Posts by ithinkisee

32

My wife is onto something ... and it isn't me (hint: 586/87)

by ithinkisee in

jw
friends

i gave my wife a list of the chronology of kings and laid it out like alleymom's kiss method - only i didn't actually mark the year 586 ... i wanted her to at least count out the years.. my wife is away teaching a class right now.

so it is just me and the kids at home.

anyways, i came home today and she had been doing a lot of research.

ithinkisee

Thanks for the varying degrees of experiences on this everyone:

Tetrapod: I don't think the Insight books even MENTION 586/87. They COMPLETELY ignore it. (Unless someone knows a place where it is mentioned. She has one volume opened up to Chronology and another one opened up to Zedekiah (subheading Fall of Jerusalem))

AK-JEFF: I gave her the KISS method by Alleymom that explains the regnal lengths of kings according to the Society's listings of the Babylonian kings about two months ago. This is the first time I have actually seen it out on the desk - as if she has been looking at it. I have kept my notes on 586 laying around lately. And I have been reading the bible alot more lately (Go figure ...). She does like to do deep research ... unfortunately all her research up til now has been reading the Botchtower and Asleep mags. Naturally, our busy JW schedules have kept her from REALLY doing research. She knows I have been hitting the research thing pretty hard lately - yet my JW stuff has been non-existant ... I imagine she either thinks (a) I'm turning apostate and she's nervous, or (b) I am just verifying and validating my JW faith, and she's giving me space.

Runningman: Thanks for the big-time encouragement. I hope that is the case.

Mulan: Awesome! I love it! I need to hear things like that more often. Where were you when I needed you a week ago! (j/k ... don't worry about it)

Kwin: I am mostly staying away from that for now ... if we get deep into the 70 years I may use Zechariah at least ... but in general save that for a while separate discussion

My original thread about breaking the news to my wife (which I still haven't done ... though I have been leaving clues around):
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/94888/1.ashx

Thanks again everyone. I'll keep you posted. We are over to North Carolina for vacation first thing in the morning, so I may only have sporadic internet access.

(I'll be on most of the night tonight though!)

-ithinkisee

32

My wife is onto something ... and it isn't me (hint: 586/87)

by ithinkisee in

jw
friends

i gave my wife a list of the chronology of kings and laid it out like alleymom's kiss method - only i didn't actually mark the year 586 ... i wanted her to at least count out the years.. my wife is away teaching a class right now.

so it is just me and the kids at home.

anyways, i came home today and she had been doing a lot of research.

ithinkisee

KLS,

The important thing to me is that she is running the numbers through her head and 586 keeps popping up. I have not shown her the dozens of archeolgy and historical books and bible dictionaries yet, that ALL point to 586/87. I haven't shown her the stuff in Zechariah yet either.

I am having a hard time breaking the ice with her ... I just feel this will be a good way to get into the 607/586 thing.

I mean .... geez .... she is marking it all down correctly... thats gotta count for SOMETHING!

Thanks!

-ithinkisee

37

Do you think the Watchtower makes up experiences by people ???

by run dont walk in

jw
friends

in the may 1, 1988 watchtower, on page 22, a witness, matsue ishii, recalls her first encounter with the bible students in 1928: at the back of our house in tojo-cho, osaka, there was a house with a sign: "osaka branch of the international bible students association.

" assuming it to be a christian group, i visited the house.

"do you believe in the second advent of the lord?

ithinkisee

The experiences that bother me the most are the real-life ones at the conventions.

In my case though, when I think about the people that are up there giving the experience about "No regrets" or "How they wouldn't change anything." it is usually because they are trying to convince themselves too.

I don't have proof of it ... but I know some of those people personally that have given those experiences and many are emotionally unstable. Not all ... but many.

-ithinkisee

32

My wife is onto something ... and it isn't me (hint: 586/87)

by ithinkisee in

jw
friends

i gave my wife a list of the chronology of kings and laid it out like alleymom's kiss method - only i didn't actually mark the year 586 ... i wanted her to at least count out the years.. my wife is away teaching a class right now.

so it is just me and the kids at home.

anyways, i came home today and she had been doing a lot of research.

ithinkisee

I gave my wife a list of the chronology of kings and laid it out like AlleyMom's KISS method - only I didn't actually MARK the year 586 ... I wanted her to AT LEAST count out the years.

My wife is away teaching a class right now. So it is just me and the kids at home.

Anyways, I came home today and she had been doing a lot of research. She had a Josephus book out, and the two Onslaught volumes (Insight). All sitting out on her desk.

To my surprise, she started making notes on the chart I gave her! I scanned in the sheet I made her.

Check out what she wrote! (I translated her printing at the bottom)

Next to the year 605BCE she wrote: "Daniel taken captive"

Next to 597 BCE she wrote:"Jehoiakin on throne 3 months. Zedekiah 'puppet king' left ruling - 11 yrs later Babylon returned in full force (586 BCE)"

Next to 589BCE she wrote:"Babylon sacks Lachesh & Azekah. They turn to Jerusalem. Seige begins."

