First of all, a huge thank you for this! I am horrified at the emotional manipulation. JWs will eat this up and be absolutely terrified at the bunker scene and then swoon at the last one. Of course, everyone would love to be part of that last paradise video, but wow--ach. Have to go.
Cadellin
JoinedPosts by Cadellin
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All 2016 Convention videos in English and all Talk outlines for download
by Watchtower-Free inall convention videos in english and all talk outlines for download.
http://avoidjw.org/2016-regional-convention/
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RUSSIA: Jehovah's Witnesses face possible liquidation
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2181.
24 may 2016. russia: jehovah's witnesses face possible liquidation.
by victoria arnold, forum 18. if prosecutors proceed with their threat to liquidate the jehovah's witness headquarters near st petersburg, thousands of local congregations across russia could also face prohibition of their activities and individuals could be vulnerable to criminal charges for expressing their beliefs, forum 18 notes.. the jehovah's witnesses' principal body in russia is under threat of dissolution as an "extremist" organisation after the deadline in an official warning from the general prosecutor's office expired on 10 may, forum 18 notes.
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Cadellin
If the state determines that such teachings are hate speech and detrimental to the well being of the state it has a right to limit such teachings
Stop and think about this. Do you really want "the state" liquidating groups they consider speaking hate? In particular, a dictatorship like Russia? Seriously? This is chilling; Russia won't stop with JWs. Freedom of belief, of religion and of speech are fundamental human rights that should not be curtailed except under exceptional and extreme circumstances. JWs have not engaged in any activity that meets that standard. That they teach what some may perceive as hurtful or disagreeable ideas or that they practice shunning does NOT mean that it's okay to liquidate them. Who is next? Buddhists? Scientologists? Jews? Gays and lesbians?I realize that I risk being branded a JW apologist by saying that--nothing could be further from the truth. I have nothing but bitterness for the religion. Instead, I do have a strong belief in inherent human rights that lie beyond the reach of any state.
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New ANTI-GAY video for Kids on jw.org
by ttdtt inhttps://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/one-man-one-woman-marriage/.
disgusting!.
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Cadellin
Little Rock Guy: By that standard, virtually anything that makes me feel bad about myself could be classified as inciting hate. I don't think it helps anyone's case to set the bar that low--and I'm NOT trivializing true hate speech or promoting homophobia by saying that. On the contrary. I do think, however, that we need to move past simplistic definitions of what constitutes hate speech.
ttdtt: How do you know I'm not? Something does not have to be necessarily classified as inciting hate to be disturbing, narrow-minded and simply erroneous, as that new JW video is.
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New ANTI-GAY video for Kids on jw.org
by ttdtt inhttps://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/one-man-one-woman-marriage/.
disgusting!.
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Cadellin
I wouldn't describe this as inciting hate; I do agree with the poster that speculated that the WT lawyers vetted it very carefully. BUT it is disturbing in that it promotes the old fallacy that you can pray the gay away. "People can change!" Yikes. -
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Did you participate in a Drama?
by Hecce ini am bringing this up because even it was a lot of work, for the majority of the friends this was a rewarding experience.
camaraderie, joking, costumes, props and when the time came the celebrity status of being in the drama.. back in the 50s and 60s, conventions could be as long as 8 days and from about 1966 the dramas became an integral part of the program.
we had one per day and the brothers looked forward to their presentation.
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Cadellin
I was a little girl when our congregation put on the drama of the Exodus. The entire congregation was involved--either speaking roles or extras--I mean, everyone. We had a couple of rehearsals a week and it was a HUGE deal. But so much fun--so much camaraderie. I have nothing but happy memories. Everyone had a job, and there was real room for being creative, either in doing the make-up or helping with costumes or the acting or whatever. There was a great sense of belonging.
It makes me sad that that is no longer part of the religion, that it's been replaced by videos. Unfortunately, most people probably wouldn't have the time to put into it now. But we did back then--I wonder how?
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Disturbing/Puzzling Skit at JW Function Last Night Plus Odd Choice of Music
by Cadellin inso i attended a fairly large jw gathering last night with my active, elder husband.
it was a good-by party for a former special pioneer couple who have been demoted to reg pios and have now moved to a larger city to find work.
anyway, there was music and skits.
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Cadellin
@Sir82 Yeah, I thought the same thing. But the sound system was such that you really couldn't hear much of the words, just the melody. So even if they did change the words, not sure it would've made a difference to anyone in the audience, since you couldn't really tell.
But I asked my husband about it later, since he was involved with the music/present at the rehearsal. It would have been a perfect chance for him to say that she changed the words but he didn't. He just said he asked her if she thought it was appropriate, given the lyrics, and she did so they went with it. Like I said, weird...
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Disturbing/Puzzling Skit at JW Function Last Night Plus Odd Choice of Music
by Cadellin inso i attended a fairly large jw gathering last night with my active, elder husband.
it was a good-by party for a former special pioneer couple who have been demoted to reg pios and have now moved to a larger city to find work.
anyway, there was music and skits.
