Posts by Joe Grundy

27

Good evening, JW spy visitors...........

by Sunnygal41 in

i have it on the most impeccable authority that our site is regularly monitored............my first reply was "lol...........no surprise.......we've known this for some time.........and we spy on their sites, also.

" my next thought, or rather vision was of the iconic "spy vs. spy" cartoon in mad magazine.............guess my years free are showing.........

Joe Grundy

On a serious note, can anyone say for sure that WTBTS DOES monitor this site and follow things up?

I ask as an outsider because I have posted here about my concerns for my my JW neighbours/friends.

I have not (I hope) posted anything on here which might lead to their identification (not even the country concerned) out of fear that if they were identified there could be repercussions for them for 'bad' association with me. Which is difficult, because there are cultural issues about which I'd like to ask advice.

If it were for me, I'd be happy to identify myself (not a JW, never have been, never will be) but I have real concerns for them.

Are my concerns justified?

148

If you had the chance who would you meet from this forum???

by Es in

jw
friends

there are just so many i would love to meet, some more attainable than others.. sparkplug.

misspeaches.

damselfly.

Joe Grundy

Anyone except JW apologists.

But attractive females would have first priority .... well, I've never claimed to be anything but 'worldly' and 'bad association'!

62

I have to make one of the toughest decisions of my life

by unbeliever in

jw
friends

i am not even sure why i am posting because its so personal but i could really use some advice.

i am also embarrassed that i got myself in this situation.

there is this guy that i have known for a couple of years.

Joe Grundy

I may not be the best one to offer advice. I'm a 50 year old man. But I do have some life experience and a daughter a few years younger than you, so I can visualise your situation as if it applied to her.

I would not consider marriage, or uprooting your whole life. You say you have a career, a good network of support, etc. where you are. You will be a better parent if you are happy and supported, even as a single parent (and there's not much stigma to that nowadays - in many places (including parts of the UK) it's almost the norm).

A loveless marriage may well bring you down, with the resulting effect on your child. There is a balance between making a sacrifice for your child and doing what's best for you as a person.

You say it's been a 'no commitments' relationship, and pregnancy doesn't automatically change that. He has commitments in terms of child support and obviously some sort of 'access' rights, but that is, IMHO, no basis for a marriage.

If you married him and moved to UK, there is a distinct possibilty of legal complications and restrictions (e.g. if you separated you may have to get court permission to take the child out of the jurisdiction of the England and Wales courts). You would find life in the UK very different to life in Nevada (not necessarily better or worse, just different) and dealing with that could be difficult enough without having to look after a (first) new baby.

Try closing your eyes and visualising youself, your baby and your life in 5, 10, 15 years time. Do you see your future with this man? (I suspect you already know the answer to this.)

You MUST consider your own happiness, because that will reflect on your relationship with your child.

Good luck and best wishes whatever you decide.

26

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 5-28-06 WT Study (HANDS)

by blondie in

comments you will not hear at the 5-28-06 wt study (april 15, 2006 issue date, pages 25-29)(hands be strong).

review comments will be in red.

wt material from today's wt will be in black.

Joe Grundy

Blondie,

Just to add my thanks to the others on here for your work on the 'Study' series.

I've previously posted on here about my JW friends/neighbours. Recently the husband called round to my apt with some mail. I was online at the time (just had broadband connected) and we were discussing that. He has a slow dial-up connection and had previously told me that he spent a fair amount of time online. I offered him use of my PC, but he said that he's now decided to upgrade to BB (not cheap here).

I've explained to him my religious views (atheist but academically interested) and told him I will be 'bad association' for him because I like to check things out and ask too many questions. He doesn't bring me publications any more, but asked me if I wanted the WT to look at the 'studies'. I explained that a) I didn't like the way they conducted their studies and they weren't really studies at all and b) I had on-line access to the material anyway, and could cross-check things using on-line resources. He was surprised that I was able to discuss current studies (thanks to Blondie).

This made him think, 'cos he's always emphasised the need to check things out (as WTBTS do, but only in relation to OTHER religions). I showed him a couple of sites (not this one, just quotes from their own WT stuff). He reiterated as he left that he was upgrading to BB.

In short ('too late' you shout!) never underestimate the value of the work you do here.

