Posts by Terry

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"They do not claim that this slave class is infallible, but they do view it as the one channel that the Lord is using during the last days of this system of things."Proclaimers p.626
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The above paragraph is making a fatal admission but turning the admission inside out. Read it again and see if it is saying this instead:

"This slave class is fallible. The Lord is using a fallible channel."
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Consider the following BOLD claims:

Watchtower2010 Apr 15 p.10 Holy Spirits Role in the Outworking of Jehovahs Purpose

"Consider, too, the fact that Jehovah's organization alone, in all the earth, is directed by God's holy spirit or active force. (Zech. 4:6) Only this organization functions for Jehovah's purpose and to his praise. To it alone God's Sacred Word, the Bible, is not a sealed book. Many persons of the world are very intelligent, capable of understanding complex matters. They can read the Holy Scriptures, but they cannot understand their deep meaning. Yet God's people can comprehend such spiritual things. Why? Not because of special intelligence on their part, but as the apostle Paul declared: "For it is to us God has revealed them through his spirit, for the spirit searches into all things, even the deep things of God."" Watchtower1973 Jul 1 p.402

"The Watchtower is not the instrument of any man or set of men, nor is it published according to the whims of men. No man's opinion is expressed in The Watchtower. God feeds his own people, and surely God uses those who love and serve him according to his own will. Those who oppose The Watchtower are not capable of discerning the truth that God is giving to the children of his organization, and this is the very strongest proof that such opposers are not of God's organization."Watchtower 1931 Nov 1 p.327
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The claims for the Watchtower and it's creative writing department are strange.

They are fallible but the only holy spirit directed organization on Earth!
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What is blasphemy?

It is assigning attributes which belong ONLY to God to some other entity instead.

Such as this:

"It is vital that we appreciate this fact and respond to the directions of the "slave" as we would to the voice of God, because it is His provision."Watchtower 1957 Jun 15 p.370

28

PAINTING THEMSELVES INTO A CORNER or WHY was the "GENERATION" teaching started in the 1st place?

by Terry in

setting the scene.

pastor russell died in 1916. those who had 'followed' him were known pejoratively as russellites.

you could call it a 'cult of personality' if you wanted to sneer.

Terry

Almost all of Miller's audience consisted of Mainstream church members. He was invited to speak by the pastors of those Baptist (mostly) and Methodist church groups.

Miller had worked on his presentation for 2 years. He had personal credibility as a war hero. (War of 1812.) He came from a family of Baptist ministers. Until after the war, Miller wasn't even much more than an agnostic.

So, for him to suddenly appear on the scene as a reluctant prophet was more conducive to his listeners. He didn't come off as anything but an honest, sincere, shy man filled with holy zeal.

But, his message was divisive!

Mostly, Pastors and church members rejected his thesis as flummery.

However--a small core of persuadable hysterics (yes, I'm using pejoratives) were willing to break away from their churches and separate themselves.These followers of Miller (Millerites) were apostate.

This is the important part: these people were RADICAL in their temperament. That is why when the GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT came along, they stubbornly clung to the idea they were not fooled! The Millerites and Adventist, and Age to Come separatists couldn't humble themselves and go back to their former churches and friends they had disdained! These radicals were obstinate.
One guess after another followed until a woman who claimed to be a Visionary, Ellen White, "channelled" the Truth at last! Each new "correction" was said to be "New Light" while the mistakes and errors were "Old Light."

Sound familiar?

19

The Watchtower Society’s 607 BCE Foundation Exposed

by Doug Mason in

the governing body and its watchtower society claims that in 1919 it was appointed by jehovah god and jesus christ to represent all of their earthly kingdom interests, to be their unique voice and sole representative towards all people on earth.

the watchtower’s authority lives or dies with that claim..

the society’s critical date of 1919 is calculated from the dates of events in the 6th century bce.

Terry

Read this as a preamble:

"It is the Watchtower's duty to provide consistent, objective, incontrovertible evidence for their explanation of 1919. It is not good enough to work from possibilities and assumptions.

