Thanks Flipper!, I thought it was interesting that he characterized it as "worshipping a religon". Looking back at it all, that is exactly what we did. We worshipped the structure of the religion, God was ancillary to it all.
SIAM
stuckinamovement
JoinedPosts by stuckinamovement
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8
Difference between Religious people and Cult members ?
by stuckinamovement inin the words of rabbi shmuley........ "people who are in a relationship with g-d are humble and do their utmost to refrain from judging others.
their proximity to a perfect being reminds them of their own fallibility.
their experience of g-d's compassion leads them to be merciful and loving.
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Difference between Religious people and Cult members ?
by stuckinamovement inin the words of rabbi shmuley........ "people who are in a relationship with g-d are humble and do their utmost to refrain from judging others.
their proximity to a perfect being reminds them of their own fallibility.
their experience of g-d's compassion leads them to be merciful and loving.
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stuckinamovement
In the words of Rabbi Shmuley.......
"People who are in a relationship with G-d are humble and do their utmost to refrain from judging others. Their proximity to a perfect being reminds them of their own fallibility. Their experience of G-d's compassion leads them to be merciful and loving. But those who worship a religion are arrogant and think they have the only truth. They are dismissive of other people's beliefs and maintain that advancing the cause of their religion is more important than life itself. The rabbi in Israel who recently made the strange comment that soldiers should face a firing squad rather than listen to a woman sing is a classic example of this heresy.
Those who worship their religion evince the classic characteristic of cult members. Whereas a real faith system is empowering and makes one strong and capable of operating outside their own faith community, cult members can only identify with other members of their group and require the environment of the cult in order to function. They don't have beliefs. Rather, they take orders."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/are-mormons-any-weirder-t_b_1116390.html
Well said in my opinion.
SIAM
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My recap of yesterday's Watchtower study...
by sir82 in...for those of you who missed it:.
ahem..... .
we are the faithful and discreet slave!
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stuckinamovement
This article was disturbing. The shrillness of the GB demanding obedience is apparent even to those who are not fully aware of the problems within the org. They made a point to single out elders in par. 16 and reminded them to humbly submit to direction. Evidently some elders are not following mothers direction like they should.
The more articles like this come out the easier it is to see that they are losing their grip on the flock.
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Lack of Elders in your hall?
by stuckinamovement inthere is an upcoming study article trying to encourage men to reach out.
in my cong there are more former elders and servants than current ones.
i was looking around the other day during a meeting and could only spot one young guy who is reaching out to be an ms. the 5 elders are now running mics.
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stuckinamovement
Sounds like it is a typical problem of older elders and few prospects for sucession by a younger group. I was 27 when appointed and could only stomach it for 7 years before bailing. There were a slew of us younger guys appointed around the same time. Many of them are getting really really burned out and are looking at throwing in the towel.
I know that there are many here who will castigate elders. There are a few dickheads I know that are serving as elders, but the majority that I know are good family guys who are trying to do the best thing they know how. They are tired, depressed and going through the motions. It cannot be a healthy organization when its mid-managers are burning out and jumping ship.
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Lack of Elders in your hall?
by stuckinamovement inthere is an upcoming study article trying to encourage men to reach out.
in my cong there are more former elders and servants than current ones.
i was looking around the other day during a meeting and could only spot one young guy who is reaching out to be an ms. the 5 elders are now running mics.
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stuckinamovement
Undercover you have a pm
SIAM
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Lack of Elders in your hall?
by stuckinamovement inthere is an upcoming study article trying to encourage men to reach out.
in my cong there are more former elders and servants than current ones.
i was looking around the other day during a meeting and could only spot one young guy who is reaching out to be an ms. the 5 elders are now running mics.
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stuckinamovement
There is an upcoming study article trying to encourage men to reach out. In my cong there are more former elders and servants than current ones. I was looking around the other day during a meeting and could only spot one young guy who is reaching out to be an MS. The 5 Elders are now running mics.
Last years KM school emphasized that there was a lack of willing men. Just curious, what are your thoughts? Do you see the same thing? What are the ages of the Elders remaining?
SIAM
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What's The Biggest Difference In Today's JWs And The Witnesses From Decades Ago?
by minimus ini believe today's witnesses lack zeal, resolve, "love" of the "truth"......just to name a few things.. years ago, witnesses were excited to knock on doors and tell people they were gonna die if they didn't accept paradise.. now, when you see jws in service, they all look zombied out.. it's a slowly dying religion that will last probably forever like an ancient rotted out tree..
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stuckinamovement
Witnesses of prior "generations" really believed in their message and lived with a sense of urgency. Today it seems as if everyone has mentally checked out. The door to door work is not effective partially because of the lackluster message but also because the people carrying the message don't seem to be convinced themselves of the importance of the work. Try to sell something that you wouldn't buy and see how many sales you make.
Many of the brothers and sisters are just pretenders trying to keep their social lives intact. The conventions and assemblies are predictable, expensive, and time consuming. Watching a stream of people heading for the exits during the last talk of the convention proved to me that many people would rather get out of the parking garage quickly and avoid the traffic jam than stay for the "bounteous spiritual feast".
The whole organization is burning out and dying out. The ones who are left are uneducated, unmotivated, and lazy. The new feature in the study article celebrates the history of the organization with articles on the sound cars, the rolling suitcase and things like that. Those people back then were convinced of the truth of their message and expended themselves. It is rare to see a modern day witness with the same zeal.
There is no comraderie anymore, instead there is a culture of fear as everyone walks on pins and needles trying not to stumble their brother in word or deed. If you screw up, the elders will be on you like stink on poop. This fact deincentivizes gaining close freinds in the organization. It is safer to remain acquaintances with a shallow level of interpersonal contact and not get burned.
This organization is a shell of what it once was. Time has run out. Prophecies have failed. there is no leadership, and everyone is motivated by fear and paranoia. They have nothing to sell anymore except for empty promises generated by some tool in the writing department.
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Who would you have Lunch With? From JWN?
by AvocadoJake inthe last few years "warren buffet.
" has donated his time to the highest bidder for charity.
the ebay auction usually goes for $100,000 to spend lunch-time and pick his brain on his view.
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stuckinamovement
Looking forward to lunch with flipper one of these days. Would love to meet most of you with some notable exceptions such as mankeli and koolaidman Siam Yay this is my first post with an iPhone !
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How many Facilities & Farms does the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society now own? $
by Balaamsass incan anyone tell me how many farms and facilities the watchtower bible and tract society now owns in the usa?
how many assembly halls?.
kingdom halls?.
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stuckinamovement
There are 44 assembly halls in the US. I believe that each are owned by a stand alone assembly hall corporation. The estimated value on each hall is between 6-10 million depending on where it is.
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WWI and Beer
by Farkel inin april, 1917 the united states declared war on germany.
the german u-boats had sunk a bunch of american ships and the war declaration was justified, even though woodrow wilson was basically, a total asshole.. anti-german frenzy hit the american shores.
sauerkraut was renamed "freedom cabbage" and dachshunds were stoned to death.
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stuckinamovement
Spot on Farkel. I just watched Ken Burns prohibition special, and it was amazing how the womens temperance movements and the KKK were able to use the strong feelings of patriotism and hate for the Germans to attack the German Brewers. These groups piggybacked on an anti immigrant sentimant and used it for their own purposes.
If I remember right the Brewers accounted for 15% of the US economy at the time. Beer or should I say Bier was touted back then as a medicinal cure.
SIAM