I went to a Catholic funeral of the sister of a guy in my congregation. A bunch of Witnesses went as a show of support for this guy. We all stood at the back because we didn't want to appear obvious when the Catholics were doing all their routines of standing, sitting and kneeling. What appalled me was an elder and his smarmy wife alongside me who spent the whole time sniggering and rolling their eyes at the Catholic rites.
MrMonroe
JoinedPosts by MrMonroe
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27
JW's are so hot on their views being respected but they do not respect anyone elses!
by highdose injw's face a tide of "no"s and "not interested"s everytime they go banging on the doors, surely it would have occurred to them by now that the vast majority of the public don't want to know and don't want them at their doors.
but do they acknowledge or listen to this?
regardless of wether they have priviously been told not to call or not still they come.. they claim that its because jesus has comanded them to do so.
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Extraordinary events and amazing coincidences: why do JWs always attribute them to God?
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MrMonroe
I’ve just been reading an excellent book called Wolfram: The Boy Who Went to War. It relates an incident during the latter stages of World War II in which Moroccan soldiers barged their way into the home of a home in Germany and began scouring the house for anything incriminating. Read this section and see if it rings any bells:
Marie Charlotte reluctantly led them downstairs and watched in dismay as they rifled through her various store boxes and alcoves. Her dismay turned to alarm when she saw the thoroughness of their search: they were turning everything inside out and upside down. She knew that the family friend, Kurt Weber, had hidden his German uniform down there. If the Moroccans discovered this and realised that he was a deserter, they would shoot him on the spot.
Her anxiety grew as the Moroccans approached the alcove where the uniform was hidden. They were emptying everything as they searched for items to loot and were certain to find it within the next few minutes.
Suddenly (until her dying day she was never able to explain how) she began talking to them in French – an almost fluent stream of words and phrases that she had not used since her childhood in Alsace. The men were so taken aback, and charmed to speak with someone who knew their own language, that they promptly abandoned their search and traipsed back upstairs.
If this had happened to a JW, and been written up in a Watchtower article or Yearbook as an “experience”, it would without doubt have been attributed to an act of God. But this woman wasn’t a religious person. She simply couldn’t explain it – just as people can’t explain how they summon almost superhuman power in a time of disaster to escape or rescue others. In life, strange things happen, and they happen to everyone.
Life is also full of coincidences. A couple of weeks ago as part of my work I knocked on the door of a woman I’d met (also by chance) exactly a year before in a different city. She had moved house since I’d last spoken to her. It was an amazing coincidence and we’ve all had them. But when they occur to Witnesses (“I was just praying to God, asking him to show me the true religion, when there was a knock at my door”) it’s always an act of God, the direction of angels.
JWs scorn superstition. But boiled down, the relentless repetition of claims about angelic direction and movement of the Holy Spirit, the constant hunt for a spiritual explanation and confirmation that they really are God's special people, makes JWs no less superstitious than anyone else in the community.
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My First DC 'Mentally Out'
by breakfast of champions inas the title indicates, the 2011 summer convention was my first one 'mentally out', and wow!
how can anyone stand this stuff?
demons, demons everywhere: yes, evidently after jesus kicked satan and his big hornets nest full of demons down to earth in 1914, they're all mean and nasty and just around every corner!
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MrMonroe
More than three years after my last meeting, I dreamed last night I went to an assembly. I was so bored I walked out.
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Religious guilt puts brakes on sex lives
by Thetis inarticle in our local paper stating that atheists have far better sex lives than religious people, who are plagued with guilt during intercourse and for weeks afterwards, researches have found.. a study found that non-believers were more willing to discuss sexual fantasies and more satisfied with their experiences..... then went on to say that strict religions such as mormons ranked highest on the scale of sexual guilt.
their average score was 8.19 out of 10. they were followed closely by jehovah's witnesses, pentecostals, seventh day adventists and baptists.
interesting that catholics scored 6.34.. this article brought back memories for me as a newly married jw.
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MrMonroe
I can fully understand why JWs are guilt-ridden over sex. The WTS intrudes on every part of the lives of members, telling them how to do everything except how to wipe their butts. Stern directives have been made about what is and is not appropriate in the bedroom between married couples, which can only inhibit young couples in discovering their sexuality and make obedient Witnesses feel guilty about even wanting to do certain things.
The pressure to inform the elders of any behavioral aberration would also stop many partners from even voicing to their spouse a preference for any particular sexual activity lest their partner decide to "seek assistance," thus guaranteeing half the congo would know inside a week.
I recall some years ago a prim elder's wife commenting on a TV program she'd been watching which showed some sexual activity .... "The woman was on top, I mean, it was almost pornographic!"
And it all starts so young, with frequent admonitions in books, magazines and public talks (for God's sake!) about the "problem" of masturbation, telling poor young buggers to confess to the elders and, again, seek their help. The more they focus on it, the guiltier they feel and the more screwed up they get.
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Australia: Victorian Child Protection Inquiry Hears Evidence Against Watch Tower Society
by AndersonsInfo inthe following information was taken from steven unthank's facebook page:.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jw-news/news-release-victorian-child-protection-inquiry-hears-evidence-against-watch-tow/208372889198519.
news release: victorian child protection inquiry hears evidence against watch tower society .
