Last weekends assembly low-lights in Newburgh, ny

by Silent_Scream 19 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Silent_Scream

  Typical Assembly program: No social networking, no higher education, no vacation used unless is for seldom-worked or convention, etc.

  But a few highlights to note:

  1) On Saturday's last talk by the DO, he made a cool illustration. He said "Imagine my wife found a picture of another woman in my wallet. And when she approaches my about it, I say 'Oh, thats only because she reminds me of you.' How well would that fly with her? Would that be acceptable? That's how Jehovah feels about idolatry." Fitting, I thought.

  2) Then he went on a rampage against apostates. It sounded as though he made some sort of resolution almost, that we won't listen to them at all. He then did one of those "HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT OUR 'MOTHER' THAT TAUGHT US THE TRUTH....YADA YADA!!?" Everyone clapped. And in my opinion it has the heartiest clap of the entire program.

  3) And he kept repeating how some think they know more than Jehovah, by not following his counsel on higher education, social networking and such (which I took as joke, for all obvious reasons.) But of note, it was amazing how many times things that are not clearly discussed in the Bible (not even in principle) were being enforced and being emphasized as directly from Jah. I know this has been going on since inception, but I'm a new apostate, so it amazed me every time, but even worse when it was soaked in as "just what we needed at the right time." How did I not notice this before?

  4) There was a talk about speech on Sunday. It included a demo and two brothers were out in service and just finished a door and they started talking about the presentation used, referring to the last days. So the bad brother says "When are these last days going to end? I mean, its been over a hundred years and our understanding keeps on changing, and changing, and changing...."(Everyone laughs.) Then the good brother cuts him off and exclaims "Are you saying the faithful slave is delaying Armageddon?" Thats where they lost me. Because no one has ever said that, but the WTS obviously wants to make any reasoning but theirs seems ridiculous, because the entire audience knows the "faithful" slave has no power to do that. But then at the end of the demo, The good brother brings us a scripture that talks about the generation of Jacob's sons in Exodus. He referred to the fact that Reuben was having kids before Benjamin was born. So the generation encompassed the birth the birth of the oldest (Reuben) until the death of the youngest(Benjamin), thus explaining the overlap. So the bad brother responded "I guess I need to reaffirm my faith and keep up with the current understanding of Jah's org". It was silly. (The speaker said they spoke verbatum from the script too.)

  5) Typical 5 minute reminders to Jehovah what the program was about and what we need to work on. Or prayer I guess it's supposed to be.

  *Note - My quotes are not word for word exactly, but it was what they were expressing from my memory. If any others attended the Cir. Ass. also, im sure they can verify.
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  dozy

  Thanks for posting. It really just depresses me , hearing the same old c&*p that has been pedalled for so many years.

  You do have to wonder how the society can rail against idolatry yet openly speak about "Jehovah's counsel" about higher education (which incidentally is different from his counsel in 1992) and everything else , when they actually mean their own views. Surely at some level they must see the contradicition in this.

  One difference is the the WTBTS are adopting a strategy of openly voicing "apostate" objections (eg WTBTS has foretold an imminent Amagaddon for over 100 years etc) and then putting these views up for ridicule in demonstrations & talks. It is an indication that the WTBTS are being affected by apostacy , perhaps more than ever before.
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  punkofnice

  "Imagine my wife found a picture of another woman in my wallet. And when she approaches my about it, I say 'Oh, that’s only because she reminds me of you.' How well would that fly with her? Would that be acceptable? That's how Jehovah feels about idolatry."

  Fallacy. I’m sorry you had to endure this nonsense. Comparing apples to oranges! I don’t personally know of any ‘idol worshippers’ but the DO’s ‘reasoning’ really isn’t the deal as I see it. If a person worships an idol it isn’t because they know it’s wrong, it’s because they think it’s acceptable. There’s all the difference. What about all the praise that goes to the GB? Isn’t that idol worship?

  And he kept repeating how some think they know more than Jehovah

  ‘Appeal to authority’ mixed with ‘appeal to fear’! Actually, We all know loads more than an imaginary brand name god!

  So the bad brother says "When are these last days going to end? I mean, its been over a hundred years and our understanding keeps on changing, and changing, and changing...."