The Bible does not say that the Jews entered Egypt in the 7th month. The Bible does not say that Jerusalem fell in the 7th month. The WTS has a duty of care, a responsibility to discharge information with honesty and openness. We expect that of our secular authorities. Religious authorities should not have a lower standard."

"The Watchtower Society’s claim that it is appointed by God as his earthly representative rests on its claim that its appointment occurred in 1919 CE. To arrive at that date, and the significance that the Society ascribes to

To arrive at that date, and the significance that the Society ascribes to it, requires a chronological journey spanning more than 2,500 years.

If a person does not understand or agree with the statements made regarding dates of events in the 6th century BCE, then that person has no justification for devoting their life, their energy, their commitment to the Watchtower Society."

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"To arrive at these dates of the early 20th century, the Watchtower starts with the date of the Fall of Babylon, which is generally agreed with as 539 BCE. The story then moves slightly forwards in time to the return of Exiles from Babylon.

Without providing any objective justification, the Watchtower assigns October 537 BCE to the moment when Jews assembled at the site of the destroyed Jerusalem.

Further, without any direct statement from Scripture, it says this moment marked the end of Jeremiah’s decreed “70 years”.

MY OLDEST FRIEND (JW) is DEAD

by Terry in

jw
friends

in my book, i wept by the rivers of babylon, i described the process of having a friend, johnny santa cruz, use our friendship as a platform for converting me to a jehovah's witness.. that friendship cost me decades of my life in bondage to a cult.. the friendship was real and johnny and i bonded for life.

but, the religion eventually turned him into a stone silence toward me--his oldest friend.

now he is dead and the imaginary reunion and meeting of the minds is no longer a possibility.. this makes his passing a double tragedy.. his memories were my memories.

Terry

In my book, I Wept by the Rivers of Babylon, I described the process of having a friend, Johnny Santa Cruz, use our friendship as a platform for converting me to a Jehovah's Witness.

That friendship cost me decades of my life in bondage to a cult.

The friendship was real and Johnny and I bonded for life. But, the religion eventually turned him into a stone silence toward me--his oldest friend.

Now he is dead and the imaginary reunion and meeting of the minds is no longer a possibility.

This makes his passing a double tragedy.

His memories were my memories. By dying he has extinguished part of my life's verifications. The bond we could have shared into our retirement years could have strengthened. Instead, they dissolved--aborted by cult pressure.

I doubt I can get a family invitation to his funeral. It would certainly be disrespectful to attend without it. So, even in a final good-bye--I am shut out of both life and death.
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Johnny married when he was 20 and his wife was 16. He was rescuing her from her father. The dad was molesting his 2 daughters, you see, but the Brothers at the Kingdom Hall had advised the JW mother that Divorce was not the answer.

I was at the wedding at the Justice of the Peace in a small Texas town. Johnny's sister, Judy, pretended to be the Mother granting permission.

The marriage has lasted all these years, 1967 to 2016. He was very proud of that. His wife never graduated from High School, she dropped out. She never worked a paying job in her entire life. All her friends were JW's. It was the only life she ever knew and the only one imaginable.

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Johnny and I were friends from the age of 12. All of our early memories were the SAME memory.

We called each other "Best best Buddy, lifelong pal." But that "lifelong" part was a dream.

Johnny would always prod me with JW-related statements, provoking discussion about (presumably) the Bible.

In my family, we were not religious people nor did we attend a church. I had respect--even reverence--but no emotional attachments to God or the good book. I was sort of a Nerdy intellectual kind of kid. So, we had lots of arguments--and I couldn't win those arguments even though I was using rational thinking and logic. Why?

I didn't realize at that time, we were living in two different worlds entirely! A fancy word covers the situation: "Non-overlapping magisteria."
The real world and the world of religious beliefs are different areas of inquiry, fact vs. values, so there is a difference between the "nets" over which they have "a legitimate magisterium or domain of teaching authority," and the two domains do not overlap.

