Posts by done4good

14

Normalcy bias keeps JWs from leaving

by zimunzucz in

i have been frustrated by the inability of most jws to escape their bondage to the kh, despite repeated exposure to negative information about their religion and belief system.

perhaps it's due in part to something called normalcy bias- a definition i have found is:.

normalcy bias is part of human nature and, to some extent, we are all guilty of participating in it.

done4good

JWs, IMO need to somehow drop their no-blood transfusion dogma and the direct shunning of former members- that has to stop. No more breaking up families and killing their kids from lack of blood transfusions.

Yep, and if they do that, they will effectively no longer be the authoritarian organization that they currently are. So far, nothing they have done indicates they will let go of these draconian practices.

They are not evolving socially, just trying to survive by making changes to their outward appearance, (i.e. adaptation of internet, cartoons, music videos, "parties" in the KH, etc.). If they keep this up, and refuse to change anything of substance, they will go extinct in time. Even the Catholic Church is getting the message and relaxing its position on long held draconian concepts, since society will not tolerate otherwise. I don't see this happening in WT land at all.

d4g

43

Change to dress and grooming rules for JWs in USA soon?

by RayPublisher in

my guy with the lurk account on jwtalk (where all the kool-aid drinking jws go to talk about how wonderful 'the twoof' is) sent me some more interesting threads, here's one:.

spoiler: starting new the new service year september.

"there will be new directives from the branch through the circuit overseer on dress and grooming that will disqualify one to be a congregation publisher.

done4good

No chance this is anything but rumor.

Although if true, this would make for a believable scene..

Yeah, I can imagine some poor guy getting called out on his skinny pants and the congregation erupting into a chorus of "take it off..." well the sisters anyway.

Based on last summer's KH "parties" for the international delegates, (specifically the one in Texas where sisters were cat calling the goofy dancing brothers on stage),you might not be too far off the mark there, Sparrow.

d4g

14

Normalcy bias keeps JWs from leaving

by zimunzucz in

i have been frustrated by the inability of most jws to escape their bondage to the kh, despite repeated exposure to negative information about their religion and belief system.

perhaps it's due in part to something called normalcy bias- a definition i have found is:.

normalcy bias is part of human nature and, to some extent, we are all guilty of participating in it.

done4good

Normalcy bias, confirmation bias, etc. are all products of cognitive dissonance. Start there to better understand why JWs act the way they do, to dis-confirming evidence of their belief system.

WT will sink its own ship due to inabilities to effectively adapt to social evolutionary pressures. Nothing we do will speed up the process directly. We are mostly here assist those who are beginning to see for themselves the WT's lies.

d4g

109

The Confederate Flag

by Simon in

the latest controversy over the confederate flag just sums up to me the state of dysfunction that exists in american society.. in summary: a white supremacist nutter shoots 9 black people dead in a church.

he's clearly inspired by the messages of others which the confederate flag is often a symbol of.. it seems like a no-brainer to remove it.

not only isn't it removed, it isn't even lowered at all as a mark of respect.. and of course now there are the people who want to defend their right to have it.

done4good

I agree, especially since calling people who like to fly the confederate flag a bunch of racist bigots is the "in" thing to do right now.

We know most who like to fly this flag are not racist bigots. Insensitive and self centered? To some degree, probably. Undereducated? Most likely. Silly? Absolutely.

Another point for those that yammer on about states' rights...

States rights only became an issue in the south because the south wanted to preserve slavery. The divide over this issue really goes back to the time of Jamestown/Plymouth where the more southern of the two settlements was based in trade and wanted every advantage possible, (hence why indentured servitude devolved in outright slavery). Plymouth had its own issues, (including that of religious intolerance), however since it was not a settlement based in trade, both it and the northern culture that grew from it, had little need to care about profit potential being adversely affected by labor.

No one in the north really cared about this issue of states rights because they had no dog in the fight. Slavery was the dog.

So much for us anti-confederate flag types being PC, huh?

d4g

9

2 Little Gems

by punkofnice in

owing to the bbc news iro loughborough, i know of a jw couple that were horrified.

they exclaimed things along the lines of, "how could they let this happen?

" "that's terrible of the elders in that congregation.. i guess they think it's just a one off.

done4good

" Karma would be nice.....sad it doesn't exist."

In the supernatural sense, of course not.

OTOH, there is something to the physics of it. Enough bad or good done to others, tends to return itself. Much like that of any other physical action.

WT has 140 years of bad deeds just beginning to bite them in the ass.

d4g

10

How long will it take?

by John Aquila in

at some point in the future, it has to finally dawn on people that something is seriously flawed about the idea of jesus coming in the clouds to save everyone who believes- and kill everyone who doesnt..

will people still believe in jesus in another 1000 years?

will people still be saying in the year 5015;.

done4good

I totally hope that "Cognitive Dissonance" has its limits. I really, really, really do. And, I hope that there are large numbers of JWs who have limits and will wake up.

It does, but the nature of CD is that people typically double-down on the dissonant behavior before they begin to reason properly. Unfortunately, some never get past this. As John Aquila points out, usually a person needs to be affected personally, before they can shed the CD. Fear is almost always at the root of the problem, and they need to overcome that first.

d4g

14

No no No No NO! Jehovah's Witnesses are NOT COOL NOW!

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

they obviously know it.. in the last few years, a more modern, hip, and cool image for their brand has been foisted on the public at large.. jw.org.

(sidebar: a group of us witnesses, when i was a teen, were sternly lectured by a circuit servant about how wrong it was to refer to ourselves as jw's.want to know why?

he said, "reducing jehovah's name to mere letters of an alphabet is blasphemy!

done4good

They are too far deep into it now, to turn around. Two years ago the current appearance of the organization would have been unthinkable to any who were there for any time in years past. They sold their soul to the golden calf of JW.org and whatever comes with it.

Only the most indoctrinated drone would actually think what WTS is doing is "cool". All this is doing is polarizing the membership further. Those that refuse to think will buy into the "cooler" message, while those that have more than two functioning brain cells will be further repelled by it.

WT will sink itself.

d4g

16

priveledges an extra layer of protection

by aintenoughwiskey in

i have noticed when an elder or ms gets in serious trouble, many times it's simply a demotion.

local example.

well liked ms son of a prominent elder/pioneer gets caught doing the dance with no pants with his fiancee.

done4good

^And what Punk said.

To clarify my statement, the loophole will be invoked, depending on what Punk mentions above.

d4g

16

priveledges an extra layer of protection

by aintenoughwiskey in

i have noticed when an elder or ms gets in serious trouble, many times it's simply a demotion.

local example.

well liked ms son of a prominent elder/pioneer gets caught doing the dance with no pants with his fiancee.

done4good

Yep. A little known loophole exists for elders/MS, (that only gets used if you are of the "in" crowd with the BoE), that essentially lets those with these privileges off the hook as long as they keep quiet about it.

I am sure someone here can find the publication where this is alluded to.

d4g

52

Bethel Meeting at Regional Convention

by MrTheocratic in

i decided to go to the bethel recruiting meeting yesterday to test out my theory that the organization is in decline.

i assumed that if there is a general feeling of apathy by many in the org, then certainly it would be shown up by the lack of enthusiasm or zeal by many to sign up for bethel service.

well let me say that based on what i observed, this organization is not going anywhere.

done4good

As others have said, this means nothing, politics aside even...

Much of the formalisms and rituals, (such as the Bethel rah-rah meeting), are designed to do just that, serve the purpose as nothing more than a pep rally. Any energy realized from this is short lived.

The younger ones that are seriously pursuing such a career are only doing so because they have no other viable options. No education, no career, so they think they may want to try to go to Bethel, (not much unlike many who join the military as enlisted for the same reason).

d4g