It also takes away the ability of individual conscious elders to teach their groups reason and help them develop a real conscience. Now the book study is done in front of the entire congregation, I believe on a rotating basis. The one-on-one leadership is gone.
Mad Sweeney
JoinedPosts by Mad Sweeney
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35
Getting rid of the Book Study - a way to isolate the JW?
by skeeter1 inthe book study meeting was cancelled a while back.
the watch tower said that it was to provide for a family study night and high gas costs.
hmmm.. i thought about the cancellation of the book study meeting after listening to another pastor discus his mega-churchs dependence on small circle groups.
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Why So Many Young People Are Leaving The Watchtower
by Jeremy C ini have been giving a lot of thought to the young people who are leaving the watchtower organization in recent years.
last night, i was reading the thread posted by jwfacts a while back in which he provided some statistics and graphs showing the rapidly declining growth in the watchtower.
one factor that was discussed at length was the high number of young people who do not stay in the organization.
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Mad Sweeney
in-name-only JWs
I prefer the term: JW in name only, with the acronym: J-Winos
Jeremy, great thread. To check your PMs, you have to check them twice. The first time doesn't work. If you go back to them a second time, the message will usually open. Sometimes it takes a third try. Eventually they open up for you. Also, if using IE9, you may try compatibility mode.
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Freshly dead JWs were NOT living "in the time of the end"!
by Nathan Natas ini picked this thought up elsewhere, and it's been worming its way through my brain.... a friend of a friend was notified not long ago that one of his jw peers since childhood had died.
in itself, this is not too remarkable, because these guys are now into thier 60s, and mortality certainly does begin to raise its ugly head at about that time in one's life: either your friends die and leave you, or you die and leave them.. but the question came up, "can we say that roger, personally, was living "in the time of the end" if the end didn't come while he was alive?".
it seems obvious that poor dead roger was not living in the time of the end.. the question that flows from this is, "am _i_, personally, living in the "time of the end"?.
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Mad Sweeney
marking
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Discussion? what's that?
by PSacramento infyi:.
http://cdn.twentytwowords.com/wp-content/uploads/flowchart-to-determine-if-youre-having-a-rational-discussion-e1300206446831-634x882.jpg.
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Mad Sweeney
I like this.
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Went to my first meeting today anonymously!
by TimothyT inhi everyone.. jack and i decided we would go to his local kingdom hall this morning.
although i have no interest anymore in being a jw, i think its still nice to have regular bible discussions, etc, which can give you something spiritual to think about each week.
i love it and i think its damn good for you.. today, jack and i walked in, a little nervous, but were greeted and welcomed like friends.
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Mad Sweeney
It cant all be evil can it?
Of course it can. The members are victims of cult mind control. Whether they think they are genuine is not the issue. We all thought we were genuine. We weren't. We were indoctrinated to behave, think, and feel a specific way and we were fed loaded words and phrases to trigger those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Returning to the K.H. you heard two hours of those trigger words. Of course you were moved by them. That's how cult mind control works.
It isn't a flaw or a weakness to be indoctrinated, but to be truly FREE is going to take effort, conscious effort and a clear understanding of the methods of cult mind control the organization uses. You can't fight it if you don't even know it is happening.
It appears that you may still have a view of "the world's" churches of "Christendom" that was indoctrinated into you by the Watchtower Society. To think you have to search for a church or religion that's just as spiritual as the JWs is ass-backwards. From my experience, you'd be hard pressed to find a church or religion that's LESS spiritual than the JWs bureaucratic snooze-fest indoctrination/hypnosis sessions.
I would recommend Unitarian Universalists if you really want a religion that is tolerant of your sexuality. If you prefer to hide that part of your life, then there are any number of Christian churches you can explore.
That said, have you explored any non-Christian religions? My personal advice would be to look eastward, but that's just an opinion.
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The concept of God is fading away
by fade_away inif you guys look at my first post, you'll notice i said "i still believe in god" even after losing my faith in the wt.
well, it's been 4 months since i wrote that and now i'm not so sure i still believe.
in fact i'm mostly convinced he doesn't exist.
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Mad Sweeney
I am in about the same spot, fade_away. I am certain there is no god like the theist's view of god. I haven't ruled out the possibility of some sort of a universal consciousness but I'll even admit that it's because I find Taoist-like philosophy a peaceful and practical way to live and not because of any evidence.
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Awakes left at work....
by charlie brown jr. inthe awake about music was left behind and ended up at the break station... and one of the girls working was reading it and burst out laughing..... are these people serious listen what it says.... after listening to heavy metal music i abused alcohol and started using drugs......... they can't really believe that?
she asked laughing.......
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Mad Sweeney
Sometimes the best protection against Borg assimilation is their own literature.
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Finished Mystery
by dontplaceliterature ini just started reading this last night.
i've seen it referred to on this forum a few times.
any weird things i should keep my eyes out for?
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Mad Sweeney
dontplaceliterature, The Finished Mystery is THE ONLY book produced by the Borg during Christ's alleged inspection of the teachings of all the religions of the world in order to choose a faithful and discreet slave. It only takes a cursory reading of the thing to show any honest minded person that there is absolutely NO WAY that Christ would have picked the group who taught and believed that stuff. NONE.
As AnnOMaly explained, this book was also unique in that it was published as a book in 1917, AND as part of the Watchtower magazine itself during 1918 - right during the heart of Christ's inspection period.
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Watchtower Lawyer Fills in the Baptism Blank
by Marvin Shilmer inwatchtower lawyer fills in the baptism blank .
today i uploaded a new article to my blog addressing something important that watchtower does not disclose to baptismal candidates, yet on the other hand is ever ready to point out to persons after baptism if they do something silly like ask for correspondence written about their own person.
my article contains a letter from a watchtower staff attorney informing just such an individual.
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Mad Sweeney
The letter mentions that the Freedom of Information Act doesn't apply to the Borg. Is there any similar law that does? Do people have a legal right to the files the organization or local congregation keep about them? I know of instances in other countries where it has been enforced (jwfacts got his Borg files sent to him after applying legal pressure) but I've never heard of an American pushing the issue.
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Fury after reading Watchtower article for this week
by Eclectic ini hope i do not repeat thread.
paragraph 15, w2011 6/15 p. 23 states:.
paul set a fine example for christian elders.
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Mad Sweeney
Chariklo, circuit overseers have NO JOB. They do not buy their meals. They do not buy their cars. They do not buy their insurance. They do not pay rent or mortgage for their homes/apartments. They go out in service, give talks, counsel the elders, and fill out paperwork for the Borg. They are supported by the people they are supposedly shepherding. It is nothing like what Paul did. AT ALL.