***the mole*** i told many of you i recieved a letter from ray franz regarding my situation with my family and my kingdom hall.
his kindness and compassion found the time to write me and uplift me, this should help tinkerbell82 also....-----ray wrote, " as for what you will do in your present situation, that is something you must work out with god's help and the guidance of his spirit.
one must make decisions as to what conscience can allow, what good can be accomplished.
Great quote thanks for sharing!
IMHO Ray exudes some of the very best traits humanity has to offer. I met Ray just one time some 26 years ago and I tell you that experience still to this day touches me. If ever there was an example of a true Christen, Ray Franz is it.
Freeman
today, i heard about how a very beloved relative of ours that recently passed away from cancer, had a reputation for stealing.
she would often go in stores and switch tags on clothing or other items (among other things).
we were shocked to find this out by a number of other relatives.
Yes minimus, I used to steal on a regular basis. I have stolen large sums of money, millions of dollars in fact and highly sensitive, classified government documents too, ostensibly for sale to the highest bidder. Surprisingly I never have been caught and of course never went to jail because of these numerous thefts.
I?m just playing with you a bit minimus, I?m not a crook (said in my best Richard Nixon voice). However, some years ago, I was a professional security specialist. As part of my job, I was actually authorized to try to defeat security of high value and sensitive government systems.
This was done to expose the security flaws before the real bad guys found them. Very s imilar to they way they are testing the security at airports these days; seeing if authorized security testers can get past security with dangerous items.
Note the key operative word ?authorized?. Had I done any of this without authorization I know that I could be in jail for a very long time.
Should I ever think about using this talent to really steal, I have no doubt I would be one of the first people they would investigate. I have shared a friendly cup of coffee with FBI and Secret Service agents and I also been on the business end of these people too, and frankly they are quite scary. However, that is not what keeps me honest.
I think the value in stealing (at least for me) was never in the rewards of the theft (i.e. the money), but in the thrill of beating the system. I think that is what drives many people to steal; I think a good number of them are in fact ?thrill junkies? just like me. What do you think?
Freeman
2003/2004 special assembly day report.
theme: serving jehovah with a complete heart.
brief note: no new light this year, but a couple of new changes i have not seen before.
Aren?t we all grateful to brother Truthseeker for bringing us this bounty of spiritual food!
Between the great write-up of the assembly from brother Truthseeker and the often insightful analysis our dear sister Blondie provides us with, we surly are blessed. Best of all we get the benefits of the meetings without the great waste investment of time normally required. Now if any of us should ever undergo a brain seizure a spiritual reawakening, and wish to return to our own vomit the fold, we will be up to date with the latest bullshit understanding from the faithless faithful slave; all thanks to you.
Thank you once again for your fine report, it was almost like being there, I even felt a bit of nausea, very realistic.
Freeman
Baby got back....lots and lots of back!
http://www.cnn.com/2003/weather/09/18/isabel/index.html
president bush declared north carolina a major disaster area, clearing the way for federal aid to the storm-battered state.
the governors of virginia, north carolina, delaware, maryland, pennsylvania and new jersey have declared states of emergency.
Simon, I’ve been to North Carolina, trust me, it was a major disaster area long before Bush said it was. But you’re correct, it is his fault.
Freeman
i was converted j.w about 15years ago but last year i got to know what sort of people they were in reality.
my husband and i made the decision in five minutes.within few days we sent a very brief letter that stated in few words that we were living the oganisation disgusted for what we so in tv on channel 9 the previous sunday.
we reach very fast that decision because we freely and voluntarily got in ,therefore with the same spirit got out.
Being a JW is much the same as living behind the iron-curtain was some years ago.
You are warned never to listen to the pleadings of anyone who is part of that decadent outside world, or even listen to your own inner voice that says something is so very very wrong. Behind the iron-curtain of the Watchtower your life is complete, beyond it you are on your own. One reason that it is so traumatic to move beyond the iron-curtain of the Watchtower is because the organization is so all encompassing, so all knowing, and without you every realizing it, it is also quite totalitarian.
In fact the Dark Tower is the living embodiment of the word totalitarian. The Tower has something to say on just about every aspect of your life, the way you dress, groom your hair, spend your money, spend any free time, the type and manner of sex you have with your mate. You name the subject; there is most likely already a commentary on it from the Dark Tower.
I believe that one of the biggest attractions to this cult is that everything is so very simple; just follow the rules written and otherwise and you will be OK. Your world is laid out in such a way that many of your very basic needs are met. You have instant friends, and that means that you need never develop real relationships based on anything other then the fact that you are all in the same group. Too bad you will never know what a true friend is. But who needs true friends when you have a have a grand purpose. Just don’t leave the club or else!
