Cool post, and I agree that they're going to issue an official Commandment from Up High about it pretty soon! More's the pity, really...
Posts by SYN
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8
Need additional info on JW Dating and Singles page
by Dogpatch ini just put up a new page and if you can please check it out.
it is the result of just checking into this "singles" scene the last couple of days, so i may be missing a lot of what's out there, so if you have any suggestions or links, other sites, etc.
please respond.
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19
How insane is the GB?
by new light inhas anyone stopped to consider the mental condition of those who have been at the top of wtbts?.
how crazy was c.t.russell?
i surely don't have all the facts, but i do know this much: a man in his twenties felt that his interpretation of a 2,000 year-old book was directly sent from god above.
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SYN
Hi Cyper50, I looked for the site/page where I read about all that stuff, but I couldn't find it again, sorry!
It may have been on E-Watchman's page though...
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19
How insane is the GB?
by new light inhas anyone stopped to consider the mental condition of those who have been at the top of wtbts?.
how crazy was c.t.russell?
i surely don't have all the facts, but i do know this much: a man in his twenties felt that his interpretation of a 2,000 year-old book was directly sent from god above.
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SYN
Dustyb, true, but there would also be no Bach, Chopin, or Einstein, and we would be poorer for it.
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19
How insane is the GB?
by new light inhas anyone stopped to consider the mental condition of those who have been at the top of wtbts?.
how crazy was c.t.russell?
i surely don't have all the facts, but i do know this much: a man in his twenties felt that his interpretation of a 2,000 year-old book was directly sent from god above.
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SYN
You'll probably find that the leaders of the Witness world today aren't insane poseurs at all.
In fact, they're very, very shrewd, and they have a great marketing and PR department. Check out any of JR Brown's videos to see what I mean.
Although we might make fun of them, they do in fact appear to be a bunch of pretty savvy businessmen.
And that, friends, is exactly what they are.
All of their recent actions give testimony to this assertion. For example, as soon as the Guardian newspaper exposed their dealings with the UN (an absolute hammer-blow of justice, IMNSHO), they immediately withdrew their membership. Damn, the ink on the newspaper wasn't even dry yet before they had some poor Bethel lug sitting impatiently on the phone to the United Nations to tell them that the Watchtower, previously a great instrument that furthered the UN's purposes with the utmost efficiency and attention to protocol, was now quitting as an NGO.
Doh! It was like they pulled their finger away from a red-hot stoveplate! And then, in a telling move, they sent around a big, slickly-worded letter to the all of the Branch Offices, explaining how they'd just wanted to use a library card. However, other people have shown convincing, nay, nut-grabbing evidence that reveals exactly how many hoops of fire the Society had to jump through just for a damned library card! Most damning of all, this included furthering the UN's charter in the literature of the Society!
I'm 100% sure that there was a financial reason behind all of that rigmarole - those "boys" knew exactly what was at stake when they joined the UN, and kept renewing their application year after year (this is no simple, easy process - you have to prove that you'll be useful to the UN before they renew your application). Some tax benefit, perhaps? I can't say for sure, but when it comes to the Society, and the top-notch Theocratic CEOs who run the whole damn thing now, you can always find a solution to your problem by following the very simple rule of FOLLOW THE MONEY, as JT, one of my favourite posters here, would put it.
For instance, the Society recently recented a Convention venue where their contract specifically stated they weren't supposed to collect parking fees. Guess what they went and did? Yes, they forced the Brothers to pay for parking, to the tune of $120,000. It seems that Jehovah doesn't mind the Governing Body collecting a bit of pocket change from hapless Publishers who have no other choice but to cough up the green.
No, it would be just too simple to dismiss them as insane ass-clowns, although the temptation is strong. As I'm sure many other mature posters here will soon attest, previous members of the Body were certainly a few pancakes short of a picnik, a few scientists short of a Life: How Did It Get Here, By Evolution Or Design book, and so on.
But the last few decades have seen a larger trend - the globalization and amortization of the Watchtower. Now what we're confronted with is a super-corporation with a religious past. Think about it - what better company is there than one where most of the employees work either for free or purely for room & board? It's brilliant! Of course, all is not well in Watchtower-world. Their main line of business has become grossly unprofitable in the recent past, as sales of literature to Publishers has gone down, with the "cooling off of the majority" now taking place in great force all around the civilized world. There are still small pockets of vigorous Theocratic activity in poorer nations, where people are desperate for any solution to their problems, but not so in the Watchtower's large First World markets. And publishing costs have increased - recently, it was announced that the Watchtower is selling a lot of very expensive property in Manhattan, letting go of Bethelites, amortizing the printing process, and so on. All of this, once again, goes with the guideline of "FOLLOW THE MONEY".
Yes, just like every other cash-strapped corporation that ever existed, the Watchtower is tightening it's purse-strings.
Another important trend that has been asserting it's influence, and which gets right back to the actual topic of this post, is the gradual sanitizing and stabilization of Watchtower doctrine. If you were to chart Tower doctrine on a graph of NUMBER OF NEW DOCTRINES / PREDICTIONS RELEASED PER YEAR versus TIME you would see a sharp fall-off of any prophetic statements after 1975, with damn good reason - they lost a vast swathe of Publishers when the parakeets failed to arrive on the morning of January 1, 1975, as per their predictions! You'll also notice that recently they haven't really changed any major doctrines, although they have very gradually and very carefully begun to loosen restrictions on things like blood transfusions, organ donations, and so forth, mainly in the medical field.
