Black Man

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Posts by Black Man

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  5

  Leora Brown, DO..where is he today??

  by chipster in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he was formerly a do, dynamic speaker, scriptural analyist, scholar, heavy hitter, direct connection to the gb... very powerful.....then he , ahem....left...where is he today, anybody have any idea??

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  Black Man

  No...he was VERY married.
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  41

  back to basics

  by cnn77 in

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  2. friends

  as soeone raised in the truth my whole life i am struggling with a basic doctrinal issue.

  the issue has to do with universal sovreignty and the ransom sacrifice.

  let me try to illustrate by way of analogy:.

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  Black Man

  Good post! I've felt the same way at times. The whole issue of universal sovreignty has always made me feel like I'm just a pawn in a universal game of chess. We always talk about God's love in sending his son to die for us, but was it really loving to let it get to that point in the first place? If you're gonna create man with free will should the action of one affect the lives of millions? God has the right as a creator to test his subjects, but why the obsession with testing?

  And what of Satan? There evidently had to be some kind of indication that he had a dissenting attitude well before the Garden of Eden. The whole choosing not to use foreknowledge out of respect for free-will theory never completely flew for me. If Jehovah respected free-will to that extent why will he not respect your free-willed opinion at Armageddon (if you choose not to involve yourself in the universal sovreignty issue as taught by JW's)? Why empower this dissenter (Satan) by leaving loop-holes opem that could affect the future course of humanity adversely. I've just concluded that there are just some things we will probably never know. Borderline agnosticism at it's best, huh.........
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  5

  Leora Brown, DO..where is he today??

  by chipster in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he was formerly a do, dynamic speaker, scriptural analyist, scholar, heavy hitter, direct connection to the gb... very powerful.....then he , ahem....left...where is he today, anybody have any idea??

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  Black Man

  A visiting CO recently told me that Brown had finally gotten back in the ORG after being disfellowshipped only to be disfellowshipped again just recently (this year). I would think that that info is somewhat reliable.

  I had pleasant memories of Leora. He was fairly young when he served in my district here in the 80's and he was hip. The first traveling brother that I ever played a game of basketball with. Great speaker. Common sense thinker. The story is that he just had a problem keeping away from the WOMEN. I heard he is into real estate down in Georgia now.
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  18

  Climbing the Corporate Ladder - Why They Do It

  by Black Man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  that the wts is nothing more than a business is painfully obvious in the way many brothers seek 'positions'.

  i was always highly doubtful of the 'appointed by holy spirit' bs that we were always fed.

  appointments often came down to who kissed up the most to the decision-makers.

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  Black Man

  That the WTS is nothing more than a business is painfully obvious in the way many brothers seek 'positions'. I was always HIGHLY doubtful of the 'appointed by holy spirit' BS that we were always fed. Appointments often came down to who kissed up the most to the decision-makers. There were very few times that you could genuinely see that a brother was really concerned about the flock over his position. That applies to the local congregations AND Bethel. If I ever get some time I could relate story after story of the downright cut-throat politicking that would go on. In fact, I've had many CO's express the fact that they could've been in the District work if they had've kissed up to the right people.

  I think what accounts for this (especially at Bethel) is that many of these men forsook college education and life in the business world. They take their ambitions and put them in a 'theocratic context'. This is why many stay in the org even after they know that it's rotten. Having a POSITION gives them a sense of self, validates their existence. You get some good ones who try to 'reach out' for the right reasons (out of love for the flock) but they're usually burned by the corporate sharks. Life in the WTS corporate world.............discuss...........
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  9

  2/3 of the Auditorium didn't open the Watchtower.

  by paradix in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi everybody.. sometime i had read(many years ago) in kingdom ministry an article that said thatas much as two third of the auditorium didn't uses to studie the watchtower when gone to the watchtower study meeting.. do anyone remember this mention?

  perhaps someone realizing something is wrong in the spiritual paradise?.

  if not, what reveals this?i believed some guys were very angry in.

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  Black Man

  Maybe if they'd have articles that were actually INTERESTING. You get the same recyled rhetoric each and every year. A couple articles on marriage, prophecy and how great and holy god is. I say give me something more specific, practical and relevant.
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  93

  Position on College Changed?

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  several have made outright statements and others have suggested that the society's negative position on higher education has changed.

  'the society does not discourage higher education where i live.

  ' worse, 'apostates have made it all up--the society has never discouraged education.

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  Black Man

  up...........
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  8

  Jungle Fever in the BORG

  by Black Man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  post title - jungle fever in the borg or inter-racial relationship dynamics in the borg.. back in the the day inter-racial relationships were frowned on, especially if you wanted to advance spiritually (climb the corporate ladder).

  i remember at bethel a few of the brothers in service department used to always tell brothers that it would be beneficial to marry in their own race if they wanted to be used in the circuit work.

  the premise was that the society is not biased but rather the world is and to avoid conflict, they only prefer to use couples of the same race.

