Terry

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Posts by Terry

• 
  13

  We've Come A Long Way Baby!! Compare these two pieces of propaganda

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i was one year out of high school and attending the assembly in dallas, texas when i heard the buzz about this new half-hour move--an actual movie the watchtower had produced called "heritage.

  "so, all of us teens (i was 19) sat in the vast audience and the lights went down and the screen flickered as our hearts beat a little faster in anticipation.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiiu0tm_dym___________i don't think our reaction (those of us young jw's) was quite what the propaganda master minds in ny had in mind!we were embarrassed at how awful this film was.it was beyond being a 1950's style b-grade teen rebellion film.

  this piece of crap reflected badly on the very idea the supreme being was directing it!

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• 

  Terry

  Try this one:

  https://www.facebook.com/tim.nasson.1/videos/10207514467933908/
  
• 
  13

  We've Come A Long Way Baby!! Compare these two pieces of propaganda

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i was one year out of high school and attending the assembly in dallas, texas when i heard the buzz about this new half-hour move--an actual movie the watchtower had produced called "heritage.

  "so, all of us teens (i was 19) sat in the vast audience and the lights went down and the screen flickered as our hearts beat a little faster in anticipation.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiiu0tm_dym___________i don't think our reaction (those of us young jw's) was quite what the propaganda master minds in ny had in mind!we were embarrassed at how awful this film was.it was beyond being a 1950's style b-grade teen rebellion film.

  this piece of crap reflected badly on the very idea the supreme being was directing it!

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  Terry

  This was the decade of Hippies, Peaceniks, free love, beads, Rock n Roll and here I am, a JW cult misfit Nerd in my suity-wooty and pearl tie pin!
  
  
  
• 
  44

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

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. 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?".

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  Terry

  The funeral is Saturday morning. I imagine I'll be seeing many of the "friends" I haven't seen in a long long time.

  I'll report in the aftermath.
• 
  44

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

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. 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?".

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• 

  Terry

  This is Johnny and Me at age 29

  (That was about 1976, that's why my hair is weird :)

  
  
• 
  13

  We've Come A Long Way Baby!! Compare these two pieces of propaganda

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i was one year out of high school and attending the assembly in dallas, texas when i heard the buzz about this new half-hour move--an actual movie the watchtower had produced called "heritage.

  "so, all of us teens (i was 19) sat in the vast audience and the lights went down and the screen flickered as our hearts beat a little faster in anticipation.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiiu0tm_dym___________i don't think our reaction (those of us young jw's) was quite what the propaganda master minds in ny had in mind!we were embarrassed at how awful this film was.it was beyond being a 1950's style b-grade teen rebellion film.

  this piece of crap reflected badly on the very idea the supreme being was directing it!

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• 

  Terry

  I was one year out of High School and attending the Assembly in Dallas, Texas when I heard the buzz about this new half-hour move--an actual MOVIE the Watchtower had produced called "Heritage."
  So, all of us teens (I was 19) sat in the vast audience and the lights went down and the screen flickered as our hearts beat a little faster in anticipation.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiIu0tm_DyM
  
  ___________
  
  I don't think our reaction (those of us young JW's) was quite what the propaganda Master Minds in NY had in mind!
  We were embarrassed at how awful this film was.
  It was beyond being a 1950's style B-grade teen rebellion film. This piece of crap reflected badly on the very idea the Supreme Being was directing it!!
  _____________
  
  Now, fast-forward. . .
  
  What do we have today as propaganda? Is it schlock?
  No, I would argue the following clip is remarkably well-made and hits just

  the right tone for its intended audience: anybody who has lost a loved one.
  
  https://www.facebook.com/tim.nasson.1/videos/10207514467933908/

  ______________
  
  You may disagree, of course, but when it comes to manipulation and emotional appeal--I think this knocks the ball out of the ballpark.

  Give credit where credit is due.

  This new crew at the helm of the Watchtower propaganda department is slick, professional and savvy.

  I think we are 'witnessing' a whole new era.

  What's your take on it?
• 
  4

  GOODBYE my oldest and dearest (JW) FRIEND

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. 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.

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  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.
  ++++++++++++++++++
  
  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.

  ________
  
  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.

  _______________
  
  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.

  
  
• 
  16

  A Brief History of MONEY and the Watchtower religion

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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• 

  Terry

  But wait--there's more!
• 
  28

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

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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  Terry

  The "signs" Jesus gave are so general they could apply to ANY generation on any date in all of history.

  I mean, really.
• 
  82

  INSPIRED ERROR: new phrase among JW CO

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there is no end to their madness.

  the co gave a talk on inspired error.

  i have never heard of it.

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  Terry

  The weak point in this line of defense is the use of the word "inspired."

  _______
  "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
  _______

  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."
  ________

  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
  _____________
  
  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!
  _______________

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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• 

  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?