Axelspeed

Joined

• started 12 topics
• posted 319 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Axelspeed

• 
  20

  Update...Letter from Wt

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  not long ago i started a thread about how my wife & i sent letters to the society but received no response, well we got one.

  my wife wrote a letter asking about the similarity between pagan mystery cults and christianity, especially she mentioned the eucharist meal of bread and wine representing blood and body of dying saviors such as mithras and dionysus.

  their response was: .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  LDH...just had to say, you are hilarious! LMAO

  Axelspeed
• 
  13

  The memorial held--in Prince's concert hall!

  by Pistoff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  i know most will not believe this, but the cologne or navarre mn hall held their memorial in prince's digs--the place where he has had many local concerts.. in case you did not know, he is now a baptized witness; not a rumor; i have sources from that state who were there when they announced mr and mrs prince nelson as new brother and sister.. i can't imagine what went thru the elders' minds; who in their right mind can not see this as a tiny problem with conflict?

  or reputation???.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  Considering where i now am opposed to where he is, and comparing this to where we both were respectively 10 yrs. ago...the irony of it all.

  Axel
• 
  1

  Iraq / apocalyptic viewpoints

  by Axelspeed in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  found this article on how many see iraq's place in prophecy interesting.

  it just goes to show how many groups there are who are willing to see something to fit a preconceived view, and provide what seems like such a rational argument.

  when you see things outside the fishbowl, you realize that jws are just one of the many.

  1. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  Found this article on how many see Iraq's place in prophecy interesting. It just goes to show how many groups there are who are willing to see something to fit a preconceived view, and provide what SEEMS like such a rational argument. When you see things outside the fishbowl, you realize that JWs are just one of the many. (Oh how I thought we were so special)
  
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58894-2003Mar7.html
  
  One thing I related to about all these groups was the following:
  
  "More problematic is the fatalistic worldview of apocalyptic thinking, Hill said. Many who obsess about the end of the world fail to enjoy the life they have or reach out to help others in an effort to improve society, he said. They become 'morally complacent.'"
• 
  29

  Don't You Think That Many Bethelites Know This Isn't The Truth.....?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when you know that so many things are untrue,whether it be doctrines, policies or history, and these bethelites still hang on, you've got to wonder why.

  is it fear?

  is it the fact they have no real skills?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  the Watch Tower Publishing Corporation and it's private label religion, Jehovah's Witnesses

  lol...for some reason I found that pretty funny.
• 
  33

  Belching Gun on Fitzwater Case

  by AlanF in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  the following material is far more than a smoking gun -- it's a flash picture of a gun belching fire.

  in connection with bill bowen's las vegas news conference today, bill released the following documents to the public: .

  http://www.silentlambs.org/fitzwaterscan1.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  You are correct. It is kept pretty murky, enough to mislead as to what is really being said. Many JWs confuse the words "annointed" as opposed to "appointed" as used by the WT. When the WT says that elders are appointed by HS, most incorrectly make a leap from "annointed" to "appointed" in thier own minds and assume they mean the same thing ( maybe because of the similarity in spelling), and conclude that elders are somehow "annointed" directly by HS, which is not at all what is technically being stated. Whether this flawed and misleading conclusion being reached is by design or not is what is up for debate. Even when the word is understood to be appointed, the meaning is kept murky enough to be misuderstood by most(by design or not?). If you read carefully what is being said is that elders are appointed ONLY to the extent they meet the qualifications as set out in the Bible, as determined by the BOE. There are no mystical signs or portents involving HS laying hands on any elder. The body, fallible men, and how they see a prospective elder measuring up to those "inspired" qualifications, make the determination.
• 
  24

  Nails in The WT Coffin

  by hillbilly in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  nails in the wt coffin-- what kind of nails?

  a while back i posted my opinion that the wt's demise would come at the hand of the "home grown" legal department.

  in my scenario i see the lawyers flitering cash out and creating legal manuvers to protect the players ( like any other corporate "legal theft").

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  This is how I see it: The WT is not going anywhere soon. This dawned on me as I sat in a KH one day and looked around and noticed who was there, mostly the very elderly and the very young and new to the WT ( post 1990). While there are certainly many older true believers, I think a lot of the older ones see the inconsistencies but stay for fear and social/ family reasons and thinking it would take too much to start over building relationships. For many this is all they have.

  The young and the new are just that, young and new. These are ones that have not been through the full cycle of hope through to disillusionment ( I think this cycle is crucial to having a complete understanding of the whole picture, and while experience is not always the best teacher it can be a pretty effective one). Most that I see have come in post 1990 and don't have the first clue about the WT of the 60s 70s and 80s. They have no clue about 1914 and its significance (or ramifications), and might not even care. If there is a change in the blood policy, while it might effect long-timers who understand the history, most now will just welcome it as new light. Malawi, what is that? Food service at conventions that last from sunup to sundown, I feel like I'm talking to strangers. I know one person who read COC, and doesn't have a clue of the significance of some of the doctrines and how deeply lives were affected at one time (nowadays I feel the grip is loosening as newer ones aren't willing to forfeit certain freedoms- just a product of the culture). Most new ones come at critical times in there lives to a place where they have built in friends and a feeling of love (albeit conditional, but this realization does not come till later).