Whoa! I am sitting here reeling. I am trying to figure out how she came up with the accepted secular (non-JW) chronology using the Insight books and The Complete Works of Josephus. I mean - Josephus is WILDLY INCONSISTENT on ALOT of his dates. How could she have gotten those dates from Josephus?

If I am not mistaken she is on the right path to figuring it out? Am I missing something? Am I being overly optimistic?

Can someone please point something out in case I am missing something?

This seems to be good news! Any thoughts?

Thanks!

-ithinkisee

33

The GB as JW celebrities

by Rubyvixen in

i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

ithinkisee

i think the org went to several computer firms to see if they could do it but were told it wasnt cost effective because jws were the only ones who printed in so many languages

Cost is not a factor when you have people donating money and not requiring any audit of where the money is actually spent.

-ithinkisee

33

The GB as JW celebrities

by Rubyvixen in

i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

ithinkisee

One example of GB-worship ...

When I first got to Bethel, Fred Franz, Gangas, and others were in my hall.

By this time Franz was pretty much a goner, but he would come down from time to time with his "nurse" in a wheelchair and visit the congregation. (our Kingdom Hall was actually in a Bethel building, and the Infirmary was above the KH)

The first time he came down he was in the foyer in the back and was immediately crowded in on from all sides. Everyone was saying hi and asking questions and getting pictures, etc.

I was actually disturbed by this, and the parallel of people crowding around Jesus came to mind. I still vividly remember this ... though it was over 10 years ago.

Another example:

A few months ago we had our SAD day and Bro Lett was the speaker. (What a TOOL ... but I digress.) One of the things he said at the start of the first talk he gave was:

"My wife is sitting over there, and that is where I will be at the close of the session. So if you would like to come over and say hi and pose for pictures, we encourage you to do so."

Ugh ... WTF ... is he Mick Jaggar or something?

-ithinkisee

33

The GB as JW celebrities

by Rubyvixen in

i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

ithinkisee

Not sure if you wanted to - but saying your uncle has "quite a voice" sort of gives you away.

I was a Bethelite and was actually in a congregation where several GB members went to. (Your uncle was not in my hall)

You live in Queens so you know how much a 2-3 room apartment goes for - and especially there in Brooklyn Heights.

Yes, I believe they are completely celebrities. They are revered as gods when they go out for visits to District Assemblies and so forth. They are treated the same way at Bethel.

The B.S. about the facilities tours always struck me as similar to the way the Jews were REALLY PROUD of their temple and looked at their temple as proof that God was with them - even at times they did not have God's approval.

I actually worked in the Office Complex at Bethel and even had a few conversations with your uncle. Out of all the GB members he was one of the more down-to-earth ones - at least from a Bethelite perspective.

If you haven't already, you should read Crisis of Conscience by Ray Franz. He was a GB member and he dedicates a few pages to the "celebrity-treatment" he received as a GB member. He mentions that it bothered him but many other GB members revelled in it.

-ithinkisee

3

Book Study Wk 4 7/25: pg36-40 Tested But True to Jehovah!

by ithinkisee in

sorry so late people.

getting ready for a road trip and i had my two-post-limit yesterday and was unable to post sooner.. pretty straightforward study this week.

next week they address some "false prophet" issues - very subtley though.. -ithinkisee.

ithinkisee

So a ; college education is good right?

Same with "Alternative Military Service"

-ithinkisee

105

Somethings just not true!

by defd in

jw
friends

ive been here for sometime now.

long enough to know that some peoples hatred toward th wtbts and some of its members are based on wrong information.

for instance: ive read on hear many times that the wt promotes the idea that everyone whos not a witness are not friend material or will be destroyed at armageddon.

ithinkisee

"Quote on Quote" LOLOLOL

Is that like Girl-on-Girl?

-ithinkisee

105

Somethings just not true!

by defd in

jw
friends

ive been here for sometime now.

long enough to know that some peoples hatred toward th wtbts and some of its members are based on wrong information.

for instance: ive read on hear many times that the wt promotes the idea that everyone whos not a witness are not friend material or will be destroyed at armageddon.

ithinkisee

I always thought that field sevice was very ineffective, I mean armageddon could come tommorrow and we were just limping around the territory, waiting for the hand on the watch to move, damm it LOL

Well, unless GB member Guy Pearce was talking out of turn this weekend over dinner, the new light from the GB will apparently be that NOT everyone will be able to hear the kingdumb message.

And if they don't .... they die ... there is none of that "reading hearts" bullshi'ite.

I'll post more on this when I have time and some FREE NEW TOPIC tickets ... mine are all used up right now.

-ithinkisee