I agree with Willyloman - all the dubs I ever knew viewed DA as much worse than DF; they looked at those who da'd themselves as the truly "bad" people. I think the new announcement must be because of liability problems. I started a thread on this subject awhile back, but I'm not sure where to find it. Anyway, my theory is that the society changed the announcement to try to lessen the threat of lawsuits, but expects the rank and file in the congregation to make the connection themselves and do the dirty work of shunning.
atypical
JoinedPosts by atypical
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18
With the new Disfellowshipping procedure, How will the congo know who left?
by booker-t inwith the "new" way jw's are expelled from the congregations how would the congregation know who left on their own(disassociated) themselves or was disfellowshipped for "wrongdoing".
when i left the elders told me that they would tell the congregation that i "disassociated"my self and that would be that.
the whole congregation would know that i left on my own and was not expelled for immorality or wrongdoing.
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Jan 1st WT: Reaching out, Higher Education and Providing for one's needs
by truthseeker inwell, as a nice start to the new year, the jan 1st watchtower article, "how firm is your trust in god" blasts those who live comfortable lives, those who don't reach out, and those who pursue higher education.. definitely, they are taking a harsher stand, having completely painted themselves into a corner.. i highlighted the interesting comments.
i did not include all the text for each paragraph, just the main points.. .
1 a young man wanted to be more useful to the congregation.
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atypical
Blondie, I second what you said - I know of so many longtime elders who now have no position in the congregation, they refuse to push themselves anymore,they sit towards the back etc. And most of them are extremely smart and nice people, they were sort of "power" elders back in the days I was a kid. Now, since the congregation where I live has mostly newly fired up ambitious types, the real "gifts in men" get hardly any respect. If this is happening everywhere, that the smart ones are stepping down and backing off in their activity, it has got to be getting to a near crisis point for the watchtower. Or do they just fill the spaces with the ambitious who have no brain but parrot what they read well?
NewYork44M - you are exactly right. How many people do you know who get a full university degree and end up still believing what the magazines tell them? That is the real reason the society discourages college. People will be much easier to control if they keep their fears and misconceptions in tact. Once they learn that the world is not so simple and black and white, they may begin to question what they have been taught by the society.
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Elders' School this weekend
by atypical ini don't know if this is true all over the country, but here they are having the elders' school this coming weekend.
i was wondering if there is anybody here who will be going.
if so, i hope we will be getting the scoop afterwards...........
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atypical
Yes, Diogenes, let us know if you hear anything. I am particularly interested to hear if anything will be said about the disfellowshipping procedure. I can't remember if anyone who posts here is an elder or not. If not, hopefully there is a "lurker" who will feel compelled to fill us in.
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Elders' School this weekend
by atypical ini don't know if this is true all over the country, but here they are having the elders' school this coming weekend.
i was wondering if there is anybody here who will be going.
if so, i hope we will be getting the scoop afterwards...........
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atypical
I don't know if this is true all over the country, but here they are having the elders' school this coming weekend. I was wondering if there is anybody here who will be going. If so, I hope we will be getting the scoop afterwards...........
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blondie
by IP_SEC inblondie you prolly get tired of hearing this but thanks so much for your labor of love.
i dont get the mags anymore, but im glad to be able to keep up with what's being said in the wt through your weekly comments on the wt study.. i would think it might get tiresome to wade through the bs in the articles week after week.
im sure it takes a lot of your time to research, then type your post.
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atypical
Yes, thank you a million times, Blondie. I love your WT reviews and and all your posts. I have gotten many good pointers and useful tidbits from reading your thoughts and quotes on this board.
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If spirits exist, and really communicate with some people, then why...
by AlmostAtheist inif spirits really exist, and really communicate with some people, then why don't the people ever ask anything that anyone cares about?!?!.
"when did you die?".
"did you own any pets?".
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atypical
People who claim to communicate with the dead are just preying on the superstitious, in my opinion. If there was really something legitimate going on, we would have found out some useful information by now. If you could take a radio with you and travel back a couple centuries, you could convince just about anybody that you were a witch, a demon, a god, the Great Spirit of the Camel Dung, anything you want. Just because we don't understand something doesn't make it supernatural.
For every person that can create the illusion of uncanny, there are a hundred people who want to believe.
Def'd, no offense, but your belief in the demons helps to box you in mentally. The more walls you have in your head, knowingly or unknowingly, the better chance there is that you will stay in line and not question authority.
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details in comm. meeting?
by myvalk inanyone have any idea how much details of the wrongdoing the elders will be asking in a comm.
meeting?
and does refusal to answer mean im getting df'd?
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atypical
I personally have heard of many committee meetings where the brothers asked for every graphic detail imaginable (positions, technique, even worse I am too polite to actually type it), and people who thought they actually had to answer the questions!! It will be tough, but sir82 is right on the money if you want to avoid the big D.
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Judgment starts with those who claim to be the house of God
by TopHat intophat when jesus reveals himself to everyone not a blasphemous invisible presence he will take down the watchtower racket first.
your own nwt say's that "the judgement starts with (those who claim to be) the house of god".
i happen to agree with you dannyhazzard!
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atypical
All you have to do is use the governing body's favorite scripture: Matthew 24:45-47 about the faithful discreet slave. Except, when you read it, go ahead and read verse 48-51 also - it says:
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"Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. 47 Truly I say to YOU, He will appoint him over all his belongings.48
"But if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, ‘My master is delaying,’ 49 and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards, 50 the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know, 51 and will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his part with the hypocrites. There is where [his] weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will be. -
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Brainwashing/Mind control
by Evanescence indo you think the jehovah's witnesses used any brainwashing or mind control techniques on their members?.
what brainwashing techniques do you think they used?.
what do you think works best on jw's to get them out of the mind control?
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atypical
The society uses a technique called social deprivation which is an extremely effective method of brainwashing. It was used in the korean war by the chinese if I remember right. Google social deprivation, it is very interesting.
As it has been said, witnesses are taught to cut off anybody who is not an active witness in good standing. Therefore, their entire network of family and friends, everybody they depend on, is an active witness. If for some reason they disagree with the watchtowers stance or otherwise break from the norm, they can be disfellowhipped, thus depriving them of contact from everyone they know and depend on. The pain of this punishment is very effective in forcing a change in attitude and slapping them back into line.
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To Thine Own Self Be True, Shakespeare vs the Watchtower
by joelbear inwatchtower philosophy is basically not to trust yourself, often quoting i think jeremiah, where it says something like humans don't even know how to walk straight.
have to depend on jehovah which is not specific enough to be of any use.
does this mean, the bible, the insights you gain during prayer or meditation or a specific interpretation of god's thoughts as offered by a group of human interpreters.. shakespeare says you have to trust your own insight, judgement, etc.
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atypical
Sorry, I feel a rant coming on. To take it a little further - I've been thinking about this subject a lot. As you said Joelbear, the watchtower teaches us that we cannot trust ourselves, we can only look to them to tell us what to think. They do not want anybody to depend on themselves, except for a few things. Here's a list of what they expect us to do for ourselves:
Get up in the morning
Go to work
Make a living
Pay our bills
Make sure there is money left to donate to the watchtower
Buy dress clothes for meetings
Prepare for meetings
Buy a four door car
Finish with work and all other responsibilities in time for meeting
Get ready and show up for five meetings a week
Get up early on Saturday and go in service
After that, though, we are supposed to become suddenly incapable of thinking and totally dependent. Even if we have a problem at the hall, we are supposed to "wait on Jehovah". So basically, do everything for yourself, ask for nothing, give what little you have, and then do exactly what we tell you.
And be thankful for it, you good for nothing slave!!