Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  11

  Nature of the Word "Spiritual" Amongst Witnesses

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  even as an atheist i consider myself spiritual, always have, metaphysics and spiritual discussions about enlightenment and so on i find interesting, even if belief in a yhwh is not in me.

  i want to propose this simple definition of the word "spiritual" among jehovah's witnesses.. spiritual = indoctrination or indoctrinated.

  i have been told how i'm "just not a spiritual man".

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  Island Man

  For JWs, "spirituality" = "how much do other people observe you performing certain acts approved of and/or required by the Watchtower Society".

  Amen! Amen! And Amen!!
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  43

  Jesus Saves From What? March 2015 Watchtower Article

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i just skimmed the titled article on jw.org and once again the watchtower is misdirecting:.

  http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/wp20150301/jesus-death-and-resurrection/ .

  they try and make the old case that jesus saves us from being destroyed at armageddon.

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  Island Man

  Jesus saves from the wrath of his father . . . who sent Jesus to die so that he would not have to kill those who believe in Jesus . . . because his father is a compulsive annihilator like that, who must annihilate unless he can sacrifice his son to himself to give himself a reason not to annihilate.
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  47

  If someone asked you, 'Are you a righteous person'? What would be your answer?

  by Esse quam videri in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what would be your answer?

  are you are a righteous person?

  on a scale of 1-10, how righteous do you feel you are?.

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  Island Man

  I would first ask them to define righteous. There are a lot of downright immoral and bigoted practices being labeled as "righteous" by religious people.
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  21

  Today's groundless speculation thread - so why would a German copilot deliberately fly an airplane into a mountain?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just can't wrap my head around this.

  the guy (a) evidently did all of this on purpose, and (b) evidently had no reason at all to do so.. there is a huge chunk of the puzzle missing from this one (so far)..

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  Island Man

  Maybe he was an undercover ISIS recruit.
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  22

  Utah to bring back firing squads

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. current

  are parts of the usa in a different century from europe?.

  why don't they just stone them to death?.

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  Island Man

  Actually, I think the firing squad - if it's done right - is probably more humane than the electric chair. The guillotine is probably the most humane method of execution, as gruesome as it seems. I think the most humane method of execution would be to suddenly and completely crush the victims entire head flat as a pancake in one sudden impact - at explosive speed - by a large, heavy metal cylinder. The victim will lose consciousness instantly without feeling a thing.
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  19

  Stone Demon in Watchtower Mag (SUBLIMINAL IMAGE)

  by artcritic in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  have a look at this new subliminal image from the mag of .

  spam link removed.

  .

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  Island Man

  It's OPs like this that will cause JWs to have cause to say that "apostates" are "mentally diseased".
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  48

  How is Joe Publisher reacting to all the TV coverage on the abuse cases?

  by 4thgen in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  please pardon if this a repeated topic.

  i have had virtually no contact with any witnesses beside my mother for the past few years.

  she watches tv constantly and claims she has never seen anything on the watchtower abuse cases.

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  Island Man

  I would guess that 95% of them are completely unaware.

  No way! Come on, are you kidding me? It's way more than 95%!
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  62

  So, Who Controls Your Mind Now?

  by Night Owl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well?.

  nightowl.

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  Island Man

  My brain controls my mind. In turn, my environment controls my brain. In turn, my environment is controlled, ultimately, by quantum mechanics. In turn, so far as I know, quantum mechanics just is. The quantum level contains the "pixels" of reality, the ultimate "substance" of reality itself.
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  64

  Mind control.

  by New day in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a recent thread someone mentioned that the wtbts uses mind control techniques.

  do you think this is a conscious ploy?

  if it is it would mean that the leaders of my religion (i am still an active jw) set out consciously to control people.

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  Island Man

  In a recent thread someone mentioned that the WTBTS uses mind control techniques. Do you think this is a conscious ploy?

  Yes, I think it is deliberate.

  Think of the great effort that goes into producing the graphical illustrations for the publications. Every detail in those images are carefully planned to convey the right message with exactly the right nuances to match the points made in the paragraphs. Think of the great emphasis that is placed on the message behind these graphical illustrations with paragraph questions referring to those images. The emphasis Watchtower places on emotive imagery is very reminiscent of the emphasis that communist Russia placed on propagandistic emotive political imagery. Think of the very predictable, almost formulaic writing style of Watchtower study articles - almost like they're using a writing template where the language structure remains the same with only the contents changing. Think of Watchtower's teaching method of spoon-feeding the followers one paragraph at a time, with exactly what they want them to think - even providing the very questions that they think the reader should ask along with the answers. Think of the fact that Watchtower discourages independent thinking and higher education. Think of the fact that Watchtower has published an Awake magazine on the subject of propaganda techniques, showing that they are aware of these techniques; and think of the fact that these very same techniques can be seen in Watchtower literature!

  But I also think that they rationalize their use of mind control techniques as being a positive thing rather than negative. They probably use some other euphemistic term to refer to their practices rather than "mind control". As an example of what I mean, last month (or the month before) a member of the governing body, on the monthly jw broadcast program spoke about critics' claims that JWs are brainwashed. Rather than outright deny the claim, he essentially set about playing word games by choosing more euphemistic language and by putting a positive spin on the term brainwashing saying that it means having the mind cleaned from the filth of Satan's world. He really did not deny that JWs are brainwashed, but instead he was essentially saying: 'what out critics refer to as brainwashing is what we see as having our minds cleansed from the contaminating influences of this world'.

  I think it's possible that Watchtower similarly justifies its use of mind control techniques and propaganda. In their own reasoning they're probably saying: 'what the world sees as mind control and propaganda, we see as wholesome teaching methods to guide our thinking into conformity with Jehovah's will and direction'. So I think they use those techniques deliberately but are probably deluded enough to rationalize it as a positive thing for the benefit of the brothers.
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  59

  what is the best line to say to a JW handing you an invite to the memorial

  by nonjwspouse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have some ideas, but want more to choose from..

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  Island Man

  What I find very striking about this year's invitation is its very unscriptural mode of appealing to the public. The invitation says:

  "Millions will attend. Will you?"

  This statement is an appeal to popularity. It is exploiting the "worldly" trait of "following after the crowd" to convince people to attend. By contrast, the bible shows that the scriptural means of getting people to attend is to highlight the great love Jesus showed by dying for sin:

  (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15) . . .For the love the Christ has compels us, because this is what we have judged, that one man died for all; so, then, all had died; 15 and he died for all that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised up.

  
  So given that the fallacy of appealing to popularity is a "worldly" trait often used by satan's commercial system when advertising, how could a scriptural organization which is supposed to be no part of the world be using such a shallow, fallacious, worldly tactic? It's proof positive that Watchtower is not really concerned with true spirituality. All they're concerned with is growing member$hip and they're willing to stoop to such tactics to do it.
  Have you also noticed how the memorial of Jesus' death has now become a tool for recruitment? How obscene! From the bible it is clear that the memorial is to be all about Jesus' sacrifice and what it means and should not be cheapened by obscenely using it as a recruitment tool.
  So here's how I would respond to getting the invitation:
  

  " 'Millions will attend. Will you?' Why does your invitation say that? Isn't that a fallacious appeal to popularity? Should the fact that millions attend, really influence my decision to attend? I would have to be a really shallow person to do something just to follow the crowd. So the fact that your organization printed that must mean that it is appealing to shallow people. I'm not a shallow person who follows after the crowd therefore your invitation is not for me. Furthermore, any organization professing to be christian and which would stoop to using such a tactic to attract people to the Lord's Evening Meal is definitely not the kind of organization I would want to have any dealings with."