Half banana

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Posts by Half banana

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  26

  Beroean Pickets- please offer encouragement

  by Lightgrowsbrighter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for many who have left jw.org, there is still a spiritual need and faith in the bible.

  beroean pickets is one group/website where serious bible research and commentary, weekly critical reviews of wt studies, as well expose's of flawed wt opinion/doctrine- all backed by the bible- can be considered.

  this vast amount of work and research is all done by just a small group of our volunteer brothers and sisters.

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  Half banana

  But they fall into the trap believing that it is possible to find a universally coherent doctrine of the Bible. It aint possible!
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  18

  Jehovah's Witnesses: A Coercive Organization?

  by john.prestor in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so in sociology we divide organizations up into three categories or types, you got utilitarian, voluntary, and coercive.

  utilitarian means people join to accomplish some purpose like selling food or making furniture, voluntary means they join up just for fun or to hang out with people like the freemasons or a lot of churches, and coercive means they don't really want to be there but they gotta because someone will punish them if they leave, so labor camps, armies, or prisons.. in a paper i wrote for a class a while back i argued that jehovah's witnesses should be seen as a coercive organization.

  yeah, people join up and they do leave, nobody beats you up if you stop attending or preaching, nobody imprisons you, shoots your dog, kills your kids that kind of thing, and nobody makes you join up either.

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  Half banana

  Since Mar 2015 in the UK, repeated abusive or coercive behaviour has been a punishable offence. This was introduced primarily to protect the vulnerable within an abusive relationship, Nevertheless it does apply outside of the narrow interpretation to include children or even vulnerable parents or those who are victims of honour bound violence (HBV) for example.

  Without a doubt for a member of the JW religion after committing themselves to the organisation are obliged to remain within the ranks by social pressures to conform even against their will or better judgement. The source of coercion comes from the leadership who repeatedly threaten punishment for those who do not conform. The threat is social death (excommunication) followed by literal death at God's hand. When this message is demanded of children within a JW family, it creates enormous psychological stress and developmental problems because it is emotional abuse. Shunning too is blatantly coercive.

  This JW practice of coercion is delivered without regard for the individual's feelings with the threat presented as an unarguable and blanket judgement on them should they choose to disagree or leave the organisation.

  How long will it take before the law recognises that the JW organisation and other groups are institutionally fostering coercive behaviour?
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  25

  A Question for Born-ins Who Had a Parent Leave the Cult Before They Did

  by jp1692 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  question: have any of you that are now exjws had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?

  if so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?

  it’s been almost ten years since i left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts i make to reconcile.

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  Half banana

  Six weeks after I left the meetings an elder called on me to check whether to have me disfellowshipped as an apostate or to be disassociated. I told him that after a lot of thought, the religion was simply not for me and so it was announced at the meeting that Half banana was no longer one of Js Ws. This curt announcement implied to my old friends and family that I had gone over to the devil and that I was to be avoided like the plague.

  I really sympathise jp1692, one of my three children is still an ardent witness. The main thing, as l learned from the experience of criticising the JW org with my then-in daughter, is that it takes about ten years to heal the wounds inflicted by such adverse comments. I have been careful never to mention the religion with my still-in son (mid thirties) but recently he has voluntarily now sought my company after long years of avoiding me. Whether he leaves the cult or not-- I have my son back. I just hope that common sense will eventually kick in with him and I hope the same will happen with your sons as well.

  Perhaps the best we can do is never criticise their beliefs instead find reasons to praise our offspring for things they do which are not connected with the religion. This last point seemed to work in my situation.
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  18

  I thought this comment was interesting from the LDS

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  here is a you tube video made by a ex-lds member.. the comment made at the 5:48 min mark i found very interesting.. https://youtu.be/hjw4nazuzzy.

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  Half banana

  This reversal of allegiance has a strong resonance with the political ambitions of the GB in the 1980s and early 90s back in the day when they had a good income and confident outlook. Then they cosied up to the UN to clear the path for their expansion in eastern Europe after generations of condemning the institution they called the counterfeit kingdom of God . Formerly the LDS had officially called the Catholic Church "the church of Satan".

