Posts by joe_from

9

U.S. Witnesses can make the difference in the 2004 Election

by joe_from_kokomo in

dear friends:.

most witnesses do not vote, and have not done so for many years, although strictly speaking current watchtower policy does not forbid voting in a political election, but rather leaves it as a matter of conscience.

so, it is up to each witness to decide for themselves if it is ok to vote or not.

joe_from_kokomo

Dear Friends:

Most Witnesses do not vote, and have not done so for many years, although strictly speaking current Watchtower policy does not forbid voting in a political election, but rather leaves it as a matter of conscience. So, it is up to each Witness to decide for themselves if it is OK to vote or not. It is to the non-voting brothers and sisters that this posting is addressed.

When I looked into the issue of Witnesses and voting, I was surprised to find out that several of our local elders were in fact registered to vote and actually had participated in several elections over the years, in spite of WT policy, that in the past had led members to believe that it was taboo to support the political process. Some might call this hypocritical. Others might consider it merely practical.

In fact, during the 2000 Presidential election, my wife and I did NOT vote (I had even zealously UNREGISTERED to vote, a challenging process in our county, which is not really set up for such a thing.) So, in my state (Florida), the Presidential election was lost over a mere 537 votes. Had my wife and I voted, this would have been a 535 vote margin. Had other Witnesses of similar viewpoint voted, we would not be in a war in Iraq now. Think about it.

Again this year, we are faced with a similar "dead heat" situation in the Presidential election. Our family has now registered to vote, and we have even "early voted" for the non-war-mongering candidate of our choice.

I encourage the non-voting readers to think long and hard about the importance of participating in the election process this time. Lives depend on who becomes our next president, and we are currently entangled in a bloody quagmire in Babylon that has no exit strategy. I assert that 1 million US Jehovah's Witnesses can make the difference in this upcoming election, if they will merely look beyond the prior voting restrictions put upon them by the governing body in the past, that have since been lifted and left to each individual as a matter of conscience. Yes, it is time to exercise that conscience and do the right thing. It is time to get past the restrictions of the past.

Put another way, if you do not vote out the incumbent, you may be blood guilty for allowing this bloody war in Iraq to continue, harming untold innocents and civilians and killing and wounding thousands of American, British and Polish soldiers, among others.

It's time to take a stand against the currenty tyranny in charge of our US government. Please exercise your constitutional right to vote. Your elders do, so you can, too. In doing so, you can make a difference in your own life, as well as that of others. Health care, minimum wage standards, and education do affect you, your brothers and sisters, and millions of others. Make a difference this year - vote for the candidate of your choice. Let your conscience be your guide.

JFK

16

No New Book To Study WTF

by Poztate in

ok ...what am i missing here.

it seems to me every year that the dc was the place to bring out "new light?

" including a new and exciting book to sleep through study each and every week.

joe_from_kokomo

Studying the Isaiah books again should be classified as torture under the Geneva convention. We thought of it like chinese water torture when we went thru it and looked for any excuse to miss...

26

It's About INVENTORY, Stupid!

by Farkel in

in 1940, former zone servant harvey h. fink wrote that the wts was "set up by presumptous men whose interest in spite of their pretenses to the contray, is primarily selling books for revenue.." and that the wts demanded that books containing outdated doctrine would still "be sold to the people very definitely, because it wanted to get the revenue out of them in spite of the errors it willing admitted they contained.

strong words, indeed.

is the wts so currupt and greedy that they would knowlingly make their membership buy and sell books that contained admitted false prophecies and outdated doctrines?

joe_from_kokomo

Farkel: I love your comment and this thread. It is so on the mark and it explains a lot.

When we first started attending in late 1994, they had just finished their last and final study of the Revelation book. (Thank God.) Some said they had been through this book 3 times! I did BUY a copy of it (via donation of course) and attempted to read it, only to find it a muddled and egocentrically-Witnessized symbolic mess. So, I am very glad we were spared from having to suffer through that drivel.

