Vidiot

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Posts by Vidiot

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  27

  Smurf Rumors - 2 Questions

  by A question in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as the board no doubt knows, there was some sort of rumor in the early 1980s going around amongst the witnesses that a smurf doll came to life in the kingdom hall, or that smurfs were demonic.. 2 questions:.

  1. do any not remember any such rumors though they were witnesses at the time?.

  2. of those who do, did all the witnesses believe them, or otherwise, what proportion rejected the rumor as nonsense?.

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  Vidiot

  NewChapter - "Vidiot, I'm reading Conservatives Without Conscience. It sounds like maybe you have read it, and I'm just wondering."

  Twice.

  And Bob Altemeyer's online book The Authoritarians (http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/), the core research of which was the basis of John Dean's book. Altemeyer's research was incredibly disturbing to me, not only because it connected so many dots in American geopolitics, but because it was so well-documented and irrefutable.

  In fact, it was a major factor in my fade; I had initially read The Authoritarians while I was still active (Altemeyer only mentioned JWs once in passing - the WTS is pretty small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, after all), but when I found that I could predict JW behavior based on Altemeyer's research, quiet alarms started to go off.
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  110

  A Concerned Elder Speaks

  by Franklin Massey in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a lot of talk has centered around information dispensed at the recent km schools.

  many brothers feel there is a "tightening up" taking place.

  i had a recent experience that you may find interesting.. after the meeting i was working with our cobe on some congregation tasks when out of nowhere he said, "have you looked up any extra information about higher education since the km school?

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  Vidiot

  DesirousOfChange - "Some think they can have a greater influence for change from the inside than on the outside."

  I felt that way when I first realized that the WTS had gotten something major really wrong (evolution, and thusly Genesis-as-literal-history, in case anyone's wondering), since my formative adult years were the relatively liberal (from a JW point of view) 90s.

  That feeling passed quickly, when circumstances forced me to acknowledge that overall, the WTS was - at its core - conservative/authoritarian, and thusly was unable to morph into something even remotely progressive.

  As I've said before, any significant reforms at this point and they would arguably no longer be Jehovah's Witnesses.
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  27

  Smurf Rumors - 2 Questions

  by A question in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as the board no doubt knows, there was some sort of rumor in the early 1980s going around amongst the witnesses that a smurf doll came to life in the kingdom hall, or that smurfs were demonic.. 2 questions:.

  1. do any not remember any such rumors though they were witnesses at the time?.

  2. of those who do, did all the witnesses believe them, or otherwise, what proportion rejected the rumor as nonsense?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Vidiot

  All Christian denominations with fundamentalist leanings were susceptible to the "Satanic Panic" of the 80s.

  Smurphobia was merely the strain unique to JWs.

  All authoritarian high-control groups need an existential enemy. In the absence of a real threat, the collective will fabricate one out of whole cloth, or latch onto what seems to be the likeliest candidate.
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  20

  Something's been on my mind...

  by Vidiot in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ..., and while i usually contribute in a thread that's already been created, i thought this particular topic might warrant it's own.. like many of you, on friday i was persusing the "concerned elder speaks" thread about higher-ed and the gb's ross/rachel relationship with it, and a couple of posts caught my eye:.

  room 215 - "that's it, boys; alienate the remaining elders, drive them to resign and exacerbate the shortage already underway.".

  baltar447 - "it's like they want fewer elders and servants.".

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  Vidiot

  I didn't mean to suggest that the vast majority of R&Fers would actually comply with that kind of directive; quite the opposite, actually (back in the day, sure, but as Outlaw once said, most JWs in North America and Europe are pretty soft in comparison to the old-schoolers), and therein lies the rub; the only ones who would faithfully comply - who could comply - would be a some locals, maybe a few socially inept R&Fers with immediate transportation, and the odd JW Third World refugee who managed to make his way overseas.

