did any of you hear any of the urban legends that jw's used to scare people into being deathly afraid of demons?
for example i remeber hearing that a child brough a smurf doll to a meeting and upon hearing the name jehovah uttered it got up and walked out.
got any j-dub urban legends?
Blood in everything -dark chocolate, soft ice-cream, and for the disbelievers - tomato soup.
This doesn't count as an urban legend but it does show a level of intelligence.....A sister (pioneer, whose son resided in bethel-USA) told me that she would not go to a Chinese opera because the music was 'chaotic' and Satan was the god of confusion, therefore the music was demonized.
so many times in the jw, i saw couples getting married.
but what struck me so often was the difference in age between the man and wife.
often the man was 15-25 years older than the woman.
Most of these responses sound like the JW 'can't think outside the box' syndrome. I think that some of the most fulfilled people are those that have broken boundaries, and then realize why those boundaries (social controls) were in place. Of course there are the failures - which are what most people focus on when confronted with the boundaries.
From a very satisfied boundary-breaker.
most articles in the publications recommended physical punishment, (corporal) when disciplining children.
the scripture says that "he will not die" if you beat him.
so many parents literally beat their children.
I have already responded to this thread from the perspective of a parent, but have found the responses from people raised in the 'truth' sadly familiar. In my case although the literal 'rod' was not frequently used (but threatened), however my father (elder etc) had the skill of mind control down to a fine art. His scripture of choice was Eph. 6:4, "....but go on bringing them up in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah." - mental regulate he did! I believe this scripture became quite popular after the idea of 'discipline' not necessarily being the 'literal rod' was introduced. He continued to quote this well into my teens, until one day I quoted him the earlier part of the scripture re 'not irritating'. This happened many years ago, but I remember the incident quite clearly. I literally hated that scripture, and still do. In my earlier post I mentioned the pressure from others in relation to disciplining children. For me this started when my eldest was just a tiny baby. He was a very restless baby, and I can remember after the first few group studies (which I spent in the car) being told by my husband (the study conductor) "How can the brothers respect me if you can't control -your- child." It was down-hill all the way from there! Sadly, I can remember smacking (ocassionally) my children at the hall when they were restless, just to be seen to be doing something (the right thing) by onlookers. I think the behaviour of an individual's children (particularly if that individual is a servant) is often used as a form of control and one-upmanship by others. When my children reached their teenage years I began to 'dig in' and followed my own instincts (fractured as they were) to deal with their issues, but this was not the party line (which I could see would lead to shunning), so my responses finally (a long story) led to the breakdown of the family, partly due to the fact that the role of parenting was virtually a non negotiable issue, both privately and as part of the organization. For this reason I believe this is a highly relevant topic, it involves much more than just whether a person hits their children or not-and the effects a life-long. Enough said!
most articles in the publications recommended physical punishment, (corporal) when disciplining children.
the scripture says that "he will not die" if you beat him.
so many parents literally beat their children.
A neighbour from a KH I attended called the Child Protection Agency at one time due to the manner in which a child was frequently being disciplined outside the hall. Personally, yes. There was a lot of pressure from other elders to make our kids 'perfect', hence a lot of trips out the back. Also a lot of pressure from other members of the family (most who didn't raise kids in the org.) to make my kids 'as good as' so-and-so's kids. This is an issue I debate with myself at length. In some ways I feel I was far to strict, and yet in other ways I was much more lenient than others (maybe not easier, just allowed them to do things like music and some sport, and to think for themselves), but that was what finally broke the marriage as I was not a good elders wife and stopped Bro. elder from "progressing in the truth". I'm sure many parents find this a dificult issue - on reflection.
i have done a little research since joining this board and honestly believe that jehovahs witnesses fit in the cult category.
however what i don't understand if this is not the so called true religion as most of you have expressed how do you figure six million were mislead into believing it is the only true religion?
i mean this is not like the heaven's gate cult or the infamous jonestown cult who had very little followers in comparison with jehovahs witnesses.
This is a question I also pondered during my early days of inactivity. This is (briefly) the way I thought it through. Although I have not researched the behaviour of cults in any depth, I think to some degree the Western philosophical take on this issue is due to our society's concept of individualism and subsequent distrust of excessive cohesion and control. In other group oriented cultures, strong cohesion is not considered a threat to personal freedom, but security. The goal is to think alike, not differently, and much personal sacrifice will be made in order to achieve this goal. In the past, community survival depended on this way of thinking, so I think this need/desire is ingrained somewhere deep within the human psyche. Humans are social creatures, when all said and done. They generally like to belong, regardless of whether they are from a group oriented or individualistic culture, but the way of development of Western cultures has allowed for greater choice in this matter. Even then, large numbers of people can be swayed very easily by a clever politician or authority figure, if it is perceived to be for the good of the group (eg present world situation). The numbers (6 mill) really don't mean a lot, I decided, when the whole of humankind is taken into consideration.
i think that love takes on many facets.
i think that admiration is one of these facets.
sexual desire is another.
Just a comment in response to the poster who compared western culture(s) with other cultures who do not operate within the same familial guidelines. I feel that we often tend to over simplify behaviours that we have not experienced and compare them favourably under certain circumstances. From experience, I would challenge the idea that non monogomous marriages work harmoniously in other cultures. Such cultures (at least the ones I am aware of) are societies where those choices are the choices of the male, and the women are legally and socially unable to resist such behaviour. Many issues other than the concept of a shared marriage (shared love/emotions) come into play, eg the continuation of the family name/line etc.- not to mention money. Within these arrangement there is often much hurt and anger with one woman and her children inevitably being the outcasts. It is usually the women who fight for change to take place as they are the cictims of such social mores. While it may sound good in National Geographic etc, the reality may be very different. I have never yet met a woman who wants it to go back to the way of her grandparents! I will leave the original question to those more qualified to answer:-)
the more meetings you go to the more drivel you hear.
elder's meetings were terrible because all you ever did was gossip about how everyone wasn't doing this or that.
meetings for field service sucked.....enough said on that.
The family study: 1. Whatever book was in vogue at the time
plus 2. WT prestudy (that was worse because I knew I had to do it again!)
So the dossier is a sham, should we be surprised? How quickly we tend to forget.
recently my brother, sister, and i talked for the first time about how we survived the meetings when we were kids.
i loved hearing their stories.. i had a whole imaginary world i went into.
once the songs were over and the talk started, i would focus on the speaker to look like i was listening and then zone out.
My parents would often ask me "where are we in the paragaraph now?" As I would not be following along the whole time, I learned to speed read at a very early age. A very useful skill for the rest of my life. Probably the best thing I learned at the meetings.
one quick look at the trouble we face with north korea actually strengthens the case for military action in iraq.
here are the problems with face with n. korea.
they are even more notorious than iraq about breaking deals.
What had happened to the 'quaity of life' ie the social and economic infrastructure that made it so easy for the north to take over (with the aid of the south)?
