Darth Yhwh

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Posts by Darth Yhwh

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  54

  How many more years do you think you have left to live?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  since i'm relatively healthy, don't smoke, hardly drink (2 beers a day), and if i base myself on my grandparents and parents age, i think that i should live up to anywhere between 85 and 95. which means i should have another 40 to 50 years of posting here.

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  Darth Yhwh

  Well, If I model myself after my Grand Parents and Parents than I'm about half way through my ride. Another 30 to 40 years at most.
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  24

  year 2034????

  by crazyblondeb in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on another thread someone mentioned they were looking to 2034 for the big "a".

  someone tell me it's just another joke!!

  shelley

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  Darth Yhwh

  If the WBTS is smart they'll stop publishing dates entirely. That way they'll be correct if they can pin these rumored dated on the rank and file.
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  46

  JW's are they really a cult?

  by Evanescence in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many people would say they are a cult, what are your reasons for thinking they are a cult?.

  a created a thread a while ago on an idea of what a cult is http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/96309/1.ashx.

  do you think it is the jehovah's witnesses as a whole a cult?

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  Darth Yhwh

  The Six Conditions for Thought Reform are:

  1) Keep the person unaware of what is going on and how she or he is being changed a step at a time.

  The WBTS keeps the rank and file JW unaware of what is going on within the organization by bombarding them with information in the form of printed matter. Much of what these publications say is redundant. By constantly subjecting them to this information over and over again they are able to slip in minor changes in increments that are usually undetected by the JW’s.

  2) Control the person’s social and/or physical environment; especially control the person’s time.

  JW’s are forbidden to have social contact with non JWs, AKA “worldly” people. Their contact with non JWs is basically limited to employment or preaching. JWs that do have contact with non JWs at their place of employment are encouraged to keep this time brief or to use these opportunities to witness.

  Their time is tightly controlled also. They are required to attend several religious functions a week including but not limited to: book study, theocratic ministry school, Sunday morning talk, and the infamous Watchtower study. This does not include all the time necessary to prepare for these “meetings” by studying the assigned literature, mandatory field service, or special Circuit / District assemblies. Remember also that JWs are required to keep track of the time that they spend in the mandatory preaching work and to turn it into their superior authorities.

  3) Systematically create a sense of powerlessness in the person.

  This is accomplished by constantly bombarding JWs with information regarding how close Armageddon is. The WBTS has, since its inception, proclaimed that God’s judgment day is close at hand. Contrary to biblical scripture they have even gone so far as to publish particular dates that it was expected to happen. Despite the failed prophetic dates they have done an excellent job of convincing JWs to be vigilant because the end of this system will arrive as a thief in the night

  4) Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments and experiences in such a way as to inhibit behavior that reflects the person’s former social identity.

  5) Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments, and experiences in order to promote learning the group’s ideology or belief system and group-approved behaviors.

  Item number four and five go hand in hand with one another. One cannot advance in the KH hierarchy without abandon worldly friends and family. If one demonstrates model spirituality as measured the WBTS’s standards there are a number of rewards or privileges that they will bestow ranging from a microphone holder during the talks all the way up to Elder of a congregation or a Circuit Overseer. Each has a certain level of respect or power within the local KH. The sky is the limit to your potential if you play by the rules (unless of course you’re a woman, then opportunities are somewhat restricted). On the other hand if you display an attitude that would indicate to JWs that you haven’t abandoned “worldly” ways you will be reprimanded shunned or even disfellowshipped depending on circumstances.

  6) Put forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian structure that permits no feedback and refuses to be modified except by leadership approval or executive order.

  If you do not accept WBTS doctrine at face value then you are labeled as an apostate, disfellowshiped, and shunned by friends and family. No one can question what is published as fact by the WBTS without being labeled as such. Independent and critical thinking are discouraged and publications have even been circulated that indicate the same. The WBTS also feels that one cannot have a relationship with God or understand the bible without the aid of the Watchtower.

  I'm sure others here have their own experiences along these lines and can add comment to how the WBTS uses these tactics.
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  46

  JW's are they really a cult?

  by Evanescence in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many people would say they are a cult, what are your reasons for thinking they are a cult?.

  a created a thread a while ago on an idea of what a cult is http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/96309/1.ashx.

  do you think it is the jehovah's witnesses as a whole a cult?

