Posts by DNCall

21

"Heritage" Vintage JW movie from 1966

by NikL in

jw
friends

i can't remember where i first heard about this movie but it was recently.

i guess they even showed it on tv.

probably payed for like an infomercial.. anyway, i looked it up on youtube and viola!.

DNCall

Heritage was photographed, written and directed by Timothy Galfas. His son was a a Gilead instructor. TImothy "fell away from the truth" and became well known in the movie industry for his "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" commercial for Coca Cola (used in the final episode of "Mad Men"), directing episodes of "Night Gallery" for Universal and the movie "Summer Lovers."

I came across him while going door to door in Beverly Hills. He eventually got reinstated and finished his life as an active witness.

24

Need input: elders showed up at our door today

by de-opresso-liber in

so as i announced last week, my wife and i started our fade and i sent in a letter to our body that i was stepping down and cited the arc as the reason and insisted that we not be bothered.

my wife told a few relatives in person that we weren't going to attend meetings any longer (immediate shunning occurred, the new videos must be effective) and that what we found with the arc shocked us etc etc.

i have an inside track on how this is all going down by an awake elder on the body, co told them to handle the matter quickly.

DNCall

It also depends on you. Given what you have said, i doubt that you will be willing to be "shepherded." It sounds like you are through telling the elders what they want to hear. You should expect to be led from the pasture to the slaughterhouse.

Good idea about sending your thoughts prior to getting chopped, though.

27

Will the UN turn on Religion?

by no-zombie in

as all witnesses know, the opening gambit of the great tribulation will occur when the united nations turns on organized religion to devastate them and leave them naked of people and resources.

however, as jehovah's judgement day has been spoken of as being "imminent", the question that can be fairly asked ... 'is the united nations organization actually in a position to act as god's destroyer of false religion?

while i have no doubt that most within that organization had in the past tried to make the lives of the desperate better, the united nations has unfortunately now become a weak and underfunded political eunuch.

DNCall

I'm a little rusty with this stuff but I seem to recall that Jehovah puts it into the heart of the beast to destroy the harlot. The fact that the UN is impotent would make this more of a miracle; not unlike the account in Judges where the Israelites drenched the altar before Jah set it ablaze! There's enough craziness in the Bible for any crazy religion to hang its hat on.

12

JW Literature Trolleys Don't Carry the Book Of Mormon

by Athanasius in

this morning the jws set up two literature trolleys at our local shopping centre.

the trolleys were situated within 20 feet of each other with six jws attending them.

why they needed six jws on hand i have no idea as everyone was ignoring them.. anyway i thought i'd have some fun.

DNCall

StephaneLaliberte: In the end, only the poor individual gets shafted, not the watchtower.

That pretty much applies across the board.

13

From Bob Hope Theater to JW Assembly Hall

by Hecce in

just a remembrance of the woodland hills, ca assembly hall.

i am enclosing a partial copy of a wikipedia article covering the purchase and subsequent sale of the facility by the jw.

i am enclosing the link and please pay attention to the bold portion of the document.. the theater project was backed by entertainers bob hope and art linkletter, along with cy warner.. the 2865-seat facility opened july 6, 1964 with the sound of music.

DNCall

The creation panels in the lobby were painted by Drew Struzan. Drew is a celebrated artist who is famous for his movie posters. He is the preferred artist of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, etc. He is the creator of the posters for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Cannonball Run, and numerous others.

I vaguely recall that some pedantic elder took issue with one of the panels not being completely accurate per the Biblical account. I believe Drew was asked to paint over the offending element and did.

Fortunately, Drew, his wife and son left the cult some years ago.

27

My sources say Jr brown has died

by poopie in

jw
friends

end of era.

DNCall

Jim Pellechia was replaced by JR Brown. I was always impressed with Jim's levelheadedness and intelligence. I never knew how he ran afoul of the GB. All I know is that he was replaced by a man who had far less in the way of these qualities than Jim. It's reasonable to expect that whoever replaces JR will be more like JR and much less like Jim.

17

Coming Out To My JW Sister

by Ame SF in

now, i have been mentally "awake" for quite a while, but i'll just say march/april this year.

i won't go into detail about what it was that made me "realize" everything, so don't bother asking.. so, i've known for years that i wasn't like most girls in my classes, kingdom hall, and just in general.

from a very young age i had that obvious interest in the same sex, but seeing as i was seemingly the only one feeling that way i would brush it off and eventually i started getting interested in guys.

DNCall

It sounds like you have a good grasp of your sexuality/identity. As you may know, if you are baptized and living as a gay woman, Witnesses are instructed to cut you off. You don't say in your OP whether you are baptized or not. Either way, I hope your sister will continue to embrace you.

However it turns out, i wish you the best in building and enjoying your life.

136

Sun,moon, earth and mathematics .

by atomant in

just thought id let you all in on some info i found on northeasttruth.com.

that magical moment where the moon blocks out the sun!

but only just enough to perfectly cover the suns disc, whilst still allowing us to see the corona of light and other electromagnetic forces radiating from it.. this only happens because the moon diameter is exactly 1/400th the size of the suns and is positioned at exactly 1/400th of the distance between earth and the sun!so, when we see it from the surface of earth, we are in the only place this can ever be seen, at the only time it could ever happen.

DNCall

To never a jw:

Funny, you don't look twoish.

20

My Issue With the Kingdom Melodies

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

the organization really has some talented people in it.

seriously talented.

artists, musicians, animators, and any other creative venue you can think of.

DNCall

I believe it stems from JW theology, which only addresses true/false, right/wrong, light/dark, us/them, happy/sad, chaste/immoral, moderation/excess, etc. Subtlety and nuance have no place in JW culture. However, life is full of these finer elements, as is great art.

As art is a reflection of life, so JW art is a reflection of JW life. JW art is as artificial as the life it reflects.

I have personally witnessed wonderful music created and then shot down because it fell outside the boundaries set by those leaders steeped in JW theology and culture.

24

If An Organization Really Believed It Had the Truth...

by xjwsrock in

....it would not be scared of critics.

actually they would naturally take an offensive stance, wouldn't they?

they would welcome debate... even encourage it.

DNCall

"Straight line approaches," as xjwsrock puts so well, were abandoned after the Knorr administration with the power shift to the GB. In the 40s through the 70s it was sufficient to ignore apostates. Their placards and signs outside the conventions were ignored for the most part. By the 90s I can recall a highly placed Bethelite telling me that "Ray Franz' book" was doing tremendous damage--this one book was causing many to go apostate. Gradually over the years more and more mention was made of apostates as well as resolutions being made at conventions pledging loyalty to the organization. Articles, apostate blogs and websites on the Internet were making the Organization look bad and the Organization knew it.

The multiple leaders of the GB were beginning to develop paranoia over this in their ranks. A new public affairs office was created under a new overseer in an attempt to control how the Organization was being perceived. As this control has diminished since that time, the focus has been on image and perception--not on "truth."

In times past "the truth" inspired confidence. Today, their illusion of truth is lost in a massive effort to survive financially and to perform damage control.