I just spent the morning at a JW funeral and I nearly lost my mind. I'll start a topic presently about that experience, Suffice it to say, there is a trance-like state I picked up on which scared the Bejeezus out of me and I couldn't wait to get out of there.
Posts by Terry
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13We've Come A Long Way Baby!! Compare these two pieces of propaganda
by Terry ini 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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Peddling God’s Timetable: the Men Who Failed
by Terry inpeddling god’s timetable: the men who failed.
james ussher (1581-1656).
your name is ussher – james ussher – and you are the archbishop of all of ireland.. you are living in the 1600s and are obsessive-compulsive when it comes to speculative ideas.
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Terry
The ease with which JW's accept silly and / or improbable End Times teachings is something I ponder endlessly.
Treating the subject as a set of facts is the first mistake.
Treating JW's as a set of persons vouchsafed divine authority to teach is the 2nd mistake
Finding plausible the arbitrary cut and paste cherry-picked mosaic of proof provided by Watchtower scholars is the final error.
I'd guess the preponderance of those who accept all the above could not sit down and answer basic questions about the subject.
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7
Peddling God’s Timetable: the Men Who Failed
by Terry inpeddling god’s timetable: the men who failed.
james ussher (1581-1656).
your name is ussher – james ussher – and you are the archbishop of all of ireland.. you are living in the 1600s and are obsessive-compulsive when it comes to speculative ideas.
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Terry
Peddling God’s Timetable: the Men Who Failed
James Ussher (1581-1656)
Your name is Ussher – James Ussher – and you are the Archbishop of all of Ireland.
You are living in the 1600s and are obsessive-compulsive when it comes to speculative ideas. You are convinced that you alone have the intellect to figure exact dates of all the major events in the Bible actually. Your critics whisper to each other that your ego is bigger than your credentials for declaring out loud that you, and you alone – know the exact day and time of Adam’s creation!
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Nightfall preceding Sunday, 23 October 4004 B.C.
Is that specific enough for all of you non-geniuses?
______________You – James Ussher – become Professor of Theological Controversies at Trinity College and a Bachelor of Divinity in 1607. A whole string of degrees follow your name. You speak so many languages it is difficult for even you to keep count. You live in very turbulent times – both politically and religiously – and yet your crowning achievement and eventual fame will be the result of your years spent studying CHRONOLOGY as it relates to the Old Testament and the writings of Early Church fathers.
As a “Young Earth Creationist” living 200 years before Charles Darwin, you encounter little in the way of intellectual opposition to your premises. After all, no less a scientist and genius than Sir Isaac Newton (1648-1727) would himself attempt a similar effort.
Your computations for actual fixed dates in secular history during the eras of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar would serve as your references toward other events to be dated in scripture.
(As we shall see, 300 years later Frederick Franz – a far less distinguished “scholar” than Bishop Ussher – would use the same methodology for his own eccentric chronology).
What was the biggest problem you faced, Bishop Ussher? Perhaps it was the fact that available ancient texts were in complete disagreement about the length of time between events in the Bible!
So, eeny, meeny, miney, moe! You, Professor Ussher, chose to depend exclusively on the Masoretic texts and ignored everything else. How did you balance all that you knew about ancient history, including the rise of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans, as well as your expertise in the Bible, biblical languages, astronomy, ancient calendars and chronology?
How indeed?
You simply claimed success--you declared yourself to be right!
And that was that. With your reputation for such brilliance–who could criticize you or nay-say your pronouncements?
The most important thing to a genius with OCD who thinks he has the intellect to pin down the impossible, is to not leave anything out. At age 75, as you lay on your deathbed suffering from internal bleeding, what would become your last words?
“O Lord forgive me, especially my sins of omission.”
Most men want forgiveness for the errors they have made. Most, but no – not you!
Who was the intellectual heir to Ussher and his delusions of grandeur?
Frederick William Franz (1893-1992)
Born in Covington, Ky., he developed an interest in the Bible at an early age and entered the University of Cincinnati intending to become a Presbyterian preacher. There he studied biblical and classical Greek and Latin.
Introduced by a brother to the teachings of the International Bible Students, as the Witnesses were then called, Mr. Franz was ordained as a minister of the faith in Chicago in 1913. Franz possessed photographic memory and a passion for Bible Chronology, adapting himself to various methods and styles of those who had unsuccessfully blazed a trail before him. William Miller and subsequent Adventist, Age to Come Millennialists as well as Pastor C.T. Russell laid the groundwork for the stunt Fred Franz will pull later in life. Let it be known, Fred Franz was conscious of the failure of Pastor Russell’s 1914 predictions of Armageddon and later himself participated in successor J.F. Rutherford’s asinine prediction for 1925. But, Franz was not a man to be discouraged by absolute disproof. He felt he was closing in on the combination to God’s safety deposit box where the sacred secret of The End was kept! Perhaps 1925 was one Jubilee short of the magic date. . .
During a speech in Australia in 1975 the Watchtower Society’s vice-president, Frederick Franz, went so far as to name a precise date—September 5, 1975—as the date of the “end of the present wicked system.” [George D. Chryssides, Historical Dictionary of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scarecrow Press, 2008, pg lx.] (Mind you, Fred Franz had the hubris to declare Archbishop Ussher’s chronology to be in error and publicly corrected him!)
