Posts by StarTrekAngel

107

Stephen Lett at our assembly today

by StarTrekAngel in

he delivered the most cultic piece of propaganda i've ever seen in an assembly.

wife typed up the whole thing.

i will be posting when i get a chance.

StarTrekAngel

He delivered the most cultic piece of propaganda I've ever seen in an assembly. Wife typed up the whole thing. I will be posting when I get a chance. I am sure he is not done

32

Do You Remember The First Time You Looked At "Apostate" Material?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i was always fascinated by it.

as a kid, i used to go to the local library and secretly read books by so called apostates.

later, i would sneak into christian book stores and quickly buy a book or two.

I spoke to my sister in law a while ago. She is baptized but ever since she married (outside the group) and moved out of town, she has not attended a single meeting or shown any intention to go back. After I spoke with her she told me how guilty she felt reading this stuff. More than 10 years out and the damage is still there.

I wish we could just destroy this cult.

6

Netflix Has Jehovah's Blessing Behind It!!!

by thedepressedsoul in

i am getting sick of the broadcast and how 1 new hall or a few thousand members in an area is "proof" of jehovah's blessing.. we just had a commentor at our wt study that brought out the 1.5% increase and how amazing that is and proof of jehovah's blessing.

not to be a joy kill but if i was invested in a company that was only growing at 1.5% and downsizing everything, i'd be selling that sucker and going short.

it hit it's stock performance peak and is retracting.

StarTrekAngel

LMAO!

Love it

7

Manufacturing Consent

by StarTrekAngel in

i have been pondering over the wt study last sunday.

the title, when i first read it, told me that i was going to hear a lot of the same crap i had to put up with during the 2014 international convention.

while some of it was there, the subliminal message given on the magazine was far from what the title implied to me.

StarTrekAngel

Lostandfound...

I guess I should have added that this would happen in the more developed countries. They won't be able to implement such a change everywhere. Although you would be surprised on the efforts being made to bring internet to places without running water. I work for an internet provider and at the moment we are getting a big push by a non-profit to bring free internet to communities where it really seems like they will be better off with a free broom.

In either case, diverting the cost of printing and the effectiveness of walking to places where that is the only option is always better than working at the lowest common denominator.

7

Manufacturing Consent

by StarTrekAngel in

i have been pondering over the wt study last sunday.

the title, when i first read it, told me that i was going to hear a lot of the same crap i had to put up with during the 2014 international convention.

while some of it was there, the subliminal message given on the magazine was far from what the title implied to me.

StarTrekAngel

I have been pondering over the WT study last Sunday. The title, when I first read it, told me that I was going to hear a lot of the same crap I had to put up with during the 2014 International Convention. While some of it was there, the subliminal message given on the magazine was far from what the title implied to me. Before I get some flame over it, the title was "100 years of the kingdom". May be I did not quote it 100% accurately but you get the idea.

My take away message from the study was this. Preaching is changing. It was different in the past and it had to change. Some people may not have liked it or had a hard time adjusting. Using portable devices in the past meant you did not have to speak as much (hint! hint!). Now we do but with the new resources (namely iPads) you may not have to explain as much once again. With every change came progress and so we can expect the same this time around. Don't stand on the way of progress.

While this does not change the general idea of preaching, it does put a new tone to the concept as most JWs have come to know it. That it is imperative that we go house to house, looking for people to deliver the message. This much has been communicated over the years. Two principal reasons have been given to justify the house to house approach..

