under the radar

Joined

• started 21 topics
• posted 944 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by under the radar

• 
  13

  (A Childhood Memory) THE MYSTERY OF THE LOCKED CABINET

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the mystery of the locked cabinet.

  when i was about 10 years old, there was a tall, white handmade cabinet back in one of our storage sheds (a converted chicken house from back in the 30's, when my grandparents raised chickens in the great depression).

  affixed to its door, there was a big padlock on the cabinet.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  Fernando has it right, Terry. He just says it better than I ever could.

  I really enjoy your stories. Keep 'em coming!
• 
  13

  (A Childhood Memory) THE MYSTERY OF THE LOCKED CABINET

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the mystery of the locked cabinet.

  when i was about 10 years old, there was a tall, white handmade cabinet back in one of our storage sheds (a converted chicken house from back in the 30's, when my grandparents raised chickens in the great depression).

  affixed to its door, there was a big padlock on the cabinet.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  Another amazing story, Terry. Thank you so much for posting it.

  That comment your granddad made about the Klan being "as good or as bad as the men in each chapter" hit home. I don't want to start a firestorm, but if one looks into the actual history of the Klan and its founding members without prejudice or preconceptions, it's clear that the organization's original purpose was soon perverted and it morphed into an excuse and a cover for all kinds of evil. Most of the original members, including founder Nathan Bedford Forrest, were horrified by this and formally disassociated and distanced themselves from it early on.

  I do not claim to be an expert of Klan history, and I'm certainly no apologist for it. I have never had any personal contact with the Klan or any Klan member (that I know of). I only know of my late father's impression of the Klan, based entirely on his own experience of growing up in the deep South in the 1930's. He told me several times that he had never even heard of Klan members in his area harassing black people. He said they didn't "come out" very often, but when they did it was to deal with "white trash." This mainly meant wife-beaters and "sorry" white men who wouldn't support their families and drank up whatever money they could occasionally scrape together. My dad said it usually only took one "visit." The offender would be confronted by several fierce-looking men wearing their Klan robes, sometimes with torches and ropes in hand. He would be warned, "Don't make us come back!" On the rare occasions when a second visit was necessary, it usually involved a beating or a thrashing with a rope or whip. He said he never heard of anyone being killed, much less being strung up.

  My dad was the most honest and straightforward man I've ever known, so I simply accept his statements at face value. By that I mean that I believe he believed what he said, but I cannot know whether his impressions were accurate or not, even considering only what the Klan did in that small rural area in that narrow time frame. After all, he could not have known everything they did. He could only know of the stories he heard, and how the Klan was generally viewed when and where he was growing up.

  Another family story has it that one of my mother's brothers once saw what he thought were Klan robes among their father's (my maternal grandfather's) belongings in an old steamer trunk. My grandmother told him never to ask or tell anyone else about it. No one knows whether it was actually my grandfather's or possibly his father's. There are absolutely no family stories about that robe or anything else that could be remotely connected with Klan activities. My grandfather died when I was an infant, but I sure wish I could have asked him about that. Whatever stories there were have been lost to history.

  Sometimes, I think there are family cupboards that are better left unopened.
• 
  15

  Terry tells his story of Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ox2ypajugq.

  sit a spell and listen to my story.. i once met a fella unlike any other.

  let me tell you about the man--a strange and wonderful guy--one of a kind--but housing two personalities at the same time.here’s a quick list to capture your interest.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  Another excellent story, Terry. Keep 'em coming!
• 
  9

  2014 master thesis about JWs LOYALITY

  by fastJehu in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  interesting (internet) finding ... after all the bunker videos on the 2016 rc.. this master thesis tries to comprehend the concept of loyalty within the jehovah’s witnesses movement.

  what does ‘loyalty’ mean to jehovah’s witnesses?

  https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/32029/loyal%20to%20jehovah's%20good%20news%20-%20susanne%20kuipers.pdf.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  I wonder if this thesis was originally written in English. It seems this may be an imperfect translation from another language (Dutch?). There are grammar and spelling errors as well as odd word usages and unusual phrasings. Even speaking strictly from an editorial standpoint, I don't consider this to be Master's Thesis-level work.

  That aside, the reasoning is demonstrably non-objective. As someone else mentioned, it seems like the author secretly, perhaps subliminally, wants to be a JW apologist. I don't think she ever gets around to the crux of the matter: that JW's equate loyalty to the organization with loyalty to God. Even worse, they seek to define loyalty as unquestioning obedience. The two terms do not mean the same thing, and are not truly interchangeable.

  This thesis would be greatly improved if it contrasted what the Society says about its not breaking up families on its website and what its followers are actually taught at the 2016 loyalty-themed conventions going on right now. There is a shocking difference, and the examples they hold up as the "right" thing to do in certain circumstances are appalling. This blatant, or should I say brazen, institutionalized hypocrisy should be exposed as widely and as often as possible.
• 
  21

  "Well now at least they get a ressurection!"

