How was the BRCI Convention???? I missed it this year
Onthewayout! Please read
by mouthy 8 Replies latest jw experiences
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cognac
bttt - Tell us all!!!
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mouthy
Jim Penton called me. Said is was great. Barb Anderson gave a talk also Gregerson,
Jim gave one also. A newbie was there,her daughter had been abused by a JW so
she wanted to speak to Barb,Jerry Bergman gave a talk,I will send away for the tapes or cd's -
OnTheWayOut
I missed Friday. Ask Coffee_Black about it, she was there for both days.
I found it kind of creepy on Saturday to start with Christian songs and a prayer in Jesus' name.I really enjoyed Dr. Penton's personal story and agreed with about 80% of what he said.
While I agreed with him that JW's are Christians and we didn't want to run off with trying to blast the individuals in order to blast the WTS, I disagreed with his thoughts that WTS should not be called a cult. I just think the terms should be clearly defined when using them.
Dr. Penton told of persecution upon JW's in Canada and how that contributes to their beliefs that they have "the truth." So it makes sense that attacks on individual persons are just viewed as persecution. I enjoyed how the difference for him was that he got an education.Mouthy, I am not a Christian anymore. So take my comments on Dr. Jerry Bergman as such. He had the talk before and after lunch. First he talked about how Charles Darwin and those who helped the initial push for evolutionary teachings were racists. The drawings they used made Africans look closer to apes, much of their data supported such. I will grant that it's true, but that is not the end of the story. Just because they used the current racism to sell books doesn't mean that later data was to be dismissed. I found Dr. Bergman to be pretty much the same as WTS, presenting data that only represented his views and ignoring other data.
In the afternoon, Dr. Bergman presented more one-sided data. He showed how the fossil record doesn't truly support evolution. Basically, he showed pictures of tree leaves that haven't "evolved" in 50 to 200 million years, some animal fossils where that is true also. But he went on to find charts from evolutionists that had holes in them and tried to generalize that the holes were everywhere, even if it wasn't so. He totally dismissed DNA support for evolution by simply stating that DNA degenerates within 40 years (it was more complicated than that, but he acted as the expert that we should not question) and cannot be relied upon.Dr. Bergman said that whereever he gave this talk, he never met anyone who disagreed with the data. I wanted to stand up and say "Well, meet one." I didn't bother. He's been giving the talk to church groups and it isn't the place to dispute him and attack his data.
Next was Barbara Anderson. She reported on her tour of Europe delivering two different talks, one about WT's pedophile problem and one about WTS being dangerous because of shunning, blood, two-witness rule, discouraging education. Her stuff was great. She gave a talk in front of a Vatican audience about the pedophiles, she talked in Paris and in Geneva and elsewhere. The information was nothing new to you or I, but it was still worth hearing directly from Barb.
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OnTheWayOut
A newbie was there,her daughter had been abused by a JW so she wanted to speak to Barb
And she definitely did. I didn't want to eavesdrop as she talked about her abuse. After that difficult part of her discussion with Barb, others gathered around to hear the discussion. It sounded like she received alot of help from talking.
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OnTheWayOut
BRCI gave their financial account. They keep things simple and had managed to keep their yearly expenses way way down to a few thousand dollars, most of it from the helpline (1-800-WHY 1914). There was absolutely no pressure to donate or to buy anyone's books. Someone had donated fruit and bagels enough for many of us to eat it as lunch.
This is a fine group of people. They travelled to the Chicago area on their own for this and pay their own individual expenses. Certainly, some of them have books they sell, but they weren't about that.
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mouthy
Thanks Alot love.... Did you speak to Joe Anderson. ? He too is an Atheist now, I was told.
You know me .I dont listen to what anyone else believe's I KNOW what I believe & it keeps me content,
( even if I am wrong lol) I have met Jerry Bergman,,,, & as I said before , NO ONE not him, Jim,Dan,
Peter ,Barb, Joe YOU!!!! Know it all, We are all just believing what we want to. & I think that is why we
have a brain...Yes I do believe in a Creator...I do pray to him,I dont believe all of scripture,I do think
some wise men back there wrote some info that may inspire,just as I find some men /
women today have sent info to me that inspired me. I dont know what is going to happen
when I kick the bucket,But I doubt it will be as bad as I have suffered on earth,....Jim said many of the BRCI... are coming to Canada in Nov, wanted me to get a place to hold it.
I suggested he look near him in Burlington as he is near the Niagria Falls & "Yanks" might like
to visit them...Thanks again friend. BUT!!!! I would go to PA Convention if I was you LOL
I have been to both,& that one is much better IN MY HUMBLE?????OPINION -
OnTheWayOut
I came a half-hour before the events on Saturday and talked to Joe Anderson at breakfast. Great guy.
We are all just believing what we want to.
I have been studying eastern philosophy, not eastern religion though. It has taught me to give room for everybody's (yes, even JW's) thoughts to fit in. I don't need to be "right" anymore. That's a very JW thing. People look for their thoughts on religion and life's questions to be "right" and find supporting evidence. I am no longer about that. Others can be "right" if they want to be. I just enjoy the journey that is spirituality, no longer focused on the destination. I just gave my slant on how biased Dr. Bergman's stuff was. That's fine. You wanted to know about the conference and I cannot be totally unbiased about a totally biased presentation.
I would love to visit Niagara Falls. I have seen much of the world. (Just to brag a bit: Waterfalls in Hawaii, glaciers in Alaska, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, Greek and Roman ruins, Vatican City, the straits of Gibralter, the Grand Canyon, the city of Jerusalem, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero NYC.) I still have not seen Niagara Falls and I was so close once- in Buffalo, NY. I don't think it will happen this year, though. Especially not in November. Money is tight and the falls sounds like a summer spot to me.
I would go to PA Convention if I was you LOL
I have been to both,& that one is much better IN MY HUMBLE?????OPINIONI am lost. What's a PA Convention? Do you mean the city of Philadelphia? Both of what???? Please explain your last comment.
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mouthy
Pennsylvania in the Blue Mountains .Is the one I was loving to go to for 22 years,
to old now to drive 10 hours,That was the convention I said I would recomend,
it is on the 16th I think Oct. I think if you check Deputy Dogs posts he mentioned itI have been to BRCI conventions ( 4 times) & Also Pennsylvania Convention. I prefer the later.