Posts by TheOldHippie

19

Psychology - Articles: Mental health of Jehovah's Witnesses

by AndersonsInfo in

i'm curious.

for the benefit of all, perhaps some who were psychology students in college and are posters on jwn (and anybody else for that matter) would like to comment on the somewhat controversial material i've posted here which was sent to my face book page.the short article below in english was originally in italian and is google translated.

in this recent article, the italian psychology student who wrote it points to an "... old article by john spencer (psychiatrist) published in the '75 british journal of psychiatry , titled '"the mental health of jehovah's witnesses,"' which, the author said, "speaks for itself.

TheOldHippie

The author of the original article is not particularly neutral from the start off, is he - he is not exactly on Jung's side, it seems he is more is a firm supporter of the Marxist view of religion as opium for the people. But that put aside, and the findings are as they are - just a question: I remember a discussion of this article around 1980, and there were some psychiatrists - among whom a priest (!) - that critizised the study and stated it was poor from a methodology point of view. That it was flawed. I do not remember the particulars, but remember there were some discussions about it. And it was also stated that the JWs in Western Australia were not respresentable of Australian JWs as a whole, because the young male JWs refusing military service were sent to isolated outposts or prisons in Western Australia and so suffered isolation for a longer period, resulting in mental problems. I repeat I am not trying to say the results tell something dofferent from what they do - but it sould have been interesting to see the tabulations or figures broken down by age and sex, and if the younger male group was predominant, the isolation because of imprisonment would be a contributing factor. That point of view, as I recall, was the major point of critisim against the study.

Such a long time has elapsed sice the 70s that it probably is far-fetched to believe anyone else has a slight recollection of this, but there might be an oldtimer or two remembering it ................

49

Baptisms decreased critical 26.9% in Mexico

by Gayle in

jw
friends

for 2011, jws in mexico had the lowest baptism number in years, a critical 26.9% decrease from 2010. something is going there!?.

.

TheOldHippie

"I have always been skeptical about the WTS numbers outside of the U.S."

Yeah - the US is the only trustworthy nation on Earth .................................

49

Baptisms decreased critical 26.9% in Mexico

by Gayle in

jw
friends

for 2011, jws in mexico had the lowest baptism number in years, a critical 26.9% decrease from 2010. something is going there!?.

.

TheOldHippie

As usual, this is a wild exaggeration aimed at spreading unsubstantiated gossip. There was no "decreased critical 26.9%". The decrease was a mere 26.8%. Do your math correctly!

9

LOVE THOSE STATISTICS!

by clarity in

love these stats from jwfacts /jehovah's witnesess.

"this is one of the most telling graphs, showing that the number of people leaving has tripled from the rate in the early 1990's.

for the 10 years from 1986 to 1995 the rate was an average of 12%; for the 10 years from 1996 to 2005 it had risen to 41%.".

TheOldHippie

One mistake in the original article: "Subtracting the increase in average publishers from the number baptised each year can be used to determine the number of Jehovah's Witnesses that leave each year. "

And that is a crucial mistake, for the simple reason that one does not have to be baptised to be included as a publisher. Because of this, it is impossible to produce statistics like the ones shown. There is no way knowing whether an unbaptised person starts publishing, stops, starts again etc. If you had to be baptised, it would be easy, but now it is close to impossible. You would have to know the exact number of the publishers that are baptised in order to do the math.

41

Alteration in the German Watchtower about spousal physical abuse

by slimboyfat in

i noticed that the german edition of the study watchtower for today didn't include the phrase about the husband "hitting" the sister.

instead it just says that he became ferociously angry, which need not imply physical abuse.

i wonder if the german translator altered it off his own back or was instructed, and how other language editions compare.

TheOldHippie

Borges - yes and no. I fully get your meaning and would agree - but the reaction would be exactly the same in the Scandinavian countries, and the text was duly translated as "hitting". And if there are some counties that ARE politically correct, it is the Scandinavian ones, and not to mention Britain.

41

Alteration in the German Watchtower about spousal physical abuse

by slimboyfat in

i noticed that the german edition of the study watchtower for today didn't include the phrase about the husband "hitting" the sister.

instead it just says that he became ferociously angry, which need not imply physical abuse.

i wonder if the german translator altered it off his own back or was instructed, and how other language editions compare.

