Posts by Open mind

8

Barcelona meetup

by John Locke in

hola guys,.

currently, i am in barcelona for a two month project.. not sure if there are many residents of barcelona on this forum, but in case there are some or somebody is planning to visit this beautiful city, i propose to organize some gettogether for a drink or siteseeing.

if anyone is interested, please, pm me or leave message on this thread.. best wishes,.

Open mind

My wife and I would love to join you in Parc Guell to share a bottle of Cava.

http://behostels.com/wp-content/uploads/barcelona_parc_guell_sunset.jpeg

Unfortunately, we won't be able to get back there for quite a while.

Cheers!

om

16

My first bit of unsolicited Anti-Witnessing

by Open mind in

jw
friends

i recently crossed the line into hard-core......... a - p - o - s - t - a - s - y !

i approached a guy who was sitting alone at a table in a restaurant and discreetly, briefly gave him one example of why jws are a heartless, high-control religion.

ok, rewind the tape.

Open mind

Thanks for all the positive comments.

Also, kudos to blond-moment for not being intimidated by the CO. As much as I know it's all a crock, strong JW personalities can still have an unnerving effect on me at times.

Also, thanks to wobble for the JWfacts.org reminder. I've got burn that name into my subconscious. BTW, I just googled "Jehovah's Witnesses" and JWfacts.org now redirects to JWfacts.com. Looks like the same site, just a changed URL. Also, it's on the fourth page of the Google search I just did. If we click on there occasionally, hopefully it will help keep JWfacts.com towards the top of the Google pile.

om

16

My first bit of unsolicited Anti-Witnessing

by Open mind in

jw
friends

i recently crossed the line into hard-core......... a - p - o - s - t - a - s - y !

i approached a guy who was sitting alone at a table in a restaurant and discreetly, briefly gave him one example of why jws are a heartless, high-control religion.

ok, rewind the tape.

Open mind

I recently crossed the line into hard-core......... A - P - O - S - T - A - S - Y ! ! !

I approached a guy who was sitting alone at a table in a restaurant and discreetly, briefly gave him one example of why JWs are a heartless, high-control religion.

OK, rewind the tape. I haven't become an evangelical anti-JW proseletizer. Here's the back story leading up to it.

Recently I was on a business trip and while enjoying a dinner alone in an almost deserted restaurant, (6 pm on a Tuesday night), I overhead a snippet of conversation from three people sitting at a table across from me. Two guys, one gal, and the first thing that caught my JW radar was something like this: "What's so BAD about Halloween? How is a 5 year old dressed up as Superman somehow seen as Satanic?"

Now, I'm thinking, OK there's a good chance their discussing JWs, but there are also fundie groups who are anti-Halloween. Continue with the eavesdropping.

Next snippet: "Birthdays? Birthdays?!? Where in the Bible does it condemn birthdays?"

Bingo!! They were definitely discussing JWs. The best I could piece together was that one of the guys knew a JW who was trying to convert him and the other guy and gal were trying to make sure he didn't drink the JW Kool-Aid.

Now it was time for me to do some soul-searching. Do I get up from my seat, JW-style, politely interrupt their conversation and give them my $.02?

Uhhhhh.... No.

It's not my place to save the world from JWs. They're paying customer in a restaurant and certainly do not need to be interrupted by anyone, no matter how well intentioned.

Well, a couple minutes go by and the guy who knows the JW gets up and leaves because he's gotta get running. A couple more minutes go by and the gal goes to the bathroom. Now there's just one guy sitting there staring at the wall, killing time, not even pulling out his smart-phone to pass the time.

The old JW proseletyzing instincts get the best of me and I decide to take the plunge over the precipice into absolute apostasy. I apologetically approach him and let him know that I'm a former 3rd generation JW and that my JW radar couldn't help but zoom in on Halloween and Birthdays. I ask him: "Would you like to know just one question that your friend can pose to the JW who's trying to convert him?"

