Back in 1985 my then-wife and I were having a lunchtime "gathering" at our place to show some support to the ones in our congregation who were full-time pioneers. I had just recently received the vinyl collection of the songs featured in the song book "Sing Praises to Jehovah" which had been released the previous year.
Many of these melodies sounded depressing to me although I would have never admitted it at the time. The gathering dispersed around 5 pm and about 30 minutes later my non-JW parents came by to see their grandkids and to chat for a bit.
As they entered our home one of the "Sing Praises to Jehovah" records was still playing at a low volume in the living room. As my parents sat down on the couch my mom asked "What is that music playing? It sounds like funeral music."
I told her it was a JW production and she then added "Why is it so depressing sounding?"
I had no real reply becuase I felt the same about many of the "Kingdom Melodies" myself.
Some months ago I read a post from an ex-JW who had commented on a review of a gospel album and she stated that "Christendom" had much more uplifting music than the Jehovahs Witnesses did. She said "much of the Witnesses music sounded like "an accompaniment to a death march."
Yesterday I was reading the story of our beloved Farkel and as he describes the experiences of his JW days he states that "Songs were sung with all the enthusiasm of a dirge."
So do any of you other former, or even current, Jehovah's Witnesses feel that the Society's music was a big downer?
Posts by donny
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26Sing Dirges to Jehovah?
by donny inback in 1985 my then-wife and i were having a lunchtime "gathering" at our place to show some support to the ones in our congregation who were full-time pioneers.
i had just recently received the vinyl collection of the songs featured in the song book "sing praises to jehovah" which had been released the previous year.. .
many of these melodies sounded depressing to me although i would have never admitted it at the time.
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donny
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9
How Do Cults Function, Interesting Article We Know Too Well.
by RottenRiley ini thought this artice might be a good read for our friends on jwn, do you see any of the tactics used by the watchtower?
good day!.
..... cults, wonderful on the outside but on the inside are very manipulating.
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donny
Cult = A small unpopular religion.
Religion = A large popular cult.
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donny
Yes, it is yours truly.
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Interview with an apostate. Punkofnice AKA Paul Jackson
by punkofnice intell us a little about yourself and your family.. i got married to another cult member and we have 3 children who are all grown up now.
the 2 boys are not interested in the jw cult (thank goodness).
when i left the disgusting cult my wife left me.. were you a born in or a convert?.
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donny
Great post Punk! Virtually all of it was experienced by me at one point or another. I too regret that I gave "Christendom" too much consideration before I finally opened my eyes all the way.
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Most Ridiculous Thing You've Ever Been Counseled On
by MrFreeze ini'm sure topics like this have already come up but they tend to get hilarious with the absolute absurdity that goes on in the kh.
i was once counseled for not shaving after two days.
i was also counseled by a sister for eating lucky charms cereal.
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donny
Getting "adjusted" for engaging in oral sex.
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A Time to Heal.....even when we caused the wound
by donny in1991 was the last full year i was an active jw.
when i formally resigned in september 1992 my now ex-wife had already pretty much took all of the bound volumes and other society literature.. .
the only thing i was left with was a few copies of the nwt and the 1991 bound volumes the watchtower and awake!
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donny
1991 was the last full year I was an active JW. When I formally resigned in September 1992 my now ex-wife had already pretty much took all of the bound volumes and other Society literature.
The only thing I was left with was a few copies of the NWT and the 1991 bound volumes the Watchtower and Awake! I had not really looked at them in all that time since then but when I was cleaning up some of my old pack-rat boxes the other day I found them and placed in the downstairs restroom for perusing while sitting on my anointed throne.
With all of the publicity over child molesting in the JW ranks the past several years, the October 8, 1991 Awake caught my eye. The caption at the bottom of the page reads "Healing the Wounds of Child Abuse." Since the articles in this magazine was printed before all of the recent scandals, I thought it would be an interesting read.
The articles go on to discuss how damaging this type of abuse can be. It says molestation is a "defilement of flesh and spirit." It states that most of the abusers are usually close family members and friends, often the father.
Then the next article is titled "A Time to Heal." Surprisingly it often references secular books and experts on this sensitive subject. It emphatically states that IT IS NOT THE CHILDS FAULT and the abuser alone bears the full responsibility for what transpired.
It says the victim may find some resolution by confronting the abuser by letter, phone or even in person. The letter may state what the abuse has done to you and you can even declare some expectations such as an apology, payment of doctor bills, or even a change of conduct of the molester.
