The only reason Witnesses go from door to door is for the donuts, and the occasional bit of conversation between calls. These don't exist in a prison witnessing situation. The only thing that remains is actually talking about the religion. Who the hell wants to do that?
RunningMan
JoinedPosts by RunningMan
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6
The Watchtower's Joyless Zeal
by metatron inseveral years ago, i knew a group of brothers who visited a. jail and started bible studies.
the discussions, behind bars,.
involved very deep scriptural subjects - far more so than.
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train up a child...with a squeegee...
by wheelwithinwheel inwhile relaxing with my morning java at the local coffee joint i suddenly noticed window-washing equipment moving across the glassed surfaces of the restaurant.
yes, there was one of the local j-dubs hard at it.
the strange thing was the height of his helper ... about the height of an 8-year-old.
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RunningMan
There are cases where home schooling works well. For example, a child may learn more by living in another country and home schooling, than they would with a more traditional upbringing. As well, some parents are very disciplined and skilled at teaching.
However, now that I've got the exceptions out of the way, there are numerous drawbacks:
- lack of development of social interaction skills
- lack of diversity in viewpoint of teachers. How many of you had some teachers who really reached you, while others just didn't get through? Well, home skilled kids have only one teacher.
- lack of discipline. I'm not talking about the rod, here, but the schedule of getting down to work every day.
- lack of skilled teachers. Most parents are not trained to teach. They are also not trained in specific academic areas.Really, home schooling gets an unjustly bad name. Many home schooling parents use it because they are afraid of the world. They want to over protect their children and ensure that they do not get influenced by outsiders. This is the wrong reason. If you hide most of the planet from children, you are preventing their normal development.
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train up a child...with a squeegee...
by wheelwithinwheel inwhile relaxing with my morning java at the local coffee joint i suddenly noticed window-washing equipment moving across the glassed surfaces of the restaurant.
yes, there was one of the local j-dubs hard at it.
the strange thing was the height of his helper ... about the height of an 8-year-old.
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RunningMan
I wonder how much training, at the hands of his father, it takes to master the intricate art of window washing. I'll bet most apprentice washers take all morning to learn the subtle craft.
As for home schooling, a family in our congregation (elder father, pioneer mother) tried it for their three sons. One of the local girls asked the son about their experiences. He said that for field trips they would go out in service or to the park accross the street. And for math, he remarked that "they play the occasional game of Yahtzee". (exact quote)
It sounds to me like they are perfectly equipped to become future dubs.
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JW catches "smear pedo catholic priests&qu...
by Atreyu ini'm in need of advice:.
today a jw wrote an article in a norwegain newspaper about the pedofile catholic priests scandal in the us these days.
obviously, he enjoyed smearing them and argumented that the institution of celibacy was the root to the evil doings.. but, this jw is not personally very active - and he didn't mention anything jw-related in his article at all.
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RunningMan
I think a response to his letter would definitely be in order.
I would mention that although child molestation in the Catholic Church is reprehensible, it is not unique to that institution. Consider Jehovah's Witnesses, who have been vocal critics of Catholicism. They are the subject of multiple lawsuits for the very same offense. It has been alleged that there are upwards of 23,000 pedofiles within the JW organization.
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Young People Ask -- Behind the Scenes
by NikL inappaently there is a new video out from the masters of fim at brooklyn.
this is a lil fluff biece that has been circulating the net telling all about the filming of this wonderous work of art.. think it will win an oscar?
isn't oscar the grouchy slob that loves in a garbage can os sesame street?
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RunningMan
In case of poisoning, induce vomiting by quickly reading this post.
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Some duplicates to be aware of ...
by Simon inxenu, nyhalo, romon.
and back again with yet another story .... spiderman, apostosuck, ernestow, helpothers, henryp, mavman, sexyteen, yoyoagain, yoyomama, yoyopappa
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RunningMan
Yeah, thanks. This makes a few things make sense. Really though, if we ignore the trolls, life is just all around more pleasant, and the alter egos don't matter.
