Of course it's completely ridiculous, but so is the idea that Koala's swam back to Australia after the flood. Doesn't stop them teaching it, or JWs from believing it.
"Many non judeao/christian societies had many ways to accomodate that reality": Really? Can you provide some examples?
Konrad West
JoinedPosts by Konrad West
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What's the JW take on the medical condition Gender Identity Disorder?
by HappyAtheist inhi from the uk.
here the national health service (nhs) says that gender identity disorder (gid) aka transexualism can be effectively treated by hormones and surgery so people can live as the gender they 'know' themselves to be.
however, i'm told that despite the condition being medically recognised that jw believe it is a 'lifestyle choice' (presumably like 'choosing' to be straight or gay as we all do :-) ) and one worthy of disfellowshipping.
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Konrad West
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What's the JW take on the medical condition Gender Identity Disorder?
by HappyAtheist inhi from the uk.
here the national health service (nhs) says that gender identity disorder (gid) aka transexualism can be effectively treated by hormones and surgery so people can live as the gender they 'know' themselves to be.
however, i'm told that despite the condition being medically recognised that jw believe it is a 'lifestyle choice' (presumably like 'choosing' to be straight or gay as we all do :-) ) and one worthy of disfellowshipping.
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Konrad West
I can't quote any WTs, but I would venture that transexualism is prohibited because men are expected to dress as men, and women as women.
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Ruling restricts shunning practices
by nelly136 inmaybe the tide is turning.. .
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/14403177.htm.
ruling restricts shunning practiceshuman rights commissionruling restricts shunning practicesamish store ordered to serve ex-amishby bruce schreinerassociated press.
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Konrad West
Stephanus, the problem with giving business owners absolute choice regarding who they serve is that it opens up the door to lots of discrimination. Should your local grocery store be able to refuse to serve blacks, or asians, or latinos? What about based on sexual preference? Or morals, such as refusing to serve people who live to together but aren't married?
It's like freedom of speech; you can say anything you want, but you can't say "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. There are limits for good reasons. -
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What is the Future of the Watchtower Society?
by jwfacts inafter reading comments on this site for a while and looking at what happens to other religions i feel the watchtower society has a long future in front of it.
this is bad news all round, sad for us waiting for our families and sad for witnesses waiting for paradise.
the reason i say this is that any organisation with 6 million members, billions in assets and little to spend their money on would find it very hard to go out of existence.
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Konrad West
If Jehovah is protecting them, then he's a pretty evil God, and not the sort I'd want to pay any attention to.
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Did You Feel "Beat Up" By The Elders/Organization???
by minimus inmetatron made a great point about how jws might be leaving in more earnest because of being beaten up by the talks that the brothers give.
"are we decorating our homes more than we should be?"....etc.
did you suddenly figure out that you were just sick and tired of being berated every week??
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Konrad West
I didn't feel beat up by the elders, but after my judicial, I certainly wanted to beat *them* up. ;)
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Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
KW13, I don't mean abusive in the sense of blaming JW parents, I simply mean "was it harmful?"
Personally, I know that my mum 100% believed that she was doing the best thing for us kids, and that she still thinks she's helping me by not talking to me now I'm disfellowshipped. I don't hold that against her at all; she doesn't know any better.
What I'm interested in, and it seems apparent from the comments, is whether I'm unique in thinking the upbringing peculiar to JWs is harmful psychologically and developmentally.
I'd like to see some research done on the topic, but I would say these are two big effects, at least based on my own experience and many of those I've talked to:
* Lack of deep friendships at school: Generally, children gravitate to others that have similar interests, etc, and develop friendships that begin at school, but develop deeper from contact outside of school: visiting each other's houses, doing stuff together on the weekend, etc. JW children often gravitate to kids who are not JWs, but are unable to pursue these friendships properly due to the lack of contact outside of school. Some JW kids are fortunate to gravitate naturally to other JW kids, so they can develop close friendships, but that's not always the case.
* Forced social differentiation: Throughout school, JW kids have to sit out during birthdays, Christmas, flag/national anthem displays, etc. A normal part of social development is learning to fit in, and this is especially crucial during adolescence. JW kids, especially if their school friends are largely non-JWs, find this time particularly difficult. -
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What is the Future of the Watchtower Society?
by jwfacts inafter reading comments on this site for a while and looking at what happens to other religions i feel the watchtower society has a long future in front of it.
this is bad news all round, sad for us waiting for our families and sad for witnesses waiting for paradise.
the reason i say this is that any organisation with 6 million members, billions in assets and little to spend their money on would find it very hard to go out of existence.
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Konrad West
AuldSoul, I'm not saying the Internet will have no effect, I'm simply saying its effect will be limited. Yes, it's much more convenient and so much more accessible, but the my point is that generally JWs are not affected by information that conflicts with their beliefs.
I suggest you read some of research on cognitive dissonance; it's helps explain why most JWs can easily reject convincing "apostate" information. Witnesses come across information that conflicts with their beliefs everyday, but they don't lose their faith over it, they simply filter it out.
However, when a person is ready, that information has a huge impact. Very often, this is when a person already has some doubts or disagreement with the truth, which allows to consider information that would otherwise be rejected.
I think the Internet will and already does significantly help those who have doubts to discover a lot of information quickly, which will undoubtedly speed up the process of leaving. However, most JWs aren't open to information that conflicts with their beliefs, regardless of how easily accessible it is. -
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What is the Future of the Watchtower Society?
by jwfacts inafter reading comments on this site for a while and looking at what happens to other religions i feel the watchtower society has a long future in front of it.
this is bad news all round, sad for us waiting for our families and sad for witnesses waiting for paradise.
the reason i say this is that any organisation with 6 million members, billions in assets and little to spend their money on would find it very hard to go out of existence.
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Konrad West
The Internet will have very little effect on the WTS, since the availability of information never was a significant factor to their success in the first place. JWs have never been physically restricted from information; they have always been able to walk into a public library or a bookshop and find countless books that show in different ways why JWs don't have the truth.
Cults can work by physically restricting access to information, but it's not very effective. A much more effective way to control people is to <b>remove the desire to access the information</b> in the first place.
JWs are conditioned through the indoctrination of meetings, personal study and especially witnessing to others to filter out anything that conflicts with their beliefs. Cognitive dissonance removes almost any possibility of being affected by conflicting information.
I think that as long as they are able to keep up the indoctrination and social isolation, they will stick around, no matter what happens to their actual teachings. -
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Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
"In the end, I was ready to loose my family so that I could be free and not die inside."
Yeah, same thing with me. I couldn't hold it in anymore, even if it meant not seeing my family. But at the same time, I didn't really think they would shun me, as I always loved my family more than Jehovah and thought they did too, so when they did shun, it hurt so much more. -
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Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
Lol no! But I do have to remind myself that getting physical doesn't require a deep emotional commitment first. As I was talking with my flatmate I also realised I do have a lot of internalised anger/sadness about it the deceit too.