Posts by cognisonance

25

Watchtower Ironically Warns It's Memeber About "Propaganda" - Watchtower July 2017

by pale.emperor in

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-july-2017/propaganda-winning-battle-for-your-mind/.

in what is just the height of irony, watchtower warns us about propaganda, and accepting everything we hear/read.

yes, we should ignore those that try to stop us thinking critically as this watchtower article will now teach us.

cognisonance

@ ttdtt: Regarding:

propaganda “is likely to be most effective,” says one source, “if people . . . are discouraged from thinking critically.

Hmm... doesn't the governing body explicitly discourage critical thinking? Yeah the ellipse is intellectually dishonest, but really, JWs being advised to use critical thinking? Huh? Contrast that with these quotes:

The word philosophy is derived from Greek roots that mean “love of wisdom.” As used here, philosophy is not built on acceptance of belief in God, but it tries to give people a unified view of the universe and endeavors to make them critical thinkers. It employs chiefly speculative means rather than observation in a search for truth. - https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989253#h=2

In modern times, a very small number among God’s people have become disgruntled with some aspect of Christian teaching and have murmured against the earthly part of Jehovah’s organization. Why does this happen? Such murmuring is often caused by a lack of understanding of God’s way of doing things. The Creator progressively reveals the truth to his people. Hence, our understanding of the Scriptures is bound to be refined from time to time. The vast majority of Jehovah’s people rejoice over such refinements. A few become “righteous overmuch” and resent the changes. (Ecclesiastes 7:16) Pride may play a role, and some fall into the trap of independent thinking. Whatever the reason, such murmuring is hazardous, since it can draw us back into the world and its ways. - https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2006525

*** km 9/07 p. 3 Question Box ***
Does "the faithful and discreet slave" endorse independent groups of Witnesses who meet together to engage in Scriptural research or debate? -- Matt. 24:45, 47.
No, it does not. And yet, in various parts of the world, a few associates of our organization have formed groups to do independent research on Bible-related subjects. Some have pursued an independent group study of Biblical Hebrew and Greek so as to analyze the accuracy of the New World Translation. Others explore scientific subjects related to the Bible. They have created Web sites and chat rooms for the purpose of exchanging and debating their views. They have also held conferences and produced publications to present their findings and to supplement what is provided at our Christian meetings and through our literature.

34

"The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction." -- Feb 2017 Watchtower

by cognisonance in

full stop.

(paragraph 12 -- feburary 2017 watchtower -- who is leading god's people today?

)so why then would any jw abide by harmful doctrines setup by the governing body (blood, shunning, the two-witness rule, etc)?

cognisonance

How can you if you're being directed by God's spirit?

Yep, spirit directed somehow doesn't mean inspired to them. Very confusing indeed!

Dictionary.com: verb (used with object), inspired, inspiring.

6. to communicate or suggest by a divine or supernatural influence:

writings inspired by God.

7. to guide or control by divine influence.

34

"The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction." -- Feb 2017 Watchtower

by cognisonance in

full stop.

(paragraph 12 -- feburary 2017 watchtower -- who is leading god's people today?

)so why then would any jw abide by harmful doctrines setup by the governing body (blood, shunning, the two-witness rule, etc)?

cognisonance

Morpheus, in my case being born in, I recall my preparation for getting baptized as just a normal thing to do, and I didn't really care when going through the motions. That green book of questions I had to answer was more like a quiz than an evaluation of my beliefs. I was told what to believe and sadly didn't question or care about it until much later in my mid 20s when my brain finally finished developing. So the kind of critical thinking required to see through this bullshit isn't really what a 12-year old brain cares about. I cared more about getting home from the assembly I was being baptized at so I could play video games, watch tv, play out side, ride my bike, anything other than JW stuff. I viewed being a JW much like going to school. It felt like something I had to do and supposedly for my good. School indeed is, but not the JW shit.

Rearing children in any kind of harmful indoctrination should be considered child abuse!

What perplexes me is how grown adults get recruited into this cult? My parents were aged 34 and 24 when they became JWs (from my Mom's sister, who also came in as an adult). How exactly does THAT happen?

34

"The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction." -- Feb 2017 Watchtower

by cognisonance in

full stop.

(paragraph 12 -- feburary 2017 watchtower -- who is leading god's people today?

)so why then would any jw abide by harmful doctrines setup by the governing body (blood, shunning, the two-witness rule, etc)?

cognisonance

Full stop. What? (paragraph 12 -- Feburary 2017 Watchtower -- Who is Leading God's People Today?)

So why then would any JW abide by harmful doctrines setup by the Governing body (blood, shunning, the two-witness rule, etc)? Why would they not just say, hmm I think they are wrong about those and just ignore these silly rules?

