Posts by hartstrings

37

LAST NIGHT'S MEMORIAL.........

by Mary in

jw
friends

i tried logging on here last night after i got home, but i kept getting a message saying that there was an error and i couldn't get on.

anyhoo, i walked in the hall last night with my parents, who also roped my inactive brother into going.

lol!

hartstrings

I went. We got there during the initial song and left within a minute after the closing prayer. In the car my JW husband asked me what was wrong. I said I was angry. During the prayer it occurred to me how much they stressed how hard it was on God to give his Son and all I kept thinking about was all the millions of parents through the existence of mankind who have had to watch their children die from unnatural cases, often very torturously. Here we are "celebrating" how great it was that this man was a martyr and it occurred to me that it doesn't mean anything to me.

1. If God is perfect in love and justice how could he allow so much suffering and yet require people to laud his one sacrafice? Why is his pain so much more important and worthy of acknowledgement than they millions of others who have watched the children's lives be taken? Yes, it must have been very painful, but aren't we all God's children? Did he "cry" when he instructed the Isrealites to kill whole tribes - including innocent women and children? Wasn't each one of them deserving of acknowledgement?

2. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it boils down to why the org and organized religion for that matter angers me. It puts others lives as more valuable - the priest or elder is more deserving of consideration than the woman or poor parishioner. I know this is the way it is in real life, but to me religion is sacred and should be on a higher level of humanity.

I'm sorry for the babbling, I just really needed to get this off my chest.

HS

26

Hotel Discounts, at conventions. Oh how we fooled ourselves!

by free2beme in

jw
friends

i honestly thought, when i was a witness, that there was a special discount at hotels when i went to them at conventions.

not just a simple special that can be given to anyone, but rather an extra special discount that was negotiated with the watchtower society.

well that is not the case, i used to work in the hotel industry for a short while and we did conventions for everyone from religious organizations to clubs.

hartstrings

Seawolf, We did the same thing. I traveled alot for work and always used my Marriott Rewards card. I would have enough each year for staying in the their concierge level the whole weekend. It always ticked other witnesses off when we would mention where we were staying. The way we reasoned, we weren't taking anything away because it was free and i HATED THE PROCESS OF CALLING WITH 50 MILLION OTHER WITNESSES THE FIRST WEEK IN JANUARY AT 9:30 P.M. ON TUESDAY EVENING. If we waited to reserve until the next day we'd get stuck in a crappy motel far away.

HS

3

Anyone ever read "Young Goodman Brown?"

by hartstrings in

jw
friends

in my college english comp class i just wrote up a short reaction to the story "young goodman brown".

it amazed me because i could completely relate to what he faced in the story.

it really applies to any jw who has the courage to face the reality of what the religion values.

hartstrings

bttt....I hear crickets

3

Anyone ever read "Young Goodman Brown?"

by hartstrings in

jw
friends

in my college english comp class i just wrote up a short reaction to the story "young goodman brown".

it amazed me because i could completely relate to what he faced in the story.

it really applies to any jw who has the courage to face the reality of what the religion values.

hartstrings

In my college English Comp class I just wrote up a short reaction to the story "Young Goodman Brown". It amazed me because I could completely relate to what he faced in the story. It really applies to any JW who has the courage to face the reality of what the religion values. Here is an excerpt from my reaction:

"Goodman Brown symbolizes the pivotal point in a person’s life; a point I can relate to. Brown is forced to take his head out of the sand and take a realistic look at what his religion represented. His Puritanical upbringing and all its baggage had intertwined itself into his being. He, for whatever reason (maybe marriage), had come to the point in his life that he was no longer able to put off the nagging feeling in his psyche. I know that feeling; it emerged in me after the birth of my two daughters. It feels like it originates in the deepest part of your gut. It brings a lump to your throat. It is the feeling of inevitability. Brown takes a mental journey that allows him to accept what his mind his shoved deep within him. He comes face-to-face with the implications of being a Puritan. What he sees is not pretty. The innocence that he clung to for so long is swept away as he is forced to remove the facades of his Puritan faith. He is left feeling empty, bitter, and betrayed. This is where my path differs from Brown’s. Brown, because of his newfound knowledge, becomes “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not desperate man”. Now I certainly do understand why he became this way. This was the only choice in life. You could not come to the point of realization and decide, “oh, I think I will become an atheist now” if you wanted to stay alive during that time period. So who is to say that, living in our modern time, Brown would not have stepped away from the lies and deception and carved a new path for himself? This path might have afforded him a new lease on life free from the burden of his knowledge - sweet release from the shackles of hypocrisy."

