Posts by SAHS

29

Poll: Anyone thought they sinned against Holy Spirit? Any anxiety or anger?

by SAHS in

jw
friends

certainly not that i would ever imply that anyone would have sinned against the holy spirit, but i was just wondering how may people either think they may have done this, or in the past thought they may have, or if they felt they were ever a victim of that wt scare tactic.

if so, did you at some point in your life feel anxiety over it?

did you ever feel anger about being misled into thinking you had when you realize now that you really couldn?t have (at least by that time)?

SAHS

(((((?Crooked Lumpy Vessel?)))))

Your user name bespeaks a problem common to so many here, which is lack of self-esteem. I too have suffered from this pretty well my whole life. Although low self-esteem is generally a somewhat common experience, it is most exacerbated by a judgmental, high-control environment, whereby people are often driven to cope by desperate approval-seeking behavior (always trying to please and ?keep up?).

Just remember that if there is an all-wise Creator whose primary attribute is love, then such love must be far more profound and far-reaching then we often think it could be. IMHO, in the final analysis, when it comes to judgment and merit, the most important criterion must be, not attendance, hours, cleanliness, or rules, but simply love, which supposedly ?never fails.? So, if you?re a reasonably sensitive and loving person, which I get a sense is the case, then I wouldn?t worry because, above all, that has merit with God.

(((((?Doubtfully Yours?)))))

Ditto to you too.

Also, to everyone who is hurting because of grief over perceived worthlessness, I give you what I can?a big, heartfelt hug:

(((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))

I really feel for people who have had such sadness imposed on them. May you find serenity and happiness, because you do deserve it!

?SAHS

29

Poll: Anyone thought they sinned against Holy Spirit? Any anxiety or anger?

by SAHS in

jw
friends

certainly not that i would ever imply that anyone would have sinned against the holy spirit, but i was just wondering how may people either think they may have done this, or in the past thought they may have, or if they felt they were ever a victim of that wt scare tactic.

if so, did you at some point in your life feel anxiety over it?

did you ever feel anger about being misled into thinking you had when you realize now that you really couldn?t have (at least by that time)?

SAHS

Certainly not that I would ever imply that anyone would have sinned against the Holy Spirit, but I was just wondering how may people either think they may have done this, or in the past thought they may have, or if they felt they were ever a victim of that WT scare tactic.

If so, did you at some point in your life feel anxiety over it? Did you ever feel anger about being misled into thinking you had when you realize now that you really couldn?t have (at least by that time)?

I?m sure a lot of folks are curious about how this particular ?doctrine? may have ended up shaping people?s lives in a negative, self-defeating manner, especially during childhood and the teenage years.

?SAHS

47

How Many of You Felt That The "End" Would've Been Here By Now???

by minimus in

jw
friends

for what it's worth, i never did.

i just never really believed in '75 or any other time.....signed, faithless minimus

SAHS

Black Sheep:

I knew I was gonna die, but I didn't care.

I can relate to that. My parents, especially my mom, used to talk things up about things in the news supposedly leading up to the JW timetable (cry of ?peace and security,? the great trib., the big A, etc.). Since I really doubted I had any chance of surviving because of having lost God?s favour, I felt like someone standing before a firing squad waiting to die on the evening of the 4th of July, and jumping every time there?s another fireworks display but then realizing that it?s still not the sound of the firing squad?s rifles but just another delay to keep things interesting.

I too was brought up in a JW family. Every year, especially during my teens, my parents used to say to each other, ?I wonder if this will be the year the great tribulation starts??and I would think to myself, ?I wonder if this will be the last ?normal? year until things go downhill toward my no-doubt inevitable execution.? It?s a crime how religious dogma in organizations like the WT is used to instill such destructive fear in young people!

It was only in the last few months that I?ve started to wake up, thanks to Web sites like this. Although I used to be profoundly grieved at the rather fearful prospects set out by the WT, I?ve recently adopted a more objective ?don?t care? philosophy about the whole thing. I mean, if I can?t do anything about dying at the big A because of being condemned, then screw it! And if all that fire and brimstone stuff from the WT turns out to be just BS (it?s 2004, folks), then, well, ditto on the screw it!

