Eric

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Posts by Eric

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  19

  Will They Abduct My Son!

  by 68storm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i would appreciate some input from the board that is weighing quite heavy on mind.. as some of you may know, my ex divorced me six years ago, strictly for religious reasons.

  after an enormous amount of legal funds, i succeeded in getting an agreement signed that states that when the child reaches an age that the courts consider mature enough, we would both allow him to make his choice of religions.

  even if he wanted nothing to do with religion.. it would seem that the time has finally arrived.

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  Eric

  Freeminds has some excellent material your lawyer should be up on.

  http://www.freeminds.org/legal/legal.htm.

  Eric

  Edited by - Eric on 14 November 2002 13:55:32
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  14

  Stars & Stripes Forever

  by LB in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  but no matter how perfect she appears.

  no matter if she can cook and clean and make love like no other woman on the planet.

  somewhere there is someone that is totally sick of her crap.

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  Eric

  Does anyone know what the 'gold' fringe respresents on the flag?

  Guest 77,

  Dunno guest, but in her case does it matter if it's a natural gold fringe?
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  27

  How Would You Help An Alcoholic Friend?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we have a dear friend that is an alcoholic.

  she is a witness.

  she is a very sweet person.

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  Eric

  minimus,

  She has gotten into counseling. She was recently involved in an accident that got her arrested for drunk driving.

  Did she get into counselling for alchohol, or for her marriage problems and abuse recovery?

  Also, is it possible that the counselling was court ordered upon a conviction or as part of a plea bargain? If you can be certain that she entered alchohol counselling on her own, I believe her chances are much better.

  Many, many moons ago, I was ordered by the courts to attend such counselling (the shame, the shame!) and there was a group session once a week of 15 or so people attending. Very few there had an attitude of anything other than resentment. One group of three or four guys passed a bottle around in the parking lot before they went in and again at the "coffee and smoke" break. The sessions were a shambles and the counseller seemed to be just trying to get the whole thing done with. It was very difficult to get anything out of those sessions.

  You could try checking out local AA meetings, trying to find a group close by that seem like a group your friend would be comfortable with, and then offer to take her to one meeting just as a "look-see." This could be a hard sell, as most if not all AA sessions in my area are held in church buildings, and that alone could scare off a JW, even if the lack of denominational affiliation is made clear. Worth a try.

  Eric
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  27

  The Watchtower - Hustling Pocket Change

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  apparently, at some assembly halls they are removing the pay phones and replacing them with their own phone lines - with a contribution box next to it.. you may already know about district assemblies where they put 'out of order' signs.

  on working vending machines to prevent the rank and file from using them.. how much money do they expect to make from this?

  they are trying to hustle pocket change!.

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  Eric

  BeelzeDub, or others,

  If they have decided not to have any food service whatsoever any more, what is their reasoning in the talks before the assembly counselling you as to where you get your grub?

  I've been out for so long that I can't even begin to figure this one out.

  I recall when the elaborate cafeteria arrangments were touted as such a wonderful avenue for fellowship, (they were) and a great witness to worldly observers who were so impressed with our ordlerly efficiency.

  Are you now supposed to all sit around and gag down your stale room temperature brown-baggers with big "Happiest-People-On-The-Earth" smiles on your faces? From where I sit it sounds like worldly people having a bit of "tailgate BBQ" before a football game are enjoying more fellowship than an assembly of JW's.

  I get the whole tax thing, and I can almost buy the argument that food prep took a lot of brothers and sisters out of their seats for parts of the program. (Heck, that was the whole point of volunteering.) If I were still dragging along with this sad arrangment, I'd be having Domino's deliver me a nice stack of piping hot pies timed to arrive at the end of morning session!

  Eric

  Edited by - Eric on 11 November 2002 16:8:53
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  12

  How to Raise the Perfect Watchtower Family

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  first, get a wife and some kids ( hold your marriage together as best you can).

  then, impose rules that are practically impossible to follow .

  ( no masturbation, no unmonitored internet use, 5 meetings a week,.

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  Eric

  Useful hint to achieving all the above:

  Conciously arrest your awareness of developments in the world around you at about the year 1952. This will allow you to more keenly appreciate the perspective of the old men in Brooklyn.

  Eric
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  90

  What are You all Doing Here?

  by TisInYourWishbone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a friend of mine recommended i peruse this forum because he is of the impression i would find it rewarding.

  the basis of his recommendation was due to a very long friendship and not due to any association (that i do not have) with jehovahs witnesses.

  he considers me his superior in intellect and wants an appraisal of this sight but to be honest i have neither the incliniation nor the time to get in deep enough to comment.

