I'm at work so I can't post it but the reasoning book has a whole section on cults and has an outline of the qualities of a cult.
doublelife
JoinedPosts by doublelife
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13
Has the wts ever declared what they consider constitutes a cult?
by Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice. inblondie perhaps?
has the wts ever put in print what in their opinion is a cult?
a bold move on their part to be sure, but definitely within the scope of their brashness.. cheeses..
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A new religion?
by doublelife ini'm not sure how to post a link so i copy and pasted the article below.. .
http://www.examiner.com/x-4908-twilight-examiner~y2009m4d2-twilight-series-spawns-religion-edward-cullen-is-real-members-should-read-the-books-like-a-bible.
how far is too far in our twilight series fandom?
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doublelife
I'm not sure how to post a link so I copy and pasted the article below.
How far is too far in our Twilight series fandom? With newspapers gaggling over film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson's choice of wardrobe and hairstyle on a near-daily basis (though I'll give some of them credit, lately - see here), a readership of Stephenie Meyer's hit series that has reached over 30 million, the film reaching the number one spot for the year (see here), and children running around biting other children in the name of Twilight (supposedly - see here), we have to step back and wonder, when is our fandom getting to be too much?
Pillow Biters, one my favorite Twilight blogs, is reporting that the so-called Cullenist religion might be going "overboard to a realm that would make Mormon mom Stephenie Meyer cringe."
Cullenism, as a term, stems from the name of the wildly popular characters Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson in the film adaptation) and his family (Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Emmett), fictional vampires from the series, who come into and change the life (pun) of one Bella Swan (portrayed by Kristen Stewart in the film), whose narration of the story takes us through a very suspenseful and winding few thousand pages at the edge of our seats. I love Twilight just as much as the next person, but is it possible for the devotion to have gotten out of hand on this one?
These Cullenists believe "[j]ust like any other religion," that there is some spirituality to be had in the Twilight series, forming rules and principles upon which to base their tenets. Their creed, say the Cullenists, includes a base set of beliefs that "Edward and the rest of the Twilight characters are real," that "[t]he Twilight series should be worshipped," and that "[i]f you are good in life, you will be bless[ed] with eternity with the Cullens." Other than that, say the Cullenists, there "is not a limit to what you can believe in when it comes to the Cullenism religion . . . we will accept any other Cullenism beliefs you may have." Cullenists are also expected to read some of the books on a daily basis, "like the Bible" and make a pilgrimage to Forks.
While religion and spirituality are a first-hand and very personal experience, and others who formulate their own principles and guidance to help them maneuver through and stay afloat in this challenging, frustrating, and sometimes depressing thing we call life are often praised for their individualism and bravery, the Cullenists might be stretching it a little.
It is one thing, in our fandom of the series, the film, its cast, etcetera, to spend inordinate amount of time, say the fans, on reading, re-reading, discussing, and watching things about the series, but it is a whole other to devote the core of one's faith to a set of fictional books and films, don't you think?
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Hello World...Mr. Monday Night here!!!
by Mr. Monday Night inhello world...mr. monday night here!!!.
i'm a newbie and i've been reading posts here for quite some time and i decided to join this network full of lovely people who understand where i come from.
i was never baptized as a jw nor do i see myself being baptized.
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doublelife
Hello!
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I feel a lot better now
by doublelife inmy dad's funeral was last saturday.
i won't go into details about it cause it's over with and i want to move on.
but, i'm feeling a lot better about things.
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doublelife
My dad's funeral was last Saturday. I won't go into details about it cause it's over with and I want to move on. But, I'm feeling a lot better about things. I did a lot of praying about it and even wrote a letter to my dad. I know a lot of people on here don't believe in God and I respect that but I do and I believe that my dad is in heaven. Last night, I had dinner with my family and a lot of questions where answered. It turns out that my dad was crazier than we all thought. Again, I don't feel like going into details but there were a lot of things in my dad's house that made me and my family draw the conclusion that when my dad killed himself, he probably thought he was going to another dimension or that aliens were going to take him somewhere. Knowing all of this has helped me to not feel so guilty. I realize that my dad had his own reasons for killing himself and it had nothing to do with me. Of coarse, I still miss him and the pain of losing him still hurts.