?SAHS

9

The perfect anonymous gift!

by Perry in

jw
friends

who would you give one to?

celebrating our 10 year anniversary .

the first air filter disguised as a seat cushion!.

SAHS

Our seat cushion has been tested by a team of scientists

Who the hell would do the testing? They must have to do a smell test, as they do with new deodorants. If that?s is the case, they?re as sick as a cult!

?SAHS

27

Do you fear the big A and does the conflict impact your actions?

by Maverick in

jw
friends

on another tread this point came up.

scotsman posted a comment about a certain poster being gay, and i do not know or care if this is true or not, and in conflict over the fear of dying at armageddon for this "sin".

do any of you fear the big a because of your lifestyle?

SAHS

The big A is really a moot point for me because, according to my dad?s scare tactics, I?ve already sinned against the Holy Spirit and am therefore condemned anyway. (Self-fulfilling prophecy.) So, although I have had a lot of fear, anxiety, and sadness regarding the big A, now I figure, If I?m going to die when it comes and there?s nothing I can do about it, then why worry or give a f^@#?

I?ll still always be a decent, ?nice guy,? but at the same time make sure that I get some reasonable degree of enjoyment from the remainder of my life. (When I say ?reasonable,? that?s not necessarily according to the WT rules. )

And if the big A ends up being just the product of a self-serving cult as opposed to the big R (?R?eality), then, well ? bonus.

?SAHS

122

Do you fear death?

by onacruse in

jw
friends

.

the ultimate test of our existence: termination.. i don't fear death...no reservations, no nightmares.. craig

SAHS

Here?s an interesting little relativity-like ?thought experiment? regarding the experience of death:

Let me ask all of you, What exactly were you thinking about, worrying about, or experiencing on January 1st, 1800? Were you thinking, ?Boy, I?m really sick and tired of waiting to be born sometime in the next century,? or, ?This is kind of boring and scary, not being born yet?? I don?t think so. Although you can?t exactly remember just what you were thinking or feeling on January 1st, 1800, you can logically conclude that you were not thinking or feeling anything?because you weren?t born, and therefore didn?t exist yet. Your ?life??or that which is the entity specifically comprising your ?consciousness??was yet to be (and if your parents never meant, it never would be, in any event).

So, what is my point? Well, if we change the above date to January 1st, 2200?assuming that you won?t end up in the earthly Paradise, or in heaven, or in a dog?s body, or that they don?t invent a real bitch?n? version of Geritol in the immediate future that would allow you to live that long?well, ... wouldn?t it be the exact same thing as January 1st, 1800? I mean, nothing being ventured or being gained ... just, well, nothing (door knob status)?

So, when you think of it, there really is nothing to fear about the state of death ... because in the eternal time continuum, we?ve already been there before!

?SAHS

9

What is the Zerubabal class?

by IronGland in

jw
friends

or zerububul, however you say it.

SAHS

Leolaia:

which class is the one for those who Falsely and Presumptuously Claim to be Divinely Appointed, Who Make A Lot of Money, Who Tear Families Apart, Who Insist on Parents Letting Their Children Refuse Medical Treatment and Die, Who Join a Polical Organization While Denying Being Part of the World, and Who Turn a Blind Eye to Clild Abuse?

I would say, No class!

?SAHS

85

Governing Blunders - Part 1

by hillary_step in

jw
friends

i thought i would start a weekly column of wts inanity, inanity serious enough to have affected peoples perceptions and negatively changed their lives.. .

one famous wts myth that i have heard uttered more times a minimus question is that ?women feel while men think?, did you ever wonder where the wts dug that thought up from?

apparently from an unamed woman psychologist and the famous department of ?many authorities?

SAHS

M & F ?roles? as interpreted by WT. Note height comparison.

Not too politically correct, I would think?or popular with most folks today. Another example of WT?s psychological ?guerilla marketing? tactics.

(Photo taken from the beginning of the study article about marriage in the Sept. 15, 2003 Watchtower, page 10).

