take the old belief-o-matic survey and post your results!.
here are my rather interesting results:.
1. unitarian universalism (100%) 2. mainline to liberal christian protestants (83%) 3. liberal quakers (82%) 4. neo-pagan (81%) 5. christian science (church of christ, scientist) (80%) 6. secular humanism (78%) 7. new age (67%) 8. baha'i faith (61%) 9. nontheist (60%) 10. church of jesus christ of latter-day saints (mormons) (57%) 11. new thought (55%) 12. hinduism (52%) 13. scientology (50%) 14. jehovah's witness (48%) 15. taoism (48%) 16. theravada buddhism (45%) 17. mainline to conservative christian/protestant (36%) 18. sikhism (32%) 19. mahayana buddhism (31%) 20. jainism (23%) 21. orthodox quaker (21%) 22. eastern orthodox (20%) 23. orthodox judaism (20%) 24. roman catholic (20%) 25. reform judaism (18%) 26. seventh day adventist (17%) 27. islam (5%)
JWs still show up at number 23 on my list.
It's a big change from a few of years ago when they were still in my top 5. I guess you can can that progress.
Axel
i'm thrilled to tell you about the latest court decision made in california a few days ago which kimberlee norris said would be announced today, monday, on jwd.. on july 3rd, i started a thread where the last two rulings in the napa county, california lawsuit, charissa w. v. watchtower, new york, et al., were posted.
both decisions were favorable to the plaintiff.
see http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.
the elders would be hanging high not the WTS.
I agree. Current elders take note.
i'm thrilled to tell you about the latest court decision made in california a few days ago which kimberlee norris said would be announced today, monday, on jwd.. on july 3rd, i started a thread where the last two rulings in the napa county, california lawsuit, charissa w. v. watchtower, new york, et al., were posted.
both decisions were favorable to the plaintiff.
see http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.
I bet the WTS is already coming up with new ways to get out of this predicament they've put themselves into. The way this is panning out, they will have to eliminate the communication pathway from the elders to hq. They *might* even have to do away with the 3-man JC.
Now we need to try to figure out how the Watchtower Society will respond to this situation.
I think they saw this coming -- eventually. They are being forced to ramp up the timeline to do this drastically though. You could see they were trying to sever the ties legally to the elders with the direction from the wt the elders were instructed to handwrite in their copy of the elder's manual. It started with the 6 expressions elders were never to include in the S-77 or S-79 forms in corresponding to the wt about judicial matters. They obviously wanted the control of the elders and the congs, but didn't want the legal liability it brought. Now they have to decide, are the elders in or out? Axel
what about using wt tactics against them?
.
how to attract jw and keep them long enough to get chances to reach their mind and plant seeds of doubt about wt?
Just to elaborate on my previous post.
To a jw, an "apostate" is the most dangerous being walking on 2 legs. Worse than a fornicator, thief, prostitute or drug addict. When an apostate speaks, a jw automatically see a serpent's tongue slip in and out as the words are being uttered. They have been conditioned to believe that an apostate is as close to satan/demon as a human can get.
To break through this defense mechanism takes incredible effort on the person extending the help and/or a lot of courage and self-determination on the part of the jw.
For this reason the person best in a position to help is someone still in who is on his way out. Even someone who is not known as an "apostate" has a better chance of being heard. Living in an area where no one knows your past jw history helps a lot in this case.
A person who is known as an apostate can do the greatest good by innoculating those outside from ever becoming a jw in the first place.
Axel
what about using wt tactics against them?
.
how to attract jw and keep them long enough to get chances to reach their mind and plant seeds of doubt about wt?
To be honest in my case there is nothing anyone could have done, especially someone who was a known and labeled "apostate". Not while I was still in. I just really got to the point (on my own) where i couldn't do it / didn't want to do it anymore, even if they were right about everything. I was just content to go down with the other billions at the big A. If I went any further the way I was going I wasn't going to make it that far anyway.
On the other hand, there were a couple of individuals who left me with a well thought out question or 2 and then left it at that. They didn't try to argue, or openly criticize the org, just left a question that made you say hmmm. From that point my own thinking processes took over, and coupled with my own malaise about the whole jw thing and how it was affecting my mood, I was on my way out. Learning what I know now just cemented my decision and went aways in getting rid of the fear and guilt.
Different things work for different people, but overall I think a jw has to be ready to receive the information or contemplate the question presented.
Axel
napa wt child abuse case.
two important court decisions, which came out of napa valley, ca, are now available for us to post on jwd.
these significant rulings overturn objections regularly made by the watchtower in recent lawsuits and may serve as a precedent for future lawsuits.
Yep, looks like the GB do serve a purpose by the WT in anticipation of worst case scenario--loss of tax exempt status. And it looks like the court caught on to the NY/Penn shell game being played.
Axel
i forgot the most irritating response to the downsizing: i have a close relative, who knows many of the new york insiders, who said this about those who were downsized kicked to the curb:
"it was felt that some were getting too comfortable"
what in the world does that mean?
I have a feeling this move is going to bite them in the @ss.
napa wt child abuse case.
two important court decisions, which came out of napa valley, ca, are now available for us to post on jwd.
these significant rulings overturn objections regularly made by the watchtower in recent lawsuits and may serve as a precedent for future lawsuits.
Thanks Barb for this info. This is an important ruling.
greg stafford posted on july 1, 2006 that he is returning to the organization.
you can read his article at: http://www.elihubooks.com/greg-stafford/another.htm.
his rationale and logic are most interesting.
The only power that JWs have is what they think they have and what other JWs accord them in this small world. That is why labels are so important in their world.
But Stafford doesn't have a label, and that carries its own prestige and exclusiveness. It is a position he is afforded and that means nothing to anybody, except in the JW-world.
While I don't think Stafford holds any position per se, I do think he enjoys the special prestige of being able to hover ever so slightly outside the rules other JWs have to live by, and flaunt it in his own way without repercussions.
As Randy said, time will tell.
Axel
i called the information dept politely asking if mr brown was still a witness after commiting verbal apostasy during the interview with ldh.. i got transferred to one of their legal staff and he dropped the "f" bomb and hung up!
i on the other hand was a complete gentleman.. i would call this a golden opportunity to play up what has to be one of the most embarrasing moments for the dub leadership but is actually an important issue that any current dubz should be concerned about.
what is the actual policy of the org?
Now which table has he been feeding at lately?
The bounteous spiritual table of Jah or the table of deemonz???...hmmm. Didn't know F bombs were heard in the spiritual paradise.
