Well said, Joelbear...
Your explanation of what motivated you to knock on doors parallels mine. Unlike so many (most? I don't know), I was under no illusion that God was incapable of reading hearts and saving anyone he damne well pleased, and needed us to find his sheep.
Room 215
JoinedPosts by Room 215
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Heres a dub who knows how to milk the disaster
by GWEEDO infrom the gc.
desert rose knows what to do:.
at our meeting last night, we had quite a few more in attendance than usual.
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A Different JW Viewpoint
by Nicodemus ini have seen reference here to some of the posts on witnessesonline.com (wol) in response to the horrific events of yesterday, september 11, 2001.. please allow me to express a few different thoughts.. first of all, what happened yesterday was, just as president bush described it, despicable.
in making this attack, the attackers showed complete and utter disregard for human life.
those who commandeered the plane, knowing their ultimate goal, had no consideration for their own lives.
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Nicodemus,
Nico,
Thanks for raising this point. Although in such times, our instinct is to wrap our arms around all the victims, the limitations on our resources imposed on even the wealthiest of us forces us to prioritize, and do a sort of ``triage.''
As a stone splashing in a pond, our largesse ripples outward, with the first circles enclosing our family, wives and children; next, we reach the next outer circle, our our friends and fellow believers; and if our circumstances permit, we then expend the balance of what's left indiscriminately, on whichever needy person or persons cross our path before we have exhausted our means to provide assistance. -
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Will Brooklyn Bethel help New York?
by Dogpatch ini hope all of you are doing okay in light of this terrible tragedy we have witnessed.
it makes me want to join the army or something, it's hard to sit back and do nothing.
upon watching the watchtower's new pr video of the terrorist act in new york city, it is as far away from the reality of what happened as an isolated community can be.
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Or, by turning this question on its side, we can ask: ``In view of their claim to be the only genuine Christians on earth, the historic immensity of this tragedy, the magnitude of their resources, so many of which are ideally positioned to provide almost immediate assistance (right across the harbor), is it not reprehensible to do anything less than place themseleves at the complete disposal of the rescue effort?
A pity they can't see this. Even in cynical terms, don't they realize that at the insignifcant cost of a few days' loss of production (which they can make up easily with night and weekend shifts), some volunteer labor and food, they can earn an eternity of gratitude? And what of the dividends in good will when they knock on doors?
Sadly, thye opt for tokenism. -
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WTC Charity: A Blown Opportunity by WTS
by Room 215 inapart from the noble imperatives of christian charity, the society's rather tepid response to the need for emergency assistance in the aftermath of the wtc tragedy across the harbor illustrates how calcified the thinking of their leadsership has become.. i know, they've accepted a few overnight jw guests and accommodated some others, but when measured against the magnitude of their resources, these meager photo-op and pr-op gestures are tiny.. by failing to sieze the moment, they blew a priceless opportunity to cut a a firebreak across what they must know will be a maelstrom of publice outrage and criticism when the dateline story runs.
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Apart from the noble imperatives of Christian charity, the Society's rather tepid response to the need for emergency assistance in the aftermath of the WTC tragedy across the harbor illustrates how calcified the thinking of their leadsership has become.
I know, they've accepted a few overnight JW guests and accommodated some others, but when measured against the magnitude of their resources, these meager photo-op and PR-op gestures are tiny.
By failing to sieze the moment, they blew a priceless opportunity to cut a a firebreak across what they must know will be a maelstrom of publice outrage and criticism when the Dateline story runs. -
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Who Really Is Your Neighbor?
by hillary_step inas the bodies fell like black confetti from the top of their tombs in yesterdays horrendous holocaust i watched with admiration the red cross galvanized into action within minutes of the first strike, the catholic bishop wandering stunned among the injured and dying, offering all he had to give, and the salvation army and other religious bodies holding the hands of their neighbors in solidarity, sharing their tears.
the courage and ultimate sacrifice of the firefighters, police, paramedics and others filled me with a swelling pride for the dignity and grace that given a chance, flourishes within all human hearts.
after all, no greater love has any than he give his life for his brother.. yesterday, i was contacted by many jws by telephone and e mail, with the usual ghoulish, morbid excitement that the wts reactive conditioning inspires within them in moments of tragedy.
