Posts by LennyinBluemont

43

For All Former Elders

by Yizuman in

jw
friends

i would like to pose some questions that may challenge your thoughts, if i may.... .

former elders, while i may commend you all for seeing the real truth on about the so called "truth" and thus leaving the borg for what it really & truly is, a lie.

former elders, have you ever thought about or attempted to contact anyone that have been disfellowshipped by your involvement in the j.c.?

I agree with the comments above. We all feel the same way about it now. But if you expect all former elders to go to every person that was DF'd on a committee they sat on, to be consistent, should you not also go to every person you ever shunned as part of that process and apologize? Should you not also go to every person you ever gave literature to, spoke with or studied with and apologize? Who is more guilty, the judge or the executioner? Yes, the elders made the judgment, but by shunning the one judged, you are the executioner. Will you rely on the Nuremburg defense? None of us feel good now about what we did then.

The problem is, you are removing the context, and now acting as judge yourself. Does that make you better? Surely you understand the power of the controlling indoctrination that made all of us do things, sometimes for decades of our lives, that we now regret. I'm sure that includes all of us as elders that sat on committees. We felt, we KNEW, in our heart of hearts, that we were doing God's will. That's what motivated us. It was our RESPONSIBILITY before God to protect the flock from harmful influences. No matter how much someone may wish to now judge us for our actions absent that context, it changes nothing. Even the courts of the land recognize that there are extenuating circumstances when a wife murders her husband after suffering years of physical and emotional abuse. Yes, elders suffered abuse too, especially at the hands of those in authority over THEM. I received my share of that and was wracked emotionally on many occasions. I don't expect apologies for any of that. What good would it do?

As for apologies, I personally contacted some I studied with, who I knew were not witnesses, and told them that I could no longer recommend that course, and shared with them some of the things I have learned. I have no way now to contact those that were judged on committees I sat on, but I have written a letter to all of our close former JW friends, putting ourselves on record as to how we now feel about the organization. I'm finished. You've got to put it behind you, people.

13

Just watched "Knocking" last nite

by LennyinBluemont in

jw
friends

well, i felt it would be inappropriate to write a letter to pbs complaining about their airing of this documentary, "knocking", without having seen it myself, so i ordered a copy at the exorbitant cost of about $36, and it took over a month for it to arrive.

i agree with gary buss, that it is very polished and well-done.

a few quick reactions:.

LennyinBluemont

No. We knew Al and Mary Schaer, and the Zarembas. Charles Liebensperger is also mentioned as a credit, but I don't think under funding. Worked under him at Mighty Distributing. There are a number of non-descript groups or organizations, some I'm sure are made up of witnesses, kind of like Cohi.

13

Just watched "Knocking" last nite

by LennyinBluemont in

jw
friends

well, i felt it would be inappropriate to write a letter to pbs complaining about their airing of this documentary, "knocking", without having seen it myself, so i ordered a copy at the exorbitant cost of about $36, and it took over a month for it to arrive.

i agree with gary buss, that it is very polished and well-done.

a few quick reactions:.

LennyinBluemont

Well, I felt it would be inappropriate to write a letter to PBS complaining about their airing of this documentary, "Knocking", without having seen it myself, so I ordered a copy at the exorbitant cost of about $36, and it took over a month for it to arrive. I agree with Gary Buss, that it is very polished and well-done. A few quick reactions:

