Arthur

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Posts by Arthur

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  12

  Is the D/F law the most identifying mark that the WTS is a cult?

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this doctrine/law is really troubling me.

  i hated it when i was in and after examining it in my mind and speaking with current jw`s i am sure that it is an identifying mark of a cult.

  i never really liked to call it a cult, even after i left, but the behaviour of jw`s in this area just bewilders me.

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  Arthur

  I think that the biggest cult characteristic is their use of Mind Control. One aspect of mind control is the use of emotional control.

  Read the following quotes from Steven Hassan, a former member of the Unification Church, and see if you notice any similarities:

  "Guilt and fear are necessary tools to keep poeple under control. Guilt is probably the single most important emotional lever for producing conformity and compliance."

  "However, most cult members can't see that guilt and fear are being used to control them. They are conditioned to always blame themselves, so that they respond gratefully whenever a leader points out one of their 'shortcomings' ."

  - Combatting Cult Mind Control, pg. 63
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  14

  Sheep vs. Goats

  by riverofdeceit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone else while being a jw find it awful to be referred to as "sheep"?

  i've always thought being called sheep was negative, as in - they are all a bunch of sheep!

  i guess i was born stubborn goat, thank the gods!.

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  Arthur

  I hated the concept of us looking at ourselves as "slaves" for God. Does the all-powerful, all-knowing power of the universe have an insecure need to have a bunch of wooden soldiers marching in lock-step; working themselves to exhaustion in order to make him feel good? I think not.

  The almighty God of the universe has no need to have a bunch of exhausted slaves. However, an insecure, neurotic, and megalomaniac person does. The "God" that JWs worship is a projection of the sick subconscious mind of the Judaizers that invented Him.
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  6

  Sharpening our skills to deal with superiors

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this past week i came back to work after being gone a week for my brothers funeral.. my human resource person comes drooping in where i am sorting though stuff to deliver for the day and says she needs to talk to me......i said ok.......how about now?.

  i go in her office and she sits and i sit......she says ......your job is going to change......and tells me the two things that are going to change.. she says nothing like good morning ......how are you today......glad you are back blah blah blah!

  she is the first person i see and speak with after being out a week for a funeral.. besides all that .....what was changing was based on misinformation from the person that does my job while i was gone.......who was fired yesterday btw......but that is another story.. i was talking to another person about how this all went down and i said ......we have to always sharpen our skills to deal with the inadequite way our superiors handle things.

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  Arthur

  I think if we as the R/F ever felt like what we said had any bearing on decisions made .......we might not have gotten so discouraged....and investigated the organization as we have. We truly had to sharpen our skills to deal with what was dished out to us.

  I always found the congregation elders to be very receptive and caring. (with the rare exception)

  But, I do see your point in how the organization has become a large corporate-style machinery that is hostile to individual needs. The cold, objectives of the organization become our method of worship. We must constantly keep running on the treadmill that has been designed by a committee of men that operate within a totalitarian pyramid-like authority structure. Everybody is just expected to shut up, put on a happy face, never say anything even remotely negative about the organization, and keep producing nice looking statistics. If anyone dares to object to any part of this militaristic worship regimen, they are labeled "murmurers" and ungrateful.

  Yeah, what a friggin spiritual paradise that was.
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  50

  Were you a bathroom breaker?

  by Mysterious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i swear my mother used to keep better track of my bladder than i did.

  she'd sit me down occasionally for talks such as "i noticed you've been going to the bathroom a lot during the meetings lately maybe we need to cut down on what you drink on meeting nights" etc.

  others would go 2 or 3 times a meeting and if i went twice a week i'd get a talk about it!

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  Arthur

  Sorry about the above blank pages - my bad

  Anyway, do any of you remember those demonstrations that they had at the Circuit Assemblies about parents monitoring their child’s bathroom use?

  I remember one in which it showed a father monitoring the number of times his children went, as well as the minutes in between each visit. (I kid you not) And of course, the speaker narrated throughout the entire pap-piece (just like Lorne Green narrating those old nature shows)

  These had to be some of the most childish charades I have ever seen at an assembly.

  It is so amazing to me how so many people can get so immersed and obsessed in such trivialities and minutia! No wonder the assemblies have to be so friggin long. I guess it all goes back to the "nanny psychology" of the leadership in insisting in micro-managing the lives of the minions.
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  50

  Were you a bathroom breaker?

  by Mysterious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i swear my mother used to keep better track of my bladder than i did.

  she'd sit me down occasionally for talks such as "i noticed you've been going to the bathroom a lot during the meetings lately maybe we need to cut down on what you drink on meeting nights" etc.

  others would go 2 or 3 times a meeting and if i went twice a week i'd get a talk about it!

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  Arthur
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  50

  Were you a bathroom breaker?

  by Mysterious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i swear my mother used to keep better track of my bladder than i did.

  she'd sit me down occasionally for talks such as "i noticed you've been going to the bathroom a lot during the meetings lately maybe we need to cut down on what you drink on meeting nights" etc.

  others would go 2 or 3 times a meeting and if i went twice a week i'd get a talk about it!

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  Arthur
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  40

  Anyone forcibly removed?

  by Wordly Andre in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  not sure if this has been talked about but,

  when i was about 12, my family and i were sitting in the middle of the kingdumb hall, i was seated at the end of the aisle, and some lady sitting about 7 rows in front of us got up and started yelling, and ran up to the speaker, two guys grabbed her and took her outside, we never saw her again, but i do remember all the rumors about her, and what she did, i saw her clearly but people were saying that she tried to attack the elder with a knife, i did not see a knife, other rumors were drugs, demons, apostate, etc.

  has anyone here been removed from the kingdumb hall by force?

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  Arthur

  One time, right in the middle of the public talk, this guy with big glasses barged in through the side entrance, and came walking in, in front of the stage. He stopped, right in front of the audience. He spoke into his cell phone: "Can you hear me now? Good." He proceeded to walk out of the back door. We never saw him again. Weird.
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  31

  Did anyone meet brother Ted Jaracz, what's he like?

  by jason bourne in

  1. jw
  2. experiences
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  Arthur

  Did anybody here see the video clip from BBC News? (You can view it on Silent Lambs)

  A female BBC reporter walked up to Jaracz right after he came down off the stage after a talk at a D.C. to challenge him about the current pedophile policies. Man, oh, man did he look pissed. He was really gruff with her. I don't think someone like him has ever experienced a female challenge him like that before. You could see him really start to get worked up. Shortly thereafter, he was whisked off by an entourage of robotic GB groupies.

  You know what I would love to see? I would love to see someone do to him or another GB what many European political protesters have done to politicians. Have you seen them; the "Countering Lies With Pies" demonstrations, where they will put a pie in the person's face? This would be hilarious.

  Let it be known here, that I am not suggesting to anyone that they put a pie in anyone's face. I'm just saying that I would love to watch it!
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  22

  Jesus said his load would be light, the Witnesses made that load very heavy

  by free2beme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i always remember being told that the load jesus expected of his people was not something that should be a burden and basically if you think about the core to christianity, it is not.

  basically, jesus said to love one another and to treat others how you would want to be treated and to respect the life you have.

  i don't ever remember jesus saying, "have 5 meetings a week, two assemblies a year and one convention.

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  Arthur

  Well I need some help in letting the witnesses know, in a nice way that I really don't want them coming to my auto repair shop every freaking Saturday and insisting I come back int to fold. Any Ideas how to let them down easily? A lot of them are my customers.

  Here are some suggestions: 1) Put out a Billy Graham book in a prominent place where they can see it. 2) When they leave, as they are walking out, say: "God bless you". 3) Hang a velvet painting of Jesus in your office or work area. 4) Tell them that you are in a Yoga class. 5) Put on one of those fake clip-on earrings. 6) Hang one of those glossy presidential photos of George W. Bush in your shop. 7) Grow a beard 8) Just tell them that you are reading a copy of the Finished Mystery 9) Wear one of those red, white, and blue T-shirts that say "United We Stand". 10) Just say some endearing things about Jesus (this alone will make them flee in terror)
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  6

  HEALTH ISSUES WITH SOCIAL ISOLATION

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought this article was worth posting, given the fact that witness children are forced to isolate themselves at school from normal activities such as celebrating christmas, easter, mother's day fathers day, thanksgiving, hallowe'en, classmates' birthdays or anything else that's fun and normal.

  after reading this article, i think it goes a long way in explaining why so many witnesses have problems as adults both mentally, emotionally and healthwise too.

  far from being "the happiest people on earth", the borg's forced isolation of children is causing even more harm than what we would have known about 30 years ago:

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  Arthur

  When a Witness has all sorts of emotional and physical problems, it is a "sign" that they are targets of Satan, and therefore, have Jehovah's blessing.

  Of course, the organization could NEVER EVER be a contributing factor! Oh, no, not "Jah's theocratic paradise"!