Reefton Jack

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Posts by Reefton Jack

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  16

  Rugby World Cup: England beat the Aussies again!

  by dedpoet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  rugby world cup quarter final result.

  england 12. australia 10. we are the champions!!!

  !.

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  Reefton Jack

  Being thru to the final is not quite the same thing as having got through the final.
  (Even we,too, speak English - believe it or not!)
  
  Jack.
• 
  34

  Do Jehovah's Witnesses REALLY Love Others?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  think about it---witnesses proclaim that their identifying mark is love.

  they are the "most loving organization in the world".

  they personify christ and are the only "true christians".

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  Reefton Jack

  Even when I was a JW, I never could fathom out those who reckoned that they were attracted to the "Truth" by the love that they saw displayed at the Kingdom Hall.
  At one stage, I actually thought that there must be a point that I was missing somewhere!
  
  In recent years, I have been impressed by the old friends that I had before the WT Madness took hold.
  They are still prepared to accept me now as a friend:
  - even though back then they must surely have thought that I had blown a fuse upstairs somewhere!
  
  Contrast that with the Dubs, who as policy make use of the cruel practice of shunning:
  -a practice carried out deliberately because it is cruel.
  
  Jack.
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  40

  JWs Do NOT Care About Getting Converts. They Really Don't!

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if jws really cared about making disciples they would never use outdated ways to get their "lifesaving message" across.

  knocking on doors, knowing that most people aren't at home, is simply a waste of time.

  driving around from one part of town to the other side in order to stretch your time, while doing return visits is simply a way to not reach people as quickly as possible.

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  Reefton Jack

  Good point!
  It has long been known that the most effective way of reaching people is Television:
  -even the most hide-bound politicians had to finally wake up to that one during the 1960s
  (Like, it isn't exactly a new idea!)
  Anybody who is serious about converting others to an idea (religious or otherwise) would surely be using T.V. ahead of everything else.
  
  I tend to agree with those who have suggested that the WTS culture of "door-to-door", "field circus",
  (call-it-what-you-will...); Monthly Report ect. is more about control of the R&F than it is about making the maximum number of converts in the minimum amount of time.
  (It also has b--ger all to do with love, as you have noted on a previous thread).
  
  Jack.
• 
  16

  Rugby World Cup: England beat the Aussies again!

  by dedpoet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  rugby world cup quarter final result.

  england 12. australia 10. we are the champions!!!

  !.

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  Reefton Jack

  We are the champions!!!!
  -You have got to get through the final, yet, before you can lay claim to that one!
  (Particularly if it is against South Africa).
  
  Jack.
• 
  3

  Are Witness policies {disfellowshiping} the same as Communist policies??

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if you compare the watchtower org.

  and communist ideals how different were they?.

  communist = stalin {knorr} made the laws and decidied who wen't into exile, and who lived or died.

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  Reefton Jack

  Having just finished reading Robert Payne's "The Rise and Fall of Stalin"; there are many disturbing similarities.
  
  Apart from those already mentioned on this thread, other similarities include mandatory attendance at boring, mind-numbing Political Meetings that drone on far into the night.
  Amongst the Communist Party Faithful, it was also compulsory for children to attend those same meetings:
  - where much was absorbed, but little opportunity given to evaluate.
  
  Still, what can you expect from two systems which had very little to do with reality:
  - One based on a Theory of Economics that proved to be flawed in practice.
  - The other based on the screw-brained ideas of a Book Publishing Company?
  
  
  
  
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  10

  What were the witnesses beliefs in 1973?

  by Paralipomenon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well the time has come.

  i no longer have any motivation to keep up with a fade.

  my wife is out, my kids were never really in and we're moving on.

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  Reefton Jack

  1)You could still talk to disfellowshipped people, but be wary of those that were active apostates.
  - Actually, no; things were modified the following year (1974) only to be reversed in 1981.
  In '73, you definitely could NOT talk to a disfellowshipped person.
  
  2) Pioneers needed to get 90 hours a month, Aux. Pioneers needed 70.
  - In 1973, Regular Pioneers were required to achieve 100 hours per month.
  I know, as I started "Regular Pioneering" in September of that year.
  
  
  Otherwise, paralipomenon, your summary sounds right!
  (It brings back a few memories, also - but not many of them very good ones).
  
  
  Jack.
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  61

  How to stump someone that believes the noah's flood happened.

  by 5go in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the key peices of evidence that people sight to try to prove the flood happen is the fact the most cultures have a flood myth or story as they put it.. i was just watching a program that also points out the most, if not all cultures believe in dragons.

  even cultures that evolve in isolation have beliefs in dragons and they are all simular though not the same.

  just like the flood myth.. so if they believe the flood happened because so many cultures have flood stories.