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Cadellin
@TheOldHippie Huh? No idea what you're referring to. This post isn't about me. My point is that, well, yeah, it's just hard to figure out and certainly not what you would've seen when I was in, about a decade ago. Inconsistent with a lot of things.
@Gayle I don't know but I would guess not good. First they were kicked out of Brooklyn Bethel in one of the earlier rounds of downsizing, sent here to a depressed little town in the Rust Belt, but hey--at least they have the prestige of being Specials and getting a few $$ per month. Now? Nada. I don't really know them but my husband mentioned they were having a hard time adjusting. No surprise there.
The whole religion is just getting more and more surreal...or maybe it's my perspective as I move further and further away from the whole mess.
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Disturbing/Puzzling Skit at JW Function Last Night Plus Odd Choice of Music
by Cadellin inso i attended a fairly large jw gathering last night with my active, elder husband.
it was a good-by party for a former special pioneer couple who have been demoted to reg pios and have now moved to a larger city to find work.
anyway, there was music and skits.
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Cadellin
So I attended a fairly large JW gathering last night with my active, elder husband. It was a good-by party for a former Special Pioneer couple who have been demoted to Reg Pios and have now moved to a larger city to find work. Anyway, there was music and skits. One of the skits involved three young kids, maybe about 8 or 9 years old, dressed up as old folks--white hair, canes, etc. They start moaning about how it's been SO LONG...They've been waiting for SO LONG and now they are SO OLD!!! And then one of them pretends to see something in the distance and shouts, "There it is! There's the Paradise! I can see it at last! Oh, thank you, Jehovah!" They all join in with this last chorus. Weird and disturbing, to say the least. I looked around to see if I was the only one who saw the ironic "Truth" being essentially mocked here but--nope. Everyone clapped their heads off!
Second weird occurrence: An elderly sister (with a gorgeous voice) gets up and sings John Lennon's "Imagine." Now, I love the song but it is clearly an atheist anthem--not exactly what you'd expect at a JW function.
I am still trying to figure that one out...
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Hey ya'll! My first post. Please help. In need of advice/comfort.
by Stepford Wife inhey ya'll!
i have been lurking for years on this site and others but never had the courage to post anything.
actually i was afraid of posting on an apostate site in the event i was wrong.
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Cadellin
Hi, Stepford Wife:
I was you, about a decade ago. I was in exactly the same situation--good wife to a loving elder husband. We had a child (well, we still do! But our child was only about seven then). It wasn't blood that woke me up but starting to investigate the turquoise Creation book--actually tracking down original sources and reading them. Wow--what an eyeopener. The depth and breadth of their misrepresentation of sources was heartstopping. My entire family, along with my husbands, were and continue to be strong, zealous JWs. So my world basically fell apart.
Fortunately, my marriage didn't. My husband ran interference between me and the elders as I became inactive and faded. At one point, they wanted to meet with me after the meeting but during the closing song, my husband whispered to me to leave the KH the moment the prayer was done and wait in the car. Since then, no one has said boo about anything.
I should add, too, that my husband has never been removed as an elder. We moved to another state about six years after that incident and he was recommended for appointment in the new town. Our child is now 18 and not a JW, although still at home, and it doesn't appear that this makes any difference to my husband's status as an elder. So it must be very dependent on how much the body likes an elder as to whether he will be removed.
You cannot be d/f for being inactive, but if you answer the "loyalty" question wrong (Do you believe this is Jehovah's organization?) then you might be in line for some kind of sanctions, although I can't imagine a single response to a single question would trigger d/f-ing. Still, maybe it's happened to someone out there.
It is possible to hold a marriage together, but not easy. I've been lucky in having a wonderful husband and even though he is still deep in "The Truth", and knows my feelings on the whole canard, we maintain mutual respect and our marriage is stronger than ever. I give a LOT of credit to him, because he's balanced, reasonable and loving.
Welcome to the forum! I'm happy to answer questions. You'll find that it is far more common for a husband to wake up to the TTAT and the wife to remain "in" than the other way around (like with us!).
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Constant out-of-context quoting; how do Writing dept. cope with that?
by Anders Andersen ini am just wondering here: almost every single quote in jw literature for which a source can be found, is taken out of context..
personally, i have checked almost every quote in the 5-questions brochure, some on dating and the cross in reasoning book, and some in magazine articles i found interesting..
just checked the "they envisioned a universe subject to whims of gods" quote in the feb 2016 awake..
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Cadellin
I wondered the same thing when I was first waking up. I just could not fathom how anyone with (1) enough of an education so as to be able to write a publishable article, and (2) at least some degree of conscience could take quote after quote out of context. I realize that we're not talking about one person but about whole committees, which actually makes it even worse.
I think the writers conceptualize it as a case of the end justifying the means. Remember that these writers themselves are not seeking truth or questioning the basis of their beliefs. The whole "truth" belief system is Absolutely True. So filching a quote that isn't quite what the original writer intended BUT that supports The Truth is okay, not just because it furthers the cause of Truth but because, even if the original writer didn't intend for that quote to say what it does, if, by itself, it harmonizes with Truth, then it must be True.
Whew! I need a drink.