Posts by Amazing

13

Disfellowshipping question

by DJK in

jw
friends

i have heard a rumor that an elder or former elder was disfellowshipped because none of his siblings (6) baptized and all left the witlesses when they turned 18.. is it possible?

i'm afraid to ask anyone who may have knowledge of it because they will tell someone i had asked.. djk, of the leader of the pack class.

.

Amazing

Carmel,

the other hand, don't most dubbies and other Xtians thing we are responsible for what old Adam ate in the garden?

No, Christians do not teach that we are responsible for Adam & Eve's sin. Rather, the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant mainline churches teach that we inherit sin because of Adam. It correlates best to a millionaire who is debt free, but then squanders his fortune and goes deep into debt. His children also suffer the loss, and instead of inheriting wealth, they inherit poverty. Jesus Christ saves us by paying off the debt, and raising us out of spiritual poverty into spiritual wealth.

The big difference between the three main lines of Christianity and the JWs is this:

Catholic: Jesus died and paid for our sins, and we do no have to work for our salvation. It is a free gift. Our works also keep us from the possibility of losing our salvation as Adam did, but more importantly, our Christian living brings us closer to the Divine life.

Orthodox: Same as Catholic, except that Jesus would have come to earth anyway, even if Adam had not sinned, so that he could connect humanity with the divinity. Also, our Christian living sanctifies us in the Divine life.

Protestant: Same as Catholic and Orthodox, except our works have no sanctification value beyond responding to the Holy Spirit, and exhibiting that he truly dwells in us.

Jehovah's Witness: Jesus paid off your Adamic sins, but, you must now work like hell to live a damn near perfect life, and even then, only probably you might get saved if Jehovah is in a good mood toward you on the day that he commences Armageddon.

-------------------------------

Gregor. Excellent point and a very true observation! Your point really deserves a separate posting.

Jim Whitney

27

TV Shows...which ones didn't you get to watch?

by TheCoolerKing in

jw
friends

what tv shows didn't you get to watch when you were a jw?

either because you had to attend one of the five meetings a week or had to go out in field service on the weekend?.

i remember being pissed off as a kid every saturday morning, because we always had to go out in field service.

Amazing

I was not raised a JW, but became one at age 19. So, when my own children came along, starting in 1972 onward, we did not really restrict TV watching because we never had cable ... and the "dirty" channels were not available.

When VCRs came along we recorded shows. And eventually we got basic cable, which was good enough. We still did not restict shows, but we were more balanced JWs, in my opinion. I am sure that my kids managed to watch shows that I might not have approved ... but I never made an issue out of entertainment with them. Less frustration comes by just living what you thinkk is right and let your children observe and share in your lifestyle ... then when they grown up, they will set their own level of values ... but they will tend to live a similar life.

Currently, my children are grown and God only knows what they watch. But they are good, college educated citizens ... and they are Christian ... so, my wife and I must have done something right.

Jim Whitney

13

Disfellowshipping question

by DJK in

jw
friends

i have heard a rumor that an elder or former elder was disfellowshipped because none of his siblings (6) baptized and all left the witlesses when they turned 18.. is it possible?

i'm afraid to ask anyone who may have knowledge of it because they will tell someone i had asked.. djk, of the leader of the pack class.

.

Amazing

No, an Elder cannot be DF'd because his siblings or children leave the organization. At one time, if an Elder's children were not considered good examples, he could be removed as an Elder ... but that changed many years ago when I was still serving. If he was DF'd, it was for something that happened that has not been disclosed.

Jim Whitney

16

Reunited With My Disfellowshipped Daughter Today

by skeptic1914 in

jw
friends

long story short: my daugher was df'd about 7-8 yrs ago.

bitter and resentful toward me, abusive jw ex-husb and the elders that didn't want to listen to her side.

saw her briefly at my younger daughter's wedding in 2003.. my mom died last week.

