skeeter1

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Posts by skeeter1

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  28

  Top 10 Signs that Jehovah's Witnesses Want to Disfellowship You:

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. social
  2. humour

  i've posted these years ago and was reminiscing, so i thought i would share the laugh with you again.. top 10 signs that jehovah's witnesses want to disfellowship you:.

  10. there's two guys in suits staying all night outside your home in a four-door sedan.. 9. an elder you spoke to on the phone calls and asks you to repeat what you said the other day, but asks you to speak slowly and clearly.. 8. suddenly, jw friends stop by and ask an awful lot of the same questions.. 7. your laptop computer was moved, left on, or is missing.. 6. you left your car unlocked, it was thoroughly searched by someone but absolutely nothing is missing including your gps which was searched too.. 5. your boss asks if you are in trouble with the law or someone, stating some really polite men were asking about you and left some "tracts.".

  4. someone picked up the cigarette butts around your back porch.. 3. the bartender at your favorite nightspot asks if you have ever before seen the guys in the corner booth that have been ordering "cokes" all evening and pulling out a camera everytime you order a beer.. 2. you receive registered mail and you already served on a jury this year.. 1. your jw mother who finally had accepted that you will never go back starts begging you to either go back to the kingdom hall or move with no forwarding address.. .

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  skeeter1

  Marking . . .
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  88

  Why JW marriage is a huge problem for the organization.

  by kneehighmiah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the difficulty of finding a marriage mate is well known for sisters.

  but i would say it's hard for brothers also.

  i was talking to a jw last night.

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  skeeter1

  I know a JW sister who is attractive for her age, never married, likes arts & crafts, and children. She WILL NOT marry a JW man. She won't marry a worldly man. She really fears that all JW men are wife beaters, rapists, . . . or, at a bare minimum, ego-maniac roosters who she doesn't want to submit to.
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  26

  JWs say, "They don't judge"

  by skeeter1 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  what is up with jws?

  lately, i've heard this line, "we don't judge .

  but, doesn't everyone judge?

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  skeeter1

  What is up with JWs? Lately, I've heard this line, "We don't judge . . "

  But, doesn't everyone judge? Honest. This is an excerpt from Brian Berry, who is being honest.

  "january 20, 2014 by brian berry leave a comment

  Nobody likes that statement. But it’s true. Try as you may to NOT judge others, you WILL do it. I do it. We ALL DO IT all the time. Guaranteed.

  • body weight, shape, gender, age (so and so is fat cuz of this habit)
  • socioeconomic status (that guy drives that car cuz he’s a “rollin’ in it”)
  • religion or faith (only a fool would believe such and such)
  • job (I shoulda known… that’s surely why they behave like this)
  • passions (only xyz kind of people like to do that)
  • hobbies (because they do this, abc is true of them)

  And those are just a few of the judgements we make every day. Some are spoken. Some are merely thought. Some directly affect our actions and some are so subconscious and ingrained in us that they shape us in ways too subtle to identify directly."

  And, when a JW puts on their guilt trips, aren't they/WTS judging?

  "We've missed you at the meeting." (Judging, you should be at the meetings.)

  "True Christians" (Judging, this is the standard you must attain, or be deemed a non-Christian).

  Oh, but they don't judge . . . .. . .
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  8

  JWs & Guilt Trips

  by skeeter1 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the watchtower is a manipulator.

  one of the tools they use is guilt, and they use it via the "guilt trip.

  " just so we are clear, a guilt trip is:.

