http://www.believermag.com/issues/201302/?read=article_scorah.
oops saw already posted by wolfy.
Thanks Poztate that was really interesting, especially the fact that once Amber was out of her comfort zone she began to think for herself and see things in a different light, leading to her waking up to the truth about the truth.
I loved the part when it suddenly dawned on her that all those enthusiastic Chinese studies she had conducted while still living in Vancouver were only really interested in the free English lessons she was giving them at the same time
i know this is true every week, and i say it all the time, and i know blondie will be doing her review later, but.... today's watchtower was bat-shit crazy!.
i knew it was going to be a bizzare one just reading it, but the comments at the meeting took it even further.
i can't post all the crazy ones, but in summary what they were saying was:.
"If it had been done Jehovah's way, we would have black, white or yellow popping up here and there, not in great masses like they are at the moment. The reason they are in great masses at the moment is because they've separated themselves out and so there's one kind of feature grown up in different races. But otherwise, it would have been a mixture and that's the way it should be."
What???!!! Do these people EVER stop to think what they are saying? Have they no idea how genetics work?? Oh no, of course they are not allowed to think for themselves are they.
"I'm just very grateful that I've been taught by Jehovah that people from other places are the same as myself. But I would have been brought up as a very different sort of person, hating foreigners, and not liking people of different colors.
Yes, like all of us who are not JWs hate everyone who is a different race or color to ourselves don't we
Some of those comments were unbelievably crazy!
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he runs circles around the dogmatic elders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lko0vmqfyau.
Ok, I agree his videos lack a certain degree of maturity but he is only 19 and has just been df'd from a restrictive controlling religion that has ruled his whole life up to this point, which he has discovered to be false from his own research. He will undoubtedly have a lot of pent up anger and resentment to get out of his system. I would much rather see him putting all his emotions into making these videos than shrinking into his shell and becoming depressed and suicidal over the way he has been treated, especially the way his own mother behaved towards him.
Good for him is what I say
i know this is an odd idea.
maybe it is even silly.. but, i do daydream..... .
what if you were informed that you are disfellowshipped and you flashed a huge smile and said, "nah.".
Terry, I don't think it is silly at all, I think it is brilliant! It would be great if as many df'd members of JWN as possible tried this, and reported back on how they get on. I'm sure there was a df'd guy a year or two back either on JWN or youtube, (I can't remember where I saw it), who went to his memorial deliberately chatting to all the bros and sisters shaking hands and refusing to be ignored. It totally threw them, but he had quite a positive response from some, quite surprisingly, if I remember rightly.
There is no law against talking to people and they can only df someone once! I can just see some of the die hard dubs running for the exits in fear of contamination, but at the end of the day what could the elders do about it? They can't throw you out or call the police just because you are being friendly and chatty with everyone!!
It would take some courage and maybe some would not be able to face it, but I am sure there are many who could do as you suggest, and treat their df as a silly joke on the part of the elders! Maybe a campagn could be started, with the backing of everyone on JWN
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he runs circles around the dogmatic elders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lko0vmqfyau.
Wow, BlindersOff1, thanks for bringing these amazing videos to my attention, I had never come across them before. He really is remarkable the way he handled those elders and I can't get over the fact he is only 19 years old! He ran rings round those pompous buffoons intellectually and proved his knowledge of the bible and Watchtower doctrine was equal to, if not better than their own.
I will now go and watch the rest of his videos with great fascination.
Edited to add:
''No recording, it's just what we do''.......''we're just men talking''... I found this really creepy! Yes, just men talking. What they didn't say was that after they finished talking they would cold bloodedly throw you out of congregation and cut off all contact with family and friends. Which is nothing to what they would do if the law allowed, i.e. stone you to death. What a lovely religion this is to be sure
this picture brings back some memories.... .
what happens when a 14 year old boy gets bombarded about how evil it is to feel a natural attraction towards the opposite sex?.
first - you encounter the robot from lost in space, yelling danger, danger!.
Up until the age of 14 my family had not been influenced by the WTS and I was used to having freedom in choosing my friends which included boys as well as girls. I was naturally friendly and chatty, and I was a normal teenage girl with a healthy interest in boys, who loved male company and the boys I knew enjoyed my company also! I hasten to add this did NOT mean I wanted to have sex with them, I was only 14 for goodness sake and in or out of the organisation I would not have been anywhere near ready for that kind of relationship.