I have to wonder now how much money they are making off of the dreadful two volume ISAIAH series. These are the worst type of sheer repetitive spritual drivel of the most high kind, which could only have been written by Ronald Reagan on the Isle of Patmos after eating some strange mushrooms, or the Governing Body and it's so-called Writing Department, the later of whose tomes are part-drivel, part-symbolic crap, and part-plagerism of age-old Bible commentaries by other real Bible scholars.

My three cents...

18

Prince Streetwitnessing?

by Gadget in

my line manager from work got back from holiday in hollywood on sunday, and all day at work yesterday he was telling us all about it.

on his tour of beverley hills he had princes mansion pointed out, but was told that the singer didn't live there anymore, but had bought a bar on sunset boulavard instead and could be found outside it everyday giving out religious leaflets.

and sure enough, when he went down there, prince was standing on the street talking to people and giving them religious leaflets.

joe_from_kokomo

The Kingdom Hall Bar & Grill... LMAO

18

Prince Streetwitnessing?

by Gadget in

my line manager from work got back from holiday in hollywood on sunday, and all day at work yesterday he was telling us all about it.

on his tour of beverley hills he had princes mansion pointed out, but was told that the singer didn't live there anymore, but had bought a bar on sunset boulavard instead and could be found outside it everyday giving out religious leaflets.

and sure enough, when he went down there, prince was standing on the street talking to people and giving them religious leaflets.

joe_from_kokomo

...bet he'll try to convert it into a Kingdom Hall if he can. What a gas!

18

Prince Streetwitnessing?

by Gadget in

my line manager from work got back from holiday in hollywood on sunday, and all day at work yesterday he was telling us all about it.

on his tour of beverley hills he had princes mansion pointed out, but was told that the singer didn't live there anymore, but had bought a bar on sunset boulavard instead and could be found outside it everyday giving out religious leaflets.

and sure enough, when he went down there, prince was standing on the street talking to people and giving them religious leaflets.

joe_from_kokomo

...and to think I used to think he was cool!

"...Only want your Bible study by my Sunset bar..." [sung to the tune of Purple Rain]

5

E-WATCHMAN LETTER - WHY NOT SELL IT AS AN ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION ON EBAY?

by Gary1914 in

i don't get to post much here but i read this board whenever i can.. anyway, in reference to the fabulous e-watchman letter rearding the watchtower's association with the un as an ngo, why not offer the information electronically on ebay.

no stamps, no mailings and it could be held as a private auction so that identities could be protected.

it could be listed as a multiple item auction thus saving money on listing costs and the cost for the information could be minimal, say 10 or 20 cents.. ebay has a worldwide audience in excess of 50 million people and there are many elders and pioneers who sell merchandise there in an effort to supplement their income.

joe_from_kokomo

This is a great idea in theory, but not in practice. Anything E-Watchman writes on paper or on his Web site, or even in an email, is covered by US Copyright Law. The minute you try to sell someone else's writings without their permission for $$, you are inviting a lawsuit. Sorry to rain on the parade, but this is true, friends.

76

E-Watchman Has Sent NGO Letters to Over 5000 U.S. Congregations!

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

e-watchman has sent over 5000 letters to congregations in the u.s informing them of the ngo debacle and a similar one to 101 branches around the world.

and according to his guestbook post he has signed his real name to the letters!

great work and great news!

joe_from_kokomo

Note to E-Watchman:

I know you probably read this site, and will likely peruse this posting. So, I direct these comments to you specifically.

I read your article out loud to my wife and we both loved it. We have been "out" almost a year now, due mainly to the lies and hypocrisy you speak of in your article, which our consciences could no longer tolerate. Child abuse, UN NGO affiliation, fuzzy logic about 607 BCE, the de-emphasis of the role of Jesus, and the self-glorification of the Society, to the point of it taking the place of Jehovah in some passages, were too much to bear.