1) That if you had an urgent warning for people in your community you would go look for them at their home. This has been compared to the approach authorities take when a natural disaster is expected. Even though everyone knows who JWs are and our message has been spread in over 200 countries, we still need to to go the home to make sure everyone is aware. This, by the way, was an illustration delivered at the 2014 assembly

2) That this is the way the first century congregation did it and by this we follow their example

As I was walking thru the local flea market last night, I stumbled upon the ever present witnessing cart, located next to a plethora of books and magazines. Two sisters were seating there, cuddling themselves in a corner to avoid the chill from the persistent wind. One of the last recommendations regarding public witnessing carts is that we need to make an effort to make sure it does not look "commercial". That we do not present the appearance that we are selling something. Renting a flea market stand to seat next to the rest of the vendors, in my opinion, does not help at all. It sure makes it fun. Plenty of taco and corn stands nearby. A sure way to satisfy your need for "antojitos" (a slang Spanish term for "cravings") while counting hours.

Another one of the later instructions received from the "mother" was in part a reminder on how to count the magazines that we deliver electronically. That's right, you are now able to count magazines you send over email or social media.

Does this mean we are now entitled to simply seat at our computer and sip coffee while we place magazines all over the internet? Not so fast... The organization is giving you options but is not saying, and don't you go around saying, that we are moving the entire preaching campaign to the cloud. I am sure they wish they could but that would stumble a lot of people, specially the older folks that are not only computer illiterate, but also hold the preaching tradition dear.

So why did I call this OP "Manufacturing Consent"? It was the title of an old documentary. I am not sure if I have seen the original but I do remember seeing one version a few years after 9-11. There, it was explained how the media and other venues were used to gather public support for the ongoing war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. While I am not here to debate wether this actually happened or not, the core concept is there.

As the older generations begin to pass away and the millennial generation begin to take over this cult, it is only natural that they will begin pushing some of the resources available to the edge, to the point were they will go from being alternatives to becoming the mainstream tool to preach. All it will take is enough youngsters to report success in converting people over social media. With the numbers of converts coming from traditional preaching on the decrease, the scale is already on its way to the other side. Eventually, it will come to the point where the org may choose to, not announce an end to the house to house preaching, but to put so little value to it that the masses of JWs will be demanding so. If not directly, by means of communicating their desire to the org, but also by means of supporting or not supporting the field activity. If enough people quit showing up at the field meeting, eventually there will be no need to have one.

4

God of good luck?

by StarTrekAngel in

as i sat in another boring indoctrination section, was reading the bible.

never have i gone this far in my many years of being a witness.

i am towards the last chapters of isaiah.

StarTrekAngel

Diogenesister

If I understand your questions correctly, yes. The way I see it, the paragraph has many times been used to show that the bible condemns games of chance, like the lottery or any other form of gambling. Many of our relatives don't even dare to play lottery at home with us, even if it is not for real money.

The fact that they capitalize the names, shows that the bible was actually referring to the worship of a particular God. Apparently they would do this in anticipation of anything that required "good luck", for example, you could go and ask the God Gadh for luck on your next business or travel. Point being is that it is not specifically applied to games of chance. Could it apply? sure, you could go to Gadh and setup a table for him before your next trip to Vegas. But if you read it the way the Watchtower puts it, then even taking a chance on an unplanned trip could be just as bad as gambling.

4

God of good luck?

by StarTrekAngel in

as i sat in another boring indoctrination section, was reading the bible.

never have i gone this far in my many years of being a witness.

i am towards the last chapters of isaiah.

StarTrekAngel

As I sat in another boring indoctrination section, was reading the bible. Never have I gone this far in my many years of being a witness. I am towards the last chapters of Isaiah. Specifically to the paragraph where he talks about setting a table for the God of Good Luck and for the God of Destiny.

Many times have I've heard this paragraph used to condemn gambling or lottery games. Something struck me as i was reading. The actual phrase reads "God of Good Luck" and "Destiny". With those words being capitalized, it means they are proper names and not just references to a generic act of worshipping.

I looked it up and it seems that these Gods were named Gadh and Meni respectively.

So in essence I understand that the act of setting up a table is understandably bad but this is not a generic act of seeking luck in an entertaining game by simply playing.

Any thoughts?

