Posts by Arthur

3

I suppose "spiritual food" is similar to "physical food"... except when ...

by Frequent_Fader_Miles in

on page 103 of the revised flock book (1991 edition) where it discusses disfellowshipped ones (and social gatherings), it states that "loyal worshippers of jehovah will want to adhere to the inspired counsel at 1 corinthians 5:11.

" the "counsel" given there involves "not even eating" with a disfellowshipped one.. if the rank and file aren't allowed to have a literal meal with the df'd person, how come they're allowed to have a "spiritual meal" with that same person?

why should the df'd person be subjected to the torture of going to the kingdumb hell just to be ignored by everyone?

Arthur

Why should the DF'd person be subjected to the torture of going to the Kingdumb Hell just to be ignored by everyone?

Well, there are many advantages. For one thing, it gives the rank and file something to gawk at and something to gossip about in their field service car groups.

Second, it brings the attendance figures up.

Third, it is a reminder to everyone else what will happen to them should they ever think it a good idea to ask too many questions or engage in "independent thinking".

You see, Jehovah's theocratic arrangement has many advantages!

16

Reject the WTS........get treated the same as one who is disfellowshipped?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

jw
friends

persons who make themselves 'not of our sort' by deliberately rejecting the faith and beliefs of jehovah's witnesses should appropriately be viewed and treated as are those who have been disfellowshiped for wrongdoing.

--the watchtower, september 15, 1981, page 23.. .

did they really teach that?

Arthur

A noteworthy point, Ray's wife, Cynthia, also "ate with" the Gregersons and was not df'd..............

Very true, I forgot about that. Drew Sagan and his wife went through some irrational judicial committee nonsense recently. He wrote about a lot of it in his threads, and I talked with him on the phone about it a few days ago. I have known Witnesses who have been involved in behavior much worse than what him and his wife ever did (holding a YMCA membership to use the pool), and have never been called to a jc. His wife even offered to drop the membership, but they still DFd her.

16

Reject the WTS........get treated the same as one who is disfellowshipped?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

jw
friends

persons who make themselves 'not of our sort' by deliberately rejecting the faith and beliefs of jehovah's witnesses should appropriately be viewed and treated as are those who have been disfellowshiped for wrongdoing.

--the watchtower, september 15, 1981, page 23.. .

did they really teach that?

Arthur

Incidently, what ever happened to Peter?

Peter Gregerson and his wife still live in Alabama. He is on the board of directors of BRCI. It was almost a year ago that I sent him an email, and it was his wife that replied. They still attend the annual BRCI conferences where Peter is a regular speaker. I have one of his lectures on audio tape, and it's very good.

35

Does Anyone Know Any of the Newer GB Members? Please share your stories.

by neverendingjourney in

jw
friends

i have read some threads here that suggest that anyone thinking big changes are coming to the watchtower due to all of the new gb appointments is fooling themselves.

its been said that ted jaracz has been heavily involved in selecting new gb members and wants to ensure that they all share his hard-line vision for the religion.

i must admit that i thought there would be big changes by now since six of the nine gb members were appointed within the last eight years.

Arthur

He apparently almost caused a minor revolt at one assembly when he told the crowd that American football was too violent and therefore inappropriate for Christians.

I remember when Losch made these statements numerous times. As I recall, this was about ten years ago when I went to Bethel to visit some friends there. A Bethelite friend told me how Losch made these identical comments to the Bethel family. As could be expected, it caused quite a stir; which included many jokes at Losch's expense.

My friend told me that after Losch made these statements to the Bethel family, a joke started circulating around Brooklyn that the NFL stands for "Not For Losch".

14

How To Destroy The Watchtower Religion

by saved in

jw
friends

i mean destroy like they're down to 200 members and most of them are in some retarded people's homes in albany new york..

Arthur

The latest, for those who have read the "Coming Next Week" box on the Craptower magazine is that the blood issue is a conscious matter. The big issue there is that they lied by claiming it always was that way, when most people know about the years of blood cards and talks about accepting blood.

Hey, hold on now. I just noticed this right now. Which article is this? Which page? You wouldn't be pulling our legs would you?

14

How To Destroy The Watchtower Religion

by saved in

jw
friends

i mean destroy like they're down to 200 members and most of them are in some retarded people's homes in albany new york..

Arthur

Also, seems to me that beliefs that operate on a persecution complex, like the jw's, will only grow stronger from attempts to destroy them. They feed off of such things.

Most certainly. And, we destroy ourselves in the process. The Soviet Union slowly declined and fell apart without anyone firing a single shot. Let the Watchtower do what it does best; shoot itself in the foot. As cynical as it my sound, there is not one thing that we can do to force any JW to see things differently. They must wake up themselves. I can say this, because all of my family are JWs - I'm the only one who's out.

The best thing that we all can do individually is to help those who are just starting to wake up and who come out of the organization. We can be supportive of newbies who come on here, and let them know that there is a life after the Watchtower.

13

Tony Robbins - huckster or hero?

by lawrence in

i have recently run into a few tony robbins "devotees" at work, so i started doing research on his past, his trials, and his writings; the fiji island resort and the 10 grand fire walking seminars.

do any of you have experience with tony?

i'd like to hear your thoughts.

Arthur

He has a program called Lessons In Mastery which I think is very good. It's geared more toward business and career, but the basic thrust of the program is in training the mind to think more creatively, develop better ideas in one's life, and to effectively solve problems. A couple of his other programs have some good tidbits as well.

The firewalking on the other hand is a little over the top. This practice has been debunked by physicists who explain (and have actively demonstrated) that it does not require any spiritual powers, or "higher mind" to be able to perform it without getting burned.

On the whole, I think he's got some good information that can be very helpful in some areas.

88

James Penton claims big Watchtower revelations to come...

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

he commented on another site:.

oh, i must mention: when barbara and rud publish, they will shake the foundations of the watchtower society, and i will have to rewrite many parts of apocalypse delayed to fit with the newly revealed information.

no one knows the dry rot that has existed in that organization as do they.

Arthur

The WTS may gradually stop growing, reorganize, or even shrink, but I suspect it will be around (probably in much the same form) for a good time to come. Perhaps if it is forced into bankruptcy by successfullawsuits or an internal organization coup by "apostates", but without such drastic steps, inertia keeps the organization going in much the same direction.

I feel the same way Leolaia does. Any unflattering information, revelations, scandals, or shake-ups can all be attributed to Satan trying to destroy the "spiritual paradise". No critical thinking or serious questions necessary. Just "keep on keeping on" is the mantra.

I commented in a previous thread that I don't believe that the Watchtower Society will ever have any kind of Enron-like implosion. They will go the route of Montgomery Wards, Sears, and Gemco.

16

Reject the WTS........get treated the same as one who is disfellowshipped?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

jw
friends

persons who make themselves 'not of our sort' by deliberately rejecting the faith and beliefs of jehovah's witnesses should appropriately be viewed and treated as are those who have been disfellowshiped for wrongdoing.

--the watchtower, september 15, 1981, page 23.. .

did they really teach that?

Arthur

It seems that since Ray eventually DA'd himself, his uncle who had the power in the publishing and real-estate firm (WTS) decreed that nobody could talk to DA'd people any longer.

Actually, Raymond Franz never DAd himself. He was disfellowshipped for associating with Peter Gregerson who had DAd himself. The unreasonableness of the situation is obvious when considering the fact that Gregerson was Franz's employer and landlord at that time. Franz was caught eating with Gregerson in a restaurant, and was disfellowhipped for this.

As far as the Scripture: "not of our sort" that the WTS cites as a proof text; a closer examination of the text will show how this Scripture has been grossly misaplied by the Watchtower theocrats. At 1 John 2:19, John is speaking of those "not of our sorts", but in the context, he is speaking about "antichrists". This is speaking of those who have rebelled against God and Christ (abandoned the Christian faith). Nowhere does the text indicate that it is speaking of persons who cannot conscientiously follow the dictates of certain men (or an organization). But, in Watchtowersm, God and the Organization in Brooklyn are one and the same. Hence, this kind of Scripture twisting is par for the course.

12

L.A. Catholic Archdiocese to Pay $660 million

by JK666 in

l.a. archdiocese to pay $660m for abuse.

by gillian flaccus.

los angeles (ap) - the nation's largest catholic archdiocese has settled its abuse cases for $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal, the associated press has learned.

Arthur

I can't wait to see what the WT response to this will be now that they too have paid millions to victims.

I am very curious as to how rank and file JWs are going to react; particularly those who do not yet know about the WT's settlement. Here in the LA area, this settlement has been big news, particularly on local talk radio today. I'm sure that this settlement is going to provide much fodder for JWs to discuss the woes of Babylon the Great. But, what is going to happen when they are confronted with the information about the WT's settlement for the first time? This settlement has peaked the interest of the public in regards to the issue of pedophilia in churches. It's not hard to figure out that many people will find out about the WT's settlement through casual Google searches. Immagine JWs responses when householders begin to inform them of their own organization's sexual snafu. Doooop !