A certain psychological profile attracts certain people into certain professions and beliefs.
If you are a hammer you are attracted to nails.
Leaders in cults have psychopathy.
Control freaks want to control more and more because the power is irresistable.
With a JW leader, they have a wild card in their hand: the Faithful and Discreet Slave doctrine allows them to CHANGE things around like an OCD person re-arranging their furniture and washing their hands.
The psychopathy of the LEADER infects the entire religion.
Perfectionism, Puritanism, and OCD are not dissimilar.
Posts by Terry
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7
"OLD" Light vs. NEW light
by Terry inthis was last updated in 2014it badly needs updating.
it is a list of watchtower (before and after) old light / new light doctrines.
shorturl.at/bqyir
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Terry
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The (IN)Consistent teaching about VACCINATIONS from JW leaders
by Terry invaccinations.
how many deaths were instigated which could be prevented?watchtower policies against vaccines left faithful sheep vulnerable to horrible consequences.antitoxins and vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague, typhoid, tuberculosis, and more were developed through the 1930s.. 1921 - "vaccination never prevented anything and never will, and is the most barbarous practice" - golden age oct 12, 1921, p.17.
1923 - "vaccination, summed up, is the most unhygienic, barbaric, filthy, abhorrent, and most dangerous system of infection known.
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Terry
There is a period of time in human growth and development where we either divide off from parents and authority figures and become individuals, OR
we are absorbed by their structures, strictures, and the sense of our protection from the outside.
The thing called "individuation" is what spread human civilization.
You fit in with your family/tribe or you don't.
Innovation and creativity usually come from the oddballs who don't fit and are kicked out.
All of us here are either born-ins who simply went with the flow of family beliefs, OR
we split off from our own family and joined the new JW family.
Wise people shop around for a better deal, don't they?
But once you are absorbed into a community - you've put all your emotional "eggs" in one basket. You don't risk family, friends, security so easily - even when you see the cracks in the perfection.
Risk-takers are said to be people of conscience because they step out of the safety zone and take a stand naked and alone. Not many people are built that way psychologically.
The best thing that ever happened to most EX JW's was the day they were DF'D although it felt horrible.
JW's do as they are told because it is the price you pay for keeping family and friends. -
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The (IN)Consistent teaching about VACCINATIONS from JW leaders
by Terry invaccinations.
how many deaths were instigated which could be prevented?watchtower policies against vaccines left faithful sheep vulnerable to horrible consequences.antitoxins and vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague, typhoid, tuberculosis, and more were developed through the 1930s.. 1921 - "vaccination never prevented anything and never will, and is the most barbarous practice" - golden age oct 12, 1921, p.17.
1923 - "vaccination, summed up, is the most unhygienic, barbaric, filthy, abhorrent, and most dangerous system of infection known.
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Terry
Starting with Rutherford's era, the strategy for Jehovah's Witnesses' notoriety was
rooted in the provocation of authority, defiance, high-profile court cases,
sending rank-and-file into danger to create martyrs and a definite holier-than-thou pridefulness about persecution.
Just another example of “By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have a love for one another” -
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The J W with the Golden Gun
by Terry inspillane, mickey spillane.
he pulled no punches and his pen was as fast as his gun.
after all, it took almost three whole weeks for mickey to type his first novel.
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Terry
At the time, the only person with more notoriety than Spillane was
attorney Hayden C. Covington in the Watchtower Society. -
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No more Questions from MINIMUS
by was a new boy inminimus former jw, prolific poster on jwn died.. minimus.
joined 19 years ago.
started 4,139 topics.
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Terry
There's only one expression of grief I've ever read which carried an uplifting message with it and to honor Minimus I'll recite it here.
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Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
____________________________
The author, Mary Elisabeth Frye was an orphan
who lived to be 98 years old.
