Posts by Terry

30

6 pubs reveal one of the possible reasons for WTS association with UN

by Pole in

most of us are familiar with the requirement which says that in order to asscociate with the un, ngos must: -"have a demonstrated interest in united nations issues and proven ability to reach large or specialized audiences, such as educators, media representatives, policy makers and the business community;".

"have the commitment and means to conduct effective information programmes about un activities by publishing newsletters, bulletins, and pamphlets; organizing conferences, seminars and round tables; and enlisting the cooperation of the media".

interestingly, according to this document:.

Terry

Plausible deniability is another factor.

If you are planning a "crime" you want to be able to deny plausibly that your intention was criminal.

The Watchtower cabal was guilty of visiting the harlot; but, they had to be able to give some plausible reason for being in her bed.

They just "happened' to be in her room using her bookshelf for research. They, of course, never gazed upon her nakedness!

They got sleeply and had to lie down. When they woke up--why, there she was next to them!! Why was their fly open? To circulate air.

39

STUPID PEOPLE: can't kill em...What do you do with them?

by Terry in

jw
friends

i'm afraid we all run into stupid people.

they can frustrate us; they can baffle us; they can make life miserable for us.

what do you do when you encounter one?

Terry

My JW buddy's wife has always been a bit on the slow side. For their 30th anniversary he decided they would open the fine bottle of wine given to them on their wedding day. But--he could not find it. He asked his wife where it was.

She replied: "Oh that? I threw that away. It's been so long it probably went bad."

When their next door neighbors were moving, Johnny and Carol purchased their water bed. In trying to assemble it, Carol injured her middle finger.

A week later the circuit servant and his wife were in the car with Johnny and Carol. The circuit servant mentioned that he couldn't sleep on a water bed because it hurt his back like crazy. Carol spoke up and said, "We got rid of ours too". The circuit servant asked why? Carol replied by holding up her hand and flashing her middle finger at him. The Circuit servant's wife stared for a second and nodded her head while looking at Johnny. "Ohhh, yes I know what you mean."

There was a lady I worked with who only planted her garden during the Full Moon. She told me this. I had to ask why. She replied, "Well, everybody knows when the moon is full the gravitational pull is greater and makes them grow faster."

Funny, I didn't know that.

Another lady I worked with was a mystically religious person and very nervous. She would use the telephone several times a day to call the Dial a Prayer number. She told me her great grandmother, around the turn of the century had died and the doctor pronounced her dead. The pastor of the congregation prayed over her and she woke up! "How do you explain that?" she challenged me.

I replied: "Wrong diagnosis on the part of the doctor!" After all it was the year 1900.

Once at the Kindom Hall, the brothers were instructed to move the folding chairs a row closer to the platform. One of the brothers started moving each chair individually forward one space. I stopped him. "Hey, why don't you just take the back row and move it to the front?" I asked. He stared at me. "Because it AIN'T what the overseer asked us to do" he replied defiantly.

When I go to the local fast food they have three sized cups for coffee. The refills are free. The clerk tries to get me to buy the most expensive one. I tell her the refills are free, so why should I? The clerk says, "So you'll have more coffee to drink." Huh? "The bigger the cup," she explains slowly, "the bigger the refill."

Speaking of cup sizes....Why has "small" vanished from the face of the earth?

I asked for a small drink the other day. The guy at the counter tells me, "We don't have small. We only have Tall Medium and Large. I asked him which one was the smallest. "Tall". So I looked at him and said, "I'll take the small one". He just shook his head. "I told you, we don't have small."

Sigh

39

STUPID PEOPLE: can't kill em...What do you do with them?

by Terry in

jw
friends

i'm afraid we all run into stupid people.

they can frustrate us; they can baffle us; they can make life miserable for us.

what do you do when you encounter one?

Terry

I'm afraid we all run into stupid people. They can frustrate us; they can baffle us; they can make life miserable for us.

What do you do when you encounter one?

How do you know when somebody is stupid and not merely unattentive or blase'?

Who is the most stupid person you ever knew?

39

MOSES AND THE COPPER SERPENT......mysterious!

by Terry in

jw
friends

isn't it odd; even mysterious that christians think jesus could be represented by a serpent?

numbers 21:8 and the lord said unto moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

21:9 and moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Terry

Isn't it odd; even mysterious that Christians think Jesus could be represented by a serpent?

