i heard that stefano giacobbe,(very prominent district overseer) has left the "truf".
is this a rumor or fact?
can anyone confirm.
Really?
I'd like to know too. Stefano was more reasonable and also more open minded than the others. Believe me, its hard not to be, if you know many of those who served as higher-ups. I liked Stefano because he didn't give me or my sib much grief about going to a RC school.
Ambroggio Bavaro was more of a company man though, and I'd be surprised if he left.
dear friends,.
i am taking some time away from posting.
i don't really know if or when i will be back.
I want to wish you all the best LovelyLilly. I hope going back to school is a wonderful experience for you. Take care.
http://www.creationresearch.org.
http://www.icr.org.
http://www.icr.org/research/index/researchp_papers.
You know there are some people who believe in God and evolution, and do not believe the earth is only 10,000 years old. Lilly
And I have a good deal of respect for believers who take that position because, usually, they're being as honest as they can be with empirical evidence. Denying evolutionary evidence stifles important advances in the biological sciences - potential knowledge that can benefit the biosphere and medicine. As ex-jws we know all too well how ignoring/disputing inconvenient facts because of a belief keeps people in false hope, misguided loyalty, and leads to a mindset where believers will follow any policy dictated to them even if its harmful to them. I'd say opposition to creation "science" is primarily for those reasons.
1.star wars (first movie).
2.blade runner.
3. alien .
I'd also like to mention a slow paced,subdued sci-fi flick called Primer. It was a very low budget/almost zilch special effects movie. So not a top pick of all time, but consider it if you ever get two use a rent one video get another free coupon. :)
Planet of the Apes (with Charleton Heston) was just plain fun.
historically, the bible is a secondary support for christians and jews.
i was raised roman catholic, and our tradition and practices included the bible, but it was not a key centerpiece of our faith.
the jewish side of my family likewise have a rich history of tradition and faith that is lived, and not pinned down to every word in the bible.
Hi Jim,
Being the little that I am, I'd just like to give Marcion some due for his part in getting things started.
Too bad his role was antagonistic. I think I would have enjoyed reading the Antitheses on the platform in the kingdom hall.
my story is sub-titled so you can skip ahead to parts that interest you most.. by way of reminder, my posting on "faith in god and the church" is not meant to convert anyone, because i have been out of the preaching business now for 14-years.
i am sharing my views given the questions i get when i do post about belief in god or my association with the catholic church.. why the catholic church?
protestants, especially fundamentalists and evangelicals have a hard spot with the roman catholic church.
Just wanted to say I enjoyed Part Two, and I loved the excellent write-up in Part 1.
Your expressions brought to my mind what Agrippa said to Paul at Acts 26:28. Take it as a compliment. And since I know you're not out to make converts, I'll assure you that I'm still the very cynical, hylic simian I've always been. Heretics can still appreciate the light side.
for years one of my assignments was in accounting both at the circuit level and district level.
i was never department head because those slots are filled my true company men.. the cost of an assembly is determined by a formula the assembly hall committees uses.
it's pretty straightforward.
I was always baffled by the massive expenses run up each weekend at assembly halls, until someone told me about those gouging resolutions. Here in Ontario about a couple of years ago, the WTS sent a letter to congregations regarding the repeated "deficits". They made no mention of those resolutions and had the gaul to suggest monthly contributions be made to the circuit ahead of time (they suggest about 40 cents per pub).
The higher ups know that many regular pubs now know, because at the last assembly they included in the announcements a rough break-down of the expenses including the resolved money to be sent to the WTS.
Keep the inside info coming peeps! Its effecting change.
thats a big test.
can you think of the test that that would put on gods people?
its a big test, its a big test.
They always special plead how the WTS is made up of imperfect men. Well, so is every other organization on the planet. So what distinguishes them as being better? Oh yeah, the troof they peddle.
I love how he tried to explain away the communist infiltration as something God allowed to test his followers. It makes me feel good. My appointment as a minsterial servant may very well have been by holy spirit then....I was God's pan helping sift out the gold nuggets from the soil.
Honestly, I'm so tired of their harping on and on about the "bad fruit" of other groups, but always excusing their own. If we were to compare the "good fruit" of the WTS with some of those other groups, most people would be underwhelmed with the pitifully small altruism shown by the GB and the WTS.
how did you view your unbelieving parent?
how did you view the contrasting interests of your unbelieving parent?
did your jw parent have the greater influence on you?
My father became a baptized jw around the time I was 5 yrs old. Up until then he was a Roman Catholic (albeit only in name). I've got my communist loving grandfather to thank for all the anti-catholic rhetoric he fed my father that primed him for the JWs. My father fully immersed me and my sib in the JW lifestyle: going to every bloody meeting, doing at least the national monthly average in field service, being signed on to the school very early on without even asking if we wanted to or not etc, etc.
My mother remained a RC for another two decades or so though. My father was very insistent on getting his way being the "head" of the household and didn't want ANY birthdays, holidays to be celebrated. My mother being oldschool Italian gave in to alot of his demands but would still secretly try to give me and my sib a small birthday gift every couple of years. She even managed to get my sib and me some costumes two years in a row so htat we weren't total outcasts at school when the kids were allowed to come in costumes (that was kindergarten and Grade 1). She also insisted me and my sib go to a Catholic school which we did (the only thing my father allowed...and I personally believe its because my mother was actually going to leave him over it).
The intolerance of my father (exacerbated by the cultic WTS) oppressed my mother because she couldn't go to mass without having him preach to her on and on, he would freak if she tried to attend the baptisms, first communions, etc of other family and she was very quickly isolated from the family she had here in north america. It was an unhappy atmosphere, and the religious differences sparked endless arguments. I think the loneliness was the sole reson she eventually got baptized as a JW. Unfortunately as soon as she came in to the Org, she didn't get alot of real friends. She quickly became used, always being asked to make food for weddings, jack and jills, memorials, meals for the CO and DO and on and on (other people made salads while my mom was always asked for roasts, meatballs, and expensive ricotta pastries etc). The dubs are leeches. And they broke my mother's spirit.
i believe in god ... but not because of any watchtower teaching.
it is actually fun to look back and see how they applied very poor logic and nonsense to try and prove their point.
today, the (c) 1998 watchtower book, "is there a creator who cares about you" was placed with me at the door.
Amazing,
I'm with you in how different the RC church is from the WTS.
Maybe alot of short term attendees/casual partakers may look at the Church heirarchy and its conservative stance on certain topics and find a superficial similarity to the WTS. But as someone who went through the catholic school system, I can personally tell you that the WTS comes no where near the level of intellectual honesty I've seen in today's church and its instructors. I could ask questions without any worries of being ostracized. I'll admit my heretical leaning didn't go over very well with my teachers, but they still discussed viewpoints with me and gave honest answers. A sharp constrast to the shady slave-drivers in Brooklyn.
