Posts by JeffT

66

THE LINGERING SHADOW OF '75

by Terry in

none of you are old enough to have been there, i suspect.

i had been in prison two years as a jw conscientious objector when the exciting news about 1975 spread like wildfire.i was paroled from prison in 1969 and immediately began pioneering.

the pressures began mounting throughout the organization.

JeffT

I converted and baptized in 1973. 1975 was all anybody talked about. After the failure quite a number seized on the idea about the gap between Adam's creation and Eve's.

After that, "we are not serving for a date" became a common expression. This was usually delivered with an attitude of "we're better Witnesses than the weak ones who are leaving." Later, everybody treated the whole thing like it never happened.

For a good academic treatise on how this kind of denial works, read "When Prophecy Fails" by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter. They followed a UFO cult through a failed prophecy expecting to find that people left when it failed. Instead they doubled down on thinking that it was soon, and they'd passed some kind of test. It's an interesting read.

7

Jehovah’s Witnesses likely to get $220M+ for Watchtower building according to NY Post

by vivalavida in

just got this from my son: .

http://nypost.com/2016/02/23/jehovahs-witnesses-selling-watchtower-building-for-220m/.

somehow i really thought they would be talking about much more money.

JeffT

According to the spies, those that submitted bids include East End Capital, Westbrook Partners, Vornado Realty Trust, Tishman Speyer Properties, L&L Holding and Savanna.

Having worked in the industry, I'm taking this info with a large dose of salt. The only people who could know this are insiders. An agent that puts out info like this about his client is in for a major lawsuit. I highly doubt there is a Johnny the Bethelite who is privy to this. I suspect some broker is putting behind this in an effort to get a better deal for his client.

44

This is Just getting Ridiculous and out of hand with the Borg

by MrsR-Awaken in

jw
friends

saw this on reddit it was posted by user morgan_sparlock .

to me honestly this would of been prohibited 10 years ago, but now every dub is obsessed with this website, it's everywhere even a damn iphone cover... ooh they don't approve of idolatry ooh no they don't accept cross veneration thats bullshit to me!!!

its getting to a point that they are venerating this website (company logo) it's their version of the cross.

JeffT

I just googled "Dee Dee's Creations" I don't think there is any connection with JW's, except maybe separating them from their money. The website features birthday and Christmas items among other things. I suspect somebody noticed she was seeing "JW.Org" all over the place and ran with it.

Serves the JW's right if their too dumb to know they're being taken for a ride. Back in the day the Society would have told the R&F to stay away from this stuff no matter who made it. Now, I'm not so sure.

8

Masons, Tomas Jefferson, Jesus, ancient Egyptian religion, Russell

by Crazyguy in

i believe the masons we're anti christs, tomas jefferson i read even wrote a bible leaving out anything to do with jesus because these masons new the christ was just a retelling of older god's, some of these gods being from the egyptian religion.. russell was said to be a mason and it's interesting that he traveled to egypt to confirm some of his beliefs.

then after he returns home his religion becomes more like that of the ancient egyptian religion then probably any other christians sect.

like the egyptians the jws believe in a two class system one class goes to heaven to be with god, just like the pharaoh's and the other rank and file class goes to a paradise called the field of reeds.

JeffT

So is there anyway to connect the dots to see if Russell a Mason, and learns Egyptian religion, is an ati Christ etc.?

No. At a minimum you need to factor in the man on the grassy knoll that shot JFK, and the fact that CERN is a stargate leading to another dimension, and that Denver International airport is a portal to hell. It isn't clear yet if chemtrails are linked to any of this.

Seriously, this stuff is a waste of time. There is no way to pull a bunch of random factoids out of the air and connect them together into anything like a rational explanation of how the world works.

30

When Did Higher Education Become Taboo?

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

i have been reading about the early history of russelites/jws and in the beginning, it seems the organization was formed and headed by quite a few educated people.

lawyers, doctors, businessman.

you could buy voting rights within the organization for $1000, which by today's standard would be somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000, something most of us do not have on hand, unless you are highly educated and/or wealthy.

