Posts by outsmartthesystem

23

Advice please...teenager stuff

by Aussie Oz in

jw
friends

outsmartthesystem

I kind of agree with Baltar. Look.....she should be able to make most of her own decisions......but this is a major one because she is permanently changing her visible features. I realize that no matter what she wants to do as a professional, the size of the damn holes in her ears won't make her any less qualified. But unfortunately we always have and always will live in a biased society. I have trouble seeing her manage a bank, or becoming a pediatrician because of this.

Life isn't always fair. Her having ear stretchers shouldn't make a damn bit of difference to anyone.....but unfortunately it does. And she needs to realize that life is indeed about having fun, making your own decisions and being independent......but along with that comes SOME sort of conformity to cultural norms. If she disregards ALL expectations and norms.....she will be making life a lot harder than it has to be. I would try to reason with her to remove them. Not because its your way or the highway or because she should respect her mom saying "it's my way or the highway" either. But because she realizes that such a decision can affect her professional career forever. Maybe she'll respect your reasoning and see taht you want her to remove them.....not for control issues.....but out of concern for her future. And maybe this will make her want to move in with you.

67

does the watchtower still believe this?

by lastchance in

questions from readers ?

some animals have characteristics that seem especially suited to killing, such as lions and poisonous snakes.

how can this be, if they were all vegetarians at one time?l.

outsmartthesystem

"And I thought that picture was from literature of the fifties!

Seriously, does anyone on Earth wear such clothes today?"

In the minds of the GB members.....that's how people SHOULD dress. Therefore that's what they prefer to show in their magazines. Just another notice to the rank and file that they're not properly measuring up!

"Do I see a few mustaches in the picture. The guy playing the

guitar, or maybe devil cake on his upper lip."

Incorrect. There will be no DEVIL cake in the wonderous new world. It will be far too holy for that.

67

does the watchtower still believe this?

by lastchance in

questions from readers ?

some animals have characteristics that seem especially suited to killing, such as lions and poisonous snakes.

how can this be, if they were all vegetarians at one time?l.

outsmartthesystem

"Is anyone else embarrassed that you believed all this crap as gospel . . . . ."

Yes. Horribly. I now understand that faith far outweighs reason and logic. But to varying degrees. Some witnesses realize how ridiculous this sounds......but they trust that "Jehovah will reveal everything in his due time". Others truly believe that the reasoning used above is perfectly logical. These are the ones that frustrate me the most.....as they possess not even a shred of ability to think for themselves.

10

does the watchtower still believe this?

by lastchance in

questions from readers ?

some animals have characteristics that seem especially suited to killing, such as lions and poisonous snakes.

how can this be, if they were all vegetarians at one time?l.

outsmartthesystem

OMG. I did not know such a magazine existed. That is really their argument?

"Is there anyone on the earth who can say from personal observation how these animals acted six thousand years ago?"

No, but supposedly Daniel was thrown in a pit with lions and he was quite fearful. Not because he would have to share his salad with them but likely because he thought they might eat him. Let's see.....that was supposed to have happened more than 2,500 years ago. Lions are still just as carnivorous and feared as ever. Are we to believe that perhaps in the 3500 years prior to that they somehow went from cute and cuddly to vicious and aggressive?

"Yet, could not these same fangs and claws be used in tearing apart heavy vegetation and ripping off husks and shells?"

This is beyond ridiculous. Can a sword be used to peel an apple? Yes. Therefore a sword is not a weapon. The leaps of logic that it takes to believe this crap is amazing.

Ya know....I was scuba diving once in the Bahamas. I went to the ocean floor and I saw quite a few lobsters. Then....out of nowhere....swims this Tiger! I'll be damned if that tiger didn't grab that lobster and swim away with it. The next thing I knew, that tiger was back on shore.....having already used his fangs and claws to tear off the shell. If memory serves me correct, the tiger cooked the lobster tail right there on the beach in a zesty lemon herb butter sauce.

61

Do you think our society is on the verge of collapsing?

by jam in

not to sound like the gloom and doom cult we were apart,.

but are we heading for an collapse in our society?.

iam sure we all are familiar with the signs that bring about.

outsmartthesystem

Most people that ask such questions like to compare the times we live in now to the 1950's (like my wife). And the crux of their argument is usually that the times we are living in now is somehow "proof" that we are near the "end". I am not saying that is your intention.....I'm just making an observation. These same individuals like to cherry pick certain issues to use as "proof". They'll say "look at how many young couples live together instead of getting married. this is a moral breakdown of society". Well first.....such a person is holding "society" captive to their own religious ideas that the bible is from God and should be taken literally. And secondly, even if there is a God and he does want people to live their lives by biblical standards then who is he most pleased with? The young couple that "lives in sin" while volunteering every weekend to feed homeless people.....or the bible thumper from 1950 that would NEVER live with a woman he wasn't married to......but who abuses his wife and is racially prejudiced?

