Designer Stubble

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Posts by Designer Stubble

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  23

  Long serving pioneer no longer has hours quota to stay on the list...

  by NVR2L8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a family member visited us this past weekend and said that my 80 years old mother was recently told she no longer has to meet the annual hour quota to remain on the pioneer list.

  "what a loving provision from the brothers" were my sister's exact words.

  "mom was so stressed out with having to get her hours in every month" are you freaking kidding me?

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  Designer Stubble

  This is meant to keep the pioneer numbers artificially up.
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  11

  40 Publishers

  by Nosferatu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  heh, publishers..... was talking with my mother the other day.

  in the 17 years i've been out, my old congregation's publishers have drastically dropped.

  when i was going , we were in the high 80s for publishers.

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  Designer Stubble

  Hasn't Jehovah resolved the situation with this elder yet?

  This elder has pestered 40 people away from everlasting life!
• 
  22

  OCTOBER AWAKE!

  by St George of England in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just seen the new awake on jw.org; yet another university graduate, biochemist this time, that has become a jw.. he was so impressed by "is there a creator who cares?"!.

  the rest of the magazine is the usual monthly fare.. george.

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  Designer Stubble

  http://evolutionwiki.org/wiki/Is_There_a_Creator_Who_Cares_About_You%3F
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  22

  OCTOBER AWAKE!

  by St George of England in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just seen the new awake on jw.org; yet another university graduate, biochemist this time, that has become a jw.. he was so impressed by "is there a creator who cares?"!.

  the rest of the magazine is the usual monthly fare.. george.

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  Designer Stubble

  Dany Loos needs to check the references and misquotes in "Is there a creator who cares less?"
• 
  11

  Part of "Human Apostates" talk missing?

  by breakfast of champions in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  for full disclosure, i did not personally go to the convention on the day of the talk, but am going on my wife's recollection and her thorough notes.. when she got home, i asked her about the part and what was said, point by point from the beginning of the talk.

  i then mentioned this point (lifted from the other thread ):.

  "for instance, in one country a news report instigated by apostates falsely stated that jehovahs witnesses supported hitlers regime during world war two.

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  Designer Stubble

  On JWR we had one member go to the DC this past weekend, with the transcript in hand and she noticed this past missing too. This has since the first conventions been removed from the manuscript. Given that the speakers must stick to the letter of the script, it is not an own decision to leave something out. Therefore the GB must have seen this already backfiring, or seen on apostate sites that we were discussing how this could backfire and had it taken out.
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  153

  Shocking talk from 2013 District Convention urges parents to shun disfellowshipped children

  by cedars in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yldwe_6jsu.

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  cedars.

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  Designer Stubble

  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.
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  9

  JWs Just Don't Want To Think....

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  they 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.
• 
  153

  Shocking talk from 2013 District Convention urges parents to shun disfellowshipped children

  by cedars in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://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:

  http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/shunning/
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  32

  Are Jehovahs Witnesses a Cult?

  by The Quiet One in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  http://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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  25

  Did anyone notice this?? Think: Noah's Arc

  by Bloody Hotdogs! in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  [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