If you look on page 10, "What is God's Purpose for the Earth?," you'll see an illustration of Adam in the Garden--with a belly button!! What were the WT artists thinking????
I'd post a scan but, alas, I'm unable to in my present locale.
Cadellin
JoinedPosts by Cadellin
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Anyone Notice this in the New Brochure "Good News From God"?
by Cadellin inif you look on page 10, "what is god's purpose for the earth?," you'll see an illustration of adam in the garden--with a belly button!!
what were the wt artists thinking????.
i'd post a scan but, alas, i'm unable to in my present locale..
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Cadellin
Tacoma, Washington, USA (English), 6479 attendance, 21 baptized (less than 1/2 of 1%)
Portland, Oregon, USA (Spanish), 6500 attendance (approx), 58 baptized (still less than the 1% of days of yore)
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Thought Reform and the Psychology of the 'Safeguard Your Heart!' 2012 Convention
by breakfast of champions into make attendance at my second district convention "mentally out" both a little more bearable and meaningful, i decided to take some notes of key points as if i were an outsider studying the thought reform methods of jehovah's witnesses.
at first, i was only going to share these notes with my therapist, but inspired by the "parsing the watchtower double-speak" thread, i figured i would share my amateur analysis with everyone.
here are some of the highlights:.
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Cadellin
Great comments--I'll add my observations, too. I was at the DC on the West Coast at the end of June/beg of July (won't say where to maintain anonymity) I have to agree w/what's been said about thought control and manipulation. I'm not sure if it was stronger at this assemb or if I'm more attuned to it, but WOW--major psychological assault on any kind of indep thinking or self-reliance.
This whole binarial heart/flesh dichotomy was fashioned to instill doubt and hesitation in anyone listening--doubt or even whole-scale aversion to any form of healthy, rational thinking-things-through-for-oneself. You just can't trust anything that comes from within yourself! That's why you need to be TOLD what to do, say, wear and, most importantly, think. Otherwise, you run the risk of displeasing Jehovah by relying on your treacherous heart. You must obey whatever it is that you're told, even if you don't understand or happen to agree. Any shades of doubt or disagreement with what the Slave has said or provided is really exactly the same as "testing Jehovah in your heart."
Yikes. This was underscored over and over. The rhetoric harmonized with the mind-control content. One new strategy I noticed was the practice of the speaker making a statement and then saying, "Let me say that again," or "I'll repeat that..." or "Did you catch that?" and then, gosh-darn, saying the same statement again word for word. This little ditty happened in virtually every talk. Did anyone else notice that?
I'll also throw out the number baptized, since it was interesting. We had peak attendance of 6,500 approx. on Sat. and the baptism was a whole 21 souls. That's it. That's not even half a percent. Interestingly,I later spoke to someone who had attended a Spanish convention with roughly the same attendance and the baptisms were 58. So now we know where all the increase is (not that it's any surprise).
The general feeling I got from the content was a ramping up of fear, paranoia and control. No question about it. Due to circumstances, I had to miss Sunday. Oh, darn!
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CNN Breaking News: Jury reached a verdict in case involving 2 Philadelphia priests
by AndersonsInfo in.
i was just informed and hope the info is correct that the jury has reached a verdict in the sex abuse case involving 2 philadelphia priests.
verdict will be announced in court at 2 p.m. est
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Cadellin
I was just about to post a link to this story. The parallel b/w the WT case and this RC one is eerie, only this one involves jail time. Notice that this priest is "the first U.S. church official convicted of a crime for how he handled abuse claims" (emphasis added). What he did was almost exactly what elders have been instructed to do: say nothing to congregation members, do nothing to prevent further abuse.
This paragraph is particularly interesting:
"Prosecutors said they showed a pattern at the archdiocese of lying about why priests were removed, sending them to "company doctors" at church-run therapy centers and failing to warn new parishes where they were later transferred.
"They put so many innocent children in danger," Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said in his closing remarks, noting that it can take years or decades for victims to come forward. "That's what's so scary about this. We have no idea how many victims are out there." (Emphasis added.)
