DanTheMan

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Posts by DanTheMan

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  22

  My wife is going to church!

  by tdogg in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not only did i have the fortune of being raised a dub, but i also live in the heart of mormonism, good old slc.

  my wife went to lds church today and says she is going to start going every week.

  aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggghh.

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  DanTheMan

  We call it the borg, I've heard that ex-momo's refer to their former religious domineers as the "Morg" LOL

  I've known a small number of ex-mormon's, they seem to be a lot like ex-jw's, disillusioned and traumatized by their experience
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  25

  Barbara Anderson article - outstanding!

  by waiting in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  mikepence posted this article over at bboy's forum and it's well worth bringing over here.

  if i offend anyone - it's not my intention.

  it is my intention to continue with helping to shed new light on this hideous crime.

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  DanTheMan

  Archived! This is the best article I've seen yet regarding this issue. HUGE props to the writer, and to Barbara Anderson.
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  25

  JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ARE THE SMARTEST PEOPLE ON EAR

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i heard that comment at a meeting from someone that had been associated for 2 months.

  (just thought it was interesting).

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  DanTheMan

  JW's probably aren't the cream of mankind, intelligence-wise. But, there are many very intelligent JW's.

  The presence of these intelligent ones in the org was one of the rationalizations I used when I was in - "So-and-so is so smart - that proves that JW's aren't a cult!" LOL

  The following is copied and pasted from a ReFocus newsletter from November 2001. The article is primarily about the Sept 11 attacks and the cult mentality of terrorists, but it was helpful to me in understanding why many intelligent people are successfully recruited by cults such as JW's:

  Cult leaders use many different techniques to indoctrinate their followers, including thought-stopping, rhythmic breathing, fear, sleep deprivation, supplying a deficient diet, repetition, charismatic leadership, peer and social group pressure, magic, isolation, guilt inducement, proselytizing, and revealed knowledge, among others. Most of these techniques work to place the mind in an altered state, a state wherein the victim is unable to critically process and filter information. In effect, these techniques are opening the back door to the mind without the victim's awareness or consent. For example, the cult leader might present rhythmic breathing as the path to better health, while the true purpose is to place his victim in a suggestible state for indoctrination. Consider yourself how well you think when you are angry, tired, or fearful. The connection between the cult victim's emotional experience and the group's doctrine or philosophy is strengthened to a frightening degree through this multi-front psychological manipulation. This bond is far stronger than any tie that could be achieved through education. Now the bond takes on an its most sinister power. Remember that the cult member experienced his emotional event through his own senses. Now any attack on the philosophy is experienced by the cult member as the same as an attack on his personal experience. That the information perceived by his senses was wrong is difficult to believe and too emotionally painful to contemplate. The cult victim cannot and will not deny the experience he knows his senses have told him are real, so the linked doctrine stands like a rock, impenetrable to any rational argument. This is why the cult member clings to ideas and arguments that are clearly illogical; any information that attacks his doctrine and threatens to prove it false threatens to prove his powerful experience false as well.

  I think intelligent cultists, like all other successful recruits, have an initial emotional experience, then they spend the rest of their life or time in the cult wedding the doctrine to their emotional experience.

  For the full text, go to:

  http://www.refocus.org/newsletter2-10Nov2001.htm
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  13

  WTS: what does the future hold?

  by RR in

  1. social
  2. current

  .

  thought you would find this of interest, what what your feedback is.

  what the future holds

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  DanTheMan

  I found this comment interesting:

  Unapproved articles have made their way into the printed pages of the Watchtower journals

  Examples?
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  21

  Does the Watchtower read postings?

  by freedom96 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am sure that this has been dicussed before, but i am somewhat new to the site.

  i know that the society keeps copies of books written by former witnesses, but do they moniter sites such as this one?

  if so, how closely?

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  DanTheMan

  Riz:

  I agree. I don't see how any active JW could monitor sites such as this one, or freeminds, and not come to view their religious affiliation in a "new light".

  Then again, some people love JWism so much, that no amount of information could convince them that mama ain't no good. And the world outside of the WT can be pretty rotten, so to them, the WT is the less of two evils.