?SAHS

4

Most $$ to WT Now Comes From Elderly!

by SAHS in

jw
friends

i heard a senior elder at my congregation meeting a couple of weeks ago say that he heard the branch overseer for the canadian bethel, brother ken little, say, ?now most of the money coming in to the society is from seniors and their donations.?

the elder had recently been on a tour of the canadian bethel.

he also mentioned how brother little was telling about one woman who apparently ?left everything to the society.

SAHS

I heard a senior elder at my congregation meeting a couple of weeks ago say that he heard the branch overseer for the Canadian Bethel, Brother Ken Little, say, ?Now most of the money coming in to the Society is from seniors and their donations.? The elder had recently been on a tour of the Canadian Bethel. He also mentioned how Brother Little was telling about one woman who apparently ?left everything to the Society.?

There is no doubt that there are many similar accounts of people, especially the elderly, leaving pretty much ?everything? to the ~~Society~~ Corporation, since every year the Nov. 1st WT comes out with a standard boilerplate article encouraging people to plan donations of ?insurance policies, real estate, stocks/bonds/shares [i.e., ?Rand Cam?*], wills, trust funds.?

* (Incidentally, in case you haven?t heard what ?Rand Cam Engine Corp.? is all about, and the implication of the WT?s ownership of this company?s shares, it?s interesting to check out the following:)

http://www.freeminds.org/h2o/283202.html

http://www.geocities.com/wtgreed/article.htm

http://www.machynlleth.freeserve.co.uk/wts_bombfactory.htm

The Canadian Bethel is in the process of getting another whopping big printing press from Brooklyn, NY, which will apparently be operational by November, 2004. I guess the money has to come from somewhere.

One can?t help but recalling Jesus? description of the rank-and-file Jews in his day who were ?skinned and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd.? (Matt. 9:36, Mark 6:34.)

I was just wondering ? does anyone have other examples of the elderly giving it all to WT, or being pressured to?

?SAHS

57

Do you REALLY know how crazy J. Rutherford was?

by gumby in

below is an interview with the drunken, pipe-dreamin, selfish, psychopathic bastard back in 1930.. the interview with j.f.

rutherford that appeared in the sun diego sun, march 15, 1930. .

"but how will you identify king david or any of the other representatives from god?

SAHS

'Everything will be theirs, the house, the land, the furnishings and even the clothes if they need them,' Judge Rutherford said. 'What will I do? Oh, don't worry about me. I'll manage somehow.' the judge smiled. He had another 'Watch Tower' residence on Staten Island and practically an entire floor at Bethel.

You BET he ?managed somehow!? He must have know that the ancient patriarchs wouldn?t just happen to plop up from the ground, somehow commute to that so-called Beth Sarim house, and say, ?Hey, Frankie! How?s it going, eh? Well, . . . here were are.? No ? I can?t believe a man of that ?stature? would have completely convinced even himself. But, in the meantime . . . guess who really got to occupy all that ?shameless luxury?? (Revelation 18:3. Worth looking up, people.) Guess! . . . . [Briefly play music from the game show Jeopardy in your head at this point] . . . . . . . It was HIM ? Judge Franklin J. Rutherford! Yes, it would appear that he was the real intended occupant of that house all along ? who just happened to benefit from all those corporate ?fringe benefits? (mansion, fancy clothes, ?16 cylinder coupe,? etc.), along with as many of his own cronies that could get away with that clever ruse with him.

When you think of it, I suppose, it was ?brilliant,? for a time at least. (People were probably more gullible back then.)

It reminds me of those TV evangelists, Jimmy and Tammy Baker ? you know, on that show a few years back called 100 Huntley Street or PTL Club (Praise the Lord), or something like that. Well, it was discovered that they too lived in such ?shameless luxury,? and apparently even their pit bull had its own luxurious doghouse with air conditioning and even its own servant! It?s true! (Guess what? The only big house Jimmy Baker is in right now is ?the big house? ? prison!)

Well, it only shows that in the world of fickle and impressionable humanity, wonders never cease.

?SAHS