metatron

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Posts by metatron

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  4

  Do Judgemental Religions Cause Poverty?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  suppose a human "mind virus" gets hold of you.. because of this new programming, you now view the.

  world in a dicotomy - there's you (good) and everyone else.

  (bad).. doesn't sound like recipe for success, does it?.

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  metatron

  Suppose a human "mind virus" gets hold of you.
  Because of this new programming, you now view the
  world in a dicotomy - there's you (good) and everyone else
  (bad).

  Doesn't sound like recipe for success, does it?

  Many people are familiar with the analysis that Protestant
  nations usually outshine Catholic ones, but I wonder about
  a further step. What about religions that strongly divide
  the human race into believers and infidels?

  As I look over the sad faces of so many afflicted - and
  nonprosperous Witnesses in local congregations, I have to
  wonder how they got into the "slough of despond" they're in.
  If you think you're constantly thwarted by Satan and doomed
  to affliction thereby, I don't think prosperity will find you
  to be good company. Worse, I can see how this mindset can get
  amplified by the witnessed success of others - if you think you
  have God/Allah's favor but are a failure in life - amidst the
  abundance that others possess - it obviously means they are evil,
  Satan-led and deserving of destruction. I think is how jihads
  (or Witness depression)can get started.

  Maybe the Society is wrong about materialism leading to drifting
  away from the "truth". Like the chicken and egg arguement, maybe
  the materialism was actually preceded by a LOSS of a DARKENED,
  PESSIMISTIC, JUDGEMENTAL OUTLOOK that encouraged giving up.

  I'm reminded of the Devil's Dictionary's definition of "destiny"

  "a tyrants authority for crime
  and a fools excuse for failure"

  maybe so

  metatron
• 
  3

  An Ominous increase

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for sept. they got 960k publishers in the us.

  (latest km).

  this should worry them.. while it is an increase over sept of last year,.

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  metatron

  For sept. they got 960K publishers in the US
  (latest KM)

  This should worry them.
  While it is an increase over Sept of last year,
  it also shows an incredibly anemic response to
  an event widely thought to be the beginning of the
  Great Tribulation. It didn't even rise to the level
  of a typical April level.

  metatron
• 
  7

  Downsizin'& Your Witless Relatives

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  downsizing.

  remember that word when changes come to the organization.. your witless relatives might object to your saying that.

  the "organization is dying".. so, ease them into the concept slowly,.

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  metatron

  Downsizing

  Remember that word when changes come to the organization.

  Your Witless relatives might object to your saying that
  the "organization is dying".

  So, ease them into the concept slowly,

  "the organization is downsizing".

  you'll be glad you did

  metatron("glorious Theocracy, ever downsizing.....")
• 
  22

  Does DF'ing Backfire?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in an organization as obsessed with control as this one is,.

  i have to wonder if the society's leadership ever considers how.

  disfellowshipping can turn against them.. i doubt, when they developed the idea of a person "disassociating.

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  metatron

  Ah, but there's a gaping hole in their scheme!

  The anonymity of the internet is allowing df'd people
  to communicate freely with other Witlesses. My daughter
  knows all the gossip before we do!

  metatron
• 
  27

  Watchtower & Awake Subscriptions

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in another thread the point was made that the wts is ending subscriptions to the watchtower and awake!

  magazines.

  isp rightly commented the following, "the wts gets double payment for the mags from the r+f......so subscribers are not cost effective!".

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  metatron

  Two thoughts

  In terms of money spent relative to purpose,
  the Awake looks like a problem. Most of the magazine
  is a vacuous waste of time and paper. People are better off
  reading the Readers' Digest. Why not dump that instead of
  the twice monthly Watchtower. Actually, why not dump both
  - clearly they are running out of ideas to print. Eventually,
  if they're not careful, they could end up little different
  from other "nice" Protestant magazines like Guideposts.

  As for assemblies, it could happen. Not long after the
  Rochester Assembly Hall was finished, they downsized
  one circuit assembly into a "special day" - then, they
  got rid of food at the assembly - making all that installed
  equipment a waste of money.

  Nothing is unthinkable

  metatron
• 
  22

  Does DF'ing Backfire?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in an organization as obsessed with control as this one is,.

  i have to wonder if the society's leadership ever considers how.

  disfellowshipping can turn against them.. i doubt, when they developed the idea of a person "disassociating.

