Posts by TMS

25

A deflating talk with my brother re: anti-witnessing,,,,thoughts?

by smellsgood in

jw
friends

**edited to say, my brother is not a jw, never has been, nor have any of my family.

i'm referring to jw's i don't know who came to the door finally (i posted about it a couple weeks ago in personal experiences) i was just talking to him about it because he got word of it and doesn't like the idea of it** .

talking to my brother today, he doesn't like the idea of me getting involved debating with jw's (i've done this plenty, just not in person:).

TMS

TMS, I have read this board for five years, read COC, read everything on freeminds, jwfacts, jwfiles, all the quotes on quotes when it was up....I have debated lifelong JW's for an entire year online, I may not know everything, and I certainly would never say I know what it is to be a JW, but I think I can say with utmost confidence, I am one hundred times informed as a practicing Witness about their religion. I am also extremely informed and knowledgeable about cults in general. It has been an area of intense interest and study for me.

I know there are gaps because of my non-experience, this board has been the biggest help in that area. I can read others experiences, and I have. I think my greatest hope is my passion for it.

I can understand why you would think that though ;)

Well, SG, I certainly wish you well. You have the ammunition. But that arsenal will simply bounce off the average JW. I've had a few low-voltage conversations with JW's where they have bared their private concerns. It's such a delicate operation to reinforce that private doubt with your own experience. It is altogether too easy to provide more information than necessary. You may not be regarded as an apostate in the strictest sense, but a unloading a barrage of negatives will certainly spook the victim you're trying to free.

Please keep us informed.

tms

25

A deflating talk with my brother re: anti-witnessing,,,,thoughts?

by smellsgood in

jw
friends

**edited to say, my brother is not a jw, never has been, nor have any of my family.

i'm referring to jw's i don't know who came to the door finally (i posted about it a couple weeks ago in personal experiences) i was just talking to him about it because he got word of it and doesn't like the idea of it** .

talking to my brother today, he doesn't like the idea of me getting involved debating with jw's (i've done this plenty, just not in person:).

TMS

I've never been a JW

A never-been could not possibly have the necessary knowledge to impact a JW's belief system. You would be in over your head. But you can only find that out for yourself.

tms

25

A deflating talk with my brother re: anti-witnessing,,,,thoughts?

by smellsgood in

jw
friends

**edited to say, my brother is not a jw, never has been, nor have any of my family.

i'm referring to jw's i don't know who came to the door finally (i posted about it a couple weeks ago in personal experiences) i was just talking to him about it because he got word of it and doesn't like the idea of it** .

talking to my brother today, he doesn't like the idea of me getting involved debating with jw's (i've done this plenty, just not in person:).

TMS

SG,

You're both right. No debater ever says: "You're right." It's not in human nature. JW's don't convert Catholics by destroying their beliefs biblically. Former JW's can't "win" a debate with current JW's. The talking points are irrelevant. It's the technique that doesn't work. Each JW has to reach a point in their life where they are "open" to seeing the reality of their belief system. They have to be hurt, overlooked, coerced, bullied, offended or stumbled to that point. Even at that point, the research has to be their own.

But you speak of your "responsibility". Your post-JW successful, happy life fulfills that responsibility.

tms

12

A Dispassionate Short History of the JWs

by Farkel in

fellow friends, folks, warriers and dubs,.

this is a nice read.

i apologize if this link has been posted before, as i've been busy with serial killing and such and haven't checked out the latest collected works and blubberings of minimus and other wise and erudite illuminaries who profer their wisdom here.

TMS

Farkel,

Since you left office, Minimus has served two terms as our president. It has not been JWD's finest hour.

JW apologists like JCanon have had the run of the place.

JWD took up a collection and sent Judah Ben Shroeder to Columbia Law School.

Almost no dickheads have been called such.

All posts are now text-messaged.

I hope you brought your work boots.

tms

61

2007- Witness Meetings= Why can't women wear pants/trousers??

by Witness 007 in

when my mum went to her first meeting she was dressed to perfection, she wore nice ladies dress trouser/pants.

the witness stuying with her told her it was "not apropriate" to wear this to the meeting...in 2006 i was in a congregation where a sister would put a skirt on over her pants she wore to work.

it looked weird, but the pants ban still is in force 2007.

TMS

This was a Watchtower flip-flop; allowing pantsuits for sisters at Kingdom Hall meetings in the summer of '75 and later in the same year reversing the policy. It not a dramatic a change as organ transplants or blood fractions but it illustrates the micro-control the GB has always had on JW lives. I guess the current posters are just too young to recall this historical change.

tms

61

2007- Witness Meetings= Why can't women wear pants/trousers??

by Witness 007 in

when my mum went to her first meeting she was dressed to perfection, she wore nice ladies dress trouser/pants.

the witness stuying with her told her it was "not apropriate" to wear this to the meeting...in 2006 i was in a congregation where a sister would put a skirt on over her pants she wore to work.

it looked weird, but the pants ban still is in force 2007.

