neverendingjourney

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Posts by neverendingjourney

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  16

  Audience participation during public talks

  by Bonnie_Clyde in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we hear so much about the boring talks.. several years ago an attempt was made to liven things up a bit by randomly choosing people before the public talk, handing them a slip of paper with a question on it, and asking if they would like to answer the question when called upon during the talk.

  that must have been 20+ years ago.

  anybody know why that practice was discontinued?.

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  neverendingjourney

  Even the CO's have been curtailed. Most CO's these days are complete drones, like the elders. The Borg only want to crush individual initiative in the interests of organisational conformity

  Ain't that the truth. As a kid, one of the few highlights at the meetings was the CO visit. They would often bring movies for the congregation to watch, and they put on a show in their talks. They used humor; they involved the congregation in their parts. Even some of the duller ones took liberties in their talks to make it entertaining and memorable. Our congregation's CO when I got baptized was in that mold. He gave entertaining talks and used a lot of memorable illustrations. You can tell he was not tied down to an outline. If anything, it made the time go by faster. This was in the mid to late 90s. The CO that replaced him was the complete opposite. His talks were just like any other boring talk any regular elder gave. There was no flair to it at all.
  
  I figured that it was just an isolated CO without much of a gift for public speaking. Well the CO that followed him and the CO that followed after that were all in the same boring mold. They were tied down to a strict outline. There was no humor, no memorable experiences or illustrations, just a boring talk like every other. I think there must have been some directive from the Society to cut back on some of the liberties the COs were taking. The result is that the meetings are almost impossible to sit through. Back when I was an active witness, I would even go so far as praying for a good talk if I was bringing along a study. I didn't want them to be put off by how boring everything was. It's just another method being used by the GB to tighten the reigns on the congregations. They don't want people deviating too far from what they teach. They also don't want any charismatic personalities to outshine their supposed authority as the religion's governing body. It's damn near torture for a child to sit through a meeting or an assembly these days. Even a lot of the talks at the assemblies are being read word for word. Talk about boring.
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  13

  The Watchtower Society's "Spiritual Paradise"

  by Honesty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there are 729 references to the "spiritual paradise" on the 2006 watchtower library on cd.. .

  when you were one of jehovah's witness what was it like to live in this "spiritual paradise"?.

  we would enjoy hearing about your daily walk with god the faithful slave (genesis 5:22,24; genesis 6:9) and how refreshed you felt at the end of each glorious day in paradise..

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  neverendingjourney

  In retrospect, I can't believe I didn't question this nonsense when I was an active Witness. Spiritual paradise? What on Earth gives the GB the idea that there is any scriptural support for the notion that "God's people" live in a spiritual paradise. What a bunch of horsesh*t!

  I fell into the trap of false logic. They convinced me that I could use a process of elimination to determine that JWs were the one true religion. JW don't go to war. All other religions condone war (not true, by the way). Therefore, JW are the true religion. They played the same game by comparing their stance on the Trinity, hellfire, immortal soul, etc. What I never stopped to realize is that, by using other criteria, I could eliminate the JW religion from being the one true religion as well. False predictions, never-ending doctrinal flip flops, changing policies and doctrines to gain favor from the world's governments and avoid potential lawsuits, the Pharisaic written and unwritten rule book governing virtually every aspect of a person's life that the Bible sets no rules for, the prohibition on reading anything critical of the religion, all of these criteria and more eliminate the JWs from being the one true religion as they claim to be. They're willing to apply that test to "Christendom," but not to themselves. Hypocrites!
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  18

  One hour ago...NEWSDAY [Abuse cases]

  by sf in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  jehovah's witnesses settle abuse casesby rose french.

  associated press writer.

  http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-jehovahs-witnesses-sex-abuse,0,2429831.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines.

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  neverendingjourney

  I agree with you that child abuse is a wide spread problem that can be found everywhere, in any religion. The fact that JW children were molested by other JWs and even elders in certain instances does not surprise me. The problem was widely ignored in our society as a whole a few decades ago. The push for tougher laws against child molestation didn't really begin in earnest until a few decades ago. It wasn't uncommon for children from my mother's generation who reported child abuse to be ignored by the parents.

  However, what is notable here is the cowardly lack of priorities throughout this particular religious organization. What mattered most to these people was not protecting children, but rather protecting the religion's reputation. In order to further their main goal, they pressured families into keeping quiet and not going to the authorities to report the problem. Pedophiles had a sanctuary in the JW religion where they could thrive. As long as there weren't two witnesses, they remained members in good standing and others were forced to see them as their spiritual brothers. When the sh*t hit the fan and the Catholic Church began paying out millions of dollars in lawsuit settlements, they saw the writing on the wall and came up with "new light" to say that "known" child molesters could no longer serve in positions of authority in the congregation. The primary purpose for that was to protect themselves from potential lawsuits. People in positions of responsibility could be seen as agents of the religion, which could expose the WTBTS to a slew of lawsuits. They now claim that their primary interest is to protect the children. Bullsh*t. Their primary interest was and still is to protect themselves. The change in policy only came about because they were afraid of being hit up for millions of dollars in lawsuit damages. Their hypocrisy and blatant disregard for the welfare of children is pathetic. What's worse, they have the nerve to criticize the Catholic Church for displaying the exact same behavior that they displayed for decades. That's the real issue right there, and there is absolutely no excuse for that.
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  36

  The Day Has Arrived

  by concerned x in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  two months ago i stepped down as an elder in the cong, it was a tremdous relief although a shock to the cong.

  two and a half days ago i sent in a letter of explaination concerning why i wanted to step down and why i will be absent from the kh.

  it only took two and a half days for the accusation of apostasy to be made against me.