Amazing

Skeptic,

Excellent news. Given that you and your wife are out of the organization, and one daughter is with you now ... then, in time, the others may follow. Momentum and gravity are on your side.

Jim Whitney

8

Share your DREAM / NIGHTMARE about meetings / conventions / JC's, etc.

by found-my-way in

jw
friends

i'll share a dream i just awoke from about an hour ago:.

i was driving in a van, and there was this man undercover in the van who was on a mission of somesort.... they were following a van driving beside us, and there was a man in that van drawing on the window with a large crayon, he was drawing a detailed and realistic mural of rainbows, flowers and butterflies...they were following this man for some reason.

ok, i guess my mind went in a weird direction after this... (the roads we are driving are completely new to me and unfamiliar) we pull up to the kindom hall and my assignment was to do recon on the the co, as he was reportedly doing some weird things.... so i get there intime for the meeting, i am dressed as a sister, i blend in, and am greeted as a visitor.

Amazing

When I was still a JW, I traveled a great deal around the country in my engineering career. One day, after a trip, I was back in my office, and very tired. I slipped into the restroom to sit in the stall and catch 10 minutes of sleep. I then had a dream that I was in a plane that was crossing the SF bay to land at Oakland International. (I did this a number of times when I wold fly back from Portland, Oregon. In the dream, I noticed that the plane was flying extremely low, along side the Oakland-Bay bridge. We were heading straight for city center below the skyline ... and the plane was losing altitude ... I then realized that we were going to crash ... and I screamed, Oh JEHOVAH !!! ... and woke up. Some fellow engineers were in the restroom and wondered outloud what I was doing in the stall. I was horribly embarassed to say the least.

Jim Whitney

24

One of the greatest threats to the sanity of humanity- HISTORICAL MYOPIA

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

the world is a huge and somewhat baffling place.

human nature tends to cause us to attach greater significance to the events of our lifetime than reality would dictate.

couple these two facts together and we end up with- historical myopia.. example: about a century and a half ago, there was little or no concern about declining oil reserves.

Amazing

Amen Terry ... you and I had very similar experiences ... yes, ducking under desks to stay safe from the Russians (Soviet Union) from bombing us.

nvrgnbk,

Enjoyed your post and the good points you made. I would like to add some clarification. Slavery was done because it was believed that the time that Africans (blacks) were less than fully human. However, others disagreed, and argued against slaves from the founding of the United States (the UK and other Euro nations had slaves too for a while, and the UK sold slaves to the USA). Even African blacks helped white slave traders from the UK, Europe, and the USA to chase down and capture fellow blacks. This was done by competing tribes as a way to rid themselves of opposing tribes ... and sometimes by just plain greedy blacks who sold out their brothers and sisters.

The founding fathers argued over this issue when drafting the constitution. Thomas Jefferson himself also argued for women's rights. But, compromise was necessary at the time - or thought to be so. The Constitution mentioned 'negros' as 3/5ths persons (less than fully human) and thus needing owners.

However, the issue never really rested, but only grew until the civil war finally settled the issue. Oddly enough, right after the war, blacks won elective office in the south, notably in South Carolina. But the KKK put an end to that, and also killed white supporters of black advancement. However, racism and forms of slavery continued until the 1950s, when black and white activists finally took a stand and African Americans were finally on the road to full liberty and human rights.

Today, things are much better, and many young blacks do not understand the level of improvement since the 1950s.

However, we also have a major problem left with human rights of the American Indians. We have treaties that are legal and binding on our nation today that our government has not been honoring for many decades ... treaty lands belonging to the Cherokee in Georgia and Alabama is but one of several examples ... and as long as we do not speak out and force our government to obey the legitimate treaties signed with the American Indians, we become complicite with those who took their lands.

Jim Whitney

6

Upcoming final Count-Down postings

by Amazing in

jw
friends

in my next two postings:.

count-down 2:best of amazing.

you can click on these and find easily rather than researching my files ... between my two accounts, amazing, and amazing1914, i have posted almost 5,000 times, and of these i started about 700 new topics.

