If they consider life without modern conveniences paradise, then why don't they just join forces with the Amish?
Oh...they must not own enough real estate.
-TE
well they didn't fully teach me ttatt but helped me on the way.............. first thing i do in the morning after waking up is grinding some nice coffee beans and getting the brew started while i take a hot shower.
after the shower i like to clean out all the nasty wax out of my ears with a q-tip (or cotton swab for those not familiar with that term).. while cleaning out my ears i would think about how nice it is we have things like q-tips and coffee filters that make life more enjoyable but at the same time realize that somebody somewhere is in a factory making these.. i can't imagine a child saying "when i grow up i want to work in a factory making coffee filters".
the people who end up really doing that as adults did not set that to be a life goal.
If they consider life without modern conveniences paradise, then why don't they just join forces with the Amish?
Oh...they must not own enough real estate.
-TE
is it just me or is the wts increasingly just becoming more about watchtower propaganda.
every week it seems to be about killing your children over blood transfusions or worshipping the magical men in brooklyn or the loving provision of shunning or the magical power of the elders or some brother in far off land who is in jail because he cant stop handling out magazines he doesnt understand to people who dont want them.
try and get a jw to explain the gospels or the book of the romans and what was significant about the book of acts...........................no clue.
The bible is the bait in their bait and switch...
Their app sorts search results for scriptures by frequency of use, so the inconvenient scriptures that they don't use end up all the way at the bottom. The best thing, though, is their clever use of .epub literature and pushing tablets for study. Now JWs don't bother to look up scriptures in context, they just tap the link to the scripture and it brings up the cited scripture and no more. Now that it's easier to read just the cited scriptures, JWs will be less likely to get curious and read the context. - oneeyedjoe
Strong points.
They have shortened, just this month, the only two parts left in their meeting program that featured the Bible exclusively. The No. 1 Bible Reading assignment has been shortened and the Bible Highlights part has just a 2 minute section for the brother to comment on the weekly bible reading. The brother is even instructed to only cover One point in the 2 minutes.
Just a bit controlling wouldn't you say?
What good, sound, real, "Christian" reason could there possibly be for shortening these parts? If the BIble is the "Word of God" why are they minimizing discussion of it?
I think we all know the answer...
-TE
so i was just informed by my wife that her grandmother (who's also out) has been told by a 'sister' from her old hall that during their most recent circuit visit the co said something along the lines of:.
isn't it faith strengthening that the number of anointed is falling in relation to the increase in publishers?
!.
With this growing # of partakers trend, it's no wonder that the GB suddenly got some "new light" about who is the FDS.
They were scared of the angry mob.
"There might be a coup! ....Quick!... To the New Light Revelation Chamber!"
-TE
i have have come to realize most "rank and file" jw's are mentally unstable-to-ill and here is why.... http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/mental-issues.php.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/religious_delusion.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/religion_and_schizophrenia.
The WT attracts vulnerable people including more than its fair share of mentally ill.
I would say what is inflicted by WT teachings and treatment would be better described as emotional abuse.
- TE
i have recently joined the site.
i was just appointed an elder this summer.
i started discovering the ttatt (the truth about the truth) last year after putting a few things together myself concerning the leadership and then doing some research online.. i really enjoyed jwfacts.com, jwsurvey, and others.
Faye,
I am still an elder. I am on a body that is understaffed at the moment. I am trying to back away with good timing. We will have to see how things play out going forward. I have marital, extended family, and employment concerns to weigh out. The marital factor is by far the biggest. I actually am very determined to beat the WT at its own game with her.
The wife is seeing things very slowly but there is progress. She is missing a few meetings and service here and there. I think it is getting easier to make an excuse and skip. Her zeal is down and she even has acknowledged it. She blames the lame congregation though instead of the lame religion.
I slip in little daggers from time to time but have to be careful. The cult personality can kick in like the freakin exorcist. Seriously her eyes change. She looks at me like I am a demon if I step past that imaginary line.
It's really sick the hold the WT has on people. What a diabolical raping of human lives. They should be locked up - and don't let them back out this time!
Anyway I am playing it slow, patient, and determined. It gets old as hell sometimes though, I have to say. FS is the worst. I'm thankful for breaks and "windshield time".
Welcome to the forum.