Against this same chart could be plotted the growth of the XJW movement at large, and more specifically, to those XJWs who know that there is an actual movement! That growth has had an enormous spike recently, almost like an exponential curve, specifically relating to the use of the Internet to bring disparate groups of XJWs together to form united fronts against the Watchtower. Thanks to the tireless efforts of these knights in shining armour, we've seen documentaries, news articles, and all sorts of other damning information brought to light, showing that the Watchtower is not in fact the pure Ivory Tower it makes itself out to be.
This, combined with a concerted effort to clarify the obvious inconsistencies and utter trollop that is the body of the Society's literature, especially recent gems like the Evolution book, which is itself a morass of bogus science, poppycock, and other delightfully fecund propoganda, have put the Society in a really bad light. It's gotten so harsh that they can't even release a new book anymore without being widely ridiculed by thousands of people!
So I guess those boys at the tight are in a pretty tight spot. I hope they enjoy the plush offices, Alaskan fishing tours, private planes, and First-Class flights while they can.
[SYN],
Wordy Class -
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Silentlambs Report & News Article re: 2/12/04 Press Conference
by abbagail inhttp://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/02/46882975.shtml?element_id=46882975 .
middle tennessee news & information .
silentlambs conference to confront child abuse .
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SYN
Great stuff, thanks for the update. The good work continues!
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THEY REALLY ANCHORED YOUR HEAD WITH NONSENSE
by ese inyo - do u see yourself - obsessing about the wtbts or whatever the hell they call themselves - all this beautiful intellect spent on thoughts of an alleged abuser u all allegedly left - oh my - free yourselves - you didn't leave - u r all in this funky stage of mourning and hatred and realization that not all lovers are true - but, forgive my rambling - i have a question here, what do you think they did to mess with your minds so much that u r still obsessing?
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SYN
so many took offense to the above statement - many took it as disbelief in the individual pain experienced - not my intent - used "alleged" because far as i am concerned i am hearing only one side of the story
Well then you shouldn't be throwing around loaded words like that. If you'd been raped as a child, and someone talked about that event in your past as an "alleged" event, how would you feel? Try wearing the other person's shoes for a change, or alternatively find a way of putting your thoughts across with more tact - a lot of the people here have been very badly traumatized in the past, and for you to blithely dismiss their lives with words like "alleged" isn't very responsible or mature.
if i based a conclusion on only the many testimonials here i would be a fool - for all i know some of u may only act as formers jws and with the intent of drawing others to your "flock"
Hmmm. This is where things start to get interesting. I love the smell of troll in the morning! Which testimonial would you prefer - child abuse survivors, or the smooth, slick PR front put up by the Society against known facts? If somebody were to punch you in the face and you went to the police about it, how would you feel if they dismissed your bruises as only "your side of the story"?
might sound absurd but u never know
Well these people do know, and through personal experience.
my observation that u are all in a weird place right now is simply that, an honest observation, am i not entitled to it?
A weird place...hmmm...this is a place where people come for comfort, companionship, and sometimes for a bit of fun, but I certainly wouldn't classify it as weird. A lot of the time the people here act as a giant support group, which is a wonderful thing, in my opinion. You simply don't seem to understand the deeper effects that exiting a cult has on people.
some of you have said , "you have no right" - but i think i do - just as you have rights to ignore my ramblings or disagree with them - and why would any of u assume i have no experience - just because it appears by my questions that i don't know your pain - well, i actually don't but not for lack of experience with jws
Your meaning is unclear here. How can you understand where we're coming from without having been in a similiar situation? Or without at least having done a bit of research?
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JW's in Africa TODAY - aargrgghh
by dh injeeez, who'd have thought it, you travel for days to the other side of the world, get jetlagged & hang out for a week, then go to do your laundry and... lo an behold i see in the laundrette, my book of bible stories, family happiness, green new world translation, as i recover from the shock and nervous laughter, i ask the african lady working 'who put these books there', she says 'the owner' hmmm, i think, i better not bin them, so i open the my book of bible stories & guess what it says.... "if you like this book please leave your name at the counter.".
ha ha ha.
you can run but you can't hide.. live from africa
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SYN
Hi DH! Where are you staying?
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37
THEY REALLY ANCHORED YOUR HEAD WITH NONSENSE
by ese inyo - do u see yourself - obsessing about the wtbts or whatever the hell they call themselves - all this beautiful intellect spent on thoughts of an alleged abuser u all allegedly left - oh my - free yourselves - you didn't leave - u r all in this funky stage of mourning and hatred and realization that not all lovers are true - but, forgive my rambling - i have a question here, what do you think they did to mess with your minds so much that u r still obsessing?
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SYN
He means something else!
And, for your information, this "alleged abuser" neatly ripped out 17 years from my life, and I will still be recovering from that until the day I die. You had to be there, which you obviously weren't.
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20
Young People Ask: The Remix
by SYN inenjoy!
big-up to valis for hosting the files for me!
the original link is: http://www.sassquatch.com/syn/ypa_masturbation.htm.
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SYN
Heh, decongesting the weasel, that makes me smile every time too
Shamus: Naughty naughty!
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I TOLD AN ELDERS WIFE OFF YESTERDAY!
by Mary injust to give you a bit of background: i was diagnosed with uterine cancer a couple of years ago and had to have a hysterectomy.
naturally i got more support from all my worldly friends and co-workers than what i did from people at the hall, but am used to that by now.
anyway, a few days ago, someone from the hall told me that sister x (one of the elders wives who is a nosey, back-stabbing bitch) had been saying things about me like "she shouldn't have had a hysterectomy because that's showing disrespect for the reproductive organs that jehovah gave us" and that i apparently was "lacking in faith" by not "leaving it in jehovah's hand" and didn't i read that article in the botchtower or asleep!
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SYN
Hi Mary, you're one of my favourite posters here, I hope everything goes well for you in future medically, and I think you really kicked some Elder's-wife ASS! Nice one, bruvva!