Posts by Cadellin

443

Zone Visit: An Announcement That Will "Test Your Faith"

by breakfast of champions in

this is the scuttlebutt in one of the "bethel congregations" by us.. no details as to exactly what this "faith-testing" announcement might be.. anyone else hear any of this pre-zone visit hype?.

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Cadellin

Fessing up about the rash of child abuse lawsuits is a possibility, IMHO. Of course, that's "fessing" up WT style, which means putting the Satan Spin on it. It would be a huge deal for the WT to actually mention it from the platform but this particular zone/branch visit, being for the US would be a good time, since there are so many/such large US suits recently. And the WT know that JWs google stuff--it's inevitable that eventually enough publishers will read the suits that it could become a problem.

A good offense...

50

"Confidential" JW.ORG Video Project Leaked

by Emery in

jw
friends

syneidos posted some interesting information on reddit regarding jw.org's latest project for the upcomming 2015 memorial campaign.. for next year's 2015 memorial campaign, jw.org is producing an invitational video featuring jesus.

the video is still being filmed at the moment and i was told it was super "confidential.

" my source already saw several scenes from it and said, "it looks and feels like a cinematic movie.

Cadellin

I have no doubt it will be polished and professional looking. It will also be designed to pull at the heart strings--that seems to be the primary purpose of the WT videos of late. While there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself, it is ironic that I used to believe that the "truth" wasn't reliant upon emotional sway like the charismatic preachers of Christendom, but on "real" evidence from the Bible. Now, more and more, the organization is emphasizing strong emotional persuasion (manipulation, really) to the exclusion of any meaningful doctrinal or evidentiary-based discourse, hand in hand with the descent to grade-school level writing in the Awake and WT

300

ALERT: NEW LAWSUIT settlement - $13 MILLION

by Watchtower-Free in

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/135m-awarded-to-bible-teacher-gonzalo-campos-alleged-abuse-victim-jose-lopez-281031832.html.

(published thursday, oct 30, 2014).

thursday, oct 30, 2014 updated at 11:58 pm pdt.

Cadellin

Barbara, thank you thank you thank you. You are providing an invaluable service to every thinking person. I am stunned at the Society's heartless encapsulation of the situation as a single event performed by a JW that held no official capacity. Whoever wrote that is evil.

But here's something that perplexes me--why does the WT slavishly adhere to the two witness rule when it's part of the Mosaic Law and therefore, according to their interpretation, no more in effect than the prohibition against pork? To the best of my memory, it's not repeated in the NT the way the prohibition against blood is, is it? They treat it as if it is part of the law for Christians today (cherrypicking which parts of the ML they want to keep and which they want to ignore but that's beside the point). You'd think that the simple drive to survive would encourage "new light" on that matter.

35

JAN 2015 Awake - Yet More Fallacies and Disingenuous Statements re Evolution/Creation

by konceptual99 in

so the new awake is up.. first question..... "how did life begin?.

how would you complete the following sentance?.

life is the result of..... a. evolution.

Cadellin

One eyed Joe: Well done, indeed. Thank you for taking the time to do this. What makes me so angry is that a pablum-quality article like this won't fool anyone with a very basic knowledge of evolution but it WILL reinforce the ignorance of those who lack even that, those being primarily JWs who have never learned anything about evolution other than the steaming stream of misinformation expelled by the WBTS.

Articles like this, as you point out, constantly mix up terms/definitions, excise snippets of quotes, ask one question and yet answer a completely different one, deal in sweeping generality and avoid discussing anything resembling recent quantitative research or examples. It's a horrible example of unethical, grossly ignorant propaganda masquerading as--I don't know what--science writing? It's not, obviously, but that's what scores of JWs will take it as.

This subject is what started my awakening to TTATT. That was ten years ago and their tactics haven't changed. Not one whit.

40

AGM 2014 - How are faders gonna hide in plain sight anymore?

by tootired2care in

so two big changes in the org were announced in the most recent agm.. local needs part is replaced by "how do you know the truth" where all members will tell their experience (oh what fun).

basic pioneer role 10 only hours a month required (see, jehovah lightens our load, therefore he loves only us)!.

it seems like they have really turned up the heat here.

