I have recently read 1984 by George Orwell and also read a reference on the Beroean Pickets site to a post on freeminds.org on "1984 and Big Mother". The freeminds article is quite old now but nonetheless holds true about how Witnesses like myself have to resort to extremely elastic thinking to make sense of everything we read and hear these days at the meetings. We have to "gain a series of victories over our memories" as we know we were taught certain things that we must now "unlearn" like the absolute certainty about what the generation of Matt. 24 means. So depressing as I have to continue as if nothing has changed, for family reasons. Harder and harder to find anything I can comment on at the meetings.
New day
JoinedPosts by New day
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Surviving
by New day ini have recently read 1984 by george orwell and also read a reference on the beroean pickets site to a post on freeminds.org on "1984 and big mother".
the freeminds article is quite old now but nonetheless holds true about how witnesses like myself have to resort to extremely elastic thinking to make sense of everything we read and hear these days at the meetings.
we have to "gain a series of victories over our memories" as we know we were taught certain things that we must now "unlearn" like the absolute certainty about what the generation of matt.
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"Inactive" non Attenders, how much power do the JW's have over YOU ?
by Phizzy ini was thinking about this because of the constant reminders we get in posts that we inactive non attenders have to be careful what we say to jw's, and what we do that they may learn about etc, if we don't wish to be before a j.c. the power they have is limited by what we give them.
now, i do not wish to be declared df'd of da'd, it would kill my old mum i think.. but i refuse to live my life looking over my shoulder, that, in my opinion, is giving them too much power.. i openly vote, i openly donate blood, i enjoy the odd cigar etc etc.. how much power do you allow them to have over you ?.
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New day
Life is to short
I don't think Blondie meant any harm. I think it was an honest point about how might this elder feel if his own relatives were molested by this person. Then his protective attitude to the abuser might change radically if it came to his own front door. Am I correct Blondie?
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Should JWs be watching the the Olympics?
by darkspilver infrom the awake 8 november 1994, page 26. the olympic religious mix.
the olympic games are rooted in greek religion.
they were born as a religious festival to honor zeus, supreme among the greek gods.
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New day
Anyway, to me the point is that plenty of JWs follow the Olympics, their own national football, rugby and other teams. So really us JWs are just like everyone else in this way, but we are too gutless to admit it!
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Should JWs be watching the the Olympics?
by darkspilver infrom the awake 8 november 1994, page 26. the olympic religious mix.
the olympic games are rooted in greek religion.
they were born as a religious festival to honor zeus, supreme among the greek gods.
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New day
Are you trying to score a cheap point here or are you serious? If you are serious, it's a lost cause. Plenty of JWs I know are avid fans of 'their country' even if they hide it a bit. And don't get me going on the everlasting controversy over the Williams sisters! Even though I am still a sort of active Witness I snuck a look at how my 'native' country is doing at the Games. I am not nationalistic (that was sucked out of me over many yrs of being a JW) but some form of interest in how my homeland is doing still remains. Could be something to do with how my countrymen and women usually go down in flames as plucky losers. It's complicated.
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Morning Woship: Kenneth Flodin targets "apostates"
by Sanchy invideo is entitled "beware of deceit" he uses the letter of jude to show that current day apostates are deceitful and that they use "trickery" to and "twist facts" to try to "grab our mind".
warning: your head might explode.
especially past the 5:30 mark.
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New day
Got to agree with the comment that Ken Flodin's British branch talk was superb. Practical and actually based on the bible! This is the same guy that on a broadcast some time ago praised Bro Splaine's explanation of the mad new 'overlapping generation' teaching as 'masterful.' Flodin has got to be schizophrenic!
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How the Need for An Elder to "Preside Over His Household in a Fine Manner" Forces Kids Out
by TMS intwelve years ago, i submitted this comment to the jwd board, relating to the practice of disfellowshipping young people from the congregation:.
