<<I knew Death to the Pixies was a bit off...>>
Reply: Well BLAH to you ....Inside-joke.
as an able apologist for jw dogma, i am wondering whether you give me answers with scriptural backing for a few questions.
in other words, whatever your answer is i would like scriptures to support the answer.
i hope that is not too much to ask.. (1) was charles taze russell ever the "faithful and wise steward" assigned to give people their "portion of meat in due season"?.
<<I knew Death to the Pixies was a bit off...>>
Reply: Well BLAH to you ....Inside-joke.
knocking documentary newsletter #1 summer 2005. .
witnesses.
stories of real families to humanize jehovah's witnesses.
<<<guess it's all in the "eye of the beholder"-right? Take our President Bush here in the USA- when I look at his face and watch him on TV, I see an evasive individual- he has a certain 'shifty' look to me, I don't trust him! Other people see a great President. The only thing that matters is what history says about him in 20-40 years, history will prove to us if he was a great -or one of the worst Presidents .Can we not use history to see if the Watchtower Society has been a great religion , or one of the worst? Those of us on this discussion board who are former members of Jehovah's Witneses have done this and found the Watchtower society to fall into the 'worst' category. Living in the present will not reveal the truth about this organiztion. You are ,too close to just one page of history- you need to step way-way back, Mr. Pixie, to see whole story about the Watchtower Society.
good luck, >>>
Reply: That is fair enough, I had my non_Jw phase as I did not get baptized til recently. I know both worlds, and I know that the JW faith is not the hate-filled destructive cult portrayed here. I believe it is this consistent over-drma that turns people off. Can you really say you guys can give a fair piece about Jws in any setting, taking all sides into account? I say no, I believe Joel can given his distance from the faith. With the spotlight on you, you fellas just may explode in anticipation :>)
knocking documentary newsletter #1 summer 2005. .
witnesses.
stories of real families to humanize jehovah's witnesses.
<<<Who in the film "walked away" from being a Witness, Death to the Pixies? Which person? Of course the views of those who ARE STILL IN are favorably expressed, otherwise they could be disfellowshipped after the piece airs. What would you expect the answers of active, practicing cultists would sound like?>>>>
Reply: So confrontational. You do not need X-JWs to give a balanced perspective in a documentary.. . The Producer can study the issues himself and weave a fair piece. Relax, you have not seen the movie bro, wait, then discuss. Until this happens you are only proving the point often made against X-Jws.
I do think the pre-emptive uproar is classic.
as an able apologist for jw dogma, i am wondering whether you give me answers with scriptural backing for a few questions.
in other words, whatever your answer is i would like scriptures to support the answer.
i hope that is not too much to ask.. (1) was charles taze russell ever the "faithful and wise steward" assigned to give people their "portion of meat in due season"?.
<<<I wonder if Death To The Pixies likes Frank Black's solo work, and if so, what is your favorite record. Do you prefer Frank Black alone to Frank Black and the Catholics?>>>
Reply: His first two solo albums were great... His work with the "Catholics"?....I am happy that the Pixies re-united.
as an able apologist for jw dogma, i am wondering whether you give me answers with scriptural backing for a few questions.
in other words, whatever your answer is i would like scriptures to support the answer.
i hope that is not too much to ask.. (1) was charles taze russell ever the "faithful and wise steward" assigned to give people their "portion of meat in due season"?.
These questions are of a hodge podge nature and are not tied to any comment I made, so I chuckle a bit :>)
Organizational procedures do not need explicit biblcal backing, nor is it possible in all aspects, as contexts of situations change throughout the years, note Bart Ehrman on this:
"Many ethical issues that are resolved by Christians.... are not referred to in scripture. I often have my students at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ask me about what the New Testament teaches about certain topics. Usually these topics that they're concerned about have to do with sex. What does the New Testament have to say about extramarital sex? Premarital sex? And the answer is, well, it says nothing at all. The New Testament doesn't deal with such issues explicitly because the New Testament was written in a different world from the world that we live in today.......The ethics that Christians follow today are ethics that are based, perhaps, on the New Testament or on other Christian traditions but are not explicitly dealt with in many cases in the New Testament. "
I would disagreee that this example is not mentioned in scripture, but he does lay out how the Church, when it comes to procedure, cannot necessarily support itself from scripture. Everything is not spelled out, nor is it reasonable to expect it that to be the case.
<<<(1) Was Charles Taze Russell ever the "faithful and wise steward" assigned to give people their "portion of meat in due season"?>>>
Reply: I believe that was held.
2 snipped for brevity and was irrelevent IMO.
3.) (3) Is it a Scriptural requirement to confess any our sins to men, even "gross" sins?
Reply: No, it is not stated I believe, but it is implied given how shunning occurs in scripture. I guess, in a 1st century setting one could wait for the APostle Paul to find out you have been immoral or apostasizing, and then be demonized forever by him in letters. Shout out to Hymenaeus..
(4) Is there Scriptural basis for the existence of Judicial Committees made up of elders?
Reply:No, in the scriptural example, it is much more embarrassing and painful.
(5) Is there Scriptural basis for requiring compliance with an unscriptural policy on pain of disfellowshipping?
Reply: No.
6) Is there basis for requiring that Judicial affairs be conducted in complete secrecy, and that no witness or recording device may be present if the accused wishes to have proof of what happened at the proceedings
Reply: Nope, the "how" of disfellowshipping is not explicitly laid out, but we know it happened. They also do not lay out the details for the "appeals" process either. A little common sense is needed for the Church in Modern times with regards to procedure. The important thing is you follow the teaching for how to keep the congregation clean. Jws, though with some disagreements from me, follow this.
(7) Is there basis for teaching that a man who has been disfellowshipped or has left the organization is no longer the spiritual head of his family?
Reply: Beautiful question my good man, no, you got me here :>)
Regards.
knocking documentary newsletter #1 summer 2005. .
witnesses.
stories of real families to humanize jehovah's witnesses.
<<<What we really want to hear from you is what it's like to live in a disfunctional JW family- you have a brother and sister who are by your own admission are messed up. JW's just can't seem to admit that the WT might have caused some problems in their life. It can all start with an honest admission of "I'm not happy". I have asked many JW's that question "are you happy" and after the say -yes or sure- I ask -"when are you going to stop lying?". The reason I mention this ,is a householder asked me that very question over 25 years ago. I kept asking myself why I was lying to everyone around me- G-d sure knew I was living a lie. I didn't know it then, but I had already started on the path out of the JW's as soon as I admitted to myself that, "I was not happy being a JW".>>>
Reply:Well since you ask, they were non-JW related reasons why certain members of my immediate family have/had problems. Both parents had passed by the time I was 18...My brother and sister were both out on their own when this happened. They kinda went buck-wild a bit. I was lucky enough to catch on with a JW family and it helped out a great deal. "Dysfunctional"? from my perspective I think it is time to admit that many people have had a hand in their own dysfunction and not look for the scapegoat. Some people, in all walks of life, simply cannot avoid dysfunction. It is a part of life. The way you heal yourself is by taking responsibility and correcting it.
I guess JWs could be the un-loving dangerous cult as portrayed by certain admittedly "dysfunctional" ones, but as we see from those who have investigated apart from the dissenters, like in "Knocking", that is not the viewpoint they apparently walked away with. But we should suppress this view? Right? Speak against it, without really even knowing how "Knocking" handles the situation; for it is impossible to do a piece on JWs and come away with a positive view? He did not do a good enough job, this skilled, Non-JW educated film-maker. We should take the opinion of unhappy dysfunctional critics (like the superbly elegent Danny Haszard) who speak out before even hearing the piece..? Are we (metaphorically speaking of course,) "Disfellowshipping" this work before even a Judical Committee is held? Tsk..Tsk..
knocking documentary newsletter #1 summer 2005. .
witnesses.
stories of real families to humanize jehovah's witnesses.
Danny Haszard should not be causing this much disturbance in your life...
Hey, He has a sense of humour.... Probably closer to 5 than to 1000-s, and as far as "stalking", well I was just curious about your racist views :>) Wanted an answer...
knocking documentary newsletter #1 summer 2005. .
witnesses.
stories of real families to humanize jehovah's witnesses.
<<<I agree with Danny and only question your credibility>>
You are going to agree with Danny and THEN question someone elses credibility. A documentary should not be causing this much disturbance in your life... Maybe you should sit a few plays out in regards to this religion, maybe relax a bit.
No-one, ever, should agree with one of Dannys viewpoints....
knocking documentary newsletter #1 summer 2005. .
witnesses.
stories of real families to humanize jehovah's witnesses.
You guys are pathetic.
i've just re-read c-o-c, a book which never ceases to amaze me.
on the book's jacket there are the inevitable short reviews on the back.
not sure what the exact name for them is but you get them on most books and they often resort to hyperbole, eg " a rip roaring, gut busting, bodice ripping, roller coaster of a novel" .
If Hell-rider were to write the review it would read: "One good f****** book, A f****** must read for any twat that has ever wondered about the inner workings of the JW GB".