Richie

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Posts by Richie

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  55

  You Know

  by Yadirf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the photo you use is a great choice.

  i understand exactly where you are coming from ... why you are using it here.

  and to think, everytime an apostate sees one of your posts s/he has to see it.

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  Richie

  Richie :*)
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  14

  Traits of Abusive Churches and Toxic Faith Systems

  by Richie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  an exhaustive study has been done on the behavior of cult groups - in several books about "cults", they enumerated 21 major points where you can identify the traits of a cult-like organization.

  bear in mind that the authors did not target jehovah's witnesses as a specific group at all, which made it all the more frightening!

  but this dissertation generalized all cult-groups existing in the world.... 1. control-oriented, arrogantly assertive, power-posturing leadership.. 2. authoritarian and legalistic with dictatorial, dogmatic doctrines that are proclaimed to be "the truth".. 3. claims of being the channel of communication between god and humankind; having unique knowledge that makes them special.

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  Richie

  An exhaustive study has been done on the behavior of cult groups - In several books about "cults", they enumerated 21 major points where you can identify the traits of a cult-like organization. Bear in mind that the authors did not target Jehovah's Witnesses as a specific group at all, which made it all the more frightening! But this dissertation generalized all cult-groups existing in the world...

  1. Control-oriented, arrogantly assertive, power-posturing leadership.
  2. Authoritarian and legalistic with dictatorial, dogmatic doctrines that are proclaimed to be "the Truth".
  3. Claims of being the channel of communication between God and humankind; having unique knowledge that makes them special. If members do not submit to its dictatorial rule, the leaders emphasize that any waver of support to the organization or church is evidence of waver of faith in God.
  4. Manipulation of members by guilt, shame, blame, and fear.
  5. An "Us-versus-Them" view, a perception of being under persecution.
  6. Demanding, rigid lifestyles and overwhelming service requirements.
  Members' lives are controlled by both spoken and unspoken rules.
  7. Loss of focus on God, replaced by a complicated process of furthering the church or organization and its rules.
  8. Followers "in pain", hiding real feelings that oppose or disagree with the religious system.
  9. Intolerance of individual thinking, and of criticism of the religious system by its members. Fosters an unhealthy dependency by focusing on themes of submission, loyalty, and obedience to those in authority.
  10. Severe discipline of members.
  11. The religious system puts down other religions.
  12. Closed communication: Information is only valid if it comes from the top of the religious system down, and from inside the system to the outside of it.
  13. Leaving the religious system is painful and difficult.
  14. Labeling: a technique used to discount a person who opposes the beliefs of the religious system, i.e., "apostates".
  15. What you do is more important that who you are.
  16. Love and acceptance are earned by doing certain things.
  17. Scripture-twisting.
  18. Scare tactics; focus on demons.
  19. Threats to remove members from the group.
  20. Members are misled into thinking the only safety is in the religious system.
  21. A view that education is bad or unnecessary.

  Richie :*)
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  17

  For You Know

  by effe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can you give me an emailadres where i can reach you?

  i would like to get in contact with you.. greetings,.

  effe

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  Richie

  What is clearly shown in the history of the Watchtower Society is that the Governing Body is made up of only imperfect humans who make mistakes just like everybody else, who have clung to ideas that were not the truth, which resulted in harm to many people. The Society unwittingly admitted that its zigzagging, erroneous doctrines are products of mere men when it is stated "...Jehovah, the God who gives himself absolutely no scope for getting it wrong" (Watchtower 12-15-1992, p 32). The Society's gravest error lies in its claim of being more than imperfect humans; it lies in its blasphemous claim of being the channel of communication between Almighty God and all of humankind!
  Although the Society cites scriptural support every time it changes its doctrines to a new point of view, and then later switches them back to the former view, and so on - common sense testifies to the fact that not all of those viewpoints represent the truth - hence, some of the time they represent false teachings. Paradoxically, the Witnesses - who pride themselves on being champions of truth - are very afraid of finding out what the truth about the organization is.
  The Society makes many decisions about how JW's must live. It asserts its authority is from God, thus coercing the Witnesses into living their lives according to those decisions - but those decisions hurt people, and at times cost them their lives. Instead of humbly acknowledging its errors and asking forgiveness for the pain it has cause others, the Society presumptuously continues in its insistence that its authority is from God, shifting its doctrines to and fro without conscience as to how these doctrines are effecting those over whom it lords its power. Yes, the Society is an organization based on the vacillating, contradicting teachings of a singular collective group of mere men, as manifested by its many false prophecies and flip-flopping teachings which are obviously based on guesswork and imagination of men and not Divine direction of God.
  Its ever-changing teachings are not founded on reality, but are wrong about as much as they are right - if indeed they are ever right at all...!

  Richie :*)
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  34

  Who knows GB Member Gerrit Lösch?

  by GermanXJW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was told that gerrit losch was one of the nethinim before he became a gb member that means he was not of the annointed.

  my source told me he felt he was annointed but did not partake from the emblems because of his wife who has the earthly hope.

  but then he changed his mind and became a gb member.. is this true?

