Posts by Dunedain

16

Jehovah's Witnesses - a religion of displaced people?

by slimboyfat in

i've had a theory for a long time that jws historically have appealed to people who have been displaced or find themselves in a new environment away from family and friends.

i also read an article recently that suggested that internal migration in italy was a big boost for jw growth.

more generally it has long been theorised that new religious movements are a phenomenon particularly associated with disruptive features of modernity, including the hyper-mobility of people in the modern age.

Dunedain

This makes perfect sense. The WTBS bull crap will appeal to people that are being displaced, or going thru any turmoil.

When people are new to an area, or forced to go somewhere that they have no friends and family, they may be desperate to meet new people. They may be looking for friends, or a new social group. What easier than having someone show up at your door, and invite you to a "meeting". Once they go, they are love bombed, and coddled.

Then they have the one on one with their study conductor. The study conductor is always looked at as a "friend", and vice versa. This is just the amount of social contact they may need, to fulfil their loneliness, and lack of family close by.

21

The elusive song 151 makes an appearance.

by SadElder in

the missing song 151 now titled "the revealing of god's sons" shows up with the september edition of tv.jw.

no words or score on the jw page yet.

can't say that it sounds any different than any of the other songs they produce now.

Dunedain

Man, those older, and current, songs from the songbook, are some of the worst music ever written, lol. As a kid in the hall, I used to hate singing those horrible songs.

My best friend in the hall at that time, used to pretend he was SOOO into the songs when he sung them. He would sing overly loud, and make these exaggerated facial expressions, like he was doing a cheesy music video.

It was so funny, and whenever any of us teenagers would catch a glimpse of it, you would get the laughs that you cant control.

One time the brother that was on the stage observed him making all the weird faces, and singing like he was really into the song, and he couldn't help laughing too. He probably could tell that he was making a mockery of the whole thing, lol.

Most of the other JW's, however, thought that my buddy was SOOO spiritual, as he sang soo loud, and made his cheesy expressions. That made it even more hysterical at the end of the day, lol. He would even make his older brother bust out laughing during the prayer, too. Good times, good times.

82

meeting with elders about WT involvement in UN

by LevelThePlayingField in

i still go to the meetings because of my in wife and it came about that the elders knew of my pissed off attitude about the society getting involved in the un.

so the elders said they could help me get over that and wanted to meet with me.

now just to let you know, i have only told my wife and her mom so far about it, that's it.

Dunedain

You are treading on dangerous ground my friend. The best advice I could give you, and as many others here have said, you should try to AVOID it.

While it IS noble, and courageous, to want to show them the U.N. issue, they will NOT look at it that way. You will not be among listening ears. They, most likely, already have a pre-conceived notion that you are leaning towards doubting "Mother", and this they cannot accept.

The fact that it is ALREADY happening with at least 2 Elders, lets you know that there is more to it. They are coming "fully armed", ready for a "fight". There will be NOTHING that you can say, that will make them see your points, or "enlighten" them in any way.

As others have mentioned, and I feel is your BEST option, is to say, "Oh its not really a big deal to me, and honestly I don't know why I have to speak to more than one Elder about this". Spin it around on them, and say "Wow, now YOU are making me think there REALLY is something going on concerning the U.N, I didn't think it was that serious". Say, "in fact I did a little research, and prayed to Jehovah about it, and I found out it really was NOT that big of a deal". Say, " if you want to discuss it ONE on ONE, that's cool, but it really doesn't bother me now, thanks anyway".

Now I completely understand that YOU do not feel that way, and it IS INDEED a VERY big deal, but you need to protect yourself, for the sake of your Wife. Do not think that you might be "awakening" them, and that by you doing this, it will wake up everyone to TTATT. As awesome as that would be, it just wont be the case here. Especially with these "company men".

Protect yourself, and your marriage, THAT is the most important thing. Down play it, and do damage control NOW, to get yourself out of this situation. The best thing would be to NOT be in front of 2 or 3 Elders, and discussing this. You do NOT want that.

87

Evolution Gap - Where's the Fur?

by shadow in

evolution paints human ancestors covered with fur.

fur has several benefits as stated by britannica "the pelts of fur-bearing animals are called true furs when they consist of two elements: a dense undercoat, called ground hair, and longer hairs, extending beyond that layer, called guard hair.

the principal function of ground hair is to maintain the animal’s body temperature; that of guard hair is to protect the underlying fur and skin and to shed rain or snow.".

Dunedain

Come to one of my Italian family reunions, and you will see the fur covering many hominids, both male and female.

16

JW hospitality

by Chook in

about 5 years ago when i was in, my son who at the time was 18 needed somewhere to sleep for a couple of nights due to work commitments ,in a city 2 hours from home.

my "best man" who is an elder that lives in this city , was asked could my son stay a couple of nights .

the response was he doesn't go to meetings anymore ,he can't stay here , i ask can he sleep on garage floor instead , still can't stay .

Dunedain

These kind of examples is what wakes up a lot of people. The love that is not shown from JW's, is very abundant. It is not an isolated thing, in one part of the world, or a rare occurrence. Instead, it is quite the opposite, and the lack of love permeates the organization.

I truly believe that EX Jw's ARE some of the MOST loving people. We were turned off to the Borg, BECAUSE of the lack of love, and these kinds of examples. We are the TRUE Christians, as WE have been persecuted by this organization, because of our compassion, and love for others.

We just would not except that this was the true religion, because we knew the love was false. We have been branded as heretics, called apostates, put on display, ridiculed by others, and shunned, by those who claim they love. We except this, and WE would still take THEM into our homes, if THEY needed, knowing full well that they would not do the same for us.

