Posts by miseryloveselders

18

Channels Turn Foul as they Ebb

by Marie B. Paraison in

the watchtower channel is ebbing.

one sister told me that the change in the number of meeting days from three days to two days is because of a shortage of funds needed to pay for utilities.

in this economy and the waning of finances the kingdom hall attendees can look forward to meeting once a week in the future.. .

miseryloveselders

I disagree with that as well. Utilities being a factor does make some sense as some book study groups did in fact meet at the Kingdom Hall. However, the far marjority, at least that I'm aware of, met in individual homes of publishers. As far as why the book study was eliminated, we can speculate on that until the next generation teaching is introduced, and they still won't tell us what the real reason is for eliminating the book study. Tell you something, I don't even think the COs, and DOs understand why it was eliminated. I've heard one CO state one reason such as economic concerns in light of travel costs with high gas prices weighing in as a factor. That CO moved on to his next assignment, and the next CO whom we currently have, told us that the book study was eliminated to make room for the Family Worship Night because thats the area the WT feels needs the most attention at this time. The family structure is supposedly the most vulnerable to spiritual attack and shipwreck. So we're getting conflicting information from two men who are supposed to be on the same page. Maybe one of them didn't get the memo from the Branch? Who knows.

On top of that, the year that the book study was brought to a close, David Splane of the GB did a talk at the District Convention. He played a role into my waking up as he made the statement that, "the friends appreciated our mercy in eliminating the book study." My ears perked up because he called it a merciful decision on the part of the GB. Then he went on to talk about difficult traveling for JWs in foreign lands, and the gas prices here in the States. Who's telling the truth, or to be fair, who's correct in why the book study was eliminated, God only knows. I wouldn't be surprised if Barr thought one reason why they voted to eliminated it, and Jaracz believed something else entirely. Who cares, they've both gone the way of the Dodo.

As far as to the reason the WT's channel is ebbing, well, me personally is because this system of the things is still here and kicking, and not showing any sign of ending anytime soon. Babylon the Great is still going strong with absolutely no sign whatsoever of the goverments turning on it. The generation teaching has changed multiple times, and didn't even do a 180 as much as it jumped through hoops, and polar opposites before they printed that nonsense. Their channel may also be ebbing because they keep reminding us who's in charge at least two times per magazine. The faithful and discreet slave went from a parabel to a prophecy with life or death implications for the flock. When some of the flock woke up and smelled the bull shit in that doctrine, the also realized that they're trapped if they have significant ties to their family and congregation. So they're getting bitter, developing resentment bordering on animosity while concieving hatred ready to give birth organized apostacy. The longer the powers that be in this organization hold onto the tiger's tail, the more ferocious he's going to be if he ever gets loose.

Eventualy this religion's channel is going to get switched, and someone might even pull the plug entirely.

21

"Marry only in the Lord", along with other verses, Jehovah's commands, or Paul's advice?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

wt june 1, 2004 pages 22-23. do your circumstances control your life?

i typed the first part and the last part of the paragraph in question so as to avoid the filler.. we too may face situations for which we could be tempted to seek unscriptural solutions.

for example, are you discouraged because you have no yet found a suitable marriage mate?

miseryloveselders

r51785,

"Marry only in the Lord, or marry only in the Watchtower?"

Don't laugh but it took a few months of being on here to realize your words!!!!!!!!!!

To say I was pissed would be the biggest understatment ever!!! All those bloody years waiting for that illusive single brother to show up ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So PISSED!

clarity

Remember, God never commanded it, Paul said it, and the WT stated that God commanded it.

4

Medicine Practiced in Noahs day and Blood

by Marvin Shilmer in

jw
friends

medicine practiced in noahs day and blood .

today i added to my blog the article medicine practiced in noahs day and blood.

it is available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/03/medicine-practiced-in-noahs-day-and.html.

miseryloveselders

bttt

37

"See! See? Just as like the bible says! earthquakes are increasing!"

by highdose in

jw
friends

which is what a dub said to me today.

i would like to come back to him with evidence that they are not.

does anyone have any helpful links they could post to refute this?.

miseryloveselders

Bible doesn't say earthquakes would increase, only that there would be earthquakes in one place after another, or various places.

28

Nightmares

by palmtree67 in

jw
friends

first of all, i have severe arachnophobia.

rationally, i know most spiders are harmless, but something takes over my brain and my body when i see one........i totally freak out, i can't help it.

they are little pieces of death, wrapped in scarey...... .

miseryloveselders

I knew a white dude with numerous spider tattoos. IF you didn't know him, you'd think he did prison time, or was a nazi-skin. Truth was, he never did time, and wasn't racist. He really did at one point have arachnophobia when he was younger, and it was so traumatic to him that when he finally overcame it, he got tatted up with webs.

