check out the new jan 2015 study wt, article, they offer themselves willingly.
they give examples of young and middle age brothers and sisters who are selling their dream homes, uprooting their lives, etc, to move to help w/ building branches, etc, and how they know it's only temporary but not worried about what happens when they send them home.
they then say will you put jah to the test and see if he won't open the flood gates of blessings for you.
Life is to short: Just like me and my ex-wife. Went "all in" and afterwards the branch offices where sold off for big bucks. I am still in debt, until this day.
The Branch big wigs would only hang out with other Bethelites that had more money than us (basically as you've said people that had a nest egg or some residual income). One of the missionaries had a small yacht (although that was an exception) and everybody would got out with them.
More shit.
on the 100th anniversary of coca-cola, the company's marketing division made a bold move.. trends in the sales of coke were headed in the wrong direction.
competitors were eating away.
at the soft drink market once dominated by coca-cola.
Finkelstein: Hahahahahahaha....how embarrassing to wear that piece of crap tie! Looking like the Ronald McDonald of Religion.
P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S!
And the box is the cherry on top of the cake: 100 years....
PROUD TO BE MISTAKEN FOR 100 YEARS NOW. Yeah, bitchez, TAKE THAT, we don't care.
Almost surreal and reminds me of Hitler in his last days, thinking that he could still win the war and deluding himself and everybody sucking up to him until the last minute and the kingdom fell.
ok, internet tv, some new songs and updates on a couple obscure prophecies no one cares about.... .
i for one was so disappointed at the smallness of it.
i guess i bought the hype that when they said "big", they meant it.. .
millie210 & breakfast of champions: I laughed really hard about your comments!
Love you all!
In the past months I have been reading a whole lot of books about Consciousness. In my understanding I don't think that consciousness is the same as someone convincing himself that the wall is only imaginary.
I have experienced moments of very lucid consciousness and it is more of separating your "automatic thought processes" from the stillness that exists when you are not constantly "babbling" in your head.
Supposedly we have 12.000-60.000 thoughts - or brain flashes - per day (I don't know, haven't counted them), and 80% are repetitive. That "little voice" talking in your head leads you to think: "Oh yeah, that wall is only in my imagination", hence so many people mistake the information in books like "The Secret" or "Law of Attraction" for: hhhhhmmmmmmmmm, lets think very hard about a pack of hundred dollar bills, then sit lazily back and they will appear. The same mistake that JW's do! Let's pretend that the end is coming....I can almost smell the roses in Paradise. THAT thought-process (imagination) is so real that they believe in it (the mind cannot distinguish between reality and imagination - Reality, as you've correctly stated will destroy imagination EVERY SINGLE TIME, because, well, hitting brick walls hurts!)
Therefore, in my opinion, consciousness is another state of mind, where you become the observer of your own mind. You allow your thoughts to flow ("the voices") but don't follow them down the "rabbit hole". Like a school teacher in a school bus full of screaming and laughing children that is not running from child to child and paying attention to every single word they say. Just notices them, hears them, observes them and decides if he has to approach a certain child for a specific reason!
In this scenario my "babbling mind" becomes more of a tool that I use at will. It is a wonderful tool to do a task (calculating, planning, writing an email, etc.) but a lousy tool to let it control my Life or steer my day-to-day activities. My mind will wander off, back and forth into the future, the past, imaginary situations that will never happen (positive or negative) and this takes energy and doesn't move me forward IN THE REAL WORLD.
We allow "automatic thinking" (that was necessary from an evolutionary point of view) to take over and dominate the consciousness (that is like a canvas, or a background in our mind) and ruin everything. Personally I think that "automatic thinking" (drifting) is a by-product of basic instincts from our past evolutionary process (therefore it is logic that they are repetitive). My cat repeats most of her daily routines (signals in her brain tell her to eat, drink, shit and sleep - over and over again). My Life quality has improved since I calmed down my mind to the point where I have more stillness in me and become more focused to attack tasks or daily problems.
Hope that makes sense. It makes sense to me
Anyway, thank you for this discussion. Really interesting, would like to hear more from you or others interested in this topic.
on the 100th anniversary of coca-cola, the company's marketing division made a bold move.. trends in the sales of coke were headed in the wrong direction.
competitors were eating away.
at the soft drink market once dominated by coca-cola.
Finkelstein: THAT is the new breed of "loyal & faithful" sisters??? They look like Amish without style. What's the matter with these people?
Simon: Excellent observation. Actually, exchanging old for new is the best the WT$ can do in order to survive. I've seen plenty of new CO's arrive at a KH and bash the old time elders for "not moving along with Jehoos chariot" - not noticing that these folks where just loyal and holding firmly to the stuff that the Borg thaught them not long ago.
