a man can be a father .
a man can be a son.
a man can be a husband.
maccauk
bullshit is two words
The online Oxford Dictionary and Wikipedia list it as one word. But if you need less words, use "Bollocks."
When you get to too few words, it loses some of it's explanation.
"Total Bollocks" is sufficient but "Made up Bullshit" tells so much more.
a man can be a father .
a man can be a son.
a man can be a husband.
I can do it in 3 words
Made up bullshit.
i was thinking after hearing about the agm cutbacks to the mags and other website content surely they will end up dismissing more bethelites?
i would have thought in the old days, before the web, an artist or writer at bethel would have been a full time job making content for four 32 page mags a month.
now what are these guys going to do?.
What a greatly run cult. When you can't afford to keep your stipend low paid volunteers.
with the agm changes, and the changes over the recent few years, it struck me just how contradictory and hypocritical the society is.. we were always told that "wonderful expansion" and growth in halls was proof of god's blessing.
now it is the other way around, and building expansion is halted.. we were always told that door to door is the best way to take the "life saving" truth to people.
now it is the cart work.... we were always told that the abundance of "spiritual food" in the form of publications was proof of gods direction and teaching.
While you are correct, stuckinarut2, don't forget this important fact:
Everything is proof of God's blessings and proof that the time left is reduced. Good times on Earth are proof of the devil's influence, bad times are proof of wickedness in the end of this system of things.
So to many JW's, the organization is going through a sifting/refining/shaking out or whatever because Satan's machinations are afoot...or something like that.
i'm looking for someone to talk to, preferably local, things are in a really bad way, is there a way to post to the more private members only forum?
i can't seem to post there...
Yes, please state in a MEMBERS ONLY thread where you are.
i remember some men getting appointed and wondering what the hell were they thinking???.
likewise when i came to someone being appointed a presiding overeer or whatever they are called now!
.
OntheWayOut do you mean 'mixed' religiously? When the Witnesses use that word that's usually what they mean, but I thought your wife was still in?
No, she is a JW. I mean the old C.O. literally thought white JW's marrying black JW's was "spiritually" bad. I told him I had prayerfully examined my situation and read mags about such.
He said I would not find such couples in Gilead, and rarely at Bethel. I found and showed him a recent Gilead class photo with a black/white couple.
basically its to get people to believe in the things they say and proclaim.
once people are in a believable mental state and acceptance, then the wts can control people's thoughts, emotions and actions through acts of repetitive indoctrination.. this all comes together by instilling the notion that their interpretation of the bible is the correct and accurate one.
add in the notion of following us you'll be more righteous in the eyes of god , thereby offering a better chance of survival at the soon to come armageddon.. everything connects in a cohesive self supporting way and subconsciously effects the thoughts and social behavior of all those being indoctrinated.. constantly pointing out the many evils of the outside secular world or other religions as "false" but how one can gain true happiness when inside this organization is their way to sustain devoted members.
This all comes together by instilling the notion that their interpretation of the bible is the correct and accurate one. Add in the notion of following us you'll be more righteous in the eyes of god , thereby offering a better chance of survival at the soon to come Armageddon.
Yes.
Although many beliefs teach, "We are right and others are wrong," Watchtower literature has really gone to the extreme of taking scripture snippets to seem to prove their doctrine is right and JW's have a better understandibg than anyone else.
The average JW is mainly only interested in being right about holidays or military service ir blood or whatever, and showing up anyone in disagreement.
It now seems to me that they do this so that when they want to push their agenda with no real scriptural backing, members are so accustomed to them providing elaborate proofs and they stop checking those reference scriptures. So they just tack on those "obey the slave" or "light-brighter" references and it is accepted.
my freind (who is also out) and i were talking about this the other night.
i was a born-in, 3rd generation jw and she converted when she was in her late 20's.. when she left, she said that she knew the world wasn't as bad as she was told as a jw, so she knew she would be fine.
also, she still had lots of "worldly" family who welcomed her back with open arms.. it was harder for me - i had nobody in the "world", no family or freinds.
...I believe converts make more of a commitment than born-ins....and it may be harder to admit you are wrong and the blame is yours...
That may be true. Although I am technically an adult convert (with childhood exposure to JW's) I never had trouble admitting I was wrong.
my freind (who is also out) and i were talking about this the other night.
i was a born-in, 3rd generation jw and she converted when she was in her late 20's.. when she left, she said that she knew the world wasn't as bad as she was told as a jw, so she knew she would be fine.
also, she still had lots of "worldly" family who welcomed her back with open arms.. it was harder for me - i had nobody in the "world", no family or freinds.
Steve Hassan talks about a pre-cult personality in COMBATTING CULT MIND CONTROL.
I prefer to talk about a non-cult personality in the case of born-ins.
This is the true person without the cult enforcing it's way upon a person's beliefs.
Of course the born-in may not really have had much of an opportunity to develop their non-cult personality and they never had a pre-cult experience.
It's probably much easier to leave for a convert. Then factor in how much JW family a born-in usually has in comparison.
i remember some men getting appointed and wondering what the hell were they thinking???.
likewise when i came to someone being appointed a presiding overeer or whatever they are called now!
.
Yeah- ME!
I was baptized in 1988 and was appointed an elder in 1994. Awful quick ladder climbing.
While I was fully in believer-mode and did underline in my Watchtower and all that jazz, I have heard that really just doesn't happen.
I had the advantage that I was not a born-in, so my history was not an issue. I married right after being appointed an M.S. without getting into any trouble. I think the local elders and a new C.O. liked how I stood up to the C.O. at the time of my engagement because he said that "mixed couples" don't do well in the truth.
But the biggest factor was that I studied with an elder who wanted another feather in his own cap, so he pushed for me to be appointed.
I was appointed in a U.S.southern state and then moved in early 1995. I heard that there was a huge argument in my next congregation among the elders about appointing me again because I still hadn't been "in" for 10 years and they just didn't appoint under those circumstances. But they did appoint me. It was strange because I was in the congregation for 8 or 9 months and was not an M.S., was not given any responsibilities at all in the congregation- not even microphone handling, and had only had two five-minute "talks" in the Theocratic School. So I was surprised again. The whole congregation was surprised too, because I was still fairly new and then appointed an elder. Apparently, that congregation was chewed out for not "using" me. I was enjoying the break.
