Juan Viejo2

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Posts by Juan Viejo2

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  15

  GOVERNING BODY WIPED OUT IN FREAK ACCIDENT - what happens next?

  by Lion Cask in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  (reuters) the world of 7 million jehovah's witnesses took a horrific turn this morning when an aviation stunt went bad and claimed the lives of the seven members of the governing body of the watchtower bible and tract society.

  the governing body directs both the spiritual and temporal lives of their followers, who believe their leadership speaks to them directly from god.

  dead are samuel herd (age 75), geoffrey jackson (55), m. stephen lett (61), gerrit losch (69), anthony morris (60), guy h. pierce (76) and david h. splane (66).

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  Juan Viejo2

  "Sadly...I don't see a good outcome. I see the JWs stepping up to make sure that there is not any delay in even a single Watchtower. Men from down below would step up and take over the oversight."

  What would happen is that a group of 7 to 10 men in the Service and Writing departments, who are currently "other sheep" class, would suddenly feel the holy spirit come over them and realize that they were now of the "anointed, faithful and discreet slave class," would step forward and appoint themselves as the replacements for the Governing Body. All the drones and clones at Bethel would realize that they would need to establish good relationships with these new leaders as soon as possible in order to cement their own positions and get in line for promotion.

  The event of all of these men in their forties to sixties suddenly being chosen as "anointed replacements" for the late members of the GB would be considered a miracle, giving them even more authority and powers.

  The JWs in the field, of course, would accept what they are told and not murmur, for fear of being disfellowshipped or severely reproved.

  JV
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  43

  Called to be Free - Dissolution of the Worldwide Church of God

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  [the time links work on my website, not good here].

  called to be free - dissolution of the worldwide church of god.

  [note: this presentation is over an hour long and is very well done, but i have marked key time slots from the video so if you are in a hurry you can watch the key highlites.].

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  Juan Viejo2

  I used to watch Garner Ted Armstrong's TV program all the time. He was a lot like that other fellow that wrote all of the books about the end times (name escapes me at the moment), with his prophecies of the "king of the north and king of the south," "Gog and Magog," etc.

  I loved how his prophecies would change as America's perceived enemies changed over the years. First Russia, then Iran, then Iraq.

  Garner Ted got DF'd from the WWCoG by his dad. Then he went to Texas and set up his own branch, which I think is still active and follows a lot of the old WWCoG beliefs. GTA died a few years ago. He was DF'd by his dad because of infidelity in his marriage and was also accused of misuse of church funds for his personal uses.

  I had a co-worker that was a WWCoG member. I remember him telling me that he gave 10% of his GROSS pay to the church, before taxes, med ins, stock plan, etc. He was always borrowing money from the rest of us to buy lunch or to fill his gas tank. He also did not work on Saturday's, so when he was a supervisor at the phone company he had to find a replacement willing to work his weekend duty - and it usually was me.

  They were a weird bunch, but like the JWs, fairly dedicated and trying to be good Christians. But it was so obviously a personality cult under Herbert and son Garner Ted. Plain Truth had pages and pages of Herbert shaking hands with Sadat, and DeGaulle and other major world leaders. I think Sun Yun Moon learned and patterned his Moonie religion after HWA and GTA and their approach to world evangelism.

  Anyone remember that Bing Crosby's concert career effectively came to an end when he fell off the stage at Ambassador College's concert hall while giving performance?

  JV
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  30

  Content is King- Why the Meetings Fail

  by LostGeneration in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the big sayings for those that run websites is that "content is king" it makes perfect sense, as sites like this one have entertaining content for the targeted audience.

  even better, more content is added everyday bringing users back repeatedly.

  poptular tv shows and movies are loved because they entertain customers for a low cost or free.. on the other hand, you have the content provided by the watchtower bible and tract society, delivered though the pages of the watchtower and through weekly meetings.

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  Juan Viejo2

  LostGeneration - check your PMs
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  44

  Did you ever find the meetings refreshing?

  by highdose in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i can remember one pompous elder asking me "how can you be depressed after sittiing through such a wonderful meeting?!!".

  i only ever felt relief at getting away, what about you?.

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  Juan Viejo2

  I found them fun and refreshing for the first few times when I was 8-years old and the whole thing was new to me.

  I found them fun and refreshing the first few times that I was on a ministry school program or giving my first couple of public talks.

  Other than that, I remember them as boring, overly long, excercises in futility and a total waste of time. You'd almost hope that some kid would get dragged down the aisle on his way to a spanking outside or in one of the restrooms - not for his sake - but just for the momentary excitement.

  You'd hope Sister Flatulenski would rip a good one - just to see everyone giggle and squirm in their seats for five minutes.

  Once in a while a drunk would wander in and sit down in the back and then, in a momentary outburst, yell, "Hey you people. What the hell are you talking about?" Having him escorted out by a couple of brothers was always fun - and it usually brought the WT study to a halt for a few minutes.

  We had windows in our Kingdom Hall, and during the summer they would be opened to let fresh air in and cool the hall down a bit. I'd always find a seat along that aisle so that I could keep myself occupied watching people and cars go by.

  JV
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  3

  Disfellowshipping -- the fault is theirs, not yours.

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the announcement, "john (or mary) doe is no longer one of jehovah's witnesses", is happening some 70,000 times each year.

  the society wants its flock to believe that the member became so unrepentantly contaminated with evil that it became necessary to remove him from the faithful members.. i suggest that nothing can be further from the truth.. these members had lost their trancelike acceptance of watchtower interpretation long before that formal announcement.

  while it's true that recent reminders to the flock that the governing body needs obeisance on a level virtually equal to that of christ, the root of the cooling down of a member to the point where an announcement is made is not necessarily a rejection of governing body power grabbing.

