apostatethunder

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Posts by apostatethunder

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  9

  UK Anti-Cult charity under threat of closure

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm wondering what you all make of this story from the guardian regarding the cult information centre - a uk charity that aims to raise awareness of cults.

  it seems that it's on the verge of having its charitable status withdrawn (or, at least, this was the case three months ago).

  unsurprisingly, the complaints that have led to its potential closure stem from cults such as the church of scientology.. here is the story:.

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  apostatethunder

  This is very serious. A cult is a group that manipulates and takes advantage of people, an anti-cult is a group that helps people recover from a cult. They have their own beliefs? Sure, so do you and me and everyone else. Do they coerce anyone to accept their beliefs? Do they exploit people’s vulnerabilities for their own gain? Do they respect basic human rights like freedom to dissent? Do they blackmail people that is trapped in to make them disclose their private lives, that they have no right to know much less to judge? Do they harass people that leave the group in any way? If you think about it, it is not so difficult to distinguish one from the other.

  If they talk about Jesus and the Trinity is because jws despite calling themselves Christians are anti-Christians. Exposing that doesn’t make you a cult. What someone chooses to believe is his/her personal decision, stepping in someone else’s personal rights is not. Not respecting somebody’s personal conscience goes high on the list of cult traits.

  About the therapist that had to stop helping people, that goes beyond cult or not cult, it is just criminal.
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  36

  They looks so old and tired.

  by jam in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  apostatethunder

  It makes them feel better about themselves. If you look happy they seem surprised. One way the society keeps them in is by fear of what is in the world, so they will think twice before leaving the organization. Everybody knows stories of the ones who left and how bad they fared. I noticed that some of them seem envious of the ones with the courage to leave anyway. Deep down they know, even though they are too trapped to even realize why they feel this way.
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  8

  Spain may tax the Catholic Church?

  by darthfader in

  1. social
  2. current

  running low on money, the spanish government looks at the catholic church for property tax revenue:.

  http://news.yahoo.com/amid-economic-crisis-spain-ponders-taxing-catholic-church-092208656.html.

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  apostatethunder

  The Catholic church in Spain and Italy is already a big source of income to the State in terms of tourism. They own a big part of the historical patrimony of this countries. That and all the services they provide like schools, charities, etc, and the religious support to individuals, that comes without a blank check for them to run your life as they please. Not all religions are the same.
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  11

  Could the JWs fit the defintion of Fascism?

  by Aussie Oz in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  fascism ( /'f?

  ?z?m/) is a radicalauthoritariannationalist political ideology.

  [1][2] fascists seek rejuvenation of their nation based on commitment to an organic national community where its individuals are united together as one people in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood through a totalitariansingle-party state that seeks the mass mobilization of a nation through discipline, indoctrination, physical education, and eugenics.

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  apostatethunder

  Good question, they are controlling and totalitarian, but what is their real aim? If they are not about religion, what are they about?
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  4

  Emmanuel Goldstein

  by d in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in george orwell's 1984 the percieved enemy emmanuel goldstein wrote a book called theory and practice of oligarchical collectivism in where on one one number he talks ignorace as source of strength for the people in control.. this says lot about the jw's and people in power.. the theory and practice of oligarchical collectivism.

  chapter i - ignorance is strength.

  throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the neolithic age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the high, the middle, and the low.

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  apostatethunder

  Ignorance is strength, but their own ignorance. In the end it is too costly for you to keep slaves. Far more intelligent to contribute to the common good.
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  6

  Only an apostate would flee to the forbidden zone! Which movie was this a quote from?

  by usualusername in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  only an apostate would flee to the forbidden zone!

  which movie was this a quote from?.

  uun.

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  apostatethunder

  It is an honor to be an apostate of certain causes.
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  20

  Has anybody given any thought for Calebs freind ?

  by smiddy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after all, this unidentified freind of caleb gives him a toy, which calebs mom finds objectionable , shouldn`t she just have said to caleb ,give it back to your freind ?

  and not dump it in the trash can ?

  what sort of a message does that send to caleb (or any other children who watch this video ) calebs mom should have acknowledged that his freind gave him a present, and it should be appreciated , not to disrespectfully throw it away in the trash can with no thought to the giver of the present.. smiddy.

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  apostatethunder

  Caleb’s friend is disposable, as much as Sparlock.
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  28

  Do JWs treat women like second-class citizens, like their husbands' property?

  by matt2414 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as an elder, i recall that the husband always had to be present on any judicial committee meeting involving his wife, but that the wife was not to be present on judicial committee meetings involving her husband.

  has this changed?

  if not, isn't that treating women as lesser persons than their husbands?.

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  apostatethunder

  This has not changed, I know a recent case where the wife couldn’t be present at her husband’s meeting. Over the years I’ve seen many cases of women being disrespected by the organization and then being labelled as rebellious. The way they treat women just shows who they are, even if in your country you had the legal right to take advantage of a group of people for example, if you were half decent you would not even consider doing so. They take Paul’s words literally, and apply them to everything. The Bible can have many lectures, unfortunately for them they don‘t seem to get that women are also made in God‘s image and what this means. A lot of women in the organization would not make nice elders though, some of them admit themselves that they would find very difficult to be impartial and that it‘s better that only the men are elders, not sure if this is brainwashing at its best, or just self-awareness. I am glad to be free from all that.
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  11

  Am I seeing my JW life and exit in context?

  by jemba in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  while visiting with a workmate the other day i got to thinking.

  my friend has had the lowest of morals of anyone ive ever met.

  she was an illegal drug manufacturer for 20 yrs, jailed 3 times, junkie for 17 years, has been a topless waitress, made porno movies and prostituted herself.

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  apostatethunder

  Any group that exercises so much control over people is damaging, especially for people that don‘t have the strength or the support to get out. When you realize you were manipulated you tend to feel angry. The more you bought into it, the angrier you will be, it’s the equivalent of realizing your whole life has been about supporting a sham, to advance somebody’s agenda at your expense.
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  68

  I wish there were more JW's resisting the extreme elements within the religion

  by Hermano in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wish there were more jw's resisting the extreme elements within the religion.

  i beleive there are many who know some of the things they hear and read are whack, but stay because they think it's still the group god has chosen.

  but there are ways to voice your opinion without being too vocal or disassociating:.

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  apostatethunder

  I think a lot of them resist to various degrees, even passively. Some are there for social reasons and don’t believe much of what is being said. Others are brainwashed but would be the first ones to leave if they saw the organization for what it is. When people leave, I’ve seen a lot of cases when they stopped believing in God altogether, others come back after years because they didn’t manage to get the doctrine out. Not sure what is the best way to help them. If they saw what it is all about that would probably be it.