blondie suggested someone start a thread with a list of books that are valuable to read when exiting the jws.. i will start.. i left the jws way back in the early 70s and didn't actually deprogram until into the 80s.. one of the first books i read was "the orwellian world of jehovah's witnesses" by gary and heather botting.
canadian exjws from calagary.
an excellent book and one that still resonates with young people today.
I started reading theology and philosophy stuff by other writers completely unconnected to the WTS (ironically, I was trying to find reasons why the Org could still somehow be right at the time)...
...and much to my surprise, found most of it way more uplifting and enlightening than anything the Society put out.
Pizza.
Burgers and fries.
Chinese.
Not the best for my health at my age, I'm sure, but I'd fall into too deep a funk if I had to give 'em up.
we watched the season 1 finale of this apple tv series last night.
what an amazingly well-done show!.
it's a surreal world, but based in our own, and you don't have a clue where the plot is really headed but the drama builds all the way through.. there were some major reveals about the characters and it ended on a peach of a cliffhanger, so if there isn't a series 2 already in production i'll be storming apple hq to ask why.. some of it may give you wts vibes, the cult-like world they live in and the "forced" celebrations for various things, but while some of it is a little "sci-fi" it's kind of believable.. in case you don't know the main premise is that it follows people around their work at a company with a very sterile-like environment.
No worries, it's been renewed.
what creates an elite death spiral?claiming special privileges by virtue of having been selected among others french élite "selection, choice," "chosen person" define the term privilege.
“rights and priorities over and above others” advantage granted, special right or favor granted to a person or group, a right, immunity, benefit, or advantage enjoyed by a person or body of persons beyond the common advantages of other individuals"question: how are the privileges of the elite conferred and by what right are they exercised over others?special knowledge (insight into useful secrets and abilities unknown and unavailable to others).oracle: "a message from a god expressed by divine inspiration through a priest or priestess," in answer to a human inquiry, usually respecting some future event.prophet: "person who speaks for god; one who foretells, inspired preacher," "the function of a prophet; inspired utterance; the prediction of future events," test of a claim of special knowledge: what is it?.
conditions: 1. completeness: a. both parties must be honest b. both parties follow the rules2.
Terry - "...addiction to THE END..."
I would argue that the addiction is to the fiction of "God's Exclusive Earthly Organization".
Huh...
..."addiction to the fiction"...
Catchy, if I do say so myself.
the articles on the jw-cd which only go back to 1950 where we fought back the attacks.
i do not understand why they did not continue to blast our bible since it is such a fraud....down south in usa churches teach members how to refute dubs at their door.....but why did they stop blasting the nwt?
it is sooooooo easy to show a dub there is a bunch of made up crap in it.....i may have to help my local chruches.....if you need more info about the horrible fraud parts, feel free to pm me.........................oompa......even elders dont know
oompa - "...why did they stop blasting the NWT?"
Maybe in this particular instance, they clued in to not feed the trolls.
in criminal cases and civil lawsuits against the wt and its elders for failing to report pedophilia, the defense almost always argues that the elders should enjoy the benefit of the clergy-penitent confidentiality protections of the law.of course, we know that the wt has for many years prided itself on not having a "clergy class," but prosecutors and plaintiffs' lawyers are often unaware of that.. if you find out about a case in your area, you might get ahold of the prosecutor or plantiff's lawyer and share with them wt literature such as the april 1, 1981 watchtower (p. 15): "interestingly, jehovah’s witnesses have for years followed the direction of the founder of christianity that 'all you are brothers,' and have no clergy class among them.".
you might also share with them this article from the april 8, 1993 awake, p. 31:.
victims of pedophile priests speak out.
Smiles - "JW cult clergy and their legal reps are deceptive snakes..."
Once more, for the newbies, lurkers, and trolls...
...if you have to cheat to defend your beliefs, your beliefs don't deserve to be defended.
a friend of mine told me that her witness relative from west coast had reacted to minions (child animation) in a same way that some jdubs reacted to smurfs.. aka she claimed that minions are "from satan".. has anyone else heard this?.
well i guess harry potter, lotr etc has received similar recption....nothing new in that sense..
Festus - "...she claimed that Minions are 'from Satan'..."
Well, technically, since they were created by "worldy" filmmakers...
...and Satan is the ruler of "The World"...
i'm interested in your thoughts.. the media tells us a lot of agenda driven propaganda.
you're hard pressed to spot truth these days.. however, i'm told that the rona is now just a rotten flu and not the plague we were originally terrified in to believing.
last time i heard it was down in the hit parade to 16th nasty health thing.. all the people and family i know that have had the rona, have been complaining it's a very crappy flu.
I agree...
Vidiot obsession is a bad id....
...oh.
what creates an elite death spiral?claiming special privileges by virtue of having been selected among others french élite "selection, choice," "chosen person" define the term privilege.
“rights and priorities over and above others” advantage granted, special right or favor granted to a person or group, a right, immunity, benefit, or advantage enjoyed by a person or body of persons beyond the common advantages of other individuals"question: how are the privileges of the elite conferred and by what right are they exercised over others?special knowledge (insight into useful secrets and abilities unknown and unavailable to others).oracle: "a message from a god expressed by divine inspiration through a priest or priestess," in answer to a human inquiry, usually respecting some future event.prophet: "person who speaks for god; one who foretells, inspired preacher," "the function of a prophet; inspired utterance; the prediction of future events," test of a claim of special knowledge: what is it?.
conditions: 1. completeness: a. both parties must be honest b. both parties follow the rules2.
"...If a Cult Religion loses members to Reality it is not counted as a Loss but as proof that prophecy is right: in the last days many will fall away..."
Everything is proof we're right!
Even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff!!!
what creates an elite death spiral?claiming special privileges by virtue of having been selected among others french élite "selection, choice," "chosen person" define the term privilege.
“rights and priorities over and above others” advantage granted, special right or favor granted to a person or group, a right, immunity, benefit, or advantage enjoyed by a person or body of persons beyond the common advantages of other individuals"question: how are the privileges of the elite conferred and by what right are they exercised over others?special knowledge (insight into useful secrets and abilities unknown and unavailable to others).oracle: "a message from a god expressed by divine inspiration through a priest or priestess," in answer to a human inquiry, usually respecting some future event.prophet: "person who speaks for god; one who foretells, inspired preacher," "the function of a prophet; inspired utterance; the prediction of future events," test of a claim of special knowledge: what is it?.
conditions: 1. completeness: a. both parties must be honest b. both parties follow the rules2.
Didn't Ray Franz once quote someone at 70s-era Bethel as confiding that they were "followers following followers" or somesuch?
