Posts by abbagail

19

Watchtower Reformation's Grand Climax

by Derrick in

jw
friends

each successor to the watchtower estate from rutherford onward has virtually reformed the organization.. rutherford was an attorney for the society and court judge.

like modern-day reformers he didn't like the direction the watchtower was going, and staged a corporate takeover.

chaos reigned at bethel when the brothers split into two religions.

abbagail

LOL @ Derrick re: the black lights! I remember those from high school. My brother had one in his bedroom. It was soooo kewl! Good analogy re: new light v. black light.

As far as the future GB being anointed attorneys, I was basically joking, even though it seems they are becoming more and more legalistic as time goes by (even though the baptismal vow change in the mid-80s was my first "big clue" as to how they are using legal advisors to cover their "spiritual" A**'s).

As far as God using "worldly attorneys" to bring down the WT's criminal deeds, I'm all for that! As the saying goes, "It takes one to know one," and/or "Fight Fire With Fire." So may the best "den" of attorneys win!

Grits

21

whatever nevermind

by wolfgang in

jw
friends

there is no god

abbagail

Clever comeback, Comf!

Good point, DJ, about the words used by the WTS in their quest to be "different," i.e., "peculiarly his own."

Good for you UnDF'd for jumping in there!

Grits

11

SILENTLAMBS BULLITIN 30 DAYS

by silentlambs in

jw
friends

silentlambs bullitin .

well today marks thirty days before the silentlambs march in brooklyn new york on september 27th.

we are excited to see such a positive response and look forward to seeing you there.

abbagail

Thanks for the details! Lotsa goodies to choose from. How much do you want for shipping & handling?

And, BTTT!

Grits

19

Watchtower Reformation's Grand Climax

by Derrick in

jw
friends

each successor to the watchtower estate from rutherford onward has virtually reformed the organization.. rutherford was an attorney for the society and court judge.

like modern-day reformers he didn't like the direction the watchtower was going, and staged a corporate takeover.

chaos reigned at bethel when the brothers split into two religions.

abbagail

Thanks Derrick. This was veeeery interesting. I had never thought about it - that Russel could be seen as the father of two ongoing religions! And the thought that another attorney[s] may be in the wings waiting to take over (like JFR in days gone by) seems more than just likely. The next GB will probably be a group of "anointed" attorneys running the show, who are probably already being "groomed" [or grooming themselves] for the "job."

Grits

7

Extraordinary Groups

by Larry in

jw
friends

i just finished a book entitled "extraordinary groups - an examination of unconventional life styles," by william m. kephart & william w. zellner (1991).

of course the borg was mentioned, but before i get into that i just want to thank ???

( i forgot her name) for mentioning the oneida community in a previous thread, which sparked my interest in that community and lead to the purchase of the book :) .

abbagail

Thanks, LL, for sharing this. It was quite interesting. I especially enjoyed these two quotes:

"Anyone who donated ten dollars to the Society was eligible to cast one vote at board elections. Contributors could cast one additional vote for each ten-dollar increment contributed above a minimum donation."

Hmmm..... so the ones with the dough also have a hand in the decision-making process...?

"When one of the elders was asked by an observer why a press center had been established, he said that the Society had taken positions against draft registration and the Equal Rights Amendment, and they wanted the public to understand that their views were based on Scripture."

I never knew the society was against the ERA... that must have been before my time... ?

Grits

5

Top 100 Amazon.com review:Father's Touch

by morrisamb in

just got this review in for my book father's touch.

!father's touch.

by donald d'haene ***** (five stars) "the game" is over.. reviewer: craig chalquist from escondido, ca usa.

abbagail

Congratulations! morrisamb! This reviewer hit ALL the nails on the head. I especially liked this comment: "Sticking closely to his experiences, he shows us what it is to try assembling a self without having had a sense of self--and burdened at the same time with the hyper-rigid shoulds, oughts, and other forms of shame and self-hatred deposited into his psyche by the abuser."

Thanks for sharing this and bringing it to our attention!

Grits

32

Oprah Awards $50,000 to Silent Lambs

by abbagail in

jw
friends

ah ha!!

now that i got your attention.... well, oprah hasn't yet awarded $50,000 to silent lambs, but she very well could if enough of us "nominate" silentlambs (bill/sheila/joe/barbara, et al) for oprah's "use your life award.

" any regular oprah-watchers will know what i'm referring to; that during the season, she presents various individuals (on monday's show each week) with this award for their service to their cause (along with the big fat check)... .

abbagail

Hey Hey! Thanks Willy_Think! We are now up to about 23 people (between here and the SIlentLambs Guestbook) who have written to Oprah/nominated B.Bowen, et al, for the Use Your Life Award! We're doing good!! Thanks!

Grits

21

Theocratic Ministry School 2003

by LoyalLeon in

jw
friends

some excerpts from the october 2002 our kingdom ministry insert regarding the new schedule for the tms:.

introductory remarks.

