Billy the Ex-Bethelite

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Posts by Billy the Ex-Bethelite

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  17

  Science and the WT

  by Giordano in

  1. social
  2. current

  ive been reviewing the scientific claims that the society promoted through the golden age magazine (later replaced by the awake).

  not since reading the laws of leviticus have i had so many wtfs as found in the list http://hourglass2.com/historical/the-list/list7_01.htm .

  each statement comes from an official publication of the wtbts.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  I didn't look closely through the list. Didn't GA have a quote saying that perfect people wouldn't poop.
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  36

  Changes to Watchtower publication pictures

  by rory-ks in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  are there any more examples like this?

  pictures changed because a person was disfellowshipped?.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  All such changes that I've known of were for judicial reasons. There are several pictures from the ragazines that were changed when they printed the bound volumes because people were DFd in the meantime. It's part of the art department procedure to check these things when it comes to releases and reprinting stuff.

  It's more complicated for audio/video projects. These projects drag on for years, so they have to do a background check before the shoot and then have to do another 'spirituality check', often years later, before they can finalize the product for release. Editing can be a disaster when interviews have to be cut or drama scenes have to be revised when the project is nearly finished. I think that's why videos, like the newest one, have dropped in quality. They need to reduce the number of characters to a minimum and get them out as quickly as possible before one of the featured teens leaves the cult. As far as the videos, once it's released, it's released. Some of the oldest are still distributed, but include people that were DFd long ago.
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  41

  Critique of new JW DVD: “These Words Must be on Your Heart.”

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://youtu.be/dhn2to663cu.

  im really channeling my inner blondie with my observation and critiques of these new watchtower videos.

  something about them really turns my stomach.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  On another thread I mentioned several things wrong with the video. One thing that still really stands out to me is the extremely undersized cast. Except for the couple in their basement, this JW family seems to live completely in a vacuum. No JW friends shown or even mentioned. The only reference I seem to recall was the daughter saying her worldly friend (from what I saw, I'm not even sure he qualifies as a boyfriend) was nicer than JW dudes. That would be one reference to them knowing any JWs, and puts them in a less than glowing light. Toward the last that I was attending, there were no picnics or 'get-togethers'. There was no social life. So I guess the video was accurate to show that unless you have a JW couple living in your basement, you'll avoid contact with other JWs outside of the Kingdumb Haul. And I suppose if they would have had any scenes at a KH, they would have to show the reality of a mostly empty building, sheeples with vacant stares, and lots of other parents whose kids have already left the cult.

  It wasn't just the lack of JW friends, it was the lack of anybody. When I was a kid growing up on a rural farm, I could relate to just being around the family most of the time. But for a family like this, in a big house in suburban utopia and kids with wheels, the video setting may as well be rural North Dakota for the lack of any people interacting with the members of the family in any meaningful way. The 'boyfriend' seems to be the only significant nonJW character, and frankly, his character wasn't developed. It was like a random collection of lines spoken by an "actor" (who looked too old for the part, in my opinion). Except for the dead brother and some reference to the wife's dad (did he actually say he went to 'the old country' to meet him? Did he travel to Europe AND 100 years back in time?), it was as if they had no extended family on either side. If the kids knew nothing about this dead uncle until this age, the dad must have no living family. The wife also has no reference to family. If it is a case where all her family is "in the old country", why is it that she has no accent of any kind? If these parents are so determined that their kids need to cling to them as they're reaching adulthood, how is it that these parents seem to have absolutely no relationship with their own parents? Personally, if I were working on my relationship with my children, my primary frame of reference would be my relationship with my parents, not some 'we need to have family worship night'... and I would talk about my childhood and family at nearly every turn. That's something that is completely ignored in this video. So for me, it all seemed fake and scripted.

  After observing that during the video, it just made the conclusion all the creepier. The family continues to be shown with no friends in many different times and circumstances. They sell the house to simplify, so does that mean the older kids downsize to twin beds and the youngest sleeps in a crib? In my estimation, it wasn't that they 'came together as a family'. It was like they went back in time so that the kids were more childish, reliant on their parents with no plans for growing up, planning careers, and being independent. Their plans for the future were to play bible games until they all grow old and die.

  Creepy.
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  24

  What would the ideal racial demographic be for the Governing Body?

  by LogCon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the number of white men on the governing body has often come up for discussion.

  the negro member has been called the 'token black.

  ' no reflection on his race, but it just seems odd that with the great number of witnesses around the world, in such a variety of countries, that every member, but one, is white.. in your opinion, [with 8 as the target number].

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Start with this:

  

  But then it shouldn't be just "racial". Let's add lots of experienced leaders like these:

  
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  23

  Being a Witness results in selfish and self centered people!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have noticed that many witnesses are very self centered and selfish people as a result of "leaving everything in god's hands to correct".

  what i mean is, because "the kingdom will fix poverty, the homeless, poor, underpriveleged, etc...." it means they can just pass by those in need, or fulfill their natural human desire to help (if they have it) by just giving literature!.

  so, just preach to those in need, and then you can feel good and smug about yourself!.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  JWs easily become selfish and self-centered because of the core WT teachings. By following the popes in Brooklyn, they believe that they are very special. God, the angels, Satan, and the demons know them personally and the entire universe revolves around their self-righteous world. JWs believe that out of the billions of people in the world, they are the only ones that really matter. They are the only ones that will survive when Jehovah, very soon now, goes on a blood-thirsty, murderous rampage. So why would they bother to help non-believers? Those are all people whose heads will be smashed open with rocks, very soon now. And then, why would they bother to help their fellow believers? If other JWs are having problems, they need to rely on Jehovah... you know, simplify their lives by living in their car for the few remaining days in this system.

  Of course, those core WT teachings also have caused plenty of guilt and depression in believers. I know that when I was that mess, I was self-absorbed with plenty of internal misery. It may not exactly be the same as being "selfish and self-centered", but it certainly left me in no condition to really pay attention to the needs of others and help them.
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  190

  What's your personality type? Myers-Briggs test

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  take this 72 yes/no question test to find out.. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  "I think a lot of INs drink a bit, especially at parties."

  As an INTJ, I strategically plan my drinking. I know how much is too much. And once I get to that point, I've already planned on who I'm going to puke all over.
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  17

  Internet Dating - I feel like I am being love bombed again

  by KateWild in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i am on three or four sites and lots of guys are showing an interest and trying to be genuine.

  it reminds me of being love bombed by the jws.

  i am having so much fun and loving all the attention, i almost got carried away with it all, until i got a pm on jwn.. i have just been absorbing it all and it dawned on me i am still vulnerable, and possibly not ready to date.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Kate,

  A wise woman once said:

  
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  54

  The Society is no longer printing hardcover books.

  by kneehighmiah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  letter read that the society will no longer be making hardcover books.

  also the told people to not place orders for daily texts or calendars if they had the ability to download these.

  who downloads a calendar?

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  No hardcover books? Sounds appropriate.

  Their teachings lack any firmness. So it's appropriate that their books are all limp.

  No standing erect there. It's just flapping in the breeze.
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  190

  What's your personality type? Myers-Briggs test

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  take this 72 yes/no question test to find out.. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  "I understand that he was something of a drunk?"

  He may have been a drinker, but he was no Joseph Rutherford.
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  24

  June 1st Watchtower for the public

  by Lynnie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of my smart ass friends gave me the public copy of the watchtower for june 1st, 2014 and the main article.

  is about "god's view on smoking.

  " okay it goes on and on about how we need to keep our body "clean" and.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Oh, and to add... The fact that this religion so decisively condemns smoking but is tolerant of child molesters, well, that just shows how sick this crazy cult is.