james_woods

Joined

• started 182 topics
• posted 12,226 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by james_woods

• 
  14

  Prince Websites

  by kojo in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  hello, this is my first time posting here after finding this site a few weeks back.

  i studied jehovah witness teachings for a brief time, when i knew little of the bible during my teen years, but fortunately came to realize the witnesses were not christian at all.. however since i was teen i have followed and enjoyed the music of prince more than any other singer/artist.

  i always loved his ability to express both the carnal and the spiritual in his songs, the very thing that makes us human.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  It probably would go down about the same if you got onto a Tom Cruise fan-worship site and bashed Scientology...
• 
  74

  Please don't take offence at this ...

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm not a jw, never have been, and in no danger of becoming one.. having read several of the wt mags and publications (and many more extracts on this and other sites) they come across to me as being very patronising in tone and full of pseudo-scholarship, misquoted (or unnamed) sources, references taken out of context, mis-translations, etc.

  i'm aware of jw 'teaching' on the subject of higher education for its members (i.e.

  not a good or necessary thing) so i can understand why many jws raised in it may not challenge the publications.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  I clipped out the original question:

  My question is this: in all the door-to-door canvassing and 'bible studies' do JWs attract what might be called 'academics' or professional types who have had a high level of education? Or do 'these types of people' see through it at the start? And do JW congregations contain any of these 'types'?

  I have known only a very few hard core JW's who actually had any educational credentials. I must honestly say that those few struck me as pretty disturbed people who needed an audience which could be easily impressed - as if they could not make it in "real" society. There are a lot of pretty crazy tenured college professors out there, after all. For example, Ward Churchill. If he is an American Indian, then I am from the planet Vulcan and can nerve pinch you into unconsciousness.

  Maybe the best example of this in WT land would be our own Freddy Franz of the fraternity of the brown shoes. If you hunt through the threads on him, what you find is a person who hyped up his own scholarship way beyond its reality while his organization told everybody else to stay away from college. Me thinks he was not really a "Rhodes Scholor" at all, but they sure liked to blow that smoke all over the rest of us. I also do not think that old Rutherford was really a Judge either.

  But it did sound better than "Justice of the Peace" Rutherford.
• 
  37

  Hateful Christian

  by Dr Jekyll in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm quite open minded, it takes a lot to shock or offend me but i found this really offensive.

  how on earth can this woman justify calling herself a christian?!?!.

  there are some really sick people out there, here's a church full of them.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g470rfjqci

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  This has been a pretty good week for religion zealots foaming at the mouth...

  besides this little gem,

  how about the Catholic priest who knifed the num in 1980 (and was still wearing the collar when they declared him guilty today)?

  how about the LDS breakoff polygamist guy that is almost surely the first 10 most wanted on the primary basis of religious fanaticism?
• 
  21

  Did Noah preach the "good news"?

  by M.J. in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i've heard it a hundred times.

  "noah preached, so we preach.

  " but is that what the bible indicates?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  And, am I totally dreaming this up, or do I not remember the WT saying that the "lake of fire" second death would always be kept around even after the 1000 years just in case somebody dared get independent? Or, was the lake destoyed and second death-like peril kept around.

  Besides that, I have always wondered - if practically everybody that ever lived on earth was about 99% evil, then how could all these millions just suddenly start doing right and just keep on doing it forever after the 1000 years?
• 
  14

  Prince Websites

  by kojo in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  hello, this is my first time posting here after finding this site a few weeks back.

  i studied jehovah witness teachings for a brief time, when i knew little of the bible during my teen years, but fortunately came to realize the witnesses were not christian at all.. however since i was teen i have followed and enjoyed the music of prince more than any other singer/artist.

  i always loved his ability to express both the carnal and the spiritual in his songs, the very thing that makes us human.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  So, Dune - would you say that inside the org it is pretty much -

  Prince: UP in status and almost a real witness...

  Michael Jackson: DOWN in status and now considered to maybe be falling out...

  That is what I would guess, but you are in a position to really know (at least around your circle).

  PS - welcome Prince fan, and I agree it sounds like you got some shabby treatment on that website.

  James
• 
  30

  I've had it. I want to DA myself

  by White Waves in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  but i am afraid to send a letter to my old kh.

  what should i write to make sure they don't just df me?

  also, they refused my request to da myself before.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  How in the world can they refuse your request to DA yourself??? This is for you to decide to do whether they like it or not. I think I would just write them again - (certified) "I no longer want to be considered as one of the Jehovah's Witnesses or a member of the Watchtower society religion" or some such simple thing without saying why.

  After that, no more contact and who cares what they do next?

  Of course, maybe I am oversimplifying if there are family and friends on the other side.

  But - if you've had it, you've had it. I sure did know when this great feeling of "had it" came over me!

  good luck, James
• 
  87

  What nice, interesting thing did you see today?

  by Lady Lee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so often we are stuck in the negative part of life and see so much of the bad.

  the news is full of it.

  i look for the things that are nice.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  Mai and I have an inside cat named Li-Li and an outside dog named Chance. Li-Li likes to go up to the window to Chance's dog run and take a running jump at him from the other side of the glass. Chance doesn't care and just licks the glass and wags his tail at her.

