Posts by ThomasCovenant

114

Announcement: Another favorable court ruling regarding Napa County lawsuit

by AndersonsInfo in

i'm thrilled to tell you about the latest court decision made in california a few days ago which kimberlee norris said would be announced today, monday, on jwd.. on july 3rd, i started a thread where the last two rulings in the napa county, california lawsuit, charissa w. v. watchtower, new york, et al., were posted.

both decisions were favorable to the plaintiff.

see http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.

ThomasCovenant

Hello all Please forgive my ignorance in these matters. Could somebody (if they haven't already done so) put this into very thick laymans terms as to what is the significance and possible or likely consequences of this ruling. I for one would like to see the WTS collapse. Is this ruling going to have any impact? If so, what. Apologies to those who can see clearer than myself. Thanks Thomas Covenant

18

How do you stop hating?

by ThomasCovenant in

i'm finding it very difficult not to hate those still in.. my wife says i hate the religion but shouldn't hate the individuals.. i think she's correct but it's getting more and more difficult not to show my feelings of anger and hatred.. the thing is i was one of them for 30 years so i should have more patience, respect and sympathy.. i think they fall into two camps.

1 deluded.

2 self deluded.

ThomasCovenant

Hi

I'm finding it very difficult not to hate those still in.

My wife says I hate the religion but shouldn't hate the individuals.

I think she's correct but it's getting more and more difficult not to show my feelings of anger and hatred.

The thing is I was one of them for 30 years so I should have more patience, respect and sympathy.

I think they fall into two camps

1 Deluded

2 Self Deluded

It should be easy to have feelings of sympathy for group 1 but it's still hard.

I do not want to end up a bitter person.

Thanks

Thomas Covenant

41

My JW friend just read Crisis of Conscience!!

by fullofdoubtnow in

jw
friends

i have recently been in fairly regular contact with a long - time jw friend who, despite my da status, decided to put our 25 - year long friendship before the shunning doctrine.

she has visited me, discreetly of course, several times, and has read on jwd and other sites when she has been here.

she recently watched some of the child abuse videos on silentlambs, and all she has seen has caused her to doubt the truth of the wts, after 45 years as a baptised jw, with many of those years spent regular pioneering.. it was the local dc a couple of weeks ago, and she only went for half a day, and missed the rest of the sessions, and she hasn't been attending all of the meetings lately either.

ThomasCovenant

Hello Marion I have been coming to this site for about 18 months now maybe 2 years but haven't posted very much. However I read every topic every single day and have done my best to read all the ones prior to my arrival. Being a 'man' in his 40's I always try to keep the British stiff upper lip and try not to show any emotions. But this is the first time I have cried reading a posting. Your first posting has left me in tears both of sadness and joy. Thank you and all the best for the future.Welcome Thomas Covenant

29

Did I miss something? Is this the new resolution at the D.Convention?

by Star Moore in

1. we are determined to intensify our preaching activity.

2. to live up to our dedication to jehovah and give him exclusive devotion.

3. to follow jesus' example closely and be no part of the world.

ThomasCovenant

Hi

I remember the last but one District Assembly that I attended at the Millenium Stadium Cardiff there was a ten point resolution made.

Each point was long. After point 3 or 4 you could tell people were having difficulty keeping up.

By point 6 and 7 nobody was really taking any more notice.

By point 10 nobody surely could remember what the previous 9 points were. It was obvious it had been stretched beyond any reasonable chance of people actually agreeing with the resolution.

After the resounding "Aye!" and the concluding song and of course the "thisweaskinjesusnameamen" I hurried to the loo.

Whilst stood at the urinal I was so tempted to say to the other brothers also there

"Well, I fully agreed with points 3, 9 and 2 but I'm not so sure about points 4,1 and 8. How about you brother?"

I wish I had now.

Maybe if I go this year with my still attending wife I may pluck up the courage.

Thanks

Thomas Covenant

10

Would a "devout" JW's not go to a DF'd/DA'd child's funeral?

by booker-t in

after reading a post by jwfacts the other day i am wondering how far a "devout" jw's would go to followering the wts rules on shunning.

if a "devout" jw's df'd/da'd child suddenly died would that jw's go to the funeral?

i just cannot believe a person can be so cruel or brainwashed as to not attending their own child's funeral.

ThomasCovenant

Hi

Questions from Readers

Watchtower 15th May 2002 page 28

"Would it be advisable for a true Christian to attend a funeral or a wedding in a church?"

"A church funeral is a religious service.........

Being in a group where everyone else is engaging in a false religious act, a Christian may find it difficult to resist the pressure to join in.

How unwise to expose oneself to such pressure!"

Thanks

Thomas Covenant

8

Learning on the Loo / WT53

by ThomasCovenant in

wt 53 march 15th page 164.

wt53 april 15th page 227.

ThomasCovenant

Hello

I know many , including my wife, don't think it's very hygienic but every morning whilst doing a twosies I have to have something to read.

Well very often my wife will hear me laughing out loud in the loo. This is not to camouflage any explosive sounds from the rear sluice gates but because I've taken to reading the only bound volume I have, which is Watchtower 1953.

I find some of the stuff in there incredible and I only wish I had more volumes. I have the CD rom 2003 but it's not the same for reading as a book.

