In response to Leo, the last SAD (fall 2010) had a demonstration where a family was discussing challenges the kids were facing to their integrity in school. The youngest, about 7, was worried because Valentine's Day was now Friendship Day and she needed to know how to explain why she wouldn't participate!! Too bad they didn't spend any time on explaining that one--the demo moved on to something else!! Friendship Day!! What evils are next???
Cadellin
JoinedPosts by Cadellin
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Fox News: 'Efforts to Replace Allegiance to God with Allegieance to Government'. Oh.. also, the reason the home book study were cancelled.
by whereami indon't you just love the fear mongering.. reason for why the in home book study was cancelled on minute 1:24.. .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgcrw993xck.
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What do you make of this - seems to be mixed message on higher education
by therevealer inawake!
february 2011 page 21. something better than gold wayne qu worked as an environmental scientist for the academy of sciences in china.
to advance his career, he and his wife, sue, went to europe in the 1990's, where wayne pursued higher education.
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Cadellin
I read the Witnesses' publication Life-How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? as well as a work by Charles Darwin on evolution. This reading, along with my own scientific research, convinced me that there is a Creator
Bah! There's no mixed message here. As has been noted already, this canard is meant to say that even people with graduate degrees in biology don't believe in evolution! And they learn the errancy of their thinking through such spiritual gems as Life, particularly when compared to such laughably amateurish works as--um, let's see, "a work by Charles Darwin on evolution? Would that be, by any chance, The Origin of Species, maybe? Which is only considered to be one of the most influential scientific works ever written! Which the society doesn't even want to name!
That they would even compare those two works--Life and The Origin--on the same plain is in itself a stunning abrogation of editorial authority. Darwin's Origin is erudite, thoughtful, based on long years of careful research and--oh, yeah--been proven correct after 150 years. Life is a carnival of quote mining and deceit and, having been proven utterly wrong and a thorough embarassment to any JW with half a brain, has now been discarded after 24 years (though it may still be in print, Witnesses are now encouraged to use the new brochures released earlier this year which, I have to add, are no improvement)
I have difficulty believing anyone who's made it through the rigors of grad school would fall for the poorly written, outdated, fallacious piece of nonsense that is Life. And he's done his own "scientific research"? Nope, I think this "experience" is either a composite or heavily, and I mean, HEAVILY embroidered.
JRK: Life does have a bibliography, the insertion of which was another stunner on the part of the editorial staff, since it allows readers with brains in full operating condition to actually check out the quotes--and discover them for what they are. That's what woke this mermaid up to the "truth."
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Latest apostate warning in Feb 15 2011 Watchtower
by dozy inandre, who had served jehovah for years, had the bitter experience of being led astray.
by apostate thinking.
he felt that having a quick look at an apostate web site would not be dangerous.he recalls: initially, i was attracted to the so-called truths that the.
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Cadellin
Andre, who had believed in evolution for years, had the bitter experience of being led astray by creationist thinking. He felt that having a quick look at a creationist Web site would not be dangerous. He recalls: “Initially, I was attracted to the so-called truths that the creationists spoke of. The more I examined what they said, the more I came to think that I was justified in changing my mind about the scientific basis of evolution and dropping out of school. But later, as I did some research on the creationists’ arguments against evolution , I became aware of how crafty the creationists were. Information taken out of context was their ‘strong evidence’ against us. Thus, I decided to start reading credible scientific publications again. Soon I realized how much I had missed.” Happily, Andre returned to his studies at University.
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Even Mermaids Get the Blues
by Cadellin infeeling particularly down today--got an email sent to me showing a pic of a friend of mine (not close but we knew each other well when kids) w/her aging parents, standing proudly beside her 11 year old daughter who had just got baptized (3 generations--parents, nearing 80, my friend late 40's and her 11 year old daughter).
they're all beaming wildly, dressed up in their best dist assem.
clothes.
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Cadellin
Coffehouse Girl, Hadit, leaving wt: Thanks so much for your kind responses. I'm feeling WAY BETTER today--that was just a momentary wave of bitterness that I have been able to shrug off. I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing from people who are also of the Conscious Class!!! Have an awesome weekend!
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Challenges Facing the Watchtower Org
by eric356 inive been thinking about the future of the watchtower organization and the challenges it faces in coming decades.
its difficult to address the issue without allowing personal feelings affect the analysis.
many people seem to think that the society will collapse fairly soon, based mostly on the fact that the person dislikes the leadership or cant understand how others can believe the doctrine.
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Cadellin
The WT fills a specific niche: high-commitment, high-control, high-social cohesion. Each member gives up a lot to be a member: time, freedom, worldly relationships. In return they are part of a special "select" group that is very tight knit. The high levels of commitment demanded increases social pressure to conform and keeps everything together. It also eliminates free-loaders who would want to be part of a social group but don't put much back in. Everybody reinforces the faith of everyone else. Those who doubt and may mislead others are segregated and removed.