Also oddly in that article they go on to say how the holy spirt and angels are directing them and their organization. I also recall them stating they are "spirit-led" and somehow this, to them anyway, is not the fallacy of a distinction without a difference compared to being "inspired"? Seems to me they are pulling Orwellian "peace is war" style doublespeak here and an easy proof by contradiction could throw out all of what they say as erroneous.

If the answer is because ignoring these rules means getting disfellowshipped, then why isn't it obvious to them that they are being told: "Yes we are likely to be wrong about things that have a major impact on your life, could end up killing you, harming your children, or ruining your family relationships -- all for no good reason since it could just be a mistake. But, this is the price you must pay to follow us if you want to live forever in paradise... but that too could likely be a mistake. Just trust us, we've constantly been changing our beliefs over the years (or what the bible teaches) so you shouldn't be concerned . But now that you are baptized, stop following us and we'll take your family away from you! You're trapped. See how loving we are?"

32

What masters degree would a Jw university offer?

by Chook in

masters degree in panda marketing..

cognisonance

Masters of Captivity

9

"Is There a Creator Who Cares About You?" -- New Light Edition

by cognisonance in

after studying hubble space telescope images of the night's sky and attending classes under disguise at wor-wic community college (air travel and tuition funded by your donations no less), gerrit losch managed to secure a two-thirds majority vote among the governing body to release a second updated edition of the creator book.

this new edition replaces the "pillars of creation" (eagle nebula) cover photo with "god's birdie" (carina nebula):.

they've also had a change of heart with regards the concept of intellectual honesty and have updated the quote on page 9 that said:.

cognisonance

@smiddy...
I think you will find that was the point (no pun intended) of the OP's alternative cover.
Or did I miss read it....

You read it right. The dust pillar is known as "God's Birdie" or "God's [middle] finger." This is a fun example of pareidolia.

9

"Is There a Creator Who Cares About You?" -- New Light Edition

by cognisonance in

after studying hubble space telescope images of the night's sky and attending classes under disguise at wor-wic community college (air travel and tuition funded by your donations no less), gerrit losch managed to secure a two-thirds majority vote among the governing body to release a second updated edition of the creator book.

this new edition replaces the "pillars of creation" (eagle nebula) cover photo with "god's birdie" (carina nebula):.

they've also had a change of heart with regards the concept of intellectual honesty and have updated the quote on page 9 that said:.

cognisonance

After studying Hubble Space Telescope images of the night's sky and attending classes under disguise at Wor-Wic community college (air travel and tuition funded by your donations no less), Gerrit Losch managed to secure a two-thirds majority vote among the Governing Body to release a second updated edition of the Creator book. This new edition replaces the "Pillars of Creation" (Eagle Nebula) cover photo with "God's Birdie" (Carina Nebula):

They've also had a change of heart with regards the concept of intellectual honesty and have updated the quote on page 9 that said:

The book Belief in God and Intellectual Honesty notes that one who possesses “intellectual honesty” is characterized by a “readiness to scrutinize what one believes to be true” and “to pay sufficient attention to other evidence available."

In the subject at hand, such “evidence available” can help us to see whether there is a Creator behind life and the universe.

To now honestly quote the full source:

The book Belief in God and Intellectual Honesty notes that “intellectual honesty” is characterized by "the following requirements [which] should be fulfilled for the proper ascription of intellectual honesty to a person S. First, a willingness of S to take into consideration all the evidence available to S for a belief, and a readiness to pay sufficient attention to other evidence available to S which might weaken or undermine the plausibility or acceptability of that belief. Second, a willingness to reveal all the relevant evidence when requested by other persons. Third, S could hardly be said to possess the virtue of intellectual honesty if his beliefs are hopelessly incoherent or even inconsistent, and if S is aware of this but for some reason does not want to admit it. Fourth, we would expect an intellectually honest person S to be willing and able to amend or correct his belief system if he is confronted with new and conclusive contradictory evidence. However, S's willingness, at least in principle, to correct his belief system, does not exclude a kind of tenacity with which S may remain committed to his belief system. In other words, a person who would constantly change his mind and have himself stand corrected all the time, is lacking a wholesome and innocuous dogmatism. He would deprive himself of the opportunity to find out what is true (and false) in he world. Finally, a fifth characteristic should be mentioned. We suggest that, typically, an intellectually honest person is someone who is interested in, and therefore also a searcher for, truth."

In the subject at hand, we will use "all the evidence available" to support the belief that there is a Creator behind life and the universe. We will also look at the "other evidence available" that "weaken or undermine the plausibility or acceptability" of this "hopelessly incoherent or even inconsistent" belief.

