Posts by sd-7

54

Could the JWs sway you back...?

by new22day in

op based on mr. freeze's topic - could attending the meetings/studying again sway any of you back to the org.

hearing the propaganda over and over again is pretty powerful i'm sure.

(i'm a non-jw, non-christian (no offense), stubborn as a bull and even i had moments of pause based on some of the doctrine (lasted 30 seconds) but i never had family/friends at stake or a background in this.

sd-7

OP based on Mr. Freeze's topic

"Hi, Freeze. I'm Batman."

No. I was actually at a meeting not all that long ago, and I just couldn't believe the waaaay out of left field unnecessary interpretation of scripture one speaker gave. I mean, at this point, it's just like...nooo. It's like going back to grade school, man. Once you know what the deal is, it would be pretty hard to rejoin. There are so many holes in the system that even if the mind control powers someone mastered you, your brain would still know and you could never fully go back. There'd have to be some imagined carrot worth pursuing, and...at a certain point somewhere back there, you realize that it's a case of people believing what they want to believe because it takes too much effort to actually think about it.

--sd-7

14

"Pray Anytime" - The Watchtower has a hit!

by donuthole in

jw
friends

i was browsing youtube and it was interesting to see lots of jw covering the new caleb/sophia song "pray anytime".

they need to add this to the songbook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnine6nwgsk.

sd-7

"Pray to the LORD GOD

Don't pronounce his name"

--Thus declares Christendom,

Of Him ashamed.

The name of Jehovah

We'll use when we pray

At Armageddon

The wicked he'll slay.

Pray to Jehovah

While on the school bus

And at lunchtime

In caf-e-ter-i-as.

Your sandwich is still there,

So open your eyes.

He who does steal it

Will be one who dies.

Pray to Jehovah

In Fam'ly Worship.

For all temptation

You'll be well-equipped!

Thus in our worship

May we take great pride

Knowing Jehovah's

Name is sanctified!

--sd-7

29

Douglas Adams, 11/3/1952 - 11/3/2001 - "So long and thanks for all the fish"

by cofty in

today is the anniversary of the death of douglas adams.. adams was one of the most insightful skeptical thinkers and the author of the fantastic series, "the hitchhiker's guide the galaxy - a trilogy in four parts".. professor dawkins said on his death "science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender.".

.

sd-7

I've been thinking about reading 'Hitchhiker's Guide'. I thought the movie was weird--though that opening song was spectacular. I think my wife tried to watch it once but mysteriously stopped at some point. I can't remember what would've made her turn it off, but practically anything that pings the JW conscience might. So...I'll have to watch it again to see if I can figure it out one day...but maybe I'll get around to reading the books too.

--sd-7

21

Infographic on the March 2013 Awake

by RayPublisher in

the watchtower has chided its members repeatedly for many years about not reading anything it deems unsuitable, especially when it is composed by former members.. interestingly, the new march 2013 awake magazine pages 10-11 has an article about a woman that studied and then converted from judaism to jehovah's witnesses.

there are three key points in the article that actually encourage those with discernment to go against the watchtower ban on books written by those with dissenting views.

see if you can catch the clues by clicking below to read the article:.

sd-7

No, no, my friend--the gates to the prison are only open when you come in, they do not stay that way once you are inside, ha ha!

--sd-7

46

Who of you ever lied on your field service reports?

by Julia Orwell in

jw
friends

i've read a few people mention making up the figures for the field service reports, and i want to find out how common it is.

i never lied on my report.

sometimes i'd round up 15 minutes if i'd mentioned jw stuff to my brother that month, but that wasn't falsifying.

sd-7

I can't really remember putting down any fake time; I guess what would probably count as such would be the travel time to return visits or something, but I would stop my time if we stopped for food or something. Or if people went to the convenience store first, I wouldn't start my time until we actually got out to the territory. I'm sure I rounded up by an hour or something and then made up the time the next month. I know my mom would report time she hadn't made and then just make it the next month. So it wasn't a lie depending on the quantum observer, if you will, as before the secretary looks at the time slip, the field service time was both made and not made, both 5 and 0, both 20 and 50, any number of possibilities, until he looked at it.

But it usually didn't matter for me anyhow. Except those summer months as a teenager when I tried to pioneer. Doing streetwork at barely dawn and then going to my summer job was awful. I think I only did it one month during the summer and took the other month easy. Nobody wants to blow their whole summer vacation on field service, after all.

Towards the end I was barely going out at all and used some time from KH construction/security work. I had allowed myself to become unfruitful. My zeal had cooled off. I was easy prey for Satan. And from there, here we are!

--sd-7

17

Ray Franz Comments on the Memorial as Celebrated by Jehovah's Witnesses...

by LUKEWARM in

thought this will be of interest at this time of year..... .

dear daniel,.

i appreciated your latest letter.

sd-7

--sd-7

11

3rd Annual Memorial of Freedom--Will You Attend? Also, 'When Prophecy Fails' by Leon Festinger

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

sd-7's 3rd memorial of freedom falls on sunday, march 10th, 2013, at sundown.

check your local news for when sundown happens in your area, so that you may pass the emblems--chocolate milk and pop tarts--in observance of liberation from the watchtower.

for review, the pop tarts represent one's body, which will no longer sit in a kingdom hall.

sd-7

The 3rd Annual Memorial of Freedom was enjoyed by all in attendance. After an opening song, I think it was in Elvish, 'cause the Fellowship had reached Lothlorien by then, a rousing talk was given by sd-7. The theme? "Working Our Way Towards Freedom"! He relates:

"Outside Jehovah's organization, it's really no darker than it was on the inside. Fluorescent lighting really just ensured that after the opening song, no doubt timed with the human heartbeat, lulled us all into a hypnotic, highly suggestive state. Oh, right, and there is no such thing as Jehovah's organization. He's not like a divine CEO or something.