  Assuming that GB2.0 really is losing the InfoWar (and with a membership turnover rate as high as theirs, it's certainly plausible), they could be approaching the conclusion that the Developed World is quickly becoming, well, a write-off. Like losing the intellectuals, artistic-types, and out-of-the-box thinkers, it would, at its core, simply be the cost of doing business (remember, a few of us have already suggested that - with the exception of Old Man Jaracz - the GB does not view XJWs as a serious threat; they're far more concerned with maintaining internal ideological purity).

  Corporations do that.

  God, what I wouldn't give to hear an intelligence analyst's take on this.
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  7

  "Some people think we don't believe in medical treatment."

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have just read farkel's [hi farkel .

  the statement appearing in the thread title was made at the kh.

  do you think - or know - if such sentiments hearken back to the craziness of woodworth and franz and their off-center and ignorant medical advice in the golden age and other wt publications?

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  Vidiot

  A little from column A, a little from column B, I think.

  One reinforces the other.
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  31

  Going to a "girls only over 18 " party tonight

  by Found Sheep in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  any advice?

  the host was raised a jw never baptized and knew me from when i was a jw.

  some of her family is still in.

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  Vidiot

  Won't be a snoozer if they brong liquor.
• 
  20

  Something's been on my mind...

  by Vidiot in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ..., and while i usually contribute in a thread that's already been created, i thought this particular topic might warrant it's own.. like many of you, on friday i was persusing the "concerned elder speaks" thread about higher-ed and the gb's ross/rachel relationship with it, and a couple of posts caught my eye:.

  room 215 - "that's it, boys; alienate the remaining elders, drive them to resign and exacerbate the shortage already underway.".

  baltar447 - "it's like they want fewer elders and servants.".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Vidiot

  alanv - "At the moment the society is slowly grinding to a halt in Europe, but the rest of the world of JWs is still seeing increase. While that is happening, the money is still coming in."

  Ah, but that increase is primarily in the Third World.

  Which is poor.

  Which means - overall - less donations coming in, not more, regardless of growth in membership.

  A 20th century free-market business model (which the WTS's operations are arguably designed around) requires an influx of constantly increasing revenue simply to stay in place; reduce that flow of revenue, and the model collapses of its own weight; it's no longer sustainable. It's the biggest inherent flaw in that type of business model; the assumption that the resources it consumes are theortically infinite, when obviously, they are not.

  More and more, I'm inclined to view the new WTS compound as an attempt at hermetically sealing the Org against the 21st Century in the event of the rest of the world going to hell in a handbasket - either by their perception or for real. Weird instructions like "Faithful servants of Jehovah are strongly advised to drop what you're doing and make your way to the new facilities upstate NY - loving instructions to follow" aren't farfetched; the framework's been laid for it.
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  31

  Going to a "girls only over 18 " party tonight

  by Found Sheep in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  any advice?

  the host was raised a jw never baptized and knew me from when i was a jw.

  some of her family is still in.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Vidiot

  A house full of 18+ girls? As if Simon cares.
• 
  110

  A Concerned Elder Speaks

  by Franklin Massey in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a lot of talk has centered around information dispensed at the recent km schools.

  many brothers feel there is a "tightening up" taking place.

  i had a recent experience that you may find interesting.. after the meeting i was working with our cobe on some congregation tasks when out of nowhere he said, "have you looked up any extra information about higher education since the km school?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Vidiot

  DesirousOfChange - "It's all about appearances. Of course, there will be some hardass elder bodies that will take the hardline, mostly those where the majority of the elders are struggling because they didn't go to college, or their kids are struggling (probably still living at home) because they didn't go to college, and thus they will conclude why should YOUR kids have it any better."

  Kinda like the older plainjane busybody sisters who'd pressure good-looking/curvy young sisters to somehow dial down their physical attractiveness?
• 
  31

  Going to a "girls only over 18 " party tonight

  by Found Sheep in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  any advice?

  the host was raised a jw never baptized and knew me from when i was a jw.

  some of her family is still in.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Vidiot

  Bring liquor.