Posts by Mad Sweeney

30

Post your favorite JW Non-words here!

by outsmartthesystem in

jw
friends

the wt study was always my favorite meeting as i could sit back and soak up all the unintelligent comments made by high school dropout pioneers or home learned children.

my favorite is when i would hear people make up their own words.

misunderestimate.

December 1, 2011 Watchtower - I believe there may be some lying in here...

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

our readers ask: will the earth survive 2012?.

page 10: "when will this occur?

no human knows.

Mad Sweeney

This is two public editions in a row that addresses major criticisms of the Borg that can be found on the Internet (November 1 issue addressed the false 607 BCE date for Jerusalem's destruction).

Interesting.

40

It's official, the internet IS the Watchtower's nemesis!

by cedars in

i have been inspired recently by some of the comments on this forum regarding the society having reached a "tipping point".

it's been observed that, despite the overwhelming weight of evidence that the society is nothing more than a damaging cult, the number of witnesses continues to increase, albeit gradually.

the latest figures i have available are those in the 2011 yearbook, showing a global 2.5% increase between 2009 and 2010.. as we all know, the internet is steadily rising in accessibility (or "penetration") around the world, and it provides a wonderful resource for those who are curious about joining the faith, helping such ones to quickly identify precisely how warped the teachings of the watch tower society really are.

Mad Sweeney

Of course, it's difficult to do a blanket global study, because the Society don't publish precise figures for 30 "Other Lands" where preaching is done under governmental ban. However, the average 2010 percentage of increase for these countries bucked the global trend at 14.3% growth.

Did you happen to run the overall %increase (peak and average) numbers EXcluding those 30 other lands? If they're showing a 14.3% growth and their numbers are being counted in the overall totals, that's bound to skew the Borg's growth even higher, isn't it? I'm curious what the growth of the organization looks like without those 30 countries at 14.3% growth.

BTW, do you have a scan of the worldwide reports from 2009 and 2010?

7

Shoot from the hip witnessing and the calm before the storm?

by donny in

one of my co-workers here (a non-baptized, non-attending meeting son of a jw) told me yesterday that his jw cousin told him that the end is right at the doorstep because of the calm and complacency seen not only in the "world" but also in the congregation.

he told him that this "lack of zeal" was not due to a lack of love for jehovah, but was gods way of fulfilling prophecy.

the jw cousin then went on to cite the example of the folks of noah's time when everyone was partying and having a good time and suddenly the flood came and that was all she wrote.

Mad Sweeney

JWs are HUGE in spreading urban legends. If one elder mentioned such a thing at a gathering one time, it could have found its way into the grapevine and spread - much like the demonized Smurf stories or any other JW urban legend. These things are believed because they are credited to higher-ups in the Borg who supposedly know people with a direct line to God. So even if it wasn't ever in a magazine or a talk, an idea could spread and be accepted by large numbers of JWs.

78

Do you sense that the Watchtower will implode?

by AK - Jeff in

since leaving the organization 8 years ago, there have been more significant changes in the actual, physical activities of the organization than occurred in all the 40 plus years i was 'in'.

bethel closings.

bethel layoffs.

Mad Sweeney

When it goes it will go with a whimper, not with a bang. The bangs are fun to discuss and are a distraction from what is really hurting the Borg is attrition of "qualified brothers."

With every "bang" scandal, how many elders and ministerial servants are lost? Even if the numbers are only in the dozens they add up with the multiple events. More importantly, they are not replaced. And there are local mini-scandals going on all the time that "stumble" people out here and there. And then there's the Internet, where pretty much every bit of information about the Borg is available and being found daily by active JWs.

There isn't going to be a mass "governments of the world turn on religion" event (though that will eventually happen if we get enlightened enough). No, the Borg is just going to go through more and more attrition until they can no longer support their own bureaucracy. They'll fade like the Roman Empire. Yeah, there still is a city of Rome today - and there will still probably be some form of JWs 100 years from now. They will be less like today's JWs than today's JWs are like the Russellite Bible Students.

Edit: I posted without reading the thread. I see Breakfast of Champions already used the "not with a bang but with a whimper" line. Kudos.

45

A bit more Activity on the Mentally Diseased Front

by cantleave in

this from someone not on this board:.

hi guys,.

as i said yesterday, i am already in touch with the chief inspector of the diversity unit for thames valley police and i forwarded him the articles from the independent and the telegraph.

Mad Sweeney

No they will never stop the shunning practice. They will just do what they do with blood: lie about it.

25

Should not those who protect "Mentally Diseased" be outraged?

by Greybeard in

jw
friends

so lets say we are "mentally diseased"... where is our protection from this hate speech and mental abuse?

there are all kinds of mental institutions around the world.

edit- maybe we should all go check ourselves in saying, "jehovah, the great physician has called us "mentally diseased apostates!

Mad Sweeney

It isn't a translation issue, T.O. it is an INTERPRETATION issue. ONLY THE WATCHTOWER interprets 1 Timothy 6:4 as applying to people who leave THE Watchtower ORGANIZATION.

25

Should not those who protect "Mentally Diseased" be outraged?

by Greybeard in

jw
friends

so lets say we are "mentally diseased"... where is our protection from this hate speech and mental abuse?

there are all kinds of mental institutions around the world.

edit- maybe we should all go check ourselves in saying, "jehovah, the great physician has called us "mentally diseased apostates!

Mad Sweeney

It isn't a translation issue, T.O. it is an INTERPRETATION issue. ONLY THE WATCHTOWER interprets 1 Timothy 6:4 as applying to people who leave THE Watchtower ORGANIZATION.

37

Local Needs: Low Hours

by breakfast of champions in

the local needs was about low fs time in the cong.

about 1/3 of publishers are averaging 4 hours per month.

that is unprecedented in our cong, a usually 'zealous' congregation.. my take is this: if you don't believe it yourself, why are you going to waste valuable time telling others?

Mad Sweeney

The entire religion is about appeasement and if you're doing enough to appease your personal version of God why would you ever do more?

There are no teeth in the unwritten "must do 10 hours service" rule. What's the punishment if you don't? A local needs talk on Thursday and you aren't "privileged" with a bunch of monkey-see, monkey-do busy work counting, carrying microphones, and turning knobs during the meetings. "Damn, that sucks; I better get my service time up. NOT."

It's the same "punishment" for skipping meetings. You are given less work to do. Ooh, scary.

47

Which songs/Albums were considered "Demonic" in your Congregation...did you toss some?

by Witness 007 in

"hotel california" was considered a major demonic song.

ac/dc stood for anti-christ devils children....{not according to the band} kiss stood for knight s in satans service {not according to the band} anyone else have to toss albums?.

Mad Sweeney

Stairway to Heaven with its "Here's to my sweet Satan" back-masking.