just a moment ago i came across a (smaller) cult with quite a few similarities to the watchtower.. jw = cooneyites, two-by-twos, "the truth" (and more).
wbts = christian conventions (and more).
ct russell = william irvine.
Just a moment ago I came across a (smaller) cult with quite a few similarities to the Watchtower.
JW = Cooneyites, Two-by-Twos, "The Truth" (and more)
WBTS = Christian Conventions (and more)
CT Russell = William Irvine
TTATT = TTT (Telling The Truth, about "The Truth")
JWN = http://thelibertyconnection.info
JWfacts = www.tellingthetruth.info
What are your thoughts (on similarities etc)?
it would be interesting to have some present (stonewall?
) at these meetings to witness and record talk number three on the tms.. talk 3 - "what the bible says about homosexuality" (reasoning book p.368-369).
the reasoning book tells us in part:.
For anyone interested in an alternative scriptural perspective (detailed): http://biblehouseofgrace.com/same%20sex%20relationships.html
ok, at the risk of getting flamed, i have been out for over 20 years, and still love kingdom melodies.
i remember them for the good times, the conventions and assemblies, hearing the orchestral versions, imagining the orchestra playing.
some pieces were really nice.
It is sad, but necessary, to chuck out the honey because of the arsenic in it.
JW - but see the honey!
exJW - what about the arsenic?
JW - but see the honey!
exJW -
i found this recorded elder's talk (presumably genuine) quite disturbing in how he states that in order to maintain unity, jw's have given up thinking for themselves and passed over their thinking ability to the governing body.. "when you're baptized, your thinking is not your own anymore...your thinking is done for you...we carry out to the letter everything the society tells us to do..." .
his concluding statement "stop thinking for yourselves!".
there's the usual reference to the korah and those who challenged moses, but "you in the congregation are safe as long as you don't speak out against the elders and jehovah's organisation...".
As a caricature, this video seems to have succeeded by eliciting a strong response from a Borg defender on YouTube, by daring to verbalise the hidden message of the GB (Sanhedrin): "our followers are the 'thinkingest' people on earth because they let us think for them".
i found this recorded elder's talk (presumably genuine) quite disturbing in how he states that in order to maintain unity, jw's have given up thinking for themselves and passed over their thinking ability to the governing body.. "when you're baptized, your thinking is not your own anymore...your thinking is done for you...we carry out to the letter everything the society tells us to do..." .
his concluding statement "stop thinking for yourselves!".
there's the usual reference to the korah and those who challenged moses, but "you in the congregation are safe as long as you don't speak out against the elders and jehovah's organisation...".
*** g82 9/22 p. 18 Should I Be Afraid of What Others Think? ***
Many young persons let others do their thinking for them. Rather than deciding for themselves the best course, they follow the crowd.
*** g82 9/22 p. 18 Should I Be Afraid of What Others Think? ***
But when your peers see that you will do your own thinking and stand up for right principles, expect some problems. Why?
“The man [or, woman] of thinking abilities is hated.” (Proverbs 14:17) A young person who exercises his thinking faculties and refuses to conform to improper peer pressure is often disliked and ridiculed.
*** w56 6/15 p. 360 Getting and Giving the Thoughts of God ***
We usually believe what we want to believe, and one thing we like to believe is that we do our own thinking. Hence it is not too hard for clever propagandists to make us think their thoughts are ours. They plant the thought and nourish it, but do it so subtly that we think it is our own.
this was the last sentence my dad wrote to gb in his letter explaining why he is disassociating from jws.
it seems gb did not send copy of the letter to the body of elders!
sometime later two elders visited him to encourage him to rethink his decision.
Having taught against deathbed repentance (a change of heart) they could not avail themselves of it.
Fear of death, at the level described, is a scriptural confirmation of their captive state, in which they misled others too (Matt 23:15):
(Hebrews 2:15) . . .[that] he might emancipate all those who for fear of death were subject to slavery all through their lives.
(Matthew 23:15) . . .“Woe to YOU, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because YOU traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one YOU make him a subject for Ge·hen′na twice as much so as yourselves.
it's all about money these days in all the kingdom halls and changing title from the congregation over to the watchtower organization so the governing body and all their trusty aids can have a nice retirement.
who is going to provide for all the jws heading towards retirement age over the next five to ten years, men and women in bad health who must work because the watchtower through their salesmen (cos, dos) promised we all would be in god's paradise and "worrying about material things shows a lack of faith".. .
the governing body is showing they are worried about money because all they are talking about is "sign the secret envelope and obey the promise you made to donate each month!
The OP title reads like it belongs on a giant (uncle Sam style) poster, or on a billboard, on the road to a major convention.
i'm not fond of any religious fanatic.
islamic fundies can be downright crazy.
mormonism seems silly to me.
Personally I believe the minority of JWs are evil, and that the majority are forced into behaving in questionable ways due to peer pressure and bad associations (hanging out with the woe'ers of Matt 23:13-29).
In other words, the majority of JWs could be quite normal if their hearts were totally circumcised of religion (legalism, moralism, materialism, hypocrisy, sexism, supremacy, blindness, addiction, clericalism and hierarchical thinking).
this is my first time posting here, although i have been a visitor to it for around a year.
after doing a simple google search under "jehovah'switnesses" over a year ago, i found ttat.
i was deeply unhappy with the congregation and decided to educate myself, and boy what an education i have gotten so far.
Welcome airborne, and thank you for sharing and posting; especially your DA letter.
In my humble opinion, and from my personal perspective, this is the best DA letter ever, and on so many levels.
What are your thoughts of making copies available to every JW you know?
Greetings
Fernando
SEQ, Australia
i imagine drug addicts have a similar adiction.
you can not imagine life without a fix.
or was it we had addictive personalities?
I do believe so NHAH.
The same mechanics at work, at least in part.
That is one reason why it is hard to help family and friends that are still trapped.
