hksb

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Posts by hksb

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  141

  JW Kids Leave the Organization: Facts

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the october 1 watchtower 2001 features articles on training children "properly" and dealing with a "prodigal child.

  the latest inside u.s. figures reveal that 86% of jw children leave the fold, with some 29% who eventually come back for reasons of family ties, most never "reaching out.

  " that means over half leave permanently.

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  hksb

  But in a sense, they still win. Many religions, JWs included, take their profit from channelling people's sexual frustration and guilt generally into work for the organization. Sexual suppression has been an immensely successfull way to control people. People will always have sex, and sexual thoughts, and such religions thrive like parasites on the guilt people generate.

  In a sense, they are like snakeoil salesmen. First, convince people they are really sick ("you are a sinner"). Then, claim to sell the medicine. Of course, the believers need more and more of this medicine. If they are really guilty, they may one day end up on the GB, and actively propagate the same propaganda of guilt to a new generation of sad suckers.

  Top post JanH (as always).

  Is it just me or am I the only one to have the experience that some in the congregation tried to 'help' the young ones (eg organizing roller skating nights, football after/before the meeting, etc). They only did this as a bribe to stop us leaving but anyway that is just like other religions.

  I'm a bit perplexed that some people on here are suggesting the WTS should be doing MORE for young ones. Quite the opposite, I am glad they are doing so little. Hopefully that will induce more teenagers to leave.

  The Witnesses may be a more extreme and obnoxious religion than other religions but basically they run on the same principles. Guilt + rules + service/money = membership. It's such a scam. I really wish governments would tax religions out of existence.
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  193

  Stupidest thing a JW ever told you

  by Nosferatu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what is the stupidest thing a jw ever told you?

  we all know that they say a lot of stupid things, but what really topped the cake?.

  for me, it was an elder telling me i was progressing really well when my meeting attendance was down and my field service hours were slipping.

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  hksb

  Many of these comments were from my JW dad:

  1. We went to a book study where we were warned about demonized jewellery (eg lucky bracelets). My dad went home and smashed up my mum's heirloom necklace, which he blamed for my mum having doubts!

  2. It is not worth sending me to a good school because the new system will be here soon (1980).

  3. It's not worth me going to University because the new system will be here soon (1987).

  4. Masturbation can make you sexually selfish and/or gay.

  5. The dinosaurs were destroyed in the flood.

  6. The heart is the physical source of human feelings and emotion.

  7. Some obscure scripture in the old testament about 'spilling one's seed' means men should not masturbate. This also applies to the sisters (do they have seeds?). However, the use of condoms in marriage is OK because otherwise we would have too many children!

  8. Yoga and meditation lets the demons invade your brain.

  9. People who have blood transfusions have a change in personality.

  10. At my last circuit assembly a CO was talking about blood transfusions. He related a story about a women on the fringes of 'The Truth' who had a blood transfusion and subsequently contracted AIDS. He claimed that this was a result of not following God's laws! This comment was one of the things that persuaded me to leave 'The Truth'.

  11. The Creation book proves that scientific evidence about evolution is wrong (duh!!). When the book came out at an assembly, the speaker ranted that the Creation book 'nails the lid on the coffin of evolution'.

  12. Jehovah can read your mind but Satan cannot. Apparently this is one of Satan's weak links!

  13. The new system is coming in 1975 so it doesn't matter if I use sub-standard building materials (spoken in 1974).

  14. Sisters should wear a dirty hanky on their heads when saying a prayer in front of a baptized brother.

  15. The persecution received by Witnesses during WW2 is proof that they are God's chosen people (hmm what about the Jews, gays, gypsies, conscientious objectors, communists).

  16. 'Wordly people are less happy than us because they do not enjoy our spiritual paradise'. 'Wordly people are more happy than us because narrow is the way to everlasting life, while broad is the path to destruction.' Blah blah.

  17. The UN is a wild beast. The kings of the North and South are Russia and the USA. The end of the Cold war was predicted in the scriptures (the 'cry of peace and security'), and this will usher in the new system.

  18. We have changed our understanding due to new light. (But why can't they explain WHY their old understanding was wrong?).
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  207

  Jehovah's Witnesses Are Under Mind Control

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you were to tell a witness that they were "brainwashed" or that they were "under mind control", they certainly would not rationally accept it.the reason is because witnesses cannot distinguish between mind control and "obeying the faithful and discreet slave".

  it is only after a person stops exposing himself to the subtle mind controlling tactics of the watchtower that a person can see how thoroughly duped they are in their beliefs.

  how might you be able to tell that you are no longer your own person, able to make your own decisions in your life?

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  hksb

  I also agree with GaryBuss on this one. The definition previously given for 'mind control' could apply to a multitude of different situations (i.e., changing a person's opinion without their being aware of it). For example, this is precisely what advertizing does. But I don't think anyone can seriously argue that advertizing exerts mind control.

  I think that JW teaching is equivalent to a very deceitful 'education'. Those (adults) who fall for it should take responsibility for their own actions. It is not really mind control since so many JWs leave and do not experience great obstacles to leaving (except shunning).

  Actually I think there are parallels with current political events. Al-Qaeda is a JW-type Islamic organization which has strong influence over its members, but again I don't think this is 'mind control'. Similarly most (fundamentalist) Americans still think they were justified in attacking Iraq (WMDs?) due to the propaganda coming out of the White House/CNN/Fox News. This is deceitful 'education' not mind control.
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  39

  How Much is Personal Responsibility vs WTS' Fault?

  by Prisca in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the current discussion of an ex-gb member has prompted me to ponder this question:.

  just how much of our personal circumstances can/do we take responsibility for, and how much do we blame the wts?

  you may have grown up as a jw, coerced into leaving early to pioneer, not go to university, have no kids, even stay single for the pursuit of singleness in the kingdom work to pioneer or go to bethel.

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  hksb

  I think it is the WTS' fault that kids who are brought up as JWs often have a really horrible childhood and teenage years. It's also the WTS' fault that JWs ostracize family members who leave. However, I think the parents of these kids also deserve a large portion of the blame for accepting the JW approach to raising children.

  For adults who voluntarily accept the JW way after undergoing a 'normal' upbringing I'm afraid it's a case of 'caveat emptor'. Any adult who is silly enough to be suckered into their scam has only themselves to blame (in my opinion).
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  33

  Did You Really Believe in The 1975 Rhetoric?

  by Guest 77 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  personally no, and as such i was never disappointed that the system didn't end.

  embarrassed, yes.

  the org.

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  hksb

  I was only 7 in 1975. I know my dad believed it but my mum didn't so fortunately we didn't do anything crazy like move to Scotland "where the need was greatest". However, I know a number of families who did move and they lost a lot of money as a result.

  I remember my mum was pi$$ed off that the WTS denied having led the brothers to believe in 1975. But all was well in her eyes when that apology arrived around 1980 at the district convention.

  Anyway, thank goodness the end didn't come in 1975. Otherwise we would never have heard the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Specials etc. between 1976-81.
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  38

  How did you adjust to the world after leaving JW land ? friends/lonliness ?

  by run dont walk in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how long did it take you to adjust to the real world ???

  and make real friends, who didn't care about religion.

  did you suffer from lonliness and depression after leaving ???.

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  hksb

  I left at the age of 18 and I am now 34. It still gets me down that my family remain JWs and the distance that causes. But in terms of my personal adjustments it was fairly plain sailing after the horrible years growing up in the Kingdom Hall. I got a job in a bar, shagged as many birds as I could, and got a PhD in Economics. It makes me cringe now to think of the cr@p that JWs believe and teach.