Posts by Syme

61

Elders School 2013: Model Judicial Committee Videos and messages from the GB

by hildebrando in

for the first time, weve accessed to audiovisual material in spanish, regarding the elders schools.

here is a video of a dramatization of a model judicial committee, in addition to letts introduction (speaking with strange gestures) and comments from anthony morris iii:.

http://hildeydesa.blogspot.com/2014/02/escuela-de-ancianos-2013-videos-de.html.

Syme

From a certain perspective, it is strange.

It is strange that the GB presses for more disfellowshippings at a time when stagnation knocks at the door.

Many JW are leaving deliberately, more are fading/becoming inactive, and many more give in to apathy. The field work is now a mere distribution of cheap leaflets; few are 'qualified' to serve as elders, most R&F don't want to go into that procedure.

Still, the Org is pressing for more ridigness...

It is a risky game on their part, they prefer to have them under high control even if they are less in numbers; however, the laws of nature dictate that from a certain point on, too much pressure will lead to a 'pressure relief'.

5

My confession: How i feel WT makes me a bigger liar

by Jon Preston in

jw
friends

this is difficult for me to discuss.

i love my wife and i live my family.

but since i became a jw i feel like ive lied more than when i was "worldy"...is it stress and the relentless pressure to do more?

Syme

Repression leads to lying.

It's human nature. Especially when you repress perfectly natural urges.

The more repressing a religion is, the more lying their members are. They are forced to lie.

Why so many priests and monks lie about their chastity/celibacy? Because they're repressed.

Why so many JWs lie about viewing pornography or masturbating? Because it's a 'taboo'; it's a repressed urge.

Excessive requirements lead to excessive lies.

Also, if you try desperately to build and maintain an image of a ''holy'' man of "faith" (as a 'good' JW does), of course you have to lie some times in order to keep that image intact. You can't make an omelette (image) without breaking some eggs (lying).

25

British museum bible tours

by inbetween in

visiting london years ago i had the chance to participate on a bible tour arranged from bethel.

what i remember, it was one out of 12 topics, and a brother or sister served as a guide, showing particular objects related to bible accounts.. at that time, i was quite enthusiastic about it, thinking i learned something valuable.. .

now, being awake to ttatt, i wonder what real scientific value those tours served.. or rather it raises the suspicion, that those tours are for visiting witnesses in order to distract them from many other finds in the museum, that would disprove either the bible or their own theology.. anybody ever made such a tour ?.

Syme

inbetween

I visited the British Museum last year, but not on a ''Bible tour''. It was a most amazing and enriching experience. The thing is, almost EVERYTHING in the British Museum actually disproves the WTS interpretations, even the accuracy of the Bible itself, if taken literally. For example, artifacts from Egypt predating, or at the time of, the 'Flood'; artifacts from Neolithic age, long before Adam & Eve; Sumerian artifacts before the Flood; the list is huge.

The most astonishing fact, is that those so-called Bible tours pass right through those wonderful displays and yield ZERO gain in knowledge. A visit that could really change your worldview degrades into another ''faith upbuilding'' experience... it's a farce, come to think of it. Also shows, that the fanatical, brainwashed person is capable of going through a temple of Humanity, as is the British Museum, and yet gain nothing.

It's like a stone that lives in the bottom of the lake for years, yet the water does not penetrate it in the least.

10

How does anxiety affect your heart rate?

by Splash in

-- w54 4/15 p. 233 scriptural aspect of psychosomatic medicine --.

"doctors have found also that anxiety slows down the heart beat as much as 27 beats a minute.

the bible shows that men become faint out of fear and the heart may stop.luke 21:26 (men become faint out of fear)".

Syme

Hilarious!

Those old ''scientific'' WT articles are pure joy!

46

War over preparing for WT study

by cookiemaster in

i know that title sounds weird but so is this situation.

with the following information i'm about to desconspire myself a little bit, but i don't really care since i will simply deny it if any of my elders are lurking here.

anyway the situation is the following.

Syme

No, don't be afraid. In fact, *he* is the one out of line here, even by WTS standards.

Kick him all you want, he won't be holding long his position since: (a) he takes double time (2h) to complete the lesson, (b) he insults brothers in the audience, (c) he comments too much on the lesson, instead of letting the audience do the most commenting, (d) he instructs the audience with arbitrary rules as to how they should prepare for the study.

