Posts by Derrick

67

Spirits/Entities - A question for all.

by Nemesis in

i would like to ask a question if i might: how do ones here view spirits?

(not the alcoholic kind) i have left the org.

now for at least 5 years, although i did go to the memorial last year, but not where i used to go to the hall; i was not df or da.. .

Derrick

Nemesis, as someone who has experienced spirit activity and the phenomenon surrounding the presence of spirits (such as seeing an orange hurl across the room from a bowl, and other strange occurrences that were seen, heard, felt; strange dreams of events in the near future that occurred exactly as in the dream; distortions of time; and other phenomenon usually associated with the paranormal), I have stopped talking about these experience for the most part. People just don't want to hear anything but social "pleasantries" and affirmations that the world is an "ordinary" and predictable place. These same people find it fascinating to hear about others' experiences on television (such as the Discovery Channel and PBS, to name a few networks that chronicle the paranormal and supernatural). So long as it's at a safe distance, they're okay. Bring this reality up close and personal in the form of telling them you personally experienced it, and suddenly it crosses what I call the "panic threshhold" in humans. This threshhold is similar to when early homosapiens in a jungle, who consider the stars appearing and disappearing in the canopy above them, entered an open field and gazed upon a sea of stars above, for the very first time. A mixture of awe and panic occurs when this threshhold is crossed, leading to immediate anger, denial and a feeling it cannot be real.

Yes, I believe spirit entities exist. My personal experiences have also lead to my questioning whether the Watchtower Society's interpretation is correct of some scriptures that state the dead are unconscious. Did the Bible writer truly mean to convey that all those who die are unconscious, or was he merely observing that a dead corpse that decays to nothing, is obviously no longer a living person (and consists of nothing more than unconscious tissue and bone)? In other words, if the Bible writer believed a separate spirit body that could be similar to angelic spirit bodies is what "animates" a human body -- like the driver of an automobile "animates" the automotive machinery to drive it places -- then perhaps that writer meant something else entirely? It's difficult to know, especially when one has observed real-life phenomenon that directly contradicts a literalist interpretation that the dead are unconscious as they await a resurrection. Are the dead "non-existent" except in "Jehovah's memory" as the Society teaches? Or do we remain conscious, some of us deciding to remain on Earth for a time before finally going to be with God before our resurrections? This fundamental question is a no-brainer for JWs who have never experienced supernatural phenomenon. Just like it's easy to be a skeptic who denies the existence of extra-terrestrial life until one has personally seen evidence up close.

Derrick

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

-- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

9

Reply to James Bonnell

by silentlambs in

jw
friends

as some of you may have noted james bonnell the local po here made a comment in the local paper.

today i recieved this response in an email, i thought it was worth sharing.. silentlambs.

the following is the exact email quoted below:.

Derrick

I reply to this man, (who is being used by the Jehovah's Witness Society),
I don't appreciate YOUR twisted views of this matter. I have seen evidence of your wisdom. When you were approached on the matter of my daughter's father, who admitted to molesting my younger sister, you looked at my little sister and stated, "What is the big deal, it is not like you were raped or anything."

That is shocking a Circuit Overseer who is considered a so-called "overseer of the flock" would dismiss an immoral act of "loose conduct" (the molesting of your little sister even if claimed in didn't lead to rape).

According to your quote, the Circuit Overseer has admitted to considering "loose conduct" against a child as inconsequential! Accordingly, the Society's own guidelines dictate this man should immediately be removed from his position and brought before a Judicial Committee on disfellowship charges of apostasy (in this instance, the apostasy being giving the impression that molestation which falls under "loose conduct" against a child by an adult not leading to actual rape is of no consequence).

Is the Watchtower Society aware of what this Circuit Overseer said in this quote? To your knowledge is the Watchtower Society considering any action against this man so they at the very least appear "consistent" to the public and not partial in judgment?

Aside from that, the whole thing that happened to your sister, especially by someone masquerading as a "Christian," makes me nauseated. If you're going to tell me the Watchtower Society is adding insult to injury by allowing this Circuit Overseer to continue after being informed of his remark, then I consider this one of many "smoking guns" that proves the governing body is not really Jesus Christ's "faithful and discreet slave" but imposters.

