Posts by Forscher

42

Would Your "Spirit-Directed Conscience"Have Made You Walk Out Of A Movie?

by Englishman in

jw
friends

this was a fairly frequent occurence amongst the brothers and sisters in my young dubby days.

i was heaved out of the cinema on more than one occasion, generally by my mother who reckoned some things were just too much for my innocent young eyes and ears.

i only half saw:.

Forscher

Okay. I did walk out on Kentucky fried movie (the sexual themes in a place or twogot just a little much.

Now for a related story you might find amusing. My minsterial servant sun has been pretty much treating me like I was disfellowshipped since he married. Whenever his grandfather (who is an elder and never approved of my marraige to his divorced daughter) visits in our area, he always insists that sit in the living room and not bother anybody (I am now banned completely from his house and this is among the reasons :-)). Well, on the next to the last visit, I was shoved off to myself and it was suggested that I watch a movie. The movies it was suggested I might want to watch was either Planet of the Apes (the new one) or the Mummie Returns. Well I pluged in The Mummie Returns, sat back, and waited for the fun to begin. Not about half waty through, went the really gross stuff got going, My father-in-law, the Elder got back form some errand he'd run. He saw what I was watching ahnd asked what I thought I was doing watching something as sick as that, after all I am supposed to a Christian yahduh, yahduh. When he finnally let me speak, I innocently said "But ****** (my MS son) suggested that I watch this movie." After getting red in the face, my father-in-law went looking for my son to ream HIM out for even having such a movie in his house (the only time I ever saw the man do that. He has tolerated my son's very inhospitable treatment of me during their visits on the grounds that he can do what he wants in his own home.Apparently that tolerant attitude doesn't apply to anything as important as what my son chooses to watch in his own home. ;-).).

Anyway, on the next visit, my son engineered the confrontation between us that he used as a justification to ban me from his home. It amazes, me when I look back on things, just how superficial those folks' worship really is. It is all about form above substance, the outside of the cup, rather than what is inside. In other words just following the rules, as if works will get one salvation instead of changing what one really is inside. How sad and vain it really is. Sigh......

13

As A JW, Were You Ever Spat On, Stuff Thrown At You, Etc.?

by Yizuman in

jw
friends

any bad situations you run into while door to door?

dogs being sic'ed on you?

people say some really vulgar things to you?

Forscher

Twice I stared down the barrel of a shotgun. One of those times the man discharged the gun in the air as we walked away. On aonther occasion I was attacked with a knife by a drunken neighbor who didn't like my beliefs. On that occasion I thanked Jehovah that I'd had the foresite to study a martial art before I became involved with the organization. I was able to disarm the man.

Another man threatened to turn his water hose on me. I've been cursed at. Bit by dogs. The last one was an old german sheppard. In thirty years one can rack up a nice little collection of such things.

;-)

26

Not love, not lust, but something in-between

by logansrun in

on christmas eve i got the chance to get together with an old friend, also an ex-witness, who was visiting from new york.

his life has been something of a hedonic treadmill and only recently has gotten off of it to find, as i like to call him, the sensitive new age jesus.

well, anyway, we got on the subject of sex and relationships.

Forscher

I thought that I'd mention for those who are may not know it that the whole romantic love thingy that we worship is nothing more than an elevation of infatuation by medieval bards. It was something they did to get appeal to more clients.

Before that romanticization, people married for family gain, and had sex to satisfy their sexual needs. The importance of giving one's virginity in marraige only really applied to women and only to insure that the women's family was not peddling damaged goods. Even then, it was alright for a woman who was not a virgin to marry if the groom's family knew what they were getting and the bride price reflected it. Love came to those who cultivated it after the marraige, and still does.

In many other cultures, virginity is not nescessary or even desired. Among some poleneasian groups, a young women goes to a village deflowerer, a man trained to give a girl her first sexual experience when she reaches a certain age or developement. They think that it is important NOT to leave this first experience in the hands of a fumbling groom on a wedding night. Another culture in the region ENCOURAGES young ladies to lose their virginity and experiment with most of the unmarried males in their villages while they are still quite young. And amazingly enough, pregancies among these girls are very rare prior to marraige. Experts theorize that it may be due to something in the diet at that age that prevents it (my bet is on a lack of something in the young males' diet since they are segregated from the rest of the community and eat differently, and a lack of certain vitamins in a MAN's diet can cause a low enough sperm coutn to make one effectively sterile.). And I could go on and on.