On a happier note...
I had lots of fun at the acting workshop which I went to two days before finding out about my dad. I participated in a couple of scenes and got some good feedback. I haven't been able to officially sign up for the class because of the situation with my dad but as soon as I'm able to I'm definitely going to sign up. And I know which part I'm playing in the indie movie. I'll be a college student visiting my mom one weekend with my college friend. I don't want to say too much yet but I do have a few lines and I can't wait to film it.
Oh, and this morning there were witnesses my my hall in my apartment complex. I saw them as I was leaving to get something to eat. I had no choice but to stay gone for at least an hour because I didn't want to face them. I couldn't have acted like I wasn't at home because they know what my car looks like. I felt a little sad because the ones who were there were the ones I used to consider my friends. I hated feeling like I had to avoid them. And what is weird is that seeing them made me feel a little guilty for not being out in service with them. I wonder how long it'll take for that to go away. It's amazing that I can think logically about it but the guilty feelings are still there. I thought about calling the apartment manager on them because we have a no trespassing sign on our complex. But I didn't think about it til I saw them leaving. Now I know what everyone else feels like when they try to pretend they are not at home or how return visits or bible studies feel when they leave because they know the witnesses are coming at a certain time and they have to wait for them to leave before they can go back home. What a waste of time.
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The "Truth" Is A Huge Waste Of Time!
by minimus inmy mother still has hope i'll come back to the "truth".
i think back at the utter boredom i suffered week after week for years sitting through the dull spiritually edifying meetings.
i never understood why people would want to sit there only to hear repetition and more repetition.
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doublelife
elder-schmelder said, "I find myself wasting the same amount of time reading this website and all of the other info that I can get about it."
I feel the same.
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Things you would like to do that you havent yet done
by carpediem inas i am new this may have been asked before.
but it is something i have been thinking about since i left the religion.. .
things i havent yet done but would like to do include:.
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doublelife
Celebrate Christmas
Celebrate my birthday
Celebrate every other holiday I haven't been allowed
Become a famous actress
Volunteer for a good cause
Donate to something other than the WTS
Travel the world
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Why are they so obsessed with satan?
by doublelife inmy whole family went over my aunt's house for dinner and my aunt showed me the program for my dad's funeral.
it made me so mad reading it.
it says nothing about my dad and the back page has a few paragraphs glorifying satan.
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doublelife
My whole family went over my aunt's house for dinner and my aunt showed me the program for my dad's funeral. It made me so mad reading it. It says nothing about my dad and the back page has a few paragraphs glorifying satan. Of coarse I couldn't complain without telling everyone I'm an apostate so I settled for complaining over the grammatical errors. Looking at the schedule, it shows the service will begin and end with a song. I'm not going to sing. I didn't realize they were going to take it that far. I'm pretty sure all the women are going to pretend we're at a kingdom hall and wear dresses. I'm thinking of wearing a pair of black pants instead, just to piss them off. If they have something to say about it, I'll just tell them that this isn't a kingdom hall and my dad was not a witness so it shouldn't matter that I'm not in a dress. I thought I would post what was written on the back page, complete with grammatical errors and all, so you can see what I'm dealing with.
"Emotional illness is so unpredictable and painful. When a loved one suffers from it we all suffer. Sometimes there seem to be no way to free ourselves from this curse. All that is left is to hope and endure.
