So do any current elders have anything to report from the past weekend? I'm more interested in the mood/feeling of the meeting overall, but if you have any nuggets to share from the school itself those are welcome too.
LostGeneration
JoinedPosts by LostGeneration
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25
Another Bad Witness - Elder School on Christmas Day?
by LostGeneration inhad a brief conversation with by jw father a few days ago, unfortunately still an uber witness and as a cboe he has nothing else in his life.. he brought out that he was getting ready for the elders school.
not sure if he was bragging or wanted sympathy for having to go.
lol.. i didn't press him on the details, though i wanted to ask if they would be covering all 7 chapters in the new manual on how to df people.
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An experience I had that reminds me of some Witnesses mindset
by sabastious inabout 10 years ago i was hanging out with this guy.
for about 6 months we were attached at the hip, we both had our first cars and wanted to explore our area like no others.
he said "i don't want to check it because i know the first time i check it i am going to find out i don't have any money left.".
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LostGeneration
Some people just want their thinking done for them. So much easier (in their mind).
Then they wake up one day, 70 years old and dirt poor. Their family busted apart because half of them decided to think for themselves and the other half remain dedicated to the cult.
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Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 12-26-10 WT Study (MEETINGS)
by blondie in3. how important are christian meetings?.
when more give comments,.
in making christian meetings upbuilding.*.
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LostGeneration
I gotta say, I'm really surprised that they want to hear more "personal comments". I mean, really - this is a catch-22 for the average JW
This is just talking out of both sides of their mouth. They can't say "be a parrot" but they want the thought recited in the WT without going off of the map. I always noticed that those who were commended on their comments were the ones who could simply re-word the exact thoughts in the paragraph without stumbling all over themselves. These were the "good commenters" At the end I did the same with the talks I was assigned, simply printed off the material, highlighted the key points, and walked up their and followed the material without typing or writing it out my own way. Saved tons of time and the compliments still came my way.
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The athiest awake
by keeshondgirl ini recently found the awake november 2010 issue on 'is atheism on the march?
at my mother in laws house.
the first few sentences say "a new group of atheists has arisen in soceity.
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LostGeneration
It is the height of hypocrisy...right up there with the quote from the July, 2009 Awake.
"No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family."
The problem with having to publish information as God's mouthpiece month after month is that your going to royally slip up a few times a year and expose yourself as a hypocrite.
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25
Stumbled across a recurring theme in WT: teach 'the organization' to your kids
by sd-7 inyesterday afternoon, right before i was about to take my wife to the kingdom hall (no, i'm not attending, haven't been in 9 months, strangely enough am still thinking of returning if it would help my marriage, but it won't), i happened to notice her opened october 15th, 2010 watchtower.
around page 25 or so, there was an article that caught my eye.
it instructed parents to teach their children to 'not act independently of the organization, even in small matters'.
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LostGeneration
The next article in the same mag is a life experience titled "My life in Jahs ORGANIZATION" or something like that, another mention of the b0rg back to back.
Yes they are really pounding it hard right now, must be a lot of people walking out the back door.
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The Original Sin
by ablebodiedman ingenesis3:3-5. at this the serpent said to the woman: "you positively will not die.
5 for god knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like god, knowing good and bad.".
consider just the title of the book; "knowledge that leads to everlasting life".
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LostGeneration
Good illustration. I never really thought about it like that.
Nobody wants to die, it will be the one thing humans will always try to escape.
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Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 12-26-10 WT Study (MEETINGS)
by blondie in3. how important are christian meetings?.
when more give comments,.
in making christian meetings upbuilding.*.
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LostGeneration
Notice para 15 where they chop up what Jesus said. They mention all authority but not "in heaven and on earth" which would obviously put their 1914 doctrine in doubt to any Witnesses that might be paying a slight amount of attention
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LostGeneration
Uh oh.....Here we go.....
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How long did it take you to get rid of your WTS library & literature?
by Think About It init took me a little over 2 years from the time i quit going.
been out 15 years now and no wts literature since.. .
think about it .
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LostGeneration
Mochamint, welcome to the board....we have all been at that "confused" stage and it is normal. Take a few deep breaths and slowly soak things in. Basically it is almost like being in 1st grade again, learning all kinds of new things and figuring out what to do. You will find lots of people in the same boat so to speak. Sorry to hear of your Mom's hate speech. She is just trying to guilt you back to the meeting because she doesn't know how else to help you.
I have plenty of literature myself, basically for reference. It just seems like there is nothing like having the actual book or magazine in your hand, its like evidence to a crime. I came across an original KM a few years ago with the encouragement from the branch for brothers to sell their homes and pioneer in 74. That thing is golden!
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LostGeneration
I think for the leaders it is more about power and control more than money. The money is a by product, and I would like to know as much as anyone else what happens to the money. Do they just bank it all? Invest in in more real estate? Where do they really stand, are they as cash poor as some posters claim? All questions for another thread...
How can they exist, trapping so many otherwise intelligent people into their ranks? Seriously, looking at the diversity and the questions asked AFTER the fact on this board, it's difficult to understand how these people went into this in the FIRST place.
I think much of this has to do with the nature of cults in general. The WT spells out right in their literature to recruit people when they are down and out. The jobless, struggling, depressed, etc are the so called reason for witnesses to go door to door, because then they just might listen to your apocalyptic cult nonsense.
"Lost your father in death? Start studying with us and you get to see him again...and you can have a panda bear and a kangaroo in your backyard to boot!"
Once you are in though, then its hard to leave. You drop your "worldly" friends, your family, sometimes your career, all for the sake of Jehovah. Then you get new friends, who all think like you, who all parrot the advice to simplify, do more, pioneer, reach out, basically work your ass of for the cult. You are now invested. Its the everlasting life carrot that keeps the hard core believers in. They won't give it up for anything. The Governing Body is a nothing more than a modern peddler of the Fountain of Youth, and they have millions of willing buyers.
Fortunately, this WTBTS business model is grinding to a halt because of the internet, and of course all of their failed prophecy. Sure through the 50s, 60s, 70s even into the 80s the MLM printing business worked. Every recruited person has to sell product and recruit others. Elders keep an eye on the sales force and make sure they meet their quota. "Keep at it rank and file, you won't have to work much longer" said the Governing body, "You'll be done by 1975, before the generation of 1914 passes away, before the generation that overlaps the generation that saw 1914 passes away".
Now they have no growth in the USA and Western Europe, where the money is. Like most business models, they were successful for a time. The printing business was huge in the 20th century, not so much for the 21st. They took their money and invested wisely in real estate in Brooklyn, and that will carry them for a while. But the writing is on the wall. Time is the enemy of the false prophet.