The last section deals with healing and recovery and states this can be done with help from Gods Word. By reading the scriptures and diligently applying its principals can ease the stress caused by these violations upon your person. One abuse victim stated "When I realized that Jehovah was aware of every feeling I had and that he cared - really cared - then I finally felt peace inside."
The article ends with the scriptural assurance that our "loving God, Jehovah" will wipe out every memory of childhood pain and that this hope will sustain and strengthen you as you travel the road toward full recovery.
After taking some Advil to alleviate the pain caused by the gut wrenching laugh I had after reading the article, what really stood out to me was that not once in the 9 pages of dealing with this hard-to-talk-about subject was the suggestion that law enforcement be contacted. You could tell your parents, friends and the elders but apparently the police was out of the question.
While articles in other issues suggested that calling the police was appropriate when you, the adult, was robbed, threatened or physically attacked, this option was not on the table when it came to the young and innocent. Rather you were to put your trust in the environment that was most likely the source of the abuse to begin with.
I formally declare that I have disfellowshipped the other 143,999 of the anointed body for conduct unbecoming even of an animal. -
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And now Joseph speaks
by donny inwell after the international bible student founder charles russell came to me in a dream a few days ago and gave his opinion on the current state of the watchtower society, his views evidently found their way to his successor, joseph franklin rutherford a.k.a the judge.
not to be outdone by his predecessor, he decided to invade my dreamland last night.. .
i was enjoying a view of mt.
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donny
And to think that some of actually thought at one time God used him.
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6
And now Joseph speaks
by donny inwell after the international bible student founder charles russell came to me in a dream a few days ago and gave his opinion on the current state of the watchtower society, his views evidently found their way to his successor, joseph franklin rutherford a.k.a the judge.
not to be outdone by his predecessor, he decided to invade my dreamland last night.. .
i was enjoying a view of mt.
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donny
I think ol' Ruthy was my favorite JW spokeman. He was really jacked up and yet passed himself off as normal.
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6
And now Joseph speaks
by donny inwell after the international bible student founder charles russell came to me in a dream a few days ago and gave his opinion on the current state of the watchtower society, his views evidently found their way to his successor, joseph franklin rutherford a.k.a the judge.
not to be outdone by his predecessor, he decided to invade my dreamland last night.. .
i was enjoying a view of mt.
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donny
Well after the International Bible Student founder Charles Russell came to me in a dream a few days ago and gave his opinion on the current state of the Watchtower Society, his views evidently found their way to his successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford a.k.a The Judge. Not to be outdone by his predecessor, he decided to invade my dreamland last night.
I was enjoying a view of Mt. Rainier when t o my right I heard the ever increasing sounds of mechanical breathing. As I turned my head towards the sound I saw a rather large, stocky dude with disheveled hair and a badly placed bow tie. After he had approached me he sat on my right side and for the first minute or so he did not say anything. He reached into an inner pocket of his dusty brown jacket and pulled out a bottle of Ulman’s Coon-Club Whiskey, removed the cap and took a big swig.
Then he let out a big “ahhhhhhhhhh” and the mechanical breathing sound resumed. Then her looked at me for about 30 seconds and then said “I know what Obi-Wan, I mean Charlie told you the other day and I want to clarify a few things. First, you don’t know the power of the dark side so how can you judge the Judge without hearing both versions.”
“Ok,” I sighed. “Go ahead and tell me your version of events Judgy Wudgy.”
“It was November of 1916. Ol’ Charlie had just kicked the bucket and me and six other directors of the Watch Tower Society were pondering on who was going to do what so we had a meeting. I wanted to be in charge so the others agreed but after a few months four of those sons of bitches began complaining that I had become autocratic, which I had. However they wanted me out so I used some of my great lawyering skills to boot their tired selfs out. I then convinced the shareholders that I was the Man and they agreed, so I became the undisputed head honcho of The Society. I then booted my wife Mary and my son Malcolm to the curb as I had no time to deal with a hank of hair and sack of bones.”
“And for a bit of clarification, things did not go easy for me at the beginning my fellow anointee. In 1917 one of my fellow comrades convinced me to let them release a book based on Charles writings called ‘The Finished Mystery.’ At a cursory read it sounded good but as one began to look at it intensely it became obvious the writer had been going a little heavy on the reefer. However many of the other religious leaders of the day, as well as some governmental types, were really pissed off at what was in it and we got a lot, and I mean a lot of publicity. So I let them continue printing the books which later caused me some grief, but what the hell, you have to live in the moment.”