Derrick

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

-- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

15

Amazing's Story on XJWNews.com

by mikepence in

jw
friends

i have come out of retirement from contributing to xjwnews.com in order to post amazing's story there.. part 1 is up, and each subsequent part will be posted, 1 per day, for as long as amazing keeps this up.. when the series is complete, with amazing's permission, i will provide a downloadable acrobat pdf version of the whole thing.. peace,.

mike pence

Derrick

Slipnslidemaster: I stumbled upon this thread and your post raised my curiosity because you're so outspoken in counseling mikepence.

You've clearly stressed the spirit of copyright law, and the importance of the copyright owner's wishes. Although I might get flamed real bad for asking this, I have decided that I would rather speak my mind and get flamed than to cower in silence. So here goes! :)

To preface the question, since the "likeness" of a celebrity is often considered protected under copyright and they're fussy about public use of their photos (or "likeness" of their image), I was wondering if you're the Hollywood celebrity David Hasselhoff? (David Hasselhoff appears at the bottom of all your posts, and it looks like his picture in the area where the poster often places his or her photo, often so that others get a sense of who's posting.) If you're not the celebrity David Hasselhoff then why are you using his facsimile? Perhaps that's your photo, and you're a "celebrity lookalike"? Another possibility is he has given you his permission to use his name and photo?

I think mikepence should be commended for wanting to help get the information out. I also respect Amazing's right to control the electronic distribution of his work.

If it's that important to Amazing that only http://www.freeminds.org/ display his work, then I sincerely hope mikepence doesn't feel that his good intentions were slighted. Having observed Amazing over the years, it's my opinion that Amazing is a straight shooter and has good reasons for wanting to limit the web sites where his work is distributed. One good reason is that the more places it is displayed, the more difficult it is to correct grammatical or content errors on the fly.

Placing one's own work on the web should never be burdensome. However, if everyone thinks they are doing good by reproducing that work on their own web sites, then copyright owners must spent increasing amounts of time (with diminishing returns) to:

- track those copies (in order to submit multiple changes to a growing cadre of web sites displaying the work);

- repeatedly chase down webmasters who are on vacation or not responding to email in order to submit changes.

That is why I agree with the spirit of the copyright law that allows authors to control their work. The reason is pragmatic and not the least bit personal.

Just speaking IMHO.

Derrick

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

-- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

59

NEW LIGHT! Earthquakes-3-22-02 Awake!

by messenger in

jw
friends

well we now have another ray of new light that has flashed forth.

it is a new teaching regarding earthquakes.

for close to eighty-five years now the core believe of jehovahs witnesses has been the last days teaching that earthquakes have increased in intensity and frequency since 1914. no longer, now it seems it has gone the way of the generation that would not die who were alive in 1914. now we have the great new discovery that there were not more or stronger earthquakes since 1914, almost 40 years after experts and many good men were disfellowshipped for saying otherwise.

Derrick

Because years ago on the H20 forum when this issue was brought up by Alan Fraudbacker and others I simply pointed out that Jesus never said there would be an increase in earthquakes, only that there would be "earthquakes in one place after another." That doesn't necessarily equate to an increase in frequency or intensity.

I recall that you really did say that, back then. If anyone doubts it, the H2O archives from 1996 to 2001 are all archived. Any search of keywords "You Know earthquake" should find the old posting.

It's rather curious they have adopted your view on this matter several years after you posted it. This seems to coincide with someone saying we will see them start to adopt "new light" in other areas also posted a few years ago.

Perhaps they saved your postings, You Know, and really listened to what you had to say?

Derrick

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

-- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

9

Near Death Experiences - How do JWs explain

by Double Edge in

jw
friends

i'm not a jw, but it is my understanding that jw's don't believe in an immortal soul that passes on after the body dies...that when a person dies, they 'sleep' until called forth in the resurrection if they were found worthy.

is that correct?

if so, what do they think of the numerous documented near-death experiences over the centuries?

Derrick

Years ago I was hit by a car and almost died. I had a "near death experience" you could call it. I was flying away from my body in pitch darkness, and can remember a feeling of shock and disbelief at my sudden death, and recall repeating just two words over and over and over again: "I'm dead." I couldn't believe I was dead, but I knew that I was.

Ever since that event, I have had experiences with the paranormal and supernatural (which I've recounted from time to time in postings).

How do I reconcile this experience and subsequent experiences thereafter? I can't, to put it simply. This is a major contradiction between the reality I experienced and continue to experience, and the teaching that seems to negate that reality.

Derrick

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

-- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

18

I was at the SM last night.....

by VioletAnai in

jw
friends

they were discussing sodom and gomorah and how if jah had found a few righteous men in that city, both cities would be spared.

not a one was found.

however, they mention jah protected lot and his daughters, as they were faithful and living nearby.

Derrick

If they truly were righteous, how could they even think this way. Am I missing something?

Barbaric as it sounds by our lofty modern-day standards, VioletAnai, the girls were doing what they had to. Coarse as it sounds, what else can be said? There were no men available to provide offspring to allow the nation to survive, as you subsequently pointed out. Indeed, "desperate times call for desperate measures" according to the old cliche. ;-)

At the risk of sounding crude, the girls were desperate, and most likely uncomfortable in knowing they might be "raping" their dear old dad. But they made the sacrifice of getting him drunk and then getting him to have sex with them for a very good reason. Not getting into that reason (this would require an exhaustive discussion of the surrounding scriptures), suffice it to say their intentions were purely to have offspring for future generations. Therefore, the girls were not evil as were those destroyed in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to answer your concern there.

What about the age old excuse for pologamy and incest in the ancient world: The nation had to survive, so therefore, it was allowed.

There you go. You superficially answered your own question of "why?" and scratched the surface of a deep subject. Not the answer one wants to hear, but it touches upon a pragmatic and reality-based reason. Obviously there's a lot more historical breadth there, if you're willing to dig down far enough to find it. The reasons for these girls actions are based upon the times they lived in, the level of their moral and spiritual awareness (as opposed to modern-times where we are far more advanced in these areas), everything was different back then.

In closing, one really appreciates the patience and loving-kindness of Jehovah over his people in the dark ages of human history, when reading these accounts and observing Jehovah's actions in response.

Derrick

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

-- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

14

Did we just kill Bin Laden?

by freeman in

jw
friends

there is a story on the news wire services to the effect that the american forces have killed some top leadership personnel in bin ladens terror network.

a contact and friend of mine that works for one of those nice 3 letter organizations said the guys were high-five-ing all over the place last night.

he said it was in fact his agency that pulled the trigger via remote control and "placed a hell-fire in the middle of the bastards".

Derrick

Of course, he should be kidnapped and spirited away and undergo a sex change operation first.
Let him live out his life being mistreated as a woman is in the Muslim world.

Why not let him live out his life being mistreated as a woman in San Quentin instead? ;-)

Derrick

67

WARNING - THE WTBS CAN LOCATE YOU

by Jim Dee in

jw
friends

guys and girls.

the society have now instituted carnivore - their data tracking system installed into the uk bethel to track all apostate email and activity.

the reason is the amount of "leaks" of confidential mail and facts.. they have tried and failed with legal blocking, so now they are plugging the leaks, these guys were brought into mill hill late last year after the leak of the june 1 letter.. their method is to use message boards and chat rooms for the "disaffected" and get them to go to other "society monitored" web sites.

Derrick

Do not follow any Hyperlink from any WTBS discussion group where you don't know the poster and you are still "in the truth". If you do it may be the society trying to track you.

For many sites given in posting links, I copy the URL to my clipboard, go to http://www.yahoo.com/ then paste the URL into the URL Address field and press ENTER. Sometimes, however, I go directly from the post to the site so that the webmaster of that site will see the referring URL of the post. (For example, I go directly to some true blue JW sites given as links in posts, in the hope the JW webmaster will visit the referring URL which is a posting.) It depends on whether I'm concerned the webmaster at the link has the ability to track down my I.P. address. Tracking me down already is difficult in that it's origin is in another part of the U.S. from where I'm physically located.

For what it's worth, those who are believed to be "consorting" with Kent Steinhaug are on their "most wanted" list to track down. There is a ranking based on whether the trackee is (a) baptized and in good standing, (b) a threat in some manner to the organization, and (c) trying to influence congregation members to join their underground efforts. Although rich in resources, all resources are ultimately limited and the Society's resources are no exception. They must prioritize their efforts.

The Society has always had a special forces team of highly knowledgable brothers and sisters at Bethel who work from home to track down the brothers and sisters who have "apostasized" from "the truth". Anyone who is "working within the organization" to "undermine" it is a target, and once found they could be suddenly asked to speak with the elders after a meeting. (We know where that goes.)

However, new Internet spy software from major security companies that costs under $500 per license, developed in the past few years, has given the Society's special forces some razor sharp teeth in tracking down those "poor disaffected apostate schmucks" who dare to operate as "moles" within the organization. (Translation: They're trying to find and disfellowship anyone who is a baptized JW in good standing who is involved in either the anti-WT or reform movements on the Internet.)

Sometimes, rogue JWs take it upon themselves to report anyone they can identify on the Internet, and use their technical prowness towards this end.

I have heard the Society also uses an outside private investigative firm (unconfirmed rumor from theocratic grapevine). This outside firm or agency is supposedly top-notch in that it employes former law enforcement officials, former CIA operatives and former NSA people. It doesn't come cheap, although money isn't an issue for a multi-national corporation bringing in billions in contributions each year. They have already tracked most of us down and have a dossier/file on each of us. This file supposedly includes our history from baptism, our credit history and assets should they decide to file a personal suit in order to silence us, and so forth. (Again, this is unconfirmed, take it with a grain of salt.)

One email from untraceable source claimed that I'm already tracked down and on such a database. Supposedly my file alone fills a whole file drawer (ROTFMAO!). In contrast, Kent Steinhaug's file supposedly fills an entire file cabinet. Now that's quite funny! What about Kent could possibly fill an entire file cabinet?? I question that rumor, but who knows. However, the bottomline is, I have not been approached by the elders to this day, and don't get any unusual "vibes" that something is amiss amongst the elders as regards their view of myself. Only time will tell! ;-)

Derrick

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

-- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

2

Child Molestation - Maintaining A Balanced View

by Derrick in

in other posts about silentlambs where i defended bill bowen's efforts to expose child molestation, proplog2 raised a lot of ire by challenging bill bowen's integrity amongst other things.. however, in proplog2's posts he mentioned concern for the possibility of an innocent adult being falsely accused of child molestation.

naturally because his overall views were objectionable to many, the proverbial baby got thrown out with the bathwater.. in other words, many (but not all) seemed to dismiss the possibility that an adult accused of child molestation is automatically guilty as charged!.

proplog2 pointed out that further complicating matters is that anyone who does not automatically conclude the accused is guilty by virtue of the accusation by a child, is considered a closet child molester themselves.

Derrick

Sexual abuse is a horrible thing. We should not forget, though, those who were repeatedly beaten by their own parents, and who were told to be quiet about it by the congregation.
There should be a class action lawsuit for them also.

I totally agree! Abusive parents shouldn't get off the hook.

Derrick

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

-- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

2

Child Molestation - Maintaining A Balanced View

by Derrick in

in other posts about silentlambs where i defended bill bowen's efforts to expose child molestation, proplog2 raised a lot of ire by challenging bill bowen's integrity amongst other things.. however, in proplog2's posts he mentioned concern for the possibility of an innocent adult being falsely accused of child molestation.

naturally because his overall views were objectionable to many, the proverbial baby got thrown out with the bathwater.. in other words, many (but not all) seemed to dismiss the possibility that an adult accused of child molestation is automatically guilty as charged!.

proplog2 pointed out that further complicating matters is that anyone who does not automatically conclude the accused is guilty by virtue of the accusation by a child, is considered a closet child molester themselves.

Derrick

In other posts about Silentlambs where I defended Bill Bowen's efforts to expose child molestation, Proplog2 raised a lot of ire by challenging Bill Bowen's integrity amongst other things.

However, in Proplog2's posts he mentioned concern for the possibility of an innocent adult being falsely accused of child molestation. Naturally because his overall views were objectionable to many, the proverbial baby got thrown out with the bathwater.

