in the new article about the international convention in manila, the picture of the crowd is pretty telling.
they look so drained and miserable!.
.
not sure a snapshot tells the story
You have a point, and I did think about not making judgement based on 3 moments in time.
But I'm equally sure that the mood and expression of these people didn't change much throughout the day.
Outdoors on most likely a warm and humid Manila day. Seemingly endless talks and videos. I'd wanna be somewhere else as well, not that they would admit that.
in the new article about the international convention in manila, the picture of the crowd is pretty telling.
they look so drained and miserable!.
.
The Faux Cowboy is absolutely checking the football scores.
I know that look.
in a local newspaper attention for the merging and sell of a kingdom hall in a dutch village.. the funds are being used for building in other country's.
(: (: (: .
https://zuid.zenderstreeknieuws.nl/nieuws/algemeen/788011/ijsselsteinse-jehova-s-getuigen-samen-met-nieuwegein-.
It can be paralleled to the Army moving recruiting centres around.
Overall, it's declining. But they are shutting down stores where recruits have dried up, and setting up shop where there is a fresh, naive market for their one true religion.
i have no idea if im doing this right.
i'm an atheist but i'm curious about the religion.
theres a service(?
Every meeting I went to had at least one non religious person there - me.
How will you 'act' is the right terminology to use, because you will need to hide your disbelief. What you see and hear will be a mixture of the surreal and fantastical.
Get your reasons ready for being there. 'Research' will probably arouse some suspicion, even if they are not obvious about it. And I wouldn't mention any higher education you have.
Watch Tower day will be best for just 'blending in'. Midweek will very much feel like you're in a classroom and that more eyes are on you.
Be prepared to sing, or pretend to. Someone will share their tablet with the lyrics with you. The tune is immaterial and usually indiscernible.
Turn your phone down or off, unless you want a ready made excuse to dart out the door.
Get your reasons ready not to have a bible study with someone, unless you want to of course.
Clear a big space at home - near your recycling bin is best - for the literature you will be given.
The urge to run will come. if it doesn't. return here for regular deprogramming.
It's possible to fake it for a long time. I could still be there if I wanted to. They want new recruits. You won't get thrown out, even if they suspect you're not fully in. It's just a matter of how long you can keep up your story and motivation.
Despite the initially-interesting strangeness of the 'JW life' to an outsider, it is, at its heart, very mundane and monotonous.
in the new article about the international convention in manila, the picture of the crowd is pretty telling.
they look so drained and miserable!.
.
Robotic singing of truly awful songs can be very draining.
Love the look of the girl giving the camera daggers in the first pic.
"Yep, I really wanna be here at the - what's this convention called again?"
i grew up in the cult.
mom converted first--then dad..i was just a kid--what did i know.
dad and i got dipped together.
You can get a mighty headache trying to work out why people insist on wasting their lives trying to please invisible forces that are a product of the imagination.
Religion began, in a very general sense, to explain things that were beyond the scope of man - eclipses, floods earthquakes, the seasons, etc etc.
Science came along and pretty much explained all of it, with evidential and logical reasoning, but a big percentage of humans still mistrust it, or find some kind of comfort in belonging to various groups that insist on giving supernatural powers to completely unproven entities. It seems to me driven these days by a lack of knowledge of 'what there is' after death, but I would suggest that as this is an unknown thing, it kind of proves that what there is after death, is nothing.
Or - people are just bored and lonely.
Unscrupulous people will always come along and take advantage of both groups, as long as they exist.
just looking at the pictures in tomorrow's wt study makes me think of the nightmares i used to have as a child.
and nowadays the pictures are sometimes more realistic, so for any who are truly mentally in, this has a terrible effect on them and even their life choices.
looking in as a pimo or pomo it seems almost comical that adults would believe in this sci-fi bible fan-fiction, but it's not funny when we remember that all ages of the r&f are being manipulated by the gb by these cheap and evil means.. .
BTW, it sure is taking a lot of angels to rescue that government-threatening prayer meeting from being broken up by the pizza delivery SWAT Team.
I count 11 of them. I thought they were supposed to be powerful. Clearly someone has been skipping Armageddon training.
just looking at the pictures in tomorrow's wt study makes me think of the nightmares i used to have as a child.
and nowadays the pictures are sometimes more realistic, so for any who are truly mentally in, this has a terrible effect on them and even their life choices.
looking in as a pimo or pomo it seems almost comical that adults would believe in this sci-fi bible fan-fiction, but it's not funny when we remember that all ages of the r&f are being manipulated by the gb by these cheap and evil means.. .
