jstalin

Joined

• started 73 topics
• posted 1,220 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by jstalin

• 
  20

  SECRET DOCUMENT: Publication Standards Manual

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  download the publication standards manual: http://www.davidgladden.com/jw/docs/stdm-e-2006.pdf

  have you ever wondered what guidelines the wts uses to write its publications?

  shortly i will be releasing another closely related memo titled "writing for our journals".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  The document says:

  "The Living Bible, The New Living Translation, and The New Testament [Johannes Greber] should never be quoted in any publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses. "

  Any ideas why?
• 
  6

  The Establishment Clause and Hypocrisy

  by underbeliever in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the establishment clause is the part of the bill of rights that grants freedom of religion in the united states.

  it is why religions like the jehovah's witnesses can exist.

  the witnesses have defended and elaborated on the establishment clause themselves, on many occasions, in the supreme court.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  A couple of points on your message here and your essay.

  1. The constitution does not grant rights, it recognizes them. The founder believed in natural rights, which predate government. The Bill of Rights doesn't set out to grant rights, simply recognize pre-existing rights and guarantee them (see the 9th amendment and the rarely-mentioned preamble to the Bill of Rights)

  2. A state religion doesn't necessarily imply a mandated religion. For instance, in the UK, the Church of England is the official state religion and the queen (or king) is the head of the church, but it is not mandatory for all UK subjects to practice the state religion.
• 
  54

  You've rented a billboard in front of a KH. What would you put on it?

  by whyizit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you could rent a bill board where you knew jehovah's witnesses would see it, what would you put on it to try to effectively reach them?

  and don't forget that lots of other people would see it to.

  maybe the regular joe would be able to develope some good questions from your ad too.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  "Masturbation is not mentioned at all in the Bible."

  - Questions Young People Ask - Answers That Work
• 
  33

  Do You Believe In The Bible At All?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you believe god used men to write his thoughts?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  No. The bible is a violent story book of an ancient nomadic race.
• 
  69

  A long overdue statement

  by truthsetsonefree in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  most of you have seen me post under my alias truthsetsonefree.

  some call me "tsof" which is cool too.

  one or two of you know me by my real name.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  TSOF:

  I've been in your position. I was at the top of an organization for much longer than I should have because I thought I could do better by changing it from the inside than the outside. I was wrong. It was a gigantic bureaucracy and essentially unchangable. Far more damage can be done to a bad organization from the outside where you can speak your mind and tell the truth. Faking it and hoping that, because of your position, you can change things, won't work. You'll end up with little to show for it and probably more than a few grey hairs. If you haven't read it, check out Ray Franz's Crisis of Conscience. He was at the top of the WT and his attempts at change only got him kicked out.

  I'm just relating my own experience from a similar situation. Large organizations have a way of not changing unless forced to do so. They need a crisis on their hands to begin the change process. And I don't mean a little crisis, I mean the organization's very survival. And most large organizations which come to that point do not survive.

  Think of the Watchtower as GM. GM has been in decline for 10 years or more and may go bankrupt in the next few years, and it is still having a very hard time changing. The WT is like GM 20 years ago. It has a long ways to go before it enters crisis mode.

  A friend of mine who was part of the board of directors of the same organization as me stayed on a little more time just to see some of the little things through, one person at a time. She felt that the overall organizational management was too far gone to change anything, but she did have it in her power to help a few people in individual situations. She decided that was her place, and I respect her for that. I see your situation as something like that.

  I don't want to sound like a downer, but you're not going to change the organization. About all you can hope to do, as you have said, is help those individual cases.
• 
  33

  What do you say in response to this???????

  by cr1234 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my brother in law wants to know::: if jw's don't have the truth then where do you go to worship?

  if i had something better then he would follow?

  i know i have heard this before from jw's but couldn't find the thread to answer him correctly.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  If he's happy where he is and wants to feel "safe" someplace, then he should stay. Why try to talk someone out of it if they are happy? If deep down you know he has reservations and problems, then talking him out of it may be legit.
• 
  53

  IS THERE A SAFE/EFFECTIVE WAY?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  now that i'm single again i face the same problem that many baby boomers face: how in the world do you meet somebody??.

  i don't go to bars.. i don't like smokers.. i am not nutty enough to be attracted to young and dumb.. crazy music isn't my cup o' tea.. i like conversation with at least some minimal content.. online dating service seem outrageously weird to me.. what's a poor lad to do?.

  any reccomendations?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  go gay?

  That ain't so easy either.
• 
  34

  Share a Quote You like

  by Lo-ru-hamah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last night i was surfing the net when i came upon this beautiful quote.

  i thought that everyone here would get it.

  those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  I don't remember where I was

  I realized that life was a game

  The more seriously I took things

  The harder the rules became
• 
  32

  Who did Satan hurt?

  by Gill in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, who did satan ever hurt in the bible?.

  apart from the killing of job's children, which jehovah 'allowed' him to do in his 'do your worst,' speech to satan, who did satan ever physically hurt?.

  i've been trying to think of an occassion where he physically damaged anyone and can only come across jehovah, and instructions from jehovah to have people kill eachother and jehovah killing people.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  Interesting subject. Check out the Satan article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan

  The explanation of Satan's behavior in Job as the "prosecuting attorney" is one I haven't heard before. He sounds like a misunderstood guy :)
• 
  35

  Check out my new tattoo!!!! :) pics!!!!

  by kittyeatzjdubs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tah dahhh!!!

  i got it done friday night after work.

  it's a true to life tattoo of my cat bucky.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jstalin

  Ouch.