I don't think that's any different than people in any cohersive organization. JWs are skilled drones, constantly having their obedience reinforced. For those coming in from the outside, I suspect in most cases there is some unmet need, and they'll latch on. For those that were born into it, it is simply what they've known their entire lives. But there will always be those that never take to it perfectly, or that have some experience that shakes their faith and makes them question. But even for many of those, the threats of DFing are so great that they'll keep the mask on. In a way, it really is a form of group hypnosis.
RodentBoy
JoinedPosts by RodentBoy
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49
do you think that JW are brainwashed?
by notmyself ini'm d/f for about 2 years and my dad ( an elder ) hasn't spoke with me since, my mom sometimes talk to me , but i always have to call her , just to see how's she's doing, and guess what, when she answer her phone is : oh, i was preeching!!!.
they're always preeching, but my brother contact me today telling me that we can speak again due to the fact that i'm d/f , what do you guys think?
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Is Dawkins the answer?
by Peppermint ini watched the second part of richard dawkins program yesterday evening -the root of all evil?- i really have enjoyed this program and have found dawkins to come across as genuine and humane.
the problem i have with the program is that i do not want to believe his point of view, but i am feeling more and more drawn towards it.
the point i notice most about his stance is that he feels religion and science just cannot sit side by side, you have to believe one or the other.
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RodentBoy
In Dawkins' case, I think you ought to understand that he has been pretty heavily abused. Just imagine how they guy must feel when some JW anti-evolution pseudo-science book takes a quote of his out of context. Would you feel all that friendly towards the religious community?
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birthdays
by cr1234 indoes anyone know where the article is in the awake that says birthdays are a conscience matter?
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RodentBoy
Ah yes, the old bait and switch. "You can't celebrate birthdays, but we'll look the other way if you pick some other day." Even if your doctrinal position is correct, which it so clearly isn't (as your argument amounts to the most absurd handwaving and hair splitting), then picking other days is simply violating the spirit of your doctrine.
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birthdays
by cr1234 indoes anyone know where the article is in the awake that says birthdays are a conscience matter?
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RodentBoy
WEddings are "of the world". Anniversaries are "of the world". Baby showers are "of the world". Sneakers are "of the world". Toyotas are "of the world". Dollars are "of the world". The list of things that are "of the world" that JWs participate in are rather enormous, so to pick birthdays out as being wrong when, say, baby showers are not is both hypocritical and completely illogical. It simply makes no sense. It has no justification in the Bible. It is a pure invention, and a demonstration of why any church whose theological system boils down to "we're the boss, do what we say or God will get you" is ludicrous and dangerous to its adherents. At least a Catholic or Anglican position is based upon centuries of regularized and scholarly theological study, and not unfounded proclamations from afar.
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birthdays
by cr1234 indoes anyone know where the article is in the awake that says birthdays are a conscience matter?
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RodentBoy
The birthday position is possibly one of the few JW doctrinal claims that's on even shakier ground than their blood policy. No where in the Bible will you find "Thou shalt not celebrate your birthday". NOt one place. This JW rule is not based on the Bible at all. It is simply an invention, yet another attempt to keep JWs apart from outsiders by erecting a wall. There's no meaningful justification at all, other than as a group separation and control device.
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Addition too the birthday thread. Not a DF'ING OFFENSE
by skyman inw98 10/15 p. 31 questions from readers ***
"consequently, while it is entirely a private matter if christians choose to take note of their wedding anniversary, there are good reasons why mature christians abstain from celebrating birthdays.
notice it say's mature christians.
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RodentBoy
And just how many Christians do you know celebrate anything to do with any sun gods? How many Christians, in say, the last 1,500 years? Yes, the day's origin is in Roman religious rites, but it lost that connotation within a few generations of Constantine's conversion to Christianity, save perhaps for a few communities determined to keep the old Roman religion alive (and none of them, so far as I'm aware, ever made it past the 5th or 6th century AD).
