culty-cults GBL- funny, yes, but a very so. cal way of emphasizing.
hopelesslystained
JoinedPosts by hopelesslystained
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9
Combatting Mind Control by Steve Hassan - Review
by TheListener ini'll admit that when i first began having doubts i thought for sure i was crazy.
once i totally didn't believe it was the truth i thought for sure i was going to die at armageddon because my faith wasn't strong enought to understand that this was really the truth.. since then i've gotten over those feelings and have always said i feel the witnesses are a cult.
maybe not as destructive a cult as jim jones, but a cult nonetheless.
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JWs are not a cult................
by vitty in...............or so i thought.
when you were an active jw, how did you feel when ppl accused you of being a cult !!!!!!!!!
and do you think its a cult now your out ?
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hopelesslystained
When I was a teenager and starting to think in a critcal manner, a boy at the kingdom hall whom i was madly in love with told me it was a cult and he often referred to the term 'the organization'. My gut told me that he was somehow right (he went on to join the army special services). Then there was a talk at the hall in part about jw's being referred to as a cult and that it was something to be proud of because that ment we stood out as being different from the rest of the 'world', Huh??? Anyway, in my continuing efforts to force myself to be a 'good' little jw, I simply pushed the whole idea in the background until much later, actually till I started researching the net as my suspicions were still floating around in the back of my mind even though I had left the 'organization' many years ago (for survival reasons of my own) and guess what? AHA! it sure as hell is a cult with 98% of the identifiers in place. That's enough proof!
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On a macro level, the Witnesses are pretty harmless
by logansrun inwarning: this post may be damaging to your biases.. it seems to me that the "danger" the witnesses pose to larger society is, well, pretty damn small.
just think about it: the witnesses are almost not involved in politics at all, except the occassional "freedom of religion and speech" issues they take to various courts, issues i am happy to support the witnesses in, even if i strongly disagree with their beliefs.
you will not see jws supporting banning abortions or gay marriages or a whole host of other civil liberties and freedoms that evangelicals rally around like the village people searching for frankenstein's monster.
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hopelesslystained
I guess they must feel some serious self-hatred then, if they thought of themselves as being as I just described. For myself, the mind control or brainwashing never set in. Just my personality I guess. But I tried my damdest to conform as a child and adult to the point that I lamented being born with an evil heart. I woke up. But, yes I still feel really terrible and sad (self-hatred) about those I brought into the truth due to my efforts at being a good witness. I saw it ruin otherwise happy families. It ruined my family. These people make up a portion of the 'macro'. A society is only as strong as it's weakest link on all levels. The witnesses are one of those weak links. On the other hand, the society attracts and holds only certain personalities, some of us move on and grow, others are happy to stagnate and be led, it provides something they need to feel purpose in their lives, I think that is the only good side.
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Jehovah's Witnesses as "a people......"
by ScoobySnax inwho out of all you nasty old apostates (tm) will agree with me, that if you take the gb that you dislike so much, and the watchtower that you hate out of the picture, will agree with me that at the end of the day, and on the whole, jw's really are a good bunch of people.
i did my same old rekky last sunday at the gillingham convention, and will have a good look around next sunday at twickenham convention.
i've been in lots of crowds, at stadiums and arenas, but an assembly is something else, it is somehow unique, its somehow different from any other crowds, there is a deep sense of "togetherness" i've not see any where else.
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hopelesslystained
one of the most powerful and truthful statments ever made to me by a prominent religeous individual when i asked for their opinion on the people who are jws. i was told he felt that the personality type of those who cling to groups such as jws are mostly needy and willing to follow a strong leader that offers strong promises, ie jws., mormons etc. i thought about this for awhile and really did not like identifying my family and friends with the 'type'. but, had to acknowledge the fact that he was right. before you ask, i will tell you, he was/is a priest with the russian orthodox church in san francisco. a young man and extremely devout and insightful in my opinion. he did not try to influence me in any way. i asked an honest question and got his honest opinion. after much time and thought, i find i agree with him. how do i know his opinion was honest? i listened to my mind and heart instead of trying to force my opinions/thoughts into a mold created by the gb or anyone else.
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The last day...
by Quentin in.
if this were the last day of your life what would you do?...
i would spend the day at the zoo with my grand kids
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hopelesslystained
well, quentin, i have no grandkids. I would spend it close and tight with my dearly beloved husband. Thanks, I just got a warm visual!
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hopelesslystained
thank you for your story, farkel, so glad you survived the 'coat-hanger'. hmm, I think that coat-hanger thing just gave a time reference. ;)
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hopelesslystained
Quentin, stop with the wart hog thing! 1950 here as well. Sheesh I am getting brave
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Jehovah's Witnesses as "a people......"
by ScoobySnax inwho out of all you nasty old apostates (tm) will agree with me, that if you take the gb that you dislike so much, and the watchtower that you hate out of the picture, will agree with me that at the end of the day, and on the whole, jw's really are a good bunch of people.
i did my same old rekky last sunday at the gillingham convention, and will have a good look around next sunday at twickenham convention.
i've been in lots of crowds, at stadiums and arenas, but an assembly is something else, it is somehow unique, its somehow different from any other crowds, there is a deep sense of "togetherness" i've not see any where else.
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hopelesslystained
It is not "just a witness thing" It is just what we here have been exposed to and experienced. But undeniably one of the undesireable concotions of power hungry individuals with an natural ability to rise above and control others who are looking for direction in their lives.
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Jehovah's Witnesses as "a people......"
by ScoobySnax inwho out of all you nasty old apostates (tm) will agree with me, that if you take the gb that you dislike so much, and the watchtower that you hate out of the picture, will agree with me that at the end of the day, and on the whole, jw's really are a good bunch of people.
i did my same old rekky last sunday at the gillingham convention, and will have a good look around next sunday at twickenham convention.
i've been in lots of crowds, at stadiums and arenas, but an assembly is something else, it is somehow unique, its somehow different from any other crowds, there is a deep sense of "togetherness" i've not see any where else.
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hopelesslystained
Evil, you are so right about the 'unconditional love' it is non-existant within the org. All things for the good Jw is on a conditional basis. It does not matter to them who you are. Just your outside shell is important and responded to. They are afraid of real human emotion. there are just too many things to deal with when we have human emotion (which should be considered God given by them), it would just be simply 'too much' for those who feel "God" is speaking though them (there is medication for this). It's sad because they want it to be different I think, but one must tow the GB line you know ;) and only because they have bought the everlasting life product. which incidentaly is based on nothing more than hopeful perception and interpretation. AND a good business plan.
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hopelesslystained
wait, wait, wait, Quentin, the tiger part has to do with what year you were born in.