"i am angry at the way jehovah's witnesses treat their most precious endowment; their young, developing, stumbling, exasperating, questioning, experimenting, growing offspring.. at the very most urgent time in their young lives; when they need the most reassurance, nurturing, patience, understanding and forgiveness, witness parents, under the direction of their congregation elders and governing body, toss thousands of these young ones out into the cold, cruel world, allowing them to virtually self-destruct.. many of these castaways are still in their teens.. there is no excuse, biblical, human, parental or otherwise to shut off all the guidance resources these young ones have ever known.
the human wreckage of this disgusting practice is astronomical.
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New day
I agree Fisherman. I stepped aside some time ago to look after a family situation which required so much time and attention that it was impossible to continue as an elder. It was my choice, I was not disqualified. However, I recently found out had there had been some speculation that I had been removed, so some people were wary of me. So, whatever the reason, you can still be viewed with suspicion by people, as unless you tell them yourself what really happened, they can speculate the wrong way. Years ago if you decided to step aside, what happened in our part of the world was that you were warmly thanked in the announcement from the platform for all your hard work, so it was obvious that you chose to do it. Now the same generic announcement covers everybody, leading to speculation.
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What is the current suicide and mental illness rate among JWs and previous members
by 060702015 inthere seems to be no current data on this information and there is questions concerning the validation of past data.
apparently there is high rate of mental illness and suicide.
jehovahs witnesses suicide rate 5 to 10 times above average.
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New day
It's a shame, LisaRose that the person suffering from schizophrenia was disfellowshipped. A friend of mine has been schizophrenic for many years but the local elders get it and leave him alone. I also know quite a few Witnesses with severe mental problems, but it is not at all likely that they will be DF'd. Not sure why you think this is an inevitable outcome of such disorders. Not the case in my over 30 years as a Witness, including dealing directly as an elder with such individuals.
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Major fail on last convention video
by ILoveTTATT2 inas noted on reddit,.
the last convention video,.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d43eygztxl4plagiarized the sound from this album:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2udtlqwtjd4 .
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New day
Steve2. The org often doesn't acknowledge sources. It used to drive a university educated bro I know crazy when they said in a wt article 'as one scholar notes' without proper referencing!
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Why are some that post here JW apologists?
by ctrwtf inmy rant tonight is against the quasi religious apologists that post on this board.
those who at once rail against the jw's then later talk about how "orderly" and "neat" the witnesses are at their conventions.
those who site the benefits of bloodless surgery to some who have the luxury and time to actually make an educated choice, while ignoring the tens of thousands who've died because they happen to be in an accident or succumb to a disease for which there is no other treatment.. i understand the power of cognitive dissonance.
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New day
I'm kind of with Stephane Laliberte on this one. I started reading on this forum about two and a half years ago. All as a consequence of the famous July 2013 Watchtower study which really got the ball rolling on all the recent changes. Since then I have read both of Ray Franz's books. But I am still 'sort of in.' I don't believe a lot of it anymore, but my wife is very much a believer and would be totally crushed if she knew the true extent of my doubts. She suspects something but wants to keep the status quo so it's 'don't ask, don't tell.'
It's complicated.
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Which Public Talks did you enjoy giving/hearing? And which ones did you dislike giving or hearing?
by humblepotato ini was just going through some of my talk outlines and i've decided to git rid of quite a few of them.
i'm still serving, but as time goes on... there are many subjects i will not teach anymore.. i got rid of the outlines dealing with blood, the field ministry, and ones talking about 607 and 1914. i can barely stand hearing them let alone give them.
in fact, talk 41 "stand still and see the salvation of jehovah" is one i got rid of because its whole point was about having blind obedience toward the gb and the elders during the great tribulation, and that we need to start practicing obedience now if we want to survive.
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New day
My fave ones were on love. I loved giving "love identifies the true Christian congregation" and another love one, can't remember the name now. Both based on 1 Corinthians 13. Christian qualities, yah! I avoided the prophecy and end of the world ones.