Fred Franz declared that Adam was created sometime in the fall of 4026 B.C.E.
Nothing of any major significance happened in the early fall of 1975. The following year (1976), The Watchtower advised those Jehovah’s Witnesses who had been “disappointed” by the failure of the predictions for 1975 to adjust their viewpoint – because their understanding had been “based on wrong premises.” [“A Solid Basis for Confidence,” Watchtower, July 15, 1976, page 441.] In other words, Franz had published spurious data, but it was the faithful members who had erred. How? By believing the lying bastard!
What exactly were those “WRONG PREMISES”?
Precisely like Archbishop James Ussher, Fred Franz slavishly followed his own unique line of reasoning and methodology. The operative word to describe Franz is HUBRIS!
“Hubris= pride or arrogance. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one’s own competence or capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power.” – Wikipedia
It is difficult, if not impossible, to get active Jehovah’s Witnesses to consider disproof pointed at their leaders because they have “mental tripwires” programmed in their brains. For Witnesses, the Watchtower’s Governing Body is sacrosanct as a sacred cow. To even suggest the Governing Body’s pronouncements are awry will trigger a psychological chain-reaction in Jehovah’s Witnesses that starts with them identifying YOU as their enemy.
Frederick Franz got away with so much nonsense because nobody in the organization was allowed to think a critical thought about him. “Free thought” is possible only if you are aware and assured that you will not be condemned.
One day I met a member of what was once called the “International Bible Students Association.” He and his son lived in a trailer park. He used his own funds to pay for cable access so that he could tell about the “Divine Plan of the Ages” on TV.
I sat at his kitchen table as he stood before a giant “Dispensation Chart” – the very same one once used by Charles Taze Russell. He used it to explain “Jehovah’s plan” for me and all mankind. I remember thinking it seemed odd that all the dates on that chart had been figured out with such precision and confidence without anybody ever going to college, passing a seminary examination, or earning a degree!
Now I realize they had been using the very same chronology conceived by Bishop James Ussher. I’m sure that the Anglican scholar would have considered their use of his handiwork as being quite devilish and diabolical.
Ussher and Franz: The Fallacies Behind Their Calculations
We now know that Frederick Franz recreated that same chart and simply changed whatever details that didn’t match his own ideas. All to little effect, that is, other than to turn the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ world upside down in the 1970s with his false predictions and embarrassing nonsense!
We know that stories found in the Bible were handed down from one generation to another verbally, making the aspect of accuracy for any ancient date an impossibility to calculate with any hope of reliability. My understanding is that there are significant disagreements between manuscript families.
They all have inconsistencies involving the reigns of kings, critical intervals, and the order of events.
The Bible actually contains no dates at all. So-called biblical chronology (regarding events taken for granted by the good Bishop) actually vary from text to text among the many variants available to scholars.
Since not a single original autograph text exists--it is impossible to look to an exemplar to correct errors which have crept in.Overriding all of those issues are the practical considerations of THE VARIOUS CALENDAR SYSTEMS used in each geographic and cultural region. Hundreds, if not thousands, of differing systems of counting dates are found through over long spans of time covered by the “Old Testament.”
Fred Franz tried to gimmick up his guesswork by announcing that he had determined absolute dates for the “Old” and “New Testaments.” We now know that it was all just “stuff and nonsense.”
Bishop Ussher & Brother Franz
You can read the opening chapters of Matthew and look at its proffered time intervals for its generation count. If you look close, you will find it doesn’t match the history of those generations given in the Old Testament. If a chronology is not scientific, historical – or even feasible to use for determining the exact time when something happened – then how can anyone use the Old Testament to calculate when something else (like “Armageddon”) is going to happen thousands of years later?
Yes, James Ussher and Fred Franz were very smart crackpots who somehow managed to fool generations of sincere Christians who looked to them for answers about the Bible.
Ussher did far far less harm than his intellectual heir, Fred Franz. Franz convinced millions of people around the world they should fear destruction from Almighty God for the simple reason--only by becoming a member of Franz’s religion, Jehovah’s Witnesses, would his avenging deity spare them.
Are Jehovah’s Witnesses today aware of any of this? Few, but their mouth is tightly sealed lest they be charged with thought crimes leading to shunning and banishment.
What is the lesson to be learned from Archbishop Ussher, Fred Franz, Judge Rutherford, Pastor Russell and William Miller?
Allowing delusional authoritarians to persuade you to become fearful of dying based on their private guesswork under the guise of Divine Authority is a sure way to waste your time, your resources, and your life.
Speaking as one who succumbed to such a fate--I must own the consequences, but I will also ring the alarm bell and mark this organization for what it is and always has been: A FALSE PROPHET.
Be warned!
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13
We've Come A Long Way Baby!! Compare these two pieces of propaganda
by Terry ini 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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13
We've Come A Long Way Baby!! Compare these two pieces of propaganda
by Terry ini 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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13
We've Come A Long Way Baby!! Compare these two pieces of propaganda
by Terry ini 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 injohnny 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.
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My "best" friend (active JW) has just died
by Terry injohnny 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 :)
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13
We've Come A Long Way Baby!! Compare these two pieces of propaganda
by Terry ini 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
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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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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 justthe 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?
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GOODBYE my oldest and dearest (JW) FRIEND
by Terry inin 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.
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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.