My point being that I agree that we place too much emphasis virginity at marraige. My first experience came when I got married to a divorcee who was also a mother several times over. IMHO there is much to be said for a first experience with one who knows what they are doing. Of course a beliver would still want to follow the Biblical standard for their position (whether they be virgin, or divorcee, or non-virgin convert) simply because they belive that is the right thing to do. As I said earlier, real love comes later if it is cultivated by both parties.

26

C'mon were going to be late!!

by Released in

......for field service........ .

ahhhhh......the memories.

nothing like facing regecton early on a satirday morn

Forscher

I was a convert. So field service wasn't all that bad. I actually enjoyed the challenge of leaving householders with a decent opinion of Jw's when I took my leave. So I was always careful not to overdo it when I could see that they weren't interested. That attitude actually helped me out on one occasion when I was pulled over in a bad neighborhood by the police who were lokking for an excuse to arrest me for bieng there. The residents of the neighbgorhood came to my defense and talked the police into letting me go my way without any hassle. I'll garauntee you not many other Jw's in my town would've had that happen!

I know what you mean about the uncouth types who tried to really shove things down everybody's throat. One time I ended up paired with this newbie elder who'd been fast-tracked to his position because he came from a prominent family in our little town. He sent me to a door while he went to the car to give the others some "directions." I caught a preacher's wife at the door and it became pretty obvious that the conversation was going nowhere (she was trying to steer it into a debate on the trinity) so I gracefully bowed-out. Just as I was taking my leave, this full-of-hisself-new-elder marched up to that door and proceeded to get himself into that trinity debate that I'd just avoided. He handled it so badly that the next group of Jw's that showed up at that door got a request that the Jw's not ever knock on her door again. She told them about that elder and his attitude and told them that if THAT was what they thought was a good christian, forget it, she wasn't interested! With attitudes like that, it is no wonder that the "organization" is having a rough time growing!

26

Ding Dong The Dubs Are Here

by Why Georgia in

jw
friends

.

i did.. they are going house to house door to door in my neighborhood.. i heard the sounds of a bunch of car doors slamming and looked out my window and saw 4 cars full of jw's with bookbags and smiles.. all parked in front of my house in the no parking area.. because jehovah would never allow his people to get a ticket for parking in the no parking snow ban area whilst spreading " the good news".

hmm, i can't think what to say to them.. should i pretend to be ignorant of what they teach and be nice or just let them have it.. i have that luxury because we have moved 20 miles away from our old kingdom hall.. any ideas?.

Forscher

Funny, I didn't see anyone suggest the obbvious. Call the police and report that four cars were parked in a "no parking" zone.

2

Russell's Armageddon - Part 2

by Justin in

now let's take a look at ways in which russell's views changed over the years.

initially, he did not use the term "armagddon" very much.

traditionally, armageddon was a battle that would be fought locally in the middle east and would be only one feature of the end.

Forscher

Interesting analysis. I do think that another factor may also have been involved in the "great crowd" doctrine based on some stuff I remember from some research years ago. It appears that after they took the name "Jehovah's Witnessess" in 1931 and split formally from the Bible Student movement that new converts stopped recieving the "heavenly calling." Now that presented a problem since it could be inferred that God had withdrawn his favor from the JW's. Rutherford couldn't have that! Not after all the hard work he'd put into turning the Bible Students who'd followed him into a personal cult! So, voila! God hadn't withdrawn his favor at all. He'd closed the heavenly calling. And the rest is, as they say, history!

128

My daughter has a brain tumor :(

by outnfree in

i am so terrified!.

#2 daughter came home from college on 12/18 with a violent headache, nausea, neck pain and great fatigue.

we took her to the dr. on the 20 and again on the 21st as she had kept nothing down for 3 days.

Forscher

Sorry to hear about the tumor. It sounds like you folks are jumping right on it, so you'll probably get through things fine. Just hang in there!!

16

Non internet infor on UN scandal..please!

by Gill in

jw
friends

i am a fortunate 'apostate'.

my parents are still speaking to me, regularly, and we also have been discussing jw doctrine.

however, they do not believe anything i tell them about the un scandal and that the wtbts was a member of the un for ten years before being removed by the un.

Forscher

Why not write the U.N. information office and get their form letter response? I doubt that they would trust it even though it came straight from the horse's mouth. But at least you would have the documentation.

18