Cadellin

I don't mean to be skeptical, but is there any way of getting evidence of the Basic Pioneer, 10 hour thing? I mean, it sounds absolutely cuckoo, no offense. If this is true, then this organization has finally passed its nadir, beyond which it is simply unrecognizable, a religion made of low grade plastic construction and no longer even related to the one that I left so many years ago that, illogical and deceptive as it was, at least stood for something.

8

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 10-05-2014 WT Study (WOMEN)

by blondie in

jw
friends

Cadellin

Wow, what pablum. Can the WT dumb things down any further? The WT is hiding behind their mind-numbing infantile prose to avoid ANY kind of controversial statement regarding submission or headship. It wasn't that long ago when an article like this would have at least a few paragraphs about women's "honorable" position of submission and silence in the congregation and in the home. Does that script about a woman remaining silent even appear in this article? This isn't just watered-down WT dogma, it's cowardly, too. I DON'T agree with the WT's stance on womenly submission, etc. but my point is that in past years, at least the WT was courageous enough to own it. Now it's like "don't ask, don't tell." We know their position on women's roles hasn't changed, but they've just lost the mojo to be honest about it. Pathetic.

207

Is the AGM today?

by hamsterbait in

jw
friends

anybody going or who can give us the noolite hot from the gb a$$?.

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Cadellin

Absalom, you rock! You are our hero of the day, son. Keep it coming!!!!

33

How Has Turning Athiest/ Agnostic Affected You?

by minimus in

jw
friends

many jws believed in god.

now many here, do not believe in a deity.

how has this affected you in your life?.

Cadellin

I'm much more tolerant and generous toward my fellow humans as an agnostic than I ever was a God-fearing JW. Weird, huh?

I'm sad that once my parents go, they will be gone, period, and that I will follow. The resurrection was a wonderful hope and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it. I have way more anxiety over our environment, because I know it's up to Homo sapiens to get us out of this mess and, as a species, we're not so great at long-range planning or sacrificing short-term benefits for long-term gains.

I'm able to assess the Bible's guidance and "rules" with a more pragmatic eye and have found that some things really are excellent to apply, like the Golden Rule. Others, by contrast, are nonesense. I still have admiration and respect for aspects of the Bible, particularly the OT stories, about which I believe people should at least have a working knowledge, since they have been a critical influence in Western thought.

63

w14 12/15-E Study Edition

by wifibandit in

click "premium download".

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pdf: http://bayfiles.net/file/1kv2k/uaqn2y/w_e20141215.pdf.

Cadellin

A quick skim shows the cultic rhetoric hard at work. A couple that stood out were (1) An exaggerated "Us v. Them" delineation, with the entire JW world lumped together as one undifferentiated mass of badness, in contrast to the JW world which is pure, wholesome and beyond questioning; (2) Strong invocation of fear as to the consequences of leaving the group; (3) the implication that there are no alternatives--everything is either this or that, and there's no room for contemplating other possibilities, in any context.

Moreover the study articles all follow EXACTLY the same template: The first few paragraphs outline a challenge or problem, then the middle section looks at a couple of Bible examples, usually at least one from the Hebrew scripts and one from the Greek, then the application is made pointedly to current member behavior, with the last paragraph mentioning something about Wonderful Benefits of Obedience. I mean, there's no straying from the formula, not even a little. And the legitimacy of the application of the Biblical examples to modern day behavior in terms of the actual "lesson" is a reach, in many cases. It's a clear manipulative device to control behavior.

Oh, wait--sounds like a high control religion.

45

Lying about Shunning! jw.org conceals the "truth"

by Skinnedsheep in

jw
friends

http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/shunning/ .

"those who were baptized as jehovahs witnesses but no longer preach to others, perhaps even drifting away from association with fellow believers, are not shunned.

in fact, we reach out to them and try to rekindle their spiritual interest.".

Cadellin

Of course they are being deliberately deceptive. They are presenting a limited or exceptional example while being silent on the broader, more realistic range of actual situations in which shunning would apply. The example--man with a wife and children--is probably the least hurtful example because of course his wife and minor children aren't going to shun him. In almost every other circumstance, a "former member" (and we know what that means, as has already been pointed out) would be shunned but good by everyone. And being profoundly immoral, as is also implied on JW.Org, is only ONE of many scenarios leading to DFing. This is a case of presenting the most acceptable public face possible while maintaining a very different (hidden) agenda.

The WT's pants are smouldering...