Posts by Shepherd Book

I am currently interning with Freethought House. Their book, Atheist Voices of Minnesota, is scheduled for an August 2012 release. My essay, "Losing My Head," was accepted for inclusion in the book. It tells my story of becoming the "head" of the women in the congregation at the advanced age of 12, and how I observed many absurdities regarding the Watchtower's policy of male-only leadership through my years as a JW. There are at least two other ex-JWs with essay appearing in the book as well.

Book's website: Atheist Voices of Minnesota (includes a list & links of other contributors)

Very exciting! I'll keep you all posted.

19

November 15 WT on jw.org

by Gayle in

ugh,,.

had article of disabled woman,,she had offer of marriage by a fellow disabled man, considered ,but not a jw so will wait till new world when can leap and run and be sound of health.

poor dear.. another article about "temporary residents" to subsist and work for suffiencies as "the days are numbered" and then can have a beautiful house.

Shepherd Book

As early as the second issue of the Watch Tower, in August 1879, Brother Russell stated: “‘Zion’s Watch Tower’ has, we believe, JEHOVAH for its backer, and while this is the case it will never beg nor petition men for support. When He who says: ‘All the gold and silver of the mountains are mine,’ fails to provide necessary funds, we will understand it to be time to suspend the publication.” Consistent with that, there is no begging for money in the literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

-Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, page 340 (italics theirs)

15

Awake! Watching the World: Noah's gonna need a bigger boat...

by unshackled in

this is from the august awake!

- watching the world:.

the amazon river basin is one of the.

Shepherd Book

FYI: kind = species.

Reasoning from the Scriptures, page 87: “All interfertile varieties of any animal are just one Genesis ‘kind.’”

And, yes, by acknowledging the number of species present on earth today, the WTower Society is suggesting a form of evolution so fast it boggles the mind.

See discussion of that here:www.watchtowerletters.com/Explanation_Q12.html

15

Radio Show About JWs - anyone have advice?

by Shepherd Book in

i'm scheduled to appear on atheists talk radio show this sunday (i'll have to miss the public talk, though).. here's a link about it: radio program.. does anyone have any advice for me?

or - do you have anything you think i really need to mention?

(like new light or some recent crazy statement in the tower.).

Shepherd Book

@Amelia:

Thanks, I'll go to the link you provided to get the quotes.

@JGNat:

Very interesting. Yes, I will have to take the pluralism of our society into consideration. Especially since the atheists/agnostics who tune in are likely to feel that all faiths are equally wacky...

@Gopher:

Glad to hear you plan to tune in! Maybe you can call in and ask about the JWs policy on birthdays. :) Thanks for the links - I will check those out today and print out anything that's particularly insteresting/damning.

Mad Sweeney brings up some good ideas. It really seems like shunning is the strongest topic; it's unique among JWs in its style and extent. It also seems to really embarress JWs. For example, I could talk about how they take Genesis as literal, but most JWs are proud of that and would call in to defend it (if they weren't afraid of calling in). Shunning, on the other hand, embarresses them.

15

Radio Show About JWs - anyone have advice?

by Shepherd Book in

i'm scheduled to appear on atheists talk radio show this sunday (i'll have to miss the public talk, though).. here's a link about it: radio program.. does anyone have any advice for me?

or - do you have anything you think i really need to mention?

(like new light or some recent crazy statement in the tower.).

Shepherd Book

@Amelia-

Yes, I agree, shunning is a great topic; the host is already planning to question me on that. Do you have any references for the "mentally diseased" and "contagious" statements? I haven't been keeping up with my reading of the Watchtowers lately, so I may have missed that food.

@Desirous-

Good advice. I try to remain calm and rational when discussing the JWs, as I know that any emotion displayed is taken as either a hateful attitude or overwhelming sadness at 'knowing' I'm gonna die at Armageddon.

Did KoolAidMan do something kooky on TV or radio lately?

15

Radio Show About JWs - anyone have advice?

by Shepherd Book in

i'm scheduled to appear on atheists talk radio show this sunday (i'll have to miss the public talk, though).. here's a link about it: radio program.. does anyone have any advice for me?

or - do you have anything you think i really need to mention?

(like new light or some recent crazy statement in the tower.).

Shepherd Book

I'm scheduled to appear on Atheists Talk radio show this Sunday (I'll have to miss the Public Talk, though).

Here's a link about it: Radio Program.

Does anyone have any advice for me? Or - do you have anything you think I really need to mention? (Like new light or some recent crazy statement in the Tower.)

The Memorial Slide Show!

by Shepherd Book in

jw
friends

one of my relatives sent me this slideshow "reminding" me about the memorial.i pasted the slides at my blog, along with a brief commentary: http://zimmerscope.com/verbisaurus/2011/04/happy-death-day-jesus/.

Shepherd Book

One of my relatives sent me this slideshow "reminding" me about the memorial.I pasted the slides at my blog, along with a brief commentary: http://zimmerscope.com/Verbisaurus/2011/04/happy-death-day-jesus/

37

"See! See? Just as like the bible says! earthquakes are increasing!"

by highdose in

jw
friends

which is what a dub said to me today.

i would like to come back to him with evidence that they are not.

does anyone have any helpful links they could post to refute this?.

Shepherd Book

Sorry, I don't have any links for you. However, if the JW really said the bible says earthquakes will be increasing, then they didn't read closely enough. The scripture merely says "earthquakes in one place after another." There's no indication there will be any more or less than before.

51

Help: Re: Letter to elders NOT to disfellowship otherwise legal action will be taken

by LouBelle in

hello there everyone.

i remember reading a while back about someone on here ( i think) that wrote a letter to the body of elders & headoffice that they should not take any action to disfellowship them as they would be distancing them from friends and relatives and would proceed to take legal action if the body of elders went ahead.. if anyone has that link or can point me in the right direction i'd appreciate that..

Shepherd Book

Here is the letter my wife and I wrote to the elders, which contains what you want:

http://www.watchtowerletters.com/our_letter_elders.html