  The point is the WT is evolving, whether they like it or not. Gone are the glory days of nose to the grindstone field service, doctrinal discussion, looking to bethel as Valhalla for brothers, or pioneering for sisters. Also, nowadays things are getting tight for WT in a way because the turnover ratio is tremendous. As a result it is not uncommon in some congs. for a brother to be baptized and 3 months later be handling mikes, 6 mos later be asked to help behind the counter, 1.5 years later ( if he keeps his nose clean and has 10 hrs./mo) be appointed MS, and within another 5 yrs be an elder. If he is exceptional and a good speaker, and if he is in the right cong. and in front of the right people in 7-8 he could be speaking at an assembly. As a result, many are not seasoned, are concerned about organizational procedure ahead of all else (go to any elders school and compare time spent on Bible discussion with time spent on procedure), and some could be categorized as being very close to corporate ladder-climbers jockeying for position.

  The WT worst enemy right now is information. And we live in a Society that is information driven. The internet is here to stay, you need it at school, on the job, if fact it is getting to where it is impossible to function without it. If the WT was not worried about it, (and really wanted get the message out) there is no reason each and every issue should not be online. And yes, I feel they greatly underestimate how technology savvy people, especially young people (even in the WT), are. I also believe there may be some validity to the assertion of a wish to present a public face on the internet, and another one in the KH.

  Doctrinally, they can't shed some things fast enough (revisionist history, etc). It will be tricky and there will be casualties, but it will survive. For my purposes though it would be enough as those I am close to and still in KNOW the history and the doctrine. They have been there for the whole cycle. I think that if persons walked away today and went back in 15 yrs. they will not recognize the religion or the faces.

  Edited by - Axelspeed on 30 December 2002 13:39:34
• 
  131

  Last Post - My Most Painful Public Confession

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my most painful confession

  note to simon: i will use some expletives, but i hope that they will be retained as this is intended to be an otherwise civil and thoughtful post to all my fellow ex-jws.

  please read on, as this is most painful.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  Jim, I have always enjoyed your posts. Get well soon and pop in down the road.
• 
  57

  What is Your Personality Type?

  by Robdar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what is your personality type?

  take one of the tests below and then post your results.

  i have taken this type of test many times.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  INTJ
• 
  25

  Do you think its talking down to you?

  by WildTurkey in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when talking to someone who never was a jw, and they say to you how could you ever fall for all that?

  it does bother me, cause i think it is some what condescending?

  how do you feel about these questions?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  Even though it sounds insensitive, I don't frown at the question, mainly because I ask myself the very same question all the time. Once you're out and see things in hindsight it is a question that many ask. Even now when talking to one's still in I want to ask "how can you fall for this, open your eyes", but when you don't know, you don't know. And most of us have been there.

  Since I was raised in it, I used to always ask persons "what attracted you to the 'Truth'." I wanted to know what was the appeal for them, because I wondered if I would have taken that path and been attracted to the message had I not been raised in it. I think that even at that time, when I was a True Believer, I couldn't really see what it was that was so wonderful to make a person make that kind of change to become one of us. (I did notice though that it usually attracted persons at a critical time) To justify this in my own mind I just assumed that because everyone else thought it was great, it must somehow be. And since everyone said how happy they were, I assumed they were, and so I must be also, even if... you get the point.

  To answer your question, no. I can see how it can be taken that way, but I don't. It's just one of those things "you just had to be there" sort of things. Sort of like telling a joke that is funny at the time and in the context of the moment, but is not funny, in fact it is silly, and you wonder how you ever thought it was funny. Until you remember the context of the moment.
• 
  181

  Bill Bowen's Comments on Ray Franz

  by silentlambs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wish them peace.

  at the end of the conversation i did not feel we were in agreement.

  for similar reasons i believe ray has not supported the issue of child abuse being a problem in the organization to media and by personal comments to persons who ask him privately about this.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Axelspeed

  I have little to add to this. I have my own thoughts on this whole thing, and I am content to let them (for the most part) remain my own thoughts. I would like to say a though that I think your last comments were all that many were asking for...a rational explanation in a tone that was not judgemental of the motives of the persons asking.

  Unfortunately, the first impression we get of each other here is by our words presented here. And so rightly or wrongly, a perception is formed about us as individuals, no matter how noble our efforts are or the cause is.

  It is with that in mind that I would humbly make the suggestion to perhaps curtail escapades of peeling out in parking lots. The fact is I just was not expecting it. Not because of the many years you served and what capacity you served, and for 40 yrs. was it? No, but just the fact that life experience matures us to the point where we for the most part move past this kind of stuff. It has nothing to do with the cause, I know, but unfortunately perceptions are made and formed by our words.

  I wish you the best.