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  Richie

  As far as I knew from several articles written by the Society, it was brought out that some who were now serving with the GB of JW's, were not necessarily anointed ones. I must admit that it may be confusing who is and who is not, however the article, brought out by Ranchette earlier on this thread, certainly clarified it to a large extent, when it was referring to the ones ASSISTING the GB, but they were not serving on the GB. Then the reports where some members stopped partaking of the emblems made it all the more confusing. For this I have to apologize for getting confused myself, as even I thought that David Splane was not of the anointed, when in fact he is...

  Richie :*)
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  12

  Awaiting the Death of Old Pharisees

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's hardly a whispered secret anymore.

  countless elders.

  and publishers are waiting for the deaths of governing.

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  Richie

  What is clearly shown in the history of the Watchtower Society is that the Governing Body is made up of only imperfect humans who make mistakes just like everybody else, who have clung to ideas that were not the truth, which resulted in harm to many people. The Society unwittingly admitted that its zigzagging, erroneous doctrines are products of mere men when it is stated "...Jehovah, the God who gives himself absolutely no scope for getting it wrong" (Watchtower 12-15-1992, p 32). The Society's gravest error lies in its claim of being more than imperfect humans; it lies in its blasphemous claim of being the channel of communication between Almighty God and all of humankind!
  Although the Society cites scriptural support every time it changes its doctrines to a new point of view, and then later switches them back to the former view, and so on - common sense testifies to the fact that not all of those viewpoints represent the truth - hence, some of the time they represent false teachings. Paradoxically, the Witnesses - who pride themselves on being champions of truth - are very afraid of finding out what the truth about the organization is.
  The Society makes many decisions about how JW's must live. It asserts its authority is from God, thus coercing the Witnesses into living their lives according to those decisions - but those decisions hurt people, and at times cost them their lives. Instead of humbly acknowledging its errors and asking forgiveness for the pain it has cause others, the Society presumptuously continues in its insistence that its authority is from God, shifting its doctrines to and fro without conscience as to how these doctrines are effecting those over whom it lords its power. Yes, the Society is an organization based on the vacillating, contradicting teachings of a singular collective group of mere men, as manifested by its many false prophecies and flip-flopping teachings which are obviously based on guesswork and imagination of men and not Divine direction of God.
  Its ever-changing teachings are not founded on reality, but are wrong about as much as they are right - if indeed they are ever right at all...!
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  67

  What do you think is the worlds worst movie ever m

  by Waygooder64 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am watching what i think is the dumbest movie ever put on film,the quick and the dead.

  sharon stone (who i think looks great with no panties) absolutely sucked in this stupid movie.

  whats with the plot of this yawner,its been done a bit too much.she was terrible and gene hackman must have needed the money when he signed on to do this groaner..just my opinion and we all know what they about opinions...they are just like assholes, we all have them and they all stink...

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  Richie

  The movie "The attack of the killer tomatoes" was so incredibly stupid and dreadful, that the critics actually began to find it "interesting". The film was one of the biggest bombs they ever made and for that it got a price of sorts.

  On the other hand, some of my all-time favorite movies are: The Sound of Music (Julie Andrews), Where Eagles Dare (Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood), All about Eve (Ann Baxter, Bette Davis), North by Northwest (Gary Grant), The Princess Bride, The Never Ending Story (The first one with Noah Hathaway), The Count of Monte Cristo (Richard Chamberlain), The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood), Tunes of Glory (Alec Guinness), Charly (Cliff Robertson), The Doctor (William Hurt), Indiana Jones series (not the 2nd episode), Laura (Gene Tierney), The Guns of Navarone (David Niven), Marnie (Sean Connery), The Party (Peter Sellers), Rear Window (Gregory Peck and the lovely Grace Kelly), Casablanca (Humphrey Bogart) and Life is Beautiful, just to name a few...

  Richie :*)
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  34

  Who knows GB Member Gerrit Lösch?

  by GermanXJW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was told that gerrit losch was one of the nethinim before he became a gb member that means he was not of the annointed.

  my source told me he felt he was annointed but did not partake from the emblems because of his wife who has the earthly hope.

  but then he changed his mind and became a gb member.. is this true?

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  Richie

  Chester, one of the names I remember is David Splane who is now serving as a member of the GB...

  Richie :*)
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  34

  Who knows GB Member Gerrit Lösch?

  by GermanXJW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was told that gerrit losch was one of the nethinim before he became a gb member that means he was not of the annointed.

  my source told me he felt he was annointed but did not partake from the emblems because of his wife who has the earthly hope.

  but then he changed his mind and became a gb member.. is this true?

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  Richie

  Moxy, I know of at least 2 members who are now part of the Governing Body and who are not anointed...!

  Richie :*)
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  34

  Who knows GB Member Gerrit Lösch?

  by GermanXJW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was told that gerrit losch was one of the nethinim before he became a gb member that means he was not of the annointed.

  my source told me he felt he was annointed but did not partake from the emblems because of his wife who has the earthly hope.

  but then he changed his mind and became a gb member.. is this true?

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  Richie

  By the way Moxy, just wanted to ask you: how do you copy and paste certain sentences where you get the two horizontal lines parallel to the copied words?

  Thanks,

  Richie :*)
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  40

  How Old are We?

  by Pureheart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi all.. want to know the ages of everyone.

  i will start with mine.

  51; "ouch"!.

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  Richie

  This is the first day of the rest of my life...ageless...

  Richie :*)