dozy

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Posts by dozy

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  12

  How Do You Think Eco Terrorists Should Be Dealt With?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  recently, some activists decided to interrupt a train that was delivering coal.

  police were called and 10 hours later the activists were dispersed.

  it’s not unusual now to see picketers close down a bridge or a street for “climate change “.

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  dozy

  Interesting interview by Piers Morgan here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ISePLL1wcw
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  60

  Rec'd a letter from my Dad - need some advice...

  by Fadeaway3pointer in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  fader here - last meeting was in autumn 2005. lurker on this site and others.

  not one to get all controversial.. typical situation, pretty much a born in and left the church at age 38 and never looked back.. i'm 53 now, parents getting older - late 70s but very active, dad is still an elder.. parents, in laws, brother and brother-in-law still uber active jws.. my family (wife and 2 adult children) out since 2005.. we have stayed close to our parents - we have treaded religion lightly and have had a pretty good relationship and have kept our personal lives and beliefs/opinions separated from them.

  this was intentional - as we love them and do not want anything to cause shunning since they are getting older and want to be there for them and we respect their beliefs.. got this letter today.

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  dozy

  Sorry that you received that letter. Albeit you didn't celebrate Christmas in 2019 , it does seem to be a time of year which tends to focus the minds of JWs regarding "bad association" as it is something very tangible that they can use to judge faded family.

  Some excellent suggested replies from the posters but we are dealing with lifetime indoctrinated cult members here , so it is impossible to draft any kind of effective response. Best wishes..
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  19

  The Craziness of an Average Bible Study

  by Number 6 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  last week i posted a thread asking about who knew any "real anointed" and got some cracking replies.. that got me to thinking, as someone brought up in the 70's and 80's in the watchtower religion, my experience of bible studeis in their homes and those who made it to the hall were mostly batshit crazy or at least people with some serious quirks.. i'll relate a few, none of whose names i remember with any clarity.. in our cong we had an older couple who were from london, but who had been in the 1950's in the circuit work in the mid west usa.

  they brought along some woman one night they had started a study with who told everyone cheerfully she was a recovering alcoholic and this was her cure (coming to the meetings).

  this went on for a few weeks until one night they brought her to the memorial and she was royally pissed, and i mean barely able to stand; and went up to the platform table and necked some wine.

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  dozy

  For the last 20 years or so that I was a JW I also don't really remember anyone who could be regarded as "stable" actually proceeding to baptism other than relatives of JWs. The (very) few that came along always seemed to have some kind of issues.

  One thing I did notice was that quite often the studies people had were also being called on by the Mormons and / or other Christian groups that did outreach programs. The impression I got was that this was the same small pool of people who tended to be very needy , often with very few friends and somewhat social pariahs who were delighted when someone would take an interest in them. Often when the study got to the point that they needed to show some commitment ( such as going to the meetings regularly ) the study was stopped , either by the publisher or by the individual.

  When I was pioneering , I had a study for about five years with a widowed older guy - it developed from a long term magazine route. We used to have interesting chats - the guy had a fascinating background with the British army and had been badly injured and invalided in the Suez campaign of 1956.He didn't have any friends and his family very rarely saw him as they lived far away and weren't really interested in him.

  I would bring him to the Memorial and an occasional special talk etc but otherwise he wouldn't go to the meetings. I was kind of aware that he would never become a JW but it was more of a social call and easy time for me , especially during the winter. It also gave me a bit of kudos in the congregation and I dined out on the fact that I had a study for much of this time! I think a lot of bible studies are on this basis , especially for pioneers desperate to get their time in. When I stopped pioneering I just downgraded it to a monthly Sunday visit with the magazines and eventually he was hospitalised and the call fizzled out. I still miss our chats though.
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  10

  Where do members of the Governing Body and their wives Live ? Not their actual addresses of course. however ?..........

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i`m just curious about the lifestyle they themselves are enjoying compared to the millions of followers they have in the jw religion.do any of the gb members have private homes that they own and live in ?

  or do they and their wives live in a communal arrangement .?

  if they do have private homes they own and live in what type of suburb/area do they live in ?

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  dozy

  The days of "Beth Sarim" (Rutherford's palatial home in San Diego) are long gone.

  Basically the GB live in the same apartments that the normal Bethelites do , though Ray Franz wrote that due to their seniority , the GB generally have the choice of the nicer rooms with the best views.
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  43

  Did You Know Any "Genuine"" Old School Anointed?

  by Number 6 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  growing up in scotland in the 1970s in scotland the anointed were few and far between, but we had one old dude in our cong who claimed to be one of the anointed.

  in the days when it was taken seriously.. i'd be curious how you viewed them.

  thing is, he wasn't an elder, or even a ministerial servant, just a plain old publisher.. but he was revered like he had a hotline to jesus.. the other week i was talking to a friend of similar age to me but who hung around the wt a lot longer than i did, and he just commented "oh him... he was a doddery old fool who used to just sit and piss himself.