This is a truly great letter, very well researched and very well written. I agree with many of your excellent points and admire your courage and mettle for coming out with this. In some ways, I wish I had done the same thing myself. Jehovah will smile on you for speaking out for the truth, no matter what happens in the next few days or weeks ahead.

Some think that these kinds of efforts make little difference - they remain skeptical of achieving any real and lasting results. I disagree. Just a few weeks ago, I got my letter from the UN and posted it here for everyone to read. This lead to a number of comments from the readers. One of the readers, SeattleNiceGuy I think, suggested that everyone who wanted to, should write to the UN and ask them to post a similar letter on their Web site. And, we now know the results of that: the letter is out there for everyone in the world to see. Search engines have picked it up and everyone can find it now. No one has to wait 9 months to know the truth of this matter.

My point is this: I was hesitant to post my letter - which was not much different from letters others had already posted (I take no special credit there), but it was a very personal thing. Still, I wanted to share it. This has had a tremendous positive ripple effect, that has helped to bring the truth about the UN matter to thousands of people, thanks to a suggestion inspired by another member who felt it was time for the truth to come to light.

Your letter also has a tremendous amount of truth in it, and will no doubt have a similar positive effect. Elders, overseers and brothers in the lead will start to ask about this matter, will start to look into it and see the hypocrisy for what it is. This will no doubt bring about some much needed changes in the organization.

Some have said that the Internet will be the death of the Watchtower Society. It is certainly a media forum that the WTS speaks out against and is afraid. But really, it's the light of truth that they speak out against. It's the truth about "The Truth" that they are afraid of.

That well-worn scripture, "the truth will set you free" means just that... you have to be willing to speak up for the truth, to stand up for the truth, and take whateever consequences that come with that decision. You have shown others what that really means. This is truly inspirational.

Thank you again for your wonderful letter. It was the right thing to do. May Jehovah bless you for your efforts on his behalf.

JFK

34

Remember Dateline??

by Joyzabel in

i'm trying to get some comments that active jehovah's witnesses may have heard after dateline aired back on may 28, 2002.

do you remember any comments made about the dateline program either made from the platform at the kingdom hall, or in private conversations with other jw's?

how were the people who where on dateline viewed in your area, especially at the kingdom hall or by other jws?

joe_from_kokomo

I could never forget this program. We taped it off satellite and watched it several times. Then a few weeks later one of the Governing Body members came to the Ass. Hall in Daytona and did a final closing address about it. I cornered him afterward. It was my first posting here. Soon afterward, we left this bunch of lying hypocrits.

Want some interesting reading? check out my first posting on this exact topic here. It is a true account told by a novice soon-to-be-considered-apostate JW:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/44396/623163/post.ashx#623163

6

Time to have a Picket Rally at Bethel?

by joe_from_kokomo in

after reading what e-watchman posted, i feel inspired.

i would like to propose a general purpose picket of bethel to happen on the nissan 14 (can anyone tell me what day that falls on this year?).

bill bowen and everyone from silent lambs can come and protest on behalf of abused children.

joe_from_kokomo

After reading what E-watchman posted, I feel inspired. I would like to propose a general purpose picket of Bethel to happen on the Nissan 14 (can anyone tell me what day that falls on this year?). Bill Bowen and everyone from Silent Lambs can come and protest on behalf of abused children. E-watchman and everyone who is disgusted about the Watchtower's political prostitution with the U.N. can come and bring their signs, and everyone who was ever mistreated, or dumped out in the cold by this hypocritical organization of wanna-be Christians can all gather at the main WTBTS building on Nissan 14.

I hear stories of people sending out emails and instant gatherings occur spontaneously. Let's harness some of this by everyone coming together en masse to protest the outrageous actions of the Governing Body. Tell the Media where we'll be, when we'll be there, and make sure they show up, too.

What do you think? Have a Memorial-on-the-curb by the Bethel building. I'll bring the wine and crackers and this time everyone can have some.

joe_from_kokomo

Posts by joe_from_kokomo