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Barbara Grizzuti Harrison dies at 67
by Dogpatch inhttp://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/obituaries/26harr.html.
barbara grizzuti harrison, who emerged as a popular, prolific writer of keenly observed nonfiction with a 1978 book about the dozen years she spent as a jehovah's witness, died on wednesday at a hospice in manhattan.
she was 67 and lived in the park slope neighborhood of brooklyn.. the cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said her daughter, anna harrison.
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RunningMan
Randy: Why not send a copy of this thread to her family? Honest, sincere comments are a lot more meaningful than formal condolences.
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Normalizing the WTS
by Elsewhere infor jws, persecution is a self-fulfilling prophecy because of their behavior.. if they were to make three basic changes they could easily become mainstream.. 1. get rid of their shunning practices.. 2. allow open discussion that questions wt teachings and policies.. 3. allow members to openly believe things contrary to the wt teachings without fear of retribution from the organization, or the individual members.. they are so hung up on protecting the flock and the phrase a house divided cannot stand.
they have failed to realize to power of the individual and the fact that people with different beliefs and thoughts can work together for a common goal.. as i see it, these things cannot happen because of the nature of most of its members.
the wts is appealing to and full of people that are searching for absolute biblical truth - black and white thinking.
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RunningMan
Let's face it, the Watchtower has written itself into a corner.
After 120 years of growth, it is reaching maturity in Western lands. Yet it is still acting like a young sect. If it is to move forward, it must advance to the next level of religionhood. The steps that you have outlined are essential.
However, those steps are also wrenching. After the death of Armstrong, The Worldwide Church of God managed to muster up enough balls to do just these things. They revamped their doctrines and reorganized. They are now poised to move forward. However, they are moving forward with only about 20% of their members.
The Society has created a group that cannot withstand outside influence. It is highly dependant on what is now obviously outdated chronology. And, it has presented itself as the virtually infallible word of God. All of this makes reorganizing extremely painful.
Add to this the drying up of conversions, aging membership, inbred leadership, and huge PR difficulties, and you have an organization that is on the verge of a crisis.
And I don't give a crap.
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Barbara Grizzuti Harrison dies at 67
by Dogpatch inhttp://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/obituaries/26harr.html.
barbara grizzuti harrison, who emerged as a popular, prolific writer of keenly observed nonfiction with a 1978 book about the dozen years she spent as a jehovah's witness, died on wednesday at a hospice in manhattan.
she was 67 and lived in the park slope neighborhood of brooklyn.. the cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said her daughter, anna harrison.
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RunningMan
I would just like to throw my own tribute in.
In the early 90's, before internet days, I became ravenously hungry for any outside info on JW's. So, I went to the local library and picked up any books I could find on the subject. There weren't very many, and I didn't have the nerve to request them from other branches.
One of the few books I could get was hers. It was very influential for me, and helped to establish a more objective viewpoint of an organization that I had only seen from the inside.
One of my great, early acts of rebellion was to attend a Sunday meeting at the Kingdom Hall with her book on the seat of the car, face up. Wow, I was really living on the edge.
So, Barbara, good bye and thanks.
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Dateline's Necessity
by metatron inthere is a new necessity for the dateline expose'.. fairness to catholics.. the blitz of media attention has focused almost exclusively.
on the catholic church and its priests.
yet, other centralized.
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RunningMan
Most long time Witnesses are so indoctrinated and skilled at self deception that this will not impact them. However, even so, it is a huge and necessary step.
Potential converts and borderline Witnesses will see this. Those whose eyes are openable will see what is really going on. And this is important.
The organization has a huge churn rate for a religion. People burn out and defect much more often from JW's than they do from real religions. As a result, in established markets, they need to baptize at least 2.5% of their membership every year to break even. This covers mortality and defections.
In Canada, their baptism rate is only 1.8%, ensuring a continuing malaise in membership numbers. Publicity like dateline helps to increase the defections (even if only marginally), and reduce conversion prospects.
Just yesterday, my wife was talking to another mother from our son's school. They got onto the subject of the Catholic church molestation problems. Although both of them agreed on the culpability of the Catholic Church, the non-JW mother also said "I know a few things about your religion that aren't so good, either". This woman is very internet friendly.
So, believe me, the word about JW's is getting out there. Dateline will help, but it is only one facet of a huge PR problem facing the society.