After reading several responses, I have to say I am speechless. I have never been a JW. I always took for granted my free will, that I had a choice who I could talk to, what I could wear, what I could say and what I could think.
Now, I'm nobody special. I was never popular in school, my life is pretty boring. But at least I always made my own choices, my own friends, and don't really worry about peer pressure. My mom steaks her life on the "fact" that disfellowshipping, shunning, and disassociation is a biblical principal started by Jesus himself. Exactly WHERE in the bible she gets this she can never say. A true christain congregation doesn't spy on eachother and judge based on the rules of men they will never meet. To me, it is thinly disguised gossip. It also borders on prejudie. As a student of history, I know that segregation was outlawed 52 years ago. The JW mentality is hardly different than the racists who arrested Rosa Parks over a lousy bus seat. Of course, this is just conjecture.
I have the greatest respect for all of you, it's hard to live for the first time in the real world as an adult. But keep trying, because believe me, the world needs more people like you guys in it!
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JoinedPosts by Anitar
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Making real friends
by choosing life ini have been away from the meetings for about a year now.
i recently attended a funeral and the witnesses mostly avoided me even though i am not disfellowshipped.
my problem is i need to replace my old friends because they look at me with such suspicion now.. i never had trouble making friends before i was a witness,but that was 30 years ago.
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Review of j.w. / t.v. "infomercial" of 7/14/06 on local cable t.v.
by hubert inhere's a review of the infomercial put out by the j.w.
's are and what they teach.
here is my old post on this topic.. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/116797/1.ashx.
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Thanks for the tip Hubert. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it seems like the watchtower has always been just under the radar of the public scrutuiny. Every so often, there is a Dateline program discussing them along with other cults, but I have yet to see a definitive expose that so many have been hoping for.
By comparision, other religions, (I think we can guess which ones), have been targeted for child abuse and polygamy. Not to say the organizations condone that, but that certain individuals have been found guilty, resulting in the inevitable backlash, further resulting in the public disclosure of other religion's "dirty secrets."
Perhaps the supreme court cases in California, New York and Canada will finally result in the Watchtower being raked over the coals of the media on a national level. At least that would shut them up about blowing the whistle on other religions.
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Review of j.w. / t.v. "infomercial" of 7/14/06 on local cable t.v.
by hubert inhere's a review of the infomercial put out by the j.w.
's are and what they teach.
here is my old post on this topic.. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/116797/1.ashx.
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Yeah this is a hypocritical attempt to pass themselves off as normal Christains, in other words, just another typical day in the borg collective.
But the good news, I hope, is that the public is becoming aware of these type of ploys, and not just from JWs. Everyone I talk to, all with varying degrees of awareness of the Watchtower, is that they are a cult. Nothing of great concern in the greater scheme of life.
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Were YOU Depressed When You Were A Witness?
by minimus ini've seen soooo many witnesses taking meds or alcohol because of unhappiness and depression.
i know of one woman who regularly gos to her shrink and is the most depressed person that i know of.
personally, i believe it's because a jw can never do enough to satisfy god or the elders....what do you think?
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Oh yes, JWs are the most depressed people I know, but they always say the exact opposite. The problem is, they operate as a single collective consciousness, they have no unconditional love amongst eachother. Now, honestly, that can be said of any religion, but consider this.
Lets say Sister No Name's car broke down, which happened to my mom, the congregation will start a collection to get it fixed, or towed. Sounds nice, right? Well, they only do this AFTER you stop coming to the meetings, and they fix your car whether you want it or not. So they literally push their way to "fix" the weakest link in the cong. This is particularly effective after the elders push everyone to pick up the slack of Sister No Name.
So they do this, and they say to the world 'look at how much we love eachother' but as many of you know, it's all an illusion. To the outside world, they are rude, opressive, and creppy.
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Whatever laughter is going on, they're probably laughing more at eachother than with eachother.
Having said that, the whole "he-rod she-hol" thing cracks me up...