(The guy was COMPLETELY open to further conversation. If I got the slightest hint that he was perturbed, I would have immediately taken my leave.)

I said, "OK, have him ask this: 'Do JWs still approve of the irrevocable baptism of minors?' "

He gave me a bit of a blank stare. And then I gave the back story of how my older brother got baptized at 12 years of age and figured out at 12.5 years of age that he was gay. And that because of that he lost all his friends and family.

He was dumbfounded. I backed it up by letting him know I was an elder for over 10 years and that wasn't exaggerating the situation at all.

Midway through my spiel, his girlfriend came back from the bathroom and she was also all ears. They were VERY appreciative and know to Google "Jehovah's Witnesses".

All done.

om

16

so going to San Francisco next week

by Found Sheep in

jw
friends

i've seen many post from those from that area..... anything ex-jw going on?????

may meet one ex-jw i met on facebook ex-jw site....

Open mind

Did the quake make you spill your drink?

Have a great stay in the City by the Bay.

om

22

New 'Memorial' video by 'KingdomHallOfJws' on youtube!

by 3Mozzies in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75tfwzx4b5y&feature=channel_video_title.

.

i just love his videos!

Open mind

KingdomHallofJehovah'sWitnesses

ROCKS!!!

43

Today's Watchtower Study is SO dumb!!!

by TimothyT in

i would like to think of myself as an academic.

im starting my second degree and i enjoy research.

when i see a statement backed up by references and support from a credible source, sometimes i get excited.

Open mind

The whole concept of an omnipotent God taking a "rest" seems pretty dumb to me.

But, OK, say I buy into that. So how am I supposed to "enter into his rest"?

By working my a$$ off!!

*shaking head, resuming my Sunday brunch*

om

43

Wording of "mentally diseased" press release - feedback?

by cedars in

as some of you may know, i am working with trailerfitter and cantleave in helping amelia with her efforts to complain about the latest "apostates are mentally diseased" article.

she has an appointment with local police tomorrow afternoon, as she has lodged a complaint under the 'hate crimes' act.

it has been suggested that this issue may merit some media coverage, and with this in mind i have prepared a draft press release.

Open mind

rebel8, I bow to you.

Very concise. Right on the money.

Being a wordsmith of your caliber is on my "someday before I die" list.

Thanks,

om

9

My nephew's first birthday!!!

by serenitynow! in

jw
friends

well, not really his first, he turned 17 yesterday.

it is his first that we have celebrated!

his mom got him a cake with candles and sang happy birthday to him.

Open mind

Oops. Happy B'day as well to cantleave's son, diest and noni1974!!!

om

9

My nephew's first birthday!!!

by serenitynow! in

jw
friends

well, not really his first, he turned 17 yesterday.

it is his first that we have celebrated!

his mom got him a cake with candles and sang happy birthday to him.

Open mind

Happy Birthday to serenitynow's nephew and mrsjones's daughter!!!

My family has all celebrated their 2nd birthdays now.

We've all become "terrible twos" together.

om

43

Wording of "mentally diseased" press release - feedback?

by cedars in

as some of you may know, i am working with trailerfitter and cantleave in helping amelia with her efforts to complain about the latest "apostates are mentally diseased" article.

she has an appointment with local police tomorrow afternoon, as she has lodged a complaint under the 'hate crimes' act.

it has been suggested that this issue may merit some media coverage, and with this in mind i have prepared a draft press release.

Open mind

Overall, I like it. The opening sentences are a tad sensationalistic, IMO, but that's just one reader's opinion.

Also, I would suggest a rewording of this sentence:

The claim that those who disagree with the Witnesses are “mentally diseased” stems from the Church’s internal version of the Bible.

I would change it to read "....stems from the Church's "New World Translation" of the Bible.

"internal version" implies that the JW's have tweaked the Bible to suit their own doctrines. We know they have, but eliminating this particular jab at the JWs MIGHT keep an on-the-fence JW from rejecting the article entirely.

Again, a real bang-up job overall.

Best of luck.

om