  Where I live there is a well-known elder, a ZEALOUS defender of JW-ism. You should see his swagger as he walks up to the doors of the local churches. His greatest joy and satisfaction in life is to sit down with Pastor Bob, and, after a few minutes of scriptural discussion, get the fish-eyed, don't-know-what-to-say look from them. His wife (a fundamentalist) has opposed him for years, she hates the WT. She used to do all kinds of crazy things to keep him away from meetings. She has a whole shelf of apostate books. I know that he has read some of these books, I think that back in the 80's he and she studied CofC together, and he believes that the book is nothing but a pathetic attempt by Ray to justify himself ("Ray lost sight of the forest because of the trees" is what he would say). To this day, he is still one of the most zealous JW's you will find, a real 'true believer'. (Though he has to wear an oral appliance at night to protect his teeth, as he grinds them terribly in his sleep, he also has digestive problems, both of these are, imo, signs severe cognitive dissonance).

  I feel bad for him, it as if he and his wife have been in a staring contest for 25 years, and neither of them has blinked yet.

  Edited by - dantheman on 1 September 2002 10:1:38
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  12

  Old Dumb Farts Running WT Will Keep Laying Eggs

  by D wiltshire in

  1. social
  2. current

  dumb farts running wt will keep laying eggs.

  these are modern times and the wt faces many more challenges than in the past.. will they meet these challenges or will the old stale farts that run the wt drive it into the ground?.

  it has been true, and said many times that wisdom belongs to the aged but maybe this is a bit too general to be applied to every situation perhaps in many areas of life yes, but not every area.

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  DanTheMan

  COMF:

  I don't think the old farts are running the society any more.

  Not the day to day dirty work, that's all done by the middle-aged sociopaths you speak of. But the spirit of the geezers (TJ especially) still prevails, hence the spirit of the modern day WT is that of a vindictive and deluded old man who's been removed from the real world far too long.
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  4

  has anyone learned speedreading?

  by DanTheMan in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  before i joined jw's, i used to like to read, but during my 10 year stint in the borg i read almost no books at all (except the company-sanctioned reading, which lulls the reader into a mental stupor), save the occasional grisham novel or something fairly light like that.

  i couldn't take anything that was too heavy or thought provoking, as it would create too much cognitive dissonance in my black/white jw mind.. i was just reading some "favorite book" threads, and i realize that there are literally hundreds of books that i would like to read.

  however, i find that i am not a very speedy reader, and i also have difficulty concentrating, which results in my often having to re-read passages in order to get the author's point.. has anybody learned speed reading?

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  DanTheMan

  Before I joined JW's, I used to like to read, but during my 10 year stint in the borg I read almost no books at all (except the company-sanctioned reading, which lulls the reader into a mental stupor), save the occasional Grisham novel or something fairly light like that. I couldn't take anything that was too heavy or thought provoking, as it would create too much cognitive dissonance in my black/white JW mind.

  I was just reading some "favorite book" threads, and I realize that there are literally hundreds of books that I would like to read. However, I find that I am not a very speedy reader, and I also have difficulty concentrating, which results in my often having to re-read passages in order to get the author's point.

  Has anybody learned speed reading? Back in the 70's, there was a show in the U.S. called "That's Incredible!". They showed this guy who would read a page a second it seemed like. I remember thinking that there is just no way you can read that quickly, that it was just a trick. Is speedreading for real? I'd like to hear some personal experiences.

  Thanks!
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  34

  Ok...College football anyone??

  by safe4kids in

  1. social
  2. physical

  this saturday marks the season opener for the university of florida fiiiiiiigghhhhtin' gators!!!!!!

  yahoooooooooo!

  guess what i'll be doin' come saturday evening??

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  DanTheMan

  G

  O B U C K E Y E S !!!

  Actually, I don't care about them all that much, but, when in Central Ohio, do as the Central Ohioans do...

  Edited by - dantheman on 30 August 2002 20:41:45
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  54

  MOST PEOPLE NEVER REALLY CHANGE

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  most people never really change!

  our personalities, whether we are active witnesses or are inactive ones, apostates or almost apostates, are the same.

  if we tend to rant here on this board, the probability is we were ranters elsewhere.

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  DanTheMan

  I believe that a persons core personality more or less stays the same over their life. But, experiences and maturity can bring out the better qualities of that core personality. Kinda like fine wine.
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  34

  ADMIT IT, DIDN'T YOU FEEL SPECIAL being a JW?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  remember, you had the truth!

  everybody else didn't even have a clue!

  the worldly people never understood our spiritual paradise.

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  DanTheMan

  Yeah, those people down in Waco felt so priveleged and special, because WOW this Koresh guy, only HE knows how to open the seven seals of revelation he has special knowledge blah blah blah

  the elitism is pretty intoxicating - "Guess what? Jahoober-God is going to roast your ass at Armageddon along with all other non-enlightened wicked worldlings and I'm going to be spared! Whoopee!!"

  I was all for that when i was a stupidass 22 year old. Glad I grew up.