Whenever I get some justification line like that, wobble, I always ask them to show me the scripture that says it. The usual response is that it was in a WT awhile ago. Then I say something like, "oh, so it's not from the Bible?" Then they have no answer...
Mad Sweeney
JoinedPosts by Mad Sweeney
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33
Over half the world population have never heard of Jehovah's Witnesses
by alanv injust looked through some of the largest populations in the world and ten of them add up to 3,500,000,000. how many witnesses serve these 10 countries.
no more than 60,000. the largest are china and india which together have around 2.5 billion people.
so is the jw good news being spread earthwide.
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Disfellowshipping, what else can they do in a case like this one? .....
by HappyGuy inokay, the disfellowshipping doctrine is inhumane, usually.
but, i remember a "brother" in jacksonville, florida, can't remember his name, i was 17 at the time, i think he was 18. this scumbag claimed to be a jehovah's witness.
we went to the same school.
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Mad Sweeney
Oz makes a pretty good point, but there is still one problem with religious disfellowshipping, even if it only involved membership and not shunning.
Disfellowshipping by the organization takes yet another independent thought process away from the members. Members aren't allowed to train and trust their own conscience and thinking ability when it comes to association: the borg does that thinking for them. So even if there was reform and a JW was allowed to talk with a DFd person, the fact remains that the person was DFd by the religion, not by the decision of individual members.
True freedom would allow a person to join or leave as they see fit with no repurcussions whatsoever. There is no freedom there.
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The Rise of the Conscious Class
by truthseeker in"i believe in one god, and no more; and i hope for happiness beyond this life.
i believe the equality of man, and i believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.
but, lest it should be supposed that i believe many other things in addition to these, i shall, in the progress of this work, declare the things i do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them.
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Mad Sweeney
I've been trying to figure out a way to devise a secret handshake or code word but it's really difficult when there is so much at stake and the paranoia is high.
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Over half the world population have never heard of Jehovah's Witnesses
by alanv injust looked through some of the largest populations in the world and ten of them add up to 3,500,000,000. how many witnesses serve these 10 countries.
no more than 60,000. the largest are china and india which together have around 2.5 billion people.
so is the jw good news being spread earthwide.
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Mad Sweeney
And what's great about all this is that the population increase in most of these places is far outpacing the JW growth. Not only are JWs not preaching to all the inhabited earth, they're preaching to fewer and fewer people as a percentage as time goes on.
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I spoke to Ray Franz for the first time today
by recovering ini have been feeling very blue and hopeless lately.
i miss my family and needed some affirmation that i am right in my characterization of the jws.
i called ray to hear it from the someone in the know, as to what really goes on in the gb meetings and if they really believe what they say.
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Mad Sweeney
It's been awhile since I've read any of his stuff but IIRC he believes in the Bible and freedom of conscience.
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JAPAN Bethel downsizes with layoffs!
by Alligator Wisdom intwenty+ year veteran japanese bethelites sent to the field as special pioneers.
i don't have the exact number laid off.
however, there are a total of 550+ members at the ebina branch, so if the trend reflects the same as in the u.s. and europe branches, then we can assume at least between 10% - 20%.. in order to counterbalance the need for a work force but without having to incur expenses by housing and feeding them, japan bethel is considering opening the door to "commuting bethelites".
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Mad Sweeney
The bigwigs have no inkling of the cultures of people they indoctrinate. They're big on languages but not big on the driving forces behind language: culture. Indeed, JWs aren't supposed to have any culture other than the Dub culture.
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Rebels
by JWinprotest ini was wondering if anyone else could confirm this.
i seem to remember as a kid that do not calls in the territory were once referred to as rebels.
do i remember this correctly?
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Mad Sweeney
How long ago are you talking about? I don't remember any such thing from the 70s, 80s, or 90s. Before that I was too little.
Maybe it was a local thing.
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The WTS will never have ''new light'' on shunning policy.
by RULES & REGULATIONS inwatchtower society will never be blessed with "new light" on their policy of extremist shunning of former members, thereby liberating thousands-both within and out of the organization from the heart-sickening anguish imposed by this cruel, unjust, and unscriptural dogma..
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Mad Sweeney
I can't wait for all the governments of the world to punch out all religions' tax-free ticket. Why in the world should they be exempt? Hit 'em and break 'em financially.
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60
The Rise of the Conscious Class
by truthseeker in"i believe in one god, and no more; and i hope for happiness beyond this life.
i believe the equality of man, and i believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.
but, lest it should be supposed that i believe many other things in addition to these, i shall, in the progress of this work, declare the things i do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them.
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Mad Sweeney
A comment on most of the growth being from the Third World. I agree that's the case. But that isn't what they're saying from the platform.
They're telling the rank and file that there is a 10% increase in Bible Studies in the USA branch and the dubs eat it right up despite seeing stagnation and shrinking within their local congregation. They actually believe there is growth when the only evidence is the WTS reports. I don't believe the organization is lying; I believe the publishers are. We no longer have a separate slip for Bible Studies. We just put a number down on the regular time sheet. Also, what we're allowed to call a Bible study is incredibly flexible. There are people who, if they talk with the same person twice in the same month for more than 15 minutes will call that a Bible Study. With these new rules for reporting, OF COURSE reported Bible studies are up. Yet it's spun as growth and the dubs just swallow it, knowing they fudged their own reports but ignoring that fact.
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The Real Reason Jehovah's Witnesses Refuse Blood Transfusions
by Cameron inthe real reason why jehovahs witnesses refuse blood transfusions
jehovahs witnesses say that their refusal to accept blood transfusions is based on what the bible says about blood.
they refer to acts 15:20 where it says, "abstain from blood," and reason that transfusing blood is not abstaining from blood.. but what the bible says about blood is not the real reason why they refuse blood transfusions.
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Mad Sweeney
I don't think it's news that JWs believe that the WTS is God's organization. They say it multiple times at every indoctrination session, er, meeting.
The question is, what can we do about it? I'm discovering that there is very little we can do but that every little bit helps.