"Teacher's Pet" syndrome. Brown-nosing. Currying favor.
TerryWalstrom
JoinedPosts by TerryWalstrom
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JW culture of "informers" is very similar to Communist China under Mao
by TerryWalstrom infirst, let's look at what counsel is published by the watchtower and required as proper behavior in the congregation.. *** g88 9/8 p. 20 should i tell on my friend?
***understandably, you may not feel you have the spiritual qualifications to readjust an erring friend.
but would it not make sense to see to it that the matter is reported to someone who is qualified to help?
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JW culture of "informers" is very similar to Communist China under Mao
by TerryWalstrom infirst, let's look at what counsel is published by the watchtower and required as proper behavior in the congregation.. *** g88 9/8 p. 20 should i tell on my friend?
***understandably, you may not feel you have the spiritual qualifications to readjust an erring friend.
but would it not make sense to see to it that the matter is reported to someone who is qualified to help?
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TerryWalstrom
True story follows...
A young JW I helped "wake up" was engaged to be married. His family had money from an insurance policy when his father died.
The young JW wife-to-be was Latina and the size of the wedding was extremely important in her culture.
Well, all the deposits were made, caterers paid for, relatives from out of state had hotel rooms booked and airline tickets prepaid.
Got that picture in your head?
Read on...
One thing led to another and the young awakened JW (about 23 years old) and his fiancee' slipped and indulged in the pre-marital rehearsal of the honeymoon. His fiancee' just had to tell her best (JW) friend and maid of honor.
The JW best friend got all indignant and righteous and made it clear she was going to have to report the wrongdoing to the Elders THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING (which was to take place in the Kingdom Hall.)
They both begged her to wait JUST ONE DAY because the Elders would immediately cancel the use of the Kingdom Hall and the JW relatives would have no "approved" wedding to attend!
The self-righteous best friend refused to wait and --just as predicted--the Elders put a swift embargo on the sacred K.H.
That bit of snitching cost the young man $40K.
He was DF'd but his fiancee' was not.
If he was partially "awake" before this incident, he was WIDE awake afterward. Truly AWAKE! :) -
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JW culture of "informers" is very similar to Communist China under Mao
by TerryWalstrom infirst, let's look at what counsel is published by the watchtower and required as proper behavior in the congregation.. *** g88 9/8 p. 20 should i tell on my friend?
***understandably, you may not feel you have the spiritual qualifications to readjust an erring friend.
but would it not make sense to see to it that the matter is reported to someone who is qualified to help?
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TerryWalstrom
First, let's look at what counsel is published by the Watchtower and required as proper behavior in the congregation.
*** g88 9/8 p. 20 Should I Tell On My Friend? ***Understandably, you may not feel you have the spiritual qualifications to readjust an erring friend. But would it not make sense to see to it that the matter is reported to someone who is qualified to help? Why neglecting to do so could even make you ‘a sharer in his sins’! (1 Timothy 5:22; compare Leviticus 5:1.) It could call into question your own loyalty to God and to his righteous standards.—Psalm 18:25.
*** g70 12/8 p. 27 “You Must Not Testify Falsely” ***Anyone who knew of serious wrongdoing and failed to report it became a partner to the wrongdoer. By pretending that he had seen or heard no wrongdoing, he was living a lie and was just as much in the wrong as one who under oath would testify falsely against his brother.—Lev. 5:1; Ps. 50:18.
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In 1939, in Nazi Germany, 90% of German children belonged to the Hitler Youth program.
The Nazi Party knew that families—private, cohesive groups not usually under political sway—were an obstacle to their goals. The Hitler Youth was a way to get Hitler’s ideology into the family unit, and some members of the Hitler Youth were commanded to snitch out their parents when they behaved in ways not approved of by the Reich.
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In Mao's Communist China, children were called upon to report any conversations which were against the State or Communist party loyalty.
Loyalty to one's own family, let it be noted, is deeply bred into the culture. Therefore, in order to overcome this loyalty, children at an early age were removed from the home and indoctrinated before being returned to the family.
Today, those children have grown up and continue to obey their youthful indoctrination by eavesdropping on other people's business!
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As I watched this video on YouTube this morning, I was struck by the fact that JW's and Nazis and Chinese Communists all have something insidious in common.
