Posts by outsmartthesystem

44

Religious extremism at its worst - the Taliban behead 17 people for having a party

by cedars in

jw
friends

a truly shocking story in the telegraph.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9501478/taliban-behead-17-caught-dancing-to-music-at-party.html.

it makes you realise how fortunate you are to live in a rational society.. .

cedars.

outsmartthesystem

"I'll bet there were no Jdubs at that party, see how we are protected by Jehovah."

Oh my god! I could totally see the borg putting this story in one of their magazines. It would look something like this:

"In one particular country in 2012, a party was held which included worldly music and lewd dancing. The party may very well have been to celebrate the birthday of one of its attendees. Authorities stormed the complex and a violent outburst soon ensued. In all, 17 people were killed in the fracas. Due to their high moral standards and refusal to engage in practices condemned by the the bible, no Jehovah's Witnesses were in attendance. Is it not happifying to see that obedience to Jehovah's faithful slave results in the safety of His sheep?!"

Nowhere....of course.....will they mention that such a disaster took place in a country that does not even have any JWs in it anyway. But that wont' matter. All the JWs across the earth will look at this "fact" and it will reinforce their beliefs

21

My nephew is awake!

by redvip2000 in

jw
friends

my 17 year old nephew is visiting from florida and to my surprise, last night in conversation, he revealed that for the last 2 years, he has come to realize that the watchtower society " is a bunch of bs" and that he can see how people are brainwashed in the organization.. interestingly, he has come to realize this, without knowing any of the facts and scandals that we all know about - he simply can see things don't add up.

naturally our conversation progressed to discuss the inconsistencies in the org which he had no idea about, and the flood gates were opened.... he now wants to read the ray franz's books, and get as much information as possible.. he told me that the young people in the hall are beginning to speak to each other about " the issues", while keeping these conversations away from the parent's ears.

sadly, my sister still expects and somewhat forces the kid to attend the meetings, but i told him that he should be wise and patient in the process of stepping away from the cult, to avoid too much collateral damage.. i often feared that the kid would be pressured into being baptized in the cult, but he seems determined to make sure that will never happen.

outsmartthesystem

11

Would I be in trouble?

by Pallbearer in

would i be in trouble?let's suppose that i had never stopped going to the meetings at the kingdom hall, and that i was still actively engaged in the field service.

if you were to be invited into my home you couldn't help but notice that the entire top (probably 6 foot across) of my entertainment center (a piece of furniture that holds the tv and that has glassed-in shelves on each side) is crowded with religious figurines, most of which came from the local catholic store.. .

next to that is the nativity scene that has several pieces: the wise men, the "star", the babe jesus, and joseph and mary etc.

outsmartthesystem

"is crowded with religious figurines, most of which came from the local Catholic Store."

It really depends on whether or not your local elders like you. If they do.....they may just give you counsel that it could stumble others and leave it at that. If they don't, they could say that you are supposed to quit touching the unclean thing. You are voluntarily rubbing elbows with babylon the great........and you are being "brazen" about it. Prepare for a judicial committee for "brazen conduct".

The possibilities are endless.

18

Exposing a JW to the definition of cults - good idea?

by NeverKnew in

first, i am not a jw and never was.

i ran into an old friend who had been "baptized" who "encouraged" me to consider looking into the faith he had become a part of (born-in).

i figured, "hey... maybe i'll learn something i've never known.

outsmartthesystem

Ask questions. But don't come across as critical.....come across as truly inquisitive. Remember.....he is a JW which means HE is the teacher....not you. They are programmed to shut down to any idea that is not their own. Feign interest in some of his closely held doctrines. If he thinks he is teaching you....he will likely open up. The only thing you can do is ask questions to plant seeds that will hopefully get him to think

59

Interesting discussion with some Witnesses at my door today

by jwfacts in

i moved to a new home about 6 months ago, so am no longer on a do not call list, but have not been contacted by jw's yet.

i didn't even know which territory i am in.

i asked again what congregation and he told me.

outsmartthesystem

"The littlest one was trying to put a magazine into my hand, whilst the father was parroting the title. Even though I knew what was happening, it was all so quick and overwhelming I had no idea what he was talking about. You have to wonder what a normal householder is left thinking about the situation."

I have not read the other replies yet....but wow......talk about an over-aggressive sales pitch. Let alone the exploitation of a small child. I mean......what householder is going to purposely reject accepting a "gift" from a smiling, eager child?

21

Say It Ain't So, Lance!

by Quendi in

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outsmartthesystem

It is a sad day.....though I suspected some form of doping from him for the past several years. At first.....I believed he was really just that good. But then when everyone around him started to fall (Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, Alberto Contador, Floyd Landis, Bjarne Riis, Alexandre Vinokourov, Tyler Hamilton etc), reason simply dictated that there is no way he could be totally clean when all the main riders around him were falling like dominos. Personally.....I think he really was better than everyone else......but when they began doping a LOT.....he had to dope a little to maintain an edge.

Just my opinion

I'd LIKE to believe he is clean too.......but with ALL of his competitors going down in flames, his close association with Dr. Ferrari, his team manager implicated and many, many teammates willing to testify against him.....it just doesn't look good for him.

Though I sadly believe that he did dope....he is still a hero. He still overcame cancer and he still beat all those other riders (it was a level playing field if they all doped). And he has still done a LOT in terms of raising $ for cancer research/victims. More than that though.....he has served as a beacon of hope for cancer patients everywhere. Consider this. If he didn't dope......and he rode well in all those tours....but never quite won because of the unlevel playing field.....he'd have pride....but nothing else. He wouldn't be nearly as famous. He'd be like Levi Liephiemer is today. Relatively unknown to those outside the cycling community. His foundation wouldn't have raised anywhere near the $ it has.....if he would even have a foundation at all......and he would have inspired far fewer people to beat this loathsome disease known as cancer.

Lance Armstrong = the dark knight

7

How should a letter to my local congregation be addressed?

by Resistance is Futile in

jw
friends

how are letters from the society addressed to the local elders?

.

should i simply address it to the "body of elders"?.

outsmartthesystem

Dear mind controlled assholes.......

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

Wait a minute! Didn't the society also lower the hours needed to be a regular pioneer for that month too? Thus allowing "regular AUXILIARY pioneers" to qualify as a "regular pioneer" for a month???????

10

My Experience in the Watchtower (Part Two)

by Eiben Scrood in

i had related the first part of my story in part one.

thanks for all the responses and sorry for the wait for part two!

part two obviously won't make as much sense if part one hasn't been read.. here is my continuing story:.

outsmartthesystem

just carry on, nothing to see here, keep on cleaning and pioneering and living in your parents’ basement.

Great line!

23

Advice please...teenager stuff

by Aussie Oz in

jw
friends

outsmartthesystem

"Can I consider her kicked out and just tell her that has happened and take the load off her?"

I am sorry....I just realized that I gave an opinion without even really answering your question. I don't think she is "kicked out" until they officially do it. There are a lot of threats in JW land. But I would certainly open the door to my place for her. I'd have a conversation with her about the ear thingies. I'd do everything I can to make her see that with you, you are all about trying to help her succeed in life.....not about creating rules for the sake of control ......a la......mom and step dad and the WATCHTOWER organization