another congregation.. in contrast, the last few weeks i took the opportunity to play every video on you tube where the late prince rogers nelson explained his beliefs as a jw.

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  dothemath

  This seems to be the one anomaly from witnesses and other cults.

  Usually there is a very charismatic leader (Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc), but with us it seems very much the opposite.

  I guess if they ever come up with someone like that, then we should be worried even more.
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  9

  One of the Most Obscene Phrases in Any Language; the Judicial Committee

  by TMS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a tribunal of religious, if not spiritual, men, whose decision can alter lives, disrupt, no, destroy, families, ruin young lives, create angst, pain, depression, hopelessness, sorrow, despair can be the job for three typically unqualified men known in jw land as the judicial committee.. my first judicial experience as a kid of 18 serving on the jc involved disfellowshipping an elderly sister for apostacy when she would not promise to quit frequenting a neighborhood christian science reading room for personal study.

  my second big case involved a baptized 12 year old who allegedly stole a hot wheel from k-mart.

  he admitted to nothing, answering every question with "i dunno" and was put on probation, the 60's equivalent of reproof.. in subsequent years, i "served" on committees judging accused adulterers, fornicators, thieves, gamblers, non-providers, taking up boxing, slanderers and yes, apostates, sitting also on so-called appeal committees as well.

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  dothemath

  Most of the committees I was on (not nearly as many as you) the decision seemed to be made even before all the details were heard.

  One person that was trying hard to be reinstated was told no, mainly because the main elder didn't like him. (It turned out he did him a favour, he's glad to be long gone)

  There's no balance, some get away with almost anything and others get the book thrown at them.

  The worst situation I heard of was an elder(quite prominent, used a lot at conventions) who was on judicial committees while he was in fact having an affair with a pioneer sister.
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  29

  Help - I'm going to be conducting the watchtower study

  by Saltheart Foamfollower in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it looks like i'm going to have to take the watchtower study for a while so i thought i'd seek help.. i wont be outing myself or stating anything too controversial, but so far i have come up with the following tactics : 1) ask questions which will get people thinking even if it is about something insignificant - developing a questioning mind is the key to discovering ttat as far as i am concerned.

  2) highlight any extreme points so that some might realise they are extreme.

  3) highlight any good points - helping others in need for example - just because it is the right thing to do.. if anyone has any general comments which could help, please post them here.

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  dothemath

  Maybe when you come across new beliefs (they sometimes show up in the study) you could bring up what we used to believe.

  Sometimes those doctrines were followed for many decades, like the "generation".

  Good luck, I'm sure the audience will appreciate someone who isn't just a mindless drone, but is actually showing intelligence.
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  30

  JW Broadcasting reeks of desperation

  by oldskool in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  again, i'm a decade removed from the faith.

  i'm catching up now, and can't believe what i'm seeing.. i get that jw leadership faced a dilemma.

  there is no intellectual apparatus within the faith.

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  dothemath

  Your analysis is entirely correct. I've heard numerous conversations about how bizarre Lett is, even among what I thought were zealous brothers.

  A lot of the older ones aren't pleased at all with the new format.

  Theyre trying anything and everything to keep the numbers up, except now the big thing is the amount of donations.
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  Who are the Antitypical Pharisees today???

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  who do jw's believe are the pharisees????

  do you know of any religious organization that.

  put such a heavy burden on it's members.

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  dothemath

  I think the organization has LOTS in common with the Pharisees of old. They added all kinds of rules, and are just the same in "giving a tenth of the dill.....but disregarded justice and mercy- Matt. 23:23

  Today they use disfellowshipping as a weapon, just like the Pharisees. John 12: 42- many would have put faith in Jesus but wouldn't......so as not to be expelled from the synagogue"
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  Today's Text - Draw Close To God... (BUT HOW???)

  by Divergent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's where i stand at the moment: i neither categorize myself as a theist, atheist, or agnostic.

  i'm a freethinker and do not have a specific belief at the moment, unless something comes along which is 100% conclusive & convincing.

  which brings us to tackling the elephant in the room, something that today's text has failed to do:.

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  dothemath

  Maybe many people think they're worshipping God, but instead are worshipping Time. God has no beginning or end........but so does Time.

  You look at a beautiful warerfall or canyon, appreciating a creator, but in reality it was eons of time.

  Of course Time doesn't care about you, just as it didn't when 100,000+ people were wiped out in the tsunami.

  I guess I must be an agnostic now, but I can't really know?
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  Conversation with an ex-bethelite

  by dothemath in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i ran into a young brother a while ago who had just been let go from bethel and was now back out west.. i was curious about his perspective on what it was like there (especially after reading some of the horror stories on this site).

  actually he absolutely loved it there, and would go back if he could (seemed sincere).. i guess some enjoy the institutional life more than others.

  he has had to go back to work, and isn't pioneering, so maybe reality is setting in.. was just wondering if any others had info on how the ex-bethelites are doing..

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  dothemath

  I ran into a young brother a while ago who had just been let go from Bethel and was now back out west.

  I was curious about his perspective on what it was like there (especially after reading some of the horror stories on this site)

  Actually he absolutely loved it there, and would go back if he could (seemed sincere).

  I guess some enjoy the institutional life more than others. (I'm sure I would not)

  He has had to go back to work, and isn't pioneering, so maybe reality is setting in.

  Was just wondering if any others had info on how the ex-bethelites are doing.
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  April 25, 2016 Re: JW Broadcasting Available on Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  april 25, 2016 to all congregations re: jw broadcasting available on apple tv and amazon fire tv.

  uk version.

  us version.

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  dothemath

  I don't get the big deal about this. You could always watch the broadcast on Apple TV. Just like going to any website.