"Anyway, it's been three years since the white-haired-donor-of-green-reclining-chair-he-doesn't-want-me-to-sit-in may or may not have read my name off at the Service Meeting. So far, I've read a lot of books, watched a lot of movies, and played not nearly enough video games. I consider it a privilege to have left 'the lie' since my conscience told me it was the right thing to do.

"Freedom, of course, is never free. There are always people who will try to take it away from you, no matter how many times you break their chains. Freedom is not so much a state of where we are now, but rather, a state we are working our way towards. Each chain we break gets us closer to the blessed day when our freedom shines upon us like the sun.

"The only question that remains now is, are we brave enough? Are we brave enough to fight for our freedom? To stand up for what we believe in, and to endure for what we know to be right? Let us use the next year, and the next, and the next, to give an answer to that greatest question of all."

Emblems were passed, and we all watched 'Fellowship of the Ring' Extended Edition up until the Fellowship left Lothlorien. One person was in attendance. One person partook of the emblems, which in this case, were a box of Goobers, representing my body which no longer sits in a Kingdom Hall, and a glass of reduced fat 2% milk, the Milk of Freedom from the Watchtower. We concluded with an episode of 'The Powerpuff Girls' from Season 6, "Aspiration", I believe it was, which we weren't able to enjoy until 1:30 this morning. Sedusa used the Gangrene Gang to steal Egyptian artifiacts so she could become really powerful and get revenge on the Powerpuff Girls for shaving her hair off in the past.

There you have it.

--sd-7

25

Don't e-mail DF'd family members - Congregation Reaction (WT 1/15/2013)

by 00DAD in

do not look for excuses to associate with a disfellowshipped family member, for example, through e-mail.

- w2013 1/15, p. 16, para.

in the congregation i attend, no one--and i mean no one--commented on the directive to not communicate with df'd family members by email.

sd-7

That part of the lesson was towards the end and the conductor probably viewed the clock like a sawed off, so we moved on fairly quick at that point.

There's something hilarious about this sentence. I think I know exactly what you mean.

--sd-7

61

WHAT REASON DOES THE GOVERNING BODY HAVE TO DENY JESUS MEDIATOR-SHIP FOR EVERYONE?

by ÁrbolesdeArabia in

aguest, jehovah-jirah, lars58, rick fearon, finkle, or another scholars on jwn.

what reason does the governing body have for telling.

seven million jehovah's witnesses, "jesus is not your man dude!

sd-7

if they dont even know who the fds ,how are they going to know who jesus is mediator for?

mr. glass

"But now that we know who you are, I know who I am. I'm not a mistake. It all makes sense!"

Couldn't resist that one. Ha!

But see, the Governing Body has like 3 different covenants ("covenant for a kingdom", "new covenant", and I forget the third one), they're like totally confused to begin with. The only sense, as Splash's quotes show, Jesus is Mediator for everyone is that everyone can approach God in prayer through Jesus. But clearly that is the only sense in which non-anointed JWs can consider Jesus as a Mediator of sorts.

But NOT in the sense of being in the new covenant. Being "beneficiaries", which in its most literal sense would mean...they don't get any benefits until all the anointed die, just like a beneficiary named to someone's bank account. But it's not your account, and the account holder could always have you removed as a beneficiary. So it is with the 'great crowd'. If they don't obey the anointed, they therefore get their name pulled off the list by the anointed and lose any benefits that would come from the new covenant, as the benefits trickle down via the anointed.

Remember, the Society has explicity stated that the anointed will help Jesus apply the value of the ransom to the sins of mankind. So then, that makes them co-mediators, somehow able to do with Jesus' blood what Jesus apparently cannot do (and hasn't already done once for all time, despite what Hebrews 9 says), which is forgive sins permanently.

They had to build on the 2-class system somehow, so I guess by playing their usual game of Scriptural Scrabble, they built their beliefs around what they wanted to teach and then picked isolated verses to support those beliefs.

--sd-7

26

For the born-in/raised in, you ever get resentful upon seeing kids involved with organized sports?

by Theocratic Sedition in

jw
friends

this past saturday, i was watching the georgetown/syracuse game, and a nike commercial was played during one of the breaks.

i couldn't locate the exact commercial, but below is a variation of it that has scenes from the same one that aired on saturday.

man did i feel some heavy resentment towards the wt during and especially after the commercial aired.

sd-7

No. I was never the athletic type. My brother, though--he and my mom really butted heads on this issue. He ended up playing intramural basketball and coaching it, though, which I guess he either did without her knowledge or as a compromise of some kind (you know, so he wouldn't be spending time after school with those heroin-snorting, gun-toting hoodlums on the team).

But why would you want to do that? Remember that Young People Ask drama? You'll only injure yourself in an impromptu race with a worldly kid, and then get offered some pain-killers by a corrupt high school coach! Why do that, when you can keep a JW's Holocaust bowl and spoon as a memoir of what you really need in life? Your priorities are out of whack, man. You need to find 'the real life'!

--sd-7