Posts by donny

115

Do YOU Look Like YOUR Avatar/JWD mini-pic

by RAYZORBLADE in

jw
friends

do you look like your jwd profile pic?.

just curious.. that stupid pic of me in a columbia rain jacket is real.

it's 2 yrs.

donny

Mine is me in the summer of 2007.

34

The Efficacy of JWs Shunning (Your experiences and analysis)

by JW_Researcher in

im doing a bit of research for an academic paper on shunning and am interested in your response to any or all of these questions.. please think back to when you were a jw (if necessary) or to other jws you knew.. 1) does shunning work?

(for example, does it bring sinners to their senses?

does it keep the congregation clean?

donny

I also observed a certain amount of glee or "vengeance" when someone was DF'd

I also saw some of that glee as well. After a disfellowshipping or disaasociation notice was read, folks would gather afte rthe meeting to surmise what was the reason. I rememeber one "sister" in particular whoes eyes litterally poked more out of her head than normal as she tried to ascertain the cause. I often wonder what folks guessed about me when my DA announcement was made.

10

Musings of a fader: July 4 picnic

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i have been a fader for sometime now.

yesterday was the first time that i went to a july 4 picnic and fireworks - not that i went to specifically celebrate that day, i just wanted to get out and see people, see life.. i was raised in the truth and because of this i had many preconceived notions and ideas - one of them being that worldly people weren't fit to associate with, that anyone not serving jehovah would only "spoil my useful habits.".

i wandered around the park and for the first time i just observed people without any pre-existing conditions - there was a lot of activities for children, face painting, candle making and various rides and people dressed up as cartoon characters.

donny

It was about a year or so after I left when I jumped back into the Holiday celebrating thing and I realized what fun I had been missing. It also allowed me to see what buttmunches some of the "Friends" had been. I still have a hard time believing I gave ten years to that group.

45

Witness fear of demons why?

by donny in

during my ten year sojourn through the watchtower, i was always amazed at the witnesses fear and fascination with demons.

occasionally at gatherings, they would exchange "demon" stories, which were just a jw way of telling ghost stories, and you would usually hear a few "uhhs" and "oh my's" as the story was told.

although i had heard folks of other denominations mention demons, it was never with the "shock and awe" the witnesses put into it.

donny

The parents(my in-laws) of Mexican descent...ie traditional Catholics gone full blown witnesses.....promptly gave all my albums to the good will store....

As I stated in the first post, my in-laws were also of Mexican descent and lot of her non witnesses relatives celebrated El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). Based on your album collection you seem to be about the same age range as me. During the 1970's and early 1980's I was subscribed to several music magazines of the day such as Rolling Stone, Creem, Hit Parader, Circus and the like. I had been collecting these for a long time and at the conclusion of each year, I would stack each type together, sorted by date and put a large rubber band around them and store them in a large cardboard barrel my dad had brought home from his job.

I got married in 1982 and I took this barrel of magazines with me as I thought they may be worth something some day if I kept them in the good condition they were stored in. One day my wife suggested that, due to the small space of our apartment, we move the barrel to her parents house as they had a large detatched garage with extra room. So I put the barrel in my pick-up and drove it over and placed it in the garage.

In 1984 I read an article in a magazine about how a 1974 People magazine with an article on Jim Croce sold for $40.00. So I drove over to my in-laws place to look over a few of my old ones. When I got there my mother-in-law asked why I was there and I when I told her she just said "Oh?" with a funny tone and I proceeded to go to the garage. When I got there I could not find the barrel. Then my father-in-law showed up and said "Donny we were going to tell you this but we kinda forgot" followed by a nervous laugh. He then went on to explain how the house began making noises again not long after I had left the barrel. And you guessed it, it again was caused by demons.

My mother-in-law had went to the garage and opened the barrel and just my luck, a Hit Parader magazine with Kiss on the cover was at the top, and it scared her and she decided the barrel was full of demons. Her husband took it to the landfill later that day. I can't tell you how pissed I was that my 12 year collection of maybe 900 magazines was gone and had been within two weeks of my leaving it there. My ex and I had a big argument that night as I had called her parents "ignorant boneheads". I wasn't so much pissed that they thought demons were in them, I was more upset that they did not call me and give me the chance to remove them. Of course my ex-wife commented "What and bring them here?" in a terrified tone. From that point on I hated it whenever the conversations about demons popped up as it only served as a painful reminder or what had happened.

