scratchme1010

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Posts by scratchme1010

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  35

  In what decade was it clearly apparent that Watchtower was a high control religion?

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm just curious to get people's views on this.. the bible students seem to start of as quite a liberal group under charles taze russell, albeit he had some whacky teachings going on.

  obviously things began to change under rutherford.

  but what decade did it become abundantly clear that the society was indeed high control religion or even labeled a cult?.

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  scratchme1010

  But what decade did it become abundantly clear that the society was indeed high control religion or even labeled a cult?

  I know that when I first heard of the JWs in the early 80's, I was told they were a cult by some friends, which seemed a common view.

  From the perspective of what I have learned and experienced, your question could be stated differently. Cult is not necessarily a label, but it's an effect, something in which some organizations and groups evolve into. I can't speak for CT Russell, but I have the feeling that from the get go, he loved controlling other people's lives for his own gain. Hence, the cultic effect might have been present since the beginning.

  A good indicator of how (not sure about when) it evolved into what it became/has become could be looking at the history (if it was ever documented) of their implementations of rules that started aiming at controlling people's lives and independent thinking. In fact, that very concept of them attacking independent thinking can be a good indicator. If anyone can research and see when that nonsense popped up in their teachings and literature, that might give you an idea.
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  23

  The Governing Body Doing The Math As Corporate CEOs

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  lett announce to his braindead indoctrinated rank and file masses the wt corporation is short on funds and so they have money problems.

  he made light of his role and the rest of management's predicament by saying on a public broadcast: "in doing the math we found that the amount of money flowing out will be much greater than the amount of money coming in at this time".

  clearly the guys on the gb have very little business sense to let things get so out of hand with tons of projects in the works and having to close all of them except for warwick, and one in england.. i have to wonder just what type of math these dead heads on the gb even know or consider when making all their plans for the future of the corporation they have leadership over.

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  scratchme1010

  They really are victims of themselves. Their mentality an obsession with controlling every aspect of people's lives is finally catching up with them.
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  31

  Picture in latest Watchtower . . . What is it?

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in this picture from the latest watchtower, what in the world is the guy watching on the left side of the picture??

  it looks like a female vampire holding a lightsaber.

  am i missing something?.

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  scratchme1010

  Chances are that it comes from some magazine as they have done int he past. They "borrow" ideas from other magazines and publications (probably websites now).
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  18

  My thoughts on Church shootings..

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  disclaimer: i do not approve or condone any acts of violence that result in the deaths of innocent persons.. alright.. let me just say that i have no idea what motivated the latest mass shooting, nor do i condone those actions.

  i am, however, beginning to understand why some individuals may feel that violence is their only choice, although i do not approve of that choice.. when i read topics on this forum that concern religion and legalism, topics that drone on and on, getting nowhere, i feel extremely frustrated.

  yes, religions are given certain freedoms, but many are obviously going beyond the spirit that motivated the separation of church and state.

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  scratchme1010

  Anyway, just wondering what your thoughts are.
  

  My thoughts are somewhat in alignment with yours. Only exception is that for some reason too many people tend to classify or put every single person who commits a violent crime like that in the same place, in the same category and/or in some kind of political context.

  The reasoning for one person to start shooting a church may have nothing to do with why the other guy started shooting at people in a concert, or the other who started shooting people at a church with mostly black people, or the other who started shooting at children in a school, or the other that started shooting at gay men in a dance club.

  The act of violence may be the one and only thing that they have in common (aside from access to so many weapons).

  I think people around them ignore the signs. Mental health and prevention of violence are never things that people seem to care about. There's no way that people just start shooting others without having some kind of background story, being like the ones that you mention in your post, or other. Whatever it is, that kind of violence is not going to stop for as long as people continue neglecting addressing people's mental health, being PTSD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Extreme Hatred for other Races/Cultures, Bipolar Disorder, or Internalized Homophobia.

  And then there are the ones who don't have any mental health issue, but are convinced that they are entitled to commit such acts. We, coming from an organization that capitalizes in brainwashing and negative influence, should know well how many stupid things people can do under the negative influence of other(s). Some of those people are perfectly functional and in their right mind, just convinced that it's ok to kill people.
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  9

  So obsessed

  by incognito2014 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find it almost too difficult to bear.

  my mother now in her 80's does not miss up on an opportunity to preach.

  in fact most of the time the opportunity does not exist but she mentions something anyway.. she is so blind it's embarrassing.

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  scratchme1010

  How are your older parents dealing with this change?
  

  My parents actually seem like they toned the preaching down as they grew old. I think that in their case they realized all the damage that they created in the family, and how much they alienated people around them due to their preaching and proselytizing. Also, they loved to argue, so they were never in agreement as to when/where was appropriate for one of them to preach.

  You shouldn't feel embarrassed by your mother. Let it be. That's how I came to terms with my parents' behavior.
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  18

  Question about dfed relatives

  by awake!watcher in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does anyone know if there is a wt reference that says associating with a dfed relative is a conscience matter?

  i am asking because someone is trying to cause trouble and i was hoping there was an article i could point to to shut them up..

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  scratchme1010

  That's something that in my experience I have seen changing and bending according to whatever politics people want to play.

  Through the years they keep saying different things about relationships with relatives who aren't JWs or are disfellowshipped.
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  19

  Could You See A Kingdom Hall Getting Shot Up?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i would never want to see that happen but i’m surprised it has not occurred at this point.

  there are many disgruntled people who have had bad experiences with the witnesses..

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  scratchme1010

  I would never want to see that happen but I’m surprised it has not occurred at this point. There are many disgruntled people who have had bad experiences with the Witnesses.
  

  Another what if. Please make the best out of your life and don't waste time fearing hypothetical situations.
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  55

  11-5-17 Warwick Protest Photos

  by thebrokenkite in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  let the reader use discernment:.

  i was disfellowshipped in june of last year.

  while i've been awake for nearly a year, i still often feel groggy.

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  scratchme1010

  At the the end of the day, I hope that they let out whatever they needed to get off their chests.
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  25

  In theory, can one be disfellowshipped for attempted suicide?

  by Saename in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i was recently reading the reasons for disfellowshipping as listed in shepherd the flock of god.

  the handbook is available online here: https://thetruthofjehowaswittness.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/jehovas-vitner.pdf.. on page 59, point #4, it lists attempted suicide as a reason for disfellowshipping.

  has it ever been removed?

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  scratchme1010

  For what I heard way back when, yes, a person can get disfellowshipped for attempting at taking their own life. The nonsense I heard was that killing is a sin, even if it's killing yourself.

  Nothing was told about helping a person in crisis.
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  36

  "Armageddon is already here"; "the preaching work is done" -- rogue teachings in your congregation?

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of my jw sons seems to be putting pressure on his non-jw brother apparently to scare him into accepting the troof and start coming to meetings.

  wild statements like our topic title, which i know are not supported at jw dot org, have been made to my non-jw son several times over the past year or so.

  while i haven't been privy to the actual phone conversations i tend to believe that the jw son is being pressured by the local elders to cut ties with the non-jw since their conversations seem to degrade into arguments -- therefore tending to weaken the jws faith in wt teachings.. either my jw son is lying about what i would call rogue teachings (and this would disappoint me greatly) or he is in some close knit clique in his congregation which has secretly chosen to go rogue on certain wt issues.. based on many of the recent posts here about drastic money and wt organization problems this could be a sign of pending splits of certain congregation members.. what do you think?

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  scratchme1010

  What do you think?
  

  He may be waking up himself and it's fighting back hard.