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  yes, that is what a witness said after the police shootings and terrible aftermath of violence occurred this week in the usa..... they said that it now gives them a chance to live forever...as if they would not have had that opportunity if they had not been tragically killed..... of course according to witness teachings, the contradictory thing is that if the big a had come a day before, then those same people would have been killed by jehovah because they were not his worshipers.....

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  That kind of thinking is dangerous! More than one JW apparently "went off the deep end" and reverted to this kind of deep seated cult-think and wound up murdering their own families to "make sure they got into the New World."

  Some fading JW's have been told it would be better to take their kids out in the yard and shoot them than to leave the Truth™ and sentence them to everlasting death.
• 
  18

  Since My Mom's Death--not a JW in sight !

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had one lovebombing when she died by the congregation and since then---- nada.

  lol.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  So sorry for your loss, minimus. I went through much the same after the deaths of both of my parents. I got a lot more comfort and condolences from my workmates than I did from my JW family.
• 
  4

  Strange doings at the Market

  by ctrwtf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i recently made a trip back to my home town to visit some extended family still in.

  the whole trip was very awkward.

  for a whole bunch of reasons i won't bore you with, we stayed in a hotel near where the family lives, maybe as kind of a barrier to being in constant contact with the cult mentality.. being a very early riser, i went to the grocery to pick up a few things.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  Very strange indeed. Is it possible she denied them in the sense that "they are no longer my family" and was not actually denying the biological connection? It's even weirder that she denied knowing you, when you clearly recognized her. Curiouser and curiouser...
• 
  18

  Moral indignation against "faders" shows JW apologists are morally bankrupt

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i came across this weird blog that castigates fading jws for their "cowardice" and "hypocrisy" for not making themselves vulnerable to shunning.

  apparently in the view of this blogger jws who discover it's not the truth are morally obliged to play by the watchtower rules and face the consequences of shunning.. http://jwresearchblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/fading-faking-and-lying-as-unbelieving.html#comment-form.

  what is absent from the blog post is any discussion of the statement in the july 2009 awake!, that no one should be made to choose between their beliefs and their family.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  Indeed!
• 
  18

  Moral indignation against "faders" shows JW apologists are morally bankrupt

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i came across this weird blog that castigates fading jws for their "cowardice" and "hypocrisy" for not making themselves vulnerable to shunning.

  apparently in the view of this blogger jws who discover it's not the truth are morally obliged to play by the watchtower rules and face the consequences of shunning.. http://jwresearchblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/fading-faking-and-lying-as-unbelieving.html#comment-form.

  what is absent from the blog post is any discussion of the statement in the july 2009 awake!, that no one should be made to choose between their beliefs and their family.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  I don't always agree with everything slimboyfat posts, but I'm with him 100% on this one.

  After my mom passed away and my dad was grieving himself to death, on top of his other illnesses, my sister and other family began distancing themselves from me more and more. They wanted my dad to tell me not to call and visit so often, but he never did. Once, when my dad and sister and I were driving home from a doctor's appointment, this (then recent) Awake! article came up. I quoted it verbatim. My dad sat there in thoughtful silence, but my sister angrily shouted, "That doesn't apply to us! We have the Truth™!" I calmly replied that either it meant what it said, or it was blatant institutional hypocrisy. (Looking back, I wish I had used the word "brazen," but that wasn't an official Society buzz word back then.) Anyway, her jaws locked tighter than a vice!

  We had to stop along the way to get Dad something to eat. My sister made a point of making sure I understood that this was an emergency and should not be construed as "sharing a meal." My dad just remained silent, with a rather sad look on his face.

  About that same time, I gave Dad a copy of that Awake!, specifically asking him to read and reflect on that particular article. The next time I came to visit, I saw that magazine lying open on his coffee table and noticed that he had highlighted that very passage. "No one...should be made to choose between his beliefs and his family." I didn't comment and let him know I had seen it. Some things are better left unsaid.

  On the following visit, that magazine was nowhere in sight. I strongly suspect that my sister took it. To my surprise, out of the blue my dad asked me if I had seen it. He had been looking for it! I helped him search for it, to no avail. I promised I'd bring him another on my next visit, which I did. I think he kept it out of sight, so my sister wouldn't take it again. Regardless, it was still among his possessions when he passed away about a year later.
• 
  23

  Guess who is getting announced as no longer being a JW

  by atacrossroads in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not me surprisingly.

  i thought i would be the one to go first.

  this coming week my hubby is being announced as no longer being a jw.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  under the radar

  Your husband did the right thing in nipping the JW indoctrination of his child in the bud. You and your child and he will all be much better off in the long run.

  I hope you will show him how much you appreciate his taking a stand to protect your little family. He rocks!

  All that aside, congratulations on your new little one. The next 21 years or so of your lives are gonna be great! There is nothing like the love between a parent and child.

  Without the undue influence of religious superstition, it's hard to believe anyone could shun their child for any reason. We may not approve of all their adult decisions, and sometimes they have to suffer the harsh consequences of their actions, but shunning them is another thing altogether. Although we live far apart, my adult son knows I am there for him 24/7, as he is for me. He knows I would never shun him, under any circumstances. That is unconditional love, and I think it's the most important thing a parent can give a child.