this has probably been discussed here before, but i'm new so sue me.. i think the religion of jehovah's witnesses has been an amazing but tragic social experiment proving that the mind is most vulnerable to brainwashing when it's in an unhealthy state.
it seems to attract the bipolar, schizophrenic, depressive, and the paranoid.
it preys on negative emotions like sorrow and fear.
the max:
Your comments ref. Magazine Sales = Spirituality are all too true.
I would, though, take it one step further:
- as far as the JWs are concerned, THE Barometer of Spirituality is that "Total Hours" column on the Monthly Report Card.
Hardly an atmosphere that engenders love - but then what can you expect from an outfit that places numerical increase ahead of the welfare of its rank and file members?
Bill
PS: Blondie - politically correct answer, but I still don't believe ya!
this has probably been discussed here before, but i'm new so sue me.. i think the religion of jehovah's witnesses has been an amazing but tragic social experiment proving that the mind is most vulnerable to brainwashing when it's in an unhealthy state.
it seems to attract the bipolar, schizophrenic, depressive, and the paranoid.
it preys on negative emotions like sorrow and fear.
It is extremely hard to love such a creature as "Jehovah", as portrayed by the JWs.
It is, though, very easy to fear such a being!
Bill.
i guess this is a question mostly for born-ins.
i wonder how many of you went to college after leaving or while you were in and what was your experience like?.
After I broke with the JWs, I would have liked to have gone on to do the degree course in electrical engineering. However, having to work 16 hour days on remote sites put paid to that idea!
Now that I am staring down the barrels of retirement, an engineering degree is not going to be of much use (apart from being a means of amusing yourself).
Bill.
our do is a southerner- his drawl makes the.
scary things he says much easier to swallow.. some highlights of his talks:.
apostates are miserable.
Regarding the general attitude of the elders towards low performing brothers:
- I think that it suits many elders and ministerial servants to always have low performing publishers around.
Having somebody to put down -and in the JW world, who better to put down than a "weak" publisher- makes others feel good.
After all, if you were to mentor all the low performing brothers, they might even end up out-performing you:
- then not only would you be without anybody to rubbish; but you, too, might end up as the one being rubbished.
Definitely cannot have the status quo of the Old Boys Club being disrupted in such a manner as that!
Bill.
"higher education: jesus warned against seeking your own glory.
(john 7:18) whatever you decide as to how much secular education you will obtain, have you made sure of the more important things?phil.
1:9,10.. grzegorz, the computer programmer, made some changes in his life.
Persons raised as JWs do indeed have numerous disadvantages to circumvent. That, however, does not make them a "complete waste of oxygen" - far from it!
Bill.
PS: I concur with those who describe the "waste of oxygen" desrciption as offensive.
our do is a southerner- his drawl makes the.
scary things he says much easier to swallow.. some highlights of his talks:.
apostates are miserable.
I last attended a Circuit Asssembly back in 1993 - I obviously have not missed anything in the intervening time!
Bill
(a little background info before i ask my question...).
my sister-in-law (non-jw), who manages a popular chain restaurant near a kingdom hall, just found out that my wife and i have recently faded, so she decided to get something off her chest the other day... you guessed it: she wanted us to know that jws are the worst customers ever!
she then told us some really embarrassing stories about how jws would request a table for 15 to 20 people (after a sunday meeting) and then (when the bill came) some of the jws would start deliberating amongst themselves on whether or not the waiter was diligent or not (to justify the low tip he was getting anyway).
One thing rings true about this story, if nothing else:
- they DO tend to arrive in groups of 20 or 30, but divided into half a dozen or more cliques.
- cliques, who have Sweet Fanny Adams to do with each other the whole evening!
Bill.
"higher education: jesus warned against seeking your own glory.
(john 7:18) whatever you decide as to how much secular education you will obtain, have you made sure of the more important things?phil.
1:9,10.. grzegorz, the computer programmer, made some changes in his life.
While in no way trying to deny that there was such a thing as "higher education" in the First Century A.D., a point needs clarifying about the use of the Greek language by early Christians.
The New Testament was written in Common Greek (also known as"Koine" Greek) - NOT Classical Greek:
- Classical Greek was the language of higher learning, with a structure specifically designed to develop the mind of its users (Imagine if the GB had been around in those times, they would have been terrified of the use of Classical Greek - can't having people's minds being expanded!)
- Common Greek was the language used by the soldiers of Alexander the Great. Following the conquests of his armies in the Fourth Century BC, Common Greek became the International Language of the countries around the Eastern Mediterranean. Its use was retained for centuries afterwards: Firstly, long after the death of Alexander the Great, the entire Middle East west of the Euphrates River remained under the control of Greek-speaking rulers. Then later, when the Roman Empire was divided into its eastern and western parts, Greek was the language of the Eastern (or Byzantine) Empire.
That is why the New Testament was written in Common Greek - and why earlier, the Old Testament had been translated into Common Greek (the "Septuagint" version of the scriptures).
Bill.
these are hastily thought up facts and then some stereo-typical reasons, in response to sam's why men seldom get depressed thread.
feel free to add ones that have been missed.. men:.
have to shave everyday or they look like miami vice wannabe's.. have to register for the draft.. have to keep up that macho image for their buds.. have to pretend to love beer.. to them, size is an important issue.
"Little Blue Pills"
- I have never even heard of the bloody things, let alone need to use them!
As for "pretending" to like beer, the only medication I take these days comes in a brown bottle.
Bill.
i think my mains reasons would be i don't believe they have "truth".
and i refuse to allow them control over me..
I have already had enough of trying to defend the indefensible to last a lifetime -why would a person want to pace themselves in that position again?
Also, I refuse to any longer be bound by a lot of man-made rules and regulations.
Bill.