"In the 50's, women dressed more modestly"

OK. And in the 50's they HAD to because male dominated society treated them as sluts if they didn't conform to their conservative ideas

"In the 50's, there wasn't as much gang violence"

OK. And in the 50's it was perfectly acceptable for a white man to expect a tired, broken down black woman to give up her seat on a bus because he was more privileged than her.

It all comes down to the argument you want to make. If you want to view society as declining.....you can find indicators. If you want to view society as getting better.....you can find indicators

12

Preaching the good news in Africa . . . WTS's future?

by sizemik in

there's been a few threads and comments on where wts will concentrate their efforts to maintain membership.

it has been suggested that the advent and growth of the net, among other things, has significantly slowed growth in most developed lands.

some of the new style of literature has added to the speculation that less devloped lands present a better opportunity.. .

outsmartthesystem

Cedars - I agree......and I have an additional theory. My honest guess is that the GB knows they are bleeding money and they know that contributions are not going to come pouring in from Africa. But I think they believe their own bull****. I think they truly believe that those in Africa NEED these life saving publications and kingdom halls.........and that somehow....someway.....Jehovah will step in and provide a new revenue stream for them. It would not shock me at all if the WT lawyers are all very nervous about the future, but the GB is blissfully confident that Jehovah will lead the way. Just my two pesos.

58

26% drop in auxiliary pioneers in "special month" between 2011 and 2012

by sir82 in

jw
friends

i don't recall seeing this posted on this board before, my apologies if the topic is duplicated..... in april 2011 and march 2012, the gb made a "loving provision" to allow jws to sign up for the auxiliary pioneer work with only a 30 hour requirement instead of the usual 50 hours.. in 2011, in the usa, about 500,000 signed up to be auxiliary pioneers.. in 2012, per the august 2012 km, only about 370,000 signed up.. that's a 26% drop in just 1 year!.

granted, in many parts of the us, the march weather is far worse than april's.

but on the other hand, there were 5 saturdays in march 2012 - you could get your "time in" with 5 long saturdays and nothing else.. .

outsmartthesystem

I think what is being lost in this discussion is the way the society has to lower the bar to get the results they want. To me....it doesn't matter if the society had 26% fewer auxillary pioneers this year in comparison with last or 5%. What matters is that to achieve these results....they have to lower their standards.

A sales manager gets results by getting his employees to sell more. The bar doesn't change.....he just has to find a way to motivate the employees to reach that goal. The society does the opposite. They bring the goal down so more people can reach it. It is like a college professor grading on an 80% curve all year long and then bragging about how many of his students got A's. It is a fabrication of success.

12

Preaching the good news in Africa . . . WTS's future?

by sizemik in

there's been a few threads and comments on where wts will concentrate their efforts to maintain membership.

it has been suggested that the advent and growth of the net, among other things, has significantly slowed growth in most developed lands.

some of the new style of literature has added to the speculation that less devloped lands present a better opportunity.. .

outsmartthesystem

But how will they sustain such an economic model?

22

shepherd the flock gem

by outsmartthesystem in

just reading through the manual that only elders have access to ..........and.

page 58 - "elders should act promptly when they receive a report of serious wrongdoing so as to safeguard the congregation and provide assistance to the wrongdoer.

neglecting to care for such matters can hinder the flow of jehovah's holy spirit to the congregation.

outsmartthesystem

Good catch Londo.....number 2 especially

22

shepherd the flock gem

by outsmartthesystem in

just reading through the manual that only elders have access to ..........and.

page 58 - "elders should act promptly when they receive a report of serious wrongdoing so as to safeguard the congregation and provide assistance to the wrongdoer.

neglecting to care for such matters can hinder the flow of jehovah's holy spirit to the congregation.

outsmartthesystem

"For instance, does eating leftover birthday cake restrict the flow less than eating fresh birthday cake?"

Just the opposite. Fresh, tantalizing cake can be tough to pass up. Whereas dry, leftover cake is typically unappealing. Therefore, one who eats leftover cake is likely doing so just to spite organizational rulings. One could say that such an individual is purposely being BRAZEN. Such BRAZEN conduct would restrict holy spirit flow much moreso than a one time moment of fresh, moist, chocolatey weakness.

"Or masturbating while fantasizing about one's own wife restrict the flow less than fantasizing about group sex with the COBOE and all the pioneer sisters?"

This is correct. The holy spirit fantasizes about my wife too