Posts by under the radar

I recall attending the New York International Conventions in 1958 and 1961(?) as a young child. Each day began with actual "sessions" at 9:00 am, after breakfast being served in big tents. There were long lines, but the cost was ridiculously low (about 35¢) and the food was pretty good. The sessions ended about 9 at night. Everybody's brain was frazzled. I don't know what they were thinking when they decided to subject the "friends" to 8 days of unending indoctrination.

One thing I clearly remember about the 1958 convention. One of the speakers went on and on about how IF this old system lasted another 10 years, highly unlikely, then there were ONLY so many meetings till the end and how we couldn't afford to miss any. That was over 55 years ago. The Organization now bears little resemblance to the one back then. Almost every major belief has been changed. Now the whole thing is run by lawyers and bean counters. Everything is set up to protect the Organization and its assets. Reason, common sense, and humanity be damned.

I believe the field service thing was part of the conventions back in the 30's or 40's. Then they tried to revive it in the 70's. I don't recall it being a part of the 1958 or 1961 International Conventions. But hey, I was very young. Maybe I just don't remember it.

60

Why JWs would commit murder if ordered to by the GB

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

psychology class is teaching me so much.

it's a core class, as i want to study medicine or biochemistry eventually.

we were assigned to read about obedience.

under the radar

I doubt the Society would ever be so blatant as to directly suggest murdering anyone. But... it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that a JW only slightly more "off" than the norm might decide to kill a loved one who is going astray or maybe an apostate on the theory that "if they die before Armageddon they will be resurrected as one of the 'unrighteousness.' However, if they are destroyed at Armageddon, they will be dead forever. So the most loving thing would be to insure they at least have a chance at everlasting life."

So the "logic" goes... Sick! The sad part is that it's not that far-fetched. Especially with so many JWs (at least among the ones I know) showing signs of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Absolutely anything is possible when in the throes of a manic episode. I would bet dollars to donuts that this has actually happened in the past.

I'd be very careful being alone with fervent JWs who might actually buy into this theory.

14

Just when you thought we had heard the epitomy of stupid WT comments....

by Newly Enlightened in

we thought we had heard all the stupid things printed by watchtower thru the history.

nope!

this one takes the cake and gets the applause!!!.

under the radar

Don't forget an even earlier teaching that all "inferior" races would eventually morph into white. Hmmm... a paradise consisting ENTIRELY of adult white males. I happen to be one of those, but I can't imagine anything paradise-like about world filled with veritable clones of myself. For one thing, I love women way too much (one in particular, and exclusively as far as romance goes). A world without females and children would be no paradise for me. No thanks!

And that's not even deigning to address the implied inferiority of all races other than white.

Seriously, it's hard to believe they ever put out such tripe. Even worse, to my knowledge they have never officially retracted any of these wild and baseless ideas. They may claim this is just "old light" brought up to embarass them, but they've never formally repudiated any of it (as far as I know) so any embarassment is well-deserved and on point.

15

Ex-Military JWs collect money

by Jon Preston in

jw
friends

isnt this somehing that would be against god or at least hypocritical?

jws who were in the military but quit still accept money from their jobs so they can pioneer and still get paid..... or am i being too harsh.. .

under the radar

As far as I am concerned, any veteran has EARNED whatever benefits and retirement income he or she gets. And that extends to their dependents and survivors as well. So they have every right to collect on these benefits and nobody has any right to begrudge or criticize them for doing so. Again, these benefits have been earned, and are therefore OWED to the recipient, regardless of what their personal beliefs are now.

What makes my blood boil is when people maneuver things in order to collect welfare or disability payments they are not truly entitled to in order to pioneer or the like or even just to have an easier (read: lazier) life. Welfare is meant to be a short-term social safety net, NOT a lifestyle choice. I think society as a whole would greatly benefit if there was more emphasis on personal responsibility and less reliance on government handouts. A measure of stigma attached to receiving welfare unnecessarily might serve a good purpose too. Oh well, one can dream, right?

22

My Son has had two very big University interviews

by CaptainSchmideo in

jw
friends

one for mit last month, and one for princeton tonight.. if i told this to people at my old hall, i am sure the reaction would be the same as if i broke a big, noisy windblast in front of them.. but i have to brag about it to someone, so, i will do it here.. .

we will not know anything about whether he is going to be accepted for a couple of months yet, but, as they say, this $%^# just got real!.

.

under the radar

Congratulations to you and your son! That's extremely exciting news. You must be so proud. I wish your son much success. I'm sure he'll set the world on fire.

9

Another young ex-JW musical duo

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

this is a brother-sister duo from austrailia.

they are 22 and 23 years old.

they even made a song about leaving the religion.

under the radar

I noticed other JW trigger words like Truth and Survive throughout as well. There are probably plenty of others that flashed by too fast for me to catch them on first glance. I'm buying their album. Hope others will too. I wish them every success. Glad to see anybody escape from the cult, but I'm especially glad when they do it in a big way and show others there IS life after the Watchtower.

9

Another young ex-JW musical duo

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

this is a brother-sister duo from austrailia.

they are 22 and 23 years old.

they even made a song about leaving the religion.

under the radar

The whole album is available on the US iTunes Store for $9.99. Sounds pretty good. They're very talented. I hope they go all the way to the top.

45

Don't Masturbate

by mynameislame in

don't masturbate.

thought this was funny......

under the radar

I thought it went like this: Every time you masturbate your angel comes...

9

They're everywhere! They're everywhere!

by under the radar in

jw
friends

i've been running into jws a lot lately.

some in person, others more by proxy.

last week, just as i was about to leave home for an appointment, the doorbell rang.

under the radar

I've been running into JWs a lot lately. Some in person, others more by proxy. Last week, just as I was about to leave home for an appointment, the doorbell rang. Yep, you guessed it. Two young and very earnest JWs were there with the latest line of bland patter designed to pique the interest of some naive householder. As I was in a rush, I just said, "I'm an ex-JW and I'm about to leave for a doctor's appointment." And that was that. They put away their literature and mosied on over to the next house.

I've been in Cambridge UK for the last few days on business. I was off today, so decided to take the train down to London to do some sightseeing. About 15 minutes after leaving the Cambridge station, I was watching the scenery on the left side of the train when what should appear but a big JW.ORG sign in someone's backyard, right next to the tracks. I know my fellow passengers thought I'd lost my mind when I suddenly began laughing and shaking my head at apparently nothing.

Last instance: earlier this evening, exhausted for walking around London all day, I finally wound up back at the King's Cross Station to catch my train back to Cambridge. Standing on the pavement outside the station was an admittedly attractive young woman holding out JW mags in both hands, apparently trying to entice someone to engage her in conversation. I was so tired I just walked on by. I didn't really want to ruin her day by getting my aposta-cooties on her anyway.

Like I said, they're everywhere. Y'all be careful out there...