Posts by freeman

47

My father passed away....

by Alana in

jw
friends

i know that i don't post often, but i read this board daily.

anyway, i just wanted to pass on the information that my father passed away last week.

he was 81 and in semi-poor health.

What should replace twin towers?...

by Brummie in

jw
friends

...a memorial to the victims or thriving business offices?.

would building offices show a disrespect for the victims or would it be a good idea in the sense that it shows the usa are picking up where they left off and not being deterred by the terrorists?.

brummie

What should replace the twin towers? I think perhaps just one very large building in the shape of a hand with its middle finger extended. And out of respect for those that made this new building necessary in the first place, it should face east toward Mecca.

Freeman

11

Update on my son's JC meeting

by freeman in

jw
friends

thank you all for your kind words and concern.

my wife tells me the meeting with the three wise-men went pretty good.

regrettably, no elders were decked during the meeting (yes i am quite disappointed too) and so an announcement will be made next week that he was reproved and found repentant.

freeman

Thank you all for your kind words and concern. My wife tells me the meeting with the three wise-men went pretty good. Regrettably, no elders were decked during the meeting (yes I am quite disappointed too) and so an announcement will be made next week that he was reproved and found repentant. I would hope he should be able to handle this amount of embarrassment just fine, but we will see.

I only hope one day my son can just get off the WT merry-go-round even for a brief period of time, just long enough to see what a normal life outside the matrix is like. Perhaps this experience will help as I believe he will be loosing his privileges (whatever that means).

I hope that loss of so-called privilege will include a break from door knocking, quick-builds etc. If so, he may just get so see how nice it is to sleep in on weekends for a change. He is pretty bright, (and a tad lazy too) and so if they let him get off the treadmill and he catches his breath, he just may get to like that. I could see him simply backing off a bit and then starting to drift. Dad of course will be there to sow the seeds of doubt and to show him the true answers to any questions he may have. Eventually he might one day see the matrix for what it is, as so many of us already have.

Again thank you all for your support.

Freeman

21

1 Hour to my sons Judicial Committee

by freeman in

jw
friends

well this is about as real as it gets.

in about an hour my son will be appearing before a judicial committee for the second time in as many weeks.

unfortunately i just happen to be about 3000 miles away right now (business trip) so i cant be there for support and i cant get the ancillary information that i would normally get just by being present.

freeman

Well this is about as real as it gets. In about an hour my son will be appearing before a Judicial Committee for the second time in as many weeks. Unfortunately I just happen to be about 3000 miles away right now (business trip) so I can’t be there for support and I can’t get the ancillary information that I would normally get just by being present. My wife tells me she has a really bad feeling about how things may go; she is very concerned. And I agree, I believe she is concerned for good reason. I know my son, he does have a breaking point, if they push my son too far, he may just tell them to take the kingdom melodies, the time slips, the book bags, the magazines, etc. and shove them. And in that state of mind, he just may deck an elder or two on the way out.

At one level that would delight me to no end, however unfortunately he is still very much a true believer and thus he believes with all his heart all the bullshit they feed him, including the distorted view that if he left the dark tower, he would be condemned by God. This could be a devastating blow, as his support system would be ripped away from him, he would lose virtually all his friends in an instant. As it is he suffers from depression, like so many witnesses do, and I don’t see this additional strain on his psyche as necessarily helpful to his condition.

My wife informed me that she would be there with my son in the Star Chamber during the Inquisitors examination. Is this normal? My son is now some 20 years old. I would think that he would not need parental supervision during the grilling.

I was almost tempted to ask my wife just what part of the Bible talked about Judicial Committees but I resisted as I could hear in her voice the maternal feelings and concerns for my son well up. Now would not be the time to illustrate the unscriptural practices of the dark tower, I’m sure there will be many future opportunities to do so, particularly if things don’t go well.

a nervous Freeman

38

SCIENCE EVOLUTION WEIRDOS

by frenchbabyface in

jw
friends

science evolution weirdos

had a talk yesterday with my son, ive read a book where the guy was talking about the australopithecus its weird how scientists are dealing with evolution statements.

it says that actually the australopithecus was less intelligent

freeman

Herk,

you said: I sincerely would accept evolution if I could see evidence of it, but I don't.

