I never saw JWs at my campus. But there were little brochures available in many locations entitled something like "How to Protect Yourself from High Control Religious Groups."
Billy the Ex-Bethelite
JoinedPosts by Billy the Ex-Bethelite
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46
JW Table at My Student Center Today, My Response
by breakfast of champions inthey're baaaack!!!
jws "tabling" at my student center again, first time in over six months.
i wonder if the fact it's been 15 degrees out had anything to do with it?
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77
Neanderthal man
by scary21 inmy ex husband and father of my daughter was never baptized but is still a believer in the wt.. a couple years ago we were talking about evolution ( which he does not believe in ) i brought up the subject of the neanderthals and how we all have their dna except africans ( the ones that never left africa ).
he said neanderthals are apes and not humans and jw's do not teach that they are humans.
i said i believe they do.. in the life- how did it get here book, under the sub heading " the human family "is says " neanderthal man....... was undoubtedly human.. his response was " they are just talking about what other people believe " ahhhhh .
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Billy the Ex-Bethelite believes it's still uncertain ( that was a surprise)
LOL! Actually, I've studied enough biology and anthropology (and religion) that I wouldn't say I'm "uncertain". However, it's not my area of expertise. In my opinion, Wikipedia has good coverage of current research and hypotheses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal
And I didn't want to get too involved in the debate since I'm a member of the "About 5% Neanderthal Club" and would get my feelings hurt if this turned into a "kill the 'non-human' Neanderthals" thread.The point I was trying to make was to encourage the JW ex-husband to look into the rather fascinating subject for himself. He might "evolve" into an ex-JW.
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I got asked THE QUESTION !!
by Tech49 ina little experience that happened very recently:.
another brother, an elder, and i were talking, i was explaining to him and giving him several examples of how a couple of the elders in our congregation were blatantly trying to run their own show, parading themselves around as "representatives" of the body, when the other brothers didnt know what the hell they were talking about.
they are using their "elder powers" to bully and push people around, causing a bit of angst and hurt feelings.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
"Jack, it is always important to remember that the brothers are imperfect."
I love, love, love to hear that phrase. As soon as it's been tossed on the table, I play that trump card in every future conversation. "The brothers are imperfect." Say that to me once, and I'll repeat it back to you a thousand times."
Elder Drone: "Billy, don't you agree that Jehovah is directing his organization right here on earth through his FDS, the governing body, and the elders?"
Billy: "Like you said, the elders and the GB are imperfect men. I've made a lot of decisions based on things they said back when I was a teenager and was sure that I'd never graduate high school. And I made decisions based on WT articles back in the 1980s that really haunt me. Decisions I would have made differently if I would have realized that they were imperfect men. But, I guess you're right. I was just too trusting. Thanks for taking the time to reason with me on the reality that these representatives of god are imperfect men. I suppose it helps me to be more understanding when the local elders do something less than perfect and to be more understanding when new articles come out that kick the armageddon can another 10 or 15 years down the road."
And I'll quote them to others.
"Like Br. Drone reminded me the other day, "the brothers are imperfect." So we shouldn't be surprised that this WT is different than what we used to believe. And the brothers will continue to be imperfect until we're all perfect, so we don't have to get too attached to what's in this article, because it will probably change again before armageddon. In fact, it may change several times."
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Are we going to see a mass awakening?
by kairos inthe internet is the archive for civilization.. watchtower cannot hide it's history.. are we seeing the beginning of a mass exodus out of her?.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Sadly, most of the JWs I know are asking one another, "When will those [Catholics, Muslims, Hindus, Protestants, Jews, Atheists, Agnostics, evolutionists, Democrats, Republics, gays, etc] wake up and realize that our warship is da troof?!? Surely JW.borg and our litteratrash carts will cause a mass awakening!!"
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Neanderthal man
by scary21 inmy ex husband and father of my daughter was never baptized but is still a believer in the wt.. a couple years ago we were talking about evolution ( which he does not believe in ) i brought up the subject of the neanderthals and how we all have their dna except africans ( the ones that never left africa ).
he said neanderthals are apes and not humans and jw's do not teach that they are humans.
i said i believe they do.. in the life- how did it get here book, under the sub heading " the human family "is says " neanderthal man....... was undoubtedly human.. his response was " they are just talking about what other people believe " ahhhhh .
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
It's still an area of active research. WT and their terribly flawed publications are hopelessly outdated.
I'd suggest that he do his own research. WT is going in a "dumbing down" direction, so if he is interested in the subject, he won't learning anything by only looking at everything through WT goggles.
A couple years ago we were talking about evolution ( which he does not believe in )
If he doesn't believe in evolution, which of the passengers on the ark was infected with AIDS, ebola, measles, smallpox, etc.? He needs to research both evolution and abiogenesis before he draws the line of what he does and doesn't believe in.
