respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  18

  "The governing body has asked me to..."

  by OverlappingGeneralizations in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have heard that phrase several times on the jw broadcast, uttered by gb members!

  "the governing body has asked me to bring to your attention (whatever)".

  aren't you the governing body?

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  respectful_observer

  I've read more direct info on the subject than what I linked to below, but basically the theory is that when a person want to claim credit, they're much more likely to use words like "I", whereas someone who wants to deflect responsibility is much more likely to use a pronoun like "we", or third party pronouns.

  I heard a story on NPR where a professor listed to recordings of CFO's quarterly investor calls. When the CFO used "I" when discussing his/her views of the company's performance, the performance tended to be positive; when he/she used "we" or "the company thinks", the performance tended to be negative.

  Here's a broader discussion from a Harvard Business School article:

  http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7234.html
  

  How to Spot a Liar

  • Liars used far more third-person pronouns than truth tellers or omitters. "This is a way of distancing themselves from and avoiding ownership of the lie," Van Swol explains.
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  71

  What went through your mind when you saw this Picture?

  by John Aquila in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

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  respectful_observer

  I was pretty young when the Revelation book came out. I remember looking at this illustration and thinking to myself "sheesh...even after 1,000 years, Jehovah's going to once again have to kill the vast majority of humankind? What are MY chances?"
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  2

  Funny encounter at work

  by respectful_observer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just had a meeting with a client and we both paused to watch a group outside of the conference room present a cake to a group of colleagues.

  i made the comment that it seemed to be a pretty frequent event in their offices.

  his response: "yeah, it happens all the time here, but not in our group.

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  respectful_observer

  I just had a meeting with a client and we both paused to watch a group outside of the conference room present a cake to a group of colleagues. I made the comment that it seemed to be a pretty frequent event in their offices. His response: "Yeah, it happens all the time here, but not in our group. Our group is basically the 'Jehovah's Witnesses' of the floor. We don't celebrate anything."

  Since he's never mentioned his religion, I've never mentioned mine. It gave me a good laugh, though. Just to be safe, I did ask him if that was because there were Jehovah's Witnesses in the group. He didn't think so. Better to know now if there were!
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  19

  Anyone seen this new "Bad Association" video at the Convention yet?

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i read on another thread (on another forum) where someone mentioned a truly guilt-inducing, cringe-worthy, "bad association" video that was played at this summers rc's.

  here is how that person described it:.

  "the video about "bad association" was really weird.

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  respectful_observer

  @wifibandit - somewhat off-topic: do you also have a link to the Sunday session? Tried to find it, but couldn't.
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  10

  Ashley Madison hack data dump on the net

  by MaybeSo in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  some jws will be on the list?

  would you bring it up if you saw someone you know in there?

  in the meantime, i'll be back... got to see if my credit card has been opened longer than i've been married to say it was back when i was single.

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  respectful_observer

  Of course there will be. Statistically speaking, approximately 1/2 of 1% of those names will belong to JWs.
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  19

  GB Helper at the RC! ( Regional Convention )

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a gb helper was at the rc.

  this guy was decked out.

  fancy expensive suit and cuff-linked shirt, super fancy cuff-links.

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  respectful_observer

  He was just following the teachings of Jesus:

  Matthew 6:1-3:

  6 “Take care not to practice your righteousness in front of men to be noticed by them;+ otherwise you will have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens. 2 So when you make gifts of mercy,* do not blow a trumpet ahead of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 But you, when making gifts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing

  Oh, wait....never mind.
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  11

  Jacksons giving a bloody witness!!!!!!!!!!!

  by umbertoecho in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i can't believe this crap, jackson is giving a witness to stewart......oh please no...........

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  respectful_observer

  I starting laughing when he almost immediately took on the demeanor of giving a talk from the stage, or at certain points trying to use the scriptures to argue points with a skeptical householder.

  I also wonder if part of his attitude/demeanor was for the benefit of any active JWs that were watching. Knowing that any JW with Internet access could potentially watch every word, he may be trying to protect and perpetuate his "stage face". After all, I guarantee that almost every person watching it online was either a current or former JW. Can't break character too much!!!
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  16

  Would this be any use to the Royal Commission?

  by freddo in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i believe this shows how the org.

  doesn't want to be held accountable to secular legal authorities.. in the 1991 green elders handbook (used between 1991 and 2010) there is a blank page (page 143) and at one elders school we were instructed to write six expressions that "should not be used on s77 + s79 forms (df and da forms)".. 1) anything alluding to or naming one of the society's legal advisers.. 2) any mention of the legal desk.. 3) any comments referring to direction from the society.. 4) any comments mentioning anyone other than the committee itself as a possible influence in the decision reached.. 5) any comment that might suggest someone with a critical eye that the committee did not reach its decision on its own but instead somehow yielded to the influence of an outside party.. 6) any comments indicating the elders mishandled the case or committed any error in the investigation or the judicial committee process.. i have in my possession two elders handbooks with these exact words written in each in different handwriting.

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  respectful_observer

  Based on their level of preparedness, I'd be surprised if they're not at least generally aware.

  It would be interesting to see the RC ask Jackson about that practice.

  "What was the organization's intent on not documenting:
  

  1) Anything alluding to or naming one of the Society's legal advisers.

  2) Any mention of the legal desk.

  3) Any comments referring to direction from the Society"

  "Why would elders ever need to consult the legal desk, the Society's legal advisers or direction for the Society during a judicial case?" (Assuming its messy matters)

  "If the matter is of such an important nature where the elders require guidance, why would they be specifically directed to exclude such a material fact in their records that they were in fact influenced by others outside the committee?"

  "Does the Governing Body approve either the printed version of the book, or the additional word-for-word statements the elders are directed to write in their own hand?"

  "Were the elders told to hand write these entries word-for-word?"

  "If it was so critical to have these entries word-for-word, were those statements ever included in future printed versions of the book"? No? Why not? Isn't it true that the intent was to provide legal separation, legal protection, a 'legal firewall' to the Society...plausible deniability, if you will, with regard to those handwritten words. In other words, if the Society didn't print it, a court can't prove that it came from the Society."

  Sorry, I can go on and on with this "handwritten word-for-word" stuff they continue down to this day.
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  31

  Witness behavior in my gym ....

  by SecretSlaveClass in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  about two months ago two very attractive ladies in their mid 30's signed on at one of the gyms i belong to.

  for a while i noticed them watching me and naturally i assumed they were taking an interest in how i went about training my clients since many do before they decide to approach me and inquire about my services (i own a health and fitness consultancy).. sure enough one of them approached me a few weeks back and asked me for a business card, inquired about rates and various other aspects involved with signing on with me.

  i handed her a card and explained that my client schedule was full but she should consider signing on with one of my personal trainers who still had some open spots available.

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  respectful_observer

  I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since. Think she has her head shamefully burried somewhere?

  Don't be surprised if she starts showing up again at some point after the initial shock and embarrassment has worn off. She obviously likes to dangle her toes over the edge!
  
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  15

  Preparing for Friday's Feeding Frenzy

  by Esse quam videri in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many hundreds and perhaps thousands of people, worldwide, are eagerly waiting for the questioning of geoffrey jackson at the australian royal commission on institutional response to child abuse.

  this is the day that many have hungered for.

  finally, a member of the governing body being questioned and compelled to make full disclosure, to the best of his knowledge, the very best of his knowledge.

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  respectful_observer

  I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the strategy of reinforcing over and over that "...as a religion/faith/church, etc..." in his responses in a way that he's trying demonstrate to a 3rd party viewer that this whole RC is all really just a biased "court" trying to persecute one religion they don't like.