Posts by Seeker4

13

I'm going out on a limb here.

by JeffT in

jw
friends

ok i'm going to put this out there so all of you can support me by making me keep working.. i'm writing a novel based very loosely on my association with the witnesses.

right now i've got about 175 pages of a planned 300 done.

i keep letting other things get the way of my writing, and i've been semi-stuck for awhile.

Seeker4

Congratulations! I'm in a similar place. I have a novel completed and critiqued by two professional editors, but I need to do the final rewrite. I also have a very good agent for that book.

Have started on a second novel - also dealing with my JW experiences, but more with the idea of how do you create a life afterward. That's been harder to move on.

Part of my problem is that I'm a professional writer, and I'm doing magazine and newspaper pieces everyday to pay the bills. It's very hard to just keep that creative energy flowing from project to project. Like, here it is 7:30 at night where I live, and I just sent off an article for tomorrow's paper. But I started writing this morning at 7:30 - on a magazine piece. It's also off to the editor - but I have no energy right now to work on a chapter rewrite.

Right now I want to wander down to the village square where I live and listen to the Xmas carolers, and maybe slip into my favorite bar for a draft!

Drop me a private email. We should stay in touch and help each other out. I do have a children's book right now that is sitting at HarperCollier - so good things are happening. But it does take time, and a self-discipline that is monumental!

S4

34

ex-JW Community Not An Activist Community?

by mikepence in

jw
friends

please see http://xjwnews.com/article.php?sid=29&mode=thread&order=0 and add your thoughts in the comments section, or here.

reproduced here for your convenience:.

mike's corner: ex-jw community not an activist community?.

Seeker4

Mike,

Not sure exactly what you're looking for from this on-line community.
Contributions? What is it that your purposing?

If you're attempting to put together a press release that will go out to a variety of newspapers, TV stations, radio and so on, that can be done relatively inexpensively via email - avoid the printing, postage and envelope costs.

You seem articulate and able to write a good sentence - so write the release, go to the library where they will show you where you can get the email addresses you need (you can probably do that yourself via the Internet), and then send it out.

It helps if the press release is coming from a specific organization - so you may want to team up with the folks that Randy posted the release on this issue from earlier in the week. It's on this board.

My problem is that some of the folks shouting for action aren't always very clear. You write well, but I can't quite figure out what Celtic is trying to say most of the time. And the earlier press release I mentioned, well, I had my say about it on that particular thread.

Papers and other media get stuff from angry cranks and folks with causes all the time. If you don't make a clear, professional and unbiased sounding statement, you'll just be dismissed as another wacko letter writer.

And there are folks here working behind the scenes, and some quite publicly like Silentlambs, who have made a genuine impact on the media. The average Joe Witness is still unaware of all of this, but the public in general is getting an earful.

If you do this, make sure you send copies or web-links with the Guardian articles on this UN/WTS subject. THAT will make a bigger impression as far as the legitimacy of the story than probably anything you could say.

What's holding you back? Good luck!!
S4

4

Sheep and Goats

by Abaddon in

jw
friends

the use of sheep and goats as figurative images of good and bad people gave me pause even when i was a witness.. i've lived in the countryside, and know that sheep are quite possibly some of the most stupid mammals i've ever observed close hand.

it's not unknown for a ewe to stand at the edge of a ditch whilst giving birth, with her arse hanging over the edge, with the inevitable 'splash' after the final heave.

some highland breeds might be smarter, but not a lot.

Seeker4

Abaddon,

Yes!! Always had trouble with that idea of being a sheep. At one point I came across a Far Side cartoon of a flock of sheep feeding on a hillside, and in their midst is one sheep standing up and crying "But we don't have to be sheep!" I cut it out and saved it.

But now I think the sheep metaphor perfectly fits most people who remain in a religion. Unthinking, easily led, do what you're told, don't question.

S4

44

Were you atheist/agnostic BEFORE you came here?

by gumby in

jw
friends

something has puzzeled me for a long time since i came to this board.

first i would like to say i'm not judging any in what i'm about to say as we all are at different places in our lives and i respect that.. here it is: at what point in your life did you no longer believe in god or believe the bible?.

how many came to this conclution after coming to this db?.

Seeker4

JT -
Just spotted your post on here to me. Thanks.

I've always loved your simple explanation of how religion works:
"If you don't accept my explantion my God will kill you." I use it all the time when talking to people. Also - just invited you out for a beer in the new "who's the hotest female poster thread!

Happy holidays -
S4

20

My Grandfather-hours from death; what 's next?

by ashitaka in

jw
friends

my mother called me and asked me to pick up my sister because my grandfather is going to pass away in a few hours.

i don't know why this is moving me so much, but it is.

it's like my history is passing away.

