Two recommendations for book lovers: 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, and The Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman. Really, anything by Clifton Fadiman.
Socrateswannabe
JoinedPosts by Socrateswannabe
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26
Cemetery of Forgotten Books
by compound complex ini wound my way to a place both dark and light .
whose aspect was deeply grave yet of cheerful .
within the heightened stalls were untold rows.
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17
Governing Body, Faithful slave, or who?
by Chariklo ini have a question.
to most of you, this will seem elementary, and you'd think that after twenty months or so on this forum i'd know the answer, but i don't.
in this thread.
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Socrateswannabe
I can't answer your question regarding who has the money, but I would like to suggest to you that the money isn't as important as you may think it is. I agree with Jnat that WTBS is a bureaucracy whose primary goal is self-preservation. Other large organizations are bureaucracies also. Let's say that Apple Corporation is one. The founders and leaders of Apple want to leave a legacy that will be around 100 years from now, so in that way they're no different from the leaders of the WTBS.
Apple, through its advertising, development and marketing of superior products, and manipulation of social media, labors mightily to alter my behavior. They may convince me that without Apple products, my life will be less rich and meaningful, and if I believe them, I buy their stuff. As an organization they have spent a good deal of capital to influence me to do so, and their motive is profit--so the money is quite important to them.
I don't believe the leaders of the WTBS are greedy in the traditional sense of the word, that is, for profit. They control an empire, and even if all of the perks that we've heard about are true, they still lead rather austere lives compared to the titans at Apple or any other multi-billion dollar corporation. Money is necessary to keep the wheels in motion, but it is not their primary focus. So what do WT leaders work so hard to attain? Power and control. Power and control are the keys to perpetuating their organization. They manipulate, not by the carrot of pleasure, as Apple does, but by the stick of fear and guilt. They preach that all not with them are against them, placing 99% of the world on the side of Satan. Add to that the specter of shunning, spiritual bankruptcy, the wrath of Jehovah, and finally an excruciating death at Armageddon, and they can exert a powerful influence on naïve people. It works on only one in a thousand, but it has created a juggernaut that is very hard to break up. That is what they seek. Power and control.
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28
Jehovah's Witnesses and Divorce
by Eustace ini really hate divorce.
it was my parents getting divorced that helped messed up my childhood.. part of why i came to conclude the jehovah's witnesses don't have the "spiritual paradise" they claim to is how many of their marriages end up in divorce.my parents i could dismiss as an exception to a general rule, but i could never understand how often it seemed to keep happening to lots of different people when the watchtower society teaches that divorce is wrong except in case of adultery.. but what really brought things home for me was this study by the pewforum on religion survey showing that even though jehovah's witness are less likely to be married than the general population, they're more likely to be divorced or separated.. http://religions.pewforum.org/.
they really have a nerve telling people in the jehovah's witnesses religion that they shouldn't have sex outside of marriage when they've done so little to protect jws who get married, and their children, from the extreme stress and conflict of divorce.. it's really messed up.. heck, even the catholics they're are always dumping on have a lower divorce/separation rate than the jws.. jw divorced/separated = 14%.
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Socrateswannabe
I just looked through a list of publishers (including elders, etc.) for our congregation and, exluding minors, here's how it shakes out for us:
Observably stable marriage: 31%
Separated/Divorced (at least once but not necessarily at present time): 21.7%
Not separated or divorced but with HUGE problems in the marriage: 33.3%
Single: 14%
Knowing some of the couples in the "huge problems" category, separation or divorce would lead to a much higher quality of life for all involved.
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Are all GB Born-ins?
by Socrateswannabe inare all present gb members "born-ins"?
surely they are, right, and probably all gb members have been for decades?
just wondering..
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Socrateswannabe
Are all present GB members "born-ins"? Surely they are, right, and probably all GB members have been for decades? Just wondering.
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Do some GB know the truth about the truth?
by Bob_NC indo some of the gb consciously know the truth about the truth and they just can't say it?
or are they all still under the spell?.
how about cos or dos?
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Socrateswannabe
Of course the most direct answer to this question is, only they know for sure. But, consider this: If you were an enlightened GB member but so drunk on power that you go along with the conspiracy to manipulate the R&F with bogus teachings, couldn't you come up with something more convincing than the dribble that has come out of Bethel the past few years? Overlapping generations is a joke, and the motivation for the new light about the FDS/GB is completely transparent. To me, these are teachings of deluded minds, not coldly calculating ones.
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New Article regarding the Global Flood of Noah
by jwfacts ini have put together a new article regarding whether the global flood of noah is possible.
it utilises a lot of information from threads on jwn, and some of you may recognise your own comments.
please feel free to proof read, make suggestions, provide further references, etc.. http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/flood-noah-global.php.
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Socrateswannabe
Thank you so much for this great synopsis! First-rate reasoning!
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How BIG is Big Brother?
by Socrateswannabe inwhen i visit the jw.org website, can the wts it department know that i've also visited this site?
i use a freeware program called ccleaner but i don't use it every time after i've visited here.
i also don't know if my browser (i usually use ie9 or chrome) keeps records of my browsing history, independent of the ones on my pc that ccleaner deletes, that can be accessed by big brother wts.
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Socrateswannabe
Thanks to all of you! This is a great community!
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15
How BIG is Big Brother?
by Socrateswannabe inwhen i visit the jw.org website, can the wts it department know that i've also visited this site?
i use a freeware program called ccleaner but i don't use it every time after i've visited here.
i also don't know if my browser (i usually use ie9 or chrome) keeps records of my browsing history, independent of the ones on my pc that ccleaner deletes, that can be accessed by big brother wts.
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Socrateswannabe
This site is an amazing resource with experts on virtually every subject. Thanks to you I've learned TTATT but also had techy stuff explained to me in plain English. Thanks to all!
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How BIG is Big Brother?
by Socrateswannabe inwhen i visit the jw.org website, can the wts it department know that i've also visited this site?
i use a freeware program called ccleaner but i don't use it every time after i've visited here.
i also don't know if my browser (i usually use ie9 or chrome) keeps records of my browsing history, independent of the ones on my pc that ccleaner deletes, that can be accessed by big brother wts.
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Socrateswannabe
BB-Thank you for that assurance! Obviously you are well-informed. I should have also said that occasionally I have to login to the jw.org website for congregation business. So they can connect the dots between my login and my IP address, I assume. Can they use that information somehow to discover that I've visited here?
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How BIG is Big Brother?
by Socrateswannabe inwhen i visit the jw.org website, can the wts it department know that i've also visited this site?
i use a freeware program called ccleaner but i don't use it every time after i've visited here.
i also don't know if my browser (i usually use ie9 or chrome) keeps records of my browsing history, independent of the ones on my pc that ccleaner deletes, that can be accessed by big brother wts.
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Socrateswannabe
When I visit the jw.org website, can the WTS IT Department know that I've also visited this site? I use a freeware program called CCleaner but I don't use it every time after I've visited here. I also don't know if my browser (I usually use IE9 or Chrome) keeps records of my browsing history, independent of the ones on my PC that CCleaner deletes, that can be accessed by Big Brother WTS. I googled this question and most of the forums that discuss this subject are in techno-speak, so I can't understand what they're saying. Does anyone have network security or IT experience with this issue, and can you give me an answer in layman's terms? I know it seems paranoid, but I'd like to know how to protect myself. Thank you.