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  skeeter1

  Here's an article I found helpful in recognizing manipulative people, shows how to recognize and handle it.

  http://www.wikihow.com/Pick-Up-on-Manipulative-Behavior

  Curtail the guilt trip. Guilt trips are really high on the list of manipulative tools. If you can get someone else to feel guilty, then you're home and hosed. The trouble is, people wear out after being made to suffer guilt trip after guilt trip and the manipulator who thinks that he or she is on to a good thing here risks losing respect, friends, and being distanced by those who can't get away, such as family and co-workers. One of the key things to keep in mind when escaping the guilt trip bind is that the sooner you nip it in the bud, the better, and that it's their guilt trip, not yours. Here are some approaches to the guilt trip:

  • Recognize it. Guilt trips are usually prefaced with "If you really cared about me, you'd...", or "If you were more responsible, you'd...", or "If you were more understanding, you'd...". In each case, you can substitute the words they add in after with "do as I want". Another way of inducing a guilt trip is to tell you what you wouldn't do, for example: "I knew I'd misheard it! After all, you'd never get engaged without telling me first." In that small phrase, you've just been told that the expectations are that you'll defer to this person before making any decisions.
  • Turn it back on the guilt giver. Take a return-to-sender approach with guilt trips and don't let their interpretation of your behavior determine the situation. In this case, you can give them a little of their own medicine so that they understand how it feels to be made to feel guilty. This approach involves taking what the manipulator has said and tell them how they aren't respecting, appreciating, caring for, etc. your behavior toward them, and in the process, you dissolve the need to meet the obligation they're aiming to impose. For example:
    • A: "You don't care about all the hard work I've done for you."
    • You: "I sure do care about the hard work you've done for me. I've said as much many times. Now it seems to me that you don't appreciate how much I care."
    • A: "That's not true! I appreciate it!"
    • You: "Yes, just as I appreciate your hard work."
  • Shorten their hold on you. When a manipulator tries to guilt-trip you by suggesting that they don't matter, don't buy into it. Instead, answer with a quick retort that breaks this hold instantly. For example:
  • A: "Okay then, go on that camping trip with your friends while I do all the work looking after the dogs. Don't worry about me."
  • You: "That's great! I'm glad you're happy to look after the dogs while I'm away. Thanks!"

  Shift the assumption statement away from you. One of the things that is so riling about having another person tell you what it is that you're thinking or doing is that they are not taking you seriously or treating you as a whole person. Instead, they are attempting to overlay how they'd like you to behave and this comes right back to how they'd like you behave so that it benefits them . Assumption statements can be harder to pick up on but it's essential that you do so in order to deflect them quickly and effectively. Some examples include statements using "suppose", "guess", "wish", etc: "I suppose you're going to leave me alone again." or "I wish you'd understand how hard it is for me, after all I've done for you, to have you not want to stay longer with me each Christmas." The problem with the assumption statement is that there is no question; a manipulator doesn't like asking questions because it causes them to feel a loss of control . In a healthier relationship situation, questions would elicit what you're doing and a conversation could proceed from this understanding; a manipulator would prefer to make the assumption as to what you're doing because it then allows them to them to be in control of the you they've described rather than the you they need to listen to. Break the supposition away from your actions by ignoring the manipulative negative implication and return the manipulator to reality by clarifying your equally valid value attaching to what you're doing. For example:

  • A: "I wish you'd understand how hard it is for me, after all I've done for you, to have you not want to stay longer with me each Christmas."
  • You: "Actually, I spend as much time with you as I spend with Kate's parents and just as you and dad used to do when I was growing up, I'm happily dividing my time equally between both families."
  • A: "I suppose you're going to leave me alone again."
  • You: "I'm not leaving you alone. You've got your favorite movie on tonight, the dog's with you wanting attention, and I'll be back on Tuesday, as usual."
  • A: "If you've got more important things to do, then it's best you don't waste time visiting me."
  • You: "I'm glad you understand how busy things are for me right now. It's an expensive time to fly and I'll be able to spend more time with you when I come next May."