JeffT

I can't find exact numbers just now, but I believe that college education was rare until about the 1950's. According to Wikipedia, in the early twentieth century there were only about 160,000 college students in the US. That changed post World War II with the GI Bill. Now there are about 18,000,000. In other words I don't think it was an issue for the WTBS until then.

Financially, they shot themselves in the foot with their position on it. It's hard to squeeze money out of folks with low income jobs. Contrast that to the Mormons, who encourage higher education and good jobs. The LDS is rolling in money.

32

EXJWSOLIDARITY!!!!!

by Luther bertrand in

given derek o'hares legal issues for his brave protests i have created an fb banner to show not only exjwsolidarity but also that we appreciate derek's protests.

if you have not viewed his protests go to the "derek ohare1" youtube channel.

here is the fb banner that was i created fix it to your own fb page and show support for derek and all strugglers!.

JeffT

Do some research on your avatar.

32

EXJWSOLIDARITY!!!!!

by Luther bertrand in

given derek o'hares legal issues for his brave protests i have created an fb banner to show not only exjwsolidarity but also that we appreciate derek's protests.

if you have not viewed his protests go to the "derek ohare1" youtube channel.

here is the fb banner that was i created fix it to your own fb page and show support for derek and all strugglers!.

JeffT

The thing about claiming "Civil Disobedience" is that it isn't a get out of jail free card. Civil disobedience worked in the case of segregated lunch counters and buses for a very simple reason: the police ran out of room to jail the people they arrested for breaking the law. This is an effective way to highlight an unjust law. Breaking the law to protest a religion isn't.

PS: I don't express solidarity with Roman Catholic extremists.

6

Reduce people's religosity through transcranial magnetic stimulation...

by Thursday in

found this interesting article in the december 2015 issue of the australasian science journal, on whether it might be possible to change a person's beliefs by stimulating their brain via transcranial magnetic stimulation (tms).. "the study by us and uk researchers recruited 38 undergraduate students, with each reporting they held significant religious beliefs and conservative political views.

participants in the experimental condition received tms to the pmfc for a period of 40 seconds, a process that reduces neural activity in this region for up to an hour.

control participants underwent a similar process, but with a low level of tms that has no effect on the functioning of the pmfc.. the researchers found that those who had received tms reported significantly less conviction in their beliefs concerning god, angels and heaven following a reminder of death than those in the non-tms control group.

JeffT

I'm seeing "A Clockwork Orange" in my head. IMHO brainwashing of any sort by anybody is just wrong. If you can't convince them you're right by stating a good argument, you need to rethink your own position, not f*** with people's heads until they think like you.

87

Did you get " Counseled " about the Music you Listened to While you were a JW ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

from the time i was a small boy - i loved rock n' roll music.

beatles, rolling stones, led zeppelin, hendrix.

i started getting slighted for the music i listened to as i lay in my bedroom listening on headphones to led zeppelin's song " black dog " at age 14 with my elder dad looking suspiciously at me as i'm rocking out .

JeffT

When i converted I trashed a lot of really classic Rock vinyl on the advice of a JW roommate. Got rid of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Doors, and King Crimson. I've replaced most of it on CD now, but the King Crimson is hard to find.

6

Is a circle round?

by slimboyfat in

"christ, not this again!

there's a serious point to be made here however.

somebody published a study in the journal of personality and social psychology showing that disagreements about what constitutes a circle depend on your political perspective.

JeffT

I don't like the (in my opinion false) dichotomy between the two sets of political positions.

I support government aid for the homeless and unemployed, to an extent, I don't think it should be a life style. I support same sex marriage. I think drugs should be legalized and addiction treated as a medical problem.

I also think business owners have rights that need to be protected. We need a strong military. Prostitution should also be legalized for adults.

Where does that put me? BTW I think the object shown is a circle of sorts, but then I think that if you're driving on it, a figure eight is also a kind of circle.