The overall effect of the documentary for me, was to make it appear as if Jehovah's Witnesses are just like other people. It makes them appear very "human", very "normal". It accomplishes this with a bit of toying with the facts. For instance, we are introduced to a 23-year old single man who lives with his parents, is clean-cut and we see him in field service and at the Kingdom Hall. But in the introductory scene, he is playing a few heavy metal riffs on his electric guitar at high volume, and a CD of Van Halen is shown in the foreground. Of course, no mention is made of the fact that this is extremely atypical, and is the kind of music witnesses are warned to avoid. It is presented as if the Watchtower would have no problem in all of their young members listening to this type of music. To me, this was an attempt to make the religion more "palatable" to young people. This same tactic is used several times, making it appear as if what we all know is "disapproved" behavior, is in fact, perfectly normal and accepted among the witnesses. It really reminded me of the deception that is used in child custody cases. "Oh, no. We can play in school sports. Oh, no. We can participate in school plays. Of course we believe in higher education."
In the bonus materials, there is an extensive interview with Philip Brumley, General Counsel for the Watchtower. He makes statements which he should know are outright lies, based on his client’s own publications. For instance, with reference to 1914, he says the witnesses have believed that the last days of this system began then and have believed that for over 100 years. As Ray documents in his writings, the Watchtower taught that the last days began in 1874, well into the late 1920’s.
Much is made, both in the documentary and in the bonus materials, of how much the Watchtower has done in securing Freedom of Speech rights for their religion, and by extension, other groups. To me, an unbiased documentary would have also given some time to discussing the irony of how these very rights, if exercised by members of the organization are outlawed and punished severely within the culture of the religion. There is no free speech at meetings. Only carefully scripted dialogue. Any suggestion by a member, even in private conversation, that some policy or teaching of the Society may be incorrect or flawed, is systemically dealt with in the harshest manner.
No effort seems to have been made on the part of the producer of this documentary to deal with the feelings of long time witnesses who are no longer active. Several interviews with former witnesses who were part of the religion for decades, asking them why they left and what problems they saw in the organization, would have gone a long way toward making this a more balanced presentation. But this project very obviously had the Watchtower’s blessing from the get go, and they no doubt exercised a powerful veto with regard to including any former members in this video. There’s not one. This is especially to me, what makes it a propaganda piece, rather than a documentary. Especially given the fact that there are many thousands of very articulate, former witnesses, who have been quite vocal about their serious concerns regarding the organization.
I noted with interest the credits, which made special mention of those who provided funding for this video. I recognized three names there of people I personally knew when I was "in", who were reputed, even back then, as being exceptionally wealthy. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with their contributing to the project. But it would be hard for me to accept that there were no conditions attached. In my mind, it would certainly cast a shadow over any claim that this is an unbiased production. It would be like doing a documentary on the Republican Party, and having as your primary contributors to the project, prominent wealthy members of the Republican Party. Or, why not a real analogy? It would be like the US Government providing overwhelming financial support (your taxes at work) to the political candidates in Iraq that your administration seeks to have in power, and then claiming that Iraq has finally had a free and democratic election. Total bullshit, of course.

Overall, for me, the piece is a project in some ways like "Faith on the March", a book commissioned by the Society, but not published by the Society, to give the public the mistaken impression that even unbiased folks on the outside "really like us, they reallylike us." Of course, that project was funded by the Society, and the book written by MacMillan, I think, a Society official. Looking forward to any impressions from you. Also, I didn’t get a lot of response before, but are any of you interested in mounting a letter-writing campaign to local PBS stations? I believe the airing is in May. There’s still time to light a candle.

Lenny

68

Wish Me Well: Surgery Tomorrow

by AudeSapere in

jw
friends

well, i did my best with physical therapy but it's not enough.

my knee is very unstabile (especially since i fell again 6 weeks ago).

tomorrow i'm scheduled for knee surgery to repair my acl..

LennyinBluemont

Keep it positive, D. Let the docs do their best and your body will do the rest. But that's what it will need - REST. Lots of rest of lots of good ole H2O.

OK now, everybody, concentrate and think (direct thoughts to the west coast)

HEAL

((((((((((D))))))))))

Lenny & Karen

24

Would you join a "Letters to the Editor" Campaign?

by LennyinBluemont in

jw
friends

i just finished reading randys thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/128072/1.ashx).

it occurs to me that his initial post here, with a bit of re-wording and reducing it to maybe three short paragraphs, would make an excellent letter to the editor of our local papers.

what if we all embarked on a letter-writing campaign to our local papers, using this as a basis?

LennyinBluemont

I agree with Wild Thing. Excellent point. It would be best to view the "documentary" before writing a letter to PBS. (Kind of like having a strong opinion about the Bible when you've never read it.) I, too, am not interested in purchasing a copy, however, I would rent it, but I just checked Netflix and they don't have it. I know Gary Bus has a copy and felt it was worthwhile. If a few of us DID buy copies and then loaned them to others (NOT making copies) that would negate the need for all of us to buy a copy. Anybody know if Blockbuster carries it?

Lenny

24

Would you join a "Letters to the Editor" Campaign?

by LennyinBluemont in

jw
friends

i just finished reading randys thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/128072/1.ashx).

it occurs to me that his initial post here, with a bit of re-wording and reducing it to maybe three short paragraphs, would make an excellent letter to the editor of our local papers.

what if we all embarked on a letter-writing campaign to our local papers, using this as a basis?

LennyinBluemont

I realize some have, on their own, written letters to newspapers, and my hat's off to you for that. But has anything ever been tried on a large scale? The volume of letters alone (if enough of us are willing to do it) would be newsworthy. Can you imagine every PBS station in the country receiving 40 or 50 letters crying out against this sham of a "documentary"? You can't tell me the General Manager of the station wouldn't at least say, "Hmmm. This is really upsetting a lot of people." And no doubt many of them communicate with managers of other stations as well as their national organizations. Can you hear them? "Yeah, we got a bunch of letters too." If we circulate among ourselves the General Manager's name and mailing address of the stations in our area, if we wanted, we could each send a letter to all of them. Heck, it's only 39 cents each. And by the way, if you've made contributions to your local station, don't hesitate to mention that.

