saw this article on slate.. it got me thinking - the wts are certainly providing lots of ammunition for spoofing.
talks about tight pants, singing trolleys, rubber faced buffoonery from lett...... what if we start encouraging jws to laugh at their leadership, instead of kowtowing in reverential awe?.
from the article:.
Comedy breaks down the resistance we sometimes have to seeing serious topics from another perspective.
The cartoon below is intended to break down the barrier between climate-change deniers and those wanting to do something about it. The use of humor simplifies a complex argument and sometimes opens, closed minds.
my elder brother made the mistake of telling me about the wts policy of theocratic warfare.
he first called it 'lying for the truth' then he tried to tone it down to theocratic warfare.
he justifies this position by citing the scriptures that say do not throw pearls to the swine for they will trample them under foot and tear you to pieces.. my question is .
Is it considered ok to lie to rank and file JWs too?
The way I understood it, Theocratic Warfare had more to do with doing whatever was necessary to advance "kingdom interests" when dealing with opposers of the "truth" than it had to do with deceiving those in the congregation. They looked at omissions of information to be necessary at times when dealing with worldly authorities and often sited the example of Abraham passing Sarah off as his sister rather than his wife when dealing with Pharaoh and later Abimelech.
Unlike Abraham, who's wife Sarah was his half sister (which gave his claim an element of truth), the Watchtower Society has regularly lied to it's flock. They made claims about certain dates in millions upon millions of books and magazines or had their followers spend countless hours spreading certain doctrines to the far flung corners of the globe. Later they changed them because time has proven them wrong and they falsely blamed it on God for not having originally provided them a bright enough light all those years ago. The omission of information came into play when they explained how it was they decided to change what was once called "the truth". Yes, their teachings were wrong but they lied to save face and that isn't theocratic warfare.
i remember some years ago when barbara did an expose of the child abuse issue on one of the networks, watchtower used the elders to inform the congregations not to view the program that was to be aired.
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after this recent expose on npr, has there been any official watchtower release read as an announcement at the kingdom hall?.
check this out.
got this bound volume from my dad.. .
The message to young people was not to bother with furthering their education. The message to the parents of those young people was, since the end is so close, don't worry about saving for your retirement.
The guys who wrote that stuff were taken care of in their old age by our parents donations and they all died. Unfortunately many of their JW followers banked on not ever growing old or ever needing anything for retirement. At least we were young enough to recover from that part of it even if our earning potential was diminished by listening to this man made directive about education.
the borg seem to prepare for changes by missing explanations out for a while then presenting a "new understanding" which doesn't contradict the most recent discussion.check out the most recent references to gog - no identification as satan.. in today's wt study, paragraph 15 concerning benefitting from the prodigal son stated "if we meet a person who has strayed from the congregation, will we offer loving and practical help to assist him to return?
" there is no footnote or other qualifier saying not to go to disfellowshipped ones (who are definitely the ones being talked about) which is still the official policy.
i know this isn't an ending to shunning, but it may signal the start of the preparation for a change.
In today's Wt study, paragraph 15 concerning benefitting from the prodigal son stated "If we meet a person who has strayed from the congregation, will we offer loving and practical help to assist him to return?
I believe the term "stray" means those who have become distracted by other activities or who's faith has waned for a time so as to cause them to lose interest. It is not referring to disfellowshipped ones or those who purposely stopped attending due to disbelief of the JW doctrines. The scriptures that mention "not breaking bread with non believers or sinners" will still apply to those who are asked to leave or do so intentionally on their own.
my uncle passed away two years ago at the age of 83. he served as an elder from 1965 to the last day of his life.
even till the end of his life he was still reading the bible.. he was an elder for 48 years.
never missed a meeting,pioneered during the summer months ( took vacation weeks),pioneered after retiring at 65 years old, never went on real vacation, went to all summer conventions and assemblies ( traveling to new york,wisconsin, canada and california ).. he also conducted book studies, watchtower meetings, gave sunday public talks, assembly parts, elder meetings, had a weekly book study with his family,cleaned the kingdom hall, and donated money when the congregation was short money for the month.. everyone is zealous in the beginning but tire out sooner or later.
No matter what organization, political activity, school, job or religion there are always those who are the "cream that rises to the top". Somehow their personality type coupled with their own personal circumstances makes it possible for them to go farther and longer than anyone else.
The Olympic hopeful who gets up at the crack of dawn to practice, works a menial part time job and sacrifices his personal relationships in order to achieve his goal. The little old lady who tirelessly volunteers to feed the homeless, cleans the church, visits the sick and is raising her 3 grandchildren. The highschool drop out who goes on to found a multimillion dollar enterprise.
When it happens among JW's they view it as proof of God's holy spirit in action and that theirs is the one true religion. If it was God's spirit causing this, why wouldn't everyone among his "chosen" people be able to do the same?
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31447905.
even those in "the world" (tm) recognise the indecent nature of this type of apparel.
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Anything can be considered indecent if you decide that it is.
Back in the Victorian days they used to drape long table cloths over their dining room tables and around the legs of their Grand Pianos because they thought the sculpted shapely legs of these pieces of furniture were indecent and could cause people (men) to have impure erotic thoughts.
our family just lost someone dear and very close, a faithful jw.
as we went through the entire funeral services and meeting long time brothers and sisters, who in general have been very kind and warm towards us, we realize that the hope of resurrection is a meaningless utopia for us, like a fairytale for little children.
we don't have faith in it anymore, and serves us of no comfort.
The WTBTS planted the notion in my mind back when I was a child, that I should want to live forever and that living forever was the only way life could have a purpose. My feeling now is that a limited lifespan makes life more valuable than one that goes on and on and on, the same way a rare coin is more valuable than those whose supply is unlimited.
I don't want to die in pain or prematurely but I also feel that living forever, even as a perfect person, might be a nightmare. Maybe wanting to live forever is just being greedy. Just because I was randomly conceived all those years ago, doesn't mean I should expect to go on forever and ever. If my parents would have had sex 10 minutes sooner or 10 minutes later, I might not be here. Another girl or boy sperm may have made it to the egg instead of the one that made me. To think that it should go on and on is not something that I would have expected without having had that idea put in my head. Not wanting to die would makes people accept any alternative concept, no matter how unprovable it is, as a way to console their apprehension about the unknown.
I now have so much more peace knowing that when I die one day it will be because that's the way it is on this planet rather than because I will be destroyed by God for not spreading Watchtower literature enough throughout my life or not reaching out for enough responsibilities in the congregation or because I disagreed with some religious groups explanation of the Bible. If it turns out there is some sort of afterlife/ reward, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be a part of it.
did you hear about the pedantic, agnostic, dyslexic?.
he lay awake and 3,349 times he wondered if there really was a dog..
The dyslexic agnostic insomniac who lay awake at night pondering the existence of Dog ? Nope never heard that one but it's pretty funny
if getting ready means putting on a suit........ you might be a j.w.. if going out to the field has nothing to do with grass, baseball diamonds, or football ......... you might be a j.w.. please continue my friends.......i know ya got some.....; ).
You might be a JW...
If you can keep a straight face when you hear someone use the phrase " thought provoking" or "thus far" in a sentence, you might be a JW.
Your biggest goal in life is to become a Servant, you might be a JW.
If your infant son has his own suit and tie, you might be a JW.
If you own stadium cushions and have never been to a sporting event, you might be a JW.
If you have been to a sporting event but didn't take your seat until after the National Anthem was played, you may be a JW.
If a detailed report of how your monetary donations are being spent isn't available to you, you might be a JW.
If you're a full time Pioneer but have never headed west in a Conestoga Wagon, you might be a JW.