I am thankful that I never ditched my large vinyl collection and I feel you pain my friend. Now let me go put on my vintage "Highway to Hell."

77

My Avatar and yours

by LockedChaos in

jw
friends

just curious .

any symbolism or meaning to your avatar choice?

mine is actually a gif .

donny

Thank you, Sting.

Why don't you and I get together and have a benefit concert of something. You can sing "Another One Bites the Dust" and I'll sing "Message in a Bottle."

Sending out at an s.o.s.
Sending out at an s.o.s.
Sending out at an s.o.s.
Sending out at an s.o.s.
Sending out at an s.o.s.
Sending out at an s.o.s...

45

Witness fear of demons why?

by donny in

during my ten year sojourn through the watchtower, i was always amazed at the witnesses fear and fascination with demons.

occasionally at gatherings, they would exchange "demon" stories, which were just a jw way of telling ghost stories, and you would usually hear a few "uhhs" and "oh my's" as the story was told.

although i had heard folks of other denominations mention demons, it was never with the "shock and awe" the witnesses put into it.

donny

It's a joke. The leadership is no more afraid of demons than they can fly. It's simply a control mechanism for the fundamentalists, JW or otherwise, who are alpha male leaders. Knorr and the rest used to tour countries all over, going into the Catholic cathedrals during mass and bragging about it to the Bethel Family. They laugh at such things, but know that it keeps the masses in line.

Thanks Randy. I was thankful for your organization when i was leaving in 1992 as I found many of the books and videos quite enlightening. I really enjoyed your "Thus saith the Governing Body" book. In regards to demons, I figured as much. The PO in my congregation would relate such stories and chuckle over them as well. If you ever in Northern California, let me know.

45

Witness fear of demons why?

by donny in

during my ten year sojourn through the watchtower, i was always amazed at the witnesses fear and fascination with demons.

occasionally at gatherings, they would exchange "demon" stories, which were just a jw way of telling ghost stories, and you would usually hear a few "uhhs" and "oh my's" as the story was told.

although i had heard folks of other denominations mention demons, it was never with the "shock and awe" the witnesses put into it.

donny

It takes a lot of guts to suggest to a parent that their kid has a demon and that your house MUST have demons in it.

I just don't understand the preoccupation with demons in an organization that claims to be "the truth." Through my kids, I still hear wacky stories regarding my ex's family and their demonic encounters. And often many of them are blamed on me. LOL

12

Who thinks other religions can lead to salvation? Survey says...

by TJ - iAmCleared2Land in

"among believers who are catholic, nearly 80 percent surveyed believe other religions can lead to a right relationship with god.

more than 70 percent of orthodox christians agreed with the statement.. only among mormon and jehovah's witness believers did fewer than half of people surveyed agree that other religions can lead to eternal life.

thirty-nine percent of mormons surveyed agreed with that statement, and 16 percent of jehovah's witnesses agreed.

donny

None. I do not believe I need to be salvaged from anything or to anything.

58

What is your strangest "supernatural" JW story?

by donny in

i had just became a witness and a guy i worked with, who was also a jw, told me a story that actually made me laugh and i think it upset him a bit.

the storys were almost always in the third person.

it went as follows.. this brothers wife and him were sitting at the kingdom hall on the end seats of the row next to the back of the room.

donny

Anothe rone I found funny was a circuit assembly and the District overseer spoke about an incident where a passneger train was going over a bridge and someone of board threw a truth book out the window and it whacked a man on the head who was walking below. This man was formerly an opposer, but apparently an angel was hanging around and guided the book thrown out of the train to whack the man on the head, and so he became a believer!!

The question I have, is why is an angel directing a book, that even the Society does not hold as truth any more, to whack someone on the head.

77

My Avatar and yours

by LockedChaos in

jw
friends

just curious .

any symbolism or meaning to your avatar choice?

mine is actually a gif .

donny

Mine is just a wonderful, caring human being. He's my role model, and a true inspiration to me

Good to have you Freddy Mercury!!