  Move away from the mind games of what the manipulator thinks other people say or do. The use of third party "authority" is thoughtlessly rampant in much of everyday life because we like to defer to these generalizations as a way of backing up our own vague and often unexplored preferences. While most of us know it's a bad habit , in the hands of a manipulator, it becomes a weapon. Whenever a manipulator resorts to quoting what your Aunt May, cousin Josh or darling Katie down the street would do or are saying, see warning lights flashing. This tactic is used to try and compare the perceived lack in your responsiveness with the manner in which other people apparently would behave more appropriately than you (read: they'd do it for the manipulator whereas you're holding out). While some of this is to do with the manipulator fantasizing that the grass is greener in someone else's life, it's far more about being a tool that lets the manipulator abdicate his or her own responsibility for making the statement.

  • A:"Mary says it'd be better if you didn't leave me alone all the time. She says it's harmful for me."
  • You:"I didn't realize Mary was a psychologist. I must speak to her about the possibility of her spending more time with you."
  • A:"Everyone thinks you're not being kind to me when you refuse to buy me a second diamond ring."
  • You:"Everyone? I must meet these people who are so flush! I'd love to buy you another ring but I'm glad you have a beautiful one to keep you occupied until our budget can withstand any more large purchases."
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  8

  JWs & Guilt Trips

  by skeeter1 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the watchtower is a manipulator.

  one of the tools they use is guilt, and they use it via the "guilt trip.

  " just so we are clear, a guilt trip is:.

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  skeeter1

  The Watchtower is a manipulator. One of the tools they use is guilt, and they use it via the "guilt trip." Just so we are clear, a guilt trip is:

  guilt trip when someone tries to make you feel guilty for thinking/feeling/doing things a certain way.
  
  or
  
  when someone tries to make you do whatever they want you to. so they start making you feel bad about something.. so then you'll give in and do whatever they want.

  Here are two examples from the WTS. Please add more

  -The catchphrase "True Christians" is a guilt trip phrase. It sets up the expected behavior.

  -""We" have missed you (at the Kingdom Hall, out in service)." It is never, "Hi, I called because I want to know how you are doing". Instead, the Watchtower Soceity has its followers use "group think" (another manipulative tactic).

  Followers of the WTS (and ex-followers) have learned how to manipulate others via the guilt trip. I believe because the WTS uses the guilt trip so extensively, that the followers really tune into this.
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  40

  After all, JWs were RIGHT!

  by abiather in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  1) science and technology appeared as a savior to mankind, yet the overall result points to the opposite direction.. http://aeon.co/magazine/science/why-has-human-progress-ground-to-a-halt/.

  2) john kerry warns of catastrophe if climate change is not tackled.

  http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environment/article4295230.ece (times, saturday 13, 2014).

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  skeeter1

  JWs on climate change. Would that be the water cloud teaching of the WTS?

  ( The WTS is making this sh** up, dude! They don't know these exact details of exactly what happened.)

  According to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses:

  “This is no mere local flood. The water canopy, or heavenly ocean, bursts open, and a torrential downpour pounds the ark.”

  — Watchtower 3/15 2011

  “Where did the water causing the global Flood come from? During the second creative period, or “day,” when the earth’s atmospheric “expanse” was formed, there were waters “beneath the expanse” and waters “above the expanse.” The waters “beneath” were those already on earth. The waters “above” were huge quantities of moisture suspended high above the earth, forming a “vast watery deep.” These waters fell upon the earth in Noah’s day.”

  — Watchtower 01/01 2004

  “...from what source was this vast deluge of Noah’s day? According to the Genesis account, God said to Noah: “Here I [Jehovah] am bringing the deluge [or, “heavenly ocean” of waters upon the earth.””

  — Insight, Volume I - pg. 609-612

  “Where did this “heavenly ocean” come from? The Genesis account of creation tells how on the second “day” Jehovah made an expanse about the earth, and this expanse (called “Heaven”) formed a division between the waters below it, that is, the oceans, and the waters above it. (Ge 1:6-8) The waters suspended above the expanse evidently remained there from the second “day” of creation until the Flood.”

  — Insight, Volume I - pg. 609-612

  “Various explanations have been offered as to how the water was held aloft until the Flood... [God’s] almighty power could easily accomplish it.”

