Jankyn

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Posts by Jankyn

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  9

  What's with the third person ?

  by Bang in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  has everyone noticed that the wtbts are always talking about jws like some kind of anthropological observer, rather than using "we" or "us".

  a quick look at their website and you can see the language.

  there's no "we", it's all "them", so i suppose when they get it wrong again it was "them", not "us".. when confronted with blame they can just hang them out to dry - whoever they are.

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  Jankyn

  I'd attribute it to the generally immature writing style used by the WT. As I've noted before (in the posts about agentless passives--"It has been said"), the WT writers use many stylistic devices common to inexperienced writers who want to sound more authoritative. The use of the third person is assumed by many inexperienced or naive writers to convey a certain weightiness to their words. These writers tend to think that anything personal is less authoritative and therefore less credible, so they'll often go to great lengths to avoid using the first person.

  Just another example of why the WT Writing Department would probably flunk my freshman composition class.

  Of course, they could also be writing in this fashion to sound more "God-like." I'm sure Jah would always refer to the JWs in the third person!

  Jankyn, self-proclaimed grammar dork
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  13

  Question for JWS: What About Graveside Visitation?

  by Room 215 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's a question for those who keep current with ever-changing jw policy: what is the wtbts's current policy with regard to visitation of gravesides, bringing flowers, etc.

  by widows, widowers, grieving relatives.

  it used to be something of which they took a dim view, and impugned the spirituality of anyone who made a practice of it: ``let the dead bury the dead,'' and all that.

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  Jankyn

  There's one family in my old congregation that takes this "let the dead bury the dead" thing so far that they don't even buy headstones or grave markers. The only way you can tell where their family is buried is by the vast expanse of grass. (It's next to my family plot).

  Jankyn
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  53

  Gay Pride Week: Who's Celebrating & How?

  by Fire Dragon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how many of us xdubs are glb or t?

  (gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender).

  this weekend i'll be celebrating with friends and "family" over burgers and beer!

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  Jankyn

  We've already had our celebration--Freedom Fair--here in Sacramento, and I'm too old and nervous around crowds to go to SF. So we'll probably go see "Scooby Doo" this weekend and just generally have ourselves a gay old time!

  Jankyn

  Edited by - Jankyn on 27 June 2002 14:51:8
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  20

  "It has been said..." in the AWAKE!

  by Nathan Natas in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  awake!

  awake!

  awake!

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  Jankyn

  The phrase "it has been said" is what we English teachers like to call an agentless passive construction. It is a great way to (1) avoid taking responsibility for what you say and (2) avoid providing documentation for your sources. It is my personal mission in life to stamp out agentless passives in the work of all freshman English students.

  The consistent use of this phrase in WT publications makes absolutely laughable the claim that reading them provides the equivalent of a college education. Furthermore, I can pretty much guarantee that the entire Writing Department would fail my First Year Composition class--and that's without taking content into consideration.

  Jankyn, red-pen toting persecutor of all students who begin essays with the phrase "Throughout history..."
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  19

  July 8 Awake! in Praise of Police

  by Room 215 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have you seen the july 8 awake!

  in praise of police?

  is it just me, or does this example of jw duplicitous doublespeak boggle your mind as well?

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  Jankyn

  Are JWs still considered to have disassociated themselves if they join a police department? What about corrections work, or security companies?

  Jankyn

  Who Would Jesus Disfellowship?
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  13

  Shunning as a Tool

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  shunning: .

  the illusion of power to a powerless person is a drug.

  but the son, because he was not baptized, was not disfellowshipped.

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  Jankyn

  What struck me about this essay was the way he pointed out how victims of shunning cooperate in their own abuse. This has certainly been the case with my father, df'd more than 30 years ago. Just recently, while visiting, we ran into a JW we've known for years. While my mother and I stopped to chat, my dad walked off a bit and just stood waiting patiently. Now mind you, he's known this woman since he was a boy, grew up with her kids, etc., yet because he's been told he's disfellowshipped, he cooperates with her shunning him.

  I wish I'd said something--but I'm in that limbo-land of trying to avoid being "cut off" myself. And I guess I'm just not that well yet.

  Jankyn

  Who Would Jesus Disfellowship?
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  42

  Watching my parents age and die.....

  by LDH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just posted this on teejay's thread, but in case some didn't read that thread i will repost it here, the enhanced version, because i believe it deserves its own thread.. recently, my parents visited with me.

  (the great apostate, can you believe it?).

  technically, they were here to visit my kids and husband, as i am df'd [8>].

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  Jankyn

  Struck a nerve here, too. I recently attended the funeral for my aunt, who was the first one in my family to become a JW back in the late forties. She'd been disfellowshipped in 1979 (never bounced back from the '75 fiasco).

  One of the things that struck me (among many--dealing with a JW family carries all kinds of nasty little awakenings) was the fact that all of them (my parents' generation) are getting old. These are the ones who were promised that they'd never grow old and sick, never die. So now they're facing declining health with no resources.

  One aunt is nursing her stroke-debilitated husband strictly on what social services can provide--they never saved for the future and often changed jobs so they could "go where the need was greater." After all those years of pioneering and service, where are their pensions? Where is the support from the congregation? My mother is angry because people in the congregation don't even visit to encourage them.

  Of the twelve cousins in my generation, ONE is still a witness--and of her two kids, ONE is still a witness. This crap can't end fast enough for me.

  In the meantime, I have to find a way to help my parents, who are facing illness with no resources. And this on top of our roller-coaster relationship--if they've been to an assembly, or, Heaven forbid, had a recent WT article on homosexuality, I'm not good enough to talk to...

  It gets to me. It's just so frustrating. On those occasions when the WT mask slips for just a moment and my parents will just be people, I remember why I love them so much. Then their "Christian personality" comes back, and I almost wish I was an orphan.

  My heart goes out to you, Lisa.

  Jankyn
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  13

  Bumper sticker ideas!

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am going to put out some bumper stickers at a minimal cost to those who are interested.

  any ideas for a good slogan on the silentlambs/pedophile issue?

  anyone up for creating the graphics?

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  Jankyn

  Who Would Jesus Disfellowship?

  Jankyn
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  23

  If You Can't Face A Witness Funeral Again..

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i posted recently about how i attended a humanist funeral for my pal knocker john.

  no prayers, no hymns, just a natural goodbye that, in itself, contained a healing element that somewhat counteracted our feelings of grief.. then i think back to the funeral of my dad in the 80s.

  it was, quite simply, nothing more than a commercial for the witness religion.

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  Jankyn

  I'm with the folks suggesting a private memorial service for those who'd like one.

  My aunt, disfellowshipped for 20+ years, recently died. Of course, the JW family members refused to go to the funeral at her church, but had a graveside gathering at which we were all invited to share our memories of her. What I found intriguing is the way the JWs all shared memories of those 20-odd years ago, when my aunt was a Witness. It was as if her life stopped for them when she was disfellowshipped. (Oh, I guess it did).

  Jankyn
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  2

  Dateline showing in Arizona 9:00 pm PST (12 EST)

  by stocwach in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it will be interesting to get everyone's input before i actually watch the show (the lakers game is preceding dateline here on the west coast, whereas the lakers game is following dateline on the east coast.

  )

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  Jankyn

  Actually, it's after the KINGS game.

  Jankyn
  (Hopeful Sacramentan)