expatbrit

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Posts by expatbrit

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  8

  Laughter Is The Best Medicine

  by somebody in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1898 "god .. evidently has been a respecter of races, and has specially blessed and favored certain branches of the aryan race in europe and america.. the white race has been more abundantly blessed with the light of the gospel than others .. the elect church will probably be composed chiefly of the highly favored white race.." {evol 30-1}.

  1900 "there are probably as many as a hundred colored brethren on the watch tower lists, some of them very clear in the truth, and very earnest in its service, financially and other-wise .. [but they are not allowed to participate in the "pioneer work" as] although we have received letters from several of these, who had intended engaging in the volunteer work, expressing surprise that in the call for volunteers in the march 1, 1900 issue we restricted the inquiry to white protestant churches.

  .. the reason is that so far as we are able to judge, colored people have less education than whites - many of them quite insufficient to permit them to profit by such reading as we have to give forth.

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  expatbrit

  Somebody:

  Brilliant! Thanks for a good Monday larf!

  Expatbrit.
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  21

  WT cultural imperialism?

  by expatbrit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been thinking about americans.

  specifically about whether the wt, being an american dominated religion, forces american attitudes and culture upon other nations.. now, don't get me wrong, i'm not anti-american.

  living in canada i have a lot of contact with many americans.

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  expatbrit

  I'd just like to emphasise again that I'm not anti-American. In fact, I agree with Margaret Thatcher when she said that America is the most powerful force for freedom the world has ever known. (Bring back Maggie!)

  Re. the beards thing. According to my wife (a Canadian) the bias in mainstream society against beards is because of the association with biker gang types, Hell's Angels, that sort of thing.

  But a thought which occured to me: I should have mentioned in my original post that the WT attitudes often reflect a 1950's sort of American mentality (the decade when most of the GB were in their prime). So the WT is exporting a largely out-of-date kind of American culture.

  Also, I do not think it wrong for men to show emotion or to weep. What I object to is the idea that men must weep or they're not normal. The WT highlights that Jesus wept, and use it to pressure those that do not conform to this idea. In doing so, they merely force others to conform to a view currently fashionable (not 1950's)in America.

  Grunt: your points are well made and well taken. I try not to fall into the trap of negative stereotypes. My irritation is not with American characteristics, whether negative or not, but with the forcing of these characteristics upon other cultures by claiming God-given authority.

  I also agree with Englishman: I enjoy reading posts from America enormously.

  Expatbrit.

  Edited by - expatbrit516 on 25 February 2001 21:37:14
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  21

  WT cultural imperialism?

  by expatbrit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been thinking about americans.

  specifically about whether the wt, being an american dominated religion, forces american attitudes and culture upon other nations.. now, don't get me wrong, i'm not anti-american.

  living in canada i have a lot of contact with many americans.

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  expatbrit

  Hi y'all:

  I've been thinking about Americans. Specifically about whether the WT, being an American dominated religion, forces American attitudes and culture upon other nations.

  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm NOT anti-American. Living in Canada I have a lot of contact with many Americans. Like people of any other nation, I like the vast majority of Americans I meet. I enjoy their upbeat attitudes and straightforward zest for life. I love winter trips to the southern states.

  But, like most non-Americans, I get concerned when American culture becomes overwhelming to local culture. Of course, a century ago the same was true of Britain (what goes around, comes around...).

  A couple of examples from the WT:

  1)The pressure to conform to American styles of dress and grooming, i.e.no beards, ties.

  2)Pressure on the more non-emotional and demonstrative cultures like Japan, Britain and Scnadinavia, to become more emotional i.e. the attitude that if men don't cry, there's something wrong with them.

  3) Insistence on using American-English spelling and phraseology in WT literature printed and circulated in the entire English speaking world.

  It irritates me even more when the WT enforces these things with their claim of being God's org. As if God cares whether I have a beard or not, or if I weep or not! Unfortunately JW's view even the smallest details of what they read and see illustrated in the magazines as gospel, which results in subtle but powerful pressure to conform to the GB's American-based attitudes.

  Any comments? Am I, in fact, a Brit with a shoulder chip? Anyone else feel this way?

  Expatbrit.