121

Hey ya'll! My first post. Please help. In need of advice/comfort.

by Stepford Wife in

jw
friends

hey ya'll!

i have been lurking for years on this site and others but never had the courage to post anything.

actually i was afraid of posting on an apostate site in the event i was wrong.

StarTrekAngel

Step,

1- Doing something wrong...Sin, apostasy, etc

2- Not doing what they consider the right things...preaching, attending meetings. etc.

Not saying that they can DF you for simply quitting meetings. But if they start questioning you and you agree with everything, yet you don't make the right adjustments, including returning to the meetings, then things change. Remember the ARC, the perpetrator returned to the cong and when the victim confronted the elders, they told her he was doing all the "right" things... going to meetings, etc. There is no such a thing as an innocent questions when the elders come around in this fashion. Their motto will be to consider you guilty until proven otherwise.

This is why most people will agree that you need to chalk it up to depression, anxiety or something like that. They do not have anything in their box of tricks against that and they will eventually conclude that they need to leave you in Jehovah's hand.

52

$10 per pub. Money begging session last night

by StarTrekAngel in

last night, during our "christian life and ministry" meeting, we had a session on local needs.

elder opened the talk with a disclaimer saying that this was a reminder (cited psalms about how david loved jehovahs reminders).

he reminded us of how bless we are of having our own local assembly hall.

StarTrekAngel

@Iown Mylife... The AH here is fairly new, no more than 5 years old. For as long as I remember we've had to travel for the larger assemblies to places like Houston or San Antonio. Undocumented brothers, which make a very large part of this circuit, were never able to attend because of a border patrol checkpoints that seat along the route north. Somehow no one, not even me at the time, questioned or wondered why Jehovah would forget about these brothers. Why did we not just have the assemblies, all of them locally. Why is it the the FD&S saw fit to "feed" these brothers but not others just because of their legal status.

Now the "blessing" is here and every brother and sister, wether they are legally here or not, can attend.

52

$10 per pub. Money begging session last night

by StarTrekAngel in

last night, during our "christian life and ministry" meeting, we had a session on local needs.

elder opened the talk with a disclaimer saying that this was a reminder (cited psalms about how david loved jehovahs reminders).

he reminded us of how bless we are of having our own local assembly hall.

StarTrekAngel

The amount is per publisher. I am assuming that if you corner them they would say the amount is "per each baptized publisher" but you know that if you have a job and are indoctrinated enough, you will take the talk to heart and donate, even if you are not baptized.

The other elder clarified that the amount was per day of assembly and not just for one assembly. The announcement was made because we have an assembly coming up next weekend. It is a one day assembly and so I guess he was afraid that people would understand that as long as they dropped 10 bucks at each assembly, they would be ok. The idea is now that you are supposed to drop 10 bucks for each day of each assembly you attend.

Like I said in my original posting, they were not technically demanding the money but rather suggesting. Off course, that is the legalistic understanding. However, you know the message is very clear... we are not saying you need to put $10 bucks or more, we are just saying is going to cost $10 bucks. Do what you can, but really, $10 bucks is what we need. Not that you need to feel obligated, but remember the Jehovah loves the cheerful giver. If you can only give $1, Jehovah sees what is in your heart and he will bless you. But you know, sisters are always trying to get that new dress for each assembly, even though they still have dresses with tags in their closets. If they would just use that one dress and spare the expense, they could actually contribute the whole amount. No that we care what you do with your money, but your kids eat enough ice cream as is. Anyway brother, no pressure. Just give what you can.

The Hall is in La Feria, Texas. It can hold around 6000 people. My understanding is that during the summer assemblies, the hall is used summer round. Now that we have one day assemblies, it gets used twice every weekend. My understanding is that it is already paid for.

Past assemblies have run about $8000 a day. In my congregation alone there is 90 baptized publishers. Not sure if the amount will go up now.

Stephen Lett is supposed to be present at our next summer assembly. Who know what the price will be then.