LennyinBluemont

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Posts by LennyinBluemont

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  19

  A thank you to my friends

  by Bumble Bee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have some very good, close friends that i've made here.

  we trust one another, laughed together, cried together, supported one another through good and bad times.

  i just wanted to say how much i love and appreciate you all!.

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  LennyinBluemont

  You and Roy will always have a place in our hearts and our home. (You too, sweetface.)

  Thanks for sharing your love.

  Lenny & Karen
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  43

  What is the HIDDEN purpose of the Watchtower corporation?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  why does the average man or woman on the street only have a vague awareness of who jehovah's witnesses are and what they stand for?

  isn't it weird they know next to nothing after over a hundred years of door to door work???.

  ask yourself why this has been such an ineffective ministry.. one actor, tom cruise, has raised more awareness about his own religion (scientology) than all the watchtower magazines placed at a million households.

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  LennyinBluemont

  Sub-question in this thread: WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?

  I've commented here before, and I'll say it again: These guys are not stupid. They are in the process of "conveying their assets". They got burned in California and don't intend to let "Jehovah's riches" ($13 million) be given to apostates again. That's the reason why Brooklyn is for sale. The assets are being moved offshore to a safe haven outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. No federal judge can touch your assets if they're outside the U.S. That's why OJ hasn't had to pay a penny of the multi-million dollar judgment against him by the Goldmans in all these years. He's surely worth millions, but no judge can touch it. He just draws off "pocket cash" through a third party to keep him going month to month. No bank accounts that could be attached. Lease your car and live in a home in Florida where homes are immune from judgments. It works. With what you know about the WT, if you were in the liability insurance business, would you want them as a client? Very high risk. Believe me, they know this better than we do.
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  26

  Are JWs allowed to go to wedding of disfellowshiped child?

  by freetosee in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  since i've been out for so long i would like to ask if there has been any change regarding the association with disfellowshiped.

  can active jws go to the wedding of their df'd sons or daughters?

  any policy change?.

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  LennyinBluemont

  My notes from one of my last C.O. visit meetings with the body of elders (Society's outline) states specifically that if an elder or MS attended a wedding, reception or other social event where a DF'd person was known to be present, it would call their qualifications into question. In other words, "Don't do it! Or else!" A lowly publisher might get a wrist slap, at worst. But if everyone else sees an elder doing something, in the minds of many, that makes it OK. It's interesting to see that as one "advances" in the organization, submission to the BORG becomes a much heavier requirement, since "the GB giveth, and the GB taketh away."
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  23

  My eulogy for my father yesterday

  by LennyinBluemont in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my father died last monday, the 4th at the age of 82. he had suffered from severe alzheimers for the last few years.

  his funeral was yesterday.

  as my brother and i made the arrangements (my mother died in 2003) he suggested and i agreed that we would each give a eulogy.

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  LennyinBluemont

  Thanks everyone, for your kind thoughts. I appreciate the "cyber" family I have here. And I know more than a few of you beyond the internet, which is even nicer. I hoped that by sharing this, some may see that it is possible to "repair" your relationships with non-JW family in the aftermath of leaving. I do believe an apology is appropriate, at least for many of us, because it was a choice. I saw cousins I haven't seen in over 30 years that I used to be really close to as a child. Some are now in their sixties. Of course, I regret the lost years. Also, for those who "lurk" and are still in the organization, I wanted you to see what lay ahead of you down the road, if you continue to carry on as I foolishly did for so many years. Please don't waste another day! When they're gone, they're gone.
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  23

  My eulogy for my father yesterday

  by LennyinBluemont in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my father died last monday, the 4th at the age of 82. he had suffered from severe alzheimers for the last few years.

  his funeral was yesterday.

  as my brother and i made the arrangements (my mother died in 2003) he suggested and i agreed that we would each give a eulogy.

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  LennyinBluemont

  My father died last Monday, the 4 th at the age of 82. He had suffered from severe Alzheimer’s for the last few years. His funeral was yesterday. As my brother and I made the arrangements (my mother died in 2003) he suggested and I agreed that we would each give a eulogy. I know that being a JW from 1973 till 2001 had damaged my relationships with my parents and many of my relatives. For instance, I didn’t attend the funerals of either of his parents, since they were in a church. I’m sure that must have hurt him a lot. Of course, there were 30 years of Christmas and other celebrations for which we were absent, as well as family reunions. I knew that I had hurt, not only my parents, but many of my relatives as well, by ostracizing them.

