Jankyn

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Posts by Jankyn

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  156

  Reveal something interesting that we didn't know about you

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  ok, i'll start with myself.

  i'm a nut job, hey i bet you never knew that !!!

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  Jankyn

  This is one of the bestest threads ever!
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  29

  "it's been said....."

  by bonnzo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  an elder in my hall prefixes his sentences with this phrase: "its been said...", usually followed by some ridiculous bullshit; an example: "it's been said that mans greatest accomplishment has been the worldwide preaching work".

  i guess all scientific and medical advances are secondary.

  anyway, his last one was this: "it's been said that by reading the awake magazine one can get the eqivalent to a college education.

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  Jankyn

  "It has been said..." = tactic to avoid actually citing a source, making a claim of fact, and taking responsibility for the writer's thesis. Also, an instant "F" in any writing class that I teach. Also a frequent, lazy-ass tactic used by the Writing Department in WT literature.

  Other rhetorical offenders (and I'm soooo glad that readers of this forum pay attention to such things):

  "Throughout history..." (Used to avoid giving specific examples and to lend the air of historical authority to a weak claim.)

  "Scientists have found..." (Which scientists? Using which methods? What studies? With what limitations? Published where? Peer reviewed? This is also a very sneaky way to avoid actually backing up a claim of fact.)

  Feel free to add more. These are just the worst offenders, in both WT publications and freshman comp papers.

  Jankyn
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  13

  Was it frowned on to plan vacation during the Circuit Overseers visit?

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have noticed in my hall, and others, that to plan a vacation or to be away during any of the upcoming co's visits was frowned upon.

  it was said you weren't being responsible and were disregarding the counsel to make that a week of "special activity.".

  sometimes, it is not know when a co will next visit.

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  Jankyn

  ROTFLMAO, Gary! You're a hoot.

  No good JW would intentionally plan a vacation during the CO or DO visit. Once my aunt and uncle had a trip to Hawai'i planned far in advance that turned out to coincide with the CO's visit--and uncle was an elder!

  As I recall, after a great and tearful discussion, they cancelled their trip. Only got about half their money back, and had to start saving again for their once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
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  156

  Reveal something interesting that we didn't know about you

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  ok, i'll start with myself.

  i'm a nut job, hey i bet you never knew that !!!

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  3. 
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  Jankyn

  I write lesbian Star Trek: Voyager fan fiction for fun.

  http://www.ralst.com/BloodFever.HTM

  Yep, total geeky girl dyke.
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  22

  Fictional representations of Jehovah's Witnesses

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wonder if anyone has ever compiled a list of references to jehovah's witnesses in novels and other works of fiction.

  i have been reading about research into mormonism focussing on how mormons have been represented over the years in works of fiction.

  a similar project with jehovah's witnesses would be really fascinating.

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  Jankyn

  Slimboyfat,
  

  Here's the link to my original post about By Way of Water:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/38252/1.ashx

  I think the author must have been raised around JWs enough to know how things work.

  Jankyn
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  27

  NEW INK!!!

  by RichieRich in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, i went to my friendly neighborhood tattoo parlor today, and recieved my second and third (or 19th and 20th - depending on how you look at it) tattoo.

  the chest is an extremely sensitive area, and so i was very aware that i was alive for the majority of the time.. oh, birds are often seen as a symbol of freedom, happiness, and arriving safely.

  bones show regret, loss.. .

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  Jankyn

  Hey, Richie. Good to hear from you, and those are nice tats.

  Just remember, though, as you're inking, that what looks like a Tiger today will look like a Shar Pei when you're my age! (chuckle)

  Hope all's well with you. Check in more frequently, dear. You're loved here.

  Jankyn
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  22

  Fictional representations of Jehovah's Witnesses

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wonder if anyone has ever compiled a list of references to jehovah's witnesses in novels and other works of fiction.

  i have been reading about research into mormonism focussing on how mormons have been represented over the years in works of fiction.

  a similar project with jehovah's witnesses would be really fascinating.

