i was a junior borgite in 1975. i remeber looking at the calendar at work in october and thinking: 'armageddon isn't here yet.....and it doesn't feel like it will be here anytime soon either!'.
i was surprised that jehovah hadn't obeyed the superior command to bring the big 'a' as instructed to him by fred franz.
how dare god disobey the jw leader!!!!!.
I was 4. My brother was 2. My parents tell stories of the congo giving them shit about having 2 kids so close to Armageddon. They were part of the 20 somethings that converted about 1972 after Vietnam, etc. Dad was finishing up a degree and they gave him trouble over that too.
But they kept with it- and always used 1975 as an example of why you shouldnt be "unbalanced" in the truth.
Unfortunately- that moderate approach to the org. makes a clean break more difficult for them.
fine.
holy spirit appointed overseers to shepherd?
6:1, 2; jude 22) are these not good reasons for being obedient to those who are taking the lead?read hebrews 13:17.. .
Elders are referred to as shepherds because the Bible has a clear shepherds vs. farmers motif. Shepherds are the independant entrepreneurs, close to God, idealized. Farmers are the specialized, captialistic, city dwellers- who are always evil (Cain v. Able)
http://pryorthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/09/farmers-vs-shepherds-really-old-story.html
Sorry to hijack the thread. Couldnt resist.
i found the meetings to be especially boring from the late 1980s on.
before that, we actually tried to make people want to listen.
the meetings were pretty interesting.
Sorry- I realize you want negative answers- but the truth is- I learned to speak and read Spanish, I learned to speak and read Russian and I learned to speak to an audience. (Had to learn that last one over after I left and wasnt giving speeches based on canned religious statements learned since I could talk and to audiences who would actually listen and question everything I said.)
I also learned unquestioning obedience, that I am a terrible person, that I should feel guilty about everything, that I wasnt doing enough, that I wasnt working hard enough, that I should not use logic when examining the teachings of the WT, that asking questions was a sign of disloyalty, that I should fear being caught, that I was part of a group that was intrinsically better than everyone else on earth, that I should give up my dreams now because the New System will be sooooo great, (I could go on...)
Unlearning the second half took a few years. Probably still a work in progress.
so, the wife and i are reminiscing today about how when you would leave an assembly- you would struggle to remember just one interesting point.
usually- you had to look at your notes or the program to just remember 1 thing that struck you.
all day of talking and less than :30 seconds of information retained!!!.
@Fink- and the 8 day assemblies were in the days of the master propagandists- Freddie, Nathan, Friend, Glass, Schroeder, Ghengis. Guys that felt like they were writing the bible- not just teaching it. I imagine listening to those wind bags drone on was sheer torture (especially in NYC in the summer in an open stadium)
so, the wife and i are reminiscing today about how when you would leave an assembly- you would struggle to remember just one interesting point.
usually- you had to look at your notes or the program to just remember 1 thing that struck you.
all day of talking and less than :30 seconds of information retained!!!.
@cc- Yes the American brothers giving talks in foreign languages are notoriously poor speakers of the foreign language. In my experience- that goes all the way up the food chain. I remember hearing Wally Liverance- a Gilead Instructor- speak in spanish. It was like listening to fingernails on a chalkboard!!
But you cant diminish the fact that the assemblies are more and more just canned, proofread manuscripts without an ounce of reality or actual human emotion. Now- 6 years out- I cant imagine going and listening to a seminar for a full day and walking away not being able to remember a single interesting item.
so, the wife and i are reminiscing today about how when you would leave an assembly- you would struggle to remember just one interesting point.
usually- you had to look at your notes or the program to just remember 1 thing that struck you.
all day of talking and less than :30 seconds of information retained!!!.
So, the wife and I are reminiscing today about how when you would leave an assembly- you would struggle to remember just one interesting point. Usually- you had to look at your notes or the program to just remember 1 thing that struck you. All day of talking and less than :30 seconds of information retained!!!
Wife said- "It was brainwashing- just very poor quality brainwashing!!"
Was that your experience? Was it just because we were in a foreign language field where the non-native speakers were just ghastly??
worldwide attendances at the witnesses' annual memorial in 2012 and 2013 were lower than in 2011. in 2011, 19,374,737 attended, whereas in 2012, 19,013,343 and in 2013, 19,241,252 attended.. true, attendance does fluctuate from year to year - but it is less common for the numbers to show decline for two consecutive years.. given the memorial is touted as the most important "display" meeting on the jw calendar, what additional push will be exerted this year to get the numbers up?.
reports of attendances at meetings, memorials, district conventions are incredibly vital to the organization's image of itself as a successful answer to christendom's allegedly nominal membership and poor attendance.
when you criticize other religions in terms of their reported apathy and/or state of decline, you've got a lot of money on your own religious "health" - as shown by numbers, numbers, numbers.
My 2 cents- the R&F faithful will always be at the Memorial. Its the "invited guests" that are the wild card. If the attendence was off one year I'd look at what day of the week it was on and what the weather was. That would likely be the reason for any swing.
Oh-and its god awful boring too...
went to the movie theatre over the weekend to take in jack ryan (not bad) and saw the trailer for "noah" (russell crowe and a solid cast) whats the bet the dubs will be given a rule encouraged to examine their own consciences when attending this movie.
from what i hear its fairly true to the genesis account, but hey its hollywood with cgi at their disposal.. .
my guess is they will not be allowed to go until the gb 2.0 attend a screening at loews cineplex, grab some popcorn and pop and give it their blessing..
Aliens!
using only the wts publlications what would be a curriculum or study plan you would use to get someone to research ttatt?.
1914-1919. sodom and gomorrah resurrected.
generations mt.
Read Studies in the Scriptures beginning to end.
Nuff said.
went to the movie theatre over the weekend to take in jack ryan (not bad) and saw the trailer for "noah" (russell crowe and a solid cast) whats the bet the dubs will be given a rule encouraged to examine their own consciences when attending this movie.
from what i hear its fairly true to the genesis account, but hey its hollywood with cgi at their disposal.. .
my guess is they will not be allowed to go until the gb 2.0 attend a screening at loews cineplex, grab some popcorn and pop and give it their blessing..
Does it explain how koala bears wound up in Australia and no where else on the planet?