I for one don’t doubt your sincerity, however being sincere and being correct are not necessarily one and the same. Did you know that a good number of people believe that you can catch a common cold by getting chilled, going out in the cold damp weather, or by a sudden change in temperature etc? Maybe you believe this yourself. On the surface all this seems perfectly reasonable, people do seem to get more colds during the winter months then during the warmer weather, yes that is indeed a fact. The very name “cold” even implies a relationship with weather, temperature, and this common illness. In reality there are several specific reasons why people get more colds during the winter months, but very last on the list of causes is the weather.

No I’m not going to go into a detailed explanation of common cold propagation with respect to weather conditions, however if you are among the millions upon millions of normal reasonably intelligent people that believe this (as I was raised to believe), or know others that have this belief, please do yourself a favor and avail yourself of the scientific data that support other causes of people getting more colds in the winter time other then the cold weather itself.

If after examining this for yourself you are able to see how this evidence puts to rest this popular myth or even rid your own thinking of this myth, then you are ready to start examining the mountains of evidence supporting evolution.

I don’t suggest you start with the really deep stuff, or some very ancient fossilized remains, as this often takes a large amount of prerequisite knowledge before understanding can take place. My suggestion is simply this:

Find out why doctors today insist that when you are taking a regimen of antibiotics that you completely finish the full prescription even if you no longer suffer from the malady that the antibiotics were treating.

There is an important reason for this. The reason is to prevent the bacteria from evolving into a new antibiotic resistant strain. When the light goes on, and it will if you are truly as sincere as you seem to be, then suddenly it will hit you.

At this point you will realize that evolution is not some abstract idea about a bunch of fossilized old bones, it is in fact a life and death reality to the medical community. Treatment regimens are being based on the predictable outcomes stemming from the scientific fact of evolution and what doctors know about it.

And after you take this step, then perhaps you will be able to take the next step. It is never easy to leave our comfort zone is it? That is why people stay in jobs that don’t match their true abilities, they get lazy, and they get too darn comfortable. Don’t be lazy, don’t be comfortable, explore! Become informed, and conform your views to fit the facts, not the other way around.

With all sincerity,

Freeman

27

Do you have a 'turning point' memory that started you to question?

by Steve Lowry in

jw
friends

mine was when i was about ten years old or so back in the mid sixties.

we had a guy in our k.hall who actually lived through the 1914 experience (earl senior).

he was well into his seventies i guess even then and was one of the annointed.

freeman

In truth I questioned some things from the very beginning. In particular, I had a problem with special creation and the idea of a global flood. Trying to deal with evolution in particular was very hard for me because growing up a science buff I was exposed too a lot of very strong evidence supporting evolution. Still I put my doubts on the back burner for the sake of family harmony and also because I felt that since this was not my proper field of training, I could in fact be totally mistaken. Sadly I went on like this for years before something happened. My turning point had nothing to do with my existing doubts, it had to do with the reality of just how hard-hearted the so-called spiritual wise-men who govern the flock really can be.

I started on my way out during the summer of 1987. At the time I was a very frustrated engineer who was unable to use his engineering skills because in my locality most engineering jobs involved defense or classified government work. As a result I had to settle for being a TV repairman, a part time security guard (I babysat mansions in my area that were under construction), and a janitor (I did some office cleaning with my wife).

I had lots of debts, lived in a damp cockroach infested basement apartment with my wife and child, drove a rusty old car that burned more oil then gasoline and emitted clouds of chocking blue smoke, worked a lot of hours, and yet barely made ends meet. Then one day out of the blue, (and you can call it divine intervention, a stroke of good luck, or whatever); I was given the opportunity to play a role in helping NASA get the Hubble Space Telescope launched. I was selected to lead the team that would evaluate the vulnerabilities of this billion dollar spacecraft and recommend any necessary changes before it was launched.