That's the best description I've ever read of this religion. I think you've summed it up perfectly, especially w/respect to being "part of a special select group that is very tight knit." That's it--that's the controlling factor as to why people join and stay, or at least , a significant one. High commitment=high conformity. I think that's also why we probably won't see a JW-lite version, where birthdays, etc. are allowed. As has been mentioned, that dilutes the brand, leading to feelings of reduced commitment and less special-ness.
That said, I'm not sure where they'll go next because, as has already been noted, they'll have to do something in the years to come. I have a family member in Bethel who said that smaller English congs are merging all over the place, that "it's the trend now," and this was confirmed by another family member visiting friends in Canada. Yet its the English speakers, along with members in other developed nations, such as Japan and England, etc., that bankroll this business. And those are the countries where growth is flatlining-- the math isn't terribly hard. What's worse is that of those actually coming in and staying in, the majority are women who, organizationally, are useless (in WT land).
My prediction? Well, guess, really. I suspect we'll see a retrenchment, a hardening of the standards, a swerve to even more control and conservatism as a reaction to mounting losses. I'd point to the heightened rhetoric against higher ed and even partaking in such innocuous celebrations as "Friendship Day" at school, along with the recent clamping down on women who are translating sign w/o a headcovering and the 2009 DC mantra on "Imminent!" And it'll probably go on for some years. The growth in foreign languages here in the US and in Canada, and exploding growth in SA and Africa will keep the WT ball rolling for some time and they might have to rely more on electronic versions just to save money.
Eventually, after the ranks begin to seriously dwindle and still no big A--and I'm projecting 20 to 30 years--maybe the GB will resort to JW 2.0 I'm hoping by then I won't give a sh*t.
Cheers, folks, and Happy Friday
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phoebed story - part 2
by phoebed inokay guys, i have a little time on my hand ( a little).. as i was going through public school, the persecutions and ostracism remained.
it was a very difficult thing to be a jw kid in comunism.
parents could not "homeschool" like in us, which i am sure my mother would have done if she could.
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Cadellin
Phoebed--you get right back here, missy!! Don't leave us dangling...
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Friday Fun Post 11/12/10
by OnTheWayOut inpost something just for fun.
vids, photos, images, a quick joke.
it's friday, get your freak out.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqy7b4jpjmw&feature=fvw.
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Cadellin
This just makes me happy:
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"Before the Generation ... of 1914 Passes Away"
by doinmypart inthat quote must be embarrassing for the wts, so i figured i'd post it.
it appeared on the inside cover of every awake magazine until a few years ago.. a few weeks ago i attended the funeral of someone born in 1916, she was 94 years old.
i don't know anyone born before or on 1914.. governing body are you ashamed?
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Cadellin
What makes me furious is that they haven't changed their strategy at all--the 2009 DC was all about how Armaggedon is "imminent!" They said it over and over in virtually every talk--IMMINENT, IMMINENT, IMMINENT. I asked my husband "Okay, so what does Imminent mean?" It means, according to any good dictionary, "about to take place," or "immediate." So if a year goes by, does that mean they were lying? What about two years? Five years? At what point, I asked my elder husband, does "imminent" start to be a lie??? He gave me an aporian stare. (this is tangental but "aporia" is my new word. It means "speechless." )
Then, this year's DC--nothing. Zip. Not a word about "imminent."
I think the WT epitomizes the worst kind of jerk-off, sadistic rhetoric.
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Biblical Prophecies written BEFORE fulfillment
by brotherdan insatan and nvl recommended that i start this thread.
i'm not sure anyone will have interest.
but one of the things that proves to me that the bible is accurate is the prophecies that were written before the fullfillment, in detal.
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Cadellin
Leo, you're awesome! Thank you for sharing this information.
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Even Mermaids Get the Blues
by Cadellin infeeling particularly down today--got an email sent to me showing a pic of a friend of mine (not close but we knew each other well when kids) w/her aging parents, standing proudly beside her 11 year old daughter who had just got baptized (3 generations--parents, nearing 80, my friend late 40's and her 11 year old daughter).
they're all beaming wildly, dressed up in their best dist assem.
clothes.
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Cadellin
CHG--thanks for the cheering words. You are right--pitures can lie and I happen to know the hostility and cold-heartedness that this family has displayed to each other over the years. Still, I feel so bad for this sweet little girl who's only doing what she's been told every single day of her short life is the ONLY right thing to do.
Yes, I am glad to be of the "conscious class." Thank God for you and everyone on this site...