Posts by aboveusonlysky

8

"Happy" bethel music dance video....and what bethel is REALLY like!!

by Witness 007 in

i think the "happy" dance bethel video is the best thing to come out of bethel in 100 years.

sure many were told off for this.

i cant believe so many were convinced to go alittle "worldly.

aboveusonlysky

007 I had a similar experience at our bethel. My wife and I took a sister to bethel to meet up with her bethelite friend, I was working that day so I didn't have a suit on but knowing how strict they are about dress I told the guy on reception I was happy to sit outside in the car. He was really cool with the fact that I was wearing jeans and just told me to take a seat in the reception.

I was just sitting in reception reading a watchtower and 3 sisters in a row approached and asked me what I was doing! The 3rd one said 'you have to understand this is bethel and we can't just have anyone walking around here!'

At that point my wife got mad and told the sister that our contributions were keeping bethel running and she shouldn't be so judgemental. There's nothing 'happy' about that place.

5

"It's Like North Korea..."

by pale.emperor in

"it's like north korea..." is a phrase i use often to describe this life to outsiders.

think of the situation in north korea, sound similar?

in north korea:.

aboveusonlysky

From the economist.com

"The men of North Korea have been under orders to mind their hairstyles since 2005, when they were berated for their messy barnets by their leader, Kim Jong Il. A television campaign entitled “let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle” warned men that long hair could sap their brains."

Sounds like early Watchtower logic, North Korea and the Borg have a lot in common.

16

Running ahead of Jehovah can be done with a slow walk.

by donny in

a few days ago i read a post of someone who has recently awakened to what the watchtower bible and tract society really is.

in their comments, they stated that they had been accused of "running ahead of jehovah.".

"running ahead of jehovah" was a statement levied at me many times during my convoluted journey through that organization.

aboveusonlysky

Great example about their ever changing rules on pornea and homosexuality and subsequent punishments.

If you follow the same reasoning any church could justify torturing and killing people for heresy over the centuries, they were all running ahead of Jehovah. Tyndale ran ahead of Jehovah by wanting to make the Bible available to everyone.

Jesus was killed for questioning the Pharisees (God's org) way of doing things so I suppose he ran ahead of Jehovah too.

26

Questions for JW's from Christians

by Perry in

jw
friends

i'm thinking of printing a tract with some simple but thought-provoking questions for people to use when jw's come to their doors.

questions from christians.

bible-believing christians appreciate the moral values of jehovah’s witnesses in their communities but have several questions that somehow seem to escape us when we are caught unexpectedly at our doors.

aboveusonlysky

3 questions about JW's damaging teachings.

1) Lev 11:39,40 Why did the mosaic law have a provision for eating blood?

2) Mark 2:16 Does Jesus eating with 'sinners' contradict Paul's counsel at 1 Cor 5:11?

3) Rom 13:1 Would you agree that obedience to the superior authorities must include reporting serious crimes (like child abuse)?

Then let them do the research.

71

Confusing Opinions with Facts

by cofty in

in a discussion about the best flavour of ice cream everybody's opinion is equally valid.. in a discussion about the shape of the earth or the origin of species everybody's opinion is equally irrelevant.

only objective facts and evidence matter.. confusing these two categories is a common feature of conversations in this forum.

people deserve respect, errors do not..

aboveusonlysky

Good point Simon, really what we often forget is that it doesn't really matter what we believe, all that actually matters is what is true.

57

RUSSIA: Jehovah's Witnesses face possible liquidation

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2181.

24 may 2016. russia: jehovah's witnesses face possible liquidation.

by victoria arnold, forum 18. if prosecutors proceed with their threat to liquidate the jehovah's witness headquarters near st petersburg, thousands of local congregations across russia could also face prohibition of their activities and individuals could be vulnerable to criminal charges for expressing their beliefs, forum 18 notes.. the jehovah's witnesses' principal body in russia is under threat of dissolution as an "extremist" organisation after the deadline in an official warning from the general prosecutor's office expired on 10 may, forum 18 notes.

aboveusonlysky

I think it's a bad idea, if anything it's harmful practices that should banned or prosecuted, not entire religions.

They could make organizationally mandated shunning illegal or bring in more laws against homophobia, not just for jw's, but for any group. To simply ban an entire religion will only drive them underground and make them more extreme in their emotionally abusive behaviour.

12

Are there more ex-witnesses than current witnesses?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

for years the society has said that over 40,000 a year are disfellowshipped.

add to that the 10's of thousands who simply disassociate or fade.... so by that logic, would it be correct to assume there are actually more former witnesses on the earth than the number of current active witnesses ?

.

aboveusonlysky

Great thread by the way.

12

Are there more ex-witnesses than current witnesses?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

for years the society has said that over 40,000 a year are disfellowshipped.

add to that the 10's of thousands who simply disassociate or fade.... so by that logic, would it be correct to assume there are actually more former witnesses on the earth than the number of current active witnesses ?

.

aboveusonlysky

A while back my dad who is service overseer was putting together a list of everyone in his congregation territory that doesn't come anymore whether df'd or not to try and visit before the memorial.

My wife had lived in that town for most of her life and helped him put the list together, between them they came up with a number that was about 20 more than the current congregation.

Different places will have different statistics but I think in the more developed countries with good internet there is probably more out than in, especially if you count faders.

19

Critical Thinking-is that phrase a stigma?

by PaintedToeNail in

jw
friends

when i first heard the term 'critical thinking' it was as a teenager during a watchtower study.

the study went on to elaborate how we shouldn't be swayed by critical thinking.

there was no explanation that the term didn't mean 'to criticize' thoughts and words, but rather that it means 'to objective think and to evaluate thoughts and words'.

aboveusonlysky

The following is a quote from the June 22nd 2000 Awake article 'do not be a victim of propaganda!'

Ask questions: As we have seen, there are many today who would like to ‘delude us with persuasive arguments.’ (Colossians 2:4) Therefore, when we are presented with persuasive arguments, we should ask questions.

First, examine whether there is bias. What is the motive for the message? If the message is rife with name-calling and loaded words, why is that? Loaded language aside, what are the merits of the message itself? Also, if possible, try to check the track record of those speaking. Are they known to speak the truth? If “authorities” are used, who or what are they? Why should you regard this person—or organization or publication—as having expert knowledge or trustworthy information on the subject in question? If you sense some appeal to emotions, ask yourself, ‘When viewed dispassionately, what are the merits of the message?’

Although criticle thinking isn't specifically mentioned in the article, some critical thinking skills are discussed here.

I've used the reasoning in this article to good effect with some of my family to show that looking at the organization's real history is not 'critical' in a bad way.

4

Ideas for cult cart questions.

by aboveusonlysky in

jw
friends

feel free to drive on if this subject has been posted before.. the 'bible teach' book is usually always on the cult cart so i thought it could make for an an easy intro for some counter witnessing.. just pick one up and start reading chapter 1, if the dubs are following instructions they will approach you.

chapter 1 is all about how great it is to ask questions, par 3 then says -.

"yet, many people have given up trying to find the answers.

aboveusonlysky

Good point

I guess the latest isn't 1975 if you count the generation thoughts that are well past their expiry date.

With the adding to God's word I suppose a quick jdub would say that the publications are not inspired, but then you could ask why do the GB issue orders to df anyone that disagrees with their uninspired error?