Posts by Terry

16

Thinking of writing a book about jw's, what should I put in it?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

i've just finished reading alan miller's "fade from the truth", i enjoyed it and i love that it's freely available.

so i was thinking of writing a book of my own.

not an account of my life but more a simple step by step look at jw's and what they are really like?

Terry

I'd ask myself the question, "How would my book differ in any substantive way from a visit to JWSurvey or JWFacts?"

YouTube's Watchtower Examination series is among the best (let's call them tutorials) presentations for laying bare the dangers of Jehovah's Witnesses.

I've written and published 2 books myself.

In other words, unless you are a committed writer with a burning desire to say SOMETHING not already covered, I'd take your query to be an indication there may be better ways to be an activist.

How about 1st person interviews with DF'd ex-JW's as to the fairness of the process and the impact on themselves and their families?

18

registering for Selective Service at age 18?

by halcyon in

every year this news item was published in the km.

but i've noticed that i've never heard of it anywhere else, ever.

how do most young men in the world know that they're supposed to do this?

Terry

The biggest mistake I ever made was registering for the draft when it WAS compulsory.

If I had a time portal, I'd go back and NOT register.
There are no do-overs in life, unfortunately.

17

Is reasoning with a JW the answer?

by Saved_JW in

when i first left the watchtower society, i can remember being very eager to learn new information, especially information which pertained to discrediting the watchtower organization.

i called it "the cage stage" .

this excitement and newfound change in worldview completely rocked my world.

Terry

Some people play cards with deuces Wild.

JW's, for instance. (A Wild card can be anything you want it to be. JW's want JW doctrine to be "true.")

If you try to "reason" with a JW, you are playing by THEIR (deuces Wild) rules.

In other words, they're set up to win and you're not.

14

Thoughts

by thinker11 in

as much as i want to believe in the bible and wish for a god that is watching over us and love us; i find it difficult to comprehend that a loving god will erase mankind with fireballs, earthquakes, and kill childrens, mothers, and fathers who refused to believe in the bible.

and i can’t help but to take their side in all these.

i mean: what has god really done to show that he is love and that he exists and is watching how we act.

Terry

Arguably, a consumer society shops in the marketplace of ideas to select the God of the buffet and comes up with the God they think they deserve, generally speaking.
Those who end up with a God they don't think they deserve are simply shopping in the wrong aisle!
In Christianity alone, there are almost 40 thousand denominations! Each is a wee bit different than the next.
Seriously, why not simply do what the others did so long ago, invent your own. Build a better God; build one you can believe in who does all the right things and chuck the rest.
Compared with Judaism, all the others are Jehovah-come-lately Gods.

7

Peddling God’s Timetable: the Men Who Failed

by Terry in

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.

Terry

I was speaking to a "fading" JW in person the other day about chronology. When I casually mentioned ,"There are no dates at all in the Bible," I thought he was going to faint!
It took the fella about five minutes to wrap his head around something I simply took to be an obvious truism.
Now, what does that signal but an unquestioning, passive, incurious openness to indoctrination?
I should never take this sort of thing for granted!

52

What does the rise of Donald Trump tell us about the USA?

by fulltimestudent in

i thank one of my former lecturers for drawing my attention to this overview.. after some 100 years, living out its "manifest destiny" dream, as the hegemon of the world, what has this 'dream' done to/for the usa?

the approaching presidential election provides an opportunity to examine this question.. and what of all the appendage organisations (like the wts) that rode across the world on the hegemon's coattails?.

the answer may be here: http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism.

Terry

Now a Bernie Sanders supporter (Professor Cornel West) advocates violence (as long as it is legitimate violence.)

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/04/08/bernie-sanders-supporter-cornel-west-backs-legitimate-forms-of-violence/

____________
The point being, there are radical thinkers on both sides, each with a moralizing tone in their rhetoric.

52

What does the rise of Donald Trump tell us about the USA?

by fulltimestudent in

i thank one of my former lecturers for drawing my attention to this overview.. after some 100 years, living out its "manifest destiny" dream, as the hegemon of the world, what has this 'dream' done to/for the usa?

the approaching presidential election provides an opportunity to examine this question.. and what of all the appendage organisations (like the wts) that rode across the world on the hegemon's coattails?.

the answer may be here: http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism.

Terry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJYY1CFKzTg

40

The two elders threaten my sister again

by opusdei1972 in

as i reported here in this forum, some time ago, my sister was constantly harried by two elders so as to be submitted to a judiciary committee for apostasy.

these two elders were constantly hounding her in the street when she walks to go to her job.

so she had to send them a notary letter in which she wrote that she would attend the judiciary committee only with her attorney.

Terry

The Elders usually take a page out of the lazy lawman's guide to getting the Perp to rat on himself.
By sitting an accused person down and pressuring them to unburden, the Elder provokes the hapless publisher to give up details, loose ends, tidbits, fodder for further investigation. Additionally, by bullying, taunting and deliberately making faluse accusations, the Elders hope to provoke a statement of insult and rebellion, insubordination and self-admission of disaffection to the Organization.
"I have no comment on that" and "I have a right to my own peace of mind which you are disturbing with your uninvited requests. Please desist" might be two things she'd want to practice saying:)

52

What does the rise of Donald Trump tell us about the USA?

by fulltimestudent in

i thank one of my former lecturers for drawing my attention to this overview.. after some 100 years, living out its "manifest destiny" dream, as the hegemon of the world, what has this 'dream' done to/for the usa?

the approaching presidential election provides an opportunity to examine this question.. and what of all the appendage organisations (like the wts) that rode across the world on the hegemon's coattails?.

the answer may be here: http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism.

Terry

Los Angeles is larger than most countries of the world with about 500 square miles. This means you can seldom describe the weather specifically and truthfully at the same time.
America has over 300 million people. What those people think can seldom be described specifically and truthfully at the same time.

Trump followers say nothing about "America" any more than Russellites said anything meaningful about America.

Category mistakes are not straightforward – they are pragmatically inappropriate because they suffer from presupposition failures.

8

IS DOUBT always an indication of moral failure---FAITH vs. DOUBT?

by Terry in

is doubt always an indication of moral failure-- faith vs. doubt?.

human survival depends upon a rigorous balance between perception and the means of testing first impressions.

nature’s own test is that of eater and eaten.. inside the food chain, predators blend with their surrounding habitat.

Terry

I know I am a better person today than I ever was as a JW.

Now that's a helluva statement for an agnostic apostate to make!