Anyway I thought I might share some of the quotes, hope you don't mind.

(Quotes' site with his no commentary of the nonsense the society has printed was the one 'apostate site' that had the most impact on me to utterly convince me it wasn't the 'Truth'.)

WT 53 March 15th page 164

'... for 1952 some two million major crimes were committed in the United States, meaning that one out of every 75 is a criminal,...'

Did I miss something in my maths schooling. I'm assuming the population of the U.S. was 150 million in '52 but you don't divide the population by the number of crimes to find out how many criminals there are. Surely it could have been just one super criminal committing all of the crimes.

WT 53 March 15th page 164

'They are a people...., being the most joyful as well as the most optimistic people on the face of the earth.'

'....they are the most energetic, most progressive and most enterprising of all peoples.'

Guess who these people are.

WT53 April 15th page 227

'Nothing is more Godless than communism.'

WT53 April 15th page 229

'There was a time when there was only one language, and that, as God's Word indicates, was Hebrew.'

An indication here but then...

WT 53 April 15th page 231

'For the first some 1800 years of mankind's existence there was but the one language, Hebrew.'

Hope you enjoyed the nonsense.

Thanks

Thomas Covenant

1

Paragraphs

by ThomasCovenant in

how do you form paragraphs?

using mozilla firfox.

thanks

ThomasCovenant

How do you form paragraphs? Using Mozilla Firfox. Thanks

16

Blood transfusion = rape article

by ThomasCovenant in

something tells me there was an article in the society's literaure equating forcing a transfusion to rape.>

please could somebody find it for me as i want to bring it to the attention of some former friends who said the blood issue is no big deal.>

if their young daughter had to have blood then they would just let the authorities make her a ward of the court and give her blood.>

ThomasCovenant

Hello all > Something tells me there was an article in the society's literaure equating forcing a transfusion to rape.> Please could somebody find it for me as I want to bring it to the attention of some former friends who said the blood issue is no big deal.> If their young daughter had to have blood then they would just let the authorities make her a ward of the court and give her blood.> But would they hand her over to be raped> Mind you there are truly fine precedents for that aren't there.> Thanks in advance> Thomas Covenant.> PS hope the paragraphs come out.>

32

Apostates and Slacker Dubs Commit the Unforgivable Sin

by gumby in

if your not too rusty with dub teachings, you remember that to commit the unforgivable sin, you had to deny the holy spirits begetting you.

it would be like one of the annointed purposely saying................ "i don't want to worship jehovah anymore nor have any part of him or his son inspite of the fact he annointed me".. in christendom, it is likewise a denial of the spirit when you know it's for real.

!...one day freddy franz got so pissed at apostates and slacker dubs, he decided he was gonna write a watchtower article and kick some major ass!

ThomasCovenant

Hi

This is exactly the point I was trying to make in my 1st post Defintion of an Apostate page223 under Beliefs

(sorry but don't know how to show link) ( and didn't know how to use paragraphs using Mozilla)(don't really know if this works either)

To me it seems that the strict definition of an apostate in the 1st sentence in the Reasoning book

could apply to anyone who for whatever reason and for however long abandones God's worship..

I like to take things to extremes to prove points and here I would say if for example a brother swore then for that brief period of time he has abandoned the worship of god and is therefore an apostate. He then repents and feels sorry and is OK again but there is no minimum or maximum time factor in the definition.

If I'm apostate for speaking out against the 'truth' then so is every fader, disfellowshipped person, slacker and double lifer.

Thomas

17

Definition of an apostate?

by ThomasCovenant in

my first post but i've been looking for about 12 months.

very interesting to get others views on jw matters.

very quick background.

ThomasCovenant

Hi there to all. My first post but I've been looking for about 12 months. Very interesting to get others views on JW matters. Very quick background. Brought into the 'truth' at 11, had doubts along the way and finally stopped going to meetings 12 months ago. Wife still goes occasionally but now doesn't believe it.She doesn't want to upset extended family applecart just yet. Anyway my question which I brought up to my parents is 'What is an apostate?' 99% of witnesses would say it's someone 'speaking aginst the truth' or'someone trying to lead others away from the truth'. However the Society definition in the Reasoning book under 'Apostasy' says that is 'abandoning or deserting the worship and service of God..'The Reasoning book then goes on to give 'some identifying marks of apostates' i.e. the classic ones that all JW's think as being what an apostate is. These are only identifying marks though. Not what an apostate is. My arguement with several brothers including my parents is that strictly speaking this definition could apply to everyone who stops worshipping Jehovah for whatever reason and for however long. This is everyone who is disfellowshipped for any wrongdoing at all until of course they perhaps come back, in which case the apostasy ends. All faders are also apostate under this definition. Everyone leading a double life. Me also for saying that I don't believe a word of it anymore. My parents were resigned to the fact that I stopped going but I'm now pointing this out to them and it's causing them concern. Am I wrong in my interpretation? I would welcome comments. PS Thank you SIMON for this forum. Intelligent discussions abound here. Thank you QUOTES for your web site on JWism. My blood boiled at the society's treatment of freedom of expression. Thank you BLONDIE for your incredible insight into JW teachings and doctrines and the effort you put in to your research. Thanks to all those who put so much time and effort into posting here. Thomas