Posts by under the radar

9

2014 master thesis about JWs LOYALITY

by fastJehu in

interesting (internet) finding ... after all the bunker videos on the 2016 rc.. this master thesis tries to comprehend the concept of loyalty within the jehovah’s witnesses movement.

what does ‘loyalty’ mean to jehovah’s witnesses?

https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/32029/loyal%20to%20jehovah's%20good%20news%20-%20susanne%20kuipers.pdf.

under the radar

I wonder if this thesis was originally written in English. It seems this may be an imperfect translation from another language (Dutch?). There are grammar and spelling errors as well as odd word usages and unusual phrasings. Even speaking strictly from an editorial standpoint, I don't consider this to be Master's Thesis-level work.

That aside, the reasoning is demonstrably non-objective. As someone else mentioned, it seems like the author secretly, perhaps subliminally, wants to be a JW apologist. I don't think she ever gets around to the crux of the matter: that JW's equate loyalty to the organization with loyalty to God. Even worse, they seek to define loyalty as unquestioning obedience. The two terms do not mean the same thing, and are not truly interchangeable.

This thesis would be greatly improved if it contrasted what the Society says about its not breaking up families on its website and what its followers are actually taught at the 2016 loyalty-themed conventions going on right now. There is a shocking difference, and the examples they hold up as the "right" thing to do in certain circumstances are appalling. This blatant, or should I say brazen, institutionalized hypocrisy should be exposed as widely and as often as possible.

21

"Well now at least they get a ressurection!"

by stuckinarut2 in

yes, that is what a witness said after the police shootings and terrible aftermath of violence occurred this week in the usa..... they said that it now gives them a chance to live forever...as if they would not have had that opportunity if they had not been tragically killed..... of course according to witness teachings, the contradictory thing is that if the big a had come a day before, then those same people would have been killed by jehovah because they were not his worshipers.....

under the radar

That kind of thinking is dangerous! More than one JW apparently "went off the deep end" and reverted to this kind of deep seated cult-think and wound up murdering their own families to "make sure they got into the New World."

Some fading JW's have been told it would be better to take their kids out in the yard and shoot them than to leave the Truth™ and sentence them to everlasting death.

18

Since My Mom's Death--not a JW in sight !

by minimus in

jw
friends

i had one lovebombing when she died by the congregation and since then---- nada.

lol.

under the radar

So sorry for your loss, minimus. I went through much the same after the deaths of both of my parents. I got a lot more comfort and condolences from my workmates than I did from my JW family.

4

Strange doings at the Market

by ctrwtf in

jw
friends

so i recently made a trip back to my home town to visit some extended family still in.

the whole trip was very awkward.

for a whole bunch of reasons i won't bore you with, we stayed in a hotel near where the family lives, maybe as kind of a barrier to being in constant contact with the cult mentality.. being a very early riser, i went to the grocery to pick up a few things.

under the radar

Very strange indeed. Is it possible she denied them in the sense that "they are no longer my family" and was not actually denying the biological connection? It's even weirder that she denied knowing you, when you clearly recognized her. Curiouser and curiouser...

18

Moral indignation against "faders" shows JW apologists are morally bankrupt

by slimboyfat in

i came across this weird blog that castigates fading jws for their "cowardice" and "hypocrisy" for not making themselves vulnerable to shunning.

apparently in the view of this blogger jws who discover it's not the truth are morally obliged to play by the watchtower rules and face the consequences of shunning.. http://jwresearchblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/fading-faking-and-lying-as-unbelieving.html#comment-form.

what is absent from the blog post is any discussion of the statement in the july 2009 awake!, that no one should be made to choose between their beliefs and their family.

under the radar

Indeed!

18

Moral indignation against "faders" shows JW apologists are morally bankrupt

by slimboyfat in

i came across this weird blog that castigates fading jws for their "cowardice" and "hypocrisy" for not making themselves vulnerable to shunning.

apparently in the view of this blogger jws who discover it's not the truth are morally obliged to play by the watchtower rules and face the consequences of shunning.. http://jwresearchblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/fading-faking-and-lying-as-unbelieving.html#comment-form.

what is absent from the blog post is any discussion of the statement in the july 2009 awake!, that no one should be made to choose between their beliefs and their family.

under the radar

I don't always agree with everything slimboyfat posts, but I'm with him 100% on this one.

After my mom passed away and my dad was grieving himself to death, on top of his other illnesses, my sister and other family began distancing themselves from me more and more. They wanted my dad to tell me not to call and visit so often, but he never did. Once, when my dad and sister and I were driving home from a doctor's appointment, this (then recent) Awake! article came up. I quoted it verbatim. My dad sat there in thoughtful silence, but my sister angrily shouted, "That doesn't apply to us! We have the Truth™!" I calmly replied that either it meant what it said, or it was blatant institutional hypocrisy. (Looking back, I wish I had used the word "brazen," but that wasn't an official Society buzz word back then.) Anyway, her jaws locked tighter than a vice!

We had to stop along the way to get Dad something to eat. My sister made a point of making sure I understood that this was an emergency and should not be construed as "sharing a meal." My dad just remained silent, with a rather sad look on his face.

About that same time, I gave Dad a copy of that Awake!, specifically asking him to read and reflect on that particular article. The next time I came to visit, I saw that magazine lying open on his coffee table and noticed that he had highlighted that very passage. "No one...should be made to choose between his beliefs and his family." I didn't comment and let him know I had seen it. Some things are better left unsaid.

