Posts by dmouse

5

The people and the tower

by A Paduan in

thought i should post this here too.

the watchtower.

once there was a man who lived in a village where some villagers kept some of the ancient things.

dmouse

Oh hiya bang...

Well, it's extremely complicated to write stories for children, many good authors of adult books have tried it and given up!

I think you have to have just one main moral, or theme, in a children's book. Religious themes can be tackled without resorting to obvious characters. Remember C.S.Lewis' 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'? One of the main characters was Aslan, a lion that represented Jesus. Lewis was a Christian and he saw no problem in creating fictitious characters to represent Christian ideas.

Not all characters in a story need to have an exact parallel to the WBTS! Keep the main idea simple but add depth to your characters! Let the children know what they are like, explicitly or implicitly.

Main ideas/themes could include:

Beware anyone who says only he knows the truth.

Letting other people control what you think can be dangerous.

How people can be persuaded to do bad things by being in a group - the bad things can be made to look good. (disfellowshipping?)

Such ideas cannot be argued against and should not trigger JW mind-alarms, when their children read the story.

Adult JWs are too arrogant to recognise their own hypocrisy, but children aren't, so a good children's story may sow the seeds for future reevaluation of their beliefs when they are asked to conform to parameters they know in their heart to be wrong.

If you don't want to get too real (witchcraft) why not create a completely fictitious fantasy world inhabited by Tolkeinesque type creatures? Should be fairly safe. You can then call the characters anything you like, it's how they tell the moral that counts.

Of course this is all just MHO! Hope this helps and doesn't just make you give up!

22

Fear of the New World

by WildTurkey in

jw
friends

i always had a fear as an active jw, that i would not like life in the new world that i would not like to be perfect.

to never make a mistake, that would mean you would never get to kiss and make up.

i would never get to watch a real football game, and porn would be completely out of the question.

dmouse

I'd even enjoy that peak down Sister Bigun's blouse.

LOL! Hey LB, didn't you know we are all to be 'as angels' in paradise. Which means God will give us all a Holy Spiritual Castration. No more hard-ons for you my man. And what's with all the kids in paradise pictures? Don't they realise with everyone living forvever the world will get full up and we will have to stop having children? (Or perhaps we'll have to colonise other planets?)

As regards the big jugs, just imagine your bad luck if you're stuck with those back breakers for all eternity!

3

Well, I never heard this story before!

by dmouse in

http://www.gosmiley.com/apollosmile.html

dmouse

Well, I checked it out, out of interest, and it's not true, which is a shame!

Nuts!

**************************************************************************************

Comments: This whopper has been circulating for years by email and can be
found on dozens of Websites accompanied by the claim that it's "really
true." But it's false, as anyone can verify by perusing the official lunar
landing transcript on NASA's Apollo 11 site (audio & video clips included).
Sometimes attributed to comedian Buddy Hackett, the Gorsky tale likely began
as a joke and, in the process of being told and retold as a true story over
time, ultimately earned the status of urban legend. As Professor Brunvand
says, "The truth never stands in the way of a good story." In spite of the
ease with which this one is debunked, it's so much fun to tell that it will
surely still be with us decades hence

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blgorsky.htm

25

LATEST VIEW- WTS VIEW OF E-MAIL& INTERNET

by Deli King in

jw
friends

has anyone read the latest article in sept km & 9/15 wt on the the snares of e-mail & internet?edited by - deli king on 20 august 2002 21:16:30.

dmouse

Apart from copyright regulations, which seems a bit petty, how can they justify this viewpoint?

Surely, if what they believe is the truth and they have a commision from God, then any means possible to get their message out should be used and welcomed? ESPECIALLY one as powerful as the Internet.

What possible motive is there for keeping their publications off the net? Other than secrecy and shame.

35

London Bethel Raided by Police

by DevonMcBride in

can anyone confirm if this is true?

i received the e-mail below:

panorama was shown 14th july and we heard shortly after that the police were very interested!

dmouse

Well I'm Dean from England and it wasn't me, so how many people are left?

3

Well, I never heard this story before!

by dmouse in

http://www.gosmiley.com/apollosmile.html

dmouse

http://www.gosmiley.com/apollosmile.html

34

Newbie

by blackrose in

hello, i am new to this board in a way.

i have been reading messages for about a month now and just got the nerve up to register an account so i can give my "two cents" once in a while.

i was raised a jw, but just recently expressed openly that i do not have plans on associating with them any longer.. anyways, not going to type my story out right now, as i do not know if any one wants to hear it.

dmouse

right now I have so much to be happy about

What a lovely, positive thing to say!

Welcome Blackrose, if your posts remain as positive as your first then I'm waiting in anticipation for your story...

5

The people and the tower

by A Paduan in

thought i should post this here too.

the watchtower.

once there was a man who lived in a village where some villagers kept some of the ancient things.

dmouse

Some interesting ideas, but, if I may, I'd like to offer a few constructive criticisms?

First of all, what age group is your intended audience? The style of the story seems to be 'fairy tale' style which appeals to ages 4 - 7 but some of the language is more suitable for older children, i.e. unfulfilled, acquire, concerned, purposeful industriousness etc.

Using God in a children's story immediately alerts parent's alarm signals. They will ask themselves what religious denomination this book is attacking or supporting, what religious ideas are being promoted, and is it doing so in an orthodox way (spells = witchcraft)? God is dangerous in childrens' books unless it is specifically used to promote belief in God in an orthodox fashion. I would suggest that you avoid mentioning God at all and instead replace Him with an all-powerful, wise but elusive Wizard.

There are also many difficult analogies to get their heads around, and many things are simply not made clear. Even I found it confusing! For example, what exactly is the treasure? What are the ancient things? What is the spell and what is its purpose? Who is the man and why is he different? Who are the villagers? The whole effect is too general. Try making it more specific, for example an old man who is interested in old things. What are the ancient things and why do the villagers look after them? How about an old library in the village that the old man finds, full of dusty old books that the villagers care for but never read? The books were left by the all-powerful wizard etc.

Maybe the treasure could be an elixir of everlasting life, which the wizard will return to the village but only to those who learn His spells. The problem is of course that the spells are all mixed up and everyone thinks that they have the right solution.

And the ending is obviously not finished.

Hope you don't mind me offering my thoughts on this?

Cheers,

Dean

Edited by - dmouse on 19 August 2002 10:39:11

37

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE LATEST NEW LIGHT?

by minimus in

jw
friends

since the lite gets brighter and brighter and jehovah always reveals his confidential matters to his servants, what new light will we next learn?

dmouse

I agree, A Paduan, many of the catalysts for change come from without, rather than from within.

Tightening up of their child abuse policies came about as a direct result of apostate exposure, helped by the media, and I'm sure further changes will be made.

Besides pressure from us 'apostates' there is also pressure exerted by the passing of time -as every year passes their prophecies look weaker and weaker. That was why they changed the understanding of the term generation and effectively unhooked it from 1914, the passing of time meant that the generation of 1914 did die out! Something will still definitely have to be done about the year 1914 though, that's another century away already in peoples minds! I too predict that 1914 will be downgraded somehow, maybe even abandoned altogether like their previous prophetic years (i.e. 1799, 1874, 1918, 1925, 1975) can you imagine trying to convince people today that the end times started in 1799!

Time will also cause changes with regard to the anointed - maybe a new class of Chieftains will run the show. A new understanding of what is meant by the scripture 'on account of the chosen ones' (Current understanding says that Armageddon needs to come within their lifetime). The change may be that the chosen ones are no longer the anointed but all faithful JWs (the end of the world will be postponed yet again).

The blood issue will gradually become irrelevant as modern technology saves their asses, but in the meantime it will become a matter of conscience, as will celebrating of birthdays.

Disfellowshipping will remain - after all they thrive on control and fear. This is their main way of controlling the flock and they will not give that up lightly.

Reporting hours will remain - it's how they chose the 'gifts in men', the more hours you do the more privileges you get. However, the provision of remaining an active witness will be met by simply ticking a box which says that you have spent an undefined amount of time talking about Jehovah (i.e. to a neighbour); this will help massage the figures, slowing decline for a while.

The Internet will be heavily demonised, and while it won't be explicitly banned all JWs will know that browsing the net at home is akin to watching pornography. Indeed, all references to the Internet and email in the latest magazines are noticeably negative.

Other possibilities:

The Awake! will be incorporated into the Watchtower magazine to save money.

JW faith schools will start to open to stop pollution of youths by the world, though this may be difficult as there won't soon be many educated JWs to teach the youngsters the three Rs.

Edited by - dmouse on 19 August 2002 4:47:6

48

Tiring of Anti-JW causes?

by ashitaka in

jw
friends

i'm kind of burnt out from being pissed off at jws.

tonight, while talking to a friend who left at the same time i did (several years ago), we both spoke of our apathy towards the whole anti-witness movement.

recently i helped in several anti-jw actions, and i thought i made a difference, although it was a pittens compared to others who have come before.

dmouse

I know when I go on holiday that I miss this board desperately. Mainly because I like to keep track of current events related to JW land. As time progresses I feel it becomes less important, and I feel more relaxed about the whole thing, other matters come into focus.

But when I come back and start reading the threads I feel an anger and bitterness against the JW religion start to build up inside me. JW matters start to take on a disproportionate part of my thoughts. I wonder to myself - why? Why can't I just let go and get on with my life? Do I really need this bitterness in my life? I think that it would help me personally to put it all behind and carry on, but then would I be being selfish? Who knows, when we post information exposing the Society, who is reading it? I can't say that Iv'e helped ANYONE, not even my family who are still in. But one day the information gleaned from this site may just help me to save someone from the Borg.

I also think, as others have said, that we help non-JWs who are researching the religion. Nowadays people find a lot of their information off the Net. When JWs call on people and generate interest it is likely that many will seek out information about the religion - and they may stumble onto boards like this. If they do, then what they learn should stop them from becoming another victim. That's got to be worth a little effort!