-TE
the other day i had a couple of drinks and went off on the gb (again), about how they are just posturing and have no clue.
i said if they knew what they were talking about we would already be in the new world, but we're not ..so they dont...the end.. well i got some push back as would be expected, but what surprised me was what she said a little later.
firstly she didn't pay attention to the public talk this past sunday and instead read an article in a watchtower on stress.
Faye - The mosquito thing is a good one. I'm going to use that.
i have recently joined the site.
i was just appointed an elder this summer.
i started discovering the ttatt (the truth about the truth) last year after putting a few things together myself concerning the leadership and then doing some research online.. i really enjoyed jwfacts.com, jwsurvey, and others.
Thanks cappytan...
Hope you get your wish with your Dad. You never know what people are thinking in this org. You are only allowed to say positive things. It honestly gets increasingly absurd as time passes and things sink in more and more for me. The knee jerk indoctrination "comebacks" aren't even popping up in my head much anymore. When I wrote that intro post it was still like I had two personalities battling each other. The awake one was winning but the indoctrination was still holding some ground. What a process.
-TE
imagine a company sells you a product... you like the product and begin to do more business with them.. then one day this company demands that you never visit any of their competitors for the rest of your life.
they also add that you are never allowed to read a negative customer review about their company or products for the rest of your life.. actually this company threatens you with a humiliating future death if you engage in either of these activities..... how does that sound to you?
sound reasonable?
Thanks for the comments everybody...
Well hey if a car dealer knew about one of their sales people saying discrediting things about the cars they were selling, you might expect that this person would taken to a back room and asked what the they were up to and probably asked if they were truly devoted to the car company and its products. - Fink
Interesting point. I assume the car dealer is paying the car salesperson to represent them? When you are the employer you have certain rights as far as what you can expect from your employee. They literally buy those rights by handing the salesperson a paycheck. Those rights are not the same for the relationship between the car dealer and the car-buying customer.
I would argue that the typical JW is more of a customer than an employee. I've never received a paycheck from Brooklyn. Most people I know haven't. :) Interesting point still though.
-TE
imagine a company sells you a product... you like the product and begin to do more business with them.. then one day this company demands that you never visit any of their competitors for the rest of your life.
they also add that you are never allowed to read a negative customer review about their company or products for the rest of your life.. actually this company threatens you with a humiliating future death if you engage in either of these activities..... how does that sound to you?
sound reasonable?
Imagine a company sells you a product... You like the product and begin to do more business with them.
Then one day this company demands that you never visit any of their competitors for the rest of your life. They also add that you are never allowed to read a negative customer review about their company or products for the rest of your life.
Actually this company threatens you with a humiliating future death if you engage in either of these activities....
How does that sound to you? Sound reasonable? ...................Of course not!!!
You would assume you stumbled into some mafia business or drug cartel and would run for the hills!!!
You may even feel compelled (and rightly so) to warn others about this company and its tactics.
_______________________________
Well.....I just described the "Customer Retention Plan" of the Watchtower and its governing body:
Competitors = Babylon the Great
Negative Customer Reviews = Apostate Material
Humiliating Future Death = Armageddon
Warn Others = You Are Now an Apostate
_______________________________
If you are reading this and you are a current Jehovah's Witness, ask yourself this:
Something worth thinking about.....
-TE
out of the blue my wife started to ask me about my feeling about the borg.
i told her i didn't want to talk about it...she persisted.
she already knows how i feel, i told her that my biggest beef is that they use mind control, and yep she went in to how i was an apostate and how she doesn't want to be married to an apostate.
Hang in there. It's diabolical what these self-serving GB assholes let happen on their watch in the name of God. Seriously it's psychotic. How could they let people ruin their lives and their family's lives to worship them. They will even let you die for them. And they judge "worldly" people? What a joke.
Probably better not to allow yourself to be provoked by the cult personality in your wife. I know it's easier said than done. I'm in the same boat. It's such a long ass chess game.
Make occasional digs when the cult persona isn't full blown. Tonight my wife said she didn't want to watch this particular nature program on TV because it showed violent animal attacks in the wild. She said that is not how they were created and so she doesn't want to see it. At that moment the screen had an alligator with all his teeth showing. I said "those teeth aren't for eating grass". Silence...............
little bit at a time.
Hang in there.....
-TE