ambersun

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Posts by ambersun

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  8

  The Governing Body - Elusive & Strong

  by the-illuminator81 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when it comes to cults, jehovah's witnesses have a very strong hierarchical leadership system.

  in many ways it enforces their control on the individual.

  one of the tricks is that the lower levels of followers never get direct contact beyond the circuit overseer level.

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  ambersun

  Really good topic. Would the GB have this much impact if all its members were known as individual middle aged and elderly men with faces and names, their background histories and whether or not they were married etc?

  My guess is that they would be in danger of being viewed as imperfect humans doing their best but prone to mistakes like the rest of us. They have actually admitted that God does not talk to them directly, which is why 'New Light' has to come out every few years to replace the doctrines they have got wrong.

  The subtle way they have changed wording in the songs and the baptism oath placing the emphasis on obeying the Organisation rather than God would raise a few concerns on the issue of idolatry and worshipping men which the bible tells us is deffinately not on. Much better to remain faceless and rather mystical so nobody can actually relate to you.
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  100

  What's the most dumbest/petty thing you've heard of someone being "stumbled" over?

  by Reality79 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  - some loser once took offense that i hugged a sister goodbye at a leaving do and ran back to the elders like a little child telling on me.

  i was 15, this sister was in her 40s at the time.. - this elder said someone told him they saw me with a copy of the sun newspaper.

  yes, this paper is known for its 'page 3' topless girls but far from pornagraphic and i wasn't even thinking along those lines.. - one brother who had a good job was 'counselled' because he was actually able to buy himself nice things including a new car (shock, horror!!

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  ambersun

  lol at watersprout 's comments I had similar experiences!! Not long after we became JWs when I was in my early teens, I got in trouble for being too bubbly and chatty. I was like it with everyone, but because some of the brothers enjoyed my company I was made to feel I was 'leading them on'. I quickly learned there was no such thing as a platonic friendship between the sexes in mid 20th Century JW congregations as sisters were beneath brothers and should not laugh and joke with them as friends unless they were looking for a marriage partner.

  I was always being reprimanded for wearing skirts that showed my knees at a time when practically every non JW teenage girl in the Western world was wearing mini skirts that were hardly bigger than belts! I felt dowdy enough as it was and would rather put up with the disapproval and dirty looks than make myself look even more old fashioned and wierd. Oh, those were the days.
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  100

  What's the most dumbest/petty thing you've heard of someone being "stumbled" over?

  by Reality79 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  - some loser once took offense that i hugged a sister goodbye at a leaving do and ran back to the elders like a little child telling on me.

  i was 15, this sister was in her 40s at the time.. - this elder said someone told him they saw me with a copy of the sun newspaper.

  yes, this paper is known for its 'page 3' topless girls but far from pornagraphic and i wasn't even thinking along those lines.. - one brother who had a good job was 'counselled' because he was actually able to buy himself nice things including a new car (shock, horror!!

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  ambersun

  One that sticks in my mind is when I was pioneering back in the late '60s/ early 70s. I was earning a pittance doing a part time cleaning job to help pay my way at home, and barely had enough money to buy myself a new pair of tights each week.

  One day while out in field service I told another pioneer that I had the princely sum of £2 in my savings account for emergencies. I expectected her to laugh but instead she looked at me shocked. She really told me off and questioned my faith because if I believed that armageddon was coming any minute, I should not have a savings account.
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  63

  Do You Blame Your Current Life's Issues Because You Were A JW?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you tend to blame your problems on the fact that you were a jehovah's witness?.

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  ambersun

  Well, there is the small issue of the fact that I am approaching retirement age with just a basic state pension to look forward to, having had no career as a direct result of this:

  *** Awake! 1969 May 22 p.15 ***
  If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years. Of the generation that observed the beginning of the 'last days' in 1914, Jesus foretold:'This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.' Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. So the answer, plain and simple, is yes, but I have still managed to have a happy life with my family so I suppose it's not that much of a big deal really compared to the sufferings going on in the world.
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  47

  The Infamous May 15th 1984 Watchtower "1914: The Generation That Will Not Pass Away"

  by PublishingCult in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

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  i do not know how the blogger who posted this infamous wt cover (5/15/84) got all the names of those who posed for this magazine cover, or whether the names are even correct, but if he got it right, man, what a provocative statement.. .