Now do you think this little boy who was allowed by his own parents to skip school to watch televised rocket launches from Cape Canaveral because they knew how enamored he was by the space program could turn this opportunity of a lifetime down. Do you think this little boy who was now a full-grown man and still thrilled with anything and everything NASA related would let this opportunity just pass him by?

NO WAY!

You bet your ass I jumped on this, and in so doing I went from an average of perhaps $10 per hr. to about $50 per hr. overnight. In today’s dollars that’s more like a 100 per hr.! I started paying off my bills very quickly; and I would soon be debt free! Leaving the cold damp cockroach infested basement and perhaps owning my own home was swiftly becoming a reality!

Enter the spiritual police:

However because I was commuting from New York to Maryland each week (that’s where the NASA center was), I missed a few meetings and was late for some, also my field service hours and magazine ~~sales~~ placements slipped a bit.

You guess it, the elders got on my case. The loving elders told me I had to make a choice; it was NASA or the meetings, which is more important to me? And besides, do you really want to be working for the government (this coming from an Elder who was a postman, a federal employee himself, can you spell hypocrite Mr. postman).

I wanted to tell these jerks: first off pronounce it correctly, it’s NASA National Aeronautical and Space Agency not ‘Nassau’, it’s not in the Caribbean, it’s not an Island, it’s the US space agency, you freakin uneducated ass-wipes!
But I was a good little JW drone and held all that in. However, I explained that this consulting job would be over in just another month or so. I would soon be back working my old job and making the meetings regularly.

Their response: not good enough, you need to make a decision.

I tossed and turned over this one and made the decision that providing for my family was more important then making these guys happy. Meetings then became second place, then last place, and now thankfully they have absolutely no place in my life at all. I owe these elders a debt of gratitude. They helped me see things clearly; I owe nothing less then my freedom to these elders. Thank you boys for showing me just how much mind control I was under, how much I was being held back from reaching my full potential, thank you for releasing me from the matrix and from the borg. The Dark Tower is a killer of hopes and dreams and in many cases, just a plain killer period!

End of captivity, end of stupidity, end of story!

PS: Sorry for any typo’s or disjointed sentences but the dyslexia is really kicking in today.

Freeman

15

My Secret Email Campaign -or- "Dozens Now Living will Now Know"

by joe_from_kokomo in

well, after our baptismal nullification letter, most of the witnesses snub us when we bump into them.

saw a snooty sister from my own book study, and she pretended i was the invisible man.. so, i decided to do a "maverick" and have launched a top secret email campaign to help raise the news iq of my former witness friends and family.. i have created a dummy email account at a major portal and i am bccing all my old witness friends and relatives (mostly relatives) hyperlinks to the juicy news articles on jws and the un, jws and child abuse, etc.

i put a simple subject line and a simple one line "read this article" followed by a hyperlink to the newspaper article.. it has been very effective.

freeman

Please forgive me Joe for having some bad thoughts about you just a moment ago. At first when I read your posting I thought perhaps you were doing this mailing campaign perhaps to undermine someone’s faith, but now I see your true motivation, you are just trying to help the brothers who go out in service. Yes I see it all quite clearly now, you are just simply keeping the brothers up to date on various subjects they may be asked about in field service. What a great idea, I’m sure Jehovah will bless all your efforts, keep up the good work!

Sincerely your brother in the faith <vomit>

Freeman

25

And You JW Wives Thought the Organization Was Too Repressive....Read This !

by xjw_b12 in

we have all read many posts here as to how women felt they had to be submissive in the organization.

how would you like to be a member of first christian fellowship for eternal sovereignty?

ravenna, ohio - a woman pulled over for breast-feeding her baby while driving on the ohio turnpike was shown on videotape at her trial wednesday refusing to cooperate with troopers until she called her husband for permission.. catherine nicole donkers, 29, also would not stand or speak as she defended herself in portage county municipal court until her husband gave her permission from the first row of the audience.. the first day ended with donkers finishing her questioning of the trooper.

freeman

"I directed her to do everything she did that day ... Under our faith, she obeys me."