  — Insight, Volume I - pg. 609-612

  “On the fourth “day,” the atmosphere gradually cleared to such an extent that the sun and the moon were made to appear “in the expanse of the heavens.” In other words, from the perspective of a person on earth, the sun and moon began to be discernible. These events happened gradually”

  — Was Life Created? pg. 24-28 2010

  “With the Deluge great changes came, for example, the life span of humans dropped very rapidly. Some have suggested that prior to the Flood the waters above the expanse shielded out some of the harmful radiation and that, with the waters gone, cosmic radiation genetically harmful to man increased. However, the Bible is silent on the matter. Incidentally, any change in radiation would have altered the rate of formation of radioactive carbon-14 to such an extent as to invalidate all radiocarbon dates prior to the Flood.”

  — Insight on the Scriptures, Volume I, pg. 609-612

  Alot of people disagree with John Kerry and climate change. Some have shown that he is wrong, and in it for money. While he preaches the environment, his own consumption leaves a large blueprint. Others note that the sun's effect may have alot to do with global warming. Others believe it is natural for the Earth to go through large swings in temperature, with ice ages and heating occurring before there was ever any man made machine.
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  10

  More Money For JW.ORG

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  my apologies if this topic has previously been spotlighted.. the following is a portion of the the recent money-grabbing letter from jw.org.

  it's on page 4 - one of the three pages which only the elders were allowed to read.. "surplus funds: is it necessary to save congregation funds for future construction or major renovation projects?

  what should be done with excess congregation funds that are currently being held or that may accumulate in the future?

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  skeeter1

  This is absolutely a money-cult that uses up its followers. The money goes up, but never comes down. Oh, it used to come down as a loan to one congregation for building the building. But, now, it's a pretty-much mandatory donation of all congregations of any and all excess funds and a set amount. And, the WTS then grabs the title to the building that the locals have paid for. As far as the headquarters and arious banch offices, the wTS has sold them . . . for over $2 billion. The new headquarters they are building are a small fracion of that, and many headquarters are being consolidated. Consolidation means less Bethelites needed. The WTS laid off the older ones in droves. The Bethelites took a vow of poverty, have no social security for their time spent at Bethel, and Bethel doesn't give hardly any retirement. So, these people are scrambling looking for jobs, and some of them are old.
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  49

  This religion is about to be toast.

  by kneehighmiah in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the governing body is preparing to take a major hit.

  this recent watchtower shows it.

  not the new understandings, but the article on marriage.

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  skeeter1

  I know a female JW who will never, ever, EVER consider marrying a brother. She has repeatedly told me this over the years. They (men, especially JW men) are too domineering, abusive, sex filled, etc. . But, she still clings for the "hope" of everlasting life so she's a devout JW sister. Now, wouldn't a non-cult hypnotized person think that if this religions was sooooooooo, "Jehober darn wonderful", that the men who follow it would also be the most eligible men ever? (Skeeter bangs head against wall).
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  65

  The Watchtower 3/15/2015 Parables! New Understanding! plus More!

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  http://imgur.com/a/e6dos.

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  skeeter1

  Yep, the R&F will not see a difference. I just had to explain the overlapping generation to a JW, one who regularly attends meetings! Totally doesn't matter what the WTS does. They can become worshipers of ruby cats, and they will follow. It's a cult!

  LOL.
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  12

  Jehovah's Witnesses and "winter decorations"

  by Lynnie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so how many jw's do you know that do "winter decorations" instead of "holiday decorations"?

  i have a cousin that is upbaptized but very much on board with the jw's but somehow snowmen and pine boughs are okay to decorate the house as long as there is no tree.

  have anyone of you heard or seent his practice?

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  skeeter1

  

  Seriously, the JWs don't like it becuase the lights are a pagan celbration of the longest winter's night. So, I'd think that any decoration would be pagan and banned. But, perhaps there is "nu light", LOL.