All those 4 reasons are legitimate causes for him to be relieved of his assignment. If you are in good terms with an elder of his congo, shoot freely.

59

Why doesn't Jehovah just destroy Satan and the demons then leave humanity alone?

by yadda yadda 2 in

did you ever wonder that as a jw?.

if all the trouble on this planet is down to satan and the demons, why not just get rid of them and then leave humankind alone and see how we go from there?

wouldn't a god who "is love" (1 john 4:8) full of mercy and justice at least try that first?

Syme

That problem (the existence of evil) is a problem for all religions, not just WTS.

As Epicurus had said:

Why God doesn't destroy evil?

If he wants but cannot, then he is not almighty.

If he can but does not want, then he is not benevolent.

If neither does he want nor can, then why call him God?

The official doctrine of the Watchtower is that God can destroy Satan but doesn't want to, for the time being (meaning, for the past 6,000 years). So, how can he be benevolent?

39

New awake up on jw.org about suicide

by hoser in

they have printed a series of articles about suicide.

.

Syme

So, on the one hand the unnatural living style of an active jw is such that he is highly more prone to depression than a 'worldly' one, and on the other hand they print magazines to help you with a problem that probably wouldn't be there in the first place if you weren't in the WT!

As with other teachings, the method is: first create the problem, then present our solution (to the problem we created) as a God-given gift.

10

I feel sorry for the R.Catholic's that got hoodwinked by the J.W.watchtower cult

by bobld in

jw
friends

they are now apostates in the eyes of the church.they are ostracized by family and friends.they have lost the privilege of confessing their sins to a priest and the blessed sacrament of the holy eucharist.just imagine and 18 yr old getting the boot from the parents to leave home.. now,the brainwashed cult member has the audacity to tell family and friends(if allowed) that the r.c.c.

lied to him/her and said that they could not read and understand the bible w/o the help of the priest.heaven forbid,if they read the publications of the watchtower,the faithful slave(gb) tells j.w.

that they cannot read the bible on their own and understand it w/o the help of the slave.it is in one ear and out the other.. r.c.c would not ostracize their members..

Syme

bobld,

The R.Catholics would not ostracize? Not so long ago, the Catholic church would ostracize from the land of the living. The only reason they don't have heretics killed now is because the secular states don't allow them to. Besides, doesn't St.Paul himself (1 Cor. 5:5) instruct Christians to throw the transgressor into fire?

Whenever, and wherever, a religion has actual power over its members (not only spiritual one), has usually dissenters and transgressors killed, not just ostracized. That was the case with the Hebrews in 'biblical' times, that was the case with Christianity throughout the Middle Ages, that is the case today in Islamic states, and that would be the case with JWs if they had real power.

Again: the only reason that christian religions don't execute people anymore is because they've lost political power.

So don't be carried away. All religions, ecpecially all of monotheism (which is a fanatical idea in its basis) are potential (and often, real) killers.

62

Marriage Consummation - emailed question has me stumped

by jwfacts in

i received an email from a jw that got married, but the wife never had sex with him.

they were together for a period of years.

he told the elders, but they said there was nothing that could be done.

Syme

From what I remember, there's no such concept as 'consummation' of a marriage in WT policy. It is the signing of papers by the 2 spouses in front of 2 witnesses that officially starts a marriage. *That* is the actual 'consummation'. So, whether they have sex after that or not, is irrelevant.

Suppose a spouse has an accident when they drive out of the wedding party and gets incapable of having sexual relations from that point on, before having their first night. What then, is the marriage not legitimate because they didn't sexually consummate it? Can the other spouse cancel the marriage, or have another wife? Obviously not. Technically, this is not really different from the experience you shared (it is ethically different). And as we know, when elders look up a case, their only anxiety is to be *technically* correct, i.e. in order with the various regulations. Hence, the disfellowshipping of the poor guy.

52

Billy's Comments You Won't Hear at the 01-26-2014 WT Study (Obey Jehovah's Shepherds))

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

fine.

holy spirit appointed overseers to shepherd?

6:1, 2; jude 22) are these not good reasons for being obedient to those who are taking the lead?read hebrews 13:17.. .

Syme

Thanks Billy

To me the most disturbing image of that article was the 1st image (first paragraph) with the shepherd 'taking care of' a sheep. It is a very blatant image: so the elders are actual HUMANS while the rest of the JWs are quite really, SHEEP.

That image discards any claims that the elders are 'equal' or even 'servants' to the r&f...