been gone a while, i havent posted a topic here for since 2004, but remembered this story this morning, so i thought id make a post.
dungy idols!
ring a bell with you?
Yes, Duncan.
There's a lot of shit in the Bible(although, I no longer have a personal copy).
All JWD posters will be those "slain by Jehovah" and will be as "manure(shit) on the surface of the ground."
Was it King Eglon who got waxed while "easing nature"(taking a shit)?
The Mosaic law delicately discussed the proper disposal of excrement(shit).
tms
now that the gerontocrats have dispensed with their annual springtime campaign of blustering everyone away from the wine and bread, it's now time to for the yearly decalogue of decorum; an epistle to the clueless.. in the april kingdom ministry the old farts tackle their annual chore of getting their dubbies to somehow behave like normal, thoughtful human beings when let loose on the public away from their kingdom halls.. what do we find on page 5?
``reminders" to the rabble not to save seats; not to leave the premises during the noon lunch break, nor to bring booze or large coolers; to tip at least 15% to 20% when dining at restaurants.
this, i believe is a first; they now feel they have to coach jws on just how much is considered apopropriate by ``worldly" (read ``normal") human beings.
One year the brothers booked the Radisson Memphis just down the road from the famous Peabody.
Honestly, the hotel was far too upscale for the Arkansas circuits. I nearly died seeing many JW's dragging trash bags in lieu of luggage.
The valet parking was another unfamiliar aspect. One sister was crying at the front desk. She had given the attendant $5.00 on the first day of the assembly and thought it was for the entire three days. She was shrieking something to the desk clerk about the Society not telling her about the valet parking.
Another embarrassment: Because of convention duties, I rode with a young elder to the hotel. Our wives were coming up later. The young brother wanted to eat. I had no money with me. He said he would simply put it on his card. We ordered two $9.00 hamburgers. His card came back denied. He had used his card to hold the room. They locked in his entire balance until checkout.
The Radisson Memphis was not on the list the following year.
tms
my house is at; .
it's an old pic but still pretty good!.
anyone else want to play?
26.20' 24.06N
97.25' 09.06W Small fishing village. Elevation 1 ft. It would be interesting to see if someone could identify this unincorporated town. The Spanish JW's do come. They don't like the sound of my min pin's bark so they usually knock on the door of my laundry building and leave a tract in the door.
tms
jehovah's witnesses will be experiencing a special treat during their co (circuit overseer) visit this season: a bona-fide pledge drive.. during the thursday night meeting the normal co talk will instead be a video entitled:.
building kingdom halls advances true worship.
this 30-minute advances video is well produced and explains the watchtower society's program to build simplified kingdom halls in third-world and poor countries were materials and funds are scarce.. interviews and footage focus on south america, africa and eastern europe.
"Yes I saw it last week at the CO visit - quite good actually - and believe it or not - they do not beg for money - they THANK the brothers for the contributions that made it all possible - my respect for the society went up about 100% for that" A subtle pitch, but a pitch nonetheless. . . .
i just received this news from a bro who has connections in bethel.... .
bro albert d schroeder died at 10:30 am new york time today at brooklyn bethel...he was 94 yrs old.. he was born on april 7, 1911 in saginaw, michigan and entered bethel service in 1932. he was appointed a member of the governing body on december 18, 1974. bro schroeder's life story appeared in the march 1, '88 wt pages 10-17: entitled: "my life in jehovah's spirit-directed organization.".
i don't know if the "today" means it was actually today...as i can't be sure when my friend received this news... but anyway, another of the old guys bites the dust.. .
Albert Schroeder was in his element in a Watchtower classroom where he controlled the flow of information. He had a professorial bearing and appeared to show a genuine interest in each student. He had a unique teaching style, ending nearly every other sentence with a rhetorical question.
His "off the cuff" talks were much more interesting than his convention manuscript efforts.
Several classroom techniques could be mistaken for brilliance. I attended the Kingdom Ministry School in Pittsburg, PA in early 1970 with Brothers Schroeder and Davis conducting. Walking into the basement classroom after my three day bus trip, I saw this large curly-haired figure cutting across the room to me with an extended hand. "You must be a Pioneer!" were Schroeder's words.(I wondered if it was my sunburn or my thrift shop suit that gave me away.) I later realized that a recent photo accompanied each application and Schroeder knew exactly who was coming in.
During classroom discussion, Schroeder called on every student by name without stumbling. Here again, there was mandatory seating and he memorized the chart. He also would not answer any question during his talk, only afterwards. After the discourse, he would answer each question in the order the student raised his hand, but he would not allow the student to phrase the question. He already "knew" the question based on the point of his outline that the hand went up and the hundreds of previous courses he had taught. He would simply "answer" the question and the student would get this dumbfounded "how'd he do that?" look.
Several times after a long classroom day, Schroeder would change very quickly into casual clothes and be out front with the then 12 year old Judah Ben, throwing a baseball back and forth. At the time, I thought this was an obviously staged event to show the brothers that even this busy Watchtower leader made time for his kid. He could easily have waited ten minutes until we all had dispersed, but he did not. I did not fault him for this, but viewed it as an extension of his "teaching."