We will now look foreword to the resurrection when all those in the memorial tombs will hear Jesus' voice and come out.(John 5:28)
We will choose to remember all the good things about our dear brother's life. We know he loved us all and was always willing to help when he could. How we wished we could have helped him more! The reason our brother is gone is Satan fault. He has been trying to destroy all from the beginning. It now must be our resolve to warn as many people as possible what a wicked, evil, no named person he is with only a title for him to be known by. How wonderful it will be when he is destroyed forever and our Great God Jehovah will "wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning no outcry nor pain be anymore."(Rev.21:4)
Sometime we go through life worrying about what job we will have, how much money we can make, what kind of car we will drive, where our next vacation will be or, how much or what kind of material things we will collect. All of this is futile since this system of things will soon be destroyed along with Satan and his demons. What we all need to do now, while we still can, is "put off every weight and the sin that easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."(Heb.12:1)
As it is written "may our love abound yet more and more with accurate knowledge and full discernment, that you may make sure of the more important things."(Phil. 1:9 & 10)"
You know, it's pretty pathetic that this mentions satan more than it does the person who died. Even my husband thought it was too extreme and was making fun of it. On our way back home I told my husband that it makes me mad that everyone assumes he DA'd because of his mental problems and that he may have had good reasons for not wanting to be a witness. Then he got condescending and said, "He wasn't in his right mind. If I told everyone I was Santa Claus, that doesn't make it true." I just rolled my eyes at him and told him that analogy is not the same thing and doesn't make sense. While I was over there my uncles where talking about how they never expected to retire in this system and if they had of know, they may have done things differently. At one point, I was able to express some anti-jw talk. They got on the subject of it being hard to find non-violent entertainment. I made the comment that you can't even read the bible and escape violence. It was so funny to see everyone agree at first. My cousin even admitted to being scared of the burning bush story when she was a kid. My other aunt talked about how it was hard to teach her grandkids the story of Cain and Abel and explaining how one could kill their brother. All I did was make one comment and everyone went with it and then they realized they we speaking negatively about the bible and tried to backtrack. One of my uncle was like, "Well, there's nothing wrong with teaching your kids the truth." My other uncle said, "The bible story pictures were provided through Jehovah's channel so it can't be that bad." At least I was able to find a way to amuse myself.
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Giving *deserving ones* Jehovahs *undeserved kindness*
by OnTheWayOut ina youtuber, 21crosscheck21, has an excellent point.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jlsfmbtt7e.
the kingdom ministry, december 1993, page 7 says:.
"we want to give *deserving ones* the opportunity to learn of jehovahs *undeserved kindness* and the kingdom hope.".
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doublelife
Reading that km post by Open mind brought back all those memories of ask strangers for donation money. I can't believe I actually did that. Especially in my territory. Everyone was dirt poor. It always embarrassed me.
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My dad's funeral is this Saturday
by doublelife ini just need to vent about something.
as i've mentioned before, my dad was da'd when he died so he's not allowed to have a witnesses funeral.
so what does my family decide to do without even asking me?
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doublelife
Snoozy: The elders didn't have to approve it. The funeral is not going to be in a kingdom hall. It's at a funeral home but my uncle is taking it upon himself to do the funeral talk.
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My dad's funeral is this Saturday
by doublelife ini just need to vent about something.
as i've mentioned before, my dad was da'd when he died so he's not allowed to have a witnesses funeral.
so what does my family decide to do without even asking me?
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doublelife
No, he wasn't married. But there's not really anything I can do. Arrangements have already been made and the funeral is in two days. As far as who's paying for the funeral, that's another thing that makes me mad. My dad didn't have life insurance in mine or my brother's name. But, my grandma has life insurance on him with herself as the beneficiary. I thought that would pay for the funeral but it turns out that my aunt decided to go to my dad's bank and take the money out of his account to pay for the funeral. How can she even do that? I didn't know that was legal for her to do. We don't even have a death certificate yet to prove to the bank he is dead. She said that when we get the death certificate then the insurance company will pay my grandma and my grandma will then pay back the money they took out to pay for the funeral. It's not like there is a lot of money to fight over but that's not the point. I don't appreciate them making all of these decisions without me.