Oubliette

Joined

• started 96 topics
• posted 7,450 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Oubliette

• 
  32

  Finally heard a Dub defend overlapping generations

  by Socrateswannabe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  since the overlapping generations doctrine was introduced, i have found the jws i know to be uncharacteristically silent on the subject.

  i can't remember hearing a single dub try to defend this idiocy.

  but that all ended recently.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  If it makes "perfect sense" to anyone they are an idiot!
• 
  16

  Born to Be Conned - The New York Times

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  born to be conned - new york times.

  when people want to believe what they want to believe, david sullivan, a professional cult infiltrator, told the commonwealth club of california, a public affairs forum, in july 2010, they are very hard to dissuade.

  and the reason it happens (and often happens to the most intelligent people) is that human nature is wired toward creating meaning out of meaninglessness..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  Very interesting article. The implications are profound for us in relation to once accepting the JW narrative.
  

  Thanks for sharing it!
  
• 
  55

  "High" education

  by Esmeralda001 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  did any of you guys disregard the wt recommendations and pursue a career.

  if you answer "yes": was your journey easy?

  are you happy with the end result?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  Yes. No. Yes. Absolutely. Not in the least; I should have done this earlier! Never. A lot!

  Details to follow ...
• 
  23

  New Article on Reveal by Trey Bundy: JW's shield child sex abusers from police, report says

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  https://www.revealnews.org/blog/jehovahs-witnesses-shield-child-sexual-abusers-from-police-report-says/jehovahs witnesses shield child sex abusers from police, report says.

  by trey bundy / december 7, 2015 .

  jehovahs witnesses policies allow child sexual abusers to operate within their congregations without fear that they will be reported to police, according to a new report published by the australian government.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  Great article. I really like the way Trey Bundy writes on this and related subjects.

  Thanks for posting!
  
• 
  155

  Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi people,.

  i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).

  1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  incognito2014: I am really surprised that no one picked up on my earlier comments.

  I saw your comment on page 11 if that's the one you meant. You're not the only one that has made similar comments. See pages 9 - 11.
• 
  16

  It's OK to be an Apostate ... but only if you're on the Governing Body

  by Simon in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  look at the governing body.

  none of them believe now what the wts believed back when they were born and later baptized.. so why aren't they disfellowshipped for apostasy?.

  simple - because the true beliefs are always taken to mean whatever they currently consider them to be.. think about it - they can never be apostates because whatever they decide to believe becomes "the truth" and anyone not believing it is then guilty of apostasy, even if they believe things the wts has taught them all their lives.. if you do believe in the bible and jesus story, do you think this is what he intended?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  Every leader of this religion has apostatized from the previous version since Rutherford.

  Let's review: It's a cult!
• 
  16

  More than half of UK population is non-religious

  by bemused in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the british humanist association web-site has reported on the results of the british social attitudes survey, which is a major annual survey, the latest report covering the year 2013:.

  https://humanism.org.uk/campaigns/religion-and-belief-some-surveys-and-statistics/the-british-social-attitudes-survey/.

  for the first time, those people saying they are not members of any religious group are in the majority in the uk, up by three percentage points from 47.7% to 50.6% in just one year.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  sbf: Imagine a world where no one was religious. Would we really want that?

  I would, absolutely yes.
  
• 
  55

  SHUNNING - Unchristian Psychological Torture

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some time ago, i wrote an extensive article on shunning and published it on my website.

  since that website had views on doctrinal matters that no longer reflect my current stand, i took the website down.

  however, my views on this matter are still current, and for the benefit of everyone here, i'm going to post the article here.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  Eden, I love the parts you've added. The whole section about the 1947 Awake! and the background history of the WTBTS/JWs change on this practice is very important for people to know.

  Great work!
• 
  2

  Judge for 4 days Rutherford

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  .

  1. 
  2. 
• 

  Oubliette

  Good to know.

  Note the use of the legal terms "Circuit" and "District" which are ubiquitous in JW-speak.

  Coincidence? No.

  This is when, where and how the legalistic approach to "worship" began in the religion which came to be known as Jehovah's Witnesses.

  The Pharisees would be so proud of little Joey.
  
• 
  155

  Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi people,.

  i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).

  1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Oubliette

  ILoveTTATT2: I am interested in doing this as best as possible.

  If you're really serious, then you need to reconsider your approach and your starting assumptions.
  

  Here's what's getting you off:
  

  ILoveTTATT2: I think this would be an interesting stat that has never been done before. I am certain that the results will be that the internet significantly reduces time in for everyone. A graph of "time in" vs year would be very insightful. I am sure that there will be more "lifers" in previous generations, and much less now.

  Instead of starting with a question (hypothesis), you began with an assumption stated in terms that show you've already reached your conclusion before you even began your research. As a result, you are only finding results that confirm what you already believe.

  This is not how science works.

  • "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard P. Feynman
    

  -

  Try framing your hypothesis as a question. Maybe something like this:

  1. Does increased access to the internet significantly reduce the length of time it takes for a baptized JW to leave the religion?
  2. What kind of data would I need to collect to support this hypothesis or disprove it? (Note: In science, we can never prove anything with absolute certainty.)
  3. Where and how can I collect this? What amount will be sufficient?
     

  -
  

  As SailAway astutely observed: "Your survey doesn't question whether the Internet was a key factor in leaving the organization earlier or if it was a factor at all." If you really want to know if the internet was a factor, you should have asked that in your survey. But you'd also have to realize that the answers to this question would inherently be skewed because everyone answering it is on the internet responding to your survey!
  

  Ponder these questions and concerns and see if they help clarify and focus your research.

  Also, you should really wade through that old thread on this topic by Cedars which I referenced previously (see page 9 of this thread). You'll learn a lot by reading the back and forth between him, slimboyfat, Sir82 and 00DAD.

  Don't forget to read Paul Grundy's research also.
  

  Oubliette