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Plaintiff awarded in punitive damages -21M & 1 dollar. Total award, 28M & 1 dollar. Here's more info
by AndersonsInfo inthe plaintiff, candace conti's goal from the very beginning was to bring enough attention to this problem to incentivize watchtower to change its policy of secrecy.
the award can be explained as it was decided: separate compensatory and punitive damages.
the punitive award is established in law to punish wrongdoing - here, the conscious disregard for others - and deter that conduct in the future.
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Cadellin
Also, a huge THANK YOU to Barbara and everyone else for keeping us updated and informed about this important ruling!
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Plaintiff awarded in punitive damages -21M & 1 dollar. Total award, 28M & 1 dollar. Here's more info
by AndersonsInfo inthe plaintiff, candace conti's goal from the very beginning was to bring enough attention to this problem to incentivize watchtower to change its policy of secrecy.
the award can be explained as it was decided: separate compensatory and punitive damages.
the punitive award is established in law to punish wrongdoing - here, the conscious disregard for others - and deter that conduct in the future.
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Cadellin
Universal JW knee-jerk response is that the WT can do no wrong, that anything negative are lies from Satan. Then, just to make sure their position is unassailable, they won't read the evidence or facts surrounding the matter to actually find out. This is a classic page from my dear husband's playbook.
ME: "Well, if their position is right, then reading the evidence will only strengthen your faith."
HIM: "No, I don't want to mess up my mind with twisted reasonings."
Sigh.
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It took me a long time to write this...i'm staying.
by MsGrowingGirl20 init took me a long time to write this....i'm being brutally honest...i am still a reg pioneer...three sundays ago,i was praying and asking god for a sign or something because i was so confused...i told him exactly what i needed to see for me to believe.i was feeling terrible--crying and feeling sick because i was so confused.ten minutes after, i walked into the kingdom hall and to my surprise--my prayer was answered!
i soooo wasn't expecting it, even though i prayed.
so this is where almighty god wants me to be,ii've reasoned.
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Cadellin
Msgrowinggirl:
I do feel for you. It's a tough decision to make and, hopefully, you will go on to have a great life. Maybe, down the road a few years, another piece of the epistemological puzzle will slip into place and your eyes will open once again. And you'll want out, this time for real. I only hope you aren't married to some uber-zealous, clean-jawed brother by then, and with two or three sweet kids. Because then it REALLY might fall apart for you. It's lousy disappointing your parents and all your friends as a single person, but holy wars in the middle of a marriage are even worse, as numerous posters here will testify.
Moreover, I think it's swell that God answered your heartfelt prayer so handily. A few years ago, I did exactly the same thing--sobbing, praying my heart out, asking for dry fleece on a dewy threshing floor, etc. I didn't even specify what I needed--left it entirely up to Him. Just that I needed SOMETHING, some kind of help in any form He saw fit. And guess what happened? Nothing.
So, I have to ask...why you and not me? I've lived my life as the quintessential "good girl," by JW standards. I couldn't have prayed more heartfeltly. I was still attending meetings and going out in service, the whole nine yard. And--nothing.
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Sparlock Drives My Wife to the Brink of Apostasy
by breakfast of champions ini reported the other night that we sat down to watch the new video, and while my wife was smiling and laughing while watching the first part, she stiffened and became quiet during part two.
it disturbed her deeply:.
"this is ridiculous.
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Cadellin
"It was wizards of magic that were led by Satan to find the baby Jesus and reveal his wearabouts..."
I hate it when my wearabouts are revealed. Especially if I'm wearing the polka-dot ones.
BTW, duane, welcome!
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Today's WT: A Warning To You Loyal Witnesses
by metatron init happens without warning.
you have a stroke.
you get ms. you are in a car accident.. they put you in the hospital.
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Cadellin
I thought this WT was hitting a new extreme in family shunning practices. Prior to this, they always seemed to acknowledge "necessary family business" as allowable contact. This article, however, specified, "not the slightest contact" or words to that effect. In other words, if readers are meant to take it as it says, absolutely no contact whatsoever.
Someone should make sure the Bulgarian government gets a copy...
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hey
by jnrtigbfxd0 inhey everybody im new here.
currently a pioneer in my early 20's, started straight out of high school, now wanting to go to college and working on getting out of pioneering.
also a former bethelite, ill make a thread on that soon.. .
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Cadellin
Welcome. Something tells me you have interesting insights to add--speak on up!! We're all ears...