DesirousOfChange - "...they will 'spin it' as Jehovah drawing to him the 'ordinary and unlettered' men..."
Hmph.
Good luck finding "ordinary and unlettered" men capable of teaching theology.
:smirk:
Quality of newer membership
by Lostandfound 55 Replies latest jw experiences
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Vidiot
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OrphanCrow
This guy is in charge of the org's Writing Department:
Jackson is a high school drop out - he left school at 14 (some sources say 13 or 15) to become a missionary.
The org's literature has to be understandable to someone incapable of graduating high school - that is who is in charge. You can't expect anything better than simplified language from someone like this.
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blondie
What's with the all white outfit, feathers on the vest....their idea of heaven?
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Diogenesister
Although the magazine's handed out to the public are smaller and simpler nowadays, I think the argument that the content has become less intellectually challenging is laughable.
The older Awake and Watchtower articles may appear to have more stimulating content but the truth is that most of it is disable goble-de-hook such as
Giants v. Dwarves
Demons
All sorts of pseudo-medical clap-trap such as aluminium pots being dangerous and the heart really governing emotion, anti-vax rubbish etc
Even the so-called deep Bible studies are replacement theory rubbish such as the Franz's anti-type cobblers and the UN stuff.
Try reading it sometime. Its rubbish and always has been.
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never a jw
Even the so-called deep Bible studies are replacement theory rubbish such as the Franz's anti-type cobblers and the UN stuff.
Diogenester,
True, is rubbish, but it's in line with the rubbish in the new and old testament. The apostle Paul and Matthew often twisted the Hebrew scriptures to force their own self serving interpretation. The same way was done by the Deuteronomic historian.
The point some of us are trying to make is that older generations of JW's knew their bible better than the present generation. Also the JW zeal level was much better before the 90's.
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JWdaughter
I'm starting to think there is some arrogance in this thinking that the ones newly drawn to the WT org. are particularly desperate creatures. The pseudo intellectual posing of early JWs was no more intelligent than the frankly simple stuff they have out now. We may have THOUGHT we were all that and a bag of chips, but we were just as deluded by big words and recitations of out of context scripture as they are now. Yeah, we all used to study more, but we were still being led, we were still being discouraged from any ACTUAL deep study. . . we just read what we were told to read.
I remember the 1970s. We had some pretty dodgy types even then, the ones that immediately scooted to the back rooms with their dubious looking assortment of cohorts. We were discouraged from any outside study, we underlined the answers (and tried to rephrase them so we didn't seem like we were reading when we answered.) I remember some distinctly odd people that came in late about once or twice a month, never said anything, and left during the song. They were 'studies' or baptised and inactive.
I just found out that the elder I thought was some rich businessman lived in the trailercourt across from the hall. So, yeah, some of us cleaned up good, but we were all in the damn organization and they were just as false in 1974 as they were in 1976. Those who came in after being convinced they were living in the end times had just as false of evidence in 1965 as in 1975 and 2015. THERE WAS NEVER ANY TRUTH. We were all gullible and bought it.
I'm pretty sure that someone in the last 5 pages has already said this, but I think we need to get over ourselves already. I got out when I realized, but just cause I was young doesn't mean anything. My IQ recognized errors, but social and emotional factors kept me in too long. That doesn't make me stupid, and it doesn't make anyone stupid. It makes us humans who do things for reasons that are not as intellectual/moral/spiritual as we would like to think they are.
Do cults generally get people who are on the outs with their society/culture? Those who are, for whatever reason, vulnerable to cults? Yeah, and it was like that when some of our grandparents got involved. People are people, people. Just because it was normalized in our family doesn't mean our family was "normal" when they got involved with it. So, yeah, weird people are coming in now, just like before. Some fly their weird flag boldly, some are just quietly hurting or weird in ways that don't show.
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Crazyguy
It's really sad that we were all being led by an organization full of men that were or are really ingnorant. Some of the guys during Rutherfords era didn't even make through the third grade. And yes in my last hall the two or three people that came into the truff via preaching were either mental or socially inept or both. One was a woman and her young daughter. Once the woman found a man she was out of there and moved away. Another was a mess and had a real messed up history. She became homeless and had to live in a trailer at some JWs property. Again when her sister stepped up and offered her a home again she was out of there. So I guess many join the truff for help and when they are able to stand on thier own they get out.
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Tallon
JWdaughter ... summed it up ^^^^^
Post of the week, in my book.
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Doubting Bro
JW daughter - I totally agree.
I think the big difference today and why there are generally less non-born in converts in the industrialized world is because a quick google search turns up enough information that people avoid getting lured into to this particular cult. But, those same people are likely still vulnerable and may end up somewhere else.
I still think their biggest problem is apathy among members. And the simplifying of materials, videos and reduced meetings is due to the org attempting to find something that will get the members excited again. At the last circuit assembly, the branch rep said in his talk that too many were apathetic and it showed in all their activities. He said that many were simply going through the motions. He's right. And they have no idea what to do about it.