106

Lots of Bethelites Not Happy With Downsizing

by Seeker4 in

jw
friends

i had a long conversation last night with an old jw friend whose sister and brother-in-law are bethelites since the 1970s.

she is an artist, and he runs a small but important department there.. we were talking about the bethel downsizing (my friend was well aware of it), and i told him i figured his sister and b-i-l would be safe due to the fact that they are now in their 60s and have something close to 4 decades seniority.

but he said no, that they were worried that they would be asked to leave as well, sent into the circuit work or as special pioneers sent where the "need is great.".

Joe Grundy

As an outsider (never been a JW, but learning the terminology from this and other sites) I have a confession to make.

Whenever I see the word 'bethel' my brain immediately reads it as 'brothel'.

This phrase in the last posting did not help: " the large number of Bethelites being tossed out. "

I will try to overcome this in the interests of reasoned discussion.

10

Non JW marriage

by I-follow-the-narrow-path in

this one christian (non jw) and i are starting to get close.

i was wondering... if i did marry a christian (but a non jw)... would the church look down on me?

<br>.

Joe Grundy

With all due respect, in view of your problems as expressed in previous postings I don't think that you should be making any major life decisions right now - whether to do with entering a religion or a marriage.

16

Does the INSIDE of your vehicle reflect your personality?

by Gregor in

jw
friends

a garbage can on wheels or neat, clean and tidy?

Joe Grundy

Me, I was never too bothered.

My son washes/vacuums/polishes/details his car every week. Every two weeks he jacks it up, takes off the wheels and washes/polishes the alloys.

He's just got a new car (mitsubishi GTO twin turbo) so it can only get worse.

20

Death unnatural in humans...another Watchtower lie!

by Gill in

the wtbts teaches that death in human beings is unnatural and was brought about by adam eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad.. they claim that one of the proofs that death is not natural in humans is the reaction of humans when one of their number dies....terrible grief.

they claim that animals do not care if one of their number dies.

they give the example of sheep in a field who couldn't give two hoots if a fellow sheep dropped dead.. however, the mate of a neighbours dog died a few weeks ago.

Joe Grundy

Hi Gill

If it's any consolation at all, when my daughter was 16/17 she asked her mum and I if we would sign a form for social services to the effect that we were irreconcileably distanced from her so that she could leave home and get housing benefit to live in a flat. We were quite upset and angry and told her that no, we weren't distanced, she wa just a teenager who at times was a pain in the ass!

Now (she is 23) we can laugh at it (even though her mum is now my ex, we are still good friends) and she agrees she was a bit daft and trying it on. (She also remembers with some humour how she had met the love of her life and decided she wanted to spend the night with him. So we talked about it, and her mum bought candles and things, her mum and I went out for the night and stayed in a hotel so daughter could have her 'first' in comfort rather than squalor, the back of a car, etc. Daughter now thinks (as do we) that this guy was a dork).

You do the best for your kids, and all you can do is hope it turns out OK.

Only you and your hubby know your son, but IME, I wouldn't worry too much about giving him the 'conform or you're out' option. He is old enough and I don't think there's too much risk you will lose him for ever. When he's just a little older he may well realise that his behaviour is not that well thought out.

As for his JW upbringing, I never was so I can't comment. But it seems to me that if he had love, a home etc. he doesn't have much to complain about. Better parents who care enough to set rules which in hindsight seem a bit wacky than parents who don't care enough to set any at all.

20

Death unnatural in humans...another Watchtower lie!

by Gill in

the wtbts teaches that death in human beings is unnatural and was brought about by adam eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad.. they claim that one of the proofs that death is not natural in humans is the reaction of humans when one of their number dies....terrible grief.

they claim that animals do not care if one of their number dies.

they give the example of sheep in a field who couldn't give two hoots if a fellow sheep dropped dead.. however, the mate of a neighbours dog died a few weeks ago.

Joe Grundy

Gill,

I was reading somewhere recently on the net about elephants who return to grieve after the death of one of the herd. can't remember where or give a link.

How are your current problems with son? Any resolution? (Just being nosey) but thinking of you.

13

ABOUT BEARDS AND JW,s ?

by moomanchu in

this is a jw friendly version of one of farkels posts that i plagarized.. it's useful to send to jw,s who are clueless as to why they can not have facial hair.. .

there was a falling away from the bible students after the disappointment of 1914 and the death of ctr in 1916.for the first approximately 10 years during his leadership of the bible students, rutherford would laud and praise ctr and even stated that ctr was leading the movement personally while being "beyond the vail"( from the heavens after his death).

so for a time the judge actually promoted remembering ctr to retain followers.

Joe Grundy

How do JWs reconcile this teaching of 'Jehovah'?:

http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/fashion/lv19_27a.html