NeonMadman

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Posts by NeonMadman

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  14

  The Stark & Iannaccone study on JW growth!

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  you may find this professional paper done by rodney stark & laurence r.iannaccone on why the jehovah's witnesses grow so rapidly:a theoretical application that appeared in the journal of contemporary religionto well be worth your time to read through carefully.

  http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:3ta2px7hy6ec:lsb.scu.edu/econrel/downloads/jwgrow-o.pdf+future+growth+of+jehovah%27s+witnesses&hl=en&ie=utf-8.

  the abstract:.

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  NeonMadman

  I had problems at the original site you listed, too. Every time I went to the page, my browser locked up. Downloading the .pdf now...

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  The New World Fantasy

  by metatron in

  1. jw
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  witnesses repeat the promises of a "new world" like a mantra,.

  but can never really appreciate what 'perfection' would offer.

  in real life.. do witnesses rejoice when world peace moves forward, when .

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  NeonMadman

  One thing that always - even as a loyal dub - bothered me about the New System was that eventually, after procreation had stopped (as the Watchtower said it would), all the children would grow up, and there would never again be children to enjoy on earth. What kind of world would it be without kids?

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  19

  Exaggeration and embellishments dilute the message

  by ozziepost in

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  2. friends

  (page 62).

  (page 35).

  (page 100).

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  NeonMadman

  Ozzie, I don't know about bell-ringing at Bethel; I was never a Bethelite. But the rest of the experiences quoted in your original post don't seem all that exaggerated to me. I myself had an experience similar to the first one.

  As a young man, I had served as an attendant at a number of circuit assemblies. At some point, it occurred to me that I had been running around so much "attending," that I had been missing out on the fine spiritual food being provided (I gag thinking of it now, but back then I thought it was important). So I decided that at this one particular assembly I would not volunteer, but would focus on the program. Well, as soon as I walked in the door, the brother in charge of the attendants was on me, telling me where my station was going to be, and would I report there now, please. I politely informed him that I thought it would be in my better spiritual interests not to volunteer this time. He continued to argue with me, growing more and more hostile, until he finally said firmly that I should go and take my assigned position. I said, "No, as I told you, I'm not going to volunteer for this assembly." He snapped back, "Fine! Jehovah only wants willing workers!" and walked away. He didn't speak to me for the rest of that assembly, or very much ever again. I did volunteer again at future assemblies, but I made sure to stay away from any department he was involved in.

  Anyway, as I said, those experiences you cite don't seem that far-fetched to me; maybe it just depends on what areas you were in and which self-important bonehead was in charge.

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  13

  Last Magazine Arrived Today

  by out4good3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after i got home from work i looked in my mailbox and lo and behold what do i find.......the very last magazine from the now discontinued subscription of the awake and wt.

  no more will these magazines stack up on our kitchen table unread by my wife who claims to believe but almost never go to meetings.

  no more will these magazines stack up on the bottom of the bookcase in our study.

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  NeonMadman

  Nytel is working on the next edition of the New World Perversion Translation:

  *** Rbi8 4:8 ***
  8 He that does not love has not come to know God, because God is [sometimes] love [perhaps].

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  26

  pickles

  by Cygnus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what is your favorite kind of pickle?.

  and, do pickles go bad if you open the container and don't refrigerate them?

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  NeonMadman

  Half-sour dills, like you get in good pub-style restaurants.

  Yummy.

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  13

  WTS visits Apostate Website! (continuation)

  by Rado Vleugel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wts visits apostate website!

  (continuation).

  (i move this discussion to the top of this board because its already been buried under the other posts.

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  NeonMadman

  My question is: Do you think it is unethical to publish log files like I have done to disclose the Watchtower’s tactics?
  Your comments are appreciated.

  I don't think it's a question so much of ethics as of practicality. It might not be WT spies digging for dirt on apostates visiting your sites; it might just be Bethelites who are having their own doubts. Why expose them, when they are exactly the sort whose eyes we are trying to open?

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  37

  Apostate Literature

  by YoYoMama in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is it possible after researching the net on jw beliefs, background and reading apostate information that a jw would still research the bible and find watchtower teachings as truth?

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  NeonMadman

  Is it possible after researching the net on JW beliefs, background and reading apostate information that a JW would still research the Bible and find Watchtower teachings as truth?

  I don't think so, because if the person actually researches the Bible (as opposed to reading Watchtower "explanations" of the Bible), he or she will quickly find out that Watchtower teachings are not supported by the Bible. When the Watchtower does use the Bible in its teaching, texts are often taken out of context or twisted to mean something they do not say. That is why new potential converts are trained using the Watchtower's "Bible aids," as opposed to the Bible itself.

