scotoma

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Posts by scotoma

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  6

  I rest my case

  by Glander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  get called on in the watchtower study and (with blondies notes in hand) refute the gb drivel.

  you will not get called on again at best.

  at worst, you'll be hustled out of the kh..

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  scotoma

  Good to see Farkel is "out of HIS box again".
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  5

  Invesco Advisers’ deal to buy the Brooklyn headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/ross_for_jehovah_witnesses_bldgs_komlwtyitfqj3e0ly5fsmk.

  posted: 12:11 am, july 31, 2013. exclusive.

  billionaire investor wilbur ross is raising $75 million for invesco advisers' deal to buy the brooklyn headquarters of jehovah's witnesses, the post has learned.. invesco has emerged as the third - and dominant - investor in the $240 million real-estate transaction, which has been heralded as the borough's largest real-estate deal this year.. invesco has teamed with jared kushner's kushner cos. and aby rosen's rfr holdings.

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  scotoma

  My mother gave the society close to 30 thousand dollars in the mid '80s.

  At the time I was struggling and begging Jehovah for help to find an apartment for my family of 5.

  The apartment I was renting became a condo and I had to move. Self-employed. No credit. No one wanted to rent to more than 2 kids.

  So, apparently Jehovah wanted the printing company to get the funds.

  My parents would never lend me the money for a house down payment. I never asked for a gift - just a loan.

  At that point I quit putting money in the contribution box for anything.

  I figure I gave enough.
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  6

  Crazy Stuff Jesus Said and Did

  by Oubliette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when we believe that the bible really is the inspired word of god, we approach it with a certain mindset that does weird things to our thinking abilities, namely shutting them off.

  due to this cognitive bias, we blindly accept that whatever we read in the bible--no matter how bizarre, outrageous or non-sensical--must be there for a good reason, even if we don't or can't understand it.

  the fault of course is ours, not the bible's, and most certainly not god's!

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  scotoma

  I like the part where Jesus said you have to report field service three months in a row before you can be baptized.

  Oops! I got my crazy stuff mixed up.
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  62

  7/15 WT- Insane, Far Fetched, Narcissistic "New Light " about the FDS

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know this article has been discussed, re-hashed upside down in past threads.

  but there were at least 2 points i discovered in here that i felt were pertinent and important to bring out concerning the total control and narcissistic tendencies that these wt leaders possess on the governing body, i.e.

  alleged " faithful slave " .

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  scotoma

  And the Pope just threw a few crumbs to homosexuals. Isn't that nice of HIM. And then he says women in the church should take a greater role - but the preisthood is closed.

  So the Body of Governors are no different.

  ALL-ALL-ALL organized religion is a pathetic mens club.
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  36

  WTS in trouble in Denmark

  by zed is dead in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/andre_sprog/english/2013/07/25/132435.htm.

  zed.

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  scotoma

  Rebel 8,

  However, a Danish and a cup of coffee is permitted if you have put in at least 1 hour of riding around in a car making return visits.

  The bitter coffee to wash down the sugar coated pastry is an appropriate reminder of the dual aspect of our message - hope and judgement.
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  79

  Role Reversal: Placing 1969 Awake with JW's Manning the New Portable Literature Displays

  by snapdragon4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in recent weeks the jw’s here in the uk have been setting up their new portable watchtower literature displays in my local town square on a saturday morning.

  as they hadn’t knocked on my door for at least five years, and consequently feeling somewhat neglected, i thought that i would pay them a visit instead.. .

  the first thing i needed to do was arrange my literature.

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  scotoma

  I still have an old street magazine bag that says Watchtower 5 cents. I feel like making a scan of some old magazines and walking around their display holding up old titles.
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  22

  Personality types and religious adherence

  by EdenOne in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was going through the personality types of the briggs-myers test (take the free test here) and noticed how some types are naturally inclined to follow rules and expect order, while others are inclined towards feelings and emotional appeals, other are naturally inclined to help out others ... what do you think?

  are there certain basic personality types that pre-dispose the individual to adhere to a certain type of religion ?.

  eden.

