Posts by VM44

11

When Prophecy Fails

by refiners fire in

the scenario.

leon festinger, a young psychiatrist, and a group of his henchmen (students) joined a flying saucer cult that predicted a catastrophe.

they joined as observers and recorders to see whether its predictive pattern and method of dealing with post expectation disappointment fit the pattern for the cognitive dissonance theory festinger was researching.

VM44

RF,

This was the flying saucer cult I was thinking of, and mentioned in another post.

Thanks for posting this. Great Job!

--VM44

16

New home for Watchtower Bookshelf collection 1940-1950's books

by Jourles in

jw
friends

i have put up the recent watchtower books on dirtclod.com for everyone's general use.

instead of putting up the entire collection in one large file, i simply broke down the books individually so you can browse them more easily.

have fun!.

VM44

Hi Jourles,

Thank you very much!

It is indeed a great service of yours in placing those books up for downloading.

Are you planing to put 1960s books up as well? In particular, "Babylon the Great Has Fallen" would be useful, with all the posts here about 607BCE, Gentile Times, etc.

What is the CD that is being talked about here? Is there a place to order it?

--VM44

50

No Food Coolers at Assemblies!

by VM44 in

jw
friends

you can't bring a food cooler to the assemblies!.

wasn't there a post quite awhile ago where someone brought this up?

i recall that someone said that for lunch they had to go out to the local mini-mart and grab a hot dog that was simmering all day on the grill!

VM44

You can't bring a food cooler to the assemblies!

Wasn't there a post quite awhile ago where someone brought this up?

I recall that someone said that for lunch they had to go out to the local Mini-Mart and grab a hot dog that was simmering all day on the grill! (Great Cuisine there!)

Hmmm,,,where was that post? I need more advanced search capabilities here (Hint, Hint, Simon)

Anyway, No food served at assemblies, can't bring a food cooler with you, can't leave the assembly to go get food....what do they expect people, especially families, to do?

They are placing unreasonable burdens on everyone.

I wonder, where do the convention speakers eat at the assemblies?

--VM44

8

Telltale Symptoms of Fanatics--Sound Familiar?

by Trotafox in

i read an interesting article today in the friday sun sentinel newspaper.

the subject matter to which they were speaking shall remain anonoymous lest this thread go in another direction then the one intended.

it simply brought to mind a very strong similarity to an organization with which we are all familiar.

VM44

Here is the article I was thinking of at Randy's site,

"Eight Marks of a Mind-Control Cult"

http://www.freeminds.org/psych/lifton.htm

--VM44

8

Telltale Symptoms of Fanatics--Sound Familiar?

by Trotafox in

i read an interesting article today in the friday sun sentinel newspaper.

the subject matter to which they were speaking shall remain anonoymous lest this thread go in another direction then the one intended.

it simply brought to mind a very strong similarity to an organization with which we are all familiar.

VM44

Hi Trotafox,

Glad you posted those excerpts.

Yes, the points mentioned in the article describe quite well the psychology of those in the B(rooklyn) Org(anization).

Randy has at his site, www.freeminds.org, an article on "The Psychology of Totalism" that goes into this in more detail.

He has other articles as well on the psychology of cult mind control.

The same psychology mentioned in the excerpts was displayed, literally as a textbook case, in the behavior of a 1950's Chicago area "Flying Saucer" cult. The story of which must be on the web someplace!

--VM44

82

For those interested...

by Valis in

.

a mouse whispered in my ear today that the may km was around... sincerely,.

district overbeer of the "faithless and indiscrete slave" class

VM44

Hi,

Is it too late to get a copy?

--VM44

P.S. Wasn't someone putting the KMs up on a webpage?

15

Watchtower lunacy, circa 1950's

by logansrun in

jw
friends

in the long and unusual history of the watchtower society there are many doctrines and rules that would make one wonder if the originator of them was high on crack or just escaped from the loony bin.

why, just by using the "search" feature on your watchtower cd-rom and typing in the most innocuous of words will many times lead to the most outlandish article that your imagination could ever conjure up.

i just typed in the word "hats" and see what i found...