I could not change my personality overnight when we became JWs. I tended to go up to anyone and start chatting to them, but I got into a lot of trouble for making friends with the boys and being accused of "leading them on". It came as a shock to me that girls simply did not talk to the boys in the congregation unless they were looking for a marriage partner. I was told that platonic friendships between the sexes simply did not exist and the dangers of fornication or adultery meant that males and females of any age should never be alone together. I found all this very strange and difficult to deal with, especially when I saw elderly sisters unable to accept lifts from brothers or allow them into their homes if they were on their own. They seemed to be preoccupied with sex. It was ridiculous!!
This continued to be a problem for me throughout my teenage years. I was kept under strict control by my devout JW parents who vetted all my friendships but I still seemed to get a reputation for leading the boys on. Elderly sisters in the congregation were always muttering and tutting about me. All I wanted to do was be FRIENDS with them for crying out loud
Having said that, I have noticed that these days things tend to be very different, at least in the congregations my nephews and nieces attend. They all seem to be allowed to have platonic friendships between the sexes which I am delighted to see.
is jwn going on facebook????
if so i will have to say goodbye...would someone let me know please.
Oh mouthy, it makes me so sad reading that. Love and hugs to you xxx
i was thinking how unnatural it is for most people to knock on stranger's doors and tell them that if they don't respond to what they were trying to get across, that they were going to be killed by god.
.....then there's the obligation to join the theocratic ministry school and go on a platform and give talks---even if you had a phobia!
.....or you're made to feel that you must answer at the meetings even if you're extremely shy.....are there other things that you can think of that made you totally uncomfortable?
Yes, I can relate to most of the above.
Also, at the age of 14 having to go to the head teacher and tell her I needed to be excused from school assemblies as I had become a Jehovah's Witness. I can still see the look on her face to this day!. The stupid thing was, I was put in with the Catholic pupils while assembly was going on as they didn't know what else to do with me. I never told my parents about that lol.
Then, having to tell my friends I could no longer join in Birthday celebrations or any other 'worldy' activities. I was the only JW in the entire school so I stood out like a sore thumb and was ridiculed and felt isolated, yet I was expected to use every opportunity to bring out Watchtower literature and witness to them all. I can remember hating the GB for dishing out all these rules and thinking, even back then, that they had absolutely no idea what it was like to be the only JW teenager in a school, or if they DID know, they were just down right cruel!
As if all that wasn't enough, all my friends, even from within the congregation, had to be vetted. The phrase "bad associations spoil useful habits" was repeated continually like a stuck record. I watched while other youngsters had fun, going out together at weekends but I was only allowed to associate with spiritual (usually boring, nerdy) sisters of my own age. Pop music was banned as it was evil.
Oh, happy days
heres a thought expereiment.. what do you think the watchtower would be like if it had started in europe instead of america.. in europe at the time of the 1800's you had an interesting period of social, political and scientific change.
womens rights movenment were making strides in bettering their standing in society.
many religious institutions welcomed darwins explanation of evolution over time.. how do you think this back drop would have influenced the religions precursers and founders?
Very interesting point. Personally, and in line with everything you said about life in Europe in the 1800s compared to America and how these factors would have influenced people at the time, I think the ideals and doctrines of the Watchtower could ONLY have come from America. Also, Russell and especially Rutherford were flamboyant outgoing characters with powerful public speaking voices that you could not easily ignore. The British psyche was totally different at that time. We as a nation were far more reserved. Anything coming out of America was exciting and intriguing to many over this side of the pond, which would have made it attractive and fashionable. I doubt it would have taken off if it had been the other way round.
i'm really interested in this question because i've heard for years that if you forgo further education and go pioneering, when you have a family down the track you will get a good job because jehovah will provide for you because you pioneered.
as long as i was a kool-aid drinker, even then, i thought, "how does pioneering pay your bills?
surely education should come first.
I was another one, well and truly screwed. I started out as a normal teenager in the 1960s with parents who believed in higher education and wanted good careers for me and my sisters. I attended a good grammar school and had everything going for me. Then my parents got converted and by the time I was 15 everything had changed. There was no point even thinking about universaty as armageddon was going to come before I had chance to finish the course. By the time I was 18 I should have been at university studying for a degree, but instead I was out knocking doors as a full time pioneer with a part time cleaning job. Thanks WTS, I hope you are really pleased with yourselves the way you screwed us all over