“Anyhoo, over the next few years I discovered I could write shit that was just as bat crap crazy as Charlie, so I put out a booklet called ‘Millions Now Living Will Never Die.’ I knew it was mostly B.S., but my fans loved it so the next year I put those ideas in a full blown book and called it ‘The Harp of God.” I even had the balls to say that 1925 was going to see the end of the world! Well with hindsight it’s pretty obvious that harp was way the hell out of tune, but since I invented ‘auto-tune’, which I called new light, no one seemed to notice.”
“One of the things I really had a hard time getting rid of was that stupid assed teaching that Jesus came back in 1874. It was so imbedded in the minds of Charlie’s followers that I was never able to completely sift it out. I did let it fade to the background though and I emphasized 1914 more and more until few talked about the older date. I also had to put to rest that crazy crap about pyramids and God’s stone witness so I said it was built by Satan. I expected a huge backlash, but no one really seemed upset. God I love shoes sheeple!”
“But then I really screwed up. I had been railing against the exuberant lifestyle of various pastors and bishops of the day accusing them of fleecing their flock when I decided that I should have some of those same perks. What the hell was I going to do now? Well after a quick ponder I realized that most of the folks who follow religion are easily convinced about anything as long as you have a convincing story that seems at least a little plausible. So I came up with a really good one! (he chuckles for a bit) I really hated living in New York as it was a dirty place and the weather sucked big time!”
“I had recently visited San Diego and I really loved the place. So I cooked up a really good piece of bullshit. I told my followers that the resurrection of the old testament prince dudes was about to happen at any moment, you know those dudes mentioned in Hebrews chapter 8. And so I said that when they get resurrected those guys need a place to hang their hat so I had my, I mean Jehovah’s people, to build this big assed house in the hills of the city in 1929. Then I had the deed of the house made out to those still dead dudes and said that it would be theirs once they rematerialized.”
“Now here is the good part. (Chuckles again). I told my…I mean God’s followers, that until they actually showed up that I would be living there and taking care of this facility. I was expecting a bit of backlash, but those dummies took it hook, line and sinker brother!!! (gives me a high five) I was so damned happy with myself I went and bought a case of whiskey and got fucked up that night. It was brilliant. Then to bolster this whacked out claim even more I told everyone that San Diego’s geology, terrain and weather were so close to Israel’s that David, Moses, Abe and whoever decided to show up, would never know the difference. Isn’t that great?”
I nodded in agreement as he continued. “So I moved into the joint and gave it a name, Beth Sarim, which added even more support to my totally made up fantasy. I had it made in the shade guy!! I had a big assed house in a nice area and I could get myself shit-faced as much as I wanted. Yeah there were a few complainers like that Olin Moyle character, but overall my….I mean Jehovah’s folks, believed this myth. On some occasions several of my fellow brothers and sisters would get sloshed with me and we had a really good time! Man the hangover on the days following those parties was a mutha, but it was well worth it.”
I lived at the place until I finally keeled over. I had dispensed so much bullshit from my ass that I developed cancer of the behind and it finally kicked my ass on January 8, 1942. Just before I left I told everyone that my most recent book that I titled ‘Children’, was a tool of Jesus to be used in the remaining months before the Big One. Looking back on it, I have to laugh as that statement as absolutely none of it happened. Also having to deal with my old house became a big thorn for Nathan and Freddie's they decided to tell the idiots, I mean Jehovah’s people, that the princes were actually the elders in their congregation so they don't need a house. It was a total load but I can’t complain as all of my stuff was made up as well. You would think after I got some grief regarding 1925 that they would learn from that but nooooooooooooooo!. Nate let Freddie put out a bunch of bullshit that almost as bad as mine. He used my auto-tune feature on Bishop Usher’s chronology and came up with 1975 and we all know how that turned out! Way to go Freddie!”
Then the labored mechanical breathing returned as he stood up and looked with me at the beautiful view of Mt. Rainier. He looked over his shoulder as he began walking away and said “I hate to chat and run so quickly but there is 3 hours remaining in BevMo’s year-end sale. I gotta grab some Jim Beam. Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker and Jose Cuervo and go have a night out with the boys.”
“And in conclusion I must borrow a phrase from an Paul Harvey’s old radio program; ‘And now you know the rest of the story.’"