WOW! At long last I think I have found the one true religion! At last a ~~cult~~ faith that not only makes perfect ~~non~~sense but also restores the natural order of things!

Now I just have to get my wife to convert over, please wish me luck.

Freeman (of the deciding on which color burka to buy his wife class)

15

Ghosts and Hades: Another Watchtower Deception

by metatron in

what did the jews in jesus' day think about the soul and hades?.

if you read the watchtower, you might think that they dutifully followed jw teaching.

and had no idea about immortal souls or ghosts or punishment in hades.. .

freeman

Metatron,

I just loved what you said here:

It's just that simple.
You never learn about this historical background of belief in the narrow
little world of the Watchtower.

You are so right, and this is no accident, there is a sinister reason the Tower of darkness never fully informs their followers.

JWs are led to believe by the Tower that they are practically scholars and unfortunately for the most part they believe it. Of course the narrow JW point of view never takes into account the all-essential background which makes all the difference in the world in correctly understanding what is being said.

Take for example the preaching work. There are two forms of ministries, public and private. The meaning of the public and private forms of ministry as described by the apostle Paul is deliberately twisted by the Tower 180 degrees. Paul said “ I did not hold back from teaching you publicly, and from house to house (NWT) or more correctly, “in your homes” in just about any other translation. Now without knowing the all important customs and background of the people being spoken to, it is easy for the Dark Tower to twist these words to mean you must knock on stranger’s doors. This is total BULLSHIT!

That is NOT what Paul was talking about here. They had no doorknockers back then! You did not just knock uninvited on the doors of strangers in the Middle East back then, even now doing so would be considered highly disrespectful. The public ministry was in fact facilitated in the synagogues or other public places. The housework Paul is referring to here was in the private homes of believers and absolutely not in the homes of strangers and unbelievers.

Did you know that this meeting in private homes was considered a form of worship? As a JW did you know this? Also they often shared a meal that was part of their worship. Did you know that? If one was removed form the association of these Christians for serious wrongdoing, such former members were now banned from this form of worship, “not even sharing a meal with such a one”. Also you would not greet a former unrepentant member with the “holy kiss”, “not even saying a greeting”.

Yes you could still do business with such a one, still have normal human relationships with such a one, but you had to treat him now as if he were a non-believer, like a “man of the nations” and not as a brother. You could eat with him, have dinner with him however he is banned from the worship meals.

How different things are when one knows the historical perspective and the customs and beliefs of the people being referred to.

Thank you Metatron, I really enjoyed your post.

Freeman

20

Are JW's getting lazy?

by jwbot in

jw
friends

so, my s/o found a watchtower stuffed in our door, you know, the usual nobody-is-home-gotta-get-rid-of-these-things type deal.

we didn't even hear the knocking on the door.

(oh the joys of sleeping in on a saturday morning-no field service!).

freeman

Jwbot I think some are getting lazy, but some are still going full bore like my wife.

My wife had her circus dis-assembly last week, and by the time Sunday rolled around she was dragon-ass big time. She really did not want to go another day, she even said so. Yet somehow she forced herself to go once again. After she left that Sunday morning, I picked up her still warm half full cup of coffee and began feeling quite sad for her. After a time that feeling passed as I sipped what was now my own coffee and opened the morning paper. As I was skimming the paper I thought about just how harried and unnatural the JW lifestyle is. And in contrast I thought about just how wonderful it was to sleep-in, to read the paper, or do anything I pleased because after all it’s now my time, and it’s now my life. I don't live to please a book publishing empire anymore!

How sad that JWs the world over know not these simple pleasures of life, pleasures everyone on this board knows all to well. I only wish my poor wife could share this simple pleasure with me. Maybe one day she will wake up as did I, but until then I guess I’ll be finishing her half full cup of coffee and reading the paper alone.

Freeman