as with any course which is based on pure wishful thinking(which is the wt corporation based on) has different stages.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wishful_thinking.
some psychologists believe that positive thinking is able to positively influence behavior and so bring about better results.
this is called "pygmalion effect".
I think possibly an investigation of their tax exempt status could be a real morphing point.
''We all must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether or not they seem strategic from a human standpoint or not''.
With that sentiment, should something happen to their tax exempt status, I could suspect ;
''Sell everything you have, give us all of your money, you no longer need your material possessions, the GT has begun''
wow, what a disturbing study article this was!
this was by far the most difficult study that i ever had to sit through.
just take a look at what the article has to say about how blood should be viewed according to our conscience:.
this may have been discussed before.
the costs for using the assembly hall for a one day last saturday was $12,000 with another assembly for the other half of the circuit on sunday, which will ring up another $12,000.
if the assembly was for two days the friends might roll their eyes if it were announced the costs for the two days was $24,000.
i've just spent a big part of today watching interviews, debates etc with richard dawkins.
when i was a jw i used to hate this man with all my energy, i looked on him as the devil's offspring, he represented an idea that totally terrified me.
today i found myself saying i love the man.
Yup. Critical thinking skills are not acquired by listening to the Borg. Such skills are attained by rational logic and independent reasoning, which are not taught by the Borg. People like Richard Dawkins do an excellent job at explaining evolution, which adds to critical thinking skills.
Secondly on a personal note, someone I like to watch on TV is Joel Osteen. Such uplifting, moving displays on TV. Now that is Christian. Making human beings feel worthy, and not dumped on with guilt or fear at assemblies or conventions.
[cont...] at this point david and i had developed a great rapport.
not everything we talked about was "theology" .
i think its important to develop some sort of friendship along the way, in doing so, he was able to relax and not be on guard the entire time.
Saved_Jw;
You had a discussion with an MS at an assembly and he no longer believes the WT. True, you never know what shreds of doubt the rank and file have. Once you have these doubts, one has to come up with some kind of escape plan.
That is just it though. There are elders who even have doubts. One can even try fading, but in some situations fading is next to impossible. The more responsibilities one has the tougher the fade can be. Especially if you have wife and kids. A successful fade may take years and years and years.
i just was looking back at a group photo on social media from exactly one year ago.. there are 12 persons in it, and since last year 3 of those persons in that photo have been disfellowshipped, plus one more not in the photo.
so that's a total of 4 persons from my congregation of a little over 100 publishers.. unfortunately 3 are back at the meetings and taking the shunning, but one seems to be fully awake and has disappeared completely.. that's the most persons i recall being disfellowshipped in my congregation in such a short while.
usually it's like 1 every 2 or 3 years.. i wouldn't mind seeing more people leaving.. there are currently 3 persons who i wonder about.
just got home and received information from a source regarding london bethel: .
a bethel couple told my source that they are getting rid of about 20/25 bethelites every week and that if they are to go, they will get called in on a friday and given their leaving date.everyone is "on edge" and hoping that if they get the boot, they've got time to make alternative plans.. perhaps bethelites everywhere should apply this scripture, by looking for a job and accommodation now - and then just resign from their "vow of poverty" without giving advance warning.
(proverbs 22:3) "the shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself, but the inexperienced keep right on going and suffer the consequences.".
the faithful and discreet slave are free to look back now and make a mockery of whatever beliefs were previously held by jehovah's witnesses.. they are also free to make types and anti-types of some parts of scripture, and not of others.
they do that thing where they focus on one part so as to distract from the fact that they are doing the exact same thing with another part.. for example, in his talk featuring the new understanding of the "man with the secretary's inkhorn," geoffrey jackson goes on to say:.
we know in recent years we've been careful not to try and make types and anti-types of every aspect of what the bible says.
yeah, i was mean.
could it be that i was not encouraged to have non-jw's as friends, so i viewed them as insignificant?
could it be that i found it difficult to live up to "christian standards" and took it out on others?
true false - 8 questions1 jehovahs witnesses are christianstrue - we are the only true christians.
however, jesus is always secondary to yhwh or yahweh, who we for some reason call jehovah.2 jehovahs witnesses are creationiststrue, we are just not young-earth creationists3 jehovahs witnesses do not believe in doctorsfalse - of course we believe in doctors.
if we can believe in an invisible sky daddy, surely we can believe in the doctor standing before us in flesh and blood.