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Hillary,
Well put. As I've said several times in other threads, the cumulative effect of JW doctrine dehumanizes and desensitizes. -
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What I heard the JW's say in light of this tragedy
by Bridgette inokay, i know (or want to believe) that not all jehovah's witnesses are this calloused.
at least i hope not.
there are some good, caring people, but here are some stark contrasts i've observed today that remind me of how glad i am that i'm not part of such an overall unloving group of people.
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It's true that many JWs are sensitive, caring people. It's also true that the overall effect of Witness doctrine is to desensitize their more noble instincts with the propagation of the the myth of JW moral excellence and the incessant denigration and stereotyping of all non-JWs as ``worldling'' dominated by self interest and greed.
By opting out of human society, the JWs shed some of their humanity and learn to suppress their natural instincts toward compassion, empathy, etc.
The unvarnished truth is that if I had to make a list of the tend finest and ten worst people I ever met, thre would be JWs and non-JWs on each. -
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JW relatives laying it on heavy...
by betweenworlds inmy father in law just called me to see how we were doing here this evening.
i was glad to hear from him, but of course i got a good dose of jw reasoning along with the concern.. he mentioned he was on his way to a dentists appointment this morning and was listening to the awake!
magazine on tape.
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Frank, you would be well advised to not be so naive. You overlook that the ``false religion such as your own' to which many contributors profess is YOUR VERY OWN; many loyal JWs who are struggling to make sense out it all.
Why not draw up a list of every item these bunglers in Brooklyn been right about? For example, what book of theirs over ten years old are they prepared to stand behind today? Which one of these can they turn to, page and paragraph, thrust under our noses and say ``See? We saw it coming! Here it is in black and white! -
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JW relatives laying it on heavy...
by betweenworlds inmy father in law just called me to see how we were doing here this evening.
i was glad to hear from him, but of course i got a good dose of jw reasoning along with the concern.. he mentioned he was on his way to a dentists appointment this morning and was listening to the awake!
magazine on tape.
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Richie, et al...
The humility of the World Wide Church (``Plain Truth" magazine coupled with their relatively heightened social conscience are their redeeming graces....
I rememeber back to the Cuban Missile Crisis. which had all the JWs salivating about the imminence of the Big Bang.... ``You see? It's all right here in the book of Daniel, as explained in our little lime green gem of a book ``Your Will Be Done on Earth.'' -
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Not the complete story: Paradise
by ozziepost inas interested persons study with jws in the knowledge book they are presented with the appealing prospect of living forever on a paradise earth.
as they near the end of the book, the new studnet is faced with a salesman's 'close' technique in chapter 19 "when the knowledge of god fills the earth".. but the picture painted is not 'the whole picture'.
notice, for example, page 183, paragraph 8 which states: "at last, they will see the faces of their loved ones!
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Ozzie, et al....
I beleive the WT pundits now equivocate as to whether the remnant will survive Armaggedon. Of course, these teachings on the subject have the perverse effect of inducing loyal JWs who swallow all of these teachings to wish for the early (pre-Armageddon) deaths of their relatives and otherwise non-qualifying friends. -
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Not the complete story: Paradise
by ozziepost inas interested persons study with jws in the knowledge book they are presented with the appealing prospect of living forever on a paradise earth.
as they near the end of the book, the new studnet is faced with a salesman's 'close' technique in chapter 19 "when the knowledge of god fills the earth".. but the picture painted is not 'the whole picture'.
notice, for example, page 183, paragraph 8 which states: "at last, they will see the faces of their loved ones!
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Right on Ozzie,
One small criticism: you neglected to cross off the list of Armageddon survivors the laggard JWs who perform only ``token'' field service and pick and choose which meetings they will attend-- probably the majority these days. Of course, since any of these die before the Big A, they qualify for rehabilitation via the resurrection.