Posts by Oubliette

37

What’s the deal with all the Smart-Educated JWs?

by John Aquila in

we talk a lot about most jws being uneducated, uninformed, and that they lack critical thinking skills, but in my area there is a lot of jws that went to the university, medical school, law school, and came back to the organization.

in my circuit, that i know of, we had two electrical engineers, one computer engineer with a ph.d. eight teachers with a bachelors degree and three of those with a masters in education.

we had two medical doctors, one was a pediatrician who closed his business about 3 years ago and went to bethel.

Oubliette

JA: It may be that most of these educated people are in the process of waking up. And as you know, the process takes time.

Agreed.

It took me about six or seven years from the time I began having serious doubts to the time I actually left the religion.

Of course, the last few years I was "in" I was just going through the motions because I didn't want to get DF'd and lose my family. Ultimately it didn't matter.

Although I am currently technically a JW in "good standing" none of my JW family and former "friends" talk to me because I don't go to their insipid little meetings.

37

What’s the deal with all the Smart-Educated JWs?

by John Aquila in

we talk a lot about most jws being uneducated, uninformed, and that they lack critical thinking skills, but in my area there is a lot of jws that went to the university, medical school, law school, and came back to the organization.

in my circuit, that i know of, we had two electrical engineers, one computer engineer with a ph.d. eight teachers with a bachelors degree and three of those with a masters in education.

we had two medical doctors, one was a pediatrician who closed his business about 3 years ago and went to bethel.

Oubliette

Well John, I can't explain it. Why would such highly educated people stay in a cult that is constantly dumbing down their educational content.

The psychology of such a thing is difficult to understand.

Mind-control and manipulation work on even highly intelligent and educated people, just not as often.

That being said, your area seems unique. I was in the cult for over 30 years in southern California, serving as an elder for about 20 years. During all that time I only met two other JWs that had a college education. One was a lawyer and the other has a PhD in psychology. Pretty much everyone looked down on the person with the PhD, making snide remarks about her ignoring the direction of the FDS.

This was while I was attending university to get my BA in Education. It was during that time that it became increasingly obvious to me that I was in a religion that lacked academic honesty and intellectual rigor. As I began investigating I started uncovering things such as the UN/NGO scandal and the pedophile problem. The house of cards started falling pretty fast after that.

So how could it be that there are so many highly educated JWs in your area? Who knows! It's an anomaly for sure.

225

Cult or Religion

by Richard C B in

what is a cult and what is a religion?

its open to debate.

who has the authority to say for certain what is a cult and what is a religion?

Oubliette

Cofty nailed it regarding the spectrum of religions/cults in the world; but if you're talking about JWs, then that's easy.

Let's review: It's a cult!

28

CO just confirmed worldwide construction halt and possible JW.ORG news of it

by LevelThePlayingField in

just had the co visit tonight.

i asked him if he had heard about the worldwide halt of construction besides warwick and to my surprise he said he heard the same thing.

then he went on and add that also some branches are closing and some bethelites going into pioneering but, "all because of the preaching work now.

Oubliette

How in the world can you hide the sun with one finger?

By closing your eyes.

36

Child Discipline, new article to address Jackson's Royal Commission testimony

by jwfacts in

i have published a new article at watchtower corporal punishment, as a response to the testimony that geoff jackson gave at the royal commission.

it includes the relevant part of the transcript, along with a string of watchtower quotes to show that what he presented was not accurate, and that watchtower translates rod as a literal implement to hit children with.

.

Oubliette

Geoff Jackson gave inaccurate, misleading testimony before a Royal Commission while under oath?

How is this possible?

20

INSTRUCTIONS FOR OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE AND MINISTRY MEETING

by pixel in

1. the life and ministry meeting will proceed as outlined in the life and ministry meeting workbookand according to the instructions that follow.. 3. treasures from gods word:.

the theme and an outline of two or three main points are provided in thelife and ministry meeting workbook.

this should be assigned to a qualified elder.. 6. concluding comments: 3 minutes or less.

Oubliette

Yawn!

26

JWs and Education

by cognac in

jw
friends

my parents were always of the belief that, "the end is right around the corner".. i was a zealous kid, with a learning disorder, so my parents never gave me a hard time or pushed me in regards to my education.. this not only hurt me, but, pissed me off insanely.

fast forward to me having my own kid.

ava is not doing well in school.

Oubliette

cognac: It breaks my heart seeing her struggle...

Don't let it. The struggle is good for her.

Nothing great was ever achieved without great effort.

26

JWs and Education

by cognac in

jw
friends

my parents were always of the belief that, "the end is right around the corner".. i was a zealous kid, with a learning disorder, so my parents never gave me a hard time or pushed me in regards to my education.. this not only hurt me, but, pissed me off insanely.

fast forward to me having my own kid.

ava is not doing well in school.

Oubliette

cognac, kids have different aptitudes and rates of learning.

Tutoring is usually a good idea if a child is not able to keep up with the school work and/or is struggling with certain concepts (assuming of course the tutor is qualified).

Schools generally will NOT recommend tutoring, even when warranted, because doing so may legally obligate them to pay for it.

In reference to your mom, we have over a century of evidence conclusively proving that "the end is NOT right around the corner."

Your mom needs a tutor, on how to think!

138

My Mother Died Two Weeks Ago

by Perry in

jw
friends

none of my jehovah's witness relatives called to tell me or my family.

just found out this morning.

Oubliette

Perry, I'm really sorry to hear this. What this religion does to families is inexcusable.

19

So changes were made, but who cares because were so deep into the end, nothing the Organization does, really matters—does it?

by John Aquila in

so i called a few jwdubs that still talk to me, not to try to convince them of anything or wake them up but to try to get a feedback on how they took the big meeting change and other announcements.

generally speaking, all the ones i talked to were not even fazed by the changes.

many of them still didnt even realize the meeting format had changed and thought the layoffs were a normal thing that happens all the time.

Oubliette

Magnum: In contrast, we have seen over 100 years of failed predictions, outlandish teachings, etc. What we have seen is sort of like Moses getting the Israelites backed up to the Red Sea, holding up his staff, and nothing happening.

Moses, "But the water is going to part soon, really soon!"