Frye never copyrighted the poem, which leaves it in the public domain. Her explanation: "I thought it belonged to the world; it didn't belong to me. I still feel that way … it was written out of love, for comfort. If I took money for it, it would lose its value ... maybe I'm a nut." -
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What Do They Have in Common?: Covington/ Muhammed Ali / Disfellowship policy
by Terry incovington / muhammed ali / disfellowship (what do they have in common?
)“hayden c. covington, one of the most influential figures in the history of first amendment law.
beyond the numerous first amendment cases he argued or co-argued in the supreme court, he also prevailed on behalf of the witnesses in over “100 decisions handed down by various state supreme courts, and .
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Terry
These are all good clarifying points as the rugged and ragged history of the Legal
Department wound down under an ever more inebriated Covington.
We don't (I don't) give enough attention to how human weakness and pettiness have impacted so many rank and file JW's lives because of the push and shove at the top of our GB food chain.
Behind that curtain, there is a nasty smell... -
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What Do They Have in Common?: Covington/ Muhammed Ali / Disfellowship policy
by Terry incovington / muhammed ali / disfellowship (what do they have in common?
)“hayden c. covington, one of the most influential figures in the history of first amendment law.
beyond the numerous first amendment cases he argued or co-argued in the supreme court, he also prevailed on behalf of the witnesses in over “100 decisions handed down by various state supreme courts, and .
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Terry
Theocratic Warfare
EdenOne
"From time to time letters are received asking whether a certain circumstance would justify making an exception to the Christian’s obligation, to tell the truth. In reply to these, the following is given: God’s Word commands: “Speak truth each of you with his neighbor.” ...
There is one exception, however, that the Christian must ever bear in mind. As a soldier of Christ, he is in theocratic warfare and he must exercise added caution when dealing with God’s foes. Thus the Scriptures show that for the purpose of protecting the interests of God’s cause, it is proper to hide the truth from God’s enemies. A Scriptural example of this is that of Rahab the harlot. She hid the Israelite spies because of her faith in their God Jehovah. This she did both by her actions and by her lips. That she had Jehovah’s approval in doing so is seen from James’ commendation of her faith." Watchtower 1960 Jun 1 pp.351,352 Questions From Readers"We must tell the truth to one who is entitled to know, but if one is not so entitled we may be evasive. ... As a soldier of Christ he is in theocratic warfare and he must exercise added caution when dealing with God's foes. Thus the Scriptures show that for the purpose of protecting the interests of God's cause, it is proper to hide the truth from God's enemies." Watchtower 1960 Jun 1 pp.351-352 A real historian has an MBA
_________titch
A real historian has an MBA!
I'm no historian, I just scour all the passages I can find and glue them together into some kind of timeline. I will probably have to correct several errors as I go along. -
4
The J W with the Golden Gun
by Terry inspillane, mickey spillane.
he pulled no punches and his pen was as fast as his gun.
after all, it took almost three whole weeks for mickey to type his first novel.
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Terry
That's funny!
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4
The J W with the Golden Gun
by Terry inspillane, mickey spillane.
he pulled no punches and his pen was as fast as his gun.
after all, it took almost three whole weeks for mickey to type his first novel.
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Terry
Spillane, Mickey Spillane
He pulled no punches and his pen was as fast as his gun.
After all, it took almost three whole weeks for Mickey to type his first novel
I, THE JURY.
MIKE HAMMER, whose private eye name is never written without somebody tacking on the phrase: “hard-boiled detective,” sold books galore to the delight of publishers about to discover a new phenomenon.
But wait--there’s more to Mickey Spillane than his success as a writer.
Spillane was a member of a puritanical, doomsday religious cult! (Jehovah’s Witnesses.)
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Mickey Spillane’s first novel, I, THE JURY, was also released in a new form, a new technology of the day called the “pocketbook” or paperback.
(Paperback books (small/cheap)---needed 3 elements to succeed:
Sensation, Sex, Simplicity.)
Mickey Spillane’s MIKE HAMMER was all that and more!
The hardback sold a respectable 4,000 copies.