Seeker4

Ashi - My heart goes out to you and I wish you whatever it is that you will need to make it through this hard time. I have no great, comforting words to tell you about this cycle of life and death that we all are in, but I can tell you this: I think if you can be with your grandfather at this time, it would be the most important thing in the world for him. YOU are his future in some ways, and you are certainly a part of his legacy. I would want to be surrounded by my family when I die, the reminder to me of all that was best about my having lived.
S4

17

Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods"

by Seeker4 in

jw
friends

i have been reading terry pratchett's "small gods" and finding myself either laughing outloud or reading protions outloud to anyone within earshot.

what a great, funny, truthful indictment of religion and the messes it gets us all into.

go out and buy a copy, you won't regret it.. i keep thinking i should post some passages on this board.

Seeker4

Tina - Great to hear from you. And thanks for the hugs. Right back at ya!

Stephanus - Nice summation. The part I loved was that Brutha - this poor, stupid monk and sole true believer - also happens to have a photographic memory. In order to save the pagan library, which is about to be burned, he memorizes all the important books. Despite being illiterate, the "ideas" from the books actually "leak" into his own consciousness, and his transformation is wonderful to behold. Vorbis did remind me of some elders or COs I've met!

The idea that a religion, once it becomes established, takes precedence over the god it worships became very clear to me as I started to question the Witnesses about ten years ago. There was this THING nagging at me, this feeling that something fundamental was wrong. Suddenly one day it just hit me that protecting and preserving the Watchtower Society was really the most important thing that Jehovah's Witnesses were doing. Nearly every brother I talked with felt that changes should be made, that there were serious things wrong - but most felt that we should just put up with these things and "wait on Jehovah" so that nothing damaged the WTS.

That's part of what makes Small Gods so good. Here the god Om is in the midst of his worshippers, and can only find one real believer. The rest worship the religion.

Abaddon - I've read some Bryson. He lives about 40 minutes from me.

S4

20

Attending WT meetings/functions

by Lee Elder in

jw
friends

i've been inactive for over 4 years now but i'm still attached though - loosely.. i will occassionally attend a meeting or portion of an assembly or convention.. i get a mixed reception at these gatherings.

generally my experience has.

been that the larger the group, the more inclined i am to run into some who.

Seeker4

Just found this post. Hilary_Step, I think you make some great points here. And I totally agree. There are a number of people who are better off being JWs, and should simply be left alone.

My mother is similar to this older person you spoke of, and I would never attempt to persuade her to leave. There is good and bad among the JWs. To see them as totally evil is ridiculous. They are simply one among hundreds of misguided fundamentalist groups - and each of those has good and bad features.

Well put, and something this board needs to be reminded of.

S4

5

If you wanted to carry out any kind of Project?

by Celtic in

jw
friends

what would it be?

Seeker4

Finish my goddamn novels!!!

S4

45

Can You Defend Yourself before a J. Committee?

by D wiltshire in

jw
friends

to those who have been before a judicial committee for apostacy.. the elders will ask you questions not for the purpose of finding out the truth, but to make sure they can df you.. at my appeal hearing serveral months ago i was questioned by the appeal committees to their satifaction, they even thanked me for my honesty, as it helped them get what they were looking for to make the original dfing stand.. after they were finished with their questions i ask if i could now defend myself and prove that i was telling the truth and not a biblical apostate.. the chairman informed me that i would not be allowed to defend myself.. i looked at all 8 brothers(2 committees 5 & 3) in total amazement at his refusal to allow me to defend myself.

to them(8) it seem perfectly alright not to allow me to defend myself.. wow.. the chairman said they really were not a judicial court and did not need to be that concerned about doing things in harmony with what is concidered to be fair and right by worldly courts or the bible.

in fact the chairman spent about 10 minutes trying to explain why they didn't have have to be fair in the legalistic way of courts.. .

Seeker4

Their response is no surprise at all. You're right. They were merely there to find enough evidence to convict you of apostasy and get rid of you. Justice is not one of the purposes of a JW judicial committee. Getting rid of troublemakers is.

Eight brothers! I'm impressed. You must have created quite a stir. Can I assume this was an appeal committee you were appearing before??

S4 - glad he will never sit on another JC in his life!

44

Were you atheist/agnostic BEFORE you came here?

by gumby in

jw
friends

something has puzzeled me for a long time since i came to this board.

first i would like to say i'm not judging any in what i'm about to say as we all are at different places in our lives and i respect that.. here it is: at what point in your life did you no longer believe in god or believe the bible?.

how many came to this conclution after coming to this db?.

Seeker4

Sorry Erich, you're wrong. We don't know the "exact meaning" of Tetragrammaton, and we certainly don't know how it was pronounced.

We do know it was not "JHVH" though, and was NEVER pronounced Jehovah!! No J in Hebrew. Sorry. You become less convincing with each post.

S4