Me personally, I'm a little irritated and nervous by certain bugs. Its funny because some bugs I think are absolutely cool and fascinating. Other bugs seem so creepy to me. One morning several years ago, I got up to take a whiz, and the lights were off. I handled my business, and then went to wash my hands. I turned on the water, and I felt something strange between my toes. So I flipped on the light, and there was this huge thousand legger between my big toe and middle toe. It was trapped and appeared to be looking up at me. I freaked out man, and it got loose, and I didn't even have the nerve to simply step on it. I had to grab some toilet paper to smash it and flush it down the toilet. Something about all those legs is creepy. I feel the same way with spiders too. Something about them makes me have to smash them with a shoe. On the other hand when I come across a Praying Mantis, to me there is nothing cooler than them. Love that bug. I love how they have no fear of humans either. You can pick him up, or sit down beside him, and he looks at you as if he's saying, "wsup."

40

Who converts and Why? SURVEY - Please contribute

by Murray Smith in

i've read some random articles of late and have found a recurring factor which could well be answered effectively by many of the posters here.

basically the notion relates to what makes one vulnerable to indoctrination into a high-control religious cult and goes lke this .

while most, if not all humans seek group approval and association to some degree .

miseryloveselders

I'm a born in, so I can only go off of my observations. As far as those that I've seen convert in my experiences, it was mostly those ones who were a "little off" so to speak. When I say that, I don't necessarily mean crazy, but rather they often were a little left or right of society's norms. I've seen some educated individuals convert, a couple of whom are quite respected in their fields of occupation. With all of them I've noticed however, regardless of the educational background or current economic status, they all carried some moderate to heavy emotional baggage. In times past and even nowadays, when people were having problems or "going through it", they often turned to their churches which they saw as turning to God. With JWs going door to door, and as often as they do, they're bound to show up on the porch of someone who's emotionally vulnerable.

My own father, was a convert. Let him tell it, he converted just to marry my mother, but that's not entirely the truth. His upbringing was rough, and his siblings, my uncles and aunts, are all pretty jacked up mentally. He's the only one stable, and even thats a matter of opinion. The era he grew up in was hard on black males, not saying its still not effed up, but not as bad as it was during his teenager and young man years. He explored various religions, and from what he's told me, he experienced racism and segregation with various churches back then. Eventually he ended up studying with the Nation of Islam, but he had enough sense to realize that they're crazy, and really nothing more than a "social" religion for those that catch my drift. Besides he didn't need to hang out with other blacks as an organization to hate white people. Another thing was, he said with the JWs, it was the first time that anyone actually made an effort to explain to him whats in the Bible. Also, the racial tensions and segregation that this country was dealing with at the time, wasn't as overt or even non-existant to some degree amongst the Kingdom Halls he'd been to. That's not to say there wasn't some racial problems in congregations, but it was more subtle. It wasn't as overt as what he experienced when white churches would turn him away at the front door as if he as Judas Iscariot reincarnated in the flesh. Last but not least, he met my mother, and from there it's been a wrap. They've been together for 5 decades, and still act like they're dating.

Speaking on my dad converting partially over my mother, I think quite a few JWs have converted for that reason too. Whether it be the wife, or husband who initially studied and got baptized, somewhere down the road enough "unbelieving mates" have converted, or have shown potential that the WT has printed numerous articles about how the believing mates conduct won over their spouse.

One last thing, I think it goes without saying that immigrants and foriegn populations are ripe for JWs, much in the same way the Catholic and Protestant churches converted millions through missionary work, when they weren't converting them via violence.

21

What are some feel good foods?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

.

miseryloveselders

I just want to make love to all of those pictures.

39

using the name "jehovah"

by finallyfree! in

i find it to be frankly disrespectful.

im a father, if my kids were to call me by my first name id find that wierd.

we address judges with "your honor" and various other titles, so why on earth would we call the almighty god by his first name?

miseryloveselders

When hit with the "Divine name" by some JWs, i used an example of someone in danger crying out to God, just calling him "God", but was He really up there going -- "Forget you! You didn't say "Jehovah"!!!

LOL, good illustration.

21

What are some feel good foods?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

.

miseryloveselders

I'm friggin hungry right now too. My lunch isn't for another 2 hours or so. I feel kind of hollow though, like I shouldn't eat anything out of respect for Japan. I feel bad for those folks, wish I could go over there and do something for them. But dang, I'm hungry right now. Dang, homemade macaroni & cheese would be to die for right about now. Or some bbq ribs, full slab and a half, or OHHHHH I'm soooooooo hungry!!!!!!!!

39

using the name "jehovah"

by finallyfree! in

i find it to be frankly disrespectful.

im a father, if my kids were to call me by my first name id find that wierd.

we address judges with "your honor" and various other titles, so why on earth would we call the almighty god by his first name?

miseryloveselders

Last week's WT study mentioned the Catholic Church's letter from a few years ago that either suggested or dictated that the name should no longer be used. The WT used the letter to bash the church, making it seem like there was sinister intent or malice on the part of the church. I decided to actually read the letter, thank the lord for the internet. I guarantee nobody in my congregation read the letter, and I'm sure they'll reference last week's WT article as all the more reason why the Catholic church is deserving of God's wrath. My personal thought on the letter is that they felt it inappropriate to say or sing the name, and further they feel that they have historical and scriptural support as it appears 1st Century Christians didn't use the name, or at the very least they didn't write it.

Here's a copy for anyone that's moved beyond simply taking the WT's word for it whenever they bash a differing faith's view.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/cdwtetragram.pdf