The paperback version sold--not thousands--but millions.
More than 225 million copies of his books sold internationally.
Reading a hardback was for eggheads and respectable titles.
You could hide a paperback if somebody looked your way--get it?
A paperback was cheap, two-bits cheap, cheaper than a hardback. (Five bucks.)
Covers were garish, eye-catching, and lurid and married up perfectly with
Spillane’s antihero who could be a real blunt-force trauma of a man.
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Who was this guy, Spillane?
A tough Irishman?
Yep.
He’d joined the army right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and served as a flight instructor. When he mustered out, he tried creating...a comic book hero named MIKE DANGER...but Danger didn’t fly, bounce bullets, or have X-ray vision.
Besides, kids only like their eggs hard-boiled.
Spillane the man was terse, quiet, and matter-of-fact.
Surprisingly, he was also a Jehovah’s Witness.
This public and private persona may seem odd at first glance--but, once one myself, I can tell you leading a double life is what it’s all about.
Brother Spillane’s gritty prose was a necessary counterbalance to the straitlaced, puritanical side of the door-knocking evangelistic cult.
This was his gulp of “fresh air.”
Reality?Fictional reality!
Jehovah’s Witnesses see life as black and white and the narrative driving their Universe is a simple story of Good VS Evil. JW’s are a male-dominated religion of men who are the “head” of the family and the Sisters need to know their place in the grand scheme of things. God is a Big Kahuna who’ll strike down men, women, children, animals--hell, don’t get in his way!
(A subconscious MIKE HAMMER?)
I, THE JURY reflects such a worldview.
At the end of this novel, MIKE HAMMER does something to a woman which shocked readers at the time. It also titillated them. They wanted more.
A career was born which lasted into the late 1990s.
Every time a new MIKE HAMMER novel was published, a cub reporter was dispatched to track Mickey down and corner him with silly questions--always the same ones. Mickey always looked bored and cynical. He had a crew cut like a naval recruit and he smoked like a chimney.
The very picture of a Christian evangelist!
He’d tell the cub reporter he only wrote: “for the money.”
"I don't give a hoot about reading reviews. What I want to read is the royalty checks."
His style? Self-parody.
“He took off like a herd of turtles.”
Or, “Her breasts were laughing things.”
His view of homosexuals and blacks was gratuitous and mean-spirited. Nuanced? What’s a “nuance?”
As one writer remarked, “...the virgin/whore complex Hammer had towards women and particularly in regards to his peculiar relationship with Velda, his long-suffering secretary, was nothing short of just plain twisted.”
Heck--that’s just a Jehovah’s Witness viewpoint!
A reviewer observed, “Hammer novels possess a fierce, driving energy and white-hot passion that cannot be denied; one that drags the reader along in its wake and keeps them turning pages.”
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Mickey Spillane, the man?
"I'm actually a softie. Tough guys get killed too early... I've got a full head of hair and don't wear eyeglasses... And I've kept the smoke coming out of the chimney for a very long time."
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Spillane broke down the barriers, where sex and violence were concerned, and this pissed people off. Also, he was perceived as right-wing. The vigilante approach Hammer used turned the stomachs of many liberals... (Spillane) is number three, after Hammett and Chandler (in a list of the 10 most important detective novelists of the 20th century).
Anyone who doesn't recognize Spillane's importance is an idiot.
James Bond and Dirty Harry all rolled into one.
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Spillane’s writing tips?
1. Something’s got to happen.
2. Don’t take your reader where he wants to go. Tease them. Go against expectations.
3. Keep your sequels short and to the point. Forget inner dialogue and motivation. Move it along.
4. Let your Detective discover clues and identities he doesn’t share with the reader. It keeps them glued to the page.
5. Sex and violence, in their varying degrees, are really the only two colors on the writer’s palette.
6. Only write when you’re broke. Spillane only wrote when he needed money and spent the rest of his time deep-sea fishing
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As a Jehovah’s Witness, Spillane went door to door. He didn’t kick them in and force Bible study at the point of a gun. Nope, he was mild-mannered and polite. As publicity for or against the Watchtower Organization--the truth is this. He was a “man’s man” and that’s what JW men like to think about themselves. Married and divorced 3 times, Spillane remained a golden boy to Watchtower leaders
When he died of cancer, a memorial service was held July 29 at the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall near Spillane's Murrells Inlet home, about 80 miles northeast of Charleston.
