okay, before you fly off the handle--i wrote a blog on how my research proves jw's are a cult (no, i haven't read the cult book yet).
somebody linked their own findings onto my site saying the opposite.
their evidence is erroneous and as i don't have time to point this out i thought i would let you all do it for me.. www.epages.wordpress.com.
DesirousOfChange - "JWs just exercising disfellowshipping to the max in an effort to keep in those who don't really want to be in. THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE to me."
They don't want to keep in those that don't want in.
They want to keep out those that they want out.
Remember that, and it makes a bit more sense.
okay, before you fly off the handle--i wrote a blog on how my research proves jw's are a cult (no, i haven't read the cult book yet).
somebody linked their own findings onto my site saying the opposite.
their evidence is erroneous and as i don't have time to point this out i thought i would let you all do it for me.. www.epages.wordpress.com.
Open mind - "Here's my take on JWs and cults. Scale of 1 - 10.
1 = Unitarian Universalists
10 = People's Temple (Jim Jones)
JWs are a 7.
Scientologists are an 8."
I like this (reminds me of the Kinsey scale for sexuality), but personally, I prefer the term "authoritarian high-control group". It's a bit wordy, but "cult" seems too "Bhagwan of Ragneesh"-ish to me.
Just my opinion.
http://www.watchtower21.org/2011/02/will-humanity-bring-about-new-world.html.
will humanity bring about a new world order through government?.
the cia in the new world order: intelligence challenges through 2015. remarks by john c. gannon chairman, national intelligence council to the smithsonian associates "campus on the mall" .
Villabolo, I know that the third pic is legit (I saw it once before in a Ripley's Believe it or Not thing), but the first one is a photoshop job, right?
http://www.watchtower21.org/2011/02/will-humanity-bring-about-new-world.html.
will humanity bring about a new world order through government?.
the cia in the new world order: intelligence challenges through 2015. remarks by john c. gannon chairman, national intelligence council to the smithsonian associates "campus on the mall" .
Larsinger58 - "A world government makes sense!"
Out of everything I've ever read posted by you, that one statement is the sum total of things you've said that I'm able to agree with.
What's really ironic is that I agree with this sentiment for practically the opposite reason you believe it.
Rather than reverse-engineering a Hal-Lindsay-ish interpretation of Revelation, I've come to this conclusion using a much simpler method; math.
It works like this:
5000 years ago there were hundreds of thousands of governments across the planet.
500 years ago there were only a few thousand governments across the planet.
50 years ago there were only a few hundred governments across the planet.
At this rate (an exponential curve), a single unified planetary government should be (from a historical perspective) literally right around the corner.
I actually look forward to it; I don't have the slightest problem with the notion of a "North American Union", a global currency (there arguably already is one, it's called the American Dollar), or a full-on planetary government (take that, NWO conspiracy theorists and conservative/libertarian nationalists!!!).
If/when it happens, (due in large part to the Information/WikiLeaks Age) I'm almost certain it will be a democratic one in spite of the serious problems of unsustainable population growth, climate change, and the effects of Peak Oil.
So there.
malawi savage betrayal by watchtower?
today i uploaded a new article presenting information about why jehovahs witnesses in malawi suffered brutal persecution compared to what watchtowers top leadership was doing at the exact same time.
the article is titled malawi savage betrayal by watchtower?
Scully - "I also remember the letter writing campaign and, like james_woods, was concerned that it would be construed as harassment by the Malawian officials, who would, in turn, take it out on the JWs."
You'd think they would have learned from the experience of what happened to German JWs after Rutherford sent his "olive-branch" letter to Adolf Hitler.
malawi savage betrayal by watchtower?
today i uploaded a new article presenting information about why jehovahs witnesses in malawi suffered brutal persecution compared to what watchtowers top leadership was doing at the exact same time.
the article is titled malawi savage betrayal by watchtower?
palmtree67 - "I also think they orchestrated it to induce persecution and convince the international "rank and file" that it was the Truth."
A precedent theoretically did exist; the sandwich board signs in the 30s, Rutherford's radio follies, etc.
Assuming that's the case, I don't think GB1.0 even remotely had the prescence of mind to anticipate what a torture-porn horror movie it would turn out to be.
I suspect that epic fail was at least partly the result of the bias inherent in mid-20th Century American conservatism; the idea that everybody else in the world wants to be like the US, therefore, everybody else (whether they like it or not) could, would, and should accommodate virtually any and all demands for religious/ideological "freedom" that fringe groups in the US take for granted. GB1.0 might have mistakenly thought that Malawian courts would have caved to effective lawyering like back home, thus establishing a beachhead on the African continent.
I could be wrong.
james_woods - "The society had nothing to gain from the poor Malawians - so throw them to the dogs. *(unlike the Mexicans who owned property)"
I suspect that, in addition, (despite technically being in a "third world" country like Malawi) Mexican congregations were also able to donate more funds to the WTS than their Malawian counterparts. All authoritarian regimes have a history of sacrificing less-vital pawns to protect knights, bishops, and rooks.
It's the main reason why all the so-called "growth" the WT reports doesn't faze me a whole lot; the bulk of the "growth" is in the Global South, with is (by and large) dirt poor.
So the WT has more and more supporters overseas; so what? There's not a whole lot this new growing membership can actually do to advance the WTS's long-term survival.
i was recently doing some keyword research with google's keyword tool.
it gives you information about how many people search for certain things on google, the world's largest search provider.
it's very useful for people who build websites.
poopsiecakes - "Once you're out from under the veil of being a witness, it's rather jarring to realize just how insignificant they really are on the world stage."
It came in two stages for me; a) realizing that the rest of the planet viewed JWs as "small potatoes", and b) realizing that JWs really were "small potatoes".
here's a little snippet from g01 11/22.
"will god bring back life-forms that have become extinct because of mans ruining the earth?
if the creator wishes to have extinct animal species reappear on the earth, he can certainly recreate them in the future.
madsweeny - "It would not be wise" is yet another of the Borg's loaded phrases, Sab. They often use these things to separate the true believers from the independent thinkers. To the faithful true believer it means, "thou shalt not," but to the independent thinker it means, "this is a matter for my own conscience."
Beautiful; couldn't have said it better.
My otherwise devout father thought the "no speculating" thing was stoopid. He'd looked up the word in the dictionary, discovered that it basically meant to "think", and decided that any JW who said "no speculating" was an idiot. I loved him for it.
i'm james i'm new to this forum as of today and i'm a ex-jw who was "born into the truth" and then left it officially at the age of twenty after "drifting out" of it for some time.
i'm now 34 and whilst i'm not exactly happy with the world i'm living in, i'm largely happy with my own life.. one question i've got about this forum - i didn't join for a long time because i thought it was for active jw's (based on the web-site url), not ex jw's, but then looking at the threads, it seems it is more for ex-jw's!
what is the demographic for the membership?
losthobbit- "I like Jehovah's Witnesses, and want to rescue them."
Ah, yet another idealist. I remember when I was like that. It didn't last long.
startfragment.
so a brother wants to fade, but would rather not explain his reasons.
lets say he grows a nice beard or goatee.
leavingwt - "An elder in one of my congregations told me that I would not be allowed to go in the field ministry if I wore a beard."
Then he was totally, thoroughly, 100% WRONG.
A long time ago, I was privately reproved, and at my JC specifically told that they COULDN'T prevent me from field service.