The forward mentions that this new edition is an expansion from the 192-page original. The expanded portion now includes the "other evidence available" -- an additional 1,920 pages of the evidence to suggest that there is likely no Creator, or at least he does not give a fuck about you.

40

March 22, 2017 TO ALL CONVENTION COMMITTEES Re: Discontinuation of Physical Distribution of Convention Releases

by wifibandit in

march 22, 2017 to all convention committees re: discontinuation of physical distribution of convention releases.

cognisonance

Lol, I guess without these "door prizes" to keep people around until the last day of these cult seminars, attendance will drop as people can stay at home and just download the electronic version when available.

4

Intellectual Honesty

by cognisonance in

an interesting quote on page 9 of the book is there a creator who cares about you is one that i came across when i was first waking up 5-6 years ago.

i thought i mentioned it here before, but apparently not.

i'm highlighting some key points for a critical analysis (part one is highlighted in bold and underlined; part two is bold; part three is underlined): .

cognisonance

At Witness My Fury... That's weird. It shows on firefox (desktop and mobile), safari, but not chrome. I guess it's a bug with this forum software. The images were in the standard png file type. Books.google.com shows images for search results and I didn't feel like typing them so I copied the images and uploaded them here. But I'll type them up. The three images say:

Image 1: page 6

We suggest that at least the following requirements should be fulfilled for the proper ascription of intellectual honesty to a person S. First, a willingness of S to take into consideration all the evidence available to S for a belief, and a readiness to pay sufficient attention to other evidence available to S which might weaken or undermine the plausibility or acceptability of that belief. Second, a willingness to reveal

Image 2: page 21

it implies to be ready to scrutinize that one believes to be true, i.e., to make up one's mind about what one really believes and, in doing so, to admit that one cannot really believe certain other things to be true.
This readiness to scrutinize what one believes to be true, is characteristic of intellectual honesty. The question of intellectual honesty arises in the first place when we judge that if someone is

Image 3: also page 6

an assertive utterance is sincere if and only if that person believes (as true) that p. Dishonesty or insincerity, on the other hand, had best be defined in terms of its paradigm case, namely, lying. According to S. Bok's definition (1978) a lie is 'an intentionally deceptive message in the form of a statement'. Thus, honesty consist largely in telling what one believes as true. Intellectual honesty includes honesty, but involves more.

When I was searching this book on google I was doing it from the google books webpage entry for this book. However, I noticed you can also search from the google books general search and it will give a slightly different snippet view of the text in the search results that can be easily copied. And you can keep chaining to some degree the end of one snippet to the beginning of the next. With this method I've been able to put forth what seems to be a 5-part definition of intellectual honesty, instead of just having the first part using the original method. Here is the fullest quote I can get (and my memory is correct -- plus it's even more damning):

We suggest that at least the following requirements should be fulfilled for the proper ascription of intellectual honesty to a person S. First, a willingness of S to take into consideration all the evidence available to S for a belief, and a readiness to pay sufficient attention to other evidence available to S which might weaken or undermine the plausibility or acceptability of that belief. Second, a willingness to reveal all the relevant evidence when requested by other persons. Third, S could hardly be said to possess the virtue of intellectual honesty if his beliefs are hopelessly incoherent or even inconsistent, and if S is aware of this but for some reason does not want to admit it. Fourth, we would expect an intellectually honest person S to be willing and able to amend or correct his belief system if he is confronted with new and conclusive contradictory evidence. However, S's willingness, at least in principle, to correct his belief system, does not exclude a kind of tenacity with which S may remain committed to his belief system. In other words, a person who would constantly change his mind and have himself stand corrected all the time, is lacking a wholesome and innocuous dogmatism. He would deprive himself of the opportunity to find out what is true (and false) in he world. Finally, a fifth characteristic should be mentioned. We suggest that, typically, an intellectually honest person is someone who is interested in, and therefore also a searcher for, truth. To paraphrase William James, he is someone who constantly …

That's as far as I can get. I can't get the William James paraphrased quote. Regardless -- Wow! The Watchtower takes just a tiny fraction of a five-part complex definition of intellectual honesty. How intellectually dishonest!

4

Intellectual Honesty

by cognisonance in

an interesting quote on page 9 of the book is there a creator who cares about you is one that i came across when i was first waking up 5-6 years ago.

i thought i mentioned it here before, but apparently not.

i'm highlighting some key points for a critical analysis (part one is highlighted in bold and underlined; part two is bold; part three is underlined): .

cognisonance

Typo above should be: 'Second crietera defining intellectual honesty'