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  Jankyn

  By Way of Water by Charlotte Gullick
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  41

  What ended your first relationship?

  by Dune in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm in a relationship now and its my first serious one.

  she keeps telling me that she's scared because she believes i'll eventually get bored with her and start wondering how it feels like with other women.

  so she wants me to hook up with other girls when she goes out of the country for the fall semester.. personally i dont want to, but this is making me wonder, in the average person's first ,serious relationship, whats the cause of the breakup?

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  Jankyn

  She got baptized and figured out that what we were doing would get her df'd if we ever got caught. That was that.
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  The Truth Book

  by LisaRose in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just finished reading "the truth book", escaping a childhood of abuse among jehovah's witnesses, by joy castro.

  it's very well written.

  it's about a young girl who lived hell on earth (her jw stepfather, beat starved and molested her).

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  Jankyn

  We've had a couple of threads on that book...you're right, it's a good one. If you liked that, try Have You Seen My Mother? by our own Bryan Lee McGlothin. I'd say these are the two best of the JW memoirs.

  Jankyn
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  80

  The real impact of "apostate" sites

  by dozy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  in a recent discussion with a couple of district overseers and other heavies , the topic of the internet and apostate sites came up.

  i asked what impact these were making , numerically , among jws.

  the prevailing view was that , numerically , there was negligible impact.

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  Jankyn

  Dozy said:

  (3) Frankly , most JWs are almost completely disinterested in doctrine and the history of the WTS , which most "apostate" sites focus on. For them , it is a way of life and such matters are only of a vague academic interest and any objections are easily explained away.

  I think this is truer than I ever realized.

  There are a handful of wannabe "Bible scholars" who are really into the doctrine, and a handful of "true believers" who keep up-to-date doctrinally. These folks are the most likely to become apostate, because they actually pay attention to what the WTS says.

  I was one of them as a kid. I struggled to understand and I wanted to believe. When it failed to make sense, I couldn't help myself but point out the inconsistencies.

  I think these are the types most likely to be "spiritually endangered" by sites like this. They're more likely to do independent research on doctrinal topics to satisfy their intellectual curiosity and spiritual thirst. And they're the ones the WTS really doesn't want to lose, because they produce results in the ministry and do a lot of the work. They're the active, faithful "sheep." That's why the WTS is so afraid of the internet.

  But over time--and after talking to a number of "former" JWs who claim to "still believe it's the Truth" or who think that "JWs are closer to the truth than anyone else"--I suspect that the vast majority of the rank-and-file aren't disturbed by the doctrinal changes and "new light" that makes me so crazy. It's not just that they don't notice; it that they don't care. As long as the Society assures them that they're on the right side, they don't even think about the details.

  I'd certainly put my mother in that category. She prides herself on her "Bible knowledge," but she can't go beyond a few basic texts. She can't explain, from the Bible, why she believes what she does. She just knows she does.

  My über-JW aunt, on the other hand, prides herself on her Bible knowledge. I actually think her belief in the "Truth" is not as strong as my mothers, because she expects it to make sense. If she ever gets on a site like this one and stays long enough to have some of her beliefs challenged, she probably won't be able to bear the cognitive dissonance.

  Perhaps it's just that you have to be "cognitive" before you can have "cognitive dissonance."

  In a nutshell, though, I think the guys Dozy's quoting in the original post are half-right. The number of people leaving probably hasn't changed much. But as other posters have pointed out that former JWs who find these sites may be less likely to go back, and new studies who find these sites are less likely to continue. I also think that people who expect logic and scholarship from the WT (and some do!) who "stumble" onto these sites will quickly become ex-JWs--and they will fall into the category of "apostates" as far as the WTS is concerned.

  That's why they're concerned. They don't worry about DF'ing for fornication and smoking. They worry about apostates, because that's where the threat to their power comes from.

  Jankyn