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  Darth Yhwh

  I came across this on a website the other day. The website was a satire regarding how, in the author’s opinion, political propaganda is cult mind control. It didn’t take long for me to realize how appropriate these conditions are for this forum or how they apply to JW’s.

  The Six Conditions for Thought Reform are:

  1) Keep the person unaware of what is going on and how she or he is being changed a step at a time.

  2) Control the person’s social and/or physical environment; especially control the person’s time.

  3) Systematically create a sense of powerlessness in the person.

  4) Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments and experiences in such a way as to inhibit behavior that reflects the person’s former social identity.

  5) Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments, and experiences in order to promote learning the group’s ideology or belief system and group-approved behaviors.

  6) Put forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian structure that permits no feedback and refuses to be modified except by leadership approval or executive order.

  I was going to type a short synopsis at the end of each one of these six points. I decided against this because I feel, and I’m sure that most here can agree, that the way the WBTS uses these tactics is self evident.
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  17

  WT Blames Poor JW for any suffering they exp

  by JT in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  *** w98 8/15 p. 17 strengthening our confidence in gods righteousness ***.

  feelings of having suffered needlessly.

  6 in the past, some witnesses have suffered for refusing to share in an activity that their conscience now might permit.

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  Darth Yhwh

  How many times can they publish garbage about the 1914 generation, even printing a bi monthly paragraph as the masthead of the Awake! magazine, only to turn it around on the average brother or sister? "Some brothers and sisters have become overzealous trying to predict dates!" No s*#t, you think? They're the ones working a bethel in the writing department or as members of the GB!
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  63

  shallow men

  by Ellie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  please tell me that not all men are only interested in the size of a girls chest.. come on you men, restore my faith in males.

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  Darth Yhwh

  No, not all men concern themselves with a woman’s chest size. I’m more of a legs, hips, and thighs kind of guy.
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  36

  Why on earth do they need all those books?

  by Lady Lee in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  yes i know the standard answer - they want to sell books but hang on a minute.. .

  something that has always bothered me is that the average jw is incapable of explaining some of the most basic teachings without a wt book in hand.

  after all those years, all that time, all those meetings, why is it so hard to understand and teach to someone else?

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  Darth Yhwh

  Luna 2, excellent point about the rank and file being considered “publishers”.

  TheListiner said:

  Of course, to the making of many books there is no end.

  This brings to my my mind Ecclesiastes 12:12: "But, my child, be warned: There is no end of opinions ready to be expressed. Studying them can go on forever and become very exhausting!" (NLT)
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  17

  Assembly, the aftermath

  by Sam the Man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a few of you may remember my post concerning the assembly day, and how i wanted to get out of it in some way.

  this post catalogues the events after that day a day which has changed my life.

  i managed to get out of going to the assembly, using an excuse about my stomach, and the complications which follow.

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  Darth Yhwh

  Yeah, this is a raw deal. As Dave mentioned you could try to temporarily smooth things over for a while if you think there's any chance of working things out with your old lady. I would hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I wish you luck and hope that you can salvage your relationship with your wife and kids.
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  24

  Are You Still Affected By Guilt?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you still feel any guilt for celebrating a birthday or holiday or associating with "worldly" people or doing anything that the watchtower has inculcated as being wrong???

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  Darth Yhwh

  Yesterday, oldsoul?
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  17

  Ever thought of going back...

  by undercover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...and raising hell?.

  i read a lot of experiences that so many went through while a jw...the judicial committee meetings, the verbal abuse from elders and pioneers, the intrusion into private matters, the list goes on and on.

  i haven't had to endure some of the terrible things that some have endured, though there was always the constant counsel about grooming, music, movies, cars, etc.. sometimes i think, knowing what i know now, that if i ever had to go back for whatever reason, i could really enjoy being a thorn in the side of many of the elders and over-righeous zealots.

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  Darth Yhwh

  Yeah, every time I pass a KH I think about returning with a can of gas and a match.