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.
" 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
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;.
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
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!
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
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.
^And what Punk said.
To clarify my statement, the loophole will be invoked, depending on what Punk mentions above.
d4g
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.
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
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.
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
ive had to make statements like this too many times.
communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.
once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.
Most legal gun owners that I know are VERY responsible and want safety first for themselves, their families, their neighbors et al.
True.
Also true is the much repeated, "guns don't kill people, people kill people".
However, probability theory dictates that the greater the concentration of guns in the populace in aggregate, the greater the potential for some of those guns to be misused. This is the mathematics of the issue. Only people who outright deny math and science could believe otherwise.
Any wonder the religious right are also almost always pro gun?
d4g
since the day pope francis told catholics to stop obsessing about abortion and gay marriage, and get to the business of helping the poor, i have been afraid for his life.. in one statement, he pierced 2 sacred cows of catholic and evangelical thought, and he has not stopped.. he has lectured the world on real evils, mentioning capitalism in particular as a system that has left billions in desperate poverty.. he has now said that global warming threatens the world, particularly the poor, and is calling on the world to change it's lifestyle to save the planet.. i can't remember ever, in my entire life, when someone in as powerful a position as the pope, actually speaks out loud and in public the actual truth of the world's environment and calling the world to action, without regard for the consequences.. hard line catholics don't like him; fox news hates him, one pundit telling him to leave science to the scientists (of course, fox news doesn't leave global warming to the scientists) and today this from greg gutfield, fox news:.
"the most dangerous person on the planet is someone who is seeking strange new respect from their adversaries.
and that is what the pope is doing, said gutfeld, implying that the recognition of the existence of man-made climate change is fundamentally at odds with catholicism.
"The most dangerous person on the planet is someone who is seeking strange new respect from their adversaries. And that is what the Pope is doing,” said Gutfeld, implying that the recognition of the existence of man-made climate change is fundamentally at odds with Catholicism. “He doesn’t want to be your grandfather’s pope, he wants to be a modern pope. All he needs is dreadlocks and a dog with a bandana and he could be on Occupy Wall Street.”
Typical ad hominem from Fox. Unfortunately, their viewers are mostly way too uneducated to even know what an ad hominem is, let alone spot one when they see it. The plutocrats that control that network, are not so uneducated and know exactly what they are doing.
Btw, even as an atheist I like this pope. He is a human being.
d4g
the watchtower june 2015 (bullshit).
the latest watchtower (online at j-dub dot argh!
) features a hilarious article.
Thank you, Terry. I read Stenger's book when it came out in 2007, (and Dawkins' book in '06). Nothing is more frustrating to me than the level of intellectual dishonesty this organization continuously participates in with respect to quoting sources out of context.
Any wonder they are so anti-higher ed? They would be expelled from any university in one semester for their brazen level of academic misrepresentation.
They. Never. Stop.
d4g
ive had to make statements like this too many times.
communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.
once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.
Simon - Yes, if you are American it seems everyone is coming to get you. OoooOOoooh, bogey men !!!
Simon, with all due respect, please stop painting all of us with that broad of a brush. That doesn't reflect well on your site. And for what it's worth, while I may disagree with many of my fellow Americans on this issue, I do respect their reasons for disagreement. The gun lobby in this country is just another facet of a much bigger problem that cannot be solved by itself. The misinformation campaign in this country is largely controlled by a small plutocracy that is as old as at least the robber-baron era of the late 19th century. It will not be fixed by a discussion about guns in a vacuum.
Until Americans take back their government from the money loving bastards that own it, nothing will change.
d4g
