If one means they're pretty much like others except for the fact that they:Shun others, including their own family members-even though it may cause them to become suicidal, let their children die because of not taking blood,disfellowship those for not agreeing with their religious leaders, don't celebrate holidays, birthdays,etc.,or honor they're parents because it's "pagan",allow child molesters in the cong. without informing anyone but will publicly mark someone for such "questionable" behavior as telling others they watch rated R movies or listening to the wrong music,removing men from postion because their children decide to get an education and even talk about it,don't plan for retirement because the end has been "just around the corner" for over 100 years,commend people for selling their businesses and homes to spend more time knocking on doors,ban beards,disfellowship a woman for wearing a pantsuit in "service",disfellowship a married couple for what they privately do in their bedroom,tell people what to think,wear,and act,claim that they're God's sole channel on earth and that everyone who isn't a JW will die, and and a plethora of other things which they fully support and give power to.Then, yes, they're pretty much like everyone else.
BreakingAway
JoinedPosts by BreakingAway
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JWs Are Like Others: They Take The Good With The Bad
by minimus inthe more i dwell on people, in general, the more i realize that jws act pretty much the same as others.. if someone is in a marriage, they accept the good and the bad and simply accept the differences.. some people have jobs that they don't love but it's the lesser of 2 evils to be employed, so they stay at the same place for decades.. in politics, you might not be crazy over the person in the party that you prefer but you stick with the candidate for better or worse.. many jws have certain things they don't like about their religion but stay in their congregations because "where else would they go?
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perhaps jehovah's witnesses are no different than the average person.....what do you say?.
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Tossed out of the District Convention! What did I do wrong? I exist!!
by Terry inthis is a stupid story if it is a story at all..... quentin and i decided we'd go to the district convention since it is right here in our home town.. why?.
oh, curiousity.
a desire to find my old prison buddies.
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BreakingAway
Also to be a bit more objective, they don’t really know why you are there, they don’t know if you are going to make a scene and upset the people that are there to umm worship, so they did the most logical thing they could, they asked you to leave so they could avoid other people who in all honesty did have a right to be there from being upset or witnessing something unpleasant.
I believe he said "Hi".Which I admit is pretty threatening , but still, you'd think such a loving and tolerant organization would be willing to give the benefit of the doubt.As for their "logical" preemptive strike...why not just disfellowship all Witnesses before they do something wrong.That way no one will be threatened.Kind of "Minority Report" Witness style.Additionally,he also had the "right" to be there.And just who was it in this scene that made a decision to upset someone or become unpleasant ? I'm not trying to be hard on you here but let's not make irrational excuses for the heavy-handed tactics of the org.
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spinning lady on the escalator....utube....now THAT....
by oompa inis my kind of gal!
!......just saw her on foxnews.....what a clip..............oompa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyov8kq6vo.
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BreakingAway
You kids will poke an eye out doing that !
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Long Intro From A Long Timer
by hillary_step ini am a new to posting on this board though i have been actively reading your posts the past while and i thank some of you for the interesting viewpoints that you have verbalized and that i have enjoyed thinking on.
i am still an active jw, in fact an elder of 20 years standing hence my need to limit information about my personal circumstances.
i have served in a number of countries in europe as a pioneer and elder over the past three decades.
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BreakingAway
Just a note to all onlookers:Anyone who touches my cuddly club or fluff will be pulling back a bloody stump.Thank you and have a good day.
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I cant afford to eat anymore : Grocery Store Horror stories :)
by SnakesInTheTower infirst... i am in no immediate danger of starving damn groceries are getting expensive .
as an example... i love breyer's all natural ice cream... .
first...the story of the incredible shrinking ice cream box.... for years and year the box was one half gallon (us)...2 full quarts...then somewhere a couple years back, it shrunk to 1.75 quarts...but in the same size box..... today, i was at the grocery, and seen the stuff was on sale..... hmmmmm...something fishy.... yep... it is now 1.5 quarts.... and i carefully compared the 1.75 box in my freezer with my new 1.5 box.