In discussing Watchtower history, Schroeder painted Russell as a gentle pastor, even imitating his figure-eight oratorical style. He said less about Rutherford, but implied that he was a demanding man.
Each class has the egotistical know-it-all. Schroeder had a nice way of deflating the pompous.
Until a few years ago, I used to think about my "anointed" grandfather, A.J. DeMan, looking down on me. Now, I'm reasonably certain he and Albert are gone forever.
tms
aight.
i was raised in the jws, but i'm still young (22) and all my life what i've been told is that the society never really promoted 1975 as the definitive year for the coming of armageddon.
what i was always told is that some overzealous witnesses took certain things out of context and developed a very extreme reaction - ie selling their houses, quitting their jobs, dropping out of school, etc.
Jankyn,
The explanation about the indefinite period between Adam and Eve's creation was well discussed before the release of "Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God" in 1966 and the subsequent hype about 1975. Even the book "All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial" published in 1963 has a thorough discussion of this topic in the chapter entitled "Chronology." (I no longer have a copy or I would give you the page and paragraph number.)
This whole matter was a subject of discussion in my congregation in Washington state prior to the 1966 conventions. My uncle, Russell Poggensee, returned from a refresher KM School course barely able to contain himself about the new light. He sort of botched its presentation though. All he could say was that the Society had figured out exactly when 6,000 years of human history would end and the thousand year reign begin. Others in the congregation found the above information in the SI book and refuted his claims.
I'm sure my uncle felt vindicated post '66 convention, but the arguments still stood. What surprises me the most is that many who knew the '75 prediction was bogus are still witnesses.
tms
http://www.nndb.com/people/248/000027167 /.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fachap07.html .
http://www.culturevulture.net/television/gordonparks.ht... .
Gordon!
g'day fellow liars,
considering themselves to occupy the moral high ground, many jehovah's witnesses are blissfully unaware that the watchtower bible and tract society encourages them to lie.
many would run screaming apostate lies!
Factoring in the "Theocratic War Stategy" and the double life witnesses almost certainly lead, lieing is pervasive among JW's.
Kids lie at school about their non-participation in almost everything, because the truth is too embarassing. These same kids later lie to the elders when questioned about "the desires incidental to youth."
Elders misrepresent the true nature of a meeting that eventually becomes a judicial committee.
Assembly overseers misrepresent the true financial situation of a convention to solicit contributions.
Elders frequently tell a publisher that "the matter has become a concern to many in the congregation" when, in fact, it has not.
Pioneers misrepresent the real reason they work part-time or not at all to qualify for welfare or government handouts.
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses makes changes under the guise of "simplification" that are actually changes made for financial reasons.
Almost every experience told at a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses is greatly embellished or an outright lie.
tms
ps: I once worked with a brother in field service who, if he met a Baptist, told the householder: "I used to be a Baptist." If he met a Catholic, he said: "I used to be a Catholic." I questioned him about this. He laughed and said it was "Theocratic Strategy."
aight.
i was raised in the jws, but i'm still young (22) and all my life what i've been told is that the society never really promoted 1975 as the definitive year for the coming of armageddon.
what i was always told is that some overzealous witnesses took certain things out of context and developed a very extreme reaction - ie selling their houses, quitting their jobs, dropping out of school, etc.
It was very common during the mid to late 60's to announce at the Service Meeting how many months were left in this system. I served as a servant, Congregation Servant and elder during this entire period from the release of the "Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God" book in the summer of '66 till '75 and twenty years beyond. Hype about '75 was never discouraged by Brooklyn.
I recall an elder in the early 70's stating that most of us could figure within a thousand dollars how much money we would need until the end of this system.
A congregation in north Texas refinanced their Kingdom Hall in the late 60's with a local mortgage company. The mortgage had an ascending scale of interest, modest until the mid-70's and then ballooning from there. They were so proud of their cleverness.
Of course, many made poor financial and health decisions based on the hype.
The governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses missed a wonderful opportunity to show manliness and humility and admit how misleading and damaging their pre-'75 hype had been. Instead, they took the cowardly way out and blamed the brotherhood for overreacting.
tms
have you heard any complaints about the wt article on higher education?.
are there those for college?
against college?.
{QUOTE}There are many JWs now in their 60's and 70's that have spent their lives cleaning homes and selling useless magazines. Do you think they want to face the fact that it was not worth it? Of course not. They would rather you throw your life away too. {/QUOTE}
No, I don't want any of you younger ones to waste their lives as I've wasted mine. Sometimes, ex-JW's say it wasn't all so bad. Our life experiences make us what we are blah, blah, blah. Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses and not living up to your potential is a wasted life!
I'm not an unhappy person by any stretch of the imagination, but I have many, many regrets. Not pursuing an education, not having a larger family, wasting over 50 years living a lie.
One of our young JW nephews recently joined the military. The family is aghast! My wife and I are so happy for him. Now, at least, he has a life!
tms