  As has often been pointed out by posters on this forum, no one ever became a Jehovah's Witness by studying the Bible alone.

  Of course, if by "research the Bible," you mean, look up what you want to know in the Insight books and the WT Index, then the result might be different.

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  19

  WT Indoctrination machine running fulltime!!

  by avengers in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i saw this on pln.

  anyone here know anything about this new book?.

  benefit from theocratic ministry school education .

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  NeonMadman

  It is the new TMS Guidebook. The book is roughly 8x10 compared to the smaller, older one. The catch is, you must be enrolled in the school to get one. I found that out the hard way when my wife and I picked OURS up. The bros made it a point to say rather loudly, so everyone else around could hear, that to get one I needed to be in the school. So, we ended up with only getting two of the three we ordered.

  Interesting. I have a copy, and I haven't been to a meeting in years...

  And, yes, it's pretty much the same old garbage recycled.

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  116

  Whats the dumbest thing you were counselled for?

  by Beck_Melbourne in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was once counselled by the elders for watching 'knots landing'....it became widely known in the congregation that me and a few other sisters would rush home from field service to watch our favourite soapie.

  if we missed it, we would ring each other up for an update...or...if we weren't near a tv we would ask someone to put the phone handset on the top of their tv so we could hear it...pathetic huh...but that was all the excitement we could scrounge up in our otherwise dull and uneventful lives.

  one of the elder's wive's conscience got the better of her...and she confessed to her husband..lol.

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  NeonMadman

  I was counselled for playing dungeons and dragons. My mother actually called an elder to our house and asked him to bring all reference material he had on the subject. I learned alot from that meeting - like how to hide my things so mom don't find them.

  
  Back in the days when I was a loyal JW, I got into playing D&D with some friends. This was before the Society condemned the game in the magazines. When the articles about D&D came out, I obediently stopped playing, and one day, put my set out to sell at a yard sale. One of the brothers, a self-righteous pioneer and ministerial servant (we'll call him Brother Extra-Righteous), stopped by the yard sale, and was horrified that I was selling such a demonic object. The only proper way to deal with it was to destroy it, burn it or something like that. I disagreed, saying that it was only a game, and that it didn't need to be classed with objects used in spiritism, it was just better that we, as 'Christians', not play the game. While we were arguing, some kid came by and bought the game. Brother Extra-Righteous left in a huff.

  After that, for years, Brother Extra-Righteous inserted D&D into every conversation I had with him, how wrong it was, how 'real Christians' would never play such a game. He would say something about it to others, too, if I was present. Eventually, we moved to another congregation. Several years after the original incident, we revisited our old congregation (where he still attended) for a Sunday meeting. Sure enough, without any corresponding information in the Watchtower article being studied, Brother Extra-Righteous managed to insert some remarks about D&D into his comment during the Watchtower Study. An elder, whom I had previously complained to about this idiot (and who was really a good guy), took him aside after the meeting and read him the riot act.

  After that, Brother Extra-Righteous never mentioned D&D in my presence again. But I don't think that the counsel from the elder that day was the reason. I think it had more to do with the fact that Brother Extra-Righteous was disfellowshipped shortly thereafter for sexually molesting his two young daughters.

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
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  68

  Is this world ruled by Demons and are we?

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  to me, one of the most pathetic and lamest of all watchtower teachings is the fantasy that satan and the demons rule the world.

  the witnesses are terrified of these demons getting into their minds through everything from wearing old clothes bought at the thrift store to smoking cigarettes (remember all drugs give demons easy access to your mind.).

  they would have you believe that each country on earth is controlled by really big mean and tough demons (hey demons cant be nice you know) and they are actively controlling the minds of the political leaders in a global chess game because they have nothing better to do.. i was wondering then if anyone can show me a single itsy bitsy tiny amount of evidence to show any credible physical evidence or logical/metaphysical reasoning to back the jw ideological boogey men.

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  NeonMadman

  You Know:

  The case with demons and used objects, is that they latch onto certain objects so that when that thing is passed to another the unclean creature sort of tags along because they view it as belonging to them. They can attach themselves to certain people too. It's just a game they like to play because, apparently, there are certain boundaries that they can't cross over with out hitchhiking on these physical or human objects.

  I defy you to support that statement from the scriptures. There is only one religion besides Jehovah's Witnesses that I know of that teaches that demons "attach" themselves to physical objects, and that is the religion of voodoo. The concept is utterly pagan and completely non-scriptural, and the Watchtower has adopted this paganism into its dogma for the sole purpose of keeping its subjects in fear of questioning Watchtower teachings, or in any way breaking the "rules".

  Tom
  

  "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan