Posts by freeman

125

Criminal , new US ally

by Norm in

jw
friends

the norwegian newspaper vg, reports: iraqi general nizar al-khazraji was the man behind the butchering of 180,000 iraqi kurds in 1988. he was one of saddam's faithful generals.

he later had to flee iraq and is living on a secret address in denmark.

he is under investigation by the danish police.. ---------------------------------------------------.

Being an internationally accessible DB I’m not surprised to see some America bashing, that should be expected I suppose. Perhaps we bring some of that on our self’s, as we are not a perfect people and we have made many errors along the way. However seeing such posters with intellects I have come to greatly respect being the source of such bashing takes me somewhat by surprise.

Without getting into a personal attack on any individuals, I was wondering if each of you would for a moment consider this one simple question. My question is: What is your native language?

Is it German my friends? And if it is not German, tell me why is it not?

Has it slipped your collective minds that each and every one of America’s friends across the sea would be speaking German as its native language if America had not taken the actions it has in the past?

Have you pondered how different your lives would be if America did not stand up to another “Axis of Evil” some years ago? Would some of you even be alive without America’s help back then?

And from a humanitarian point of view, I’m sure some of you realize America’s expenditure on humanitarian relief around the world exceeds that of your own nation or any other nation, and even many nations combined. Is this news to you my learned friends?

I guess I can’t blame some of you for bashing America, as we are not a perfect people and sometimes in our rush to do what we believe is the right thing to do we perhaps offend someone’s feelings or national pride. As an American citizen, let me extend an apology to you for our crassness.

However that said, I suspect many of you are clever enough to have come to realize that no matter how you bash us, no matter how ungrateful that your rhetoric seems to be, if and when you truly need us again, we will be there for you.

Yes we will send you aid, we will help rebuild your bombed-out cites, and perhaps some of our soldiers will once again be buried on foreign soil fighting with and for you to retain your independence.

Sorry if my words in any way puts a damper on your Lets-Bash-America party, but I just had to say something. Carry on.

Freeman

15

Mind Control & Urban Legends

by freeman in

jw
friends

witness urban legends.

you know what they are; we have all heard them before.

the stories that somehow show the witnesses or their teachings in a good light but always seem to contain elements that would seem preposterous to most people.

freeman

After leaving the Borg, I too have discovered that my BS detector has a hair trigger setting. I think it really stems from the fact that I don’t ever want to be lied to and fooled again. I was never like this before; I have changed because of this experience.

At times I wish it didn’t have such a hair trigger, as it tends to get me into many arguments. Of course I generally win the argument because I do the research and I am absolutely confident in my facts. Quite often the other person has nothing of substance to backup what they are saying and so the argument goes down hill from there. At some point we both know I won and the argument is terminated, sometimes abruptly.

I don’t like it when that happens; who wants to be correct all the time if it means alienating people. So now I find that I really have to watch myself and really pick my battles and only argue when it really matters. You know, in writing this and reflecting on this problem I have, I see once again how screwed up this cult can make people, myself being the prime example. Did I mention I HATE THIS CULT!!!

Freeman

15

Mind Control & Urban Legends

by freeman in

jw
friends

witness urban legends.

you know what they are; we have all heard them before.

the stories that somehow show the witnesses or their teachings in a good light but always seem to contain elements that would seem preposterous to most people.

freeman

Witness urban legends. You know what they are; we have all heard them before. The stories that somehow show the witnesses or their teachings in a good light but always seem to contain elements that would seem preposterous to most people. They include everything from heroism and amazing miracles to satanic power and blue smurfs.

I have developed the following hypnosis about how witnesses are able to believe the unbelievable, see what you think. My hypnosis is that witnesses are so programmed to ignore their own “bullshit detectors” that they can even rationalize or ignore the blatant bullshit inherent in urban legends. In other words, they turn off some of their reasoning powers so that they can believe a story that reinforces their belief system or somehow puts the witnesses in a positive light.

Allow me to relate my own personal experience and the reason for my interest in this subject at this time. Two days ago my wife and I were discussing the pledge of allegiance. There was a news story about the pledge and patriotism and that’s how the subject came up. We both agreed that saying the pledge has little to do with true love of country. We agreed that respect for the laws and principals is much more meaningful then just an outward display such as the pledge. Anyway, during the course of our discussion, she related to me a story in a Watch Tower she had heard about. Supposedly, an American teacher did an experiment and asked two students to spit on the flag. Of course one student was a witness, (they are always singled out you know) and the other student was not. As you can guess, our “hero”, the witness, would in no way spit on the flag because that would be disrespectful and of course the other student did so without hesitation because the teacher told him to. I told my wife, “Well that sounds like an urban legend to me”.

