okay, so i went on a bit of a statistics binge after looking at poland.
i thought i would have a look at my home country's yearbook stats here in the uk (britain).. so here they are for your consideration.
had to go into the loft for some of the older yearbooks, and found some other older publications too.. nothing too remarkable as such here, as far as i can see, apart from:.
Compared with most other denominations JWs are doing pretty well.
How many other denominations are spending 6,000 plus hours to get one soul baptized?
Villagegirl,
I agree, even though the numbers got worse, they are not representative of reality. Too many in-but-not-in in the congregations, and many new rules skew the numbers to make them look better than they really are.
Jgnat,
As a non religious nut, I can say that I like your graph. People are waking up. R. Dawkins must be happy
i wanted to start this thread two weeks ago,however i have had alot going on with wifey and the elders,that is another thread.
to be honest my mind has been on my family.
i will be able to discuss the book tommorow morning.
James Brown
"The science that says the earth is 4.5 billion years old is psuedoscience."
Your credentials are??? Your years of study in geology are????? The university where you got your advanced degree is???? How many years of research?? Any awards, Nobel Prize maybe???
Quite interesting. or rather depressing, to see how people side with the "faith" method which stagnated human knowledge for almost 2,000 years and still have the chutzpa to attack the scientific method, which in a very short time has given us airplanes, cars, computers, spaceships, knowledge about the universe and the earth, cell phones, life saving drugs, longer lives, GPS, etc, etc, etc, etc. Then, if not science, what do we owe to the Bible? Morals? I doubt it, Asian religions/cultures develop strong moral values without the help of the "Holly Book".
some people recently raised concerns about security of the site relating to whether forum members could be watchtower plants trying to obtain information about people.
apparently, this was because a previous forum that was setup was either owned by or later handed over to someone who used it to collect personal information about people which was then used to harrass them.
i don't know all the details, i'm just paraphrasing what i've heard and recognize that it's a concern to some people.. i want to first of all put people's minds at rest: i've been running this site for what will be 13 years next month.
I didn't know Alan F was banned. I like his stuff. Not as much as CAJ and Doug Mason though. I know he had an abrasive style, which I could forgive simply because he knows way more than I do.
Simon,
I spend lots of time in this site and Wikipedia. I donated to Wikipedia already. Just ask, and I will donate to you too.
jehovahs witnesses and psychiatric diagnoses?.
today i added a new article to my blog sharing information from a 1983 study published in the journal for the scientific study of religion addressing religious affiliation and psychiatric diagnoses.
this article pulls information from an excellent academic study that is often misunderstood and therefore underutilized for its value.
I believe, based on what I have seen in my wife's congregation, that JW's "childish" tales attract the naive, the misinformed, the uneducated, the forlorn, and the mentally unstable. I actually believe the religion is good for them overall. I wouln't even try to awaken them, especially if they are older. However, the part that turns me into hulk is the indoctrination of the born-in whose potential and critical thinking abilities are quelled from the very first day they step into the KH.
I think the "mental" cases in the JW congregations are of two types: the ones they appeal to and the ones they create, especially the born-ins.
based on the material below from the faithful and discreet slave, i was wondering if any of you experienced any of this "enlightment" during your jw sojurn.
based on your pictures, i would have to say you must have been weak in the faith.
what is puzzling though, is why did michael jackson dissassociate himself just before reaching perfection?
I think I am in Purgatory because as a Mexican I am a descendant of the perfect race and a somewhat lesser race, the Tarahumara indians of the northern parts of Mexico. Hey, at least I have a chance. I will move to Alaska and stay indoors in the summer to better my chances.
.
he runs circles around the dogmatic elders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lko0vmqfyau.
Terry, I like your fair and balanced approach. "showoff" That may be, but given his popularity among "apostates", he definitely is very effective. Is he really 19? That's part of what makes him a "showoff". The age is irrelevant, unless you want to brag about your skills when compared to older men. If he really is 19, he is really good and he gets a break from me. Intelligence, skill and message are still there, even if he is a showoff. | |
something happened recently by the wts.
that doesn't rarely often and that is the wts.
executive editors apologizing for the organization's past mistakes and proclamations.
Even if they apologize, there must be a "statue of limitations" on that. Apologies for something wrongfully done 100 years ago is not much of an apology, It looks more like a countervailing action to curb the losses they are having of "awakened" people. Sincere apologies are done shortly after the mistake or the offense is commited. The longer the time that passes before acknowledging the error, the less value the apology has.
the cycle continues.... two weeks ago a loving and fragile sister passed away due to her age and chronic health, she only had one son and 2 grandsons.
(she was the only jw in her family)when my wife gave me the sad news we immediately went over to the hospital to give some words of comfort to the grieving family.. .
what happened next was another cruel example of works for salvation vs. good deeds from love.
Yes, the religion is dangerous, cultish, cruel and cold. However, this elder does not represent necessarily what other elders would do in his position. Jehovah's Winesses rank and file are not better or worse humans than non JW's. You get the good and the bad inside as well as outside. Generalizing about JW's from anecdotal evidence is not a great argument. By all means attack the religion, the doctrines, the leadership, but don't fall into the fallacy of judging a whole group based on one person's behavior, especially if it's not encouraged by the religion's leadership or its doctrines. I will side with you if you show me the Watchtower's article that commends this elder decision.
i looked through your posts but couldn't find your life story.
have you written it?.
i would love to read your progression from/through jw to avid scholar :).
A huge fan of Leolaia. I ran into this thread unexpectedly, but I am happy to bump it again. She is a scholar extraordinaire. Anyone who doesn't know who she is, it behooves him/her to learn everything that she has written here, including this thread about her own story. She is number one in my list, and I am sure in many people's list. I hope she stays for a long time and contributes frequently.
Thank you Leolaia for sharing so much of your knowledge and time.
i have just finished an article misquotes, deception and lies and would like your comments, proof reading, and any other examples that you think are important to add.
most of these already appear on jwfacts.com within specific articles, but it is more powerful seeing them included together.
there have also been a number of requests over the years for such a collection.
Speaking of the "Faith in Action" video, has anyone noticed the part where C.T.R is shown typing (or writing, I am not sure) while in the background you can see the actual article scrolling down. You actually can see 606 B.C. Moments later there's a time line with 607 BCE as the starting point for the seven times prophecy. A mistake? An undercover apostate?