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  Reefton Jack

  The origin of both legends - the Global Flood, and Dragons - makes for an interesting
  discussion!
  However, the legends about dragons are not quite in the league of being a "Stumper" for disproving that there was a flood of some sort.
  - There is probably a grain of truth in both ideas.
  
  A person could argue that legends about dragons have their origins in the dinosaurs or other reptiles
  - in a similar manner as the legend of the Unicorn had its origins in the Narwhal.
  (The legend of St George slaying a dragon apparently came from a Roman Soldier
  - presumably named George! - killing a crocodile at some place in the Middle East).
  
  Similarly, the prevalence of legends about a flood could indicate that, early in the history of the human race, there was a catastrophe involving water.
  (Though whether it was literally as the bible says, and flooded the entire surface of the planet, is another matter!)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  PS: wherehasmyhairgone (a question I often ask myself!)
  - JCanon's mention of tropical forests under the Antarctic ice is probably referring to the fact that coal has been found in Antarctica.
  Coal, of course, is derived from ancient tropical vegetation - indicating that at some time in the past, Antarctica's climate was vastly different from the present day.
  (I am not suggesting that this is proof of a global flood, of course).
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  73

  What "Unwritten Rules" Did Your Congregation Have?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i knew of a hall that allowed only white shirted speakers on the platform for sunday public talks!

  when a visiting speaker did not wear the official white shirt he was either told that he couldn't give the talk or he could change shirts,as the hall kept a variety of sizes, just in case of an emergency!!!

  i don't make this up.

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  Reefton Jack

  As far as two-door cars go, I had never heard of any big thing being made about that, until I started reading this Discussion Board.
  Also, early on,the congregation did have a bit of a thing about coloured shirts:
  - until the Circuit Servant (as he was then known as) turned up wearing one.
  Hey Presto - End of the Matter!
  
  The wearing of suit coats, though, was something else again.
  It did not matter how high the temperatures were, while out in service, the elders insisted that you had to keep your jacket on.
  All that achieved was to give members of the public even more reason to believe that JWs were all nutcases!
  
  
  Jack.
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  46

  How Being a Witness made you Lose out on Higher Education and Careers

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi, folks.

  been thinking of this, because of having been raised in the witnesses.

  i reflect back on opportunities i would have encountered and seized, had it not been for being controlled by the witness organization being told higher education was not needed.

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  Reefton Jack

  I,too, really love the WTS over this one!
  When I was 16, they had sufficient pull with my parents to not only stop me from going to university - but also to stop me from completing the final year of high school as well.
  
  Then, a year later they got me to abandon my apprenticeship as a Telecommunications Technician. After all, the Big A (read 1975) was just a year or two away over the horizon!
  
  Later on, I did complete what would now be called a "Mature Age Apprenticeship" as an Electrical Fitter.
  Oh boy - did some in the congregation have the daggers out for me because I did that!
  By then, though, I had learned enough about what was really what to take no notice of that sort of criticism.
  
  
  These days, I manage a power station in a malarial jungle clearing, somewhere on the other side of the proverbial "Black Stump" (actually, on the other side of the
  Torres Strait).
  
  Anywhere else, you would have to have at least an Associate Diploma of Engineering to even be considered for a job like this.
  For somebody who is just a busted a*&s# electrician, you have to be prepared to go and work in the sump-hole of the world, if you are aspiring to a management-type
  position.
  
  At least this way, I can look forward to some sort of retirement in a few years time:
  - whereas beforehand, I could look forward only to having to keep working until I fell dead at my work bench!
  
  Oh yes - it is truly "Choosing the Best Way of Life", as they entitled one of their books in the 1970s.
  
  
  Jack.
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  22

  If ur child died,would u visit the grave and always "talk" to them?

  by fedorE in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  although i still have doubts there is life after death, i believe i would be hanging on to every last vestige of my son that i could and that means talking to him.

  talking into the air and crying.

  realizing this is his final resting place.

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  Reefton Jack

  I don't know about talk to them.
  
  After my son died in an accident nine years ago, his body was cremated and the ashes scattered over a wide area - so it is not possible to even visit the location.
  
  My father died a year or so later, and while his body was also cremated, the ashes were scattered in
  one location.
  I often visit the site where my father's ashes are scattered - but I don't quite go to the extent of
  talking to him!
  
  
  That's just me, but I can certainly understand those that would carry out a conversation with / at the grave of a family member.