Terry: As always, good thinking and discussion. Thank you for that. We never thought that we would one day be able to compare the WT$ with corporate brands and marketing ploys. I was raised on "Classic Watchtower" - but Coke is still better than WT.
No matter what they do, they are sugar-coating a turd. No amount of sugar will make it better.
hi folks,.
the rank and file is now in a strange situation.. it is clear that the jw leadership is in for a huge change.
the type / anti type change makes clear that they make a u-turn.. it's clear that with this changes the current doctrine are temporary.
watcher: if you are happy, I am happy. I write this with no regrets and no resentment, towards you or my ex-wife. If she is happy, then thats all you need in this Life.
I don't believe in Jehovah, can't see him and don't need to. For me that is enough and my present Life is all I ever need. In all honesty, the idea of eternal Life doesn't attract me. I have embraced my biological and mental death as part of the natural cycle and I am OK with this.
Wish you well. No need to convince you otherwise as no argument will change your mind. You can only change it yourself!
hi folks,.
the rank and file is now in a strange situation.. it is clear that the jw leadership is in for a huge change.
the type / anti type change makes clear that they make a u-turn.. it's clear that with this changes the current doctrine are temporary.
Ocean1111: Good thoughts. Actually more prophetic than what the Borg spouts
It's funny that the WT$ is much like the US Dollar: the implosion is coming! That best thing that could happen is a world war and destruction. That would save both, the US$ hegemony and cults like the WT. The GB could kick the can down the road for another 20 years (as they would claim that the great tribulation has begun).
Sick and twisted, but true.
I wanted to add that during my time at Bet-HELL one of the things that disturbed me is how protective they are of lawyers. Most branches that I worked for even chose young, loyal Bethelites and sent them off to law school.
That was the case in Nicaragua (the Branch Coordinators Secretary was studying law - besides his work at the Branch and they fully paid law school for a Special Pioneer that would work exclusively for the Branch. Funny enough this guy started doing "his own thing" and started practicing law FOR MONEY, eventually leaving the ranks of Special Pioneers). Another example is the Dominican Republic Branch and Brooklyn. They had plenty of "home made" lawyers.
I would bet my right hand that the WT$ has, in the past decades, invested more in developing their own breed of lawyers and investment experts than in the development of Bible scholars, ancient Hebrew and Greek language scholars!
hi folks,.
the rank and file is now in a strange situation.. it is clear that the jw leadership is in for a huge change.
the type / anti type change makes clear that they make a u-turn.. it's clear that with this changes the current doctrine are temporary.
You are also right that this must feel strange for the R&F. Why?
Because deep down, in our hearts, humans have a sense for lies and BS. Your "gut feeling" tells you something is not right, but they suppress that uncomfortable feeling and that is why they live with constant fear, anxiety and depression.
Suppressing REAL feelings/emotions is like trying to hold a beach ball under water. It costs too much energy and eventually you will lose the battle...
hi folks,.
the rank and file is now in a strange situation.. it is clear that the jw leadership is in for a huge change.
the type / anti type change makes clear that they make a u-turn.. it's clear that with this changes the current doctrine are temporary.
Gorbatchov, I think you are unto something. That would make sense. First change the packaging, then with a "bait and switch" move, change the doctrine.
People will be hooked with the new toys. It's like shooting up religious heroin, you know it hurts, you feel the pain, but you are nonetheless hooked.
The main reason people hang on is: eternal Life in Paradise! The End is near.
There was no argument in the world that convinced my ex-wife to leave with me - although she had personally seen some of the wrong doings at Bet-HELL. Her line of reasoning: "I'm in for Jehovah. He promised all of this. It's in the Bible, I don't care what the Org or the GB does."
PERIOD. No logical argumentation. After 5 years I was exhausted and left on my own.
This organization is scum and the ones that KNOW the falsehood and STILL perpetuate this are criminals and scammers. The end will never come and I've talked to people that write articles for the magazines (and even books) that don't believe in the most basic doctrines (one of the writers didn't even believe that the account of Noah was real).
it has been a while since i've seen a witness, either in person or virtually.
searching for someone on facebook took me to the profile of a ministerial servant that i know.
i scrolled through his wall to see who is still around and found this gem:.
TJ Curioso: Nope. Never heard of. Any link?
SAHS: You hit the nail Bro! That is exactly what I was thinking. I once had a TIE....a simple tie...with a fleur-de-lis symbol, very small and unimportant. I had a part and one of the elders asked me DURING THE MEETING to come to the back room and said that I cannot give my part in the TMS because of the unappropriate symbol on my clothing. You couldn't even see it from the front row.
Moron gave me a talk about blablablabla....now they go ON STAGE with their own little version of the cross. Pathetic. Really pathetic bunch of losers.
