Nice catch, Hobo. I read that little blurb too and my crap alert went off. Meant to research it because it smelled suspicious and you got to it first. Thanks! I'm both surprised and not surprised at the dishonesty you've uncovered. Surprised that they haven't learned a thing from the Creation book debacle, which did so much to drive "honest-hearted ones" away from this organization. Not surprised because it's so much part of the warp and woof of intellectual dishonesty and scholarly speciousness that makes them who they are...
Cadellin
JoinedPosts by Cadellin
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June 2010 Awake! more duplicity.....
by Hobo Ken ini was up in my mum's house the other night (she and my father are still active jws) and saw the june 2010 awake!.
as i browsed through it i came to watching the world.
as i read the article on the "baby mammoth" i noticed that there seemed to be some important information missing, as well as some good old watchtower selective quoting.. bear in mind that devout witnesses would never question the organisation or suspect that an article could be misleading them far less go and research the information to check it's authenticity.. the article mentions the age of the animal at time of death (3 to 4 months) and the fact that it was well preservedin the ice and that it's airways and digestive systems were clogged with silt.. right at the end of the article they say that the "scientists were lead to believe" the animal "must have drowned".
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Was it EX JW literature / WT's or the BIBLE which woke you up? Post scriptures if any....
by EndofMysteries ini considered myself immune to ex jw stuff.
no amount of old watchtowers or anything would change me.
it was seeing treatment of others by elders and the bible itself, which woke me.
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Cadellin
What a great thread!
For me, it was the intellectual dishonesty. Once I actually started thinking about it, I couldn't reconcile the differences between the WT's version of history and the secular, scholarly version. There had to be a reason, a reason rooted in something real (not just doctrine). So I started researching various things--the 607v.586 issue, radiometric dating, historical evidence for asserting that we were currently experiencing the worst famines, wars and pestilence in all of human history. And you can figure the rest of the story. What made me so mad was how the WT glibly manipulates and misuses secular quotes. But I wasn't ready to leave yet. For that, it took the Creation book. The gross deception of that book and its representation of evolution broke this camel's (mermaid's) back.
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New here...
by hereiam! insorry if this starts off as a kind of a downer.. i am 29, and my husband and i have stopped going to meetings since last october.
we live in mexico and used to attend the english.
long story short, after realizing how many much we've been lied to we stopped going to our meetings, moved out of the territory, switched to spanish, and after a month of attending just vanished.
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Cadellin
Welcome, hereiam! Wow, you don't do things by half-measures, do you? I understand your quandry, since my family too is ultra-strong "truth-wise" and the urge to please them or at least, not lose them through shunning, is extremely difficult. Your situation is made even more of a struggle by the fact that you're pregnant (congrats on that--exciting!) and that's a time when, more than anything, you want your mom, sisters, etc. It sounds like you've got a good husband, who's also had his eyes opened, and that's a bonus.
My suggestion is to get good medical assistance. There are various anti-depressants that are safe for pregnant women (I know this first hand) and you probably should talk to your doctor about getting a prescription. I say that because losing your faith is a catastrophic emotional experience and some of us have needed both therapy and meds to get us over the hump. There's no shame in that--you've been traumatized through no fault of your own. As well, being preggers, your hormones are doing the samba and likely exacerbating the depression. You don't want to run the risk of adding to the trauma by incurring post-partum depression on top of everything else (I had ppd following my first pregnancy and it's no fun). So, speak to your doctor or other medical professional (you might want to track down a good psychologist) and see what can be done
You are among friends who care, who've been through what you're going through. Please keep us up to date as things progress...
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Stayed up all night, see it is a cult now.
by gutted ini really needed to find a place to write this as i don't believe i can talk with anyone else about my account, perhaps it is similar to a lot of yours.. last night for whatever reason i said i would go online and look up information on jws.
i have been raised as a jw all my life and baptized the last few years.
i looked at www.freeminds.org and www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com and couldn't believe how easily the whole of my lifes teachings were refuted.. i can't stop my brain from running, bs just in regards to theology alone (1914, paradise earth, celebrations etc.
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Cadellin
I might add one more "must read" to the list and that is Richard Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible
My, my, this mermaid had no idea her words would be cause such a rumpus! Convert anyone to atheism? Hadn't the least thought in that direction. Since our newbie Gutted has embarked on a voyage of discovery across uncharted waters, this mermaid was only offering up possibilities for additional exploration. For the thinking person, freeing onself from the intellectual blinders of the WTS is rather like being a kid raised on brussel sprouts who suddenly finds himself locked in the candy shop. There is this sudden jolt when you realize that you are free to make up your own mind...and read read read!!!
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Stayed up all night, see it is a cult now.
by gutted ini really needed to find a place to write this as i don't believe i can talk with anyone else about my account, perhaps it is similar to a lot of yours.. last night for whatever reason i said i would go online and look up information on jws.
i have been raised as a jw all my life and baptized the last few years.
i looked at www.freeminds.org and www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com and couldn't believe how easily the whole of my lifes teachings were refuted.. i can't stop my brain from running, bs just in regards to theology alone (1914, paradise earth, celebrations etc.
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Cadellin
Gutted: A Big Welcome to You!
You've already been given a ton of great advice. I might add one more "must read" to the list and that is Richard Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible? You will quickly discover that the WTS's biblical scholarship is about on par with their scientific... You have some great things going for you already--you're young and have your whole life in front of you and it sounds like your mom isn't going to shun you. That's huge, believe me.
