Posts by MerryMagdalene

14

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 12-25-05 WT Study (Hosea-Reap)

by blondie in

how can we walk with god?

that will help us to walk with god.

" (hosea.

MerryMagdalene

Thanks again, Blondie, for your fine work.

How can we walk with God? By following the guidance he provides in his

Word.

What about through his Word, THE Word Christ Jesus--the Way, the Truth, and the Life? Nah, let's just keep on ignoring him as much as possible.

The WTS really does seem to be fixated on the OT. Someone I know recently returned from a vacation to Pennsylvania, had taken a WTS tour (not sure which section), and was marvelling over the Society's display replicas of the Temple and the Ark of the Covenant. Wonder how much those cost and just how they're supposed to help build the faith of JWs in Christ???Sounds a wee bit idolatrous to me

All who want to understand the Bible should appreciate that the "greatly diversified wisdom of God" can become known only through Jehovah's channel of communication, the faithful and discreet slave.-John 6:68.

Yeah, that's what the cited scripture says alright"Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have the sayings of everlasting life." Doesn't say anything recommending "going away" to the Governing Body of the Faithful and Discreet Slave of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with The Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society whose "sayings of everlasting life" cannot withstand honest scrutiny (I celebrate the real triumph of Quotes!!!)

~Merry

30

Quotes - Press Release

by wombat in

.

could someone compose a suitable press release that we could forward to our local media ?.

MerryMagdalene

bttt

13

Blueblades signing back on.

by Blueblades in

jw
friends

well, we are settled in.

start the new job after new years.

moved to another state away from the bethel headquarters, the family can now relax, as we won't be seeing any of the old congregation members anymore.

MerryMagdalene

Warmest, happiest heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS on all of the above

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you and yours

~Merry

19

A Brief History

by Sentient in

i posted this in another forum and i was advised to repost it here as well, so here you go.

the is the first time i've posted in a jw related forum since some years ago when i was an ms, or really made any comments to any former or current members outside of the immediate family.

although this may not be the appropriate subforum for it, i'll explain just a bit of my own history because it relates to my own conclusions as to the topic here at hand.

MerryMagdalene

Welcome, Sentient. Thank you for sharing this much of your story with us. Eagerly waiting for more.

~Merry

13

Is the WTS guilty of child abuse?

by cheezy in

i have worked in the field of investigating and treating child abuse.

one of the definitions of child abuse (besides the ovious - physical and sexual) is neglect.

does the wts encourage parents to neglect the physcial and emotional well-being of their children by their policies (printed and implied) against higher education, vaccination, holidays, mandatory field service, early baptism that carries severe consequences, etc.

MerryMagdalene

mandatory field service

This brings up some memories...being a kid in "field service" and having "householders" fairly often express pity for me because of what I "had to do" and expressing anger that adults were making me peddle literature door-to-door. They would sometimes ask who was making me do this? did I want to do it? why? I would feel awkward and embarrassed and guilty then about 10 different ways: that I was doing something socially abnormal, that I wasn't more enthusiastic about doing something socially abnormal, that I wasn't better at making a defense of my ~~parent's~~ faith...and on and on. I would stammeringly try to explain that nobody was "forcing" me to do it, then laugh about it with the "car group" afterwards, while it secretly gnawed away at me from inside.

And I remember my mother's stories of how she was persecuted in school for being a JW during WWII, and how strong that made her faith. She was raised as a JW from the age of 4 on, always tried to make it fun and upbeat for me, but there are some things that there just isn't enough sugar in the world to make more pallatable.

~Merry

201

WTS vs Quotes: Requiem for a Research Web Site

by Quotes in

in compliance with the terms of a settlement agreement, my information and research web site, http://quotes.watchtower.ca, is now "dark".

the domain "watchtower.ca" has been transferred to wts (i assume they will have it pointing to borg.org watchtower.org asap).

my copies of the site have been destroyed, the files deleted, and my wt library cd has been destroyed, in accordance with the settlement agreement which will afford a "discontinuance" of their suit against me.

MerryMagdalene

QUOTES--You do rock!!!!! Thanks for rocking the WTS boat. From here on out the waves are just gonna keep building, getting stronger and rougher...there's a big storm a brewing and even they don't have enough money to ride this one out, safe and secure in their reinforced lies, cos they did it to themselves. Do whatever you need to do to live your life free of their tyranny. We support you and your wife in moving onTHANKS FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE.

