OrphanCrow

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Posts by OrphanCrow

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  17

  An anthropologist visits a JW community in Santa María Zapotitlán, Mexico

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dr. jena barchas-lichtenstein is an anthropologist who received her doctorate through ucla.. https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jena-barchas-lichtenstein/43/427/702.

  in 2013, barchas-lichtenstein submitted the paper "when the dead are resurrected, how are we going to speak to them?

  ": jehovah's witnesses and the use of indigenous languages in the globalizing textual community as a partial submission for her doctoral dissertation..

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  OrphanCrow

  fiddler: If Watchtower is being funded in any way to carry out their deceptive agenda I hope it stops when revelations like this come out.

  The Watchtower's extensive translation services and the spread of literature in various languages, is not financially profitable for them unless they receive outside funding for literacy, language revitalization, etc. I think that the WTS has had their hand in getting funding for many years now under the guise of literacy promotion. I have yet to find the evidence of government/agency literacy funding, but it would not surprise me.

  Revitalizing cultures through indigenous language is a noble thing but what Watchtower is doing is every bit as destructive as the colonial version.

  Dr. B-L identifies the WTS' motive for language revitalization as being purely utilitarian in nature - to gain converts (apparently). It was noted in her research that the indigenous Chontal language is actually being changed in structure by the JW translators, such that it often resembles the Spanish structure/syntax rather than follow the structure of Chontal. So, what is happening with the WTS' project is that the indigenous language is being changed - the language is undergoing a shift in structure as the result of it being used by the JW community.

  What I found critical in Dr. B-L's research is that she identifies the 'voice' of Chontal speakers, being expressed by the JW community, is the voice of the Watchtower Society. It is not so much language 'revitalization', in that sense, but rather, language appropriation.
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  109

  Are we going to see a mass awakening?

  by kairos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the internet is the archive for civilization.. watchtower cannot hide it's history.. are we seeing the beginning of a mass exodus out of her?.

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  OrphanCrow

  there will be no awakening. Instead of that the Internet will contribute to further future growth

  IKH, you are probably right. Demographics don't change much.

  There will always be those people who only have the intellectual capacity to find and click on the WTS approved website. There will always be those people who believe that any other information comes from that guy who dresses in red underwear and carries a fork.

  
  

  As far as growth goes, I do not believe in the numbers that are put out by the WTS. They lie about everything else so I have no reason to trust anything that comes from them. Numbers are just numbers...they are meaningless and easily manipulated.
  And, if this recent website presence does increase numbers...well, then the 'numbers' will be solidly grounded in those of lower intellectual ability. I propose that this internet presence will "separate the wheat from the chaff" - the smart ones will leave or not join and the visible rank and file JW community will be made up of solely lower intellect persons. And, in that sweep for new members, the net will drag in people who 1) are dissatisfied with the 'system' (government) 2) don't want to do military service 3) like to pet lions 4) believe that they are better than anyone else, that they are 'special'.
  
  

  CrazyGuy: Its been stated here by members that when one of their relatives need a transfusion Cows blood called Hemopure is recommended by the HLC.

  Yes, the HLC was recommending Hemopure long before the FDA recommended it. The HLC recommended JWs for clinical trials in Hemopure. The JWs were/are used to test artificial blood.
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  21

  For God So Loves the Western World...

  by Tempest in a Teacup in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...that only people from those countries can lead 'his organization'.. a few years ago, one conversation stopper people would often bring up to jws in my country is: 'you guys are an american religion'.

  the standard answer we were formatted to give to shoot that down was that "god does not favor any nationality over others.

  however some countries do possess some advantages needed for the advancement of the divine work.

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  OrphanCrow

  there is no way an American based religious organization can be of use to another nations peoples.

  Lol! Not unless you consider the advantages of having a 'politically neutral' group of people smack dab in the middle of political unrest.

  A 'politically neutral' position can be the most politically charged position in some countries. And...a politically neutral religion has mobility in areas that are not accessible to other groups.
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  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

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  OrphanCrow

  a meeting that is entirely about material assets, building and maintenance

  Exactly.
• 
  17

  An anthropologist visits a JW community in Santa María Zapotitlán, Mexico

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dr. jena barchas-lichtenstein is an anthropologist who received her doctorate through ucla.. https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jena-barchas-lichtenstein/43/427/702.

  in 2013, barchas-lichtenstein submitted the paper "when the dead are resurrected, how are we going to speak to them?

  ": jehovah's witnesses and the use of indigenous languages in the globalizing textual community as a partial submission for her doctoral dissertation..

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  OrphanCrow

  roberto: OrphanCrow, I am reading the doctoral dissertation of Dr. Jena Barchas

  I look forward to your feedback, Roberto.

  Jena's paper is lengthy and dense in parts, but, overall, it is an accessible read. I have read several parts a few times now and I am finding her research to be thorough and precise. Her body of research is timely and relevant to many areas of study including the Watch Tower Society. She has an amazing ability to take the reader easily through social spaces - from intimate personal encounters with the local JWs to the spaces of the world headquarters of a corporation and into political and linguistics analysis of a highly charged geo-political community.

  I have been watching the Society's recent interest in language revitalization for some time now and was more than pleased to find Dr. Barchus-Lichenstein's research into this very phenomena. Language revitalization is different than just language translation. The interest in the revitalization of indigenous language, in the larger community beyond the WTS, got its legs sometime back in the 90s. Global initiatives into indigenous language revitalization projects appeared in all levels of culture around that time - from Unesco right down to grass roots community organizations.