TMS

Many on the board will not recall this, but pantsuits were specifically mentioned as allowable dress for sisters in one of the talks at the '75 conventions in the United States. Post-convention many sisters went out and purchased very tasteful polyester suits for meetings. The very large congregation I attended at the time, Little Rock East, had a clear pantsuit majority. Here is a link to JWD topic from Jan. 02 discussing this subject: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/18802/1.ashx

tms

15

Rethinking Cain & Able, Favoritism, Parenting

by TMS in

jw
friends

jehovah never had a father.

he never knew the feeling of being slighted, less loved than one of his favored siblings.

based on the above, was the first incident of sibling rivalry mishandled by jehovah?

TMS

hibiscusfire, justahuman:

Ur both bright young people, but uve gone way "beyond what is written" in ur Watchtoweresque spin on the Cain & Able account. Jehovah, the Great Communicator gave us no evidence of Cain's misbehavior prior to being humiliated for his blue ribbon vegetable offering. Actually, the Mosaic Law code which followed reinforced the notion that Jehovah just was a huge meat eater, especially of fatty pieces with blood dripping off the altar.

Even if Cain had been a bad boy before his attempt to gift Jehovah with his best, do you think Jehovah handled the situation well? Do you think it would have hurt the almighty to have tabled his lust for meat fat temporarily and at least pretended to like the lad's offering? Actually, Jehovah, being allknowing, omnicient, knew that Cain would react the way he did, but blew it off because he was such a damn meat lover that he didn't care who got hurt in the process.

As Judge Rutherford used to say: "Face the Facts." Jehovah God was not a good parent. He repeatedly showed favoritism on an individual and national basis. He favored Israel, but slaughtered the men, women and children of surrounding countries. He had incorrigible youth stoned by their parents. He pardoned murderer/ adulterer David, but killed his innocent baby. He's watched many tsunami waves kill thousands of his children without lifting an almighty finger.

tms

15

Rethinking Cain & Able, Favoritism, Parenting

by TMS in

jw
friends

jehovah never had a father.

he never knew the feeling of being slighted, less loved than one of his favored siblings.

based on the above, was the first incident of sibling rivalry mishandled by jehovah?

TMS

Imagine two children. They both decide to make a picture for their daddy. One paints a picture using watercolors, the other draws a picture using pencil.

Daddy really likes watercolors, so he congratulates the one boy.

Daddy doesn't like pencil drawings, so he 'does not look with any favor' upon the other boy. You can imagine the smile (countenance) falling from his face as his gift is shunned.

AFTER that, the pencil artist gets angry and developes social issues (For which the father yelled at him) that eventually lead to him becoming a murderer.

It's called psychology... Something that Yahweh consistently proves to be ignorant of.

Lore

Bro. Lore,

If you're actually eighteen, with that much insight, you're going to do fine is this world. Hibiscusfire, bless her heart, cannot be reached at this point. She's out slaying dragons and infidels. As crude and lame many of these biblical accounts are, the Watchtower spin 'splaining them is much, much lamer.

tms

15

Rethinking Cain & Able, Favoritism, Parenting

by TMS in

jw
friends

jehovah never had a father.

he never knew the feeling of being slighted, less loved than one of his favored siblings.

based on the above, was the first incident of sibling rivalry mishandled by jehovah?

TMS

Jehovah never had a father. He never knew the feeling of being slighted, less loved than one of his favored siblings. Based on the above, was the first incident of sibling rivalry mishandled by Jehovah? Did he bear any responsibility in the tragic results? Jehovah's Holy Word, the NWT, describes Abel as a "herder of sheep" and his brother as a "cultivator of the ground", both honorable professions. Both men felt an obligation or a simple desire to give something back to their creator.

Both men gave Jehovah what they had worked hard to produce. Since Jehovah preferred animal fat to vegetables, he showed favoritism toward Abel and rejected Cain's offering.
This caused Cain's "countenance to fall" in the archaic speech used in 1960 when the NWT was written. Today we would simply say: "Jehovah hurt Cain's feelings." What
should Cain have done differently? Should he have stolen some "firstlings" from Abel's flock and served them to Jehovah? Or should he have killed some other wild beasts
and offered their fatty pieces to the god of the universe?

What responsibility does Jehovah bear in setting the mood for the animosity between brothers? If Jehovah does not show favoritism, but instead graciously accepts the generous
results from the "sweat of Cain's face", does Abel lose his life? What if Jehovah had given Cain a hug and said: "Son, these are the juiciest mangos I've ever eaten? " First century murderer Paul wants us to believe Abel's sacrifice was of "greater worth". So? Children are
different and show their love in different ways. Is there any excuse for a father to accept love from one child and not another.

A Jehovah copycat, Isaac showed similar favoritism in dealing with son's Jacob and Esau, even breaking the law to favor the younger one. The results were not good.

tms

17

I found Minimus' family!!!!!

by exwitless in

here they are.

apparently they are a bunch of partyers.. .

.

TMS

Their favorite party game? "Twenty Questions"

tms