by HeyThere 122 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
"reports from various countries..." is all you get from WT. This sounds too much like the following:
"Reports are heardof brothers selling their homes and property and planning to finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service. Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world's end." Kingdom Ministry, 5/74, p. 3.
JustVisiting,
Thanks for the example. The Dark Lords rely on their own authority. "Reports" allows them to act like what they are about to spew is honey rather than garbage. And as mentioned, relying on other authorities, such as academic studies or empirical data, would set them up to be scrutinized and their 'arguments' dismantled. This is just more of their amazing lack of humility. You gotta know that the individuals on the writing committee are well past the time when they tried to source or reference articles. They have to really be ashamed of themselves and what they do. The GB has no shame.
Okay, let's do something the GB clearly doesn't want us to do, let's think this thing through.
Since this footnote tells us that this information regarding "infidelity, ... homosexuality, or incest, and among children, increased behavioral and academic problems, aggression, anxiety, depression, or suicidal tendencies" comes not from rigorous scientific studies, but from "Reports from various countries," we can safely conclude that the individuals committing these heinous sexual atrocities and other egregious acts against nature, common decency and overall good study habits, are not being committed by (*GASP*) worldy people, but are in fact being perpertrated by Jehovah's own Witnesses!
[Oh, the horror!]
Yes, boys and girls, it's not that nasty neighbor that is part of Satan's old world that's doing the horizontal mambo with his sister/brother/mother/daughter/neighbor's goat while his wife is away in a foreign land earning less than minimum wage because he can't manage to keep a full-time job because his lazy ass is too busy "preaching the kingdom" by knocking on empty doors; oh no, my little ones. It's some brother or sister in your own congregation that has succumb to temptation and begun swinging every which way including loose. Why? Because they have failed to listen to the counsel of Jehovah and his Faithful and Discreet 7 Dwarves; and as a result of this treachery, they have made the unwise decision to seek employment away from home!
Do not be misled, little children, for the hour is late and the end is nigh! We must fight against any and all evil tendencies to covet (ie, "sexually desire" from the Greek: "butt-fuckos") anything that moves.
No little ones. Slave for Jehovah and his organization! Slave for the Lord! Advertise, advertise, advertise the JW.ORG and his Website!
And don't forget to send in that monthly tithe thingy that we're not calling a tithe. (Tony needs his tight pants.)
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Not trying to derail or anything, but has anyone even read the info I posted. If it's not all based on JW's, I think they may have based the info on such reports. Anyway, back to invisible mode;)
dot: has anyone even read the info I posted. If it's not all based on JW's, I think they may have based the info on such reports.
I read it. What is your basis for thinking the WTBTS used the info you posted as the basis for their "reports"?
See, this is one of the biggest flaws with the "information" the WTBTS publishes: they rarely cite sources and so it's impossible to independently verify the majority of what they say.
In the cases where they have cited sources, fact-checkers have demonstrated that the quotations are frequently taken out of context and presented in ways to make the quoted material to appear to say something different than what the author intended, sometimes even the exact opposite!
The WTBTS's reputation for academic honesty is pretty much trash.
I wasn't saying they were right to generalise, but this may be the kind of reports they are basing their generalisations on. Nobody else seemed to want to even look for what they were possibly basing the wild assertions on. Sorry if I was unclear.
"Incest has become common
On March 11, 2007 Veronica Uy of INQUIRER.netreported: "As more Filipino mothers leave for work abroad, incest between a daughter and the father who are left behind has become an emerging social problem."In connection with the International Women's Day, Philippine Senator Pia Cayetano called public attention to "an emerging problem in labor-exporting countries like the Philippines." The senator noted that "older daughters of women OFWs are made to take on the roles left by their mother, sometimes as 'substitute spouses'" (ibid.)."
http://www.ucg.org/commentary/family-break-ups-plague-filipino-migrant-workers/
"Reports from various countries" probably means that the Society received reports about this from elder bodies as a result of actual judicial committees. They're probably not getting this stuff from outer space or some unnamed survey--this is internal information. This is what the late Ray Franz talked a lot about in his books--the letters the Society gets about stuff that happens in the congregations. This may have happened more than once and so was included in a letter or report from some congregations. It's particularly that phrasing, "reports from various countries"--I don't think they would use that phrasing if they were referring to news articles of a general sort about the subject. I'm not disallowing the possibility that they might well be referring to external news reports, but if they were, they'd probably have no problem saying so, especially since it's a good opportunity to knock non-JWs' behavior.
But of course, just because these two events--man or woman working out of town and gay or incestuous behavior--happened does not necessarily mean one caused the other. I'm sure many people work away from home and don't suddenly become gay or do a relative. (If they are talking about a parent having sex with a child, shouldn't they be calling it 'child molestation'? If that's what they mean, I take it they wish to avoid that term for obvious reasons, ie. not wanting JWs who aren't already aware of it to think about the possibility of child abuse happening within their ranks. Otherwise, I can only assume they mean consensual sex between two adults who happen to be relatives, like Bro. and Sis. Lannister from the Casterly Rock congregation. Forgive me if there really are two incestuous JWs in a Casterly Rock congregation reading this...sorry guys...)
I don't think it's necessarily absurd to say all that, because it really depends on the person and the circumstance, except if we assume a blanket statement is being made here, to the effect of 'if you go to another town to find work, you're going to become a gay, incestuous adulterer'. If they're saying that, then yeah, it's nuts. But it also seems to indicate at the same time that a JW at home amongst people he knows is not the same as a JW in a town by himself. As we learned well from the Prodigal Returns video, JWs are apparently poorly prepared to be on their own, away from their home family and congregation, and still follow the same rules. Which underscores the reality that their 'Christian conduct' seems to be dependent largely on group/social pressure/intimidation rather than on any true depth of spirituality amongst the individuals.
Or maybe I'm wrong and it's just a few odd apples. Why am I even commenting on this? Oh. My first--nobody's reading this, are they?--thought was that this article sucks because it's going to mean my wife is going to accuse me of cheating on her again, presumably sometime soon. As evidenced by The Beast-Tower #10, she's expressed some concerns about not knowing for sure who I communicate with while I'm at work. Okay...this should make for some interesting comments, though, right?
--sd-7
"Reports" is a posh word for 'gossip'.
sd-7, it's good that you have this advance warning that your wife might be extra suspicious of you. It gives you an opportunity to play things up! Acting weird after getting text messages on your phone, and what-have-you. You could probably convince her you've already cheated, if you play your cards right.
You could probably convince her you've already cheated, if you play your cards right.
There are days when it feels like she doesn't need any convincing, let me tell you. I admit I've had crazy thoughts of buying lipstick and perfume and smearing it on myself just for the heck of it, but ha ha...I've never allowed myself to go over the edge into madness like that. But you never know--it's a long lifetime. Anything could happen...
--sd-7