As many have intimated, this is pure propaganda.
To define further, it is deliberately crafted to achieve a goal of blind loyalty using classic techniques.
Pictorial - most effective form of propaganda,
Us vs Them. Them naturally being a personification of Evil.
Unthinkable consequences of losing - fear mongering.
The non adherence to the doctrines of Team Good = Losing, and it will be YOUR fault
The danger to 'innocents' ie children - playing on another emotion.
Prospect of Victory with the credit going to an element of Team Good that only unswerving loyalty to Team Good will bring about, in this case - 'Angels'
Well, at least the Nazis didn't have winged angel warriors swooping down to ethnically clean the Fatherland, so I think this may be worse.
To be circulated to members in the first place is abusive. To be aimed at children as well is reprehensible.
This cult getting backed into a corner is bringing out some truly perverse, manipulative and morally bankrupt behaviour.
No benevolent god, if one exists, would sanction this.
i drove through a nearby seaside town today.
it was starting to rain.
it was cold.
Over the last couple of years I have had two vacations to the US and stayed in beachside communities.
Most recent visit - stayed in Carlsbad Village - clean, upscale quaint touristy town. No homeless in sight. Never saw a cart anywhere in a month, though there were some great 'set up' places - railway station, weekly village farmers market etc.
First visit - Oceanside - perfectly ok place to stay but definitely had a seedy side. A few homeless around, street drinking etc. I was tripping over carts. At one point I saw 3 within a few hundred metres of each other. One set up at the Farmer's Market every Thursday. Never saw them talking to anyone, Ignored the homeless, sat looking at their phones. (Pretty sure the homeless didn't want a relationship with Big J either). One was ALWAYS set up at the start of the pier. I talked to the guy a few times. Nice enough, but clearly bored, worn down, kind of gave off a dispirited vibe. But he was there every day.
I asked why so many carts together and he explained it was an 'intersection of territories' or something. More like poor management from higher up I say. What a waste.
And damn could they pack up those carts fast.
excellent observation from zizek about communist regimes: they didn’t care if people accepted the ideology or took it seriously, so long as people acted as if the ideology was true, that was the important thing.
in fact the regimes were deeply suspicious people who took the ideology too seriously.
people who took the ideology seriously were dangerous because they were prone to noticing the inconsistencies and flaws in the system.
As brilliantly observed by Monty Python, there is no creature more dangerous than an intelligent sheep...
(A tourist approaches a shepherd. The sounds of sheep and the outdoors are heard.)
Tourist (Terry Jones: Good afternoon.
Shepherd (Graham Chapman): Afternoon
Tourist: Ah, lovely day isn't it?
Shepherd: Ar, 'tis that.
Tourist: Are you here on holiday or...?
Shepherd: No, no, I live 'ere.
Tourist: Oh, jolly good. I say, those ARE sheep aren't they?
Shepherd: Yeh.
Tourist: Yes yes, I though so. Only, why are they up in the trees?
Shepherd: A fair question and one that in recent weeks 'as been much on my mind. It's my considered opinion that they're nestin'.
Tourist: Nesting?
Shepherd: Aye.
Tourist: Like birds?
Shepherd: Exactly. Birds is the key to the whole problem. It's my belief that these sheep are laborin' under the misapprehension that they're birds. Observe their behavior. Take for a start the sheeps' tendency to 'op about the field on their back legs. Now witness their attmpts to fly from tree to tree. Notice that they do not so much fly as... plummet. (Baaa baaa... flap flap... thud.) Observe for example that ewe in that oak tree. She is clearly trying to teach her lamb to fly. (baaaaa... thud) Talk about the blind leading the blind.
Tourist: Yes, but why do they think they're birds?
Shepherd: Another fair question. One thing is for sure, the sheep is not a creature of the air. They have enormous difficulty in the comparatively simple act of perchin'. (Baaa baaa... flap flap... thud.) As you see. As for flight its body is totally unadapted to the problems of aviation. Trouble is, sheep are very dim. Once they get an idea in their 'eads, there's no shiftin' it.
Tourist: But where did they get the idea from?
Shepherd: From Harold. He's that sheep over there under the elm. He's that most dangerous of animals, a clever sheep. He's the ring leader. He has realized that a sheep's life consists of standin' around for a few months and then bein' eaten. And that's a depressing prospect for an ambitious sheep. He's patently hit on the idea of escape.
Tourist: Well why don't you just get rid of Harold?
Shepherd: Because of the enormous commercial possibilities should he succeed.
Voice Over (Eric Idle): And what exactly are the commercial possibilities of ovine aviation?