HS

42

The Toxic Danger of Fabric Softener and Dryer Sheets...Who Knew???

by SWALKER in

read why now!

(prweb) february 21, 2005 -- many people will remember a famous tv ad where a woman races to her washing machine, fabric softener in hand, only to arrive just as the wash ends.

this woman who "forgot to ad the fabric softener" was actually doing herself and her family a favor.. .

hartstrings

I'm sorry, I don't mean to burst anyone's bubble here but have you taken a look at the source of this information? The web is a very big place with a lot of scare tactics. The key is to determine if the source is unbiased and can verify their claims with peer-reviewed scientific studies. Among the site's goals is to sell you alternatives to fabric softener. And show me were any of this is backed up with legitimate research.

http://shop.sixwise.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=4

HS

185

The Watchtower Society killed my website

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

you can thank the watchtower society for this.. here is an email from my hosting company:.

unfortunately it appears your site/account was involved in violation of using copyrighted material involved with watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania.".

as a result of this abuse and activity, we will be unable to reinstate this account for any reason.. in addition, due to the nature of this abuse and the risk of transferring sensitive or illegal content if we were to provide you your files, we will be unable to provide with backups.. it is unfortunate that this has occurred, and we are aware that more than likely this was not your intent to host, however the fact remains it did exist and complaints were made.

hartstrings

Thanks danny for all your hard work on getting this out there!! This just pisses me off so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

17

The watchtowers campaign against freedom of views and speech gets noticed!

by Crumpet in

(my apologies if this already got posted by our very own danny hazard.

http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=8202

jehovah's witnesses take action against opposing views

hartstrings

Btttt.............very exciting stuff here!

11

WTS web article: Is the Work of Jehovah's Witnesses Propagandistic?

by M.J. in

see: http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2000/6/22/diagram_01.htm.

notice how in this article they redirect their own question!

of course their organization doesn't spread propaganda for jews, communists, or american imperialists!

hartstrings

M.J. I have actually been thinking about this for some time now. I think, in all the years I was in, the magazine that sticks out in my mind the most as being the most hypocritical was the magazine on propaganda that came out in the last 90s. I remember reading it and feeling sick to my stomach. It was like they were condemning themselves. I shoved those doubts back into my mind but that really changed me view of the society. Now, of course, I can see very clearly how much propaganda they used, but I can't imagine that others that are in thick can't see that the society uses propaganda like no other.

Thanks for bringing up the topic!

HS

33

Elder sighting at work

by Scully in

for background info: two elders came to visit this afternoon.

so i'm at work tonight and just before the coffee shop closes, i run downstairs to get something to drink to tide me over the next several hours.

as i approach the kiosque, i see a familiar face approaching from the opposite direction.

hartstrings

Thank you Skully for such a great, eye-opening post. It made me realize how little control the organization has over me now and how different that is from the days I used to worry about everything I said around them. I remember from a very young age being taught to respect authority and the headship "arrangement." My therapist has helped me with the marriage and father part, but I still still struggle with the congregation. I think I go overboard sometimes telling my daughters how they can be ANYTHING they want to be in life. It doesn't matter if they are a girl, the world is wide open for them. My dad used to use the scriptures that talk about wives and children being in subjection while beating me, my siblings, and my mom. I will never let any human or diety have that much control over my girls.

10

In memory of...

by hartstrings in

jw
friends

i was reviewing some ex-scientology sites and on one site they have a "morgue.

" in it, they give the names of all the people who have died due to scientology.

it made me think that it would be neat if we could set up a "in memorium" board for all those who have lost their life due to jws screwed up policies - blood, organ failure, suicide, etc.

hartstrings

I was reviewing some ex-Scientology sites and on one site they have a "morgue." In it, they give the names of all the people who have died due to Scientology. It made me think that it would be neat if we could set up a "In memorium" board for all those who have lost their life due to JWs screwed up policies - blood, organ failure, suicide, etc. It would be a neat fund-raiser. We could either just list them and their story or could go further by setting a virtual Hall of Memory. It may help those who come here to see that their are lives lost due to following the oscilating "rules" of this org.

HS {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Hugs to all those who have lost loved ones because of this vicious cult)))))))))))))))))