My tippping point was at the 2008DC, taking receipt of the "God's Love" book and reading in the appendix how DFed minors were supposed to be shunned. I looked at my daughters and knew I would never shun them for whatever reason and did not agree with this. That same evening I researched my doubts online and was out. Perhaps this talk will wake a few % up too.
Designer Stubble
JoinedPosts by Designer Stubble
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153
Shocking talk from 2013 District Convention urges parents to shun disfellowshipped children
by cedars inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yldwe_6jsu.
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cedars.
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JWs Just Don't Want To Think....
by minimus inthey don't want to think about their past, present or future.. they ignore any obvious weakness in "the truth".. they won't question their leader's viewpoints.. they will follow what the governing body (the faithful & discreet slave) says even if they flipflop a hundred times.. it's embarrassing to see millions of people refuse to think.. the only silver lining is that many of us were just like the witnesses of today.
there is hope!.
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Designer Stubble
They certainly do not follow the biblical example of the Bereans in Acts 17 who investigated everything and did not think that research was a waste of time.
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153
Shocking talk from 2013 District Convention urges parents to shun disfellowshipped children
by cedars inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yldwe_6jsu.
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cedars.
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Designer Stubble
In contract with this shocking talk - according to their website (jw.org) JWs do NOT Shun:
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Are Jehovahs Witnesses a Cult?
by The Quiet One inhttp://sianrose.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/are-jehovahs-witnesses-a-sect-or-a-cult/.
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Designer Stubble
Judge for yourself, using this information from "Freedom of Mind" by Cult Guru Steven Hassan:
CULT: Tightly controlled, high-pressure social environment. Limit access to outside information (Page 3)
Some religious cults have “An elite group that claims to know the real meaning of Scripture” (Page 4)
They rail on about how all the other Churches are dead and unscriptural (Page 7)
Threatening Prophecies (Page 12)
“Love” depends on meeting expectations and goals (Page 13)
Demand for purity: Establishing impossible standards for performance, thereby creating an environment of guilt and shame. No matter how hard a person tries, he always falls short, feels bad and works even harder. (Page 17)
Sacred Science: The belief that the groups dogma is absolutely scientifically and morally true, with no room for questions or alternative viewpoints (Page 17)
Dispensing of existence: The belief that people in group have the right to exist and all ex-members and critics or dissidents do not (Page 17)
Cult control is a social process that encourages obedience and conformity. It discourages autonomy and individuality. The groups dogma becomes the persons only concern (Page 19)
Thought Reform: Create a tightly controlled system with a closed system of logic, wherein dissenters feel their questioning indicates something inherently wrong with them (Page 20)
Behavior Control (Page 22)
- Dictate with whom the member lives and associates
- Restrict leisure and entertainment
- Encourage group-think (not stumbling others)
- Impose rigid rules & regulations
Information Control (Page 23)
- Discourage access to non-cult sources of information - Internet, Critical Information, Former Members
- Keep members busy so the don't think and investigate
- Outsider versus insider doctrines
- Encourage spying on other members
- Extensive use of cult-generated information, including magazines and other media
- Misquotations, statements from non-cult sources taken out of context
- Unethical use of confession
Thought Control (Page 24)
- Members required to internalize the groups doctrine as “the truth”
- Instill Black and White thinking
- Good versus Evil; Us versus Them
- No critical questions about leaders, doctrine or policy allowed
- Alternative belief systems viewed as evil
Emotional Control (Page 25)
- Make the person feel that problems are their own fault – never the leader or group
- Excessive use of guilt – You are not living up to your potential
- Excessive use of fear
- Fear of the outside world
- Fear of losing one’s salvation
- Fear of leaving the group or being shunned by the group
Phobia indoctrination
- No happiness or fulfillment possible outside of the group
- Terrible consequences if you leave
- Shunning of those who leave, fear of being rejected by friends and family
- Never a legitimate reason to leave; Those who leave are weak, unspiritual, worldly or seduced by sex -
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Did anyone notice this?? Think: Noah's Arc
by Bloody Hotdogs! in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> </w:worddocument> </xml><!
[endif]the september 2013 awake has this to say about the length of zheng he's treasure ships:.
"historical records from the ming dynasty say that zheng hes treasure ships were amazingly large447 feet (136 m) long and 183 feet (56 m) wide.
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Designer Stubble
Great find. I had already read on Noah's ark not being technically really possible, but great to see it now published in the WTBTS own literature
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30 JWs baptized every hour
by Calebs Airplane ini just came across this gem on "the chatanoogan"... it was an ad/article about the 2013 dc at the nw georgia trade & convention center arena .... what i found most interesting was the fluff at the end of the article.... fast facts - jehovah's witnesses worldwide.