Needles to say, she hit the roof. “You don’t believe anything I say that is positive about the truth”, she said. I told her I would look it up on the WT CD-ROM. Sure enough; the story existed (much to my surprise) and even had many of the elements that she related. However, as it turned out, this story was about Canadian students and their teacher, not American. From what I could find, the Watch Tower was quoting as its source a story in its own 1990 yearbook.

I told her that I did indeed find the article in a Watch Tower but also told her about the minor differences between her story and the printed story and that the WT article was quoting the yearbook. She seemed very pleased and I could tell she thought she had ’won a victory for the truth’. Gag!

Now relaxed and pleased with herself that she had won, she then opened up to me and admitted that if the story had been about an American teacher and her students as she mistakenly said it was, she could see why I could conclude that it could be just an urban legend. She even went as far as to say that now knowing it was about Canadian students and their teacher “it made much more sense because there is no way a teacher in the U. S. A. would do such a controversial thing as this, they would lose their job”. She actually said this!

I just smiled and I let her believe all was well as I could not bring myself to crush her by illustrating her illogic or tell her that a Watch Tower article quoting from a Watch Tower yearbook is hardly proof of anything. This is especially true considering their history of misquoting and just plain making stuff up as they go along.

Although the big picture was lost on her, I believe she was quite correct in her assessment that if an American teacher had done the same thing, that teacher would be out of a job in very short order.

To me this incident was indicative that her “bullshit detector” was going off loud and clear, but the Watch Tower programming was not letting her respond to the alarm.

So there it is folks, and example of mind control up close and personal, sitting on the couch next to me, and she hasn’t a clue. I love my wife, but god I hate this cult!

Any comments?

Freeman

10

Part 12: October Surprise II - The Sequel!

by Amazing in

part 12: october surprise ii the sequel!

october 1 a new day: looking back on the first parts to this series, one who is an ex-jw can perhaps appreciate these events as no other person.

what may be a little different is how an exit can, for some, such as in my own situation, drag on and on with new difficulties, bizarre twists, and unexpected players on the field.

freeman

Amazing,
What a great presentation style you have and more importantly what a wonderful story it is. Thank you for sharing a very personal part of your life with us.

Freeman

2

Six Priests Suspended After Claims of Sex Abuse

by Patriot in

jw
friends

new york times today:.

february 8, 2002. six priests suspended after claims of sex abuse.

by pam belluck.

freeman

It’s the devil Patriot.

He makes the churches do the right thing so they look like they have the truth. But as both you and I know, only the Watch Tower has the real truth. And how do we know that? Because the Watch Tower does the wrong thing and makes no apologies to anyone, even after they get new light.

Isn’t God’s organization great!

Freeman

9

YIPPEEEE..I just got a new job!!!!!

by badwillie in

jw
friends

hey all -.

just wanted to share my joy.

i got a new job today.. way more $$$, nicer (seeming) boss!!.

freeman

Great news! Congrats

Freeman

19

JW Numbers Are Set To Grow

by Defender in

jw
friends

despite the lackluster records of jw number growth in the past 6 years, i believe that their numbers will start to swell again and remain high for at least another 10 years here is why.. the society is becoming more and more business like in its approach (especially after last year's re-org) on how to maintain and increase growth.

the wts, like any corporation when it becomes acutely aware of stagnation, begins to formulate a number of new techniques in order to bolster its sagging membership or sales.

this could include, tv ads (i believe intuit39 mentioned something to that effect), radio, newspaper and magazine ads and direct mailings.

freeman

I can’t wait to see how the numbers grow after dateline.

Freeman

16

No Speaka Da English? No Live In England!

by Englishman in

jw
friends

should the uk toughen up on it's immigration policies?

should immigrants be able to speak english?

this is clipped from today's guardian:.

freeman

Yes they should speak English, or at the very least American

Freeman

4

Agonizing Questions

by Defender in

jw
friends

gal 1:8. we have the apostle paul clearly warning the galatians, to the extent of invoking a divine curse, about believing other versions of the good news than what paul had originally published.. the question is which good news should i believe?

the one published by the apostle paul from tarsus, or the one from charles taze russell from allegheny, pennsylvania?.

john 6: 53,54. we have none other than jesus christ himself, our supposed leader, telling us in no uncertain terms that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we will not have everlasting life.. the question is whom should i trust with my everlasting prospects?

freeman

Always go with the Watch Tower teaching (NOT!)

Freeman

28

service meeting event

by nytelecom1 in

jw
friends

it was truly a joy to see br.

and sister "--------".

last night, after 5 years of not attending meetings.. it was the loving sheparding our elder body provided .

freeman

Yes our dear brother and sister X have returned to the fold, how wonderful. No doubt brother and sister X realized how hard it is in the real world and decided to return to Fantasy Island where all their dreams can be fulfilled just by turning over their thinking ability to the FDS. Brother X seems to have missed all the little children who share with him a “very special secret”, the special secret we don't even tell sister X about. Welcome back dear brother and sister X.

Freeman