TheOldHippie

Scandinavian issues say "hit".

14

The first three ( 3 ) presidents of the WTB&TS got 1914 as the invisible presence of Jesus Christ wrong

by smiddy in

i wonder how many jehovah`s witnesses today realise that 3 presidents of the then international bible students association under w.h.conley,1st president,then c.t.russell 2nd president,followed by j.f.rutherford,the 3rd president who changed the name from the i.b.s.a.

to jehovahs witnesses,and especially the 2nd & 3rd presidents,lived ,taught and proclaimed to all who would listen,up until their death,that jesus invisible presence began not in 1914,but had occured in 1874.. none of these three early presidents beleived jesus invisible presence began in 1914.. the wtb&ts didn`t start teaching the invisible presence of jesus christ began in 1914 until the year 1943.. that is almost seven decades, 70 years, after they were formed as a bible student group.. w.h.conley was only president for a short period of time.

c.t.russell started zions watchtower & herald of christs presence in 1879 ,he died in 1916. j.f rutherford assumed control of the i.b.s.a.

TheOldHippie

Remember also the difference between "presence" and "coming". You will remember Russell wrote a little book about the three types of coming, and so they could live well with his presence staring in 1874, his judgment of his own people in 1878 and then his final coming, to judge the world, in 1914. I think this was the situation up till the 43 change, which changed 1874 to 1914, then 1878 to 1918, and finally 1914 to sometime into the future.

26

Should Barbara Anderson Write a Book?

by Scott77 in

if yes, would you buy it?

what would be the suggested topic for the book?

any idea are welcome.. .

TheOldHippie

No way should any of them dare to write a book, as they are just "a rag and a bone and a hank of hair".

80

New Zealand bethel is to be closed down.

by karter in

my mother has the c.o staying and told her the new zealand bethel is about to be closed and the land and buildings sold.. .

karter..

TheOldHippie

"Austria where they have generally had good relations with the authorities"

Not always, there was lot of fuzz some years ago in connection with a child issue. A special brochure was issued. Mainly the press, but the judicial system too.

Other branches to close? Denmark, Sweden and Norway are to be merged into one branch within a year's time.

28

May Awake--New 8-Part Series on Bible Prophecy--My Analysis of Part 1

by Cadellin in

TheOldHippie

Two quotes:

"EH argues that Israelite culture and language was so close to Canaanite so as to be nearly indistinguishable, which would hardly be the case had they been Egypt-dwellers for four centuries previously, as the article contends."

" The Merneptah Stele is an inscription made by Pharaoh Merneptah in 1210 BCE, boasting about conquering various Canaanite cities and Israel, which he supposedly "laid waste." Interestingly, the Israelites are shown dressed and groomed exactly as the Canaanites (which lends credence to EH's assertion of common culture). Awake! asserts that the occurrence of Israel on this stele "further support[s] the existence of this nation" (18), yet the hieroglyph used for Israel means "rural or tribal entity," as OH puts it (124), not the hieroglyph for nation or city-state, which is used for the Canaanite cities. The sign used for Israel "signify[ed] nomadic groups or peoples without a fixed city-state home, thus implying a seminomadic or rural status for Israel at that time," notes OH (97)."

As for the first one, WT chronology says they were Egypt dwellers for two centuries (215 years), and not for four centuries. The four centuries run from the establishment of the Abrahamitic covenant to the end of the Egypt-dwelling, according to WT chronology.

The second one, would not the OH quotes fit rather well also with the WT chronology, since the firm establishment of a nation did not take place until the unification as a Kingdom towards year 1,000? I feel the GA quote about the existence of Israel as a nation does not point to a firmly established, unified kingdom or nation as such, but to the esistence of the people, gathering of tribes, somewhat like that. I see, just as you do, that the quote says "nation", but as said, the same WT literature does not say the Kingdom came in existence until a couple of centuries later. And the book of Judges - and the WT comments on it in its literature - tell about conditions and happenings corresponding with the OH quote.

Or?