But, still, be prepared for the fact that a certain amount of pain and shock is unavoidable. You will get through it. We've all walked through the fire (some of us still are) but it DOES get easier and easier...In the meantime, there are so many great posts here to read and shoulders to cry on, if need be.
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2010 - Year of the Governing Body?
by lepermessiah inlet me explain by what i am getting at without sounding like captain obvious!
i am actually excited about this since i think this could help assist a ton of people out of this organization!!.
i believe that the governing body is stepping up efforts to emphasize their unconditional rulership - every wt study article seems to make reference to their authority.
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Cadellin
I think JWoods is absolutely correct: Watch for the GB to suspend publishing the numbers of partakers. It's classic "theocratic strategy" to solidify/maintain power: Simply stop silent on anything that might be construed as negative or failing to conform with supposed prophecy. I suspect that they'll still take the count, but let the R&F know the real numbers? Nope.
This is what happened with the US KM a year or two ago, when they stopped publishing the full monthly report. Why? B/c, among other things, the pioneers average monthly hours were continually sinking, evidencing that pioneers as a group were floundering badly. Also the number of BS per publisher never moved, never so much as budged, as did the average BS per pio. Weird, huh? When there's all this growth? It's all about information control, people. If the WT doesn't print it, it doesn't exist.
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Violent TV will lead us to slaughter each other at the Big A!!--July 15th, 2010 WT
by sd-7 injuly 15th, 2010 wt, page 4, paragraph 9:.
in fact, it could well be that the numerous forms of violent entertainment popular today are conditioning the minds of many for the time when each man's hand "will actually come up against the hand of his companion.
" (zech.
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Cadellin
However, those individuals should keep in mind that by making such remarks, they are actually questioning Jehovah and his Son, not just the faithful slave class.'
This makes me furious--and at the same time, is so blatantly a control tactic that I don't know how anyone could miss it. Really???? We're questioning Jehovah and his Son???? So they're the ones who predicted 1975?? And they're the ones who predicted the literal generation of 1914 and then changed their minds in 1995??? And then changed their minds again a few years later?? And again last year???
This is such a great example of how the society demands the authority and power of being spirit-directed or representing God and yet avoids any of the culpability or responsibility. If you question them, why, you're actually questioning God. But if they're wrong, well, it wasn't God that was wrong, it was just over eager imperfect humans who never claimed to be inspired.
They're covered either way...
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Violent TV will lead us to slaughter each other at the Big A!!--July 15th, 2010 WT
by sd-7 injuly 15th, 2010 wt, page 4, paragraph 9:.
in fact, it could well be that the numerous forms of violent entertainment popular today are conditioning the minds of many for the time when each man's hand "will actually come up against the hand of his companion.
" (zech.
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Cadellin
Dmouse, do they offer any evidence or explanation?
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Jw's must be having a hay-day!
by AK - Jeff inall the earthquakes, mudslides, and now volcanic ash in the sky of europe grounding air-travel.. the end is nigh!.
jeff.
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Cadellin
My husband brought this up in response to my reading him a report from the NY Times about how maternal deaths have dramatically declined in the last 30 years due to better nutrition, more education for women, more health care providers, etc. (My rationale: If wars, famine, pestilence, etc. are worse now than ever before, how come the rate of women dying in childbirth or from related causes has declined in half, even as the total population has nearly doubled?). Check it out here.
He pointed out how there have been all these earthquakes in the last few months. "But wait," I said. "If Jesus' prophecy about the last days is true and the last days started in 1914, then we should see heightened earthquake activity consistently since that time, not just popping up 95 years later. So even if the last few months are an anomaly (and there's no evidence that they are), it still wouldn't fulfill the prophecy." Smart, huh?
IMHO, the prolonging of the "time of the end" to nearly a century is creating a huge problem for sustaining the idea that "times are worse now than ever before" simply because the impact of the traditional "proofs" like the Spanish Flu, WWI and WWII are becoming increasing diluted as they retreat into the past. Witnesses like to point to environmental devestation as proof, which is a growth problem, but the bald fact is that Jesus said nada about that and the only scrip they can use is Rev. 11:18 which only tangentally can be made to refer to it, and, in fact, if you have them follow the marginal reference, actually refers to ruining the earth with violence.
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1st Post-DF'd Encounter with JW in Ministry
by sd-7 ini was waiting for the bus this morning (which didn't come until i decided to drive, then it showed up, naturally, after i already got on the road) when a jw approached the two people next to me, offering a tract.
she showed them psalm 83:18 first--same old, same old.
but hey, at least i admire her courage in sharing the scriptures with people, even if that particular scripture is, apparently, more important than any message from the christ that could possibly be shared with people.
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Cadellin
It's pretty amazing, isn't it? I think you handled the situation just fine; yanking her chain probably wouldn't have made any difference and often just ends up being interpreted as "that's an evil apostate for you," thus reinforcing the indoctrination.
Examining own's beliefs without fear or restriction is at once exhilarating and terribly frightening. It's also really lonely; that's what I'm finding anyway (thank goodness for this place). We've set out on a journey that no one we know is willing to embark on. It's a process that leads to a kind of freedom, but the bonds don't come off without scarring. Still, it does get better, with time.