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MrMonroe
FYI, the Herald Sun website is running reader comments on this story: 20 comments so far, most of them critical of the WTS's "That law's for everyone else" stance. It's disappeared off the front page of the website, but still accessible via the link above, or search on their website.
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Australia: Victorian Child Protection Inquiry Hears Evidence Against Watch Tower Society
by AndersonsInfo inthe following information was taken from steven unthank's facebook page:.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jw-news/news-release-victorian-child-protection-inquiry-hears-evidence-against-watch-tow/208372889198519.
news release: victorian child protection inquiry hears evidence against watch tower society .
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MrMonroe
Victoria's Justice Department "actively pursuing" the case, says the Herald Sun:
JUSTICE Department officials are yet to decide on allowing a private prosecution of Jehovah's Witness officials over the religion's refusal to require ministers to gain police checks for working with children.
A former Jehovah's Witness, Steven Unthank of Toongabbie, in Gippsland, lodged the charge in the Morwell Magistrates Court seven weeks ago, alleging ongoing breaches of Victoria's Working With Children Act because of unsupervised contact between adults and minors within the church.
The charge named seven local Jehovah's Witness elders allegedly engaging in child-related work without obtaining a police clearance.
Mr Unthank also gave evidence a week ago at the state's Child Protection Inquiry, being chaired by former Supreme Court judge Phillip Cummins, claiming the religion refused to comply.
He tabled a letter by Attorney General Robert Clark that revealed the Justice Department has repeatedly reminded the Watch Tower Society of its legal obligations and that Victoria Police is also aware of the issue.A Justice Department spokesman said this week Mr Unthank's bid to lay charges against the Jehovah's Witnesses was being "actively pursued''.
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Australia: Victorian Child Protection Inquiry Hears Evidence Against Watch Tower Society
by AndersonsInfo inthe following information was taken from steven unthank's facebook page:.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jw-news/news-release-victorian-child-protection-inquiry-hears-evidence-against-watch-tow/208372889198519.
news release: victorian child protection inquiry hears evidence against watch tower society .
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MrMonroe
BP, I agree. It's routine practice for governments to set up inquiries, appoint ex-judges, let them prepare reports .... and then ignore their findings. Steven's submission seems only obliquely related to the main focus of the inquiry, which is the neglect of children supposedly protected by the Department of Human Services, which is chronically underfunded and the subject of repeated scandals. However both the Justice Department and VicPol are aware of the WTS's contempt for the law, and by highlighting the issue in a public arena Steven may help to at least keep it on their radar.
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Australia: Victorian Child Protection Inquiry Hears Evidence Against Watch Tower Society
by AndersonsInfo inthe following information was taken from steven unthank's facebook page:.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jw-news/news-release-victorian-child-protection-inquiry-hears-evidence-against-watch-tow/208372889198519.
news release: victorian child protection inquiry hears evidence against watch tower society .
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MrMonroe
All getting unnecessarily nasty here. Steven has taken two steps to draw attention to the WTS's contempt for the law. Barbara has simply drawn attention to it. I don't see the need for personal attacks. It's for a good cause.
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Australia: Victorian Child Protection Inquiry Hears Evidence Against Watch Tower Society
by AndersonsInfo inthe following information was taken from steven unthank's facebook page:.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jw-news/news-release-victorian-child-protection-inquiry-hears-evidence-against-watch-tow/208372889198519.
news release: victorian child protection inquiry hears evidence against watch tower society .
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MrMonroe
They see their "vital, life-saving work" as a mission from God that transcends Caesar's law. In the fantasy world of their own invention, every brother and sister can be trusted because they are all pure Christians -- and opening themselves to the mere possibility that some might fail a WWC check would sully that concept, reducing them to being no different to any worldly group.
They claim that that law does not apply to them, throwing up the straw-man argument that they do not conduct Sunday schools. Yet every JW knows there are multiple occasions when adults are in unsupervised close contact with unrelated minors -- in cars, on witnessing territory, in home Bible studies, in convention preparation and Kingdom Hall cleaning groups.
Without people like Steven Unthank pushing this issue, nothing will happen. Victoria's Department of Justice and Victoria Police seem strangely uninterested in acting. Why?
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This video is awesome
by yourmomma inthis kid totally grills this jw and exposes him as an absolute liar.. .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=offmvf3klya&feature=related.
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MrMonroe
The dude's request was clear: Be honest. Tell me what your organisation does, whether it's an organisation that lies and keeps secrets. Can I trust your organisation?
The elder's tactic was just as clear: First, study the Bible (in reality, a WTS book) with us, and later maybe we'll let you know more about our organisation. For now, I'd rather you just shut up and listen. And if you're not going to shut up and listen, I'll just go.
Studying with the JWs is like signing a sales or insurance contract: sign on the dotted line and maybe later you'll find out what's in the small print. When I signed on the line in 1986 there was no fine print to read. They controlled the information. Now, thank God, we have the internet and books by Ray Franz and others.
The cheek of that elder to throw it all back on the dude, claim that he was being deceptive, was disgusting.