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  Juan Viejo2

  FatFreek - check your PMs
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  65

  Be honest...What movie star do you look like?

  by Botzwana in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am curious as to what the members here look like.

  be totally honest now.

  not everyone looks like a knockout or mr. buff.... .

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  Juan Viejo2

  keyser soze - maybe John Cusack...but your avatar looks more like that lovable old, foul mouthed, back-stabbing, cut-throat, alcoholic, manipulative, bladder stone passing, hog feeding, whore-mongering, ---- but lovable ---- Swearingen character on Deadwood. That must mean you are a typical Aussie zone servant.

  I only hope that I can achieve such heights when I grow up.

  JV
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  44

  "True Grit" remake. Review

  by Gregor in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i really love a good western.

  the remake of true grit by the coen brothers (fargo, o' brother where art thou?, etc.

  ) was a pleasant surprise.

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  Juan Viejo2

  Don't forget "Appaloosa" - another great film with gritty realism.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNWcJxEE13Y&feature=related
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  37

  If The Watchtower discourages Greek language study, why did they publish the KIT?

  by VM44 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if the watchtower discourages the study of biblical languages, then why did they publish twice, in 1969 and 1985. the kingdom interlinear translation of the greek scriptures?.

  would this not actually encourage the study of the greek language?.

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  Juan Viejo2

  Terry you are right about getting the words right.

  Our modern age has vinyl recordings, movies, and newspapers from the beginning of the 20th century. They are news events, speeches, court cases, and other original sources.

  And yet how many times do we see living politicians, writers, commentators, and performers misquoted - or their words bent to mean something totally different than the source material.

  Perfect example: Churchill DID NOT say, "All I have to offer is blood, sweat, and tears." And yet that is the common quote repeated several times daily in newscasts, at schools, and in movies.

  No he didn't. Rock singer David Clayton Thomas may have said those words, but Churchill DID NOT. And those words are only 70 years old and have been transcribed and filmed and recorded at the time he gave his famous speech to the British people.

  So how do you think the writers of the Gospels and Acts could possibly remember Jesus words perfectly - especially since they were not there. Mark and Luke were not even present at any of the events in Jesus life. They were writing from third person accounts. Matthew sourced his material from Mark. John may or may not have been present, but his accounts do not agree with the other three gospels in many cases. Paul was not even converted until well after Jesus death - and yet he frequently quotes Jesus.

  Nah, the Bible is more like a modern history book that you'd find in an American high school. Major events like World War 2 are "fleshed out" across two or three pages. The Civil War is frequently misreported and misinterpreted. Korea? What was that. President Jimmy Carter barely gets a mention, and the Iran revolution of 1979 is ignored. I could give hundreds of examples.

  So how can modern Bible thumpers like the JWs use the Bible as the only precise and totally accurate record of Jesus' life? The answer is they can't.

  BTW - Churchill's words were:

  "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

  JV
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  26

  How big is/was your congregation?

  by DeeDubs in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  our publisher count was about 130-135.

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  Juan Viejo2

  Mary is absolutely correct. Up until 1990, Kingdom Halls were built to serve a community once the existing KH was getting too crowded. As cities and towns expanded and grew, new Kingdom Halls were built to serve the suburbs and growing nearby cities. But it seemed that the best size for a KH was a population of 80-130 total publishers and their family members.

  In the late 1950s, as dedicated publishers left their home congregations "to go where the need was greater," KHs were built with smaller populations in mind. The goal was to put a Kingdom Hall in as many towns as possible so that non-JWs would be more inclined to come to public talks and the Memorial meeting.

  Now Kingdom Halls are being built as little assembly halls, some actually having two or more congregations meeting with simultaneous or overlapping times. Some areas have multiple congregations meeting in the same KH, but on different week nights and staggered Sunday meetings. I understand that a few even have the traditional Sunday meetings on Saturdays.

  One interesting development is the introduction of Sunday morning meetings. Growing up, Sunday AMs were field service hours, as were Saturday AMs. I really doubt that they have moved service hours to Sunday afternoons after the WT study in those areas.

  One last development: Many KHs won their zoning variances based on past history of one evening meeting per week and a 2-3 hour meeting on Sunday afternoons or evenings. Now they are merging Kingdom Halls, so that there are meetings almost every night, plus ALL DAY Sundays and some Saturdays. I'm sure the neighbors did not expect all that additional traffic and street parking in their quiet residential areas.

  Way to go, WT! Piss off the neighbors, why don't you?

  JV
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  41

  Elder Just Told His Son I Am Sick Of This Religion !! And Reveals His Secret

  by Hairyhegoat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this was a very moving story just posted on another ex jw site please read it's good .

  elder reveals his secretjanuary 28th, 2011. by shadow elder, jr.. a few weeks ago, my father and i were out working together in the door-to-door preaching work.

  that morning only four of us showed up at the kingdom hall my dad and i, and a married brother and sister.

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  Juan Viejo2

  Baba Yaga-

  Thanks for the suggestions...

  Shadow and Jr. ARE reading this thread and tell me that they are loving it. Hopefully they will take your suggestions and discover better ways to approach Mom and their siblings.

  I personally think that they are on the right track. Hopefully when they succeed and decide to leave the Kingdom Hall behind forever, they both will come on this site and share their story in person with you all.

  In the meantime, I'm asking them to keep me up to date and share stories about their successes and failures.

  Shadow repeated what he said in his story: They will leave when they are ready and on THEIR schedule. Not the WT's or ours.

  They are hoping that something the WT does or some other external incident occurs will provide them with the opportunity they are hoping for. Maybe the WT will predict something for 2014, or disband the GB and appoint some single man as commander-in-chief, head honcho, or "FaithFul, the Discreet Slave/Master". It could happen.

  JV