  After 5 or 10 minutes of relating anecdotes from the past, I’ll relate how I concluded, to an audience of about 60, mostly family, to the best of my recollection (and yes, I did get pretty choked up getting some of the words out):

  "Today is primarily about Pete. But it’s also about all of us. And I feel it’s an appropriate time to set something straight. I’ll address my concluding remarks, especially to members of our family. In 1973, at the age of 22, I made a mistake. A big, big mistake. I decided to join the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I had become fully convinced that I had found the "true path". For almost 30 years I totally devoted my life and energy to this religion. I now appreciate that it was a false path, and I was actually part of a cult. Like most cults, this one emphasized alienation from family who are not members. I know that this damaged my relationship with my father and mother and with many of you over the years. I first began to understand what had happened in 2003. By then it was too late to apologize to my mother, who died that year. But it was also too late to apologize to Pete, since he had entered the first stages of Alzheimers, and I didn’t want to cause further confusion and burden him with this. So today, I want to kind of vicariously apologize to them by apologizing to you, and I hope you will forgive me for having a self-righteous attitude and isolating myself from my family during all those years."

  Placing my hand on the coffin and looking at it, I continued, "Pete and I never talked about this. Life and death and the meaning of everything. For 30 years I thought I had it all figured out. Now I realize I don’t have it figured out at all. And sometimes, when I look around me, I wonder if there really is anything to figure out. Maybe it’s like the joke about the old, wise rabbi. As he lay on his deathbed, his students lined up, each one wanting to speak with him for a moment and glean some morsel of wisdom. The boy at the front of the line said, ‘Rabbi, teach me the secret of life. Give me the best of your wisdom.’ The old rabbi turned his head slowly toward the young student and gazed intently at his face. After a long moment he spoke, ‘Life. . . . . . . . . . . .is like a river.’ The boy stared at him in wonder. The boy behind him tapped him on the shoulder excitedly and asked, ‘What did he say? What did the rabbi tell you?’ The boy at the front of the line told him, ‘The rabbi said, Life is like a river.’ Then the boy behind the second boy tapped him on the shoulder and asked, ‘What did he say? What did he say?’ The second boy turned around and said, ‘Life is like a river’. And so the message was passed all the way back to the end of the line until the last boy was told, ‘Life is like a river.’ The last boy, puzzled, tapped the boy in front of him and asked, ‘Why is life like a river?’ The boy shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘I don’t know.’ So he then tapped the boy in front of him and asked, ‘Why is life like a river?’ And so the question passed it’s way back up to the front of the line. And as the boy at the front was asked the question, he turned to the rabbi and asked, ‘Rabbi, why is life like a river?’ The rabbi, pondering the question for a long moment, turned to the student and raising his hand said, in a frustrated tone, ‘So. . . . . . . . life is not like a river!’"

  The joke got a pretty good laugh. After my brother shared his remarks, his two daughters came up to speak, with many tears. Of course, they mainly commented on their grandfather. But the younger then said while crying, "And we’re so glad to have Uncle Lenny back in the family." At the reception afterwards, many came up to me and expressed their appreciation for what I had said. And I got some really long hugs.

  I just thought I’d share this.
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  43

  This is my first post after many years of reading this site

  by And He Ran in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is my first post after many years of reading this site.

  i am from the west midlands, england.

  i was raised as a jw and got baptised aged 17, started "fading" whilst at university when i started to broaden my outlook and realised that all the so-called "worldly people" i had for so long been encouraged to avoid associating with were actually often open-minded, honest, generous and loyal people.

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  LennyinBluemont

  Welcome to Simon's refugee camp. As you've seen, you'll find all sorts here. Some calm and reflective. Some still dealing with difficult emotions trying to sort it all out. Stick around. We need you as much as you need us. It's good you came out into the sunlight. It will encourage still others to come out from the shadows. Here's a virtual hug from me and the wife. (((AHR)))
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  59

  JWs selling Bossert Hotel-New York Times Article 1-30-08

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  new york times.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/nyregion/30hotel.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin.

  hotel where dodgers celebrated a title is up for sale .

