Posts by sparky1

56

One reason behind the slow steady decline of JWs

by AllTimeJeff in

hello first of all to those that remember me.

i'm doing well, 10 years since my missionary trip to cameroon.

i've met a couple of goals.

sparky1

Divergent,

Thanks for your critique of my post. I was a Bethelite and know from whence I speak. As a child, adolescent and young adult of 50's, 60's and 70's I have heard Nathan Knorr speak in person at assemblies, special meetings and Bethel more times than I can remember. If you will reread my post, you will find that I was trying to make a correlation between his persona and its effect on the Jehovah's Witness community and Organization.

Persona: the aspect of someone's character that is presented to or perceived by others; a role or character adopted by an author or an actor. - Oxford dictionary online

Could Nathan Knorr be a monster sometimes. Absolutely!

56

One reason behind the slow steady decline of JWs

by AllTimeJeff in

hello first of all to those that remember me.

i'm doing well, 10 years since my missionary trip to cameroon.

i've met a couple of goals.

sparky1

Nathan 'Papa' Knorr was a finely crafted persona that served the Organization very well. At Bethel he was all business and kept his nose to the grindstone. When he gave talks at assemblies and other gatherings he projected a fatherly and comforting demeanor. He appeared full of confidence and spoke with authority without overpowering his audience. 'Papa' Knorr was head of the Bethel family and 'head' of the 'spiritual family' of Jehovah's Witnesses. In the current arrangement who can 'fill his shoes' in the Jehovah's Witnesses 'family'?:

Stephen Lett: He's the eccentric uncle everyone wishes was never invited to Thanksgiving dinner.

Mark Sanderson: He's the youngest brother in the family that moves back home because he can't make it in the real world. He has great plans but can never seem to 'get back on his feet'

David Splane: He's the egghead older brother that needs to be right all the time in order to make the family look good.

Anthony Morris: He's the old biddy aunt that scolds you at the drop of a hat. Never encourages you but is always finding fault. Everything displeases him.

G. Jackson: He's the uncle that your parents warned you about. 'Don't get too close to him. He's not trustworthy'.

G Loesch: He's the foreign brother-in-law that everyone tolerates because his accent makes him seem cool and from the 'old country'. No one puts much stock into what he says, however.

S. Herd: He's is the 'family mascot'. No one pays too much attention to what he has to say, but he is not too bright so he makes a good scapegoat.

No one in this bunch engenders confidence or comfort. CARDBOARD CUTOUTS posing as human beings without any ability to inspire or lead their fellow congregants.

56

One reason behind the slow steady decline of JWs

by AllTimeJeff in

hello first of all to those that remember me.

i'm doing well, 10 years since my missionary trip to cameroon.

i've met a couple of goals.

sparky1

Great post Jeff! Thanks for adding this idea to the board so that others can think about this. I think that you are right about these men. They were District Overseers, Circuit Overseers, Special Pioneers and Missionaries all thrown together to 'govern' a huge religious/business empire with no 'real world' experience beyond their loyalty to the 'mother' organization. It reminds me of when the first residence building was built at Watchtower Farms. Someone got the bright idea to 'call in' Circuit and District Overseers to work on the project since they would be both spiritual and humble. My understanding was that this backfired terribly because these men were not used to hard work and none of them wanted to be told what to do since they were used to bossing other witnesses around in their small circuit and local 'kingdoms'. These men on the current Governing Body (tm) seem to prove the theory of the 'Peter Principle'.

15

Just read "Zealot - The Life And Times Of Jesus Of Nazareth"

by EdenOne in

so, keeping in mind that mrs. eden isn't so comfortable with english, i have been searching for books on the subject of the historical jesus and who wrote the bible, and i got very frustrated because there's not a lot of those in my native language.

most of what i read in english simply hasn't been translated, which is a shame.

in any case, i managed to get two: bart ehrman's "misquoting jesus" and reza aslan's "zealot".

sparky1

If you enjoy the work of Bart Ehrman , you can find much of it on DVD,CD or video and audio download at www.thegreatcourses.com. When their material goes on sale, it is very reasonably priced.

144

JW message becoming more and more relevant

by lsw1961 in

mans requirements are limited which can be satisfied with a little and tension-free endeavor..

however man attempts not only to collect but also to grab and amass everything to the excess.

somehow he feels that he can be happy only when he has in abundance whereas others have nothingwhich seems to be the thread that runs throughout the history.

sparky1

JW message becoming more and more relevant.

Of course Catholics can make the same claim:

"The kingdom of god means, then, the ruling of God in our hearts; it means these principles which separate us off from the kingdom of the world and the devil; it means the benign sway of grace; it means the Church as that Divine institution whereby we make sure of attaining the spirit of Christ and win the ultimate kingdom of God, where He reigns without end in 'the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. (Rev 21:2)."- Kingdom Of God-Catholic Encyclopedia-Catholic Online

Jehovah's Witnesses DO NOT hold a monopoly in believing that mankind 'needs' Gods Kingdom. Take your pick of Bible interpretation as you will, but don't try to convince others that one particular 'brand' of Hocus-pocus is more 'real' than the others.

68

My Explanation of God.

by LAWHFol in

i am a theist & this is my version of god.. instead of using the term god, i'll use "unseen presence".. this unseen presence, is perfect in every way.

this presence is so perfect it can seem a bit boring.this perfection can be seen in the laws of science, for example gravity.. it does not sometimes work, depending on the mood of some one in the sky, it always works, perfectly.

gravity does not get angry and decide to stop working, and cause the death of innumerable living beings, it just works, through thick or thin, it is reliable.. what allows this unseen presence to remain perfect, is the fact that it does not act based on emotion, or strategy or regret.. it acts based on law, mathematical law.. this unseen presence is not partial to jews or muslims or jw's it is completely impartial at all times, to everything that exists.

sparky1

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12

WOW, I just found a great reason for a man to have long hair, from the Watchtower Org!

by Greybeard in

jw
friends

"the bobbed hair craze is sure to lead to baldness, sooner or later.

the reason for this is that human hair is like a tube sealed at the free end.

when the hair is cut, the oils which are the life of the hair become dissipated.

sparky1

Ha ha......always good for a laugh. I started losing my hair at 17 years old and the loss was greatly accelerated during my Bethel 'service'. Funny thing is, I almost never wear a hat even in the cold New England winters.

27

The Many Faces of Lett

by Watchtower-Free in

.

sparky1

Steve Lett getting his weekly Electroconvulsive Therapy treatments.

"I do believe in electricity, gravity, wind and Gods kingdom."

"I DO believe in electricity, gravity, wind and God's kingdom.'

"I DO BELIEVE in electricity, gravity, wind and God's kingdom."

"I DO BELIEVE IN electricity , gravity, wind and God's kingdom."

"I DO BELIEVE IN ELECTRICITY, gravity, wind and God's kingdom."

"I DO BELIEVE IN ELECTRICITY, GRAVITY, wind and God's kingdom."

"I DO BELIEVE IN ELECTRICITY, GRAVITY, WIND and God's kingdom."

"I DO BELIEVE IN ELECTRICITY, GRAVITY, WIND AND God's kingdom."

"I DO BELIEVE IN ELECTRICITY, GRAVITY,WIND AND GOD'S kingdom."

"I DO BELIEVE IN ELECTRICITY, GRAVITY, WIND AND GOD'S KINGDOM!"

"I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO...............................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(No offense intended to anyone who has ever needed ECT therapy.)

7

Jehovah went from love to fear--when?

by gma-tired2 in

when i was a child and teen jw in 50s and 60s jehovah was always referred to as our loving god now we are warned not to fall in the hands of a god to be feared.

when did jws change god from loving to a cruel god?

sparky1

Yes I agree with you sir82. But the new 'Green Bible' could have helped to add more fuel to the fire!

11

If they're just going to emulate Jimmy Swaggart and the like (e.g.: JW Broadcasting), why do they need such a massive compound in Warwick?

by Calebs Airplane in

they're obviously getting rid of the rags, drastically reducing printing of books in general, eliminating special pioneers, etc., etc.. ... what could they possibly need a 1.6 million square feet compound for (not including outside space) in the middle of nowhere?.

just to put things into perspective, 1.6 million square feet is equal to the square footage of roughly twelve (12) costco warehouse clubs.

wtf?

sparky1

They have lots of competition out there and Jehovah's Witnesses are the 'Johnny come lately' religion to the 'electronic church' style of proselytizing. When you are new to the game like they are, there is lots of catching up to do!

http://www.tbn.org/