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undercover
JoinedPosts by undercover
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34
Did You Ever Aspire To Be Anything Special In The Organization?
by minimus ini never wanted to go to bethel but when i was a teenager, i wondered what i would need to do to become a circuit overseer.
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31
Do You Think Disfellowshipping Is Unscriptural?
by minimus inand for those that believe disfellowshipping is unacceptable, would you want to have known child molesters as members of a congregation that you were in?
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undercover
Now I want scriptural rebuttal, please.
LOL I don't use scriptures anymore. I use common sense and logical reasoning. Those don't always agree with scriptural "interpretation".
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Do You Think Disfellowshipping Is Unscriptural?
by minimus inand for those that believe disfellowshipping is unacceptable, would you want to have known child molesters as members of a congregation that you were in?
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undercover
Disfellowshipping and forced shunning are two different issues. Disfellowshipping someone for unrepentant sins/wrongdoing is acceptable. All organizations have some way of ridding itself of people who don't meet their standards.
If someone refuses to play by the rules set out by the WTS(whether Bible based or not) then they can be removed from that organization. There can be sanctions against them(i.e. no talks, can't go out in service, no "privledges"). Since all meetings at KH are open to the public, then unless they are creating a nuisance, you can't ask them to leave though. Now, when regular organizations remove a member because of some wrongdoing, the other members may still have contact with said removed member. Some may choose not to associate with him/her due to their troubles, others may not care. It's a personal decision based on the knowledge and experiences people have had with that person. The WTS on the other hand coerces its members to shun all removed members.
To me, that's where the problem arises. Somebody is telling me that I can't talk to, or even greet someone because they are no longer a member of the "organization". It's the same if somebody you worked with got fired for innapporpriate conduct at work. You don't know what it is they did. You can't work with the person anymore, but can the company tell you that you can't eat lunch with that person or go to a movie with that person? If you knew them well enough to know that they are dishonest or violent, you might limit your conduct with them on your own. Out of respect for the company you might not invite them to visit you at work, but you would not go so far as to completely ignore them in the supermarket checkout when you see them, would you?
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Bill Bowen and Silentlambs
by Trauma_Hound ini did bill a favor the other day, by converting a flyer, from doc to pdf format, which is more universal, and can't get virus attachments like docs.
i get an e-mail back from him thanking me for it.
then stating, that he is not mad at me, that if i wanted to work with silentlambs again, that i need to basically shutup, and not make any negative comments about them, and to stop posting private e-mails.
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undercover
Does his style and procedures hurt or help the cause for those who have suffered abuse?
While his methods may get him media exposure, it seems to me that it makes it a little easier for WTS lawyers to discredit him.
I applaud the fact that someone has taken a stand on the issue, but at the same time he has come across as being on some kind of power trip. Maybe I'm reading into his methods wrong but that's how it comes across to me. And this supposed power trip could actually hurt the cause in the long run. If the WTS lawyers can discredit him and make him look bad, then anytime anyone else steps up to take up the fight, the media will pay less attention.
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Does anyone remember the WT or Awake which condemned the movie ET?
by berylblue ini distinctly remember a paragraph stating that persons needed to turn to christ, not et, or something like that.
it was hilarious.
i thought at the time, "this is pathetic, acting as though a fictional character poses a threat to jesus".
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undercover
I've never seen a photo of Lennon reading a WT or Awake but I do remember a Bethelite telling me that the doorman at the Dakota always took them because "Mr. Lennon liked to read them". Probably another urban legand.
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undercover
I find it interesting that they mention that Jesus and the apostles kept a fund for the poor. Out of all the money that the WTS has, how much is kept in a fund for the poor? It did mention that the WTS set up a relief fund during a disaster. But how much of the WTS money went into it compared to what the fellow witnesses that lived locally put into it?