On the following visit, that magazine was nowhere in sight. I strongly suspect that my sister took it. To my surprise, out of the blue my dad asked me if I had seen it. He had been looking for it! I helped him search for it, to no avail. I promised I'd bring him another on my next visit, which I did. I think he kept it out of sight, so my sister wouldn't take it again. Regardless, it was still among his possessions when he passed away about a year later.

23

Guess who is getting announced as no longer being a JW

by atacrossroads in

jw
friends

not me surprisingly.

i thought i would be the one to go first.

this coming week my hubby is being announced as no longer being a jw.

under the radar

Your husband did the right thing in nipping the JW indoctrination of his child in the bud. You and your child and he will all be much better off in the long run.

I hope you will show him how much you appreciate his taking a stand to protect your little family. He rocks!

All that aside, congratulations on your new little one. The next 21 years or so of your lives are gonna be great! There is nothing like the love between a parent and child.

Without the undue influence of religious superstition, it's hard to believe anyone could shun their child for any reason. We may not approve of all their adult decisions, and sometimes they have to suffer the harsh consequences of their actions, but shunning them is another thing altogether. Although we live far apart, my adult son knows I am there for him 24/7, as he is for me. He knows I would never shun him, under any circumstances. That is unconditional love, and I think it's the most important thing a parent can give a child.

20

Don't believe anyone is up there listening - said a prayer anyway out of sense of obligation

by Zoos in

i've read many statements on this forum from people who have expressed the sentiment that you don't shove ttatt down the throat of an older person.

it would be too traumatic and its best to let some people, in some situations, simply pass on in the delusion.. its humane.

merciful.. in the initial roar of my awakening, i was unable to cuddle up to that sentiment; preferring, instead, to shove the blood curdling shock of truth down the throat of anyone i could get my grip on... age be dammed.

under the radar

You did a good thing, comforting an old man. No deities were offended, because there are no deities.

Occasionally, I am asked to "say grace" when visiting non-JW family. (Obviously, the occasion never arises with JW family.) I just smile and thank them for the courtesy and say something like, "Actually, I'd prefer to give Uncle Joe the honor." If pressed, however, I'd probably do the same thing you did. There's no point in "taking a stand" and ruining someone's day over ancient myths and superstitions.

29

Calling All Who Were JWs Between 1967 and 1980

by -Crossroads- in

jw
friends

hello jwn,.

to introduce myself, i am still in the jws but learned ttatt some months ago.

i now ask this question to get more info on a past teaching.. between 1967 and 1980 was when the 'current understanding' of the wts was that organ transplants were cannibalism, and thus abhorrent.

under the radar

I was barely a teenager in the late 60's, but I clearly remember reading that Watchtower QFR equating transplants to cannibalism and thinking they were nuts. I never agreed with their ridiculous position. As I remember, accepting a transplant would have been considered the same as accepting a blood transfusion. Unless a person "repented" and had some excuse such as yielding to pressure or fear in the heat of the moment, they would have been disfellowshipped. That said, I don't recall the issue ever actually arising in my small town.

The same with the nonsense they came out with in the 70's about the literal heart being the seat of motivation. Even I, with no medical education or training whatsoever, instinctively knew that was BS. I remember seeing that giant heart light up during talks at the District Convention and thinking how loony they were. I never believed that crap for a minute. I remember talking about it with my elder dad, and him saying that if it was wrong it would be corrected in Jehovah's due time. Otherwise, I just kept my thoughts to myself. I "knew" they were right about so many other things that I pushed this anomaly into the background. I didn't know what cognitive dissonance was, but I sure had it.

Even now, though they have abandoned much of the egregious medical quackery spewed by the Golden Age, they continue to impose their groundless religious interpretations on their followers' most personal medical decisions. They rail against in-vitro fertilization (IVF), egg and sperm donation, surrogacy, etc., equating it with adultery. This completely ignores the principle of brother-in-law marriage, which was not only allowed but sometimes required back in the good ol' "Bible days." It seems they can't understand that adultery is unfaithfulness and disloyalty to one's mate, and has nothing to do with the actual biological material exchanged. There is nothing special or sacred about any individual's sperm or egg cells in and of themselves. When assisted reproduction, whatever the exact method, is used to produce a longed for child, with the knowledge and consent of all involved, it is a gift of love. It has nothing at all to do with adultery. Only narrow-minded religious control freaks would equate the two.

This is just some of the evil that comes from self-appointed religious leaders applying their uneducated and ignorant lay person interpretations to scattered passages in a book of Bronze Age myths and superstitions and demanding their followers accept them as laws of God. This fallacious practice has cost many lives.

38

JWs destroy archaelogical artifacts

by John Doe in

jw
friends

thousands of years old.

this makes my blood boil.. http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/jehovahs-witnesses-destroy-ancient-indigenous-temple-in-mexico-20160628-0009.html.

under the radar

I'm certainly no apologist for the JW's, but I suspect this is either a hoax or a few dim-witted JW's going far beyond anything the Society would endorse. The GODs (Guardians of Doctrine) in New York are arrogant self-serving presumptuous leaders of an insidious mind-control cult, but they are not stupid. Oh, they would destroy all vestiges of "false religion" if they thought they could get away with it, but they know they can't and they sure don't want the bad publicity and the inevitable analogies to Daesh (ISIS) that would ensue.

The "new and improved" Truth™ they are spewing now mainly appeals to be poorly educated, impoverished, and hopeless peoples of mostly third-world countries. Who wouldn't grasp at a fresh steaming pile of pie-in-the-sky that promises everything? A drowning man will clutch at any straw of hope that passes by. It would be easy to get carried away.