Juan Viejo2

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Posts by Juan Viejo2

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  12

  Scratching my head over "Watching the World", March 2011 Awake. Ideas?

  by Open mind in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  anyone familiar with the awake!

  magazine knows that "watching the world" often gives little news snippets with no further analysis or spin-doctoring from the writing dept.

  this is because for the jws reading it, they can do their own spin-doctoring and for any potential converts, it makes them think the awake!

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  Juan Viejo2

  I think their "Watching the World" is a juvenile attempt to report the news, much like the "Weekly Reader" did for 3rd graders when I was in school.

  This is so they can tell the R&F, "Hey, you don't need to read the New York Times, the Washington Post, or Scientific American. All the news you need to know can be found right in the latest issue of the Awake! magazine."

  What's funny is that I remember these little newsbits from the Awake! from back when I was a kid. (Paraphrased):

  "Report says that American automobiles are so low to the ground that they trap exhaust from cars stopped in from of them under the floor boards that seep into the passenger compartment." This was in like 1952-53 when most cars still had a very high profile, except for sports cars. Sports cars were mostly convertibles.

  "Scientific studies indicate that more people may die from the side effects of the Salk vaccine then would die from polio."

  There were many more like that, of course. There were some real doozies as I remember. But the JWs would accept what they read as gospel and would act accordingly. They still do...

  JV
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  38

  The WT Headship Principle (tm): Did you ever REALLY buy it?

  by Open mind in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i believed that god was the big boss and his first-line supervisor was jesus.. .

  everything beyond that got a bit shaky for me throughout my jw life.. .

  but this bit, i never bought into for even an instant: the husband is the head of the wife.. .

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  Juan Viejo2

  It's easy to buy the headship thing when you're a man.

  It's also easy to buy the headship thing if you are an abusive husband or father.

  It's easy to buy the headship thing if you are kissing butt at the Kingdom Hall hoping for an elder or MS appointment.

  It's not easy to buy it if you see your wife as your equal (OK, maybe she can't lift some of the heavy stuff) with a right to express her opinions and suggestions.

  Yes, there are times when a husband and wife or parents and children don't agree - and someone has to make a decision. The question should be asked:

  Who does the decision affect the most, what do they want to do and why, and will there be negative effects on the other members of the family? Then maybe Dad steps forward, puts his foot down, and tries to enforce a decision that is best for everyone in his family.

  If that doesn't work, then I guess if you're a Republican, you can always fall back on 2nd Amendment resolutions...

  JV
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  17

  Human Ancestry Made Easy.

  by whereami in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this video traces our migration out of africa and explains, through dna evidence, how humans colonized the world.

  it is part of the made easy series of videos that show the evidence of our origins, from the big bang onwards.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdknzz9b6rg .

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  Juan Viejo2

  Wait a minute! Just wait a minute! The Watchtower publications all show Adam and Eve as European White People. Ok, maybe not European, but at least they were clearly white.

  Black people descended from Ham (he made fun of his father - a drunk) and his family was cursed. All of Ham's descendants were cursed with dark skin and they all migrated south from the Middle East down into Africa - not from Africa.

  When Jesus came, that curse was lifted. He couldn't turn them White, like the blessed Middle Easterners and Europeans. So they remain black to this day, but they were blessed by being able to play basketball really, really well.

  So I guess things evened out over time. Right?

  I'm glad I was able to clear up this question for everyone...

  JV
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  22

  Note to Self

  by mrsjones5 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  avoid abortion threads.

  they're only for folks to piss on each other.

  now i'm off to watch "modern family".

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  Juan Viejo2

  Mrs. Jones --- You have a PM --- Urgent --- well not that urgent (no one's dying or anything) --- but I need you!

  JV
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  11

  Can't call him father, so "This is my [dad, daddy, daddyo, papa, pops, pappy, sire, beginner, don, begetter, male parent]

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. social
  2. family

  dear question from readers .

  i realize that watchtower is clear in avoiding fancy titles when it comes to people.

  jesus said, "do not call anyone your father on earth".

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  Juan Viejo2

  FF -

  Likewise with my dad. "My Old Man" would have gotten me a smack on the ear in a blink of an eye. Same with calling him by his first name.

  I even got the evil eye one time when I introduced him by his first name, rather than "my father, Mr. Viejo."

  JV
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  11

  Can't call him father, so "This is my [dad, daddy, daddyo, papa, pops, pappy, sire, beginner, don, begetter, male parent]

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. social
  2. family

  dear question from readers .

  i realize that watchtower is clear in avoiding fancy titles when it comes to people.

  jesus said, "do not call anyone your father on earth".

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  Juan Viejo2

  Good question, Len.

  Well, if he's a JW, how about:

  "Hey, Bro!"

  "My Brother!"

  Christian Head of Our Household

  Forefather

  My Old Man

  JV
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  43

  Is it just human nature to gossip or are JW's worse? Feelings are hurt....

  by mamalove in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is so strange how once you distance yourself from your kingdom hall and friends, that they find it necesary to discuss and contemplate your departure and put out all kinds of statements that simply are not true.. i am licking my wounds today because some kind of nasty things were said about me to a friend of mine who is df, from her ubber righteous sister.

  it was via text, so it was there to read.

  the thing i can't figure out is i have nothing to do with this woman.