Let's see some submissions of rough drafts!! Never mind the naysayers! Light the bonfire of truth!!! Somebody want to start a thread on GM names and addresses of PBS television stations in their area? I'll add mine to the list, and I'll work this weekend on my own rough draft to share with anyone who wishes, plagiarizing at will Randy's post. Is there a directory somewhere that lists all the PBS stations? If someone wants to create a database of all the stations, I'll print address labels for anyone who wants to mail to all of them, no charge.

By the way, I've just checked with the Service Dept. and you CAN count your time!!

Lenny

24

Would you join a "Letters to the Editor" Campaign?

by LennyinBluemont in

jw
friends

i just finished reading randys thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/128072/1.ashx).

it occurs to me that his initial post here, with a bit of re-wording and reducing it to maybe three short paragraphs, would make an excellent letter to the editor of our local papers.

what if we all embarked on a letter-writing campaign to our local papers, using this as a basis?

LennyinBluemont

Randy's thread:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/128072/1.ashx

24

Would you join a "Letters to the Editor" Campaign?

by LennyinBluemont in

jw
friends

i just finished reading randys thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/128072/1.ashx).

it occurs to me that his initial post here, with a bit of re-wording and reducing it to maybe three short paragraphs, would make an excellent letter to the editor of our local papers.

what if we all embarked on a letter-writing campaign to our local papers, using this as a basis?

LennyinBluemont

I think there is a common sentiment among many of us that we would just like to "do something" to expose this organization. Here is an easy way that could prove very effective. But I confess I am disappointed that so few have responded. Is it because many of us have become apathetic after such a depressing experience? Surely, judging by the number of posts on this site, we could generate hundreds, if not thousands of letters to our local papers, protesting this one-sided "documentary" that may well result in many more becoming captive, as it lends a powerful air of legitimacy to what we all know is a dangerous farce. I'd love for someone to explain to me the lack of enthusiasm I see for any type of united activism against the WT by former members. We have a powerful tool in this forum, as it has brought us together. Will we use it simply to chat with one another? Does no one else see a larger purpose that may be served? Will we just curse the darkness? Or will we light a candle? I was thinking more like a bonfire.

In the meantime, for those who are interested, we must have some good writers out there. Why not put something together and post it? While we could use this as a skeleton outline for our letter, it should also have a personal touch, with a tone that makes it clear we are a member of the local community voicing our concern. Thank you to those who have responded.

Lenny

24

Would you join a "Letters to the Editor" Campaign?

by LennyinBluemont in

jw
friends

i just finished reading randys thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/128072/1.ashx).

it occurs to me that his initial post here, with a bit of re-wording and reducing it to maybe three short paragraphs, would make an excellent letter to the editor of our local papers.

what if we all embarked on a letter-writing campaign to our local papers, using this as a basis?

LennyinBluemont

I just finished reading Randy’s thread (

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/128072/1.ashx) . It occurs to me that his initial post here, with a bit of re-wording and reducing it to maybe three short paragraphs, would make an excellent Letter to the Editor of our local papers. What if we all embarked on a letter-writing campaign to our local papers, using this as a basis? Wouldn’t it be cool if we all coordinated it to send them out on the same day? And maybe coordinate it to immediately preceed some special WT campaign, or the airing of ~~"Knockers",~~ "Knocking" on PBS? Just imagine the impact, a week before that propaganda piece airs on PBS, newpapers across the United States, England and Australia, in small communities and large cities, have this letter printed. Hey, it’s something we could do and if we do it in concert, like a blitzkreig, the effect of the whole may be greater than the sum of its parts. Each of us could sign the letter with our name, and then, "Jehovah’s Witness for 30 years," or something similar to add legitimacy. Of course, if we don’t want to reveal our identity, we could sign it, "Jehovah’s Witness for 30 years. Anonymous due to fear of reprisals." All comments in the letter should be well-supported by evidence, not hearsay, and the tone should have community appeal. We do have power, people. They know we are their worst nightmare, if we can get enough public attention. Maybe if we did it soon enough, and concentrate on the PBS airing, we could encourage readers to call or write their local PBS station and ask them why they would air such a one-sided program.

Lenny

22

As you get older, What have you learned?

by avidbiblereader in

what has life taught you?

any subject or any issue that you want to share to help someone else!!.

you cant change people no matter how hard you try.. money is important as we need it but happiness means more than money.

LennyinBluemont

The sole point and purpose of existence is to enjoy life to the maximum extent you can by bringing every dream possible into your reality (i.e. underwire bras and cross-country motorcycle trips) and to make a significant part of your existence helping those who are in genuine need of help (i.e. Fire/Rescue Service, Habitat for Humanity, Anti-War Activism, etc.).