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IMPORTANT: Please note on your calender that on MONDAY, Feb. 16th, there will be a segment on a TV NEWS PROGRAM discussing JWs
by AndersonsInfo inon monday evening, feb. 16th, on the pbs newshour, there will be a segment discussing jehovah's witnesses.
generally, the newshour airs at 6 p.m. in different time zones across the united states..
please don't miss it.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Good report. More than anything, I think it made the JWs look like a rather irrelevant and backward sect. And it makes the JWs look like they're at least 20 years behind on fixing flawed policy, because JWs are still trying to hide and deny the problem rather than repent, fix, and move forward.
And I thought it was funny that as much as JWs have been preaching "the truth" the graphic for this report featured A CROSS! At first I was thinking, "How could PBS get this wrong?" Then, I was thinking, "For as much as JWs think they're special, they're preaching their message earth-wide, their beliefs about the cross are eclipsed by their reputation for failure to protect children from molestation."
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For God So Loves the Western World...
by Tempest in a Teacup in...that only people from those countries can lead 'his organization'.. a few years ago, one conversation stopper people would often bring up to jws in my country is: 'you guys are an american religion'.
the standard answer we were formatted to give to shoot that down was that "god does not favor any nationality over others.
however some countries do possess some advantages needed for the advancement of the divine work.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Billy, when have they given any good advice?
Although they say things like "love your children", there are way too many strings attached. How can it be called "good advice" when they say disfellowshipping is loving?
There was a 2002 Asleep! article about tomatoes. It included a recipe for gazpacho. I think that's about the closest thing to "good advice" I can think of.
Edit to add: I just checked the recipe in Asleep! and they don't instruct to remove the seeds from the tomatoes when making gazpacho. So, I guess WT has never given any good advice.
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For God So Loves the Western World...
by Tempest in a Teacup in...that only people from those countries can lead 'his organization'.. a few years ago, one conversation stopper people would often bring up to jws in my country is: 'you guys are an american religion'.
the standard answer we were formatted to give to shoot that down was that "god does not favor any nationality over others.
however some countries do possess some advantages needed for the advancement of the divine work.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
For that matter, the GB are out of touch with the day-to-day realities of us living in the Western world, too.
And I think the JW TV broadcast bragging about their unity is complete self-deception. The GB publish ideas concocted in bethel and then enforce them worldwide as a "one size fits all" solution.
For example, they've told the dubs that if their jobs don't give them time off for the conventions or the CO visit, or if the work schedule is changed to conflict with meetings, the JW should quit! Then they cite stories of JWs whose bosses begged them to stay or they quit and found better jobs. I've known enough JWs that are barely holding onto jobs and just live from paycheck to paycheck. Telling them to quit is terrible advice. Even in the case where the boss gives in and lets them take the time off, here's what happens behind the scene: The boss sees the JW as unreliable and starts shopping around for a replacement. As soon as a reliable replacement is found, the employer can change the work schedule so that the JW again threatens to quit. This time, the boss is prepared to let the JW go and can deny their request for unemployment benefits because they chose to quit.
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Managing a doomsday cult
by Half banana inthe wtbts have only one objective: to keep their religious engine on the tracks.
the pastoral care of their followers (although they would publicly deny it) is right at the bottom of their priorities.they demand abject loyalty.
as a matter of sociological fact the subscribers to the watchtower belief are on average placed at the lowest rung of the income ladder and in the bottom category of the least educated of religious groups.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
The pastoral care of their followers (although they would publicly deny it) is right at the bottom of their priorities.
The R&F are told that they are happy and that their lives would be miserable if they were "worldly". If any JWs are having problems, they are told to rely on Jehovah and work harder in "Jehovah's organization." And if anyone dares to point out any flaws or injustices in that organization, we know it doesn't get corrected. No. The "complainer" is told to stop being critical or they'll be birdfood very soon now.
The other point she mentioned was that JWs are unified.
WT doesn't have unity, they enforce conformity. When you spend much time in a congregation, you start to see the gossip and conflict that flourish underneath the veneer of "unity".
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Why don't some members of the congregations never slow down or get tired out?
by RULES & REGULATIONS inmy uncle passed away two years ago at the age of 83. he served as an elder from 1965 to the last day of his life.
even till the end of his life he was still reading the bible.. he was an elder for 48 years.
never missed a meeting,pioneered during the summer months ( took vacation weeks),pioneered after retiring at 65 years old, never went on real vacation, went to all summer conventions and assemblies ( traveling to new york,wisconsin, canada and california ).. he also conducted book studies, watchtower meetings, gave sunday public talks, assembly parts, elder meetings, had a weekly book study with his family,cleaned the kingdom hall, and donated money when the congregation was short money for the month.. everyone is zealous in the beginning but tire out sooner or later.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
she went on about the upcoming CO's visit and the one day assembly and how she's busy in service.
By being completely engrossed in their slavery to WT, they are left with no time or intelligence to examine their situation. They're like hamsters that spend all their waking hours running in their wheel, but getting absolutely nowhere.
"I'm running so fast, I MUST be getting somewhere!"