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  metatron

  Joelbear, you raise a good point

  Where's the scriptural connection between shunning this person
  and the elders? Where's the formality of it? Where's the
  reference to judicial committees?

  nowhere

  metatron
• 
  22

  Does DF'ing Backfire?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in an organization as obsessed with control as this one is,.

  i have to wonder if the society's leadership ever considers how.

  disfellowshipping can turn against them.. i doubt, when they developed the idea of a person "disassociating.

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  metatron

  In an organization as obsessed with control as this one is,
  I have to wonder if the Society's leadership ever considers how
  disfellowshipping can turn against them.

  I doubt, when they developed the idea of a person "disassociating
  himself", they imagined that this might be used as a way to get
  completely free from all Watchtower clutches. Seeing various
  people appear on this board DA'ing themselves, it appears that's
  what they may have in mind!

  And then there's young people:

  Johnny Witness hates meetings and field service - and his parents.
  What better way to get back at them and leave the boredom behind
  than get DF'd for smoking or sex? I note that the Society's
  agents are reminding publishers to shun DF'd relatives. It doesn't
  take much imagination to realize that an increasing number of
  Witness parents now have to deal with DF'd kids - and the more they
  do, the more the system of control erodes.

  In addition, we have the recent phenomena of DF'd people "meeting"
  and comforting each other over the internet - almost like a club!
  Such ones are now free to verbally attack the organization openly
  and all they wish - and often do, because of the bitterness
  generated - not the outcome the Society was looking for, I'm sure!

  Finally, there may be a rare but important dilemma created by
  the push to shun - what do you do with someone who "knows too
  much"?

  If I was a Watchtower lawyer - and knew where "the bodies were
  buried" - I'd bet I had a "get of jail free" card, courtesy
  of the Society!

  metatron
• 
  16

  I never thought about jealousy

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as i look back over the trials and tribulations of.

  being a witness, there is one aspect of it that i. never gave much thought about.. jealousy.

  it just never occured to me.

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  metatron

  As I look back over the trials and tribulations of
  being a Witness, there is one aspect of it that I
  never gave much thought about.

  Jealousy

  It just never occured to me. At one point, my parents
  warned me about it - that I should be aware that many
  other Witnesses resented success. I was astounded that
  one brother expressed joy that I once mispronounced
  a word in the Watchtower study. I was horrified that
  a sister rejoiced that I was having trouble with my
  daughter because now we weren't "so perfect". I just couldn't
  believe people reputed to be my friends took such
  delight in the failure of others. I tried hard never
  to say anything that might be boastful - when I did
  the Theocratic School, I deliberately marked my relatives
  "weak" on their counsel slip, just to avoid any sign
  of favoritism.

  When I finally gave up and left the congregation,
  an elder from a neighboring hall came by to try to
  reactivate me. Why did I have these troubles?

  Jealousy, he said.

  I now look back and understand how the narrow and
  judgemental world of Witnesses feeds on itself. It
  gradually comes to resemble some kind of Cold War
  East European nation where every neighbors windfall
  becomes a reason for despising them.

  I also wonder about the whole Ray Franz affair. What
  part did jealousy play? I can tell you my personal
  experience with the elderly Governing Body members
  suggests that he was heads and shoulders above them
  in writing and reasoning ability. People like Knorr
  angrily steamed in their seats when he said that displays
  of affection (like holding hands) between courting
  couples was natural and expected. ( sound radical?
  Knorr insisted you should never touch as if a Bible
  command). I can now read the egotistical glee they
  got from condemming him and others as "apostates"
  and "worms".

  I write this, in particular, because this web site
  is loaded with so many talented intelligent people
  who walked (or were pushed) away from the organization-

  perhaps because of jealousy

  metatron
• 
  7

  Convergence of Technology and Society

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wanted to share this from a friend and former jw, an excellent piece of information re convergence:.

  the new convergence of technology and society.

  by steven luz.

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  metatron

  reminds me of that old joke

  a giant computer is created that knows everything
  scientists decide to ask it "Is there a God?"
  The computer replies "There is Now!"

  We are racing towards a global mind, with virtual God like
  powers. The age of miracles is upon us.

  metatron
• 
  40

  When Revelation Turns Obsolete

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the reasons i thought armageddon was close at hand was.

  the impending obsolescence of the bible as a source of revelation.. the bible was written within the context of a large number of.

  conditions that eventually would be changed by technology, i reasoned,.

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  metatron

  True to form

  More metaphorical nonsense - more ambiguity quoted to justify
  ambiguity. No "Word" or book should even be needed in a just
  universe where a personal creator exists.

  metatron