like the movie of that title, we also were soldiers.
we were soldiers serving a religion.
like the vietnam war soldiers many of us suffered and some of us paid the ultimate price.
Excellent post Island Woman. However, I have often felt that those of us who have left the Watch Tower have much in common with former Prisoners of War. We all suffered in the captivity of the Watch Tower. Some were imprisoned longer than others but all suffered loss and we all bear some form of scar from our stay. But now the barbed wire is gone and we are free to enjoy life.
Athanasius
after many months of following the silent lambs movement and other such organizations designed to "expose" and force change in wt policies i find a common thread among the activist.
though the motivations and goals of such like minded activist may be pure and well intended the efforts are hindered due to a tendacy to throw useless, unprovable and unwarrented material into the pot along with what could prove to be great case making material.
a person- a judge even- who reviewed all accusations against the wt as lodged by ex-jw's would find the blows against the wt softened and diminished when examining the allegations one by one.
"For the love of money is the root of all evil."--1 Timothy 6:10. The Watch Tower organization has shown how much they love money and also how evil they are. You presented a very good analysis of the Watch Tower corporation and their tactics. You are so right Kelsey, the way to get the Watch Tower to reform is to go for their material wealth. Material wealth means more to them than the spiritual health of the flock.
Sincerely,
Athanasius
i've just been playing back farkels rendition of his "dubsticks".
it really makes me smile, the way that he makes the melody weave in an out of "chopsticks" and then "from house to house" in a way that is so fluid that it brings to mind the almost seamless stitching together of the old "hooked on 45's" and "hooked on classics" albums of the early 80's.. so i was thinking, what kingdub songs could we weave effortlessly into existing music?
i can think of two or three right now.. "we thank you jehovah" bears more than a passing resemblance to haydns "creation" imho.. then again "keep your eyes on the pies" is almost, to my tuneless ear anyway, a carbon copy of "some day my prince will come" from the movie snow white.. finally, an old kingdub song whose name escapes me, but carrying the words "it's your commission now to preach", always puts me in mind of the main them running through wagners "lohengrin".. now i'm not suggesting for one minute that maestro farkel should work on melodies such as these for the sole purpose of our mutual tittilation.
I always suspected that the Watch Tower modified classical and modern music into their Kingdom Melodies. I wonder if they ripped off any copywrited material.
i was browsing around the watchtower.org web site and happened across their stats.. i found the cayman islands to be of particular interest.... there is only one baptized publisher, yet there are two congregations with 169 peak witnesses, 114 average bible studies and 461 in memorial attendance.. i can't help but wonder how they pulled this off.
one baptised publisher, two congregations.
there is obviously not a body of elders in either congregation..
Ketchup. Great answer Elsewhere. Only a kid could think of that one. How did the conductor respond?
the service meeting tonight, centered on how jehovah god cares about numbers.
numbers are even recorded in the bible!
yes, numbers mean a lot to jehovah god.
Great post Minimus. It looks like the Jehovah of the Watch Tower is very limited in his ability to oversee the JWs if he needs written reports submitted. I always thought that God was all seeing, that he would know how much time each JW was spending Evangelizing without the need of written documents. But I guess I was wrong. So please JWs fill out your timeslips properly because that is the only way Jehovah will know the spiritual health of the Watch Tower organization.
Athanasius
an interesting thing about the new yearbook: its references to the us branch office.
(in the world trade tower aftermath section , for example)instead of simply.
'headquarters'.. it shows a photograph of this committee - ten guys including max larson ( yep,.
Interesting observation. Thanks for the information.
i recall several instances when a "stranger" walked into the hall in the middle of the meeting.
it never failed... everyone in the hall would turn around and look at the person with shock and bewilderment.
a sense of unease would pass across the entire audience.. all available elders would then run to meet the person and "interrogate" him to make sure he wasn't there to crash the meeting.. ahhh yes... can't you feel the love?.
Hi Nickey,
That reminds me of a Memorial that I attended many years ago. Somebody brought their Bible Study, an older lady. When they passed the chalice this lady drank all the wine. So they had to send the chalice back for a refill. I don't recall if the lady ate the matzo. But it was kind of funny watching the attendants rush back to pour more wine.
Sincerely,
Athanasius
christmas time can be very expensive for those who go overboard.
how much do you figure you're going to spend this year for christmas.
(gifts, food, alcohol, travelling)edited by - jh on 25 december 2002 15:14:19.
Too much.
most of my jw experience was as a kid, and i remember going out in service on holidays, christmas in particular.. number one, it sucked because most people were there, and boy did i love not-at-homes.
they would answer, there would be food cooking, there was a full house with relatives and friends, and as you talked to the householder, everyone else in the house wanted to see who was there.
most of the time they treated us ok, but once in a while you would hear some person in the background make a snide remark.
I always hated going out in service on Christmas Day. Happy that now I can stay home and unwrap presents.
Athanasius
most of my jw experience was as a kid, and i remember going out in service on holidays, christmas in particular.. number one, it sucked because most people were there, and boy did i love not-at-homes.
they would answer, there would be food cooking, there was a full house with relatives and friends, and as you talked to the householder, everyone else in the house wanted to see who was there.
most of the time they treated us ok, but once in a while you would hear some person in the background make a snide remark.
