I have ALWAYS thought the choice of the word PIONEER was just plain archaic and weird.
Whenever I heard the word COLPORTEUR I always thought of the song, BEGIN THE BEGUINE.
Posts by Terry
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45HELP ME COMPILE A LIST OF DISCARDED WORDS AND PHRASES from the WTS
by Terry inin fort worth, texas around 1959. gradually i became aware of the argot.
special, private language).
jw's had these phrases they used over and over again.. upon first hearing, these words and phrases stood out as odd, weird or awkward.. however.
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HELP ME COMPILE A LIST OF DISCARDED WORDS AND PHRASES from the WTS
by Terry inin fort worth, texas around 1959. gradually i became aware of the argot.
special, private language).
jw's had these phrases they used over and over again.. upon first hearing, these words and phrases stood out as odd, weird or awkward.. however.
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Terry
Hahahahaha. . . maaaaaay beeeee
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45
HELP ME COMPILE A LIST OF DISCARDED WORDS AND PHRASES from the WTS
by Terry inin fort worth, texas around 1959. gradually i became aware of the argot.
special, private language).
jw's had these phrases they used over and over again.. upon first hearing, these words and phrases stood out as odd, weird or awkward.. however.
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Terry
WHILE I'M THINKING OF IT . . .
The changes in parlance are deliberate, I hypothesize.
Why change terminology all the time?
Here is my take on it:
Within the short space of a conversation with a JW, a current JW can tell if you USE TO BE a JW.
How?
Your terminology is dated!
Telltale stale references peg you right off!
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Sidebar:
When I lived in Los Angeles, one of my closest friends was a Scientologists. That's all he talked about, non-stop, gibber-jabber.
Inadvertently, I was absorbing the lingo! After a year of this, I could "speak Scientology!"
I was an art consultant at the time and I dealt with movie studios, and personnel.
One of my clients was photographer who's celebrity photos were "hot" at the time.
His portraiture was on just about every magazine you picked up!
I could spot his photographs and identify them quickly because I had an eye for his technique.
Well, one day I ran into him at a movie theater. We chatted a bit and he said something which contained
the following sentence.
"I'm so busy right now I'm wearing more hats than I can keep up with."
I stared for a second and suddenly blurted, "DICK, YOU ARE A SCIENTOLGIST!"
(His name was Dick Zimmerman.)
He was flustered at my non-sequitur! He babbled and deflected. You see, he didn't want anybody to know!
I could tell he didn't want to deny outright, but he didn't want to ask how I knew.
I smiled and explained myself.
"Scientologists refer to the different categories of work they do as being 'hatted' as in wearing one hat for this
and another hat for that. What you said was a dead giveaway!"
He grinned and closed his eyes. "Ahhhh." That's all he said.
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You see, JW's can do the same thing just from the small conversations they overhear.
A couple of months back I was accidentally overhearing a conversation between two young men.
I heard the term "torture-stake" and the cat was out of the back straightaway!"
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(edited to add:)
I was curious whatever happened to Zimmerman. I just did an Internet search.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuKzEnmoRjY
Dick is referred to this way:
"Dick Zimmerman has been referred to by the media as an
artistic genius. Known as "The Image Maker," he is considered to be the most accomplished portrait artist of the 20th century. Zimmerman is sought after by the world's most celebrated entertainers, dignitaries . . ."This is the work of his publicist, by the way!
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Any Senior Citizens, Retirees here?
by AlwaysBusy inhowdy....well, what do you think?
of everything?
is it all crazy?
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Terry
I'm 67 and I retired at the earliest age I could.
I started work at the age of 12 helping my Uncle John who was a bricklayer.
To suddenly NOT work was a shock to my whole way of thinking!
I'd say it took me about 3 years to swim into a new CONTEXT.
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I am no longer a slave to a schedule. That's the BIG deal!
I wake or sleep as I choose (or as weariness overtakes.)
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I eat approximately twice a day with maybe one binge day a week.
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I ride my bicycle 7 days a week a minimum of 10 miles per day. The exception is bad weather days.
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I do considerable research and I write a great deal. That seems to be a passion, so far.
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After I divorced in 2006 I had a two year hiatus from any females of the species.
I temporarily tried casual dating for about three months and stopped for another couple of years.
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In around 2009 I tried dating again and gave up on it. I've been extremely single for 5 years.
I see myself dying alone. If that sounds sad--well, it isn't intended.
I had been married 4 times, fer gawd's sakes! Whatdaya want from me?
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I watch a lot of movies.
I love Survivor and the Amazing Race.