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  dozy

  There was an old anointed "sister" in my congregation when I was a kid who if there is such a thing as "genuine anointed" ( spoiler alert - there isn't ) she kind of fitted the bill. She was a hard working , honest pioneer - used to cycle everywhere on the ministry and had numerous calls - knew her bible really well - frankly , better than the elders in the congregation. Although never married & childless , she was great with us kids - they type who always had a few sweeties for after the meetings and would talk to you & have a real interest in what you were doing.

  I recall that she had an incredible memory for anything personal like exams you were taking at school - for example if you told her you had a Maths test in 3 weeks time she would remember & after the date she would come up & ask how the exam went. I think she went back to the 30's and there was some connection via her parents with the Bible Students of Russell's time.

  I wouldn't say she was venerated but she was respected. Unlike many of the "new" anointed , she would never really speak about it. She would very discreetly take the emblems.

  That generation has long died off now in the Org.
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  39

  Email from JW relative/elder

  by Lynnie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as much as i enjoy you and pete's company, you also know our understanding of how much we want you to be reunited with jehovah and his people.. .

  we did not set the standards for what jehovah says about our associations with those who choose to not serve him.

  so we will always be there for you and pete, but it is in your hands as to how we can enjoy your friendship.. .

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  dozy

  These letters / emails ( of which like many I also have received a few when I stopped attending ) always seem to me to be very self indulgent. I can never really understand what the motive of the sender is. Do they seriously think that it will "shock the person to their senses" and they come rushing back , tail between their legs , into the Org. Or are they just trying to give some degree of self justification? I just don't really get it.
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  24

  Are Jehovah’s Witnesses competent to resolve the issue of blood transfusion?

  by 30LPP in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hello everyone.. first of all, i would like to say hello to all of you.i am not a jehovah's witness but i have been a child with "truth" because of my family.

  i am interested in the subject of this sect in the hope that i will be able to wake up the rest of my family.i would also like to share with you another interesting book of polish author włodzimierz bednarski, which was released in 2019, quite recently, and which is a small guidebook for the medical community and criticism of the watchtower society’s teachings.the book in pdf format is available for download at: .

  are jehovah’s witnesses competent to resolve the issue of blood transfusion?known books of this author are also:armageddon in 1975 'probability' or 'possibility'?year 1925 and millions now living will never die!ever-changing teachings of jehovah's witnessesthis book will probably be released later at:https://wtsarchive.com/pubs/3rd-party-publicationsi encourage you to read the above materials, because they are really worth it.. i wish everyone perseverance and health..

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  dozy

  So then an elder would be removed even though he repented ?
  

  Yes. Once anyone is privately or publicly reproved , automatically all "privileges" and congregation positions are removed ( eg elder , MS , pioneer - right down to microphone handler ).
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  29

  Science and Watchtower's astounding ignorance

  by Diogenesister in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  well these goof balls at jwbroadcast apparently think the study of pure science means not having any "practical application".

  oi vey.

  sanderson may speak russian but he is so ill educated he appears to think that researching a subject and formulating a theory about it means that's the end of it - in other words he's saying it has no practical use.

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  dozy

  I could only watch the first couple of minutes , but the audience laughter that greeted his throw away comment "if you like insects" depressed me. It reminded me of the rare occasions when the GB would come to our convention and how they were applauded when their name was announced before their talks as they arrived at the rostrum.

  It just reinforces the egos of these rather pathetic , deluded individuals.
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  70

  'Experiences(tm)'! Made up or totally true??

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  at one assembly(tm), i was asked to relate an 'experience(tm)' which i did.

  however, during rehearsals, the geezer in charge elder or co or some such title, told me that i shouldn't tell it the way it was.

  i did a 're-enactment(tm)' with another 'brother(tm)'.

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  dozy

  One of the problems with regard to experiences is that the Society are often very specific in their instructions to the speaker eg "interview a brother or sister who came into the truth as a result of a witness from a workmate" or "ask a pioneer to relate encouraging experiences he / she enjoyed from the recent tract campaign".

  In many cases it was impossible to find such an experience , so you are left with trying to shoehorn often virtually fictional experiences into the item. To make matters worse , the more humble JWs tend to be quite reticent about appearing , so often it is the more boastful "look how Jehovah has blessed me" types that come forward and usually these are quite willing to "amend" the experience somewhat , to put it mildly.

  I recall one assembly when a young sister from my own congregation was being interviewed , much to my amazement. This was a sister who had several times been reproved for immorality and was a constant troublemaker but was portraying herself as a zealous spiritual giant and the most chaste virgin imaginable. It was the talk of the congregation afterward and many were astonished that she was being held up as an example.
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  20

  What REALLY defines a person as being anti-Semitic?

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. social
  2. current

  does criticism or opposition to the israeli government's zionist agenda legitimately constitute someone being branded as an anti-semite?.

  is it this definition which is actually being targetted at certain members of the labour party?

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  dozy

  I'm no fan of Corbyn but I don't believe that he is antisemitic per se - he just has a long history of supporting the Palestinians , including some of the terrorist groups like Hamas. There certainly are elements in the far left Momentum group that are , though , and this is his power base.

  I have always found it odd that both the far left and the far right have antisemitic agendas , but for different reasons and motivations.