Spillane had helped build that Kingdom Hall with his own two hands.
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I knew a JW Brother named Kurt Rossit.
He told me in the course of conversation that he knew Brother Spillane when he lived near Myrtle Beach, SC.
“When Brother Spillane was assigned a talk (sermon) in the Ministry School, he’d show up in a Hawaiian shirt. You couldn’t make him wear a necktie! How he got away with it--I don’t exactly know. His attendance was spotty. Spillane tooled around in bright white tennis shoes, wearing his military-style crew-cut which gave the gossipers a fit. He went his own way and was considered cool by the men in high places.”
Another time, Kurt told me a story I wanted to believe whether it was true or not.
“Spillane liked to hang out at the bars. He’d invariably get into a religious argument. One time he reached into his back pocket and counted out a thousand dollars in cash and bet everybody in the bar they couldn’t find one scripture in the Bible to support the Trinity.”
The Brothers in Spillane’s congregation loved to go water skiing with him or fishing. He was like the cool dad they wish they’d had. They could be themselves around him, cuss, talk dirty about women and sex and not feel like he’d rat them out.
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There has always been gossip among JW’s that Spillane “kept getting Disfellowshipped” for his trashy and prurient books. I have NEVER been able to verify this. Witnesses are among the biggest gossipers on earth, from my experience. If you know or think you know some juicy tidbit, you repeat it as though it were sworn testimony. As far as I know, Brother Mickey Spillane got off scot-free. If you know different (and can prove it) I’d love to see your evidence :)
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Personally, I never met Brother Spillane.
I met plenty of shady JW’s in my time--but not the creator of MIKE HAMMER.
More’s the pity--I think I’d have liked him!_______
I’m a writer, not an author.
“I’ll tell you, there were a couple of reasons why I knew it was going to be good. At the end of the War, I saw—and I forget where, I think it was an army place—a brand new paperback original. It was a novel that had just come out. When I looked at that thing, I said this is the newest trend in publishing, and this is going to be the biggest thing going. So when I wrote I, the Jury, I didn’t write it for hardback. I wrote it for the paperback reprint. Now the funny part was that I, the Jury was turned down by three or four publishing houses who thought, “Oh, you can’t put books like this out on the market,” and who as good as shot themselves to death later. There was nothing bad about I, the Jury. It wasn’t dirty. It was a little raunchy in places, but not bad.”_________________
Max Allan Collins:
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is an obvious descendant, just as in Spillane’s day James Bond and Fleming was his. You see Mickey’s fingerprints all over everybody who followed him and Mike Hammer, from Peter Gunn and Billy Jack to Mack Bolan and Jack Bauer. Shaft was a black Mike Hammer, even initially advertised that way. Fleming was sold as the British Spillane. Any tough hero with emotion who breaks the rules can point back to Mickey and Mike. -
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What Do They Have in Common?: Covington/ Muhammed Ali / Disfellowship policy
by Terry incovington / muhammed ali / disfellowship (what do they have in common?
)“hayden c. covington, one of the most influential figures in the history of first amendment law.
beyond the numerous first amendment cases he argued or co-argued in the supreme court, he also prevailed on behalf of the witnesses in over “100 decisions handed down by various state supreme courts, and .
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Terry
Thanks to one and all.
This was quite interesting to compile. Seldom is the curtain lifted in the throne room of OZ.
If you compare the Rutherford/Covington/Franz/Knorr governing body with today's TV GB
you have to double over with a belly laugh.
They don't build em like that anymore, do they?