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  Juan Viejo2

  I remember as a kid JW back in the 1950s riding in the back seat of my mother's car and going out in service. There were always a couple of other sisters, usually one was an "Elderette," although they didn't call them that in those days, that always had some fresh gossip to share. I think they just ignored me because they thought I was too young to know what they were talking about.

  I remember when a young JW couple had just been married. On their way back right after their wedding in some distant city, the plane they were in crashed and both were killed. We all went to the funeral - it was so sad.

  So I'm riding in the backseat and one of these sisters leans back over the front seat (they didn't have headrests in those days) and starts sharing with everyone that she heard that the young bride was "supposedly pregnant" when she got married. She wondered if this wasn't Jehovah's punishment for them having premarital sex. I just looked out the window with a dumb stare, but I was seething inside. How could she say such a thing about someone who just died?

  On other occasions she'd share stories about JWs in nearby Kingdom Halls, why the Circuit Servant was replaced, and rumors that our KH piano player, a single man in his 30s was a HOMOSEXUAL!!! Not that he was practicing anything, but has anyone else noticed that he is 35 and doesn't have a girlfriend? That kind of crap. My mom just drove the car and never joined in, but I could tell that she was both fascinated and disgusted by what the other sisters were gossiping about.

  JV
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  12

  PEOPLE-We are more powerful then we think.

  by Joliette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  imagine if people simply stopped going to the meetings.

  if they stopped showing up to assemblies, conventions, internationl conventions, etc.. no protest, violence, vulgar language, etc.. the elderly, teens, youths, babies, everyone.. we simply let our feelings known by not showing up, not being present, not speaking, by saying nothing.. no explanation to the elders, the c.o's, d.o's, the bethel heavies, or the gb.. we abstain to the higher religious authorities, only speaking amongst ourselves.. no donations, contribuations, etc.. imagine what would happen!.

  power to the people!.

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  Juan Viejo2

  Joliette,

  Don't worry about replacing your membership as a JW with another church connection.

  When you make the move, just go. Take time to do plenty of research. If you absolutely must go to a church, try the Unitarians - they don't force you to believe anything specific - you could even be an atheist - but you'd have the community support and fellowship you might need. Then take your time figuring out what church, or none, you might want to check out further.

  Above all, don't try to replace one group of false doctrines with another set of false doctrines. Take your time - and take as much time as you need.

  JV
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  7

  Local Kingdom Hall Suing the WTBTS

  by dontplaceliterature in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  maybe a month ago i read on this forum that there was a local boe from the southwest usa suing the wtbts over ownership rights to their kingdom hall property.

  was it true?

  any recent developments?

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  Juan Viejo2

  More info about Menlo Park is forthcoming. I've been busy with family issues since November. At the same time, the plaintiffs in the Menlo Park case have been less than helpful in providing information, so getting updates has been like pulling teeth out of sleeping bear. But things are progressing and should come to a conclusion sometime in March or April.

  I will let everyone know as soon as something is ready to be published.

  JV
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  18

  KH and DF attendance question

  by diamondiiz in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was reading brotherdan's thread about df individuals having to sit at the back or/and leave for song and prayer.

  i know this practice varies from hall to hall or is regional but i was wondering what right do they have to do this if kh is a public place?

  it's a charitable organization, public place open to all i thought.

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  Juan Viejo2

  I was an 8-year old JW kid when that article came out (Mar Vista, CA congregation). That is one of the few articles I remember from that time period. If I remember right, I don't think my parents or I even understood what disfellowshipping was or how it worked. But I do remember that there were a few attendees that always sat in the back.

  Richard Kelly tells about this time period in his book "Growing Up in Mama's Club." He tells the story of a fellow who takes over as Company Servant (that's what the CBOE/COBOE was called in those days) that went on a DF rampage soon after he took control of the KH. Kelly describes the practice of having the DFd ones sitting at the back of the Hall. We all considered it as a "place of shame." It was very hard on those who were in a disciplinary situation who really wanted to "come back to the Truth." It was like the medieval practice of putting people in stocks in the center of town or the "scarlet letter" being branded on a person to identify them as sinners.

  In most communities a Kingdom Hall would be considered "private property." Trespassers or other unwanted persons could be asked to leave by the JWs. If they refused to leave, the police could be called and the unwelcome guests could be charged with trespassing or disorderly conduct. The fact that a sign says that the "public is invited" to attend does not change the status of the building and its surrounds as private property. It would be similar to inviting everyone in your neighborhood over to your house for a barbeque or to watch the SuperBowl on your widescreen. It is still your private property and you have every right to ask them to leave peacefully. If they refuse to leave, even though they had an invitation, you still have the right to ask them to leave or else you can call the police and have them charged as trespassers or for acting disorderly. A court may later dismiss the charges if no one was injured and no property damage occurred, but at least you got them off the property. JWs and any other church with public meetings can do the same thing.

  JV