I left before videos became a thing and I make a point of not watching them. (My mom's caregiver watches them with her.) But it makes sense that the bOrg has realized that videos could be a key emotional hook to keep people in. Let's face it, the literature is pretty dry, and the music used to be just awful. (Probably still is, but again, I make a point of being elsewhere on "video" day.) Perhaps they have experts in Cult-ology help them craft especially "catchy" videos?
Spiral
JoinedPosts by Spiral
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I watched some of the Regional Assembly
by Sour Grapes ini watched about 2 hours of the regional assembly and these are my thoughts.
the video's and songs did stir my good memories of when i was a jdub elder and very happy in the religion.
i can see how these two things would make it difficult to leave the borg because of the emotional buy-in.. now getting into the talks, the cults true colors show and i wonder how in the hell was i a part of that for over 40 years.
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Remember when
by blownaway ini remember when paterson was built.
the so called training facility.
we were told it was to teach elders what their job was after armageddon.
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Spiral
Did they sell Patterson too?
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Something that really ticked me off about seeing the video of New Head Quarters of J.W.s (Warwick)
by StoneWall inwhen i was a jw it was always emphasized that we should trust in jehovah completely.
jah will protect his people do not trust in man, throw your burdens upon jehovah etc.ok now if that's true wouldn't it mean that if jehovah was going to protect anywhere it should be his world head quarters right?.
we were told to not trust in ourselves (such as guns,walls for defense and protection) but to leave it in jehovah's hands and he would provide a means for escape etc.so as i'm watching some pro-wt vid's about the facilities in warwick i noticed something they didn't show on them or focus on and only reason i know about it was because of the w5 newscast as well as the vids the protesters shared.they conveniently leave out the parts of them putting walls/fences and gates as well as a "guard shack" at entrance instead of relying on jehovah to protect them.the guard house even has a "no trespassing" sign in the window.
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Spiral
Drearyweather, growing up in the 60s or 70s we were always told to "rely on Jehovah". Guns for personal protection, classes in self defense, or anything like that was considered not relying on Jehovah. When persecution came you'd be totally out there and vulnerable (no bunkers expected in those decades) but Jehovah would send an angel to protect you. Of course like all things JW, there exists what is in print and what the rules REALLY are (and everyone knows what the rules REALLY are).
I agree with StoneWall that it seems a contradiction that the facilities in Warwick have so much security. (I saw this first in the A&E show about Cult Belief, when they went to the headquarters to try to speak with someone). Never having visited Warwick, I didn't know. It really looked like a secure corporation (or cult) campus.
It makes practical sense to have security, but coming from a grown-up-in the bOrg perspective, it is not what you'd expect.
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The biggest news of the year for Mr. and Mrs. Totally ADD
by Still Totally ADD inthis is bigger than christmas and birthdays wrap into one.
thanks to the australian royal commission our youngest son has woke up.
we received a e-mail from him tonight where he apologized to us for shunning us all these years, how bad he felt for doing this.
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Spiral
Also he has sent us pictures of our grandchildren. Two we have not seen since December 2012 and one we have never seen. They are growing up so fast and are all so beautiful to see. It just makes me cry.
This makes me want to cry too! I am so happy for you both!!!!!
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This Week CLM Meeting
by zophar inso, this week on the clm there was an interesting comment at our kh.. under the "apply yourself to the field ministry" portion this week, there was the bible study assignment based on the publication: who are doing jehovah’s will today?
published in 2016. the material was from lesson 28 "what can be found on our website?
there is a footnote at the bottom that reads: .
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Spiral
@Zophar: That is definitely NOT corporation policy! He must really be awake or soon will be.
Did anyone in the audience show a reaction to that, or comment on that? I would think some would be shocked by that comment.
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This year’s convention
by lastmanstanding intwo things i noted at this year’s rc.
1) the new teaching with respect to matthew 25:45 which was applied equally to the rank & file jw.
this teaching is also found in the watchtower study for last sunday.. then he will answer them, saying: ‘truly i say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of these least ones, you did not do it to me.. 2) the new armageddon video which was a big shift.
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Spiral
Longhairgal: The other thing about rank & file JWs getting “equal salvation” by “doing good” and helping other JWs in the hall tells me they are looking for caretakers (women, of course) and suckers to give money to people (needy and deadbeats) in the hall. (This of course specifically referring to fired bethelites- of which there will be more, no doubt.) I would not be surprised if at some point kingdom halls become places where JWs bring canned food, etc.