VM44

This ranting about men tipping their hats towards women is insane! Saying that it one more thing in "this lustful world of Satan" is going way overboard!

Of course, this was written by men who also said playing chess is teaching oneself warlike skills, and that learning to speak Star Trek's Klingon language is an unscriptural waste of time!

These writer are really too much!

--VM44

1

Help - Problem saving web pages here!

by VM44 in

jw
friends

has anyone else been experiencing this problem?.

when trying to save pages here at the forum, instead of saving to disk what is displayed online, .

i get a saved page in a different format, no images of the posters, some formatting gone.. the saved pages do not look as well as when they are viewed online.. i noticed that this problem started a few months ago.. i am using ie explorere 6.0 and windows 98.. does anyone know how to solve this problem?.

VM44

Has anyone else been experiencing this problem?

When trying to save pages here at the forum, instead of saving to disk what is displayed online,

I get a saved page in a different format, no images of the posters, some formatting gone.

The saved pages do not look as well as when they are viewed online.

I noticed that this problem started a few months ago.

I am using IE explorere 6.0 and windows 98.

Does anyone know how to solve this problem?

--VM44

8

Interesting quote in the July 8th Awake

by ignored_one in

this was taken from the main article "why so many violent crimes now?".

hate groups and cults.

evidence suggests that some hate groups or cults have been a strong influence in the commission of certain crimes.

VM44

Long ago, this man was the charismatic leader of the JWs!

Doesn't he just inspire awe?

--VM44

14

Prophecy understood when fullfilled

by refiners fire in

pondering upon an old dub publication from the year 1942 i am caused to speculate upon the powerless nature of the watchtower god.

perhaps their god is in the privvy or is occupied with greater concerns than the fact that his channel of communication(the fds) makes a laughing stock of his name in the eyes of anyone who eyes eyes to read and brain cells to think with.

consider this from the 1942 book the new world chapter heading final end at hand it talks about the kings of the north/ south:

VM44

Some comments about the Watchtower quotation.

W 8/15/25 p. 246
"It has been suggested by some that the article on the twelfth chapter of Revelation in March first Watch Tower is of private interpretation. But it is not of private interpretation;

WRONG! It is indeed of private interpretation!

"...it is merely applying to the Scriptures long ago written in prophetic phrase the facts as we know them now to exist."

Ok...who is doing this Applying? Who is interpreting the "prophetic phrase" and who is interpreting the meaning of the "facts as we know them now to exist"? There might not be a common understanding of what these "facts" mean.

There are at least two interpretations, of the meaning of the "prophetic phrase", and of what the "facts as we know them"...and even a third interpretation...the relating of the two to each other! This seems like a lot of interpretation going on, and since there obviously was not common agreement by all as to it, it must be considered a private interpretation by some.

"The time has come for this scripture to be understood
;"

Why? Who says so?

" and the Lord promised his people, the church, to convey an understanding of it, and those who appreciate it rejoice."

And because you have come up with this wonderful interpretation, you attribute to the Lord that it is time for an understanding? Do you consider yourself having a special standing to provide this "understanding" to others? And we are all suppose to appreciate it?

"There are some who have no understanding, as the Psalmist shows, and these the Lord must treat like the horse or the mule. They must be guided by the bridle or held by the bit, since they do not recognize that the Lord is instructing his people and guiding them with his wisdom
."

This is just being presumptuous on your part! You have not proved that your "interpretation" is indeed from the Lord. You really must stop speaking for the Lord and equating your "private interpretations" with the wisdom from the Lord.

"Not being anxious to walk with the company of the Lord’s little ones, such accept what doctrines they may choose to accept and walk according to their own individual wisdom…[Psalm 32:9, 10]

So, everyone that accepts your "private interpretation" is walking in the company of the Lord's little ones? And why should we accept and walk according to a doctrine that YOUR "individual wisdom" came up with? Is your wisdom better, more refined, than ours?

"…This seems to apply to those who have held high places amongst the brethren, who have been privileged to have the truth, but have misused it."

Or, those who require truth to be more than whatever you decide it to be!

Who is (or was) the idiot that wrote this article?

--VM44