AuldSoul:

peacefulpete, I just wrote the Human Rights Watch regarding the subject of Free Speech and the Internet:

I think that is an excellent letter. I am wondering if you, or someone else, would find it appropriate to send that, or something like it, to Forum 18 as I have noticed them publicizing the struggle of JWs in other lands to gain freedom of religion. I think they should know about this OTHER SIDE of things...the DARK SIDE of the WTS, if you will. Here is what Forum 18 is about:

About Forum 18
Every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes the freedom to change religion or belief, and the freedom to express – either singly or together with others, and either publicly or privately – one's religion or faith through teaching, practice, worship and ritual.
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
Aim: Forum 18 is an instrument for promoting the implementation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and concentrates on serious and obvious breaches of religious freedom, and particularly on situations where the lives and welfare of individual people or groups are being threatened and where the right to gather around one's faith is being hindered.
The Board of Forum 18 will arrange at least one annual conference or convention, which is to be open to representatives of churches, organisations, free groups and individuals. Financial support for such conferences or conventions will be sought primarily from external sources.
Tasks:
Raise and co-ordinate interest and engagement in issues of religious freedom.
Give moral and practical support to victims of violations of religious freedom.
Influence public opinion and the authorities towards the implementation of all the elements of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Gather and make accessible information on serious violations.
Gather and make accessible information about individual people, groups, churches that have campaigned effectively for freedom of religion.
Be a driving force for getting important issues into the media.
Frame and find resources for projects that can monitor the human rights situation and provide reliable information, if necessary in co-operation with other similar organisations.
Promote and arrange support for research projects that throw light on violations of religious freedom and their causal circumstances, besides obtaining knowledge about situations where religious freedom is violated.
Contribute advice and guidance to missionaries and aid workers in exposed areas.

The members of the Board of Forum 18 are:

	Jostein Nesvåg	Chairman
	Ed Brown	Secretary
	Per Ove Stige
	Eva Olsvold Sandar
	Are Mjanger

~sincerely, Merry (whose relatives are still captives)

25

Weird day with a bit of a shock

by ballistic in

jw
friends

weird day with a bit of a shock.

for some time now my best mate and flat mate has been couging up blood and sweating, and a few other things... anyway, came back from hospital diagnosed with tb (tuberculosis).. for those in other countries, tb is almost illiminated in great britain, and children are routinely immunised (including my flat mate) but there are still 7000 cases a year here.

it has 99% successfull treatment rate and yet worldwide still claims 2 million lives.. anyway, i went straight to the hospital for x-rays and... amazingly (as i seem to catch every cold and flu bug going around), i don't have it.

MerryMagdalene

(((((Ballistic))))) My very best to both of you!!!!!! Very upsetting indeed. I hope you stay in the clear!

~Merry

26

Why would Jesus' first miracle be turning water into wine?

by truthseeker in

i recently wondered why jesus would use his first miracle to make more brew - any ideas?.

i mean, i thought the first miracle would have been a healing or a resurrection or something.. i'm sure the wedding party didn't complain.. is it possible that this account was really the first miracle performed by jesus?

did jesus not perform miracles before his baptism?

MerryMagdalene

yup

~Merry

10

That Interesting Rutherford...

by Tuesday in

jw
friends

.

has anyone written a biography of him?

MerryMagdalene

You might see what you can find on here...

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/77915/15.ashx

~Merry

255

Going out with a bang

by LittleToe in

jw
friends

after much deliberation, i decided to go "out" at the end of a public talk.

it didn't go down too well, but at least i was able to give some of my reasons for leaving.. i've put some of the details on my homepage.

i'll update it more when i get the time and the strength.

MerryMagdalene

Bearing in mind that it was pitched as a JW audience, I only hope that it doesn't cause any triggers for folks.

Yes, actually, it did. Big trigger. But all for the best! I remember sitting at meetings, year after year, wishing for someone to come along and say what you said and do what you did. So you made my dream come true, a bit belatedly, and I cried very therapeutic tears and...well, I think you know the rest...thanks again.

~Merry