by koolaid-man 182 Replies latest jw friends
it is here in the states as well, although I don't think it's enforced very often. I just remember in my old congregation back in the 90's, "apostates" would gather outside our congregation some nights and with their noise and signs. It just caused the neighbors to call the police and the neighbors were sympathetic to us, as victims of these nuts.
Unless his goal to is annoy JW's in a meeting I don't see anything positive coming out of it.
Rick, please seek your psychiatrist for help!
THE OLD APOSTATE ON THE HILL
Once upon a time, with my mother holding my hand, we approached a "do-not-call" door. The brothers had failed to mark this house "dnc" and this eighty year old man opened the door. For two hours, this old-timer spoke with Mom, offered her coffee, tea and something to eat, patted me on the head too (I was 12). Mom was thrilled to talk about Russell, Rutherford and old doctrines, old light. Two hours later, the brothers who dropped us off at the door, realized it was "The Old Evil Apostate On The Hill" who ruined the faith of multipule JWs, and a few pioneers. "Knock, Knock, two brothers escorted us out this dungeon (nice house) and informed us of the spiritual danger we were in, and anxiously had us leave. The "Old Geezer" said "Stop by anytime, you spunky woman, Mom did not blush and said "she might accept his challenge and laughed."
What does the average questionings JW know about Apostates? This is where you can combat the image of being a monster, something that goes, "bump-in-the-night" (Red Dragons, Trolls, Dark Sith Lords) and demonstrate with reasonableness and sanity, this is not true. How many screaming and disruptive people, have you taken seriously at District Assemblies, with their signs waving in the air? .
If radical approaches of disrupting meeting with someone screaming "False Prophets, False Christs, Cult" worked, we would notice a sharp drop of meeting attendence over the following months. I have been to meetings where men stood up and screamed, a few inactive ones starting showing up afterward, thinking the "End" must be near. Well known is the fact, it will be preceived as persecution by the "Evil Slave, Mentally Diseased Class" and, who loves to brag about being "persecuted, hated by this World, attacked by the goats" more than any other faith? Just my two pennies, Rick might start a Jihad or engineer a Fatiwah but it could backfire in the court of public opinion. Rick could consider the evil methods of the "Old Apostate On The Hill". who was feared, for his success, opening people's minds with facts and reasonableness.
Those intolerant, contemptuous critics who will comment on this thread making harsh judgements and finding fault with those who protest are perhaps deep-down wishing they had the backbone to stop hiding in cyber-space, step away from their computer and "get out of the bleachers and into the game"
Rick, this statement has "mine's bigger than yours" written all over it, and betrays total ignorance towards the plight of those on this forum who, like me, need to remain anonymous in order to have any meaningful interaction with our families.
Am I a critic of yours? Yes. Am I intolerant and contemptuous towards you? Far from it. Every time I have offered any criticism it has been with the honest goal of helping you to recognize your obvious errors in judgment and "reinvent" yourself in such a way as to fulfil your clear potential and become a figure that others can aspire to. However, each and every time you are offered such help, you throw it back in people's faces - and unleash more vile condemnation of your critics such as the quote shown above.
Well, I've had it. The fact that you now criticize me simply for going about my work anonymously through necessity shows that you are just as out-of-touch and insensitive as the very organization you vilify. I've lost all patience with you, and I will do all I can to convince any lurkers that your actions and statements do not reflect the attitudes of everyone in the "apostate" community.
Cedars
FYI - Picketing memorials is a truly awful idea, and as others have mentioned, only serves to reinforce the seige-mentality and persecution complex of normal Witnesses. Not that you're remotely bothered about other people's opinions.
Well said Cedars, I agree 100% with your above post, read and inwardly digest it Rick.
It has been suggested on here by others that Rick is really in the control of the WT, working for them to support their propaganda against those who have left them, if he continues in the way he has, I will be convinced that Rick is in fact a WT stooge.
May I remind my critics that protesting works..... Where were you..... all hibernating in 2011?
The reason The Watchtower Organization is still alive and actively recruiting is because so many of you are scared to death to come out in the public and speak up!
Your constrained, uneasiness is aiding them to gather more innocent, unsuspecting people into their destructive cult.
I will not hold you hostage for not wanting to protest..... But The Watchtower is!...They say "BOO" and most here retreat to safe ground.
Possibly many voicing their concerns are silently applauding and hoping that more people will muster up the courage and create the "people- power" that is needed to topple The Watchtower.
"The Protester" as its Person of the Year for 2011, citing a worldwide outburst of people-power from Tunisia to Moscow to Wall Street.
"A year after a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself ablaze, dissent has spread across the Middle East, to Europe and the U.S., reshaping global politics and redefining people power," the magazine says.
An excerpt:
It's remarkable how much the protest vanguards share. Everywhere they are disproportionately young, middle class and educated. Almost all the protests this year began as independent affairs, without much encouragement from or endorsement by existing political parties or opposition bigwigs. All over the world, the protesters of 2011 share a belief that their countries' political systems and economies have grown dysfunctional and corrupt — sham democracies rigged to favor the rich and powerful and prevent significant change.
the problem is that most of the new witnesses aren't actually adult converts- they are born in children. Can you imagine how a child would interpret a protest at a kindom hall? I would think that it would be terrifying for a kid, and of course they are going to listen to their parents about the meaning of the protests. The most zealous, unyielding witnesses I know are the ones who were raised as witnesses in the 1940s and 50s in Southern Illinois. It's like the constant hassling they endured permanently warped their brains.
May you remind us protesting works...? I would challenge you to show one positive example of YOUR PROTEST working... Other than johnny the bethelite of course.
Free your mind rick. Stop being a petty child throwing a tantrum, develop a realistic and workable plan and make it happen. Walking around with signs on the night dubbies consider most important is lazy and confrontational. It smacks of rebeling against your parents as teenager. As that memo johnny uncovered said, this is exactly what they want you to do. It reinforces everything they teach about apostates. Surly you arn't this nieve
Rick bees yankin' again!
JK