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BreakingAway
Try Ramen noodle ice cream, it's awesome ! Hey, I just might be onto something here...
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Tossed out of the District Convention! What did I do wrong? I exist!!
by Terry inthis is a stupid story if it is a story at all..... quentin and i decided we'd go to the district convention since it is right here in our home town.. why?.
oh, curiousity.
a desire to find my old prison buddies.
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BreakingAway
@BreakingAway:
I agree completely, but the prejudices of the typical cake-eater would just revert to visions of braindead or brainwashed automatons so I felt like I needed to voice some righteous indignations. In my case, and maybe your's, soldiers are what happens when a man/woman decides they DON'T want to be like a witless. :oP
I had a Vietnam Vet (now PO) come up to me kinda snottyish "so a bit disillusioned with the military" I couldn't stop myself from responding "well I was never really 'illusioned' in the first place". Hehe, our eyes met and he knew I wasn't only talking about the military. Ahh. I have a lot of respect for a man who's been through what he was wanting to embrace passivism/religion, but that doesn't give him permission to disrespect me or anyone else. In some cases experience and perspective does not equal wisdom. No Mr. RamboPO I do not subjugate my opinions, thinking or conscience to your holier than god self.
War is the worst thing there is. That is very easy to agree about. What to do about it is much more difficult.
Bring_the_LightWhich is why you're right about the Third Reich comparison.It is an extreme form of conditioning and misplaced devotion.To manipulate one into a particular way of thinking,to bring into a desired altered state of mind.In contrast,most soldiers embrace individualism while carrying out the duty for which they've been trained and assigned.Combat training endeavors to get a person ready for just that, combat.Which involves a certain amount of conditioning and obviously not all conditioning is bad.However,people of all walks of life and situtations are subject to manipulation.A person could be conditioned to carry out something which they feel is right, such as Muslim extremists suicide bombers. Of course, that trick only works once, so they need a continual supply of "properly motivated" people and therein lies a scary similarity with the bOrg.JW's have a extremely low retention rate and a continual supply of indoctrinated ones is needed, and as we know, indvidualism and free thought is completely discouraged, even demonized. When one completely gives themselves to a cause, specifically one with nefarious ends under the guise of "good", then terrible things can happen.Conditioning also becomes more solidified when one is under threat of punishment for not furthering "the cause".So naturally, this translates to fear.And abhorrence of, and rude acts toward, an "apostate", can also largely be the result of one projecting their fears onto another, a fear that they themselves might be viewed as an aposate if they don't show outward rejection.Maybe even fear that they themselves could become what they currently detest.I personally do have a concern that this org could turn into a massive Jonestown or Heaven's Gate type of situation.I'm sure some find that rather farfetched; but it all had to start somewhere,those people didn't just wake up with that mindset one day. Hopefully, I didn't go off on too much of a tangent here...
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I cant afford to eat anymore : Grocery Store Horror stories :)
by SnakesInTheTower infirst... i am in no immediate danger of starving damn groceries are getting expensive .
as an example... i love breyer's all natural ice cream... .
first...the story of the incredible shrinking ice cream box.... for years and year the box was one half gallon (us)...2 full quarts...then somewhere a couple years back, it shrunk to 1.75 quarts...but in the same size box..... today, i was at the grocery, and seen the stuff was on sale..... hmmmmm...something fishy.... yep... it is now 1.5 quarts.... and i carefully compared the 1.75 box in my freezer with my new 1.5 box.
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BreakingAway
It seems a lot of companies are jumping on the "raise the price" bandwagon.Of course, it's not like they didn't do that before, and I suppose they're opportunistic by nature, but now they feel they've got a legitimate excuse to raise prices.After all, "everybody's doing it".Some really will have increased expenses to deal with, so they'll pass these on to the consumer, but then they tack a bit more on "just because they can."Sales are always being run somewhere, so I look for those when I can.