Amazing

Hey Purple,

I thought you were really from France

I use to put up different flags at times, especially when a particular country was in the news. But, I have not made any changes in about a year. I grew up in a home where French was spoken ... some of our closest friends were French Candaian (FC act like they are more French than the French). When I was in Toronto, Canada some time ago, I was having a meal at the top of the CN Tower ... and some Fench speaking Canadians (likely Quebecois) were talking in French saying some rather nasty things ... and I was so tempted to surprise them with the fact that I understood them ( a little) ... but, sicne discretion is the better part of valor, I just smiled, nodded, and sipped some California wine. I have never lived outside the United States ... but, one day, I hope to visit the UK and see my castle ... the Whitney Castle. And maybe take a ride on the subway over to France. Jim Whitney

6

Upcoming final Count-Down postings

by Amazing in

jw
friends

in my next two postings:.

count-down 2:best of amazing.

you can click on these and find easily rather than researching my files ... between my two accounts, amazing, and amazing1914, i have posted almost 5,000 times, and of these i started about 700 new topics.

Amazing

IP-SEC,

Okay ... it is all fixed now ... I figured out what I did incorrectly.

Jim W.

6

Upcoming final Count-Down postings

by Amazing in

jw
friends

in my next two postings:.

count-down 2:best of amazing.

you can click on these and find easily rather than researching my files ... between my two accounts, amazing, and amazing1914, i have posted almost 5,000 times, and of these i started about 700 new topics.

Amazing

In my next two postings:

Count-Down 2:Best of Amazing. You can click on these and find easily rather than researching my files ... between my two accounts, Amazing, and Amazing1914, I have posted almost 5,000 times, and of these I started about 700 new topics. I have selected 157, of which I may try to boil down to 100 or so best postings.

Count-Down 1: The Final Door ... will deal a little with my upcoming book ... some teaser comments ... and my retrospect thoughts on my 15-years of working through my ex-JW experiences. I am not leaving the board ... as I may visit again ... but, I am just changing focus. It is time.

I will try to get these last two posted by Thursday and Friday. For those interested in my postings ... I am doing my "Best Of Amazing" partly for myself, so that if I ever need to refer back to something I posted, I can find it really fast ... and for those of you who also want to refer back to my work.

Jim Whitney

In case you have wondered ... here is my picture ... not bad for a guy of 56:

My Photo & Info. (Fixed Now) http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/31858/1.ashx

3

Stillconcerned a little help? knocking abuse thread

by carla in

jw
friends

there is a conversation going on about the film knocking on pbs http://discussions.pbs.org/viewforum.pbs?f=203 and the topic of abuse could use some legitimate help.

it looks like they need some transcripts of actual abuse cases.

i had some in my favorites list but now they just show up as 'cannot display page'.

Amazing

Carla,

It looks like they need some transcripts of actual abuse cases. ... I think court transcripts are not for the general public without requesting them for specific reasons? ... Is there a way to access court records for transcripts? I know you can access the circuit court and type in any name to see if they have been convicted of a crime but not the actual transcript.

Court trial transcripts are public domain unless a judge seals them. Most courts do not post the full transcript of a trial or hearing because these are often too large ... and they do not have the time or memory space to support such huge files. But, you can often get the "ruling" from a trial or "opinion" from an appellate court on line. And these will contain much information about the trial that they should be good enough. However, if someone wants the full trial transcript, you can take the Docket number, date, and parties involved, such as State of California v John Doe. Call the court clerk's office, and get instructions on cost, payment method, mailing information, and schedule of delivery. They often charge a significant sum, in my opinion. But, maybe PBS will pick up the tab if you give them the details that I noted.

I have some evidenciary materials that would be introduced as part "of the record" that I will include in my book ... or at least transcribe into my book. I am working on it as I can, and hope to get something done by this summer.

Jim Whitney