  This just illustrates to me that the WBT$ are reading these forums and trying a bit of damage control! I wonder how many of those laughing actually thought it was funny?

  brother cuts him off and exclaims "Are you saying the faithful slave is delaying Armageddon?"

  I agree silent_scream. This is a totally redundant statement and designed to be a cult ‘thought stopper’.

  at the end of the demo, The good brother brings us a scripture that talks about the generation of Jacob's sons in Exodus.

  They’re hammering it home for all it’s worth because the ‘overlapping’ so obviously idiotic they got to indoctrinate at all costs. ‘Minds must be cleansed’!
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  cantleave

  Bunch of mind controlling asswipes!
• 

  MrMonroe

  Then the good brother cuts him off and exclaims "Are you saying the faithful slave is delaying Armageddon?"

  It's actually a straw man argument, in which someone raises a superficially similar proposition and then argues against that, without actually addressing the initial argument.

  The bad brother who complained, "When are these last days going to end? I mean, its been over a hundred years and our understanding keeps on changing, and changing, and changing..." is asking a valid question, and a demonstration in which a good brother accuses him of disloyalty is yet another demonstration of crude mind control techniques. In short, it is wrong to ask questions that contain implied criticism of the organisation. Any JW who asks a question that questions the beliefs or practises as laid down by the Governing Body is accused of disloyalty, thus intimidating them into silent, unquestioning submission.

  I just wonder how many in the audience heard the bad brother's question and thought to themselves, "Fair point!" and were, like Silent Scream, dismayed to hear the response, which doesn't address the quite sincere question at all.
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  Silent_Scream

  It was ridiculous. I find it funny when everyone goes out to eat afterward, they try to be good Christians and discuss the program points, but it lasts maybe 3 minutes and then get awkward because we all knows its fake and not really upbuilding but are told by the slave it is, but it fails, but then we discuss sports and Dancing with the stars to no end. LOL.
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  Silent_Scream

  Exactly MrMonroe, because afterwards people were discussing it and were asking "How could the faithful slave delay Armageddon? That doesn't even make sense." So the straw man worked.

  It makes me angry at how much time and effort I used defending their reasonings all these years thinking I was defending Jehovah! Even things that made no sense to me. Like Rev 18:4 being used to say we can't visit churches, but we need to invite people to ours. I don't know how many people I had to reason with to see JW stance on stuff like that, and tried to make sense of it.
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  Dutch-scientist

  So they use the term Armageddon during the meetings but in the magazines they drop this term.

  Again and over again those poor people who need to listen to this.

  The group presure in this is great. If some one had the same question for a while, he or she now think its a shame to think like this.

  But hey Jezus got the same question and how did he answer? just read the bible and see the signs.

  See an increase of eartquakes take place a brother say to me last year and i say provid me your source. Yeah hear the news bla bla. My answer was simpel: every day there are 50 eartquakes worldwide and some time it hit some people and if there is some damage it will come on your TV or newspaper. In 1914 there where arround 2 billion people now as i write this down already 7 billion. More people than ever lives near an area where those earthquakes took place.

  The end times make no sense if our population on this planet increase so hard:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World-Population-1800-2100.png

  ds
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  metatron

  Could one of you good and clever people out there explain to me the possible genesis of the 'faithful slave delaying the End' remark? How does that originate without deliberate, conscious deception?

  Are we to think that the 'faithful slave' has the power to actually delay Armageddon? or that they believe that they do? Or that common Witlesses think they have that authority?

  Where does this strange accusation come from? Is it a simple-minded attempt to suggest the idea that these frauds have an incredible Divine authority, that isn't merited by any stretch of the imagination? And that this is their response to over a hundred years of false prophecy, that by any rudimentary logic enviserates their claim to any legitimate authority?

  How does this emerge? What's the process here? How can I imagine this nonsense as anything sincere - without fantasizing about Bethel Writers blatantly asking, 'So, how do we scam these buffoons?" or not be laughing their a$$es off while generating this tripe?

  metatron
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  Intel

  [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WUD-nhsmkw&feature=related&noredirect=1[/url]