Posts by Oubliette

posted

50
The NEW "Bible Teach" book
by Oubliette in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the new "bible teach" book is out!

thetruthbr has posted links for this and several other of the new publications.

as an educator, i am very interested in where the society is heading with their alleged "bible education" program.
Oubliette

Barrold: So it's really not surprising at all that the book is aimed at a low reading level.
True, but the old Bible Teach book was not significantly higher. When I ran the opening paragraphs from it through the same reading level analysis software it only scored one grade level higher.
This organization has absolutely NO materials designed to challenge an individuals thinking ability or satisfy a desire for deeper meaning and understanding. They used to have publications that at least appeared to do this, but those days are long gone. (For example, Crazy Freddie Franz' ideas were whacky and wrong, but at least they were interesting and as intellectually stimulating as a piece of good fiction).
Please also see my comments in the post immediately ^^^^^ above.
50
The NEW "Bible Teach" book
by Oubliette in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the new "bible teach" book is out!

thetruthbr has posted links for this and several other of the new publications.

as an educator, i am very interested in where the society is heading with their alleged "bible education" program.
Oubliette

Pete: Either the individuals writing this material have diminished reading and comprehensive abilities or they are trying to make sure that the message is simple enough for anyone to read and understand.
It's actually not that easy to write clearly and consistently at a specific level of reading ability. This suggests the your second hypothesis. Although I disagree with the "for anyone" piece. This writing suggests a deliberate targeting of people with limited reading ability and/or limited intelligence.
They are clearly NOT interested in appealing to anyone of above average intellect or academic ability. I believe that this is because they are very much aware that anyone in either of those groups just will not be interested in the religion, their belief or false promises.
Those that are stuck in the cult but that are reasonably intelligent are almost always held captive by the thread of being shunned by their entire family and alleged friends.
Let's review: It's a cult!
106
2015. Annual meeting
by obarac in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
any news?
Oubliette
rege brazzy, why don't you:
1. Read the entire thread, and
2. STOP POSTING IN ALL CAPS!
106
2015. Annual meeting
by obarac in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
any news?
Oubliette

Bohm: is this really what a book for adults is supposed to read?
Clearly not.
For those interested in a calculated grade level analysis of the NEW "Bible Teach" book, see this thread:
The NEW "Bible Teach" book
50
The NEW "Bible Teach" book
by Oubliette in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the new "bible teach" book is out!

thetruthbr has posted links for this and several other of the new publications.

as an educator, i am very interested in where the society is heading with their alleged "bible education" program.
Oubliette

Bohm: readability indexing calculator
You only need to use a random sample of 100 words of text, using complete sentences of course.
50
The NEW "Bible Teach" book
by Oubliette in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the new "bible teach" book is out!

thetruthbr has posted links for this and several other of the new publications.

as an educator, i am very interested in where the society is heading with their alleged "bible education" program.
Oubliette

The NEW "Bible Teach" book is out!
TheTruthBR has posted links for this and several other of the new publications.
As an educator, I am very interested in where the society is heading with their alleged "Bible education" program.
So for fun I ran the first three paragraphs of chapter one through a readability indexing calculator.
The results were unsurprising. These opening paragraphs had an average score of 5th grade level (based on US standards, which are not exactly the highest on the planet).
What this clearly means is not a RAISING of the standards for academic rigor in JW-land, but a LOWERING of the bar. This is indicative of a deliberate dumbing down of the religion. The WT's target reading ability is a full three grade levels below the average reading ability of the general public. They're deliberately aiming at 11 year old children!
Really shameful!
Note the description of the scoring results below:
Grade Levels

A grade level (based on the USA education system) is equivalent to the number of years of education a person has had. A score of around 10-12 is roughly the reading level on completion of high school. Text to be read by the general public should aim for a grade level of around 8.
Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 4
Gunning-Fog Score 6
Coleman-Liau Index 8.5
SMOG Index 4.1
Automated Readability Index 3.8
Average Grade Level 5.3
106
2015. Annual meeting
by obarac in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
any news?
Oubliette

I was blown away by the fact that at the "sample meeting" everyone was using an iPad or similar tablet device!
Watch from about 2:00" - 2:30"
106
2015. Annual meeting
by obarac in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
any news?
Oubliette

That whole Our Christian Life and Ministry Sample Meeting video is full on 700 Club stuff!
106
2015. Annual meeting
by obarac in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
any news?
Oubliette

607 B.C.E. is also mentioned in the new OD book on page 108:
David’s son Solomon built a house, or temple, for God’s glory. (1 Ki. 9:3) After that temple was destroyed in 607 B.C.E., the Jews arranged to meet in buildings called synagogues to worship God.
106
2015. Annual meeting
by obarac in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
any news?
Oubliette

Gotta love the sample meeting video. The leaders of this cult really don't think much of their followers, do they?
That they made a video that is 1 hour, 11 minutes and 39 seconds in length just to show how such a meeting should be conducted is evidence that they think the average JW is not too bright and can't follow simple directions.
Seriously, let's review: It's a cult!

Oubliette

Posts by Oubliette

Grade Levels