Suraj Khan

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Posts by Suraj Khan

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  39

  The Apostate Boogeyman

  by RayPublisher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  londo has written a great article (imo) about how apostates are a figment of the jw imagination, fomented and concocted by none other than the watchtower.

  not necessarily the dictionary definition of the word apostate, which simply means a person who leaves their religion, for by that definition everyone who leaves any religion to become a jw is an apostate.

  no, it is jw conception of the apostate, both as an individual and as a group that is imaginary.. .

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  Suraj Khan

  *nod* Not only that, Londo, but also this exchange in Room 101:

  Winston:Does the Brotherhood exist?
  
  O'Brien:That, Winston, you will never know. If we choose to set you free when we have finished with you, and if you live to be ninety years old, still you will never learn whether the answer to that question is Yes or No. As long as you live it will be an unsolved riddle in your mind.

  This speaks directly to your point that apostates are an invention. A scholarly point can be made that Emmanuel Goldstein in 1984 is also an invention, a spectre created solely to unify the people of Oceania by fear - something all too easy to do when all sources of information are controlled.

  I would like to see you expand this parallel in a follow-up piece. This was an excellent, excellent blog entry.
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  39

  The Apostate Boogeyman

  by RayPublisher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  londo has written a great article (imo) about how apostates are a figment of the jw imagination, fomented and concocted by none other than the watchtower.

  not necessarily the dictionary definition of the word apostate, which simply means a person who leaves their religion, for by that definition everyone who leaves any religion to become a jw is an apostate.

  no, it is jw conception of the apostate, both as an individual and as a group that is imaginary.. .

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  Suraj Khan

  Spot on. Apostates = Emmanuel Goldstein.
• 
  8

  If the Governing Body is misleading you---WHO is misleading them??

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jehovah's witnesses are expected to prove their loyalty to the organization by believing and practicing what they are told.. does this lead to success or failure?.

  ask the thousands of loyal believers who were led to expect armageddon in 1914, 1925, 1975!.

  these were failures.

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  Suraj Khan

  

  Pretty much all you need to know.
• 
  44

  Is this true? Do the elders really do it like this?

  by Julia Orwell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i put this week's wt paragraph about disfellowshipping on my fb page and said how poor robert's family didn't even check to see whether he was dead or alive in 16 years and a friend of mine of the 'conscious class' commented about how unchristian she felt disfellowshipping to this degree is, and i agreed.. another friend, and uber-jw who has a host of illnesses and yet pioneers, who everytime she and her husband go to another congregation, if he's not appointed within three years they move to another and try for an appointment there - he used to be an elder and no one is willing to promote him again- replied to my thread.

  now keep in mind she has a dfd son and she doesn't even know whether he is dead or alive, because she follows the wt to the tee.

  she replied, among other things,with this:.

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  Suraj Khan

  Punk - Please don't start buggering young boys on my account.

  Anyhow I think the job description only requires shielding pedophiles - I think you're qualified enough for the GB gig. Think you can put in a word for me once you're in?
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  44

  Is this true? Do the elders really do it like this?

  by Julia Orwell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i put this week's wt paragraph about disfellowshipping on my fb page and said how poor robert's family didn't even check to see whether he was dead or alive in 16 years and a friend of mine of the 'conscious class' commented about how unchristian she felt disfellowshipping to this degree is, and i agreed.. another friend, and uber-jw who has a host of illnesses and yet pioneers, who everytime she and her husband go to another congregation, if he's not appointed within three years they move to another and try for an appointment there - he used to be an elder and no one is willing to promote him again- replied to my thread.

  now keep in mind she has a dfd son and she doesn't even know whether he is dead or alive, because she follows the wt to the tee.

  she replied, among other things,with this:.

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  Suraj Khan

  

  Punk, I think you just inspired a bumper sticker.
• 
  44

  Is this true? Do the elders really do it like this?

  by Julia Orwell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i put this week's wt paragraph about disfellowshipping on my fb page and said how poor robert's family didn't even check to see whether he was dead or alive in 16 years and a friend of mine of the 'conscious class' commented about how unchristian she felt disfellowshipping to this degree is, and i agreed.. another friend, and uber-jw who has a host of illnesses and yet pioneers, who everytime she and her husband go to another congregation, if he's not appointed within three years they move to another and try for an appointment there - he used to be an elder and no one is willing to promote him again- replied to my thread.

  now keep in mind she has a dfd son and she doesn't even know whether he is dead or alive, because she follows the wt to the tee.

  she replied, among other things,with this:.

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  Suraj Khan

  Hi Julia,

  It can indeed be "one error, you're out", and that error doesn't even have to be severe. It's merely subject to the politics, biases and whims of the elders in that congregation. I'm living proof of that.

  I made the mistake of posting about this very topic in FB last week. My little sister rushed in swinging, saying many of the same things I see above. Realize those comments for what they are: groupthink with no basis in reality. Elders are held by the rank and file to be directed by holy spirit, and their actions are rarely questioned by the hive. The reality is that elders (right on up to the Governing Body!) are fallible human beings with misconceptions, myopias and hidden agendas just like the rest of us.

  That realization alone is so dangerous to the organization that doubting the Governing Body as the 'faithful and discreet slave' is in itself a DFable offense.

  And that, folks, is how you make a cult.
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  5

  Feeling cheeky this morning. Pick what I should do!

  by Suraj Khan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  friends, it's time for a real-life "choose your own story".

  you remember those, right?

  your choices for this morning are that i.

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  Suraj Khan

  Hm. Looks like "both" has it...

  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

  be back in a bit!
• 
  5

  Feeling cheeky this morning. Pick what I should do!

  by Suraj Khan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  friends, it's time for a real-life "choose your own story".

  you remember those, right?

  your choices for this morning are that i.

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  Suraj Khan

  Friends, it's time for a real-life "choose your own story". You remember those, right? Your choices for this morning are that I

  • 1) Drive by the nearest Kingdom Hall and moon it or
  • 2) Donate whole blood

  I will do whichever gets the most votes in the next hour. Go!
• 
  26

  In All Honesty Would You Have NOT Given Blood To Your Child If He or She Needed it?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as a "faithful witness", i never had to deal with this on a personal level.

  i imagine the pressure must be extreme with the elders and others "supporting" you to do the right thing.. do you think you would have given blood to your family member, especially your child if you were in that situation..

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  Suraj Khan

  Even taking the Witness claim of an earthly paradise at face value, let's reduce this to its real character: Your son or daughter dies now OR you die later. That's the choice. So here's the trouble I have with the blood doctrine: Any parent worth a damn would gladly give up their life for their loved family member whether now or later. Any parent would push their son or daughter out of the way of an oncoming truck and take the blow themselves.

  If God has a problem with such a demonstration of love at the final judgement, then God never was worth following in the first place.
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  9

  Awful case of shunning

  by daydream1900 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw8yu-r8g-8.

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  Suraj Khan

  Years of torment boiled down to forty minutes seems like a pretty good deal to me.