Topics Started by cedars
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UK newspaper interest in "mentally diseased", any Witnesses want to come forward?
by cedars infollowing the recent activity surrounding the "mentally diseased" apostate article, a major uk newspaper has expressed an interest in covering the story.
the correspondent as been told about this forum, and he is particularly interested in hearing from those inside the organisation, as i think few people are aware of how much unrest there is actually within witness ranks at the teachings of the society.. would anybody like to be used as a source, either anonymously or otherwise?
if so, it might be worthwhile saying a few words on this thread.
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Census / online survey idea - thoughts please...
by cedars ini've been thinking about the recent developments in the uk following the "apostates = mentally diseased" article in the july 15th edition of the watchtower.
to provide a bit more background, a forum member named amelia has recently had a meeting with uk police officers who subsequently took a copy of the article for their records.
they agreed that the content could potentially incite people to hatred against disaffected witnesses, and the copy is now on file with the uk police in case there are any future incidents of hateful acts against "apostates", including violence or even stalking.. i am working on a press release to make the public more aware of the idealogical oppression being meted out by the society on those who oppose them, both inside and outside the organization.
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Wording of "mentally diseased" press release - feedback?
by cedars inas some of you may know, i am working with trailerfitter and cantleave in helping amelia with her efforts to complain about the latest "apostates are mentally diseased" article.
she has an appointment with local police tomorrow afternoon, as she has lodged a complaint under the 'hate crimes' act.
it has been suggested that this issue may merit some media coverage, and with this in mind i have prepared a draft press release.
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* Some names have been changed.
by cedars ini just thought i would flag this as something i have long despised about the magazines, since long before i made the decision to distance myself emotionally from the the organization.
this isn't a big deal or anything, and ranks way down on my list of concerns about the society, but i felt it was worth mentioning nonetheless.. as you will know, frequently in the magazines an experience will be quoted (portrayed as being real, although we are often left wondering whether it is), and in such an experience a name will be mentioned followed by an asterisk (*) which leads to a footnote which reads "some names have been changed.".
out of interest, i went on my 2010 watchtower library and typed in "some names have been changed", and found that this footnote had been repeated no less than 69 times between 1994 and 2010 (39 times in the watchtower, and 30 times in the awake).
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Bizarre 'Spirit anointed' v. 'Spirit appointed' explanation in Dec 15th WT
by cedars inhi everyone, i am going through the dec 15th study edition of the wt thanks to a tip-off that this issue is now available online at jw.org.. in the article "guided by god's spirit in the first century and today" on page 25 there is a bizarre argument put forward by the society about the difference between spirit-anointed and spirit-appointed.. this touches on a subject that i have often wondered about, which is this.
why are spirit anointed brothers and sisters (memorial partakers) not given positions of oversight in the congregation by default?
i know it sounds like a stupid question, but please think about it for a moment.
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Dec 15th WT: "Be like Solomon and don't go to university / don't be like Solomon and join a sports team!"
by cedars inthanks to 'gayle' for bringing our attention to the fact that the december 15th watchtower has now been uploaded to jw.org.
it doesn't take long to reach the first juicy bit on pages 8 and 9, this time regarding higher education:.
it would be good to ask, am i taking to heart solomons example of treasuring divine wisdom?
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Fallout from the apostate-bashing WT article?
by cedars ini've noticed there are a few excellent threads on here about sunday's 9/11 watchtower study.
my own analysis of its more blatantly farcical claims (including that of apostates being "mentally diseased") can be seen here.. what i really wanted to know is - what has the fallout been?
has it created any horror-stories within people's families or homes, etc?
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Your top 5 most irritating doctrines/practices?
by cedars init's clear that virtually everyone on here is infuriated by wt teachings/doctrines/practices, but i would really like to know what is of most concern to people who frequent this forum.. here is my top 5, number 1 being the most significant/infuriating:.
the disfellowshipping practice - expanded to include family members (but not parents) who are old enough to leave home.
wrecks families and creates abject fear once people find out the truth about the organization.the blood issue - another unmerciful teaching, but one that costs lives.unquestioned authority of governing body - a handful of men make life-altering decisions as representatives of a larger group of people who they never see or speak to, and yet they demand unquestioning obedience on pain of being disfellowshipped.failed prophecy - the fulfilment of huge swathes of bible prophecy, including revelation, has been attributed to the events of the early 20th century, and the actions of a small group of men.two-tier christianity - faithful and discreet slave are anointed who go to heaven to whom ransom provisions apply directly, whereas remainder, or "great crowd" stay on earth and form a sub-class, only access benefits of ransom through fds.i realise that many of these issues are inter-related, but that's roughly how i would put them.
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WT: "A sport is objectionable if too many people like it"
by cedars inif i may, i would like to offer another glimpse into the strange minds of the writers of the more recent watchtower study editions, this time on the topic of sport.. no doubt like many of you, i enjoy playing sport because (apart from anything else) regular exercise stops me from becoming fat and unhealthy.
during my time as an active witness, i often had the opportunity to play sports with other brothers, although i became increasingly frustrated that this was not (in my case) organised on a more regular basis by those in my congregation; rather, games of my particular sport were organised less and less frequently until they became virtually non-existant.. things have improved considerably since i became inactive and was improperly shunned by those 'brothers' i used to play sport with, because i have begun playing my particular sport with so-called "worldly" people in my local community.
apart from allowing me to get back into some semblance of shape (thereby keeping mrs cedars happy) i am also able to keep in touch with my neighbours and be more sociable with those who live near me.
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Crisis of Conscience - The Movie
by cedars ini know... how cool would that be??!.
having just commented on the post by trailerfitter about the situation with his wife, and how i have personally found the book crisis of conscience by ray franz to be the perfect antidote to the society's perception of itself as being god's earthly organisation, the thought occurred to me: what if there was a movie about ray franz and his life?
obviously the society would be in uproar, and letters would be read out to all congregations all over the world not to go and see it, but just imagine!