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  Eric

  Tis,

  May I ask As a Percentage what has happened to the number of JWs in the last ten years. e.g. declined Ten percent or increased 3

  Statistics for the last fifteen years of JW growth, growth rates, numbers baptised, etc., etc., etc., both globally and broken down by select countries are available on the internet only a couple of clicks away on links that are always right there at the bottom of the board! Really, for the sake of maintaining your friend's awe at your intellect, you really should just expend one tiniest little bit of effort.

  Now, I suppose I could hand you directly clickable link or even import the whole page of stats to this thread with some of the fab tools Simon has provided on this board, but at this point I'm not sure how little it takes to impress you, and I don't want to run the slightest chance of that.

  Eric

  Edited by - Eric on 11 November 2002 11:51:29
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  8

  Pronounce this!

  by Yerusalyim in

  1. social
  2. humour

  prounounce each letter as a letter and each word as it sounds slowly several times.

  i m wee todd it.

  i m sofa king wee todd it.

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  Eric

  Whale Oil Beef Hooked
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  11

  WTS retirement plan

  by stichione in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as a building inspector in a large city, i also come across inspecting nun's retirement homes.

  in fact, working on a special project recently i visited 10 buildings housing anywhere from 60 to 500 nuns each.

  i was struck by how well these nuns are taken care of by the catholic church.

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  Eric

  stichione,

  As usual with JW's it is not enough that Brooklyn does nothing to help, Brooklyn feels it must contribute to and heighten the level of poverty of the sheep in its flock, skinned and thrown about.

  Read here this advice for a Jehovah's witness retirement plan, published in the 1971 Yearbook:

  WESTERN SAMOA Population: 140,000

  Peak

  Publishers: 92 Ratio: 1 to 1,522

  A brother with a family of eleven, including an adopted daughter and pioneer living with them, wanted to get all of them overseas to the international assembly in Fiji. Only one source of finance was available. His employers kept a superannuation fund to be withdrawn on retirement or in very exceptional circumstances. Having worked there many years, the brother figured he would have enough in it to get the family to the assembly. Reasoning that integrity and faith in Jehovah will get one through the coming tribulation whether one has money in a fund or not, he resolved to invest his fund toward guaranteeing his familys future spiritual survival.

  It was not until the week of travel to the assembly that he was able to contact his managing director. Naturally, his director felt as many would. He wondered why a family man would wish to withdraw his only security against the future and chance leaving nothing for them if something happened to him. The brother explained the importance to him and his family as Jehovahs worshipers of attending the assembly and that this was the only way for them to get to Fiji. His being a respected and trusted employee, his director favorably granted the request and made an unprecedented exception in letting him withdraw his superannuation fund in full. Happy and thankful to Jehovah for this blessing, he went the following day and paid his familys ship fares to Fiji. The family then joyfully prepared to leave.

  Later that week, however, the brother was informed that the ship was strike-bound in another country and would not be sailing as expected. The only other way out of the country, so as to be at the assembly in time, was by air at greater expense. Suffice it to say that the brother and his family enjoyed the assembly, with no regrets. They know that only spiritual steadfastness, faith and obedience to Jehovah will preserve them. in the future and not transient material possessions.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Thirty years later, how do think this retirement plan worked out?

  Do you think anyone from Brooklyn ever did so much as a follow-up?

  Do you think Brooklyn gives a crap for those sons and daughters who must now support this old man and his wife with their own transient material possesions?

  They can build some fine old age homes for the rickety old asses who have lived in comfort all their useless lives, but there will never, ever be a penny to repcompense the broken backs they climbed up upon.

  Sorry, red mist,

  Eric
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  25

  A Storm is a Brewin'

  by Farkel in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i found this little gem from the january 2002 km thanks to stephanus: .

  january 2000 kingdom ministry now up.

  i present it in all its deception (together with my ever-so-humble observations) for your reading enjoyment: .

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  Eric

  I know of two building projects in Canada which were planned and started and then put off, one for temporary lack of funding for a large assembly hall in British Columbia and the other an addition to the Canadian Bethel comlex, stalled over issues with water use with the local town council.

  Both projects were eventually built.

  Could be storm a brewin' , could be duckin' in outta the rain for a bit. Like before.

  Eric
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  45

  What's Your Favorite Quote?

  by Perry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i ran across this recently.

  so, i guess its my new favorite quote.

  "the difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'.

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  Eric

  If at first you don't succeed, kick at it until it bleeds.