  How will the LDS reconcile it? With charitable money perhaps. The uncharitable GB have failed in their ambitions and want to hide their embarrassing foray into world politics. The LDS will survive and the JW org will decline and shuffle off into obscurity.
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  9

  If there is a God/Creator, evolution/DNA followed the same pattern as computer technology

  by Bad_Wolf in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if there is a god, we have no idea of his power and if he created the universe or merely biological lifeforms on earth, etc.

  but see a correlation with evolution and computer technology.

  computer's began very basic, and as new coding is developed and new technologies created from the previous computers, the generation of computers, smartphones, technology, etc keeps evolving into more advanced life forms.

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  Half banana

  Without a doubt animals including humans are very good at pattern recognition.This ability is essential in our efforts to protect ourselves from things which would harm us or kill us for food, However the pattern recognition can easily get out of hand-- both animals and humans can easily be spooked or deceived by a false reading or a false pattern.

  We constantly search out patterns and sometimes see images based on internally held fixtures for example seeing a face in a rock or cloud, this is called pareidolia. Science and the development of technology crucially depend on the ability to see useful correlations.

  The big mistake is to imagine that all previously learned, or long held patterns either of physical things or beliefs are absolute or unchangeable. The human brain, as opposed to those of many animals, is very flexible and we learn, build and consolidate information both individually and collectively and pass it down through the generations, getting rid of the dross as new evidence arises.

  There is indeed a superficial comparison of scientific progress with evolution namely a development from one state to another by degrees of favourable change (a word describing how this works is "exaptation") but it can have nothing to do with gods which are the product of the human imagination and not factual evidence. God is after all patterned on an ideal of having a supercharged infallible male parent.
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  14

  North Korea official photos

  by neat blue dog in

  1. social
  2. current

  official government photos:.

  hmmm.

  any thoughts?

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  Half banana

  The first picture of the orchestra, even though it's not a JW symbol is a metaphor for any totalitarian organisation. No individual choice allowed just total cooperation under the direction of the conductor Kim Jong Un or the governing body in the case of JWs.

  The NK pictures, just like JW official artwork represent the ideal society living in apparent harmony but as we know with both the Kim cult and the Watchtower it's just a facade with the members suffering anxieties due to the economic hardships and mental stress caused by official policies.

  Totalitarian societies empower the leaders and take from the subjects. Disagree and you're dead.
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  15

  How are you all.

  by Holden Caufield in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how is everybody?.

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  Half banana

  How are you now Holden? I remember you identified too literally with your fictional namesake. Is the anger subsiding?
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  11

  Terry's Recipe of the Day : Vegetarian Pancakes

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  terry's recipe of the daybreakfast: vegetarian pancakes!.

  1. free range banana (sliced)2. a euthanized egg white (no embryo)3. kosher pancake mix4.

  hard cold water from freshly wiped faucet5.

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  Half banana

  Even further research on Google yields the information that since the first mention of the pun was as a cartoon or joke in the British magazine Punch in 1844, it seems likely that Napier never actually said it or wrote it himself at his conquest of Sindh in 1843.
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  30

  Awake No. 2 2019 - Way To Destroy Your Childrens Hopes And Dreams Watchtower!

  by pale.emperor in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  not that i spend much time on the cult's website, but i like to skim through their latest propaganda to make sure i'm up to date with their nuttiness.

  (and when i say skim, i mean just that.

  the wafer thin, dumbed down content can be read in like 2 mins flat).. i just had to share my thoughts on the above piece of trash.. no.

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  Half banana

  So the message is:

  Beat your kids into submission if they want to be in the JW paradise. Don't let them use their imagination and make sure they are not well educated. Have them always micromanaged according to Watchtower methods and this is very important, only praise them for doing JW org things such as answering up at meetings and going out in field service. Only show them love if they do what the organisation tells them to do. And lastly don't forget to disown them at the drop of a hat if they no longer want to members of your club.

  This is the recipe to create anxious children whose only mental equipment is to become a zombie cult member.

  Please all parents do exactly the opposite to what the JW org demands and there's a very good chance you should have loving thoughtful educated and confident offspring who are self propelled and who rightly possess a sense of self worth. (well you hope so!)
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  22

  Meanwhile...in Argentina

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.criba.com.ar/en/works/116-asociacion-de-los-testigos-de-jehova.

  project detail.

  type: special projects.

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  Half banana

  As you say truthlover, sounds like the dream palace hidey-hole in sunny Argentina for well heeled exiles on the run.

  Much in keeping with the bunker mentality recently fostered in JW propaganda. . .