  Edited by - expatbrit516 on 25 February 2001 11:56:56
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  65

  The Poor JW Children

  by larc in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the children.

  there are many things that could be changed, and even though i would never go back, i think there are some very basic changes they could make in their child rearing practices, simple changes that would make a big difference in their society.. 1. don't force small children to sit for two hours in a chair.. this was discussed at length on the thread about slapping children at the kingdom hall.. 2. don't bring children to meetings where the subject has to do with adult sexual practices.. 3. don't tell teenagers that they can't ask someone out for a date unless marriage is on their mind.. 4. don't tell them that they are not special, that they have to humble themselves and be like everyone else.. 5. don't tell them they have to get good grades through high school as a reflection of what jehovah has given them and then tell them they can't go to college when they graduate from high school at the top of their class.. 6. don't tell your wordly neighbors that you give your children presents all through the year, but not on their birthday, when they have never seen a special gift wrapped present in their life.. 7. don't expect a shy child to enjoy going from door to door and don't expect an extroverted, lively child to sit still at meetings.. 8. don't tell an inquiring child not to ask questions and don't tell them not to read interesting books.. 9. don't surprised if you don't change your ways that your children will leave you, even though they love you.

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  expatbrit

  Hi Larc:

  Some really good points in your post.

  The trouble is that if the WT did not do the negative things you've highlighted, JW kids would grow up with enquiring, freedom-loving, non-judgemental minds. In other words, not good JW material at all!

  I'm sure your kids appreciate the happy upbringing you gave them.

  Expatbrit.
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  12

  Blood fraction transfusions

  by somebody in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  good morning all ( good afternoon/evening for others ),.

  i've kept up on the topic of blood transfusions and the "fractions" of blood that are acceptable ( according to god=f&ds ).

  i've read up on bloodless surgery too.

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  expatbrit

  Larc:

  The verbal fog used by JW's is pure deception.
  Tact, on the other hand, is clearly conveying a possibly offensive message to someone in a non-offensive manner.

  Since the WT conjures offensive ordure out of nothing on all sorts of subjects, tact is not something they can be accused of.

  Expatbrit (rather tactful, what?).
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  12

  Blood fraction transfusions

  by somebody in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  good morning all ( good afternoon/evening for others ),.

  i've kept up on the topic of blood transfusions and the "fractions" of blood that are acceptable ( according to god=f&ds ).

  i've read up on bloodless surgery too.

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  expatbrit

  Hey Somebody:

  Don't deny us your posts just because some narrow-minded twit doesn't agree with your point of view.

  You're not trouble-making, you're thought-provoking (something most JW's find painful).

  Expatbrit.
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  16

  Newbie With Questions

  by NoLongerAjw in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi, i just found this board yesterday.. i have a question or two.. for one i am sorry if this is not where i should post this.. if it is not please direct me where to go .. 1st question... is this for current witnesses or ex witnesses?

  i havent been to the kingdom hall for almost 2 years.. i was directed here by someone who said it was for ex witnesses.. but the front page looks like it is for witnesses to have bible studies.. and such.. which is not what i am looking for i did that for 14 years.. till i got married had 2 kids and finally got a life now at the age of 24.

  2nd... can you tell me which board on here a newbie like me can post their experinces and such.

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  expatbrit

  NoLonger:

  Hi! This is a great place for posting observations and questions. Lots of good people here with interesting stuff to say.

  I haven't been to meetings for about 4 months.

  Looking forward to reading your posts!

  Expatbrit.
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  16

  Newbie With Questions

  by NoLongerAjw in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi, i just found this board yesterday.. i have a question or two.. for one i am sorry if this is not where i should post this.. if it is not please direct me where to go .. 1st question... is this for current witnesses or ex witnesses?

  i havent been to the kingdom hall for almost 2 years.. i was directed here by someone who said it was for ex witnesses.. but the front page looks like it is for witnesses to have bible studies.. and such.. which is not what i am looking for i did that for 14 years.. till i got married had 2 kids and finally got a life now at the age of 24.

  2nd... can you tell me which board on here a newbie like me can post their experinces and such.

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  expatbrit

  NoLonger:

  Hi! This is a great place for posting observations and questions. Lots of good people here with interesting stuff to say.

  Looking forward to reading your posts!

  Expatbrit.
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  9

  JW's -tree huggers worst enemy

  by TR in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  much of the work i do is at vacant, repossessed, and abandoned houses.

  almost without exception, i find wt literature that was "placed" there.

  what a disingenuous way for a jw to get rid of wt rags.

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  expatbrit

  This is a hazy memory, but I seem to recall a few years ago something in the magazines about the WT not using recycled paper to print it's literature on. Something to do with the type of ink they use.

  Anyone know if this has changed?

  It's the height of hypocrisy for the WT to drone on about environmental damage considering the wastage of paper it's responsible for, but to not recycle would scale the summit!

  Expatbrit.
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  20

  GOOD AFTERNOON, JEHOVAH!

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  isn`t it strange that jw`s have such a problem with ex`s?

  try as they might to hang their watchtower labels onto me, i just don`t seem to be the person that they think that i should be!.

  i think that i`ve become far more honest than the average jw.

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  expatbrit

  Englishman:

  LOL!!

  Thanks for the Monty Python refresher.

  Expatbrit,
  Trying to always look on the bright side of life.