We are love, not them.

10

This religion has a chance of survival

by Socrateswannabe in

the jws could survive as an organization due to one vital human need: recognition.

for decades this religion glorified the older ones and really didn't do much for the younger folks, hence the younger people left in droves.

if you're middle-aged or older, what was the average age of the elders in your congregation or your circuit overseer, as you were growing up?

Dunedain

The orgs push for younger, and younger ones moving up in the org, in POSITIONS OF POWER, will absolutely backfire on them.

First off, any older ones, who have spent years in the "truth", feel they have paid their dues. They will feel resentful of younger ones judging, counseling, and essentially "running" the show.

The lack of experience, and all around pitfalls that come with youth, will make these men barely qualified. It will contribute to the collapse of the org. It will force the existing elders to JUST appoint anybody, because they are younger, and attending the meetings.

The "essential" qualities that men in a position should have, will be completely overlooked, because the Borg is now DESPERATE to put ANYBODY into a position. These men will have no life experience. They will, most likely, NOT have families of their own, and hence be in a weak position to council others about children, and families.

They will NOT be looked at, by even younger ones, as "examples", because these men will most likely be odd in behavior, and "characters" in real life. The org will further be undermined, as even younger ones will NOT see older, wise men, to exemplify, but, instead, young fools as examples.

The Org, from the outside, and the inside looking in, will look like a crap show. With idiots, and unqualified, "children", both mentally and physically, running the show. The WTBS will continue to be a watered down, poor version, of what it used to be. This is another act of DESPERATION. From desperation comes mistakes, hasty decisions, and poor outcomes.

31

Latest Metal Detecting Find

by cofty in

now the harvest is underway up north i can get out for a walk with the metal detector in the evening.

i am lucky to live on a historic rural estate and i have permission from the landowner to detect.. this is a coin that popped up last night.

it was only about 2 inches deep and had been tumbling around in the plough soil for the last 750 years.. it is a silver penny of king henry iii.

Dunedain

Nice find Cofty.

While the U.S. is a very "young" country in comparison to Europe, and others, there are still some cool finds here. I found a few American " Indian head wheat " pennies dated from 1861 and 1862. Now these pennies are not necessarily worth a lot, and also, not extremely rare. However, what made them really historically cool, is that I found them at Gettysburg Pennsylvania, on the actual battlefield.

Probably the most major battles of the whole Civil war, were at Gettysburg. I found the coins on the exact part of the battlefield, where Pickets charge took place. The "high water mark" of the Confederacy. I also found a musket ball, and Union bullet, there too.

I just think its awesome, that I found 2 pennies that were dated during the Civil war, ON a Civil war battlefield. How cool is that.

13

Any Peugeot owners around here?

by Mandrake in

i was wondering since there are a lot of uk users (at first i didn't notice that) if there is some peugeot owners here, clearly not from the us, the brand and also citroën has no presence in north america... in my city (santiago) you can see almost every car brand from chinese to european... in my apartment's parking lot there are toyotas, hondas, a porsche (that is abandoned, a carrera 911 turbo from 1989), even an old lancia, alfa romeo, nissan, renault, citroën, a camaro, suzuki, sköda, bmw, an old mecerdes, daewoos, kias, hyundais, an old vw beetle and a scirocco, few chinese, an audi, a dodge ram.

even a maserati in a house two blocks away etc etc.. and my 307 :)

Dunedain

@ Mandrake - Its true, there are no Citroen's in North Americas/U.S., but there ARE Peugeot's. In fact many different European cars are in the U.S..

There aren't a lot of Chinese cars, though, I can tell you that.

43

Is this the last chance for inactive and df'd ones?

by innerpeace in

hi all, just wondering if there's anything going around about the elders receiving instruction from the society to give inactive ones and disfellowshipped ones one last chance to come back?

i ask because i have a still in family member that i received a message from, and urging me to go back.

the elders are apparently saying there is no time left.

Dunedain

@ LisaRose - Lol, act NOW, and you will not get one Elder, but 2 Elders harassing you to come back, then try to DF you, just as quickly. Normal Elder harassment, and judgements, will apply.

25

December Study Watchtower - Preparing to Reveal a New Light?

by The Searcher in

the jw/wtbt's anti-scriptural & anti-christ teaching that "a person's own death wipes out their sins" (based on their lie that romans 6:7 is to be interpreted literally) appears to have had a little wedge inserted into it.

despite making numerous accurate references to the fact that 1st century christians had figuratively died to sin, the svengalis at the top of the brooklyn pyramid point-blank refuse to discuss/cite/quote romans 6:7 and its true meaning.

page 10, par.

Dunedain

@ Prologos - The JW's will say that Adam & Eve are not entitled to a resurrection, because they were "perfect". They sinned as perfect humans.

This is why Jesus ransom, "balances" it out because he was "perfect" and free of sin. Blah blah, blah, blah, blah. At least that's what you will here as a "canned" response from a JW.

Personally, I always had a problem with this "logic". A) Because Jesus was supposedly a spirit creature for billions of years before he came to earth. He was also, essentially second in command, and assisted in actually creating humans. B) Adam and Eve, when compared to the huge timeline, of spirit creatures being alive for billions of years before humans were created, makes them essentially "babies". They might of had adult bodies, but they were like children, when compared to the big picture, and their length of life.

So, really the "balance" of the perfect Jesus, for the "perfect" Adam and Eve, is NOT a fair comparison of "equality" of perfect humans. It never made sense to me.