5min study point several paragraphs of one of the 53 studies in the new benefit from tms education (to be handled by the school overseer, his helper or perhaps another qualified elder).

abbagail

Thanks LL for giving us the low-down on what's in store for the next school year! :-)

Big Tex wrote:

RE: reading the Watchtower once a month for the No. 2 talk: It's not so surprising if you think about it. Remember all the talk 20 years ago of the evils of a Bible study. Instead a True Christian would study the Watchtower instead. This is just an extension of that logic. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years, people start quoting the Watchtower chapter and verse during the meetings, instead of scriptures.

Hi Big Tex: Right along with what you said, I just saw these "jewels" on the SIlentLambs Guestbook:

WT 8-15-88 p.28 "Jehovah does not illuminate each Christian individually. Rather, Christ appointed the 'faithful and discreet salve' class to provide Scriptural study material and timely counsel to Christians throughout the world."

From WT 8/15/81 p28,29 " ... through such 'Bible reading,' they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines ..."

From WT 12/1/81 p.27 "Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do."

-----------

So much "doctrine" has changed in the past decade, I guess the WTS assumes any info the student looks up will be "old light" and if he gave a commentary on that info, he would end up making a fool not only of himself, but of the FDS as well.

--OR-- from some posts I've read on this forum, some "reformed thinkers" are using the school assignments as an opportunity to spread a little "new light" of their own, which I thought was a great idea. I'd love to be sitting there and hear something totally non-mainstream coming off the platform. No doubt would wake everybody up who was taking a snooze.

I'm surprised the WRITTEN exam will now be ORAL. I am guessing the WTS wants to save some pennies by no longer printing those Written Exam sheets? Or, what other reason might there be?

Sitting for the song and prayer? Wow! I never heard of such a thing. Were you in a congregation of octogenarians? ;-)

GRITS

32

Oprah Awards $50,000 to Silent Lambs

by abbagail in

jw
friends

ah ha!!

now that i got your attention.... well, oprah hasn't yet awarded $50,000 to silent lambs, but she very well could if enough of us "nominate" silentlambs (bill/sheila/joe/barbara, et al) for oprah's "use your life award.

" any regular oprah-watchers will know what i'm referring to; that during the season, she presents various individuals (on monday's show each week) with this award for their service to their cause (along with the big fat check)... .

abbagail

THANK YOU Michael13000 for making your nomination! And an extra thanks for the plea to Jah Christian newsletter. I didn't think about that. I hope your friend Troy see this!

Thanks again!
Grits

107

C.O. Reports: JWs/WTS "Reach Critical Mass...

by BitterTruth in

jw
friends

jehovah's witnesses/wts have reached "critical mass" - says ex-circuit overseer.

------posting copied from h2o-----.

posted by xelder [seeker4] on july 13, 2000 at 12:00:52 {rn3hpwrs1eubi2tgjvegd9bhhxgwag}:.

abbagail

LOL! @ Farkel

Critical Mass: It would also be the last religious service our current Roman Catholic Pope conducts before he croaks.

And to MegaDude who wrote:

It's like fighting for control of the Titanic.

Yeah, why bother to fight for control? Why not just sit back and watch it steer head-on right into the giant iceberg! POW! Gloooooooop! There she goes! "And she will never be found again." (Rev. 18:21)

BitterTruth wrote back in 2000:

This "newly defined ecclesiastical institution of overseers" which hopes to "form a freshly washed body of Christians from every nation and race" is what will attempt to bring this about. They today, number about 1/3 of the organization's leadership, on a worldwide scale. And the are "mad as hell and aint gonna take it anymore..." ..... A Watchtower Society POWER STRUGGLE/TAKEOVER on a worldwide scale is next to occur...a major attempt at it is shortly before...so...Stay tuned and don't touch that dial! BT

So who is this Bitter Truth person who posted this info in the first place? Why doesn't he give us a current update on these "heavy hitters" within the org and what they are doing currently? The original post was from around July 2000. That's two entire years, with two annual meetings occurring since then, and no "overthrow" yet.

BT also had written back in 2000:

Now here's the key portion the reader comments on...he continues... "On the other hand, on page 31 of the new Isiah book, what I read there gave me a momentary shudder. It sounded just like the boys in the writing dept were suggesting a coup!"

Not having a copy of the Isaiah book, does anybody know what this person was referring to? Thanks.

Friend had written back in 2000:

"The day the Society states that its teachings hold precedent over the Bible will be the day that 99% of Jehovahs Witnesses leave off association with the Society. I fully realize that that latter statement can be countered, but I dont think successfully so; at least Ive never seen it."

In answer to that, I would offer this WT quote which was on the SilentLambs Guestbook just the other day. I'd say the society 21 years ago already did such a thing: WT 12/1/81 p.27 "Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do."

And what happened to H20? I haven't been around long enough to know the whole story. I was under the (erroneous?) impression it had shut down or something. Is that true? If so, why did they shut down? If it's still around, is it still being run by "heavy hitters" within the org? What are these "heavy hitters" up to these days? I remember an email B.Bowen sent around a few months back denouncing all those current elders, etc. who were sitting on their duffs and doing nothing. Bill asked them in the email if they were going to stand up for what is right nor not? If there really are 1/3 who are "united" against the GB, are they lined up behind B.Bowen and the SilentLambs?

Intereresting thread nonetheless! It was a great read.

And welcome, too, Kagloo!

Grits

Edited by - Grits on 28 August 2002 10:23:28