Caves, I believe you. Reading some of your old posts you seem an unusually open person. You also come across as understandably damaged by your past, in a fragile state and quite vunerable. Its probably not healthy for you to go on threads like this that may trigger such negative feelings in you. You want to be focusing on getting mentally healthy and this isn't the type of topic that will do that. I wonder if there isn't a ex-jw forum that has a more nurturing atmosphere that might be able to give you more support. I am not familiar with many but If i come across one i'll let you know. All the best.
cobweb
JoinedPosts by cobweb
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64
The Longest Goodbye Of John McCain
by minimus incan you believe it?
this funeral arrangement goes on and on and on.
if the people loved him so much he would have been elected president.
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41
(How) Will The Slow and Subtle WT Internal Shift Affect Us?
by Solzhenitsyn inas a "deep pimo" i can say that there is a confirmed re-branding.
the coordinators committee formed a focus group from service and teaching committees.
the results of that group roughly three+ years ago, with gb approval, trickled down to the other committees and eventually into what we have been seeing before our eyes in the org and local congs.. pick an organizational level and see the shift.
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cobweb
You have an interesting take. It is possible that there are two currents going on simultaneously because what they demand is not being met in reality, so they could be limiting their stated expectations and priorities to ones that they believe can be realistically fulfilled. Like when they dropped the hours for pioneers in order to sustain the pioneer numbers. They can do that to save face, yet at the same time, still be demanding that people do more.
I believe they still value the numbers as much as ever but because numbers are no longer in their favour, they stop focusing on them.
They have stopped focusing on ministry hours & mags/books placed, kingdom halls built, baptisms, number of anointed (cos they are increasing) - not because they truly believe that these things are no longer important, but because they make the watchtower look bad. They want well qualified elders but when there are no available brothers they say they can look past the superficial requirements. But, its still important to them really.
They want the new system to come more than ever, yet the new generation teaching is an embarrassment to them, so they don't focus on it so much and instead talk about happy families and continuity. Similar story with the types anti types stuff - its all a big fat mess at this stage and they want rid of it but they want it too when it comes in handy for them.
One thing that certainly isn't changing is the control they exert and the obedience to the Org and GB they expect. Apostasy, shunning, information control of the internet, media - these are increasing and making the religion more cult like.
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85
“Monkey this up”...
by minimus inthat expression is a no-no now.
it is racist and hateful.
some people just need to get the monkey off their backs..
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cobweb
What has being on the right have to do with science? Cannot one look at the scientific evidence for or against climate change in a politically neutral manner or is political ideology the determining factor in informing viewpoints?
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Why aren't the JDubs receiving more bad publicity concerning the abuse cover-ups?
by Sour Grapes ini know that the jdubs think that they are the center of the universe and in actuality, no one except ex-jdubs gives a rats ass about these religious crazies.
my question is i read that as a percentage of pedophiles per members, that the percentage is larger in the watchtower company than in the catholic church.
i would think that would catch someones attention in the media and make a good story.. what really pisses me off is the watchtower cult is gloating about all of the negative press the catholics are receiving concerning pedophiles not even knowing that the jdubs have thousands of sexual abuse cases that have been covered over.
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cobweb
This is a good article in the Guardian today that deals with abuse in religion generally. It deals mostly with Catholics but mentions others including Jehovah's Witnesses. The JW religion may be fairly insignificant but exposure means that they are getting lumped in when abuse is written about.
The culture of respect for religion has gone too far
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112
London Protest 2018
by josephus inwell today marks the beginning and biggest day of our protest at the london excel.. we believe it's a record number at around 100 exjws at the front door.. we spoke to lots of jw's and one young man studying who has quit after talking to us.
we've been approached privately by jw's who thanked us for coming and the security at the event treated us very well.. if anyone wants to see some clips they are available on my channel the great apostate.. thanks to all for the support and love..
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cobweb
My sister's kids were pretty compulsive users of instagram and had a large instagram group of 'friends' made up of JW's. I have a sense that instagram is pretty big in jw land. They would take any and every opportunity to capture the cool, noteworthy or unusual moments to garner all important likes.
I believe the protest provided just such an opportunity for young JW's at Excel & the photos of banners were likely passed to a greater audience.
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16
Arguments I’ve Had: Historical Accuracy and the Bible
by Saethydd inwhen i was a jw and still living with my parents i remember the way my father held what could almost be described as contempt for archeologists, paleontologists, and other scientists who dared to try explain what happened in past.
he justified this attidtude with the argument that these people don’t have enough evidence to make such claims with any certainty.
however, i see now that his viewpoint was more likely a defense mechanism to protect his presupposed conclusion that everything described in the bible actually happened.
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cobweb
Your magic gremlin reminds me a bit of Carl Sagen's dragon in the garage analogy about proof for God. I expect you know it but if not :
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112
London Protest 2018
by josephus inwell today marks the beginning and biggest day of our protest at the london excel.. we believe it's a record number at around 100 exjws at the front door.. we spoke to lots of jw's and one young man studying who has quit after talking to us.
we've been approached privately by jw's who thanked us for coming and the security at the event treated us very well.. if anyone wants to see some clips they are available on my channel the great apostate.. thanks to all for the support and love..
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cobweb
Anders
Thanks for that. That's interesting data on google trends. As you say, there does seem to be a short term spike on the 11th and 12th - the biggest one on the Sunday. Its a bit early days to know how significant those spikes are but there was certainly an effect.
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13
Warning Talk on Chat Rooms
by JWTom inhad a warning talk on chat rooms last night.
not sure if they are really that big of a deal with jws.
i have a been to a few and have talked with a few sisters actually.
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cobweb
They still have chat rooms?
Ha ha. I know what you mean. The last time I was in a chat room was about 17 years ago in the days of Paltalk. I used to like the music quizes. My AOL dial up connection did me no favours at all.
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13
Warning Talk on Chat Rooms
by JWTom inhad a warning talk on chat rooms last night.
not sure if they are really that big of a deal with jws.
i have a been to a few and have talked with a few sisters actually.
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cobweb
I'm still waiting for the response to purrpurr
I think you can take it for granted that every brother in your hall has looked at porn at some stage.
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7
Apostasy Movie (For those who have forgotten)
by KW13 inthis movie is out there now in the us and im guessing other territories and due to be released tomorrow in the uk in cinema and for streaming.
https://www.curzonartificialeye.com/apostasy/.
i didnt realise until recently the man behind it all shares a mutual friend with myself so im hoping to get to meet him because this film looks like it will do more for ex witnesses who need justification for moving on and for those who don't understand the religion, i think it teaches more than any documentary?.
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cobweb
justme: I appreciate your positive intentions, but posting those links are against the terms of service of this site. I do not generally care, but it would be great if we could support the film. Its not like its not available on various pay sites.
Copyrighted material or trademark infringement
Do not post material that you do not have the legal right to share or links to illegal downloads of music, movies, books or anything else. Please do not post instructions to circumvent the legal rights of others or abuse servies (e.g. how to download videos from YouTube).