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  ambersun

  I can remember being amazed when I first saw that WT back in 1984, thinking even back then how the WTS were really sticking their necks out with that one, and wondered if they were actually painting themselves into a corner. Now, over a quarter of a century later, it is quite obvious that is EXACTLY what they have done! Well done to whoever came up with all the names and dates of all those who were not supposed to 'pass away'.

  It would be good if as many JWs as possible could see that updated image. Anyone who had doubted the WTS's teachings on the 1914 generation back in 1984 would have been severely reprimanded if not DF'd. Now, with the 'New Light', we know they will try to excuse it away as being an 'overlapping generation', and most of them will no doubt dismiss it out of hand, but hopefully it might create a spark of doubt in some of their minds.

  Again, well done
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  10

  easy work today talking to 6 jw's

  by JunkYardDog in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i asked for the mag's then asked them what in the world makes them jw's think they are jehovahs people?

  they said the preaching work.

  i had a field day exposing the false prophices of the preaching work done by the wts/ jw's just in the last 50 years.

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  ambersun

  It is actually amazing that the sheep have no idea about loads of things that have happened in the JW history.

  I quite agree. I tend to forget this sometimes, and recently mentioned Rutherford's mansion Beth Serim to a JW relative who has been in the organisation 50 odd years. I had come to consider all Rutherford's exploits as common knowledge due to the discussions on this board and other sites, Beth Serim being frequently discussed with pictures of it on the internet for all to see.

  She had never heard of it!

  Trouble is, after a few minutes of explaining all about Beth Serim and why it was built, and how Rutherford had a wonderful time living in it, I could sense the lack of interest. I noticed her eyes had already glazed over and her mind was elsewhere. I saved my breath as there was absolutely no point continuing. Sad.
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  8

  Out of the mouths of babes. 1983 yearbook.

  by ThomasCovenant in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  1983 yearbook p11.. the puerto rico branch tells about an interested person who was studying with a special pioneer but whose husband showed no desire to do so.

  one day his five-year-old daughter said, "daddy, i want to grow up so i can be baptized.

  " later she said, "daddy, please study the bible with jehovah's witnesses so that you will not be destroyed and then you can be with us in paradise.

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  ambersun

  "Daddy, please study the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses so that you will not be destroyed and then you can be with us in Paradise."

  If the average JW were to read about any other religious organisation scaring young children half to death with threats about God killing one of their parents unless they joined that particular religion, they would no doubt be horrified and appalled.

  Yet somehow they find it quite acceptable to do this to their own children.
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  42

  wt 7/1/11: Darwin a racist

  by ParadiseCircus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

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  ambersun

  Wow, great find snowbird!

  Trouble is, if you showed this quote to the average JW they would put it down to the fact that Russell did not know any better at that time. After all, he did not have the 'new light' that Jehovah has been constantly giving us throughout the last Century, resulting in all the changes to basic JW doctrines to a point when many of Russell's teachings are totally obsolete now.

  However, I bet they would still reckon there was no excuse for Darwin.
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  42

  wt 7/1/11: Darwin a racist

  by ParadiseCircus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

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  ambersun

  It has always amused me how the WT literature and calendars depict Jesus as a well groomed white middle class American who has just had his hair cut by a top Brooklyn stylist lol.

  To try and accuse Darwin of being a racist is rather unfair I feel, as he was living in a different time period when many white people were indoctrinated from childhood into believing they were superior human beings.
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  67

  Sometimes You Just Gotta Score One For the Cult Members

  by PublishingCult in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i really don't care much for jw's at my door, or at anyone's door.

  this chauvinistic, fanatical bully-a-hole, however, is one of the worst examples of a christian i have ever seen.

  the jw's handled themselves very well in the face of this ridiculous bullying and taunting by this so-called christian attempting to school the jw's about god and the bible.

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  ambersun

  Oh yes AK, we had a CO back in the '60s who was very much like that guy in the video. As I was a pioneer back then, I worked with him a lot (the whole congregation was scared of him but for some reason he was really nice to li'l old me lol) and what amazed me most was how he managed to get through each day without getting arrested or at least punched in the mouth by at least one of the householders he insulted!

  If no-one answered the door and he knew they were in, he would go round the back and get into their gardens. One young woman was sunbathing in her bikini and had the shock of her life when she looked up to see us both staring down at her. She screamed "Get out!" . I was slowly backing my way back down the garden path while he carried on 'witnessing' to her while she tried to cover her modesty