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  scotoma

  The Myers-Briggs test isn't valued highly in academic circles. There are severe flaws in its construction. In spite of this it is very popular because it has a strong promotional organization behind it.

  The most widely accepted personality inventory is the FFM or Five Factor Model. It rates people on 5 scales: extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness to experience.

  People who are members of fundamentalists religions are positively correlated with agreeableness and conscientiousness and are negatively correlated with "openness to experience".

  Traits of openness to experience:

  Openness to experience – (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious). Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience. Openness reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has. It is also described as the extent to which a person is imaginative or independent, and depicts a personal preference for a variety of activities over a strict routine. Some disagreement remains about how to interpret the openness factor, which is sometimes called "intellect" rather than openness to experience. (Wikipedia)

  What this means is that as time goes on JW's will continue to resist change. The brightest and best will leave. When the organization began it tended to attract the people who were more open to an alternative to traditional religious dogma. But now that it is clear that JW's are definitely in the fundamentalists camp they can't attract the more creative types. Remember in the 60's that a lot of hippies came into the organization because of JW's antiwar views and anit-materialistic attitude. Because openness to experience is a highly heritable trait the children of these "hippies" have been repulsed by their parents religion and have drifted away. Whereas Russell appeared open to experience as evidenced by his imaginative excursions (pyrimidology, magic wheat, books channeled by spirit mediums) Rutheford was simply a crank and a dictator. Rutheford was followed by the typical "organization men" Knorr, Larson etc. With the death of Franz bizarre creativity has degraded to mindless "change" for the sake of change.

  It is a sad situation. Even the Catholic Church, although rigid, tolerated the Jesuits to carry on their intellectual pursuits. Jehovah's Witnesses have become the worst kind of fundamentalists and take pride in allying themselves with the cruel early reformers that were kicked out of Great Britain and Europe.
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  56

  Another non-JW reacts to Sparlock video

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-ssv2nh0rc.

  and two weeks ago i highlighted another video where sparlock helped an ex-mormon.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmesmlhydru.

  though it still depresses me to think of all the young ones (including my own relatives) falling under the influence of this dangerous piece of propaganda, it's at least some small comfort that the sparlock video is backfiring so dramatically among thinking non-jws.. .

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  scotoma

  Reminds me a little of Stephanie Miller.
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  38

  Old out-of-touch JWs using antiquated terms

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ever notice how completely out of touch some (most?

  ) public speakers are?.

  last week we had a speaker ramble on for fully 1/3, maybe 1/2, of his 30 minute talk on the evils of "rap music".. i don't believe the term "rap music" has been uttered by anyone under the age of 40 for at least 20-25 years.. this week we got another "older gentleman" warning us about the pervasive dangers of "internet chat rooms".. again - didn't "chat rooms" die out about the same time as dialing up to connect to aol?.

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  scotoma

  Better watch out for the lyrics of the "SONG of Solomon" while you're at it.
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  20

  The Objectors have Taken Over

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the objectors have taken over.

  today i published a new article underscoring how far removed current watchtower leadership is from yesteryears leaders.

  what got a person disfellowshipped by watchtower in 1981 is embraced by its current top leadership.

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  scotoma

  Marvin,

  The simple act of juxtapositioning those two articles is delightfully incriminating.

  You've got to just "love this teaching".

  "In the abundance of words there does not fail to be transgression." Proverbs 10:19

  Let's see. 128 pages per month for 12 months = 1536 pages per year. Times at least 120 years = 184,320 pages of Watchtower, Golden Age, Consolation, Awake to say nothing about the Informants, Tracts, KM's, Bound books. They've said enough to put them away forever. The pages are stuck together with blood. The blood of those who have tried to build their lives on that whirlwind of paper.