In other words, many (but not all) seemed to dismiss the possibility that an adult accused of child molestation is automatically guilty as charged!

Proplog2 pointed out that further complicating matters is that anyone who does not automatically conclude the accused is guilty by virtue of the accusation by a child, is considered a closet child molester themselves. Proplog2 himself was accused by a few of supporting child molesters because his vitriolic defense of the accused (but not convicted) was highly objectionable to many (including myself, although I never considered him a supporter of child molesters).

It is sad when the majority in a civilization decide someone or group of persons is "guilty" before they are convicted, and turn against those who persist in believing it's POSSIBLE the accused is innocent.

IMO an unbalanced view of one accused of child molestation:

If a child accuses an adult of child abuse, then the adult is automatically guilty. They are even called "the accused child molester" as if they are a child molester facing the proverbial firing squad but not formally found guilty. A court hearing is simply a formality in the case of child molestation, many believe, in that we already know the accused is GUILTY AS CHARGED. Right? Not necessarily!

Although this attitude hasn't been expressed, I believe sometimes this attitude has been implied by those wanting to believe the child.

Obviously, maintaining a balanced view means to accept the possibility that the accused is innocent.

I personally believe in Bill Bowen, because I believe he is trying to champion the truth. My observation is that he does not advocate the automatic guilt of anyone by simple virtue of the fact they are accused by a child. Rather, I believe Bill Bowen is balanced and accepts the possibility that some accused molesters will be found innocent.

Contrast this to a world where we collectively agree to "sacrifice" every single adult accused of molestation to the prison system. Suppose we lived in a world where we bluntly admitted that the court trial was really a "formality" and that ALL ACCUSED ARE AUTOMATICALLY CONSIDERED GUILTY? Imagine a world where we believed it is impossible for any child to falsely accuse anyone of wrongdoing?

Thanks to those like Bill Bowen we don't live in such a world, but are moving toward a world THAT ADVOCATES JUSTICE FOR GENUINELY ABUSED CHILD VICTIMS! We are moving away from the old world where, centuries ago, the Salem Witch Trials resulted in the burning-at-the-stake of anyone -- adult or child -- accused of witchcraft. The mere accusation alone was a death sentence! An innocent verdict was IMPOSSIBLE.

Civilization back then, in essence, had collectively agreed to sacrifice all accused individuals to death, in exchange for the illusion that false accusations were impossible. Afterall, God would not allow a false accuser to triumph over his or her enemy by succeeding in an accusation that resulted in their execution? Since the reasoning went that God could not allow the innocent to be falsely accused, an accusation automatically translated to guilt of the accused person.

In our modern day, I believe we are moving away from this system of automatic guilt by virtue of a mere accusation alone.

In closing, here is one more reason to believe this, in the below news article. Obviously this article alone proves nothing, but at least shows a move toward freeing those who are falsely accused:

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Article: http://www0.mercurycenter.com/local/center/chargespm020.htm

Posted at 2:57 p.m. PST Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2002

Molest allegations against Palo Alto pre-school teacher dropped
BY JESSIE SEYFER AND KAREN DE SÁ
Mercury News

Longtime Palo Alto preschool teacher David Eric Carlson was formally cleared Tuesday of allegations that he molested a 4-year-old student last month.

A Santa Clara County judge quickly dismissed the charge, which prosecutors informally dropped last week, and Carlson emerged from the courtroom to make his first public statement since his arrest Jan. 9.

``I would like to thank the following people: My family, my friends and my attorney,'' Carlson said. ``I look forward to the birth of my first child and to getting on with my life.''

Standing in front of the county courthouse in Palo Alto with his pregnant wife, Robin, Carlson made no other statement and declined to answer any further questions.

His lawyer, Ken Robinson, said Carlson was going to take a month off to decide whether to return to work at the Barron Park 4-year-old Program, the preschool where the student claimed to have been molested.

Robinson said neither he nor Carlson felt the Palo Alto police and prosecutors had been overzealous in their investigations.

``David realizes that the system worked,'' he said.

Prosecutors decided Jan. 30 to drop the case because they had no physical evidence to support it; because no other children came forward to accuse him of additional crimes; and because he passed a polygraph test.