euripides

Joined

• started 11 topics
• posted 159 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by euripides

• 
  4

  Biography of J. F. Rutherford

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i read here a while back that someone was working on a biography of rutherford that could be quite revealing, especially as regards his relations with members of the opposite sex (including his wife).

  is there any more news on that?

  who was it working on that again?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  I think this was the link someone mentioned, I couldn't see it on my computer (maybe htat's my fault)

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/77915/1.ashx
• 
  16

  Has anyone read "1984" and seen the parallels?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i was assigned to read 1984 by george orwell when in the eight grade i think.

  now forty years to late to turn in a 'book report' i am reading it.

  i see so many parallels to the witness org there.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  Yes, and you should certainly get (and read) Gary Botting's The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, one of my all time favorites. I was so impressed I called Gary up after reading it! He was a long time Witness, also from Canada (like Penton), and teaches. Check on www.freeminds.org to find the book. When I first left the witnesses, it kept getting stolen out of all the New York area libraries! It's a great read, just like Orwell's novel. Hell, I'd even recommend the movie with Richard Burton; it's a dark story, but one that resonates very deeply.
• 
  14

  Of course you're happier.

  by kwintestal in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i got to thinking about the wt study this week (i read blondie's version of it) and the statement that jehovah's witnesses are the happiest people on earth.. there are 2 groups of people in the jw faith and in any other for that matter, those who were born and raised who know no other religion, and those who were converted.. it's somewhat understood, by most, that jw's target those who are emotionally and spiritually vulnerable to convert, therefore they are unhappy.. those who were raised as jw's are told and given repeated examples of how everyone else is unhappy.

  when they hear these examples where unhappy people add the jw faith into the mix and suddenly they are transformed into the happiest people on earth, they become convinced that everyone not a jw is like that.. the constant reminders that jw's are the happiest people on earth, for the convert trigger the memory of their poor emotional or spiritual state prior to entering the jw faith, and for the lifetime jw trigger the memory of the previously poor state of the convert.. additional thoughts anyone?.

  kwin

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  It is a terrible cognitive dissonance to be raised in this religion and told that everyone else is unhappy while in fact YOU become the unhappiest person, and suffer further when you need to break free of this imprisonment. So what's keeps those in who obviously elect to do so is the illusion that they are happy, their being convinced it is true. These people need to be saved from themselves, because they are trading in one form of self-enslavement and misery for another. There is nothing to be done for these people, other than to keep trying to show them that the higher principle of self-awareness is a greater good worthy of pursuit, instead of the lead role in a cage.

  I don't really know of happy witnesses, how can they be when life is waiting for worldwide cataclysmic destruction. I thought the book "Good News to Make You Happy" had just about the most perverse title because I thought it was anything but.
• 
  18

  Church Recommendations?

  by sandy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i never thought i would be looking for a new church but i am.

  does anyone have any recommendations?.

  i am looking into the unitarian church.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  Sandy I won't slap you, what you need is a hug and reassurance (((Sandy))). You are craving community, you need to find it, and it is at the Kingdom Hall, with a very heavy price of admission. That price is doctrinal slavery. I urge you to look up the Unitarian Church in your community and go there. If you can't wait you might call them to see if they have an evening service tonight, or an adult education meeting. You need to get around people and get support. These lists can only provide so much. Please keep me posted, if you want to message me separately that's fine.
• 
  2

  A Brief History of the Apocalypse

  by Country Girl in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  reading this really fascinated me in that it makes you realize how minute the jws are in the history of apocalyptic cults, and how narrow one's world can become when one is living within the prism of such a mind-bending cult, in comparison to the largest religions of the world, and what small parts these cults play in the grander scheme of things, whatever that is.

  here is the introduction, and link: .

  http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm.

