Posts by gordon d

39

To be a Nice Apostate or a Mean Apostate.....

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

..... that is the question.. how do you react - and is it a 'planned reaction', when confronted with jdubs in public?.

i have personally determined that i will not allow people whom i knew for 40 years in some cases to 'shun' me without a cost to the reputation of their religion in the eyes of those who see it.. if i come face to face with a witness who turns the other way or rudely brushes past [as if i am dead], i will point out to all in the area [carefull not to appear the raving lunatic] that this is the way jehovah's witnesses act toward one who has quietly left their faith.

i expect two things will begin to happen as a result.. 1- witnesses will become so paranoid of the possiblility of meeting me and being embarrassed in public, that they will alter their schedules to avoid the places i might be.

gordon d

Hi Sunspot... sorry to chuckle at your misery but I can just picture the whole scene.... What the heck... next time you see someone, just walk over and give them a BIG hug... keep holding them while you say "How are you? I've been praying about you so much lately and I'm so glad I got to see you!" What have you go to loose? At the very least, you'll get a new story to tell. I will take my own advice and do the same... of course, I'll keep everyone here posted if/when it actually happens.

3

New light or generation changes?

by rolling rock in

jw
friends

is new light just something that changes with ever generation?

it seems to me that new light comes out every ten years or so.

keeping the young ones confused.

gordon d

It may not have always been this way... like in the early years when foundational doctines were being outlined... but now it seems that the light only gets brighter when the previous bright light goes out. Changing the WTS stance seems a little more like putting in new "brighter" bulbs than actually getting more illumination.

However, we do still seem to get new bulbs that coincide with new publication releases.... seems like a big waste to me. As an operations manager and ground security coordinator for our airline's FAA requirements, we would routinely get new light from the FAA... we never threw away the manuals just noted and installed the revisions. If the society went to three ring binders, just think of how much paper we could save!

14

Imagine if the Watchtower crumbled and ceast to exist....

by JH in

jw
friends

wouldn't this be a disaster for the majority of the jw's who need guidance and control?.

all their dreams of paradise earth would be gone.

they would have to start focusing on the time they have left to live.. although the watchtower is a controling organization and a false prophet, can we say that it has it's use for some people?.

gordon d

Don't worry...If/when it does happen... there's always Amway!

9

Birthdays and Disfellowshipping

by geevee in

jw
friends

i am trying to find any substance to the idea that if you had a birthday celerbration as a jw you could be disfellowshipped?

i have a word document that i made before i handed in my elders book and i have the 2005 wt cd from reexamine.

the elders book on around page 91-94 or 5 lists a heap of things that you could be disfellowshipped for, but celebrating birthdays are not one of them.

gordon d

Trying to be respectful of my family member's beliefs while still being considerate enough to acknowledge their B-day...... AND still making the point of how foolish the whole debate is:

I like to call them up and sing them the WTS approved Happy Birthday song.

"Pleasant anniversary of the date in which your infant body successfully traversed the birth canal"
"Pleasant anniversary of the date in which your infant body successfully traversed the birth canal"
"Pleasant anniversary of the date in which your infant body successfully traversed the birth canal Dear so-and-so"
"Pleasant anniversary of the date in which your infant body successfully traversed the birth canal"

39

To be a Nice Apostate or a Mean Apostate.....

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

..... that is the question.. how do you react - and is it a 'planned reaction', when confronted with jdubs in public?.

i have personally determined that i will not allow people whom i knew for 40 years in some cases to 'shun' me without a cost to the reputation of their religion in the eyes of those who see it.. if i come face to face with a witness who turns the other way or rudely brushes past [as if i am dead], i will point out to all in the area [carefull not to appear the raving lunatic] that this is the way jehovah's witnesses act toward one who has quietly left their faith.

i expect two things will begin to happen as a result.. 1- witnesses will become so paranoid of the possiblility of meeting me and being embarrassed in public, that they will alter their schedules to avoid the places i might be.

gordon d

How 'bout the Romans 12:20 Approach.....
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

I think the only thing that has made a real impact on those that knew me before and after my escape is that when a person can show compassion, love, and be a walking testimony to Christ (without the sanctioning of the FDS) the entire foundation of the FDS lie comes crumbling down.

2

Recent Tract

by Outaservice in

jw
friends

hope this comes through for you.. http://blogs.smh.com.au/sit/archives/2006/11/inspirations_th.html.

outaservice .

gordon d

One of the comments under the article said,

"Yes, I found it in my copy of the Bible as well, which leads me to wonder... What if the Jehovah's Witnesses are right? If so, God help all of us."

I've got $50 bucks that says someone at bethel has this quote already typeset for positive propaganda use in an upcoming publication.... any takers????

11

Sign of the Times/the End is Near!!!!!!!!!!

by mama1119 in

jw
friends

my dad told me a story today about a dub he works with.

my dad is a huge spots fan, and he was talking to this dub about the incident a couple years ago when some baseball player wrote a book about all the steroid use in sports...just normal conversation...and this dub shook his head and said..."just goes to show you the end is near, its a sign of the end of system of things".

where in the bible did it list baseball players steroid use as a sign of the end???

gordon d

I remember an older brother telling me that the first half of the people saying "peace and security" (you remember... the catch phrase that starts armageddon) was the popular fad that the hippies had of saying peace all the time... The even had a hand gesture that had it's origins in Babylonian rituals... We just to wait for them to start saying security as a greeting and them "BLAMMOOOO!!! Game-over!"

Another young (super-dork) brother at the same hall was adamant the the Jimi Hendrix song said, "You better read your watchtower"

Oh yeah, almost forgot... Led Zepplin's line about "there's a lady who know's" (Stairway to Heaven) was about one of the annointed sisters.... and the title "houses of the holy"... Kingdom Halls, of course...

Seems like I remember a lot of Led Zepplin referrences but maybe that's better saved for another post.

Sorry for getting a little off-topic... your question just brought back a bunch of memories.

Gordon

17

Thinking like a Jehovah's Witness would think

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

thinking like a jehovah's witness would think on a prior discussion thread a couple of individuals pointed out.

to me, that i am more or less infected with "witness" think.

other words, i still think like a jehovah's witness.