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  neverendingjourney

  Glad to have you aboard, concerned x. I read the discussion boards for several months before I decided to start posting myself. I think you know as well as we do that a lynch mob is being gathered, and they're very likely going to go after you with all they got. I hope you're prepared for the results.

  Regardless, you showed courage by standing up for your beliefs. You have a community here that's ready, willing and able to provide the moral support to help you through your trials. Many of us are going through similar experiences ourselves. Again, welcome.
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  6

  Is throwing away scholarship $$s still...

  by Trippin2962 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wildly applauded at assemblies these days?.

  i haven't been to an assembly in years and wondered if this is still the case.

  i remember sitting and hearing a young person state that they declined a scholarship or university education to pursue "spiritual goals" and everyone would burst into applause.

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  neverendingjourney

  I think those stories are all lies anyway. Think about it: to get a scholarship offer, you have to apply. Why even apply if you're such a spiritual jw?

  Very astute observation. Here's my experience about that backs up that point:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/134957/2403396/post.ashx#2403396
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  6

  Is throwing away scholarship $$s still...

  by Trippin2962 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wildly applauded at assemblies these days?.

  i haven't been to an assembly in years and wondered if this is still the case.

  i remember sitting and hearing a young person state that they declined a scholarship or university education to pursue "spiritual goals" and everyone would burst into applause.

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  neverendingjourney

  I saw some notes from the recent district convention that one of the members here posted. It contained an experience of this guy that claimed to have earned a bachelor's degree but had to go back to school to get a certificate because his degree was useless. The moral is: college = waste of time; trade school = great career. It's one of the biggest distortions that comes out of these people's mouths. They take the exception and make it out to be the rule. Kind of like the people that say that you don't need to go to college because Bill Gates didn't go to college. The facts are that on average a person is likely to have better job prospects and earn more money with a college degree. Just because someone earns a degree in English or History and can’t find a job does not mean that college is worthless. What about the people (like me) that decided to do the 6 month to a year trade school bit because they feel they are following God's instructions by doing so and end up spending thousands of dollars for a worthless piece of paper. Where are those people giving their experiences at the convention? What about those guys that aren't cut out to work in dangerous trades?

  A great part of those quick career schools are a fraud. You pay them thousands of dollars and you still can't find a job. I went in debt $9,000 to pay for my trade school and was unable to find work in that field. I got conned out of my money because I followed their advice. I wish I could get up on the stage and tell everyone that. Thankfully I wised up and went back to college to earn my bachelor's degree a few years later. Now I have a lot of career options and am able to earn good money without having to work in some dangerous trade. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.
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  5

  Earth shattering news just reported on CNN!

  by sir82 in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  breaking news!.

  peace brokered in iraq: all us troops to be home by july 4?

  osama bin laden captured: admits to jon benet ramsey abduction?

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  neverendingjourney

  I would normally agree that any Paris Hilton news should be insignificant and does not deserve to be mentioned on any credible news channels. However, this particular story is important, in my opinion. The reputation of American's justice system is shattered, and it really was dealt a serious blow with the OJ Simpson trial. Many celebrity trials since then have cemented the view that you can get away with just about anything as long as you are famous and have money (see Michael Jackson, Robert Blake, among many others). This is a good first step in the direction of repairing the image of a broken justice system. Granted, it's still pretty insignificant, but it's a step in the right direction. Americans need to feel that nobody is above the law. Hopefully, this helps start a trend against celebrities getting away with murder, literally.
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  23

  For all you tree hugers out there.

  by whereami in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i you have some time, this is a very interesting video.

  reminds me of the way the wts likes to scare everyone, the sky if falling, the sky is falling!!!!!

  enjoy.

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  neverendingjourney

  oh look, stupid people talking shit amongst themselves.

  Thank you for making your own stupidity known to everyone reading this discussion. Instead of making intelligent points you resort to name calling. What's more stupid than that?
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  23

  For all you tree hugers out there.

  by whereami in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i you have some time, this is a very interesting video.

  reminds me of the way the wts likes to scare everyone, the sky if falling, the sky is falling!!!!!

  enjoy.

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  neverendingjourney

  Your link doesn't work. But I think I made my point. Where's the credible scientific data that climate change isn't real? Where is that data? Why do the vast majority of scientists that are qualified to speak out on this issue say that climate change is a real threat to the Earth? Show me that data and I might change my mind. I'm not saying to mindlessly follow what someone with a Ph.D. might say, but think about it this way: if you had 50 doctors that say you have cancer and need chemotherapy to live and you had one doctor that said you really don't have cancer, who would you listen to? The science tells us that climate change is a problem that needs to be addressed. You can find comfort in your conspiracy theory videos, but the facts are still the facts. Now if you'll excuse me, my "tree hugger" ass is going to read up on how Bush was responsible for 9/11 and how aliens really built the pyramids.
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  6

  Paris going back to jail...maybe

  by neverendingjourney in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  neverendingjourney