Posts by Gopher

25

Divorce and Separation-2/8/02 Awake!

by Mister Biggs in

in the past, didn't the society always say that under .

they always cited the scripture that god is hating a .

divorce.. read the imformation above carefully.

Gopher

Yes, this is a re-hash of stuff they published earlier, like in the footnoted 1988 article.

So you can divorce without "grounds", you better just abstain from sex or God's gonna get you!

Agreeing wholeheartedly with Dedalus -- why not let those involved decide?

The reason why not is that the WT Society loves to control every aspect of their members' lives!!!

The rules are man-made and transparently bad. How does the elder body or any outsider know if there's been "extreme" abuse? What does "extreme" mean? Do you need two witnesses to validate the degree of abuse, so that the woman (most likely) may separate?

And that last one, "spiritual endangerment".... That sounds like a one-size-fits-all excuse that a person can trot out on their non-JW mate at any old time!! What it means in reality is that the mate sees through the mind-and-emotion control techniques of the JW's and objects to their mate's being subjected to that!!!

That "spiritual endangerment" clause is an element of spiritual warfare that the WT Society conducts against the institution of marriage.

They just love that CONTROL!!!

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

90

I need you tonight my friends,Please

by Valentine in

jw
friends

this danny pearl thing has brought home memories of murder to me(my 1st husband) please,please.......just say you care right now-nothing else.......please.i'm having a real emotional night...i had no one before.............t. todays affirmation:.

the complete lack of evidence is the surest sign that the conspiracy is working.

Gopher

Tina,

It's hard to understand the raw emotions something like this exposes. The world can be so cruel.

We care about you. Period.

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

2

Prestige

by joelbear in

jw
friends

there is a list of occupations with their associated rank as far as american society prestige in my sociology book i am studying this semester.. at the top of the list are doctors, lawyers, college professors, scientists and engineers.. at the bottom of the list are door to door salesmen and janitors.. i thought that coupling at the bottom of the list was interesting.. joel

Gopher

Whaddya mean Joel?? Come on out with it!!

OK, let me guess:

Salesmen = pioneer JW's

Janitors = elders and pioneer JW's

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

9

370 Bucks

by metatron in

jw
friends

i visited an old congregation i used to go to awhile back.. they posted their accounts report on the bulletin board.. about 370 bucks went to the worldwide work, total.. i can remember 800 to over a thousand bucks for books and magazines.

being sent to the society per month - about 20 yrs.

ago.. subtract inflation and it's even worse.. meanwhile, the young boys are out in the parking lot,.

Gopher

Can't they block out the "900" and "976" prefixes that access the sex lines? Somebody at the congregation is NOT on the ball!

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

18

Thank You All!!

by teenyuck in

jw
friends

billygoat.

jt.

puzzled.

Gopher

Puffs,

Me too! Condolences....

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

32

Do you still believe the WTS doctine's?

by TheRecordCollector in

man is a soul,.

christ was created, .

holy spirit a real person, or god's active force?.

Gopher

Interesting topic.

I don't really "preach" what I believe any more, I mostly keep it to myself. There are some things the WT taught that made sense, such as man is a soul and Christ was created. There are other things that the WT teaches/does that is very harmful, and I choose to stubbornly disagree with those teachings / policies.

However if people choose to believe differently than I do, it's not terribly important to me. As long as they allow me the same elbow room.

Windrider brings up a valid concern, and that is, what do we teach our children? I have a 3-year-old daughter, what will I tell her? I won't be dogmatic. I think I will present her with varying viewpoints and ask her to reason on them (when her age is appropriate, of course). As long as she shows love and goodness in her heart, what personal beliefs she chooses to have will be up to her.

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

137

What Is Your Favorite Overlooked Movie?

by gilwarrior in

what i am talking about a movie that you thought was great, but is mostly forgotten by most people today.. well, my favorite overlooked movie is "a perfect world.

" in it kevin costner is an escaped felon who escapes from prison with another felon.

they then break into a house and kidnap a boy who is a (gasp!

Gopher

Agreeing with Dana -- "The Gods Must Be Crazy" is a classic from South Africa. I appreciate the fresh un-Hollywood style of this comedy and its incisive but subtle sarcasm regarding the question "who is civillized, the inhabitants of Johannesburg or the bush people"? Yeah, the COKE bottle that dropped from the sky is the "evil thing".

The sequel was needless and didn't hold up well in comparison to the original.

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

7

PART TWOTHE STORY CONTINUES***

by zev in

part two.... the swinging singles....(not).

and as such, i was never in my home congregation, in pawtucket ri.

i was a floater.

Gopher

Hi Zev,

I can say from personal experience that the step-family arrangement is very dicey, at best. The biological father is often a sonofabitch like you mentioned, and the stepfather is is usually allowed to be little more than a figurehead, easily pushed around (he dare not lay a hand on the kids!). So the kids end up screwed in the head from all of this. (Well, maybe not, depending on how firm, consistent and loving the mother is in her discipline style.)

Looking forward to what's next. I'm sure the elders handled everything with love, patience and concern. [8>]

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

137

What Is Your Favorite Overlooked Movie?

by gilwarrior in

what i am talking about a movie that you thought was great, but is mostly forgotten by most people today.. well, my favorite overlooked movie is "a perfect world.

" in it kevin costner is an escaped felon who escapes from prison with another felon.

they then break into a house and kidnap a boy who is a (gasp!

Gopher

It depends on what you would call a GREAT movie. This was a great comedy, called "What's Up Doc", filmed in 1973, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Here's the plot summary:

Howard Bannister (Ryan O'Neal) travels to San Fransisco with his fiance (Madeline Kahn) to compete for a musicology research grant, when he runs into a wild, unpredictable college drop out (Barbra Streisand) who brings "havoc and chaos everywhere (she) goes." Add to this a case of mistaken luggage, a jewel theft, and some government spies, and several plot twists.

This movie has me rolling on the floor every time, and is a great throwback to the romantic screwball comedies of the 1930's and 1940's.

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

16

JW's Say To Love Your Children..........!!!!!!

by ladonna in

jw
friends

i get this in my email.

thought i'd share this one!!!!!.

children need a sense of security to overcome their fears, especially in .

Gopher

Jehovah's Witnesses hope that the message in this public service announcement will encourage parents to take the time to
listen to their children and talk to them, letting them know they are loved.

There seems to be an inverse relationship between the indoctrination of the JW's and the amount of love the indoctrinated ones are able to show. My inactive grandmother does not shun me, and has no problem expressing her love. My elder dad, my mom, and my pioneer grandmother shun me now, and before that didn't regularly express love in simple terms to me until I trained them to do so (after I left home). Why did I have teach them to say "I love you"? It seems like such a basic thing to do.

J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)