something occurred to me last night.
people that made their pilgrimage to jw mecca (bethel) would often be excited about some silly things, i say silly because for those of you who were there or lived near enough to be involved in these things regularly they lost their magic.
i am talking about on tours one of the most memorable things people talked about or looked forward to... lunch.
I haven't been since 2000. I went to Brooklyn, the Farm, and Patterson. I remember the model of the Temple they had at Patterson, but other than that, it was somewhat of a letdown.
Sometimes I do wonder about touring without the blinders, but then why punish myself?
something occurred to me last night.
people that made their pilgrimage to jw mecca (bethel) would often be excited about some silly things, i say silly because for those of you who were there or lived near enough to be involved in these things regularly they lost their magic.
i am talking about on tours one of the most memorable things people talked about or looked forward to... lunch.
Yes, it is no more than a factory tour. It should inspire one no more or less than that of any other company. But when one has the blinders on the most mundane things take on grand significance.
the international property development corporation moves into chelmsford:.
jehovah's witnesses open 500k church in the heart of chelmsford.
"the new kingdom hall is a visible presence right in the city centre.".
thank you all for your sincere encouragement during these last few weeks.
finally, she is at peace.
i was with her , holding her hand when she died.
have a bible question.
been reading the arguments for the "faithful & wise servant" of mt.
25:45-51 being an individual versus a "class" or group of christians.
when i first learn ttatt i started telling every one.
ttatt will not help him, it will destroy him.
all his family are jws.
I’ve known a few, even one who was high up in the hierarchy with lots of firsthand insider information (at least as of 40 years ago). Basically their thought is to keep a lid on the matter because “you don’t know how a person is going to handle it”. They might go off the rails…at least from their perspective. So they keep what they know to themselves.
On the other hand, Steven Hassan has said that he operates under the assumptions that nobody wants to be deceived and everyone wants freedom. I forgot his exact words, so I’m paraphrasing from hazy memory.
Of course, personally, I don’t try to enlighten JWs in my area…that might be bad for my fade. Besides, they are almost impossible to reason with, even when presented the facts face to face. But if a person is on the internet, looking for answers, then they definitely are ready to educate themselves.
i joined this wonderful site, only a few weeks ago, although i have been away from the borg, for almost 20 years.
i didnt introduce myself, on a personal level, but i jumped right in, commenting, making threads, and just immersing myself in this community.
what a time, indeed, to be here, its almost as if i was "called" here, because the week i lurked, and joined, was when all this recent stuff came out.
You should have been appointed and elder or a ministerial servant, because the elder's handbook says:
If it comes to light or an appointed brother confesses that he has committed a disfellowshipping offense years in the past: The body of elders may determine he can continue to serve if the following is true: The immorality or other serious wrongdoing occurred more than a few years ago, and he is genuinely repentant, recognizing that he should have come forward immediately when he sinned. (Perhaps he has even confessed to his sin seeking help with his guilty conscience.) He has been serving faithfully for many years, has evidence of God's blessing, and has the respect of the congregation.
today at work i had an interesting set of co workers.
one was telling us about her side job selling sex toys(also a l&d nurse).
the other one, very beautiful, intelligent woman told us of her 2 kids.
Yep...I remember as a JW, I thought a classmate was also a JW. Turned out she was.
There are definitely subconscious cues being picked up.
we talk a lot about most jws being uneducated, uninformed, and that they lack critical thinking skills, but in my area there is a lot of jws that went to the university, medical school, law school, and came back to the organization.
in my circuit, that i know of, we had two electrical engineers, one computer engineer with a ph.d. eight teachers with a bachelors degree and three of those with a masters in education.
we had two medical doctors, one was a pediatrician who closed his business about 3 years ago and went to bethel.
Back in my koolaid days, when discussing why we 'knew' we had the truth, a born-in person with a PhD, a scientist no less, did not focus on anything concrete, like doctrine. He basically pointed to nebulous things, like “the brotherhood” and “the worldwide work”, such as the same work being organized and uniform in hundreds of countries, or helping out after a natural disaster.
Even then, I could see other organizations that could claim much the same things and that the JWs were not unique in this.
we talk a lot about most jws being uneducated, uninformed, and that they lack critical thinking skills, but in my area there is a lot of jws that went to the university, medical school, law school, and came back to the organization.
in my circuit, that i know of, we had two electrical engineers, one computer engineer with a ph.d. eight teachers with a bachelors degree and three of those with a masters in education.
we had two medical doctors, one was a pediatrician who closed his business about 3 years ago and went to bethel.
As Steven Hassan pointed out, it is a fallacy that only uneducated or unintelligent people fall prey to cults. In one book, I forgot that exact wording, he said that the more intelligent a cult member is, the more creatively they can rationalize in ways that even the leadership did not come up with.
I don't know much about martial arts, but it's sort of like a mental judo, where a person's strengths are turned against them.
