today the watch tower corp. is changing a long-standing policy in regard to donations which had been in place a long, long time.. to understand the original policies (about money) and the changed (new policy) we have to take a peek into the past.. .
i don't want to bog you down in history.
you can research on your own using google.. here are salient facts.. _________________________________________________.
Thanks Terry.
I never knew Rutherford was Russell's lawyer. I guess I missed that along the way.
This organization has been "big business" from the start.
They have done a pretty good job of not getting too flashy with it (besides Rutherford's mansion and cars), but it is always a focus. The GB like the security of sitting atop billions today, and so do all the other high ranking staffers.
-TE
the more i learn about jw's the harder it is.
to sleep at night.
the wife hit the pillow and within 5 min.. she is snoring.
Nyquil...
I usually read myself to sleep, but some nights I do the Nyquil thing. I have some sinus issues so the cold meds aren't a bad thing for me.
I know the feeling though. Take care...
-TE
i don't even know what the bloody event is called anymore.
i think it's still a district convention until it goes to two days, isn't it?
my convention program leaflet just says "convention of jehovah's witnesses", seemingly intentionally avoiding the change in wording.
Thanks Kate
i don't even know what the bloody event is called anymore.
i think it's still a district convention until it goes to two days, isn't it?
my convention program leaflet just says "convention of jehovah's witnesses", seemingly intentionally avoiding the change in wording.
Apog,
Thanks so much for the play by play! I have been waiting for a nice overall take on this convention. Very funny read as well.
.
I'm going to the convention soon. I know it is going to be a spectacle. It will be a setback I'm sure temporarily with the wifey, but I think my progress with her is farther than they can completely reverse, especially with my "balanced" take on the program that I will be sharing incrementally.
.
I get what you're saying in part 6 about Brains Not Wanted. Thinkers are a liability for them. They want 100% blind-faith'ers. They want cheerleaders. It's like in any other business. They want to attract and keep "their customer".
Their customer is the "low information voter" (political lingo) or maybe a better term would be "low information worshiper."
Their customer could also be someone who has been through something so traumatic in their life that they can't bear to face reality without the hand-holding of the JW belief system. False hope is still hope for some people. They don't want to know they're wrong even if they are.
OTOH...Thinkers are sceptical. We want proof. We want to be convinced. We want a quality explanation. We want to lose the debate in order to be sold on the new idea. These guys don't even allow a debate. Actually they punish you for having one. They just plain ole - don't want us in the audience, period. The quicker they can run us off the better.
On some level, I think it's funny that we have them scared.
-TE
in reading terrys latest post, if made me think of something that exists and many of us have experienced but i have not really put into a logical thoughts process before.
in terrys 4 facts everyone should know about jw's, the second one referrs to the walsh trial where unity is said to be more important than truth, in no uncertain terms.. this made me think about how one would bring up this fact.
my mind wandered to the beginning of my fade, when inevitably, many of us open up our mouths and say too much.
Yeah I have seen this tactic used.
Typical thought stopper.
If it came from apostates then its poison...
I have wondered recently what would happen if you replied:
"I got the information from Satan.
Jesus refuted Satan.... so.... surely you can too....right?"
What's crazy is - I really think the dubs are more scared of apostates than Satan! How nuts is that!
-TE
so the rc really sucked, but i made it through.
the propaganda was mind blowing.
i don't know if the crap will be available on the official website or not, but hopefully it gets leaked somehow.
Remind your wife that the GB lives off other people and live in a bubble.
It's easy to tell other people to "do without material things" when you aren't having to do without yourself.
I just read Animal Farm for the first time.
At one point the leader of the farm (a boar named Napoleon) said to the other animals:
"The truest Happiness lay in working hard and living frugally."
Of course he and the others at the top were "living it up" while convincing the lower class animals to live by these other principles.
Classic double standard. That's the GB. No humility. No empathy.
Keep the r&f barefoot and pregnant. That way they are easier to keep under thumb.