NUMBERS 21:8 And the LORD said unto MOSES, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. ****************************************************************************************************************

IN ancient times and places a serpent wrapped around a pole was a kind of magic fetish, often worshipped. Your own doctor probably has one of those symbols. It is the Caduceus. It is a pole with two serpents wrapped around it and little wings on the top. Ever see one? The snake and the stick pop up in many pagan religions.

Moses first miracle involved snakes and a staff, remember?

Go to this Hyper link and look at Thoth:

http://www.prs.org/gallery-egypt.htm

Don't you find it weird that Christians see nothing peculiar about believing that Christ is foreshadowed by this incident?

Often in pagan religions a flying serpent or fire-breathing dragon is represented. The Hebrew word saraph is often translated as a kind of Angel! But, the feathered serpent and the angel are pretty much our contemporary choice alternatives.

Jesus crucified on that pole and the copper serpent: WHAT DO YOU THINK?

26

What do you know? And, How do you know it?

by Terry in

remember how certain you were as a jw?

you just knew what you knew was right 100%

you staked your life on it, didn't you?

Terry

Kate,

Thanks. Your son, if he loves music, will simply continue until he finds a way to do his music. There are a thousand voices who will tell you how impossible it is to earn a living at music. But, it is not impossible. You have to find your own way in. I think of it as grass growing up through a sidewalk.

The Eastern religions (and Deepak Chopra) seem to say alot. But, if you very carefully hold them to the standard of defining their terms you'll say they say nothing at all.

On of my biggest gripes is words without meaning. The word ENERGY is thrown around by mystics as though we all KNOW what it means. It means nothing. Energy is the motion of subatomic particles. So what? SPIRIT is another rubber word. If you put enough words together that have ___vague___meanings you can convince people you are really saying something.

Try this. The next time you read a sentence that "seems" to have a profound and mystical meaning just substitute the definition for the word and read it again aloud. You'll find it is all a pig's bathwater.

Deepak Chopra likes to say "There are no coincidences". In other words; everything happens for a REASON! Oh really! Whose reason? Children born without brainstems, wasps that lay their eggs in caterpillars to eat their way out, child molestation, rape, starvation all have a reason, right? If somebody or something made up a reason to let those things happen I'd spit in their face; be they god or devil.

It's not the things we don't know that will hurt us, it's the things we know for sure that ain't so.

Yogi Berra

41

IS IT TRUE & SHOULD WE OBEY IT?

by gdt in

jw
friends

my mother said 'if you can't say anything good about anyone (thing), don't say anything bad'!.

true?

a lot would need to change in our comments and attitudes, surely.. false?

Terry

Some things and some people are so awful you have to open your mouth and say something.

That is how Hitler came to power. People did nothing to stop him.

You have to speak up. It is your obligation to your fellow man.

Explain your reasons and lay out your evidence and let people with honest hearts and open minds decide.

10

My ponderings on religion etc

by ballistic in

jw
friends

of course, we of all people know just how wrong you can be.

so what about the rest of life outside of religion?

politics maybe, or just general life situations?

Terry

I look at it this way. Life is mostly choices. The longer you delay choices the more imperative they become. The chief obstacle to decision making (intelligent decision making) is certainty.

How much uncertainty can a person tolerate? That is what trying to see both sides of an issue entails; maintaining that "open mind" which delays certainty.

I've noticed that people don't respect hesitancy due to that intellectual weighing process. People admire and tend to follow those people who seem certain, sure and unmovable.

There is a cynical proverb that says: Just fake it! Pretend you know what you're doing and people will line up behind you. I fear that may be true.

We look for a president who is rock certain. We look for a doctor who is unhesitating in his diagnosis and treatment plan. We crave the expert's advice.

But, the older I get the more convinced I become that there are more than two sides to an issue. There may be more sides than can be considered.

Religion is all opinon, no fact and self-deluding certainty. They have a different word for the certainty. They call it faith.

For myself, life is an investigation process with tentative conclusions that are always subject to revision. But, I can make reasonably quick decsions based on consensus opinions of authorities I respect.

I will never completely trust an absolute authority again in my life.

We only hurt ourselves when we let go the steering wheel and let another mind take control.

7

A spin off thread from El Blanko's "Into The Mystic"

by Sunnygal41 in

we've been having such fun discussing mystical and scientific paradigms, thought i'd throw this article i found out here for discussion.

as you can see, it was written c1974.

those of us who read and enjoy such information are totally aware of the great strides in research and acceptance these thoughts have gained.

Terry

There is always somebody like me. Some old snoot whith a bucket of water to pour on the bonfire. I apologize. But, heck---I've got to speak up.

Spoon bending has been thoroughly debunked. James Randi, magician and professional skeptic, submitted his spoon-bending techniques to the same scientists who tested Uri Geller and others. They detected no phoney baloney trickery at all. Randi then proceeded to demonstrate to them how it was done. It is all charlatanism. Randi exposed Geller. On the Johnny Carson show Geller was invited and, unknown to Geller, Carson (an amateur magician) was ready for him with Randi's tutoring. You can read all about it on the Skeptic website or on Randi's own website. James Randi has spent the latter part of his life exposing the rampant foolery that goes on in the name of the "paranormal". The fact that the scientists who "test" these things are naive and don't control for fakery leads them to false conclusions. Pure and simple.

I defy anbody to define ENERGY or RANDOM. Those words get thrown around all the time and they mean nothing at all the way they are used.

Sorry to be such a naysayer. But, check it out.

26

What do you know? And, How do you know it?

by Terry in

remember how certain you were as a jw?

you just knew what you knew was right 100%

you staked your life on it, didn't you?

Terry

Bikerchic, thanks for clarifying.

I was curious because of your word choices. It is the mystics who claim knowlege comes from "within" and, unlike yourself, deny anything worthwhile comes from outside first. Your description is, of course, rational.

You test new recipes and that is sanity. People stuck in a mindset merely defend their worn out and tired beliefs from every disproof.

When I was an active JW, I now know, It was beyond my capacity to listen to a disproof objectively. I went into my refutation mode and defensive systems were on high alert.

I can't tell you how much this disturbs me as I look back on it. It is like seeing myself as insane. I cautiously examine everything now for fear I'll become complacent once more.

I started this thread to, mostly, find out how people who are here on this discussion group protect themselves from falling for another shovelfull of horsie poop.

So, tell me, is it biker sheek or biker chick? Are you in the Harley Owner's Group?

31

IMPORTANT IDEA! Petition the Society and embaress them for their hubris

by Terry in

jw
friends

i may have an important idea!

(beginner's luck).. what if we all (and i mean every last one of us; big numbers of people) wrote a scathing and precise petition or letter of protest (as an open letter) to the governing body of jehovah's witnesses and released it to the press on a slow news day with lots of fanfare?.

we would "call out" the rascals in no uncertain terms citing our grievances (like the founding fathers to george iii) and enumerating our personal suffering under the policies we want changed.. the list would include setting themselves up as little dictators speaking in god's name and issuing papal decrees upon penalty of excommunication.. we could demand apologies for stealing the future of children born to jw families who lose the happiness of childhood through worthless pharisaic adherence to blind rules such as no birthdays, christmas, easter, holidays in general, etc.

Terry

Randy Watters has suggested that everybody write letters and send it to one person in charge of using those letters. Co-ordination then becomes a matter of timing.

The problem I have with letter writing campaigns is it smacks of artificiality. The Watchtower letter writing campaigns mostly gave everybody their cue of what to say. The same is true in political campaigns. Somebody sends out an e-mail with "talking-points" and whatever is said that day always includes those points.

For a grass roots tidal wave to swamp the Society and drown them in adverse publicity something more is needed.

1.Local Tv or radio attention

2.National TV and radio attention

3.Talkshow attention

4.Availability of interviewees

5.A key issue of striking importance and a list of victims by name and location.

6.A reason for the campaign; a purpose people can get behind.

7.A requested action that is demanded by way of response.

8.Examples of improper response on the part of the Society

9.A galvanizing action

Without at least those points you merely have a kind of grumbling disaffection and perhaps sour grapes.

Either we want to be heard; either we want to force the governing body to listen and respond to specifics or we just bend over and let the old KY do its work.