I believe there is a few brothers like that in every KH. One old brother told me once that the Watchtower invented the internet. OK..............
Al Gore is a Jehovah's Witness?
so brohter (not elder or anything but many years active) had to give talk this week.
talk related to how jehovah gives abilities to people thru the spirit.
started off with the mention of how god told moises to build the tent and gave people the abilities to work wood, stone, etc.
I believe there is a few brothers like that in every KH. One old brother told me once that the Watchtower invented the internet. OK..............
Al Gore is a Jehovah's Witness?
http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/maincasescreen.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=2109889&doc_no=s226656&search=party&start=1&query_partylastnameororg=watchtower bible and tract.
started 5/27/2015.
Boo yeah...actually glad they're appealing.
Streisand effect.
Also, Supreme Court could reverse the "duty to warn" decision.
they just posted the simplified august study watchtower on jw.org.. paragraph 11 of the "expectation!
" article says this:.
"so even if we feel that we have been waiting a long time, this does not mean that the end is far away or that it is not coming in our lifetime.".
I hate these a-hole false prophecies! They e been doing it forever!
if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.
im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.
i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.
in my quest to always understand why jws get so f%$@ed up (yes oubliette, lets review lol) i discovered something today.
in speaking with one of my fellow heathen friends from this site i was talking about maslov's hierarchy of needs in an unrelated subject but i had an epiphany.
witnesses are held at the third level and never make it to the oh so critical top two sections.
dear lurking jw's:.
if you were in a cult, how would you know?
cults don't call themselves cults.
dear lurking jw's:.
if you were in a cult, how would you know?
cults don't call themselves cults.
fastJehu: Any other reference I should use instead?
We all know the JW FAQ is the sanitized version of the doctrines.
-------------
Can anyone else help with modern JWdotORG references for the rest of the points? I have to work right now. lol
dear lurking jw's:.
if you were in a cult, how would you know?
cults don't call themselves cults.
Dear Lurking JW's:
If you were in a cult, how would you know? Cults don't call themselves cults. The Branch Davidians and Jonestown cults didn't consider themselves cults.
Here are some identifying marks of cults:
1. Ruled by a man or group of men. YES - Governing Body
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2002203#h=12
2. Isolate you from your previous friends, family, and humanity YES - Bad Associations spoil useful habits
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102006152#h=28
3. Tell you they are the only way, the only truth, and the only ones that can save you. YES - JW's refer to their religion as "The Truth" and their teachings as "Sacred Secrets"
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2011568#h=16
4. They use fear to persuade you to never leave them. YES - Armageddon, Disfellowshipping
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2008241#h=25
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102008083
5. If you leave you are punished severely. YES - Disfellowshipping, shunned by friends and family
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102008083
6. Abuse is allowed because it favors a patriarchal society were men get privileges women don't. YES - Countless cases of abuse in the organization. Men are the only ones allowed to teach.
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102008084
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/402015042#h=17
7. They require some sort of sacrifice. YES - No Blood transfusions, no hanging out at party/bar, no holidays
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2000447
8. They threaten you with lose of family, friends if you don't do as they say. YES - Disfellowshipping and/or marking
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102008083
9. They claim its not them, but God that wants you to act a certain way. YES - The Governing Body claims to be God's channel for communication.
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2002203#h=12
10. They claim they get their power by God. YES. - See above
11. They don't want you to read any literature that is against their cause. YES - The Governing Body discourages looking at literature and websites that are critical of the organization.
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102008064#h=14
12. They discourage, use fear, threaten, or order that certain medical procedures are not done. YES - No Blood transfusions, in the past they used to ban organ transplants too.
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2000447
13. They discourage education that they aren't involved in. YES - The Governing Body frequently goes on rants against higher education.
Reference: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2011448#h=9
14. They are usually apocalyptic in their speech. YES - Armageddon
if we are in the congregation, do you think our comments or questions actually reach elders or others in the congregation?
do our comments on this board affect witnesses to the point of questioning their faith?
I was an active uber dub and if it weren't for this site, I may have given in to cognitive dissonance and suppressed my doubts.
It's liberating when you find out you're not alone and there are others out there that are feeling the same doubts as you are.
the latest jw podcast has inspired me to update the copypasta comment that i post anytime this topic comes up.. i have formatted it to more closely follow the wonderful www.jwfacts.com table.
i have also added a few more links directly to the jw online library.
"evil-merodach reigned two years" w65 1/1 p. 29.
SimonSays: The Society accepts 539 BCE as the date of the fall of babylon.
They accept an archeological source when it agrees with them. But if that same source disagrees with them on another point, they don't accept it.
Why is it okay to accept a source for something that confirms your belief, yet reject that same source when it goes against your doctrine?
I'll answer that question: it's a little thing called "Confirmation Bias."