-TE
looks like the borg spent all it's money on hd panels, gigabit internet connections and ipads cause this is by far the lamest and most stupid drama ever in the history of the org!.
apart from the worse than porn-without-the-porn acting and dialogue, the special effects consist of square painted panels and a crappy blue screen.
also the lighting looks like it was made using flashlights.. even the die hards we're laughing at it and mentioned how silly it looked.. i envy all of those that aren't attending this "historic 100-years-since-christ's-reign" convention.. .
The drama was uber-lame. The only way it could have been worse, was if Loesch was the narrator. One more boring talk from him and I would have gladly drank Kool-aid. - DD
If I pretend to be an accountant, but can't add up, or if I pretend to be a doctor but don't know my head from my ass, then the bluff is called out! - stuckinarut2
Ahhhhhhahahahaha lolololol !!!!!! Very Funny Stuff!!
I sooooo need this convention to be lame. It will help me and hopefully the wifey to see things clearly.
If this thing is half as lame as y'all describe, they will drop numbers next year. If they can't brew up some holy magic on this anniversary year special convention yadayada, people will walk away with buyers remorse. Some people are spending thousands of dollars to participate in this stuff!!
Anyway, thanks for the laughs and the reports.
-TE
the current jehovah's witnesses official child abuse handling procedure letter to all bodies of elders (october 1, 2012) has been placed into public domain by the australian (victoria) government "inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious oganisations".. official government web site link to letter:.
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/57th/child_abuse_inquiry/submissions/steven_unthank_supp_a_appendix_1.pdf.
short link:.
What I think is so cool is that the JW's are going to be "attacked" way before their "Babylon the Great -world empire of false religion" ever gets destroyed.
Their storyline goes something like this: Governments turn on religion, wipe them out, loot them, and then when the dust settles, they notice a small group of "Jehovah's People" still trucking along despite the religous bans or whatever.
Then the governments turn on "God's People" and God considers this a poke in his eyeball. God gets pissed and Armageddon breaks out.
.
EVIDENTLY ... that's not how it's going down.
I guess new light will be coming out that "Jehovah's People" get attacked first instead of last. LOL
-TE
the unknown writer of the gospel of john put the following words in jesus' mouth, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.".
persuading countless generations that it is a virtue to believe incredible things on insufficient evidence, is one of religion's cleverest tricks.. the more incredible the claim; the more flimsy the evidence; the stronger the belief; the greater the virtue.. this is the exact opposite of how we operate in every other aspect of our lives.. rational people must demand objective evidence for everything they are asked to believe.
"extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence".. leaving the dogmatic claims of the watchtower is only a first step.
I suggest that our need for stories - repeated - is more than temporary entertainment. It does speak to something deep in our psyche, the tribe huddling around the campfire if you will, hearing the same stories of adventure and triumph again and again.-jgnat
I agree with what you are saying.
I think you are speaking to the power of - and our need for - hope.
So a person's desire for "faith" in their life is most likely very tied to their need for hope.
Understandable.
I guess we all have to decide what is worth putting our hope in.
-TE
the unknown writer of the gospel of john put the following words in jesus' mouth, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.".
persuading countless generations that it is a virtue to believe incredible things on insufficient evidence, is one of religion's cleverest tricks.. the more incredible the claim; the more flimsy the evidence; the stronger the belief; the greater the virtue.. this is the exact opposite of how we operate in every other aspect of our lives.. rational people must demand objective evidence for everything they are asked to believe.
"extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence".. leaving the dogmatic claims of the watchtower is only a first step.
Those comforting stories would not be so efficacious if they were held by individuals rather than communities. My problem is that those communities forget that they are dealing in myths rather than realities.- cofty
I was thinking the same thing when I was considering some of mrhhome's posts. It really is a multi-layered subject. If we were just talking about persons privately praying at home, that would be one thing.
When does religion ever stop there? LOL
It seems to go from the "stories" to "give me all your life resources" in about 30 seconds flat.
Also it's hard to seperate the subject matter from my anger toward WTBTS. I will definitely admit that.
-TE
