Posts by garybuss

17

Visit from Pioneers

by QuestioningEverything in

jw
friends

so, my husband and i are 'faders/inactive' and have been for some time.

we live in another city about 60 miles from both sides our family.

his parents and my mom are very active in the congregation in their area (they live in the same city).

garybuss

You don't have a Jehovah's Witness problem, you have a relative problem. Solve the relative problem and the Witness issue goes away.

I did, and mine did!

6

Lap Band Surgery

by uninformed in

jw
friends

about 10 years ago i was diagnosed as diabetic.. i was about 70 lbs overweight and tried to lose weight, but could not really control my eating, and i neglected exercise too.

over the 10 years, i did manage to lose about 15 lbs.. on may 12, this year, after researching bariatric surgery, i decided to have a 'lap band' installed.

i went to a hospital in juarez, mexico, and i have enjoyed some good results so far.. i have lost over 20 lbs in the past two months, and my blood sugar has dropped over 50 points.

garybuss

You wrote: sure got everyone excited about this subject.

I hate it when that happens.

67

Jerry Bergman on JWs destroying library books

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the number of my books in academic libraries.

i have authored several scholarly books and monographs about the jehovahs witnesses.

my books and articles on the watchtower and related topics are found in hundreds of university, college and other libraries, and have also been translated into 12 languages.

garybuss

You wrote: the fact is there is no hard evidence on many of these issues.

There's no hard evidence for one single thing I write. Guess I been wasting my time huh?

67

Jerry Bergman on JWs destroying library books

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the number of my books in academic libraries.

i have authored several scholarly books and monographs about the jehovahs witnesses.

my books and articles on the watchtower and related topics are found in hundreds of university, college and other libraries, and have also been translated into 12 languages.

Jerry Bergman was the third former Witness I ever contacted. Jerry gave me Randy Watters' phone number. I own three of Jerry's books and have read two cover to cover. I've collected Jerry's articles and tapes over the years and enjoyed Jerry's work with Ken Raines.

http://www.seanet.com/~raines/papers.htmlI've heard a few critics of Jerry's work but I haven't been given specific errors to check on from those critics. Much of Jerry's writing is of a personal experience nature. It'd be pretty darn hard (and stupid) for me to argue with a man about his own personal experiences.

I've corresponded and talked with Jerry over the years and he gave freely of his time and helped me sort through some of my challenges. Jerry's help to me was right up there with Randy Watters.

I like Jerry's books and I like Jerry. Nancy and I were guests in Jerry and Diane's home and Jerry and Diane took us to dinner on one of our cross country trips. We got to see Jerry's library (and it's huge).

I'm as agnostic as they come and Jerry knew that and he never once discouraged me. He helped me every chance he got. Thanks Jerry, your kindness will never be forgotten.

59

My first post

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

i prayed before i came on here.

i know that it weird.

i have been reading here for a long time.

garybuss

Welcome!

You wrote: Every last friend and family of mine is a Witness.

That can change over night . . . it did for me. I remember sitting in a public talk Sunday Jehovah's Witness meeting in my 20's calculating what my losses would be if I walked away from the Witness group and I was like you, most of my social life would be gone.

I did walk away in 1974 but not clean. After I read Crisis Of Conscience in 1992 I started asking questions of the Witness people I knew and the mass shunning started immediately. Of course I didn't accept the snubbing and shunning very well and family ties were broken. I'm much better off without relatives who would shun and snub me.

The "friends" were dispensable to me like I was dispensable to them. They aren't missed.

30

DC Experiences - reality vs. perception

by sir82 in

jw
friends

at a recent dc, an elderly sister was interviewed.

she recounted how she endured through many years of her husband's opposition, never giving up, until finally he relented.

eventually, he bacame baptized and joined her in the full-time pioneer work.. end of experience.

garybuss

I had thought I had heard it all at a district assembly in Sioux Falls in 1971 when the speaker said it was a miracle from Jehovah that a semi trailer with a Thermo-King refrigeration unit on it was obtained for use by the Witness kitchen so Jehovah's lettuce wouldn't wilt.

This is a meat packing town and there must be a couple thousand Thermo-King trailers in town on a bad day.

What a bunch of idiots!

14

Daniel-P's Bethel Papers

by daniel-p in

jw
friends

entry and exit papers: http://www.mediafire.com/?exrr1amq2st.

bethel life: http://www.mediafire.com/?itdnv159cxa.

info for the wallkill bethel family: http://www.mediafire.com/?b22smj2nbmt.

garybuss

Very similar to our prison trustee work release program guidelines. When I visited the New York Bethel book factory it reminded me of state prison jobs programs. Now I see why.

29

TV Converter Box Choice?

by garybuss in

tv converter box choice?.

i need some help choosing which tv converter box to buy.

i have two united states government issued converter box $40 coupons good till 9-9-08. .

garybuss

Hi Galileo,

I don't see any apartment buildings here with 4 dishes per apartment hanging on the roofs.

24

End Times Preaching and Armageddon - has the WTS made a new push on this?

by insearchoftruth in

my wife has been an on again, off again sympathizer of the jws.

she recieved a phone call this past weekend from a sister who had attempted to study with her in the past and all of a sudden she is reading all the wts literature she can on the meaning of armageddon and the topic of paradise earth.

has the wts started a new push on this topic as of late??

garybuss

I have a friend that buys into every new MLM scam to hit town. I've tried to point out how he is the scamee not the scamer, but he signs up for the next trick to hit the streets. Now he's selling chocolate candy as a diet trick to suppress appetite.

My point is, he's got a gullible gene. He also can't add 2+2 and come up with 4. He pays for everything with cash back credit cards and he thinks he's gonna get rich doing that. Yeah! Right!

Some people just aren't happy unless somebody's conning them. I know one guy who left the Mormon Church, joined the Jehovah's Witnesses, quit them and joined the SDA church and now is practicing Judaism.

I'd have to dispense with every ounce of ability to question implausible scenarios in my entire body to join the Jehovah's Witnesses. If a sucker quits the Jehovah's Witnesses, I bet they still can't question implausible scenarios and the next scam is waiting.

I think the thing my wife liked best about the Jehovah's Witnesses is the fact that I wasn't there.

29

TV Converter Box Choice?

by garybuss in

tv converter box choice?.

i need some help choosing which tv converter box to buy.

i have two united states government issued converter box $40 coupons good till 9-9-08. .

garybuss

You wrote: Doesn't your Direct TV contract include local stations?

It could, but that would mean a Direct TV converter box on every TV with a monthly rental fee or if I buy them, a monthly access fee of the same amount. The converter box is a one time cost of about $20. The DTV access fee is $5 for each DTV converter a month forever.

We might go that route at some point. I'd actually like to dump DTV. They piss me off every chance they get. I own some apartments and I won't let them put dishes on my buildings. Last time they called me, they threatened me with legal action. Dish Network is worse.

Local broadcasting has never threatened me. That puts em above the dish guys.