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I use to be a Political Junkie. Now I pay absolutely no attention to any of it.
Why? It only disturbs my sense of peace and happiness. I can electively skip that and remain happy-go-lucky.
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I use to be a NEWS JUNKIE, reading every word of the newspapers.
Then, newspapers turned into crap.
I haven't read a newspaper in years. Good riddance!
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I spend a lot of time communicating with fence-sitting JW's, faders, Ex-JW's and, as the opportunities arise,
devote time to visiting terminally ill people in hospitals or clinics.
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My 7 kids and grandkids give me a ton of satisfaction. None of them is a serial killer, so far.
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THE IMPONDERABLES TOPIC (Enter at your own risk)
by Terry ini suggest taking this slowly .
.. consider the difference between taking a poll about an upcoming election and the actual vote itself on the day of the election.. the information gathered about what the vote will be is provisional.
the vote on the day of the election is actual and official.. it is the one that counts.. now, carefully ask yourself what the specific difference--if any--there is between the poll information and the election result as an identical knowledge of.
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Terry
Could God create a rock so huge he couldn't lift it? <<I once saw a stupid short film based on this
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God is tumbling weightless in space/time along with billions of planets, stars, asteroids, etc.
The majority of them are too heavy to lift. However, due to the fact God already set them in motion
the question becomes moot due to the fact "lift" could be variously interpreted.
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THE IMPONDERABLES TOPIC (Enter at your own risk)
by Terry ini suggest taking this slowly .
.. consider the difference between taking a poll about an upcoming election and the actual vote itself on the day of the election.. the information gathered about what the vote will be is provisional.
the vote on the day of the election is actual and official.. it is the one that counts.. now, carefully ask yourself what the specific difference--if any--there is between the poll information and the election result as an identical knowledge of.
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Terry
I do try to eschew obfuscation whenever appropriate!?!
Be sure and floss afterward!
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HELP ME COMPILE A LIST OF DISCARDED WORDS AND PHRASES from the WTS
by Terry inin fort worth, texas around 1959. gradually i became aware of the argot.
special, private language).
jw's had these phrases they used over and over again.. upon first hearing, these words and phrases stood out as odd, weird or awkward.. however.
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Terry
SIDEBAR:
When I was in Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville during the Vietnam era because of the
ORGANIZATION's nit-wit interpretation of "neutrality" all the 40 or so brothers who were inmates
conducted 8 meetings a week.
Once each month, a Brother Bourgeosie, who was the big shot elder from the Dallas congregation visited us
in the capacity of a Circuit Servant or Traveling Elder might.
Inmates in prison didn't like calling the Brothers JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, so they shortened it to J. W.
Guess what--we started referring to each other that way, too. After all, it was easier.
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Brother Bourgeosie heard this and prepared a special talk he presented in which he read us the riot act.
Here is the gist of it.
"Superstitious Jews refused to honor the holy name of Jehovah by shortening it to a mere 4 letters! You
are supposed to be JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES and undo the damage! Instead, you have obscured the
majesty and significance of God's holy name by reducing it to JUST ONE LETTER: J!
Blah-blah-blah.
We were embarrassed, contrite, penitent, red-faced. . .
FAST FORWARD. . .
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Oh how I would LOVE to run into Brother Bourgeosie today!
I'd ask him how he feels about the ORGANIZATION'S BLASPHEMY for reducing down to JW.org??
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THE IMPONDERABLES TOPIC (Enter at your own risk)
by Terry ini suggest taking this slowly .
.. consider the difference between taking a poll about an upcoming election and the actual vote itself on the day of the election.. the information gathered about what the vote will be is provisional.
the vote on the day of the election is actual and official.. it is the one that counts.. now, carefully ask yourself what the specific difference--if any--there is between the poll information and the election result as an identical knowledge of.
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Terry
You guys crack me up!
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DEMONS: the torment I suffered
by Terry inwhen i was in my teens i wanted a room of my own, but i lived with my grandparents whose house was very small.. my uncle had been living in a little one room bed-sitter way out in the backyard.
he married and moved away and i moved in.. it was quite isolated and the ceiling was six feet from the floor.
unfortunately, the top of my head was four inches higher than that!
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Terry
In my congregation in Fort Worth, our Assitant Overseer (as they were then denominated) was a good-ole-boy named Wally Coulter.
He told a story about going to a woman's door and presenting her with the sermon du jour only to have her curse him out and
order him off her property!