  1. 
  2. 
• 

  euripides

  Paul, Miller of the 1800's, Martin Luther, Freddy Franz, Charles Russell, Garner Ted Armstrong, they all thought the End was going to come any moment. It's a movement generated by the disenfranchised and minority oppressed to keep the numbers stable. It certainly has a way of making the person making the current prophecy feel quite imporant in the cosmic scheme of things, as if it all came down to them in their lifetime. Apocalyptic mentality pervades all of society these days, unfortunately.
• 
  29

  Who is the new President of the Watchtower Society? And are there 7 new org

  by booker-t in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i have been wondering who is the president of the watchtower society?

  my mother told me that milton henschel died in 1993 and i have not heard of anybody ever replacing him?

  my mom also told me that the society has 7 new corporations within the watchtower society.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  Governing Body and 1960's TV, what a combo! Jackie Coogan was, in fact, one of the Anointed.
• 
  16

  Perfection

  by Deputy Dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  perfection

  after a discussion with a couple of current jws, it's come to my attention that my conception of perfection in "the kingdom" is very different from theirs.

  on pages 188 & 189 of the knowledge book, we see the society's (or artist's) conception.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  He was heavily implying that Earth would become very much like the Federation, and we would meet other races that Jehovah had created on other planets.

  Me personally, I'm waiting for Captain Picard and Number One to contact me and tell me I'm done here and can beam back to the Enterprise!

  Seriously, JWs may as well be living in a fictional television show. Images of perfection and the "New System" are strange products of unbridled fantasy, akin to UFO art and Unicorns. Speaking of which, why not ask next time you're talking to them where the UFOs and Unicorns are in the illustrations, or if Dodo's and Unicorns made it on to the ark?
• 
  15

  The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever

  by undercover in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the divine name that will endure forever .

  that's the name of a brochure by the wts that tries to impress upon us why what god's name is and why we should use it.

  we all know that jehovah's witnesses use the name "jehovah" for god in all their bibles and publications.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  Thus it is evident that the original pronunciation of God's name is no longer known. Nor is it really important. If it were, then God himself would have made sure that it was preserved for us to use. The important thing is to use God's name according to its conventional pronunciation in our own language.

  That's just about the weirdest nonsequitur I've ever read in a WT publication. "It's really important to God that we attempt to mispronounce his name because use of his name is so important, even though He didn't make sure we know how to pronounce it." Say What?

  Jehovah is no longer the conventional pronunciation anyway. Will they become Yahweh's witnesses anytime soon? Hell no, it's too expensive to change the name legally and change all the letterhead!

  Somebody asked about the appearance of the Hebrew letters in Greek. The Greeks did see it when a Hebrew text was being quoted and some even thought it was pi-iota-pi-iota, not understanding the Hebrew letters, or Pipi. So God's name was Pipi, pronounced Pee-pee, as in Peepee God. Er, what is important is that we try to pronounce it wrong, right?
• 
  18

  Church Recommendations?

  by sandy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i never thought i would be looking for a new church but i am.

  does anyone have any recommendations?.

  i am looking into the unitarian church.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  By the way, Unitarian Universalists are descendents of Unitarians, but Unitarians are strictly speaking Christians who reject Trinitarian doctrine, while Unitarian Universalists (the much more common, and also often referred to as Unitarian) have members who could be Christian, Jewish, atheist, Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu, etc.
• 
  18

  Church Recommendations?

  by sandy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i never thought i would be looking for a new church but i am.

  does anyone have any recommendations?.

  i am looking into the unitarian church.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  euripides

  Sandy, I am a member of the Unitarian Universality Church. You can read the principles and beliefs at http://www.uua.org/aboutuua/principles.html. What I love abnout my church is that it is not any particular religion and has no creed, honestly, within those seven guiding principles people are free to believe and explore as they choose. I teach a Bible class at the UU church twice a month, it's mainly an academic approach but I'm trying to get more useful analysis and create a safe space in which people can explore the way they relate to Bible texts without being coerced or threatened by them. Many people who participate in the class have expressed their gratitude for the class and I think our minister is a wonderful and kind man who appreciates everyone's right to express their own views without fear of reproach. The community is what we're after mostly anyway and I'm glad to have a place to go where I can grow spiritually as a person as well as have my own ministerial outlet to help others. If church is for giving you an occasion for inner reflection (and that doesn't have to be its goal but its what I look for, among other things) then I can say I really appreciate the church I belong to. Interestingly, some people have told me they joined the church because they wanted to continue to take my class (even though it is open to the whole community, theoretically).

  If you want to know more you can message me offlist. I'd be happy to talk to you about it.