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PO said automation and declining contributions reason for Bethel layoffs
by truthseeker inlast week at the meeting, the po, who has very close connections to bethel, said that he never thought he would see the day that bethelites were being sent home.
he said that the biggest two reasons he thought bethel were cutting back, was automation and a massive decline in contributions.
looks like you're right metatron about the contribution aspect being their achilles heel.
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Good point. That would certainly explain the last time I spoke to an elder, I asked him about his 401k and he said "I don't speak Spanish."
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PO said automation and declining contributions reason for Bethel layoffs
by truthseeker inlast week at the meeting, the po, who has very close connections to bethel, said that he never thought he would see the day that bethelites were being sent home.
he said that the biggest two reasons he thought bethel were cutting back, was automation and a massive decline in contributions.
looks like you're right metatron about the contribution aspect being their achilles heel.
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Thank you Blondie. I'm not that good with dates, but I do notice a pattern of their writing that has remained unchanged for almost 60 years, or more.
Ever notice how the only time the WTS publications mentions the rank and file by name, is when it's of greatest profit to them? Usually when some "martyr" died for their cause, or refused higher education. Maybe their ideal church is a congregation of dead or dying people. But that's probably for a different topic...
Thanks again, you are lovely!
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P.S.
I'm a closet fan of Blondie- Rapture! -
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S.E.C. Sues Jehovah's Witnesses For Investment Frauds
by West70 inu.s. securities and exchange commission .
washington, d.c. .
litigation release no.
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"And fighting it will not be easy. A new study Cox highlighted shows that "fraud victims tend on average to be more informed about investing than non-fraud victims," he said. "This may go back to the old saying that 'a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing." So what ever happened to the victims? After all, knowledge is only dangerous to the perpetrator, not the victim. Anitar
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PO said automation and declining contributions reason for Bethel layoffs
by truthseeker inlast week at the meeting, the po, who has very close connections to bethel, said that he never thought he would see the day that bethelites were being sent home.
he said that the biggest two reasons he thought bethel were cutting back, was automation and a massive decline in contributions.
looks like you're right metatron about the contribution aspect being their achilles heel.
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Hi everybody, it's been a while, and I've missed you all. About the Bethel layoffs, I've got a question. Somebody's probably already said this, but has anyone noticed that in the last year or so, many of the WT publications have been about how to take care of old people? They have the usual attitude and pretentious writing style. "We're alerting the world to a problem that no one would have seen if it were not for our magazine," and then my personal favorite "we have all the answers so the rank and file grunts can rejoice because we know everything there is to know in the entire world." But before the R&F start pigging out on spiritual food, consider this: what if the WT is simply buttering up the R&F to take care of all the Bethelites that have been and will continue to be sacked in the near future? The point is, the Watchtower seems to only offer help to the rank and file when they're trying to cover their asses. Any thoughts? Anitar
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1914 BREATHTAKING BLASPHEME
by DannyHaszard inarticulator manipulator
the "truth" is worth lying for
breathtaking blaspheme!
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Ok. For 40 years from 1874 to 1914, the witnesses were taught upon pain of disfellowship, that Christ had returned in 1874, there was no "invisible" crap yet. They then were forced to convert others based on the premise that the converts were in a false religion.
Then 1914 came, nothing happened, except WW1, which you could hardly call a prophecy because everyone knew it was coming for a long time. The "new light" came, and instead of an apology to their faithful followers, some of whom died for the belief, the leaders blamed it ON THEM. It was "brothers acting too rashly in anticapition for Jehovah's day."
BULL!!
It's the watchtower, not the rank and file who write the magazines, any JW knows that. And so the dogma that was spewed for 4 decades was slowly discarded. Then along comes the 1980 yearbook baptism question, where you have to swear loyalty to the WTS. If you were going to swear your life away to an organization that robs you of every single free will and human dignity, shouldn't you at least find out their history first, get all the facts to make absolute sure they are the truth?!
So the real question is this. Those witnesses, some sacrificing their families and their lives, who converted to a belief that was eventually discarded as false, DOESN'T THAT MEAN THAT THEY SIMPLY WENT FROM ONE FALSE RELIGION TO ANOTHER?!!
Does this sound that crazy? Somebody please tall me...
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