At least you already know what you will be doing on the weekend and for that matter much of the week too. Yes, you will be quite busy, you have a schedule, you need to get your hours in and don’t forget about underlining your tower, very important, it shows spiritual maturity.
When reality creeps in as it inevitably does from time to time you need not fear. You have built in mental defensives and also others are there to help you adjust to the correct group-think and put you back on track. All is well, problems will be minimized for you and what can’t be glossed over will be fixed any time now as long as you just hang on a little bit more. We are so very close to the end you know.
So why is it so hard to leave, why is it so devastating? For all the reasons I talked about above and I’m sure a good many that I never even thought of. Bottom line, don’t join a cult, they are very hard to leave.
Freeman
washington, sept. 17 president bush said wednesday that there was no evidence that former iraqi president saddam hussein was involved in the sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, disputing an impression that critics say the administration tried to foster to justify the war against iraq.
theres no question that saddam hussein had al-qaida ties, the president said.
but he also said, weve had no evidence that saddam hussein was involved with september the 11th.. the presidents comment was the administrations firmest assertion that there was no proven link between saddam and sept. 11. it came after vice president dick cheney clouded the issue sunday by saying, its not surprising people make that connection.. speaking on nbcs meet the press, cheney also repeated an allegation, doubted by many in the intelligence community, that mohamed atta, the lead sept. 11 attacker, met with a senior iraqi intelligence official in prague in the czech republic five months before sept. 11, 2001.. weve never been able to develop any more of that yet, either in terms of confirming it or discrediting it, cheney said sunday.
Here is something interesting concerning the linkage of Saddam to 9-11.
These are the words of our latest presidential candidate, General Wesley Clark on June 15, 2003 during a Meet the Press appearance. General Clark stated that on 9-11 he was he was being pressured by the white house to link Saddam and 9-11. This is what he said:
"It came from the White House; it came from people around the White House, it came from all over. I got a call on 9/11 - I was on CNN, and I got a call at my home saying, 'You've got to say this is connected. This is state sponsored terrorism. This has to be connected to Saddam Hussein.'"
Unfortunately for General Clark he is not a very skilled liar political conversationalist, further Tim Russert who was interviewing the General is an excellent interviewer and proceeded to put the General on the spot as he should. Now asking him to be specific about his assertion, Russert wanted the General to name names. He could not name a single person in the administration that asked him to make such a linkage or even name a single person he talked to.
Under pressure from Russert, the General reluctantly changed his story to "No one from the White House asked me to link Saddam to September 11th." Folks the good General just did a major flip flop on national television. But wait there is more!
Russert smelling the blood in the water hammered at the General again and again. The General now said: "It was a "friend in the administration" but he couldn't name that friend, so he then changed his story once again to say it was "some other sources." OK we went from administration members, to no one from the White House, the back to a "friend in the administration", the to "some other sources"
Wait wait, it gets even better. He then says "No, it was a friend at a Muslim think-tank in Canada." Are these the words of a liar, a deranged person, or something in between? I leave that for you to decide. All I can say is: Oh My God!
Freeman
Edited to add: Sorry DakotaRed I passed your post without realizing you already referenced the interview with the General.
washington, sept. 17 president bush said wednesday that there was no evidence that former iraqi president saddam hussein was involved in the sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, disputing an impression that critics say the administration tried to foster to justify the war against iraq.
theres no question that saddam hussein had al-qaida ties, the president said.
but he also said, weve had no evidence that saddam hussein was involved with september the 11th.. the presidents comment was the administrations firmest assertion that there was no proven link between saddam and sept. 11. it came after vice president dick cheney clouded the issue sunday by saying, its not surprising people make that connection.. speaking on nbcs meet the press, cheney also repeated an allegation, doubted by many in the intelligence community, that mohamed atta, the lead sept. 11 attacker, met with a senior iraqi intelligence official in prague in the czech republic five months before sept. 11, 2001.. weve never been able to develop any more of that yet, either in terms of confirming it or discrediting it, cheney said sunday.
thousand of witnesses do it every year and for what they believe are good reasons.
i did it because i was pressured by elders.
its interesting to note how elders can target young people into committing their life to something they really know nothing about.
Do I regret ever getting baptize??? Yes, every waking moment of my life! I was already baptized when I was an infant and I should have left it at that. My bad!
Freeman
in the united states i keep hearing about how nobody sees the witness is going door-to-door and more, or at least not as often as they used to.
i also heard a report from england recently which stated to the same effect.. what do you think?
do you think the internet is the watchtower society's worst nightmare?.
Nobody joins a cult when they know just what it is he or she is joining. Type in Watchtower or Jehovah’s Witnesses into a search engine and you will find all you will ever need to make an informed choice. I do not know if the Internet will ever bring the tower down, however it is safe to say that the Internet Absolutely IS the Towers Worst Nightmare!
Freeman
