Sorry, I should have warned about JW so-called Melodies that plays when viewing the above site. That needs addressed as a public service to this group.
just a note to all of you...i have been following this board for the past several weeks, and indeed it has been a most interesting experience.. i guess when i first came here, i had hopes that this might be a place for support and that maybe i would find some people that were indeed spiritual and were in fact trying to find a way of establishing a relationship with jehovah apart from being part of an organization( yes, take a look at the url for this site)..but, dissapointingly, what i have found is a lot of bitterness, complainiing, ugly name calling, labeling, and even outright hatred towards individuals and an organization that most were once part of....it seems that many are stuck in a very negative place, caught up in the role of "victim" and they are full of regret for wasting so much of their life 'in the truth'.... i guess the reality hit me the other day with a post that clearly stated that there really is no common denominator here other that this is a bunch of ex-jws...this is not necessarily spiritual fellowship..nor does it pretend to be.... know what guys??
?i wish you all the very best in your individual journey.....but i have come to the realization that this board really offers nothing to me..... i'm leaving today on an 11 day journey into the wilderness to take some time for meditation, introspective thinking...and yes...some journaling...and yes..even some praying..... i don't think i'll be back here.. hasta la vista, baby!
I wish you well on whatever you're seeking. I believe you'll find like-minded people on this forum, but the forum is what we make it. Some threads have topics that bring out the best or worst in people. If I get tired of name calling or don't like the thread, I switch to another. Sometimes I feel like jumping in and having a cyber romp, and other times not. However, your parting post seems more like a parting shot than a farewell. We're not all like you nor on your journey, and the same can be said for each member of the forum. There are a variety of topics and people here; they come in many colors, shapes, and sizes. This is not a Kingdom Hall where we are forced on a narrow path set by control freaks.
I knocked on the door at Beth Sarim in 1925 but d'Judge was in bed with his housekeeper and a bottle of whiskey. He opened the window and yelled, "it's 1975 stupid; and oh yeah, lose the beard!"
what happens if someone actually takes the bible serious?
really acts upon its message?
history have provided us with many examples of this and the watchtower societies second president personally had one particularly spectacular go at it.. the watchtower society second president j. f. rutherford was in a hurry to get the new system going while he was still alive.
Excellent post. I knew a woman who was a child when Booze Rutherford released Children at an assembly. All of the kids attending were invited to sit in the front near the stage as Rutherford released the book, and each kid received a copy. She fondly remembered getting her own book even though she couldn't read, but it was special because of the name, Children. It's a shame she didn't know it was a book that promoted selling for the Tower over having children. Of interest, this same Witness never had children because the end was so near. She's a childless old woman today still waiting.
You guys are cracking me up with your comments. