applehippie

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Posts by applehippie

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  26

  Star Chamber Tactics by the Governing Body (related to Merriman/May)

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the following is an excerpt from edmund gruss' "the four presidents," a book that consists of interviews with former high-level officials in the brooklyn headquarters of the watch tower society in brooklyn, who spent years working with the members of the governing body and presidents of the watch tower society.their true identities will be kept hidden likely until they pass on due to family connections still within the wt, but peter gregerson, barbara anderson, ed gruss, and dozens of others including myself personally know these interviewees and can attest to the truthfulness of what they say, based on total harmony with our own experiences which often overlapped.. .

  what is a "star chamber?

  "wikipedia defines it thusly:.

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  applehippie

  marking
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  35

  How might one convince a Jehovah's Witness to read "Crisis of Conscience?"

  by Nickolas in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm well into the book, can't put it down, it is just so fascinating and so utterly devastating to the credibility of the wtbts.

  i suspect that any jehovah's witness who has a modicum of self respect and intelligence could not but finish the book a step or more on the path to emancipation from this awful, people destroying religion.. i really want my wife to read this book but i anticipate that she will refuse on the basis of it having been banned by the society as the worst kind of apostate literature.

  i am genuinely saddened that she will not grant me the same kind of trust and respect she gives so lovingly to her watchtower masters and i will doubtless say this to her when she turns down my invitation.

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  applehippie

  No one suggested leaving it in the bathroom- prime private reading area. Might curiosity and a few spare minutes get her to peek at it? Just a suggestion as I know I was very careful not to touch anything on my husbands table because I didn't want him to know or get the satisfaction that I was looking. Even when I finally started posting here I did so with a private browser window. I love my husband but he is somewhat a "force of nature" and can become a bit over enthusiastic and I need peace and quiet and time to digest. I don't like feeling swept along. I am now more open to asking questions and discussing things but he has also learned to take more time.
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  27

  So how are you spending this long weekend?

  by Terry in

  1. social
  2. humour

  too much tv.

  too much food.

  vacuuming.

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  applehippie

  Most of this weekend has been Spring Cleaning... in preparation for a major picnic on our property. My husband kind of invited everybody from church. Lots of hotdogs and hamburgers and soda. And kids. I'm actually looking forward to it.

  (Even if I DID have to clean out the chicken coop so the kids can enjoy looking at the cute chickens, hee hee)
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  22

  Expressing love in a positive way compared to JW "TRUTH"

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  september 21, 1897 edition of the new york sun carried a famous letter to the editor written by a little 8 year old girl, virginia o'hanlon.. .

  the little girl had been told by her friends that santa claus was a myth and she wanted to know the truth of the matter.. at first virginia went directly to her father who she trusted to give her honest answers.

  after all, he was a respected doctor!.

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  applehippie

  I was raised as JW and I never knew anything else. We 'celebrated' our parents anniversary in January with dinner and gifts for whole family. I think it helped a lot. My Mom and Pop were very reasonable with us as children within the organization. After I was married, my husband did not follow this practice and I kind of missed it. After my second daughter was born I guess I was sort of looking for something special and magical to share with her- but not really break rules with. (more like bend I guess...) I started playing the Tooth fairy....she loved it. I made a special frilly pillow with gold lace and a pocket for the tooth ( I still have all my kids baby teeth) and traded money for it. You know. Well, this went on for a while until she spilled the beans at Book study. The kids really razzed her and told her "no such thing". I had some explaining to do- but I think she really wanted it to be sort of, kind of, true so we still pretended for a while. I think a little bit of fantasy and magic is kind of nice. So much ugly and plain mundane boring stuff in life. The tooth fairy pillow is still somewhere in her treasures even tho she's 20 now and it's a little special thing we have between us.
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  22

  Encouragement letter, insight on the truth behind Jehovah's Witnesses

  by Butterflyleia85 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  (this is a letter i wrote to my cousin after she left from visiting me after 3 years!!

  she flew 5 hours to see me last weekend!!).

  hi ****!i'm so happy you came to ***** and visited me!!

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  applehippie

  marked
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  2

  Baptismal Questions - Database

  by Haelcer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  (1) have you recognized yourself before jehovah god as a sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds from him the father through his son jesus christ?.

  (1) have you recognized yourself before jehovah god as a sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds from him, the father, through his son jesus christ?.

  (2) on the basis of this faith in god and in his provision for redemption have you dedicated yourself unreservedly to jehovah god, to do his will henceforth as that will is revealed to you through christ jesus and through gods word as his holy spirit makes it plain?

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  applehippie

  Wow! Jackpot. My mom has been trying for the last couple years to find some of these changes. I sent her the database. Thank you for fomatting it so neatly with citations.
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  31

  How can JW's not believe in the soul and yet believe in the spirit?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this is a real puzzler.. for christendom at large there is no problem in thinking of humans as a body (tent) which houses the soul.. for jehovah's witnesses the human is the tent.

  no soul is contained.

  (they make "soul" the same as body.).

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  applehippie

  I just Googled "how often total cell replacement of human body". I remembered from Biology class talking about the continual replacement of cells in our body and generally speaking we are always replacing ourselves throughout our lives, with the exception of certain specialized cells. So, are we "cloning" ourselves anyway- or what? DNA and RNA are made up of building blocks of protiens and are themselves made of atoms. I would think if the were "rebuilt" in exactly the same way in the same order, then I am again "ME". The part that makes me myself are my thoughts and experiences. That's the only part that matters.

  Throughout time, mankind's remains have gotten recycled many times over, through plants, then animals and probably used in the formation and nurishment of other humans. How then can each and every "original" part of yourself be reclaimed?? Why does it really matter?

  The same argument (which I have had with my husband) that says God is capable of anything and can get all our "bits" back applies equally well, in my opinion, to the position that God can totally "recreate" us and we will be who we were- ourselves. To me it is far more problematic to try to pull original parts out of everything else it has become a part of than to go down to the molecular/atomic level and rebuild. That's the way we were designed to work anyway. We eat and nurish our bodies and repair or replace the parts that need it. What's the difference?

  By the way- The Egyptians thought they had this problem solved by preserving the body as a mummy with vital organ stored in jars nearby. However, they scraped out and discarded the brain...
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  10

  Question on Job 14: Does it support, or contradict, the idea of a resurrection?

  by sir82 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a question for all the bible / jewish theology scholars out there..... the wt society has long championed job 14:13-15 as being the earliest reference to a resurrection.

  here it is, quoted from the nwt:.

  13 o that in she ol you would conceal me, that you would keep me secret until your anger turns back,that you would set a time limit for me and .

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  applehippie

  Well then if Job's hope has been destroyed doesn't that mean that God cares more for trees than for man and specifically for Faithful Job?
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  29

  What drove you? Love or Fear?

  by fade_away in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this has probably been discussed here before, but i'm new so sue me.. i think the religion of jehovah's witnesses has been an amazing but tragic social experiment proving that the mind is most vulnerable to brainwashing when it's in an unhealthy state.

  it seems to attract the bipolar, schizophrenic, depressive, and the paranoid.

  it preys on negative emotions like sorrow and fear.

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  applehippie

  And yet for me it's more terrifying and unjust to think of souls being in Hell forever, tormented for eternity. The alternative of just anhilation in death in preferable.
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  303

  I've been outed...

  by brotherdan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so this weekend my wife had a major grand mal seizure for the first time in her life.

  she was rushed to the er.

  a few hours later while i was at her side she had another major one.. it was the scariest moment in my life.

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  applehippie

  Daniel,

  Back when my husband was beginning his investigating and he was so angry at the society, we had many disagreements. He felt that I was against him and would not listen. I did try but he is so forceful at times I really needed him to back off and let me absorb at my own pace. I never denied his right to do for himself what he needed to do but it was all he wanted to talk about and I needed him to just shut up sometimes.

  So, he decided he needed to leave. OK. I let him leave but it took time to get all that organised. Once he got some space,I think he calmed down and started to miss us, me and the girls. It was very hard for me at the time too. I couldn't find a job, that's very hard in this area. I had kids that needed rides to school, and I was caring for his mom, who I loved like my own. He did not give up- sometimes I wished he would just go away but he didn't. He made regular times to see the girls at our house. And he made time to spend with me. I resisted but he didn't go away.

  What I'm saying is, take your time. Don't be in a rush do do what she says. Be solicitous and loving. Show genuine care for her health. She needs some emotional space but you can do that at home. If it comes to you moving out- it doesn't mean it's over yet even then. The nights will be lonely for her too. I know. Do the flowers. Take her to dinner even if it's apparently to "talk" or discuss how things need to be handled. It can work if you give a chance. But along with not giving up, remember not to push too hard. Giving space is just as important.

  We're doing fine now. In many ways it's so much better than it's ever was. I hope that encourages you.