So, here it is folks--my life was about to take a sharp left turn simply because I needed to be on EQUAL footing with Johnny and the only way I could think of to do that was to LEARN his magisterium and master it.

I would compare this to having a friend who is hooked on addictive drugs saying, "Just try it and see if you like it."

One snort, one injection, one high was all it took and the next 2o years would be a roller coaster ride through hell.

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Johnny is dead. He won't be joining his devout parents in Paradise in all likelihood. You see, he knew how so much of Jehovah's Witness teachings had unraveled not standing the test of time. He was very angry when the Awake! magazine dropped the "generations" blurb which had been his bellwether to Armageddon.
He saw his belief system dismantled and reassembled like a Legos project.

He was highly intelligent. But he was a profoundly loyal advocated, too.
The arguments he and I shared never budged him off center--but they certainly rattled him to the core.

Today I want to salute his long marriage and his unshakeable Faith.

In the same breath, I want to shout to the world, "You were and always will be my friend--you stupid fool!"

Johnny Santa Cruz--1947 to 2016 Rest in Peace my best, best Buddy. I wish you had remained a lifelong pal.

I love you. I'm sorry you weren't allowed to love me back.

9

When your oldest friend is a JW and they die

by Terry in

in my book, i wept by the rivers of babylon, i described the process of having a friend, johnny santa cruz, use our friendship as a platform for converting me to a jehovah's witness.. that friendship cost me decades of my life in bondage to a cult.. the friendship was real and johnny and i bonded for life.

but, the religion eventually turned him into a stone silence toward me--his oldest friend.

now he is dead and the imaginary reunion and meeting of the minds is no longer a possibility.. this makes his passing a double tragedy.. his memories were my memories.

Terry

I tried REFRESH and maybe succeeded in yet anothing posting! :)

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My "best" friend (active JW) has just died

by Terry in

jw
friends

johnny santa cruz and i met around 1959 at a movie theater in fort worth, texas.. the purpose of that meeting was to create a fanclub for horror movie director william castle.

a week or so later, johnny stopped me as i was walking home from elementary school.. "hey--i think i know you.

weren't you at the william castle fanclub thing?".

Terry

I apologize for the duplicate postings of this same thread. I was at a public wifi location and they kept Hanging in a queue which made me think I needed to start over.

Any moderator who wants to can with my permission expunged the duplicates.

Thanks to all for your condolences. I didn't intend to be a public nuisance :)

9

When your oldest friend is a JW and they die

by Terry in

in my book, i wept by the rivers of babylon, i described the process of having a friend, johnny santa cruz, use our friendship as a platform for converting me to a jehovah's witness.. that friendship cost me decades of my life in bondage to a cult.. the friendship was real and johnny and i bonded for life.

but, the religion eventually turned him into a stone silence toward me--his oldest friend.

now he is dead and the imaginary reunion and meeting of the minds is no longer a possibility.. this makes his passing a double tragedy.. his memories were my memories.

Terry

When I tried to post this topic originally, it HUNG and wouldn't upload.
I went away and came back and tried again and again.
I wish some moderator would expunge the duplicates.

Sorry about this.

I don't know why my posts hang--apparently in a queue.

Perhaps it is because I was posting in a Starbucks on a public wi-fi.

16

A Brief History of MONEY and the Watchtower religion

by Terry in

watch tower corp has changed a long-standing policy in regard to donations which had been in place a long, long time.

to appreciate how drastic these changes have been, you'd have to know how it was from the beginning.. .

watch tower corp has changed a long-standing policy in regard to donations which had been in place a long, long time.

Terry

The power of money in Russell's day cannot be imagined in today's terms.

Life back then was extraordinarily different.

Today, even the poorest family has so many conveniences such as TV, central heat and air, flush toilets, refrigerator, cell phone, wheels, etc.

Russell even had a very large yacht!