As to the objection to birthdays in general, the "theological" (I hesitate to use that term) backing that JWs use is so goofy that it makes no damn sense at all, but it sure does make JW kids miserable when they have to explain why they can't go to their new best friend's birthday because "we don't celebrate it". I realize that all the good folks in the Organization think that this is a cue for a bit of proselytizing, but other than the do-gooders that get trotted onstage at assemblies to make the mere mortals feel bad, most JW kids would like to crawl under a rock. -
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Old committee notes.
by Gregor inas an elder in the late '70's i served more than my share of time on judicial committees.
the jc was made up of three elders: the presiding overseer, wt study overseer and bible study overseer.
since these positions rotated yearly, the average elder would serve three years straight on the jc.
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RodentBoy
It's a very great pity that people can allow themselves to be so cowed as to actually think that they have to vet their private sexual practices (particularly between married couples) with any man. You can't really blame the average Elder, however, who is pretty much in the same boat as these people, but the Society has surely been controlled by some fairly and severely perverted individuals, so far as I can tell. A ban on oral sex? What kind of people would ban any intimate act between a married couple? It boggles the mind at times to think of the minutia that occupies the minds of the boys at the top.
My gut instinct is that the real exercise here is simply control. If you can control people's conduct, even private conduct, in small things, then you can demand of them insane sacrifices such as depriving themselves and their loved ones of life-saving medical treatments, or have them shun close friends and family who wander away. I don't think the WTS really gives a damn about whether a married couple partake of oral sex or whether a fourteen year old boy does what every fourteen year old boy since the beginning of time has done. The point here is that they exert control over these private acts, and once they have individuals in that position, then they do indeed have control. -
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Do JWs take Genesis literally?
by undercover inas i grew up as a jw it seemed that we accepted genesis was a literal account with the only question being how long a creative day was.
for the longest time, as best as i can recall, a creative day was considered a thousand years long, based on the ole "a thousand years is as a day to jehovah" rule.. somewhere though, it seems that there was some waffling on how long a creative day was.
especially since science was showing that the earth was millions of years old.. since i've faded i wonder, do jws today consider genesis as a literal account of how things were created, even if they can't explain the exact length of a creative day?.
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RodentBoy
Judging by Hovind's legal problems of late, I'll wager he doesn't have $250,000.
http://wiki.cotch.net/index.php/Kent_Hovind -
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Do JWs take Genesis literally?
by undercover inas i grew up as a jw it seemed that we accepted genesis was a literal account with the only question being how long a creative day was.
for the longest time, as best as i can recall, a creative day was considered a thousand years long, based on the ole "a thousand years is as a day to jehovah" rule.. somewhere though, it seems that there was some waffling on how long a creative day was.
especially since science was showing that the earth was millions of years old.. since i've faded i wonder, do jws today consider genesis as a literal account of how things were created, even if they can't explain the exact length of a creative day?.
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RodentBoy
That is Kent Hovind, and he's so far off the nut that even Creationist organizations like Answers in Genesis have disowned him. His challenge is a loaded. See http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind.html
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Do JWs take Genesis literally?
by undercover inas i grew up as a jw it seemed that we accepted genesis was a literal account with the only question being how long a creative day was.
for the longest time, as best as i can recall, a creative day was considered a thousand years long, based on the ole "a thousand years is as a day to jehovah" rule.. somewhere though, it seems that there was some waffling on how long a creative day was.
especially since science was showing that the earth was millions of years old.. since i've faded i wonder, do jws today consider genesis as a literal account of how things were created, even if they can't explain the exact length of a creative day?.
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RodentBoy
The problem then becomes the bizarre dichotomy. If scientific evidence is to be accepted that the Earth is billions of years old, then it requires a heavy dose of cognitive dissonance to reject evolution. This is the problem with JWs and all such Creationist sects, they are forced to cherry pick the science they like, and basically cast dispersions on the rest; which amount ultimately to little more than out of context quotes, inaccurate information and out-and-out lies.