I do agree that you have to be careful what charities you give to. Many charity drive organizations do keep 50% or more for "administrative" purposes. A little investigation will show what charities are on the up and up. I have learned to give directly to the actual need than give to the collector who calls on the phone. But this article put such a negative spin on it that it discourages the reader from giving anything to anyone outside of fellow believers.
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Does anyone remember the WT or Awake which condemned the movie ET?
by berylblue ini distinctly remember a paragraph stating that persons needed to turn to christ, not et, or something like that.
it was hilarious.
i thought at the time, "this is pathetic, acting as though a fictional character poses a threat to jesus".
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undercover
Notice that they they you can make your 'own decision'. But in reality, the article's message is to not see the movie. Couple that with jws who then take this stuff and run with it, and you have a rule that has been made.
It is an inferred rule. Each must make his decision. But notice how the guilt is layed out for anyone who thinks they can see this and not be affected. If one chooses to see this, others ridicule their stand as being ungrateful to what the "slave" has provided. So to remain in good standing one has no choice but to follow the guideline. So in effect, you are not allowed to decide for yourself without some kind of censure.
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Do You Feel That You Were Brainwashed Into Becoming A JW?
by minimus inmany comments are made that jw's are actually brainwashed.
do you think this is true?
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I was raised in the truth. No different than a Catholic being raised a Catholic and having parents making them toe the line in that religion. Catholics have their own share of guilt for not being good Catholics. Personnally I think I was fooled into thinking they were the right religion, but not brainwashed. I managed to think for myself and realize the problems with this organization. If you're totally brainwashed, I wouldn't think you could do that.
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Does anyone remember the WT or Awake which condemned the movie ET?
by berylblue ini distinctly remember a paragraph stating that persons needed to turn to christ, not et, or something like that.
it was hilarious.
i thought at the time, "this is pathetic, acting as though a fictional character poses a threat to jesus".
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undercover
They're a bunch of penis-breaths
About the John Lennon-Jesus Christ question:
I was too young to remember if the WT had anything to say about the Lennon-Christ furor. But I do remember Bethelites visiting our congregation in the 70s and commenting on the Beatles being satanic and we should not listen to them. I caught some flack because of my owning all their albums and listening to them. Whenever talks were given from the hall about satantic music the Beatles and the Stones were always mentioned. The Stones were easy picking because of the album, "Her Satanic Majestys Request". The Beatles were satanic because of their obvious drug use, Indian religion influence, etc. What I found interesting was a few years later, the WT actually qouted John Lennon in a one page article about smoking. They qouted a song from the "White" album where John sings, "I think I'll have another cigarette; curse Sir Walter Raleigh...." but they left off the rest of the line, "....he was such a stupid git". So after being told how satanic the Beatle are the WT then qoutes one of them in one of their articles to support their stand on anti-smoking. Go figure.
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the B part
by ChrisVance inlooking back it seems hysterical that during the watchtower and bookstudy one had to be careful not to answer the b part until after the conductor asked the question.
just another example of how structured everything is in that cult.
"let everything take place by arrangement" to the nth degree.
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undercover
Yeah indeed! But what annoyed me the most were persons that grabbed the mike. I adjust the distance between the mike and the person for soundquality and spitprotection, when someone grabs it you lose control resulting in the mentioned whistling and spitvolleys.
LOL. That reminded me of when I ran the mikes. Yea, checking out the young hotties was a definate perk to the job but I remember this older sister that used to always grab the mike when you put it in front of her(despite the instructions to not touch the mikes. Yes, we had a part on the meeting one time in proper mike usage ). Anyhoo, when ever she grabbed it she liked to put it up against her mouth to talk into it. Whenever I had to give her the mike I would actually fight her over how far she could hold it. One time I just didn't give a s*** and went to hand it to her and she knew that I would fight her over it so she grabbed it and pulled it hard to her mouth. I let her have complete control over it. BAM! Right in the choppers. All this amplified for everyone to hear. And then the squeel of feedback. It was great.