  The discussions that I have participated in concerning indigenous language revitalization, at local levels, were concerned with language as a way to revitalize culture. As a way to re-connect and heal wounds from the colonial practice of taking away the voice of indigenous people through the banning of their language. The WTS' rationale and motivation for revitalizing language has a far different mandate to it than what other cultural groups are using to propel language revitalization.

  I have been puzzled for some time as to why the WTS has recently jumped on board with language re-vitalization and why they are making attempts to recruit from the local indigenous groups within Canada, and I was very interested to encounter an anthropologist who identified this as a phenomena that is not exclusive to my country. It is interesting to see the similarities and differences that are occurring simultaneously between two very different cultures, and yet identical cultures in a sense, in that the cultures are bound by one over-riding one - the culture of the Watch Tower Society.

  Roberto, I am interested in any comments or feedback you (or anyone else) may have on Dr, Barchus-Lichenstin's research.
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  21

  What person/persons/group is behind the rebranding of Jehovahs Witnesses

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the jw rebranding program in full swing, who do you think is behind all this?

  i'm not certain the governing body came up with these ideas.

  at least not the old guard which died off around 2009.. given the fairly recent articles in the kingdom ministry and watchtower about the dangers of the internet and having the latest gadget, this rebranding effort can't have been in the works for much more than three years.. the makeover is slick...very slick...and very clever.

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  OrphanCrow

  They copied the Mormon / later day saints website.

  Uuuummm...there is a multi-media company, based in Salt Lake City, that is owned by a JW. The company does re-branding, market analysis, website-building, etc.

  Jus' sayin'.
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  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

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• 

  OrphanCrow

  It seems like the WTS' focus is on recruitment rather than preaching or converting.

  Actual 'conversion will take place inside those walls of those fancy dancy Kingdom Halls being built.

  The term 'publisher' should actually be changed to 'recruiter'.

  
  
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  26

  If you are single and have married friends, . . .

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is your sense of loneliness (if you are lonely) heightened when you see what they share?

  how do cope (if you are coping) with a sense of isolation, of not having a significant other?.

  i know some single persons who are very happy as they are.

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  OrphanCrow

  When i see what they share, i'm pretty happy being single and independent. 

  I can relate to that. Spending time with couples often makes me want to go home early from social events. I attend very few social events. They bore me.

  How do i cope with any loneliness now? I like to have a few hobby's, and having a long term plan/goal on the back burner really helps.

  Whenever someone asks what I do all alone by myself, I tell them, "whatever I want."

  
  
• 
  17

  An anthropologist visits a JW community in Santa María Zapotitlán, Mexico

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dr. jena barchas-lichtenstein is an anthropologist who received her doctorate through ucla.. https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jena-barchas-lichtenstein/43/427/702.

  in 2013, barchas-lichtenstein submitted the paper "when the dead are resurrected, how are we going to speak to them?

  ": jehovah's witnesses and the use of indigenous languages in the globalizing textual community as a partial submission for her doctoral dissertation..

  1. 
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  OrphanCrow

  interesting details. with the jws in the simple majority, what good is that if they do not vote, participate in government?

  Prologos, you may be asking that question without understanding the structure of their local government or the political climate of the region. The culture and politics of that region are unique and complex. In fact, a town of a majority 'pacifists' could be quite beneficial for some people besides the JW community.

  Barchus-Lichenstein's work was done prior to 2013 but she does give detail on the geo-political characteristics of that region.

  At this moment, the area of Mexico that Dr. B-L was in, Oaxaca, is blocked to the president of Mexico. He is not allowed in. 

  You should read Dr. B-L's account of being in the village when a celebratory day was happening - how the revolutionists were treated by the JW majority when the parade happened. Interesting.

  The president is not allowed in the region right now. I wonder how much free travel the Watch Tower still has through that area?

  roberto: my first reaction is ; " How the hell can she be so smart and skilled and still be a Jw?"

  The author of the paper, Jena Barchus-Lichenstein, is not a JW.

  She self-identifies in her research paper as Jewish. I was so impressed with her depth and broadness of knowledge about the JWs and the WTS, that I searched her out and asked if she had any connection to the JWs in her background. She replied:

  In terms of my own interest, it so happens that I grew up directly across the street from Brooklyn Bethel. In fact, I can see into their gym from my father's apartment. But Bethel coexists with its neighbors largely by *not* engaging in much publishing in the immediate neighborhood, so we received fewer visits than most! I'd received visits in other places that I lived, and of course the literature tables are unavoidable on college campuses and in public transit, but quite honestly I knew very little at the time I started my research.

  
  

  
  

  
  
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  6

  The marketing of sin.

  by sparrowdown in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  big pharma has been accused at times of "marketing madness," and that's a whole other topic, but isn't big religion guilty of marketing sin, after all there's no money in "normal.".

  there's no guilt induced donations to be had in ok-ness.. if we were taught that consenting adult sex is normal, enjoying your life, celebrating your milestones and achievements are all normal.

  making mistakes and occasionally swearing like a sailor - yep all normal.

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  OrphanCrow

  Big Religion guilty of marketing sin

  Yeah. There is big profit in Sin. It costs nothing to make, and every cent they squeeze from it is pure profit. The raw material is already there - religion just has to milk it.

  And then religion takes Hope, packages that up as a commodity, and sells Hope as the cure.

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