Interesting observation! There are so many elderly and/or poor people that need "caretaking" just in my area, and the elders certainly aren't doing anything on a congregational, organized level to "care for these needy ones"! Someone busy who can least afford it ends up helping (a lot!) with no acknowledgement or financial help from the congregation. It's not sustainable because pretty soon most (and I really mean most) of the congregation will fall into the "needy" category. (Hardly anyone has any retirement savings, just a few sisters like my mother who had hard working "worldly" husbands.) The bOrg created this crisis, but it's typical of them to bully other people to take on the burden. And promising a little guaranty of salvation.
I was asked the other day what the JWs do to help support their elderly. Many churches here have all sorts of programs, activities, and food banks to help. It was a shock to those with me when I said "absolutely nothing".
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Teachings/beliefs that fade into oblivion without explanation.
by smiddy3 in"millions now living will never die" that teaching persisted for a number of years from the early 1920`s ,sad to say that their would not be anywhere near millions alive today.and with another few years their won`t be anybody alive .. the year 1925 was supposed to see the resurrection of faithful men of old such as abraham issac and jacob and noah who were to be princes in the earth.
of course no such thing happened and we don`t here anything more about that prediction anymore.. the time period between adams creation and eves creation was an excuse why armageddon was delayed in about october 1975 because they didn`t know how much time had elapsed between the two.
that`s all forgotten about now.. six thousand years of human history was supposed to have ended in about october 1872 according to studies in the scriptures vol.2 1906 , the "time is at hand" page 11 (forward 1916 ) puts the start of the one thousand year reign of jesus christ as of the year 1873. so in 1906 they the i.b.s.a.
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Spiral
Oh yes, women are still subordinate in the new system. I'm guessing they'll be scrubbing those toilets in dresses!
allornothing:
I was shocked with the implications of the types/ anti types abandonment because so many of the jw beliefs were built on that and with one annual meeting talk- poof gone- I was like does anyone in the cult slumber understand what that means?? Hello?? Anyone? Lol
I wondered this too! The type/antitype doctrines were integral to the JW belief (it was proof of their "special" status before God, after all), and if you could "understand" it all you were considered super spiritual. And then, suddenly, it's gone, and no one even questions it! What?
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Teachings/beliefs that fade into oblivion without explanation.
by smiddy3 in"millions now living will never die" that teaching persisted for a number of years from the early 1920`s ,sad to say that their would not be anywhere near millions alive today.and with another few years their won`t be anybody alive .. the year 1925 was supposed to see the resurrection of faithful men of old such as abraham issac and jacob and noah who were to be princes in the earth.
of course no such thing happened and we don`t here anything more about that prediction anymore.. the time period between adams creation and eves creation was an excuse why armageddon was delayed in about october 1975 because they didn`t know how much time had elapsed between the two.
that`s all forgotten about now.. six thousand years of human history was supposed to have ended in about october 1872 according to studies in the scriptures vol.2 1906 , the "time is at hand" page 11 (forward 1916 ) puts the start of the one thousand year reign of jesus christ as of the year 1873. so in 1906 they the i.b.s.a.
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Spiral
Back in the 60s and 70s there was a lot of numerology going on. Not just that, but all the interpretations of prophecy, types/anti-types, sacred mysteries they'd unlocked, and of course the over-the-top contestant, the book of Revelation.
From what I understand, all of that has gone away, yes? So does the bOrg believe in any interpretation of the book of Revelation now, or are they just not talking about it.
And to think we had to study that stuff for hours and hours.
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Tired and Poor
by Diogenesister in* "if you want people to remain loyal followers you have to keep them tired and poor" - jim jones, said to a trusted confidante.. sound like anyone we know???.
* from the book "a thousand lives" .
( as told by neil "great apostate" gardener) .
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Spiral
Tired, poor, and frantically busy on the "spiritual" hamster wheel.
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"Colour inside the lines!"
by stuckinarut2 injust some random musings here.... picking up on the thoughts expressed in other posts (such as @wake me's post excellent earlier this week), about how "infantilized" jws are, it made me think of this post topic.. just like little children, jws need to be given constant praise and reassurance that they are doing well and doing the right thing.
also, they feel so bad if they stray or deviate from the ideal prescribed course, behaviors or activity that is approved by the society.. if they are told that they have "coloured outside the lines" so to speak, they feel dejected - or worse - defensive, depending on who points it out to them.
(eg a witness vs a non witness).
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Spiral
I wanted to reply to Wake Me Up's thread from the other day: Excellent observations. Couldn't agree more, and you explained it so well.
Ever since reading that post I've been thinking about another aspect to the childish, "don't color outside the lines attitude" the bOrg instills in its followers: The mental damage done by spending your entire life WAITING for the new system, WAITING upon Jehovah, taking no initiative on your own. If you are frozen into inaction on all levels because you are PATIENTLY WAITING ON JEHOVAH, you never grow up.