6 - new congregations formed each day30 - people baptized each hour on average239 - lands where jehovah's witnesses currently preach595 - languages in which they publish bibles and bible-based literature111,719 congregations worldwide7,538,994 - ministers who teach the bible19,000,000 - people who attend their meetings or conventions179,000,000 - bibles published by jehovah's witnesses in 116 languages20,000,000,000 - pieces of bible-based literature published by jehovah's witnesses over the past 10 yearsare you kidding me?
6 congos formed each day?
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Designer Stubble
30 per hour is 720 per day.
Each day 370.000 babies are born and each day 150.000 persons die, a net increase each day of 220.000.
Each day that Armageddon is delayed, an additional 219.280 persons will have to be killed, assuming JWs only make it.
The ANNUAL increase in numbers of JWs is not much more that the DAILY increase of people on this planet.
Further this figure is inflated, as it doesn't take all the leavers into account.
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Crazy JW chaperon Stories
by superman inthe jw's must not trust their members or at least don't have too much faith in them when it comes to being alone around member of the opposite sex.
i can remember one time in particular from when i was a teenager that still makes me laugh today.. when i was younger i used to go out in service on a regular basis during the week when i had summer break.
one time when i met for service there were only two other people that showed up.
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Designer Stubble
Reading all these amazing stories, I wonder if this is mainly USA focused. Living in the Netherlands, my wife and I never had a chaperone while dating - while we both already lived on our own. We also drove a lot in the car together and never got even one comment about this. I can also honestly not recall any other dating couples having chaperones. Can any non-USA members, preferably European comment on this.
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Who has had their District Convention seats stolen by other Witnesses?
by ÁrbolesdeArabia inover the years i have had to deal with this problem personally and as a attendant covering my section at various convention centers.
i had people who were suppose to be decent jehovah witnesses pick up all the books, bags and coolers belonging to brothers and sisters who arrived at the appropriate time and picked them up and dumped them all at the end of the seating row.
so here is what goes down, the sister runs up to me panicking and saying "dear brother, i had all those seats reserved for my family and now look!
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Designer Stubble
And to think that these people are convinced that they are cherry picked by God himself. Well, they can have all the seating they want now - All of us will be enjoying some form of recreational activity and the real life - while they can enjoy the mind-contolling talks. I too had my stuff removed loads of times over the years - but the one time I remember best was when I had a bible study with me and our stuff was put on the ground our seats taken by this family who said something along the lines of tough luck we are sitting here now. We found other seats but my study changed his mind about coming the other days and stopped the study shortly thereafter. Guess they did him a favor!
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Will only "incorrigibly wicked" people be destroyed at Armageddon?
by poor places inin a recent talk that i heard, a brother tried to comfort those whose family members have left jehovah's witnesses.
he did so by saying that only "incorrigibly wicked" people will be destroyed at armageddon.
i found his line of reasoning refreshing, especially in comparison with the usual fear-mongering in wt publications.
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Designer Stubble
Two Watchtowers articles, three months apart. The top one the public edition, the bottom one the private edition.
*** w08 4/1 p. 31 Where Will the Battle of Armageddon Be Fought? *** Lovers of Jehovah God and his Son, Jesus Christ, need not fear Armageddon. God’s battle is directed solely against those humans whom God judges to be incorrigibly wicked. His war will be selective in its destruction. “Jehovah knows how to deliver people of godly devotion,” says the Bible. (2 Peter 2:9) A heartwarming promise at Psalm 37:34 says: “Hope in Jehovah and keep his way, and he will exalt you to take possession of the earth. When the wicked ones are cut off, you will see it.”
*** w08 7/15 p. 5 par. 10 The House-to-House Ministry—Why Important Now? *** The importance of the house-to-house ministry can be seen from a vision given to the prophet Ezekiel. In that vision, Ezekiel sees six men with weapons in their hands as well as a seventh man clothed in linen with a secretary’s inkhorn at his side. The seventh man is told to “pass through the midst of the city” and “put a mark on the foreheads of the men that are sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done in the midst of it.” Following that marking work, the six men with the slaughtering weapons are commanded to execute all those who do not have the mark.—Read Ezekiel 9:1-6.
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Slowly Awakening at the DC 2013
by breakfast of champions inso after the district convention was over, i asked my wife what her overall impression was.
she said, "maybe something has changed, or maybe it's your influence that i see things differently now, but a lot of those talks sounded more threatening than anything.
not loving, not really hopeful, just threatening.
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Designer Stubble
Great news - keep us posted. Ask her if she can remember a part on "the fruitage of the spirit" or whether there was an article on "the compassion and fellow feeling of Jesus and how to develop such Christlike qualities". This was paramount for me - I still keep track of the literature and it still is void of such articles