  Yesterday morning, she took the usual jump at him but got her left front claws caught in the window curtain. She is left hanging there by just one foot and cannot figure out how to retract the claws. So, we go get her down and she flashes past out of sight to her secret hiding place in the library.

  This morning, before going to work, I see her looking at Chance through the window again - but no lunging charges. Guess she must think he was somehow responsible for getting her stuck...perhaps peace will reign for a while?
• 
  11

  Armageddon Clubs

  by Dune in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was 13, i remember an 18 year old "brother" telling me that he and his friends were part of some pact called the "armageddon club".

  the object of this club/pact was to stay single(unmarried) until armaggedon.

  the last person to stay single would win something like a sum of money or bragging rights i guess.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  I had not known of such "clubs" but there was a sort of fad around taking "personal vows" back in the 70s -

  For example, vowing to pioneer after working full time a certain number of years, couples vowing to not have children, and the like.

  As I recall it, even in the literature and within the CO's visiting remarks, there was a lot of strict talk about how important it was to take these self-imposed vows very seriously and not break them. Pioneering itself was sort of vow, like being John the Baptist, they said.

  I thought at the time - what kind idiot would take a voluntary vow in this repressive culture in the first place? As if we didn't already have enough unconfortable or unlivable rules...and - if you did, why tell somebody. But, obviously, some may have thought this made them look holy, sort of like a Nazarite...
• 
  13

  Watchtower Predictions

  by zgborn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a vivid recollection of going to people's doors as a teenager and telling them that bible chronology indicates that 6000 years of human history is due to expire in the fall of 1975 and we can fully expect a radical change in the world at about that time.

  while i know that this was not the first watchtower prediction which proved to be incorrect, what i would like to know is, has any watchtower prediction of a future event come to pass?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  But then, nothing about the 1975 / 6000 years of mans existence / maybe 1000 year reign holds any water if you let go of the 7000 year creative days. If the days were, say 1.8 Billion years each (to make earth around 10.8 Billion years in 6 days + a little tiny bit of the 7th day)...then so what if recorded bible geneology adds up to around 6000 years?

  The original thread question - did they ever predict anything that came to pass is a good one. As I see it, all their so-called prophecy comes in just a few phony flavors:

  * Prophecy like the end of the world in 1914 - It didn't happen so they make up some invisible fulfillment and kind of latch on to the start of WW1 as a secondary fulfillment. Too bad they didn't prophecy WW1; that would have made them look quite good.

  * Prophecy like the end of the world in 1925 - It didn't happen so they just suppressed the books that said so and started over with the great crowd and gathering work. I can't think of anything too big at all going down in 1925 - except maybe the Bugatti type 35B GrandPrix racer...but the great Rutherford's taste ran to the largest Cadillacs in which to flop his big fat behind.

  * Prophecy like the 1000 years starting right around 1975 after the 6000 years came up - Nothing happened, so they blamed the rank & file for making it up on their own. Later, they quietly trashcan the whole concept of 6000 yrs + 1000 yrs = 7000 yrs creative day. Too bad they didn't predict the end of the Vietnam War for 1975 - that would have made them look at least a little good.

  The only thing I know of that they actually foretold in advance and had it come to pass was one of their own assemblies.
• 
  56

  Do you believe that Demons really Exist.

  by MARTINLEYSHON in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the reason why i have asked such is question is that i served as a congregation elder for 12 years.

  i served as the presiding overseer for 10 years, and as chairman and media spokes-person for a particular region.

  during my time within the organisation that being almost 30 years, i have concluded that there is, as far as my own experience is concerned grave doubt in my mind as to the existence of the devil and his demonic hoard.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  james_woods

  After this thread quieted down yesterday, and I had overnight to think about it - I realized there was something else (other than the main subject of "are they real?") bothering me about this.

  Now without argument on whether the Bible supports this demons idea or not - I propose that people who believe in this have a theological dilemma -

  * OK - let's say we believe strongly in the omnipotent Jehovah of the WT Society. Let's say we believe strongly that Jesus began his invisible rule in 1914/1918/1919 or whatever they currently think. Let's say that we also believe that miraculous works like tongues, healing, snake charming, etc. were done away with in the first century A.D. Let's say that we believe as well that the society was judged, cleansed, found holy and is now the only source of truth...

  Now - why in the world does all of this omnipotent kingdom power put a stop to a few nebulous demons? The reigning King can't even put down Baelzebub and his minions? For that matter, after things were decided by the ransom sacrifice, why didn't these demoniacs just get put down right then? Haven't they caused enough trouble already?

  Besides that, OK - if they are allowed to mess around with people like Catholics, Pentecostals, Wiccans, Scientologist, etc...why in the world wouldn't the reigning administration at least maintain adequate security for its own watchtower people. For that matter, wouldn't it put a stop to all the miraculous stigmata, UFO sightings, etc. so as to help keep non-witnesses from being tricked?

  To hear all the buzz about these demon attacks - you would think JWs are getting the worst of it out of all the religions. OK, so Satan hates them. But - isn't the reigning Christ and the WT Society powerful enough to hold the line on this? I would think so if we were really living in the reign of Christ.