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlxUZmXuKVw -
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Breitbart Report on JW "Russia persecution" sparks comments battle
by TerryWalstrom inhttps://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/07/27/exclusive-jehovahs-witnesses-face-harsh-persecution-in-putins-russia/_________in my daily sweep of the web for interesting jw articles, the above link popped up.the report is probably propped up by a stream of watchtower propaganda publicity releases to the media.but what struck me was the comments below the article.. give it read and join in if you feel moved..
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TerryWalstrom
Sort of "off-topic" but interesting is the fact that the Greek Orthodox church was part of the divided Roman Empire and the longest-lasting historically. (Rome 'fell' in 476 C.E. and the Orthodox empire lived on about another thousand years!)
Isolated as they were, the taint of Roman Catholic political influence was absent. NT Scripture preserved by the Greek Orthodox priests is probably closer to original texts. This doesn't necessitate those texts being viewed as "true", mind you, but as part of the confluence of tributaries leading to a "restored" Bible, the differences are noteworthy.
Russia (pre-Communist revolution) was among the most "churchy" places on earth. Christianity was practiced all through the Stalin years very unobtrusively. When the Glasnost happened, an immediate spring-back effect transpired and the churches were instantly filled with devout worshippers one again (as though the revolution never happened.)
The fact that the current Putin regime is supporting Russian Orthodox religious demonstrations of piety over and above intrusive Western sects and denominations would indicate to me (I have no supporting facts) that a kind of concordant agreement like Hitler and the Pope) has been made.
I'm going to spend the day researching my hypothesis.
As I said, this is off-topic--but while it was on my mind I stopped to blurt it out :) -
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Breitbart Report on JW "Russia persecution" sparks comments battle
by TerryWalstrom inhttps://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/07/27/exclusive-jehovahs-witnesses-face-harsh-persecution-in-putins-russia/_________in my daily sweep of the web for interesting jw articles, the above link popped up.the report is probably propped up by a stream of watchtower propaganda publicity releases to the media.but what struck me was the comments below the article.. give it read and join in if you feel moved..
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TerryWalstrom
TAXING CHURCHES is also in the news.
Oh the thrill!
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article215653425.html -
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Breitbart Report on JW "Russia persecution" sparks comments battle
by TerryWalstrom inhttps://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/07/27/exclusive-jehovahs-witnesses-face-harsh-persecution-in-putins-russia/_________in my daily sweep of the web for interesting jw articles, the above link popped up.the report is probably propped up by a stream of watchtower propaganda publicity releases to the media.but what struck me was the comments below the article.. give it read and join in if you feel moved..
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TerryWalstrom
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/07/27/exclusive-jehovahs-witnesses-face-harsh-persecution-in-putins-russia/
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In my daily sweep of the web for interesting JW articles, the above link popped up.
The report is probably propped up by a stream of Watchtower propaganda publicity releases to the media.
But what struck me was the COMMENTS below the article.Give it read and join in if you feel moved.
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Who Is America? Sacha Baron Cohen (Ambush humor--what do you think?)
by TerryWalstrom inthere have been many tv programs all the way back to candid camera which set people up for pranks.
it was all in good fun and the results were shown only if a legal release was signed allowing the prank to be broadcast.getting permission after-the-fact was essential, otherwise, you've wasted your efforts.ahhhh, but what about public figures who are legally exempted from the necessary "permission" form agreement?is an ambush set-up fair or even ethical?the answer we give depends on how much we love or hate the victim!if we really, really dislike certain public figures there's a tendency to want to see them embarrassed and exposed as buffoons, idiots, hypocrites, and fools.on the other hand, consider this.
in a nation as divided as is america along color lines, political factions, and social "correctness" concerns--are we lighting a fuse by going too far?____why am i asking this question?i watched this preview and found myself torn.
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TerryWalstrom
There is a popular semantic trick when discussing the controversial subject matter. The interviewer listens and replies, "So what you're saying is..." The trick substitutes the interpretation in place of the actual statement.
It should seem (yet somehow does not) obvious that using tricks to win is really losing.
Except preception is said to be the reality!