What's interesting during times like these, is that some companies also decide to be opportunistic by producing a less expensive, but not necessarily "cheaper", or lower quality , product.It's also a very good time for entrepreneurs to make their move and establish a product at a competitive rate and this in turn can lead to the dropping of prices in a mainsteam market.As they say "Necessity is the mother of invention." And the same goes for Innovation.
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Tossed out of the District Convention! What did I do wrong? I exist!!
by Terry inthis is a stupid story if it is a story at all..... quentin and i decided we'd go to the district convention since it is right here in our home town.. why?.
oh, curiousity.
a desire to find my old prison buddies.
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BreakingAway
............and in your honor terry...i am wearing nothing but a thong and a cowboy hat to the DC here next weekend!.....
Just don't forget the spurs...you want to complete the outfit.Maybe even a Chippendales bow tie, since it's somewhat of a formal occasion.
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Tossed out of the District Convention! What did I do wrong? I exist!!
by Terry inthis is a stupid story if it is a story at all..... quentin and i decided we'd go to the district convention since it is right here in our home town.. why?.
oh, curiousity.
a desire to find my old prison buddies.
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BreakingAway
@BreakingAway: I really don't appreciate comparing JayDubs to soldiers. I've never met a soldier that acts like a JayDub. :oP
Contrary to very popular belief, Soldiers are every kind of people and training doesn't really change you other than make of possible to set yourself aside when you need to serve a role on the team.
Allusions to 1984 or the Third Reich would be far more appropriate. Thanksabunch.
Bring_the_LightI know what you're saying BTL (including the quip).Perhaps, I should have been more specific though. I was in the military and you certainly are right that all types are present.The main point, specifically regarding a specialized service, such as Special Forces, or civilian specialties, is that one must be able to accomplish a critical task even if they are unable to properly focus.The cause of this might be injury,stress,shell shock, etc.In such a case, the person would be able to do it "in their sleep" so to speak, without any real conscious effort.The Society has trained, or conditioned, JW's to act in a certain manner to accomplish the Society's goals. What you mentioned here regarding training is a point I was also driving at....
set yourself aside when you need to serve a role on the team.
Witnesses get to the point where they "set themselves aside".All Witnesses do this to some extent, but in a case where a specific trigger is touched, such as confronting an "apostate", or one showing "apostate leanings", they go into "autopilot" and act in the manner in which they've been trained;Fear,Anger, Etc.Tunnel vision sets in and they focus entirely on the task at hand:"Getting rid of the threat ! This reaction may very well defy rational thought and perhaps may even cause them, after the fact, to question why they acted the way they did.A similar, and extended, case of this, is how those who df'd and da'd are treated by Family and socalled Friends.The Society has prepared and trained Witnesses to act a certain way when the disfellowshipping finally arrives.When it does....the person is "cut off" by everyone else, thus accomplishing the task for which they have been trained or "conditioned".And I agree that 1984 and the Third Reich would be appropriate, likely more so.
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Tossed out of the District Convention! What did I do wrong? I exist!!
by Terry inthis is a stupid story if it is a story at all..... quentin and i decided we'd go to the district convention since it is right here in our home town.. why?.
oh, curiousity.
a desire to find my old prison buddies.
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BreakingAway
How quickly did your feelings of nostalgia fly out the window, Terry ? Did they seem to be jet propelled ? I'd imagine you were reminded of why you left in the first place... and quite quickly I might add !
Before attending the convention you mentioned that it might be "interesting".You were right ! Here's something else we can all think about too.When a person is trained to perform a specific task, like a soldier for instance, it is done through repetition.Performed again and again.The reason this is done is that, if and when, one reaches the lowest common denominator of barely being able to function-- they will still be able to function on "autopilot" or a subconscious level and carry out the objective.Some call this "instinct".
When these Witnesses acted the way they did, they went into "autopilot"mode.No thinking was necessary.How they had been trained, the feelings with which they had been instilled, took over.Fear,Intimidation,Control,Hurt Feelings,and sadly, yes, even hatred at times, begin to take over.You didn't deserve to be treated this way, but you were.This is the sad legacy of this organization.