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  Black Man

  Post Title - Jungle Fever in the BORG or Inter-racial Relationship Dynamics in the BORG.

  Back in the the day inter-racial relationships were frowned on, especially if you wanted to advance spiritually (climb the corporate ladder). I remember at Bethel a few of the Brothers in Service Department used to always tell brothers that it would be beneficial to marry in their own race if they wanted to be used in the Circuit work. The premise was that the Society is not biased but rather the WORLD is and to avoid conflict, they only prefer to use couples of the same race. I later knew of an inter-racial couple in the circuit work but their ascension into the work was always attributed to the fact that they were good politicians and campaigned their way into it.

  Now, if you just wanted to make Bethel a lifelong career many encouraged one to look for something outside of their race. A hot commodity for many brothers were the spanish sisters or either sisters from various island locales. Many of them were FINE and were just looking for an opportunity to get into the House of God. They really didn't care who they dated as long as they got in the house. Many of your corporate up-and-comers (who were absolutely SHELTERED NERDLINGS of all colors) saw the opportunity, dated and married many of these sisters. Thus what was born was the revolutionary NERD MOVEMENT. It was a badge of honor for various Bethel dorks and nerds to find some sister of a different race and have them as a trophy girl. The sisters were caught up in the power-trip of it all. There was this sister at my hall who married a up and coming Bethel nerd and they were so estatic. You would of thought that she married a multi-millionaire basketball player or something the way her family and the congreation fawned over this nerdy-ass bethelite. Other Bethelites would straight-up covet the trophy girl (another thread for another time), old-timers would say that it was a simply a sign of a blessing from Jehovah, while new-boy Bethelites would be WHAT DA' FUCK?

  Imagine Halle Berry with Pee Wee Herman or Pamela Anderson with Urkel. That's the type of disparity (outer appearance at least) that you would have. Many of these sisters had a hard time especially in their first year or two. I worked with a few sisters in the Homes (Maintenance & Home Housekeeping) while the Pressroom was shut down one summer and I think I doubled as a shrink. The ones who had married for the power trip were soon dissatisfied over everything ranging from their husband's performance in bed to not wanting to dance or be a social butterfly. They would tell me how they wish they could get pregnant so that they could just leave. Others just kind of relegated themselves to serving out their days enjoying the advancements of their husbands up the corporate ladder and taking whatever spotlight that they could get from that.
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  51

  When did you think Armageddon would come?

  by comment in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was just thinking about this.

  having been raised "in the truth" post-1975, i didn't grow up with any specific year in mind.

  yes, there was the notion of "this generation will by no means pass away," but by the time i was old enough to think about that concept, the people who were born in 1914 (to stretch it out as far as possible, as the society ultimately did) were still only in their 60's.

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  Black Man

  Oh, in 1986 the propoganda machine was in full-swing. There were articles on the fact that it was designated the year of peace. You had brothers creating anticipation in their public talks by putting their spin on the cry of peace and security. Wasn't nothing like '75, but there was still a great deal of speculation.
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  51

  When did you think Armageddon would come?

  by comment in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was just thinking about this.

  having been raised "in the truth" post-1975, i didn't grow up with any specific year in mind.

  yes, there was the notion of "this generation will by no means pass away," but by the time i was old enough to think about that concept, the people who were born in 1914 (to stretch it out as far as possible, as the society ultimately did) were still only in their 60's.

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  Black Man

  When I look back on it, the whole concept of everyone having an opportunity to receive the kingdom message was UNREALISTIC. To reach EVERYONE on this earth, teach them the message AND give them the opportunity to make a decision on what side they'll be on. That's not even factoring in under-developed lands and nations. You couldn't even do that with the mass technology that we have much less a grass-roots door-knocking campaign.
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  71

  Bethel Getting Paranoid, Tightening Screws

  by AlanF in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have it from solid sources that brooklyn and patterson are now recording all incoming telephone calls.. a word to the wise if you have friends there you talk to.. alanf

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  Black Man

  lol, you're on-point met.

  Bethel has had this cloak-and-dagger stuff goin' on for quite some time. There could probably be another thread started on this altogether. I remember there was this video store on Montague street that many Bethelites would rent movies from. Since R-Rated movies were taboo at the house, Bethel would arrange things where they would get a print-out of the rental list from the video-store and find out who was renting what. For newboys especially it was interesting seeing your movie rental rercord somehow end up on your one-year evaluation and that being one of the deciding factors in determining whether or not you stayed.