http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/
THis guy blogs about the same thing, in relation to Southern Baptist churches. He's written some powerful posts on this topic.
1) when confronted with evidence of child molestation, doing the bare legal minimum is not enough morally.
2) a carefully honed and managed reputation can be destroyed literally overnight if immoral actions / inactions are brought to light.
3) no matter how "high up" someone is, he is still accountable for his actions / inactions, and will have to pay consequences for wrong choices.
http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/
THis guy blogs about the same thing, in relation to Southern Baptist churches. He's written some powerful posts on this topic.
"i am now a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints.
i wont be on facebook again for two years so please don't message me, poke me, or write on my wall while i'm gone.
also don't bother trying to call my cellphone either, i wont have it.
THanks for all the interesting comments!
Qcmbr: Did you GO on one? Do tell....i'll be looking forward to hearing about it.
Oh, i also forgot to include at the end, he wrote an email someone could reach him at, but only if they had something IMPORTANT to say. My daughter noticed that the email domain was @myldsmail. SO the only email he can have is through some LDS network. Could they possibly screen the emails??
So generous that they can have snail mail, although if you look at the missionary handbook rules, that has some restrictions too. In this day and age, you may as well say you'll never hear from your peers again. (I'm an avid letter writer myself, but i honestly don't know one other person that is, LOL) It's kind of like saying, your friends can send you a telegram, sheesh.
"i am now a missionary for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints.
i wont be on facebook again for two years so please don't message me, poke me, or write on my wall while i'm gone.
also don't bother trying to call my cellphone either, i wont have it.
"I am now a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I wont be on Facebook again for two years so please don't message me, poke me, or write on my wall while I'm gone. Also don't bother trying to call my cellphone either, I wont have it. If you have something important to tell me my email will be xxx
Also feel free to write me. My address will be:
Elder xxxx"
I just saw this on FB. "Elder" X was a best friend of our whole family since he was 3 or 4. He completely ditched all of us this whole summer, after he had been made an elder, and was preparing for his mission. I saw his mother before he dropped us, and she told me how he will not be allowed to phone her except at Christmas! Steven Hassan is right about the BITE model applied to Mormon missionaries, wow.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/09/my-take-this-evangelical-says-mormonism-isnt-a-cult/?hpt=hp_t2.
editors note:richard j. mouw is president of fuller theological seminary, an evangelical school in pasadena, california.. by richard j. mouw, special to cnn.
some prominent evangelical pastors have been telling their constituents not to support mitt romneys bid for the presidential nomination.
I think part of the confusion is that the word "cult" is used in two ways. One is doctrinal/theological; the other is the coercive/mind-control aspect. Steven Hassan does classify Mormonism as a cult according to the second definition. I don't have time to figure out how to insert a link, but if you go to Freedomofmind.com, there is a great piece on the BITE model applied to Mormonism, especially the young Mormon missionaries. (or google BITE model mormon missionaries.)
I have seen the controlling aspect close up. Long story, but a young man our whole family spent a lot of time with ever since he was in diapers - has basically cut off our whole family since he became an "elder." (He posted that on his FB, made me cringe!) I never once spoke with him about anything concerning his family's religion.
One way i gauge whether a group is a cult, or at least cult-like, is asking - if you were born into it, can you leave it when you come of age, and still maintain warm and loving relationships with your family members? At least in the area where i live and the Mormons we know, no, they can't get out of it. Some have literally been kicked out of the house. A guy at my daughter's school lived with various friends who would take him during his last 2 years of high school, as he didn't want to be LDS.
one of my favorite toys when i was a kid was my spirograph.
i don't know whatever happened to it but i wanted to get another one and didn't realize they didn't make them anymore.
i went on ebay and got a super spirograph (complete except for the pens) for a real good price ($30) - i hit it at just the right time since most are listed for $50 to $100.
Glenster: Oh man, i can't believe someone mentioned the Flintstone Building Boulders!! I was able to find some on ebay for my own kids, when they were little. Huge hit!
I second the votes for Light Brite, and Play Dough, still LOVE the smell, although i think the formula is a bit different now. ? LOL.
Oh, i had spirograph too, but wasn't detail oriented/patient enough as a kid, so it would drive me kind of crazy.
---auntbee
in my interactions with jw males guarding the kh entrance or with the various males my study conductor would bring to our study (one i later found out was considered a "heavy," meaning he was supposedly really good at answering tough questions), i notice they stare intensely at me and i start fumbling my words.
in one case, i went to a different kh where no one knew me and got the same stare at the door.
is this stare deliberate, and if so, what is behind it?
Isn't that weird? One of the usher guys at the District Convention here in Tucson was doing that to me because i was chatting with the lone protestor!! I thought it was kind of ironic, because they go around inviting householders to come to the Convention. So i'm a non-JW that went. This is supposed to get me interested in it? IT really creeped me out. LOL. I just smiled and waved at the guy and greeted him with a cheery hello. -- Sometimes people talk about leaving flyers on cars at the KH's , but around here, there is usually one of those glaring guys "keeping on the watch" in the parking lot.
this study edition is an absolute attack on kids going to higher education, and you all are getting too cosy at home with your sky tv and the internet, get out on the doors you idle dogs.. oh and if you have a good job already you could not be putting the kingdum first !.
here is some of the crap in the mag, and the article temporary residents in a wicked world.. 10. .
in view of the imminent end of the present system of things, as jehovahs servants.
JW guy who went to high school with my daughter. SUPER talented as far as music. DId a lot with the hs choir, he was the star of it actually. Got a full scholarship for music to the college in our town. Occasionally i would talk with him during senior year about being a music major, his desire to be a band / choir teacher, and how cool that would be, what a neat job to help kids, and be a positive influence, etc. When i talked about this, he just kind of looked at the floor and mumbled. Did not seem excited about it at all, but i knew he loved music. Now through JWN i understand more about his pessimism for his future. He ended up stopping college after 2 years, and is now disabled with some mysterious ailment. Anyone outside of the org can see that it's depression/anxiety. He doesn't work or go to school.
The other brother spoke of wanting to be an engineer, and is not pursuing that any more. Apparently suddenly he's going into a much lesser type work, to end up working....with his dad? YUK.
another piece on the joys of witnesshood.. http://heraldsun.com/bookmark/14860998/article-jehovah%27s+witnesses%3a+a+family+conversion#.tj2jip7llug.
unky punk is this swarm potential?.
"I've been reading the Bible my whole life, but was seeing things for the first time"
Very interesting! One wonders why he had read the Bible so long, and didn't see the things he's referring to, until he got the WT publications.
this is my first post.
i have been a protestant christian my entire life, but over the past few months ive been conversing with two jehovahs witnesses on a weekly basis.
as they quickly learned that i was biblically versed, they replaced what i would call a trainee, with someone i believe to be an elder.
Welcome, HBJ! Can you tell us the name of the renowned professor you studied with?
i have been a bit obsessed with listening to these secretly recorded meetings lately and have downloaded a dozen or so from various places on the internet.
this page has a few:.
http://www.jwinfoline.com/page/audio.htm.
http://www.deathorobedience.blogspot.com/
http://yacawa.org/2010/07/15/jc-meeting/comment-page-1/#comment-2223
You didn't say which you have already, but here are 2 i have listened to.