Q and A ain't what it used to be. -
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Who Is America? Sacha Baron Cohen (Ambush humor--what do you think?)
by TerryWalstrom inthere have been many tv programs all the way back to candid camera which set people up for pranks.
it was all in good fun and the results were shown only if a legal release was signed allowing the prank to be broadcast.getting permission after-the-fact was essential, otherwise, you've wasted your efforts.ahhhh, but what about public figures who are legally exempted from the necessary "permission" form agreement?is an ambush set-up fair or even ethical?the answer we give depends on how much we love or hate the victim!if we really, really dislike certain public figures there's a tendency to want to see them embarrassed and exposed as buffoons, idiots, hypocrites, and fools.on the other hand, consider this.
in a nation as divided as is america along color lines, political factions, and social "correctness" concerns--are we lighting a fuse by going too far?____why am i asking this question?i watched this preview and found myself torn.
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Who Is America? Sacha Baron Cohen (Ambush humor--what do you think?)
by TerryWalstrom inthere have been many tv programs all the way back to candid camera which set people up for pranks.
it was all in good fun and the results were shown only if a legal release was signed allowing the prank to be broadcast.getting permission after-the-fact was essential, otherwise, you've wasted your efforts.ahhhh, but what about public figures who are legally exempted from the necessary "permission" form agreement?is an ambush set-up fair or even ethical?the answer we give depends on how much we love or hate the victim!if we really, really dislike certain public figures there's a tendency to want to see them embarrassed and exposed as buffoons, idiots, hypocrites, and fools.on the other hand, consider this.
in a nation as divided as is america along color lines, political factions, and social "correctness" concerns--are we lighting a fuse by going too far?____why am i asking this question?i watched this preview and found myself torn.
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TerryWalstrom
As I get older (and older) I become more capable of taking a step back to look at the big picture. I guess it is because I'm slowly rotting away from life itself :) That gradual detachment has the one benefit of starting to see things a wee bit objectively now and then.
CRITICS of society are necessary as long as they don't give a distorted end result. We need the Devil's Advocate. We don't need fraudsters.
The end does not justify the means.
When Legal Authorities, for example, use entrapment--they actually provoke law breaking just so they can make an arrest.
To me, I see this as cheating. It is disgraceful. The justification, of course, is that we've taken a Bad Guy off the streets.
Well, bullshit.
The same can be true of Ambush Humor.
I remember a case of a famous football player who was set up for a sting.
The football hero and his wife were ripe targets. They were notorious lovebirds and Christians who constantly talked about their happy marriage.
The football hero was approached in a bar by a gorgeous young lady claiming to be a fan. She was, in fact, hired because she was younger and more beautiful than his wife--and he'd met her before.Cut to the chase: he went to bed with her. He was recorded doing the deed.
A newspaper had engineered this entrapment JUST FOR THE STORY and "gotcha" publicity.
Question: Did this PROVE he was an adulterer all along or that he was of low character?
How many of us could pass such tests?
Anyway...
Sacha Baron Cohen sometimes makes me very uncomfortable because he is like the whore in the bar. He gets a payoff in the same way.
Who am I to judge?
Well, who do I have to be?
I'm just worried that my laugh has come at a disreputable cost.
Like I said, this is mostly because I'm an old man with little time left for ethical introspection. That's why I toss out these questions for you folks to discuss.
When you are young, "ETHICS" can seem like a snooty formality or holier than thou posturing.
Yeah. That's dangerous thinking.
The ties that bind us together as a society are fragile. Very very fragile.
We have to agree to disagree or we'll be cutting each others' throats in a Holy War of righteous indignation.
Over dramatic? Maybe. Maybe not.
Thumb through history and see.
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http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-05-18/news/9705171005_1_kathie-lee-gifford-frank-gifford-globe -
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Have you ever considered how bizarre the idea of "War in Heaven" really is?
by TerryWalstrom inwhen you grow up and look back on childhood belief you have to laugh at how.
easter bunnies and santa were all too plausible for children because trusted adults who were otherwise unimpeachable sources of truth and reality assured and reassured kids.
why wouldn't they accept it?jehovah's witness kids didn't have santa, we had armageddon.only this morning i suddenly asked myself why i ever accepted the idea of a war in heaven as even remotely sane.
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TerryWalstrom
Basic Mythology is comic book in nature.
The flaws of humans are blown up into larger-than-life stories.
A man is the model for a SUPERman. Halfway between a man and a god is a DEMIgod.
Hercules, for all practical purposes, is Samson.
Hercules is the son of Jupiter. Hercules was a demigod.
Jesus was the son of God and considered by many a demigod.
Shorthand thinking.