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  LennyinBluemont

  Here's my take on it. This is asset protection 101. The WT recently got a pretty painful jab to the tune of $13 million due to some pedophilia on the part of local representatives of the corporation. They knew it was in the pipeline for years and hoped to avoid it, but didn't. They know there are more in the pipeline. What to do? They've got pretty deep pockets, at least tens if not hundreds of millions in assets. The U.S. is the most litigious society on planet earth. Is that where you'd want to keep all your assets, particularly with your exposure to high limit lawsuits? A federal judge can seize any property within U.S. borders to settle a civil or criminal matter. Can you say hotels, factories, residence and office complexes? He/she has no jurisdiction when it comes to assets outside the U.S. What you do is simple. You liquidate and move the assets offshore. (This is what O.J. did. That's why he's never paid a penny of the multi-million dollar judgment against him in the Goldman case. It's been said that half the members of Congress have offshore corporations to protect their assets.) I'd be willing to bet anyone here a Guiness that the Society has offshore corporations in the Cayman Islands, and the bank accounts attached to those corporations are getting bigger everyday as the fixed assets are liquidated and the cash conveyed offshore. They can then use those corporations to invest the funds for growth. Here's another prediction: They will source out all printing and shipping in the future to remove exposure to those assets as well. They're circling the wagons, folks.
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  30

  Surely the WT wouldn't LIE about motel/hotel accommodations?!?

  by RisingEagle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was eating lunch with 3/4 of my active jw family earlier today and they were bemoaning the idea that they were going to have to leave the central oklahoma area very early tomorrow morning to find a room so they could attend an assembly on the otherside of the state.

  they had tried calling the 'approved' hotels and motels in the town where the assembly is being held and they were all booked.

  so that left them looking at the rest of the approved list and having to travel as much as 50 miles away to get a room.

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  LennyinBluemont

  On a related topic, years ago we applied to be delegates to an international convention in Ukraine and were accepted. (Oh, what a wonderful privilege!! Can't wait to see and encourage the brothers and sisters in Ukraine! ) When we got information from the "tour" company I was amazed at the price we were being charged. So, just to compare, I spoke with a number of local travel agents to get prices on what would amount to the same tour, same boat trip, guided tours of museums, etc. etc. Doing the closest comparison possible, the most expensive quote I got was less than half what the Society's "tour" company was charging us. And with the Society, we were travelling with a large group, so we should have qualified for volume discounts. So I called the Society and asked why the tour was so expensive, when travelling as a couple, several companies would provide the same things, including airfare, length of stay, class of hotels, cruises, etc. for less than half what we were being charged as part of the Society's "arrangement". All I got was a bullshit answer like, "Well, brother, it is very difficult to coordinate a large group like this with all the buses and planes and have everything synchronized the way we need it to be, so it's a lot more work involved." I told him that I could understand that, but given the fact we should be getting volume discounts, even if some aspects were more expensive, it should still not be any more expensive than pricing anyone can get any day of the week. He didn't have an answer for that. We cancelled the trip. I hate being lied to. Another little "light" that should have awakened me, but alas, the indoctrination ran too deep.
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  63

  April study wt - unbelievable mind control!!

  by breakingfree in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  has anyone else had a browse of the new study watchtower for april?

  what then are valueless things?

  thus their words were "a valueless thing.

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  LennyinBluemont

  "Go peddle crazy somewhere else. We're all full up here."

  Jack Nicholson, "As Good as It Gets."
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  36

  Neil Young - Your Favorite Songs or Albums from Him ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  another musician i have really liked over the years !

  has a crazy , catatonic electric guitar sound over the years that sounds like the guitar is moaning or screaming at times .

  pretty creepy at times ; but very cool !

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  LennyinBluemont

  Sailing heart-ships thru broken harbors
  Out on the waves in the night
  Still the searcher must ride the dark horse
  Racing alone in his fright.
  Tell me why, tell me why
  
  Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself,
  When your old enough to repay but young enough to sell?
  
  Tell me lies later, come and see me
  I'll be around for a while.
  I am lonely but you can free me
  All in the way that you smile
  Tell me why, tell me why
  
  Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself,
  When your old enough to repay but young enough to sell?
  
  Tell me why, tell me why
  Tell me why, tell me why