Mad Sweeney

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Posts by Mad Sweeney

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  53

  Nov.15th WT - Quotes Dissing - Internet, Higher Education, Earning a Living

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as most of us here are aware the wt society is using the " kool-aid " , or witness only version as i call it - to indoctrinate and intimidate jw members through fear and guilt to avoid anything that takes their devotion and attention away from allegiance to the wt society's ambitions.

  so the wt society is amping up it's control methods once again in various articles in this issue as well.. first off - notice this quote from page 14 , paragraph 16 , regarding how " dangerous " allegedly the internet is.

  it states, " these desires ( of the world ) involve such things as promiscuity, prominence , and possessions.

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  Mad Sweeney

  One of the problems the Borg is having right now in this regard is that JDub kids approaching college-age right now were born during the relaxing of the ban on higher education in the 1990s. JW parents had kids during that period fully expecting that their kids wouldn't be subject to the educational limitations that the Watchtower imposed on them and their parents of the previous generations. That generation of JWs is going to be difficult to rein back in by the Borg leadership. It won't be until the reinstituted ban on education (c. 2002-2005) has been in force for 15 years or so that the current JW parents and kids will have been raised with the anti-education attitude.
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  12

  What do you make of THIS?

  by TimothyT in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  arrangement the ark the law covenant the new covenant the organisation.

  leader noah moses / the high priest jesus christ the governing body.

  entity for salvation the ark the tabernacle / temple the body of christ the organisation.

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  Mad Sweeney

  The stupid "Christian Mingle" ad screwed up your formatting. May want to try a re-post, Timmy.
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  80

  2011 Global Survey of Jehovah's Witnesses

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you are visiting this site for the first time, or for the first time in a long while, i would appreciate if you could click on the following link and participate in the 2011 global survey of jehovah's witnesses.

  both active jehovah's witnesses and former jehovah's witnesses around the world are invited to participate anonymously, and the results will be forwarded to the governing body and world's media.. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/t7zm5zc.

  this thread will be updated with the results of the survey (for the time being at least) should you be interested.. in its first 3 days, the survey collected close to 400 responses.

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  Mad Sweeney

  While I am all for what cedars is/was trying to do, if asking for money on the board is a "no-no" then that's that.

  The rule isn't really rocket science. Obey it. Don't ask for money on the board.

  That said, accusations of running a scam and other disparaging remarks are unbecoming. Why not just say: "no asking for money on the board, period, thread closed," and leave it at that?
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  44

  Max Larson died today at 96 yrs...Watchtower President since 2000

  by williamhconley in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  watchtower society of new york president max larson died today at the age of 96.. served in bethel since 1938 (73 yrs at bethel) long before geoffrey jackson & anthony morris of the gb were even born.. http://www.jw-archive.org/2011/09/bro-max-larson-died-today.html.

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  Mad Sweeney

  Separate corporations as legal shields. But this is a religion with God's personal backing and support, isn't it? It's not a business, right?

  Yeah, right.
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  16

  an interesting day with my kid (never give up!)

  by Aussie Oz in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as many of you know, i don't see my teenage son much these days... friends more fun then dad, you know.

  but last time he was here we had a little chat about his life and decisions.

  see, he knows he should be looking deep at the jws and doesnt want to.

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  Mad Sweeney

  Your updates on your kids, Oz, are among my favorite threads. Please keep them coming.
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  23

  Has Gambling Become A Conscience Issue Among JWs?

  by FreeAtLast1914 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the reason i ask is that i have a coupe of cousins who are still jws who have gone gambling in casinos with us.

  i have a brother-in-law who openly brags about his "perfect" blackjack strategy he employs in vegas when he's in town.. i know that growing up as a jw, gambling of any kind was a dfing offense.. is my jw family simply more liberal than most, or has there been a subtle shift in this area since i've been out?.

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  Mad Sweeney

  The "makes a practice" phrase is the loophole.

  If you go to Vegas once for a vacation, then it "becomes known" and you're asked about it by the elders you can say it was a one-time occurrence. If you buy a lottery ticket every week and it "becomes known" and you're asked about it by the elders, you better stop or they can DF you.

  Gambling isn't the DFing offense, "making a practice of" gambling is.
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  11

  My Great-Grandmother Died This Morning

  by TheClarinetist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  she's been really bad for quite a while, and passed away in her sleep.

  she lived to be a ripe old age, and even got to meet some of her great-great grandchildren (not mine... i don't have any kids), which is not something that can be said for a lot of people.

  she loved music, and took organ lessons for many of the last years of her life, something that we really connected on, despite the fact that she was a, for lack of a better word, crazy jw that pioneered for years after she wasn't able to attend meetings in person.. from what i understand, the majority of people people never meet their great-grandparents, and for that i should consider myself lucky, but still i'll miss her.

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  Mad Sweeney

  Sorry for your loss.
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  16

  Seriously, what is wrong with US ?!?!!?

  by PSacramento in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no us as a internet forum but us as a people.. have you noticed how accetable violence is and how it seems unaccetable to view the human form?.

  it is perfectly fine for us and our children to see violence during a sporting event, during a movie on primetime even read about "unbelievers" being destroyed by god, but if you see a pair of boobs or a butt a bit to revealing it's like freaking armageden !!!.

  the other day a movie was on and there were a could or "risque" scenes that showed perhaps more cleavage than they should have, so it was blurred out, but then they showed a guy losing his head and the bloody neck stub !!!.

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  Mad Sweeney

  @leavingwt: Seconded. It's a scourge.

  I was watching Curiosity last night on TV and it was about the volcanic island of Thera that many now believe to be the origin of the Atlantis story. One of the things the show discussed was that the worse the apparent danger to society got, the more radical the religious leaders became. The mountain is smoking? Damn, better sacrifice a goat. Earthquakes and ash? OMG, better sacrifice a bull. Explosions and pyroclast? Now it's on; time to start sacrificing humans.

  And as science and culture have attempted to progress beyond the need for dependence on mythological constructs to explain our universe, that same sort of religious mindset has opposed progress at every turn. It rears its head in the USA worse than anywhere else on the planet.
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  12

  Has the Watchtower ever made a correct prediction?

  by Fernando in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in 1889 the wbt$ predicts in detail the spiritistic scheming priestcraft it would come to embrace (due to the harlotrous gb's insatiable lust for graven unnatural spiritual intercourse or prostitution with demons):.

  "the underlying principle of the great reformation, to which all protestants look back with pride, was the right of individual judgment in the interpretation of the scriptures, in opposition to the papal dogma of submission to clerical authority and interpretation.

  on this very point was the whole issue of the great movement.

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  Mad Sweeney

  WT said if you read the Bible without Watchtower literature to interpret it for you, you will end up returning to the doctrines of mainstream Christendom.
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  79

  Do you think Witnesses would drink the "Cool-Aid" if told to do so...like Jonestown?

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jonestown 1970's, jim jones brainwashed his 900 member cult into committing mass suicide by drinking cyanide cool-aid.

  only three escaped.

  {the smart ones} one man hid under a building....another escaped into the jungle while armed guards dragged another member to get injected by force.

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  Mad Sweeney

  Three words:

  Cult

  Mind

  Control

  A majority of ANY group can be influenced to drink the kool-aid. No one is saying the JWs are going to or even suggesting it is remotely likely. The question is whether a significant number of JWs WOULD if the circumstances were right. The answer is YES, a significant number of ANY GROUP would if the circumstances were right.

  I'm sure the family and friends of the Jonestown victims thought they'd never do such a thing, too.