According to Wally, "As I was about to shake the dust off my feet as I turned and walked past her back fence, I happened to glance
in the backyard where I saw something that scared the bejeebers out of me! There was a goat shaped demon with a collar around its neck sitting in the middle of the backyard in a rocking chair! I got outta there as fast as I could praying to Jehovah!"
We all repeated that story, of course.
I sure as hell don't know what it means--but--that's the level of wacky word-of-mouth urban fear-mongering JW's at all levels repeated.
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A Brief History of Racism in Watchtower Publications
by cedars ini've just completed a lengthy article on the history of racism in the society's publications.
many people (including myself, until recently) aren't aware that the society's early publications were brimming with racist rhetoric, and this only calmed down as the public mood towards racism changed, most notably with the civil rights movement in the 50s/60s.. a few "headliners" from the article are:.
russell segregated blacks from whites for viewings of the photodramarussell believed that the skin of a black man would turn white during the millennial kingdomunder russell, the society's publications portrayed the black races as "degraded" and the white race as "superior"rutherford viewed the blacks as a "race of servants", and spoke of "sobering the southern negro" in an article against prohibitionunder rutherford, the golden age slammed uncle tom's cabin (a work that helped end slavery) as being "the work of satan"; the same article branded spaniards a "backwards race"rutherford accused "jewish business men" of "oppressing the peoples of many nations"in 1929 the golden age (acknowledged by the society as essentially the same magazine as the modern awake!
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Terry
At any point in time, the culture of each and every social group is on a path from ignorance toward enlightenment and wisdom.
IDEALLY this is a steady continuum. We all know from experience it seldom works this way.
Nobody has ever been free of ignorant prejudice of "the other."
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If you read Mark Twain's classics you will find language quite disrespectable--BY TODAY'S MEASURE.
However, we cannot IMPOSE today on yesterday and imagine we are doing history a service!
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With the above in mind--let's STOP THE MUSIC!
As the resident old man among you I am the de facto curmudgeon which means my duty is to keep my
historical knowledge (and or interpretation) alive as long as I can.
If you will bear with me for just a second. . .
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When I was a boy in the 1950's, it was AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WORLD.
I do not exaggerate.
Old views people held and what behaviors they exhibited are--BY TODAY'S MEASURE--quite repugnant.
Please be mindful I'm not excusing anything or anybody--but those "good old days" were NORMAL for them.
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What is important is this:
Through good intention, activism, sacrifice, persuasion, kindness, empathy, and heartfelt desire for PROGRESS---things do change.
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I had asthma as a boy. Terrible choking fits and this was before there were inhalers or steroids.
My parents--the entire household--smoked cigarettes and cigars indoors, in the car--everywhere.
NOW HERE THIS: everybody smoked in elevators, airplanes, movie theaters, restaurants . . . and I was in tortured agony!
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So what?
So a therapist listened to me rant about how badly my family treated me and she nodded and then asked:
'ARE YOU SAYING THIS WAS DONE DELIBERATELY TO HURT YOU?'
I had to answer, "No."
The therapist then said, "Context is everything. Sometimes people who hurt you are DOING THE BEST THEY CAN according to their view of NORMAL."
As we now know--public smoking has been all but completely stamped out in my lifetime! This is human progress. I rejoice!
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I lived in a white neighborhood which suddenly experienced 'white flight' in the civil rights era. I was about thirteen. Suddenly, I lived in an all black community. My best friend was the black kind across the street.
My grandmother and mother were from New Orleans and had no discernable prejudice at all toward "colored folk."
When the kids at my all white school saw me playing with a "colored boy," I was called "NI**ER LOVER!"
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The purpose of this---call it a rant if you like--is to INFORM rather than lecture.
Old days bygone are IGNORANT DAYS bygone.
People did what their parents and grandparents said was "okay."
IF WE MATURE WE FIND A BETTER WAY.
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CONCLUSION:
The Watchtower Society was no better or worse, but perhaps a lot more progressive about minority inclusion by the time I
attended Kingdom Halls. There were LAWS ON THE BOOKS in many states (in the south) against MIXING races. It was seen
as prudent to exercise awareness of your local situation.
ASSEMBLIES always included people of color as far back as I go.
In the 60's, black brothers and sisters were welcomed. None of us thought anything of it that I recall.
I'M NOT EXCUSING idiots who treated minorities badly. All I'm doing is asking you to put the pitchforks down and the torches
and think before you assume the level of hatred which was present among the KLU KLUX KLAN, when you extrapolate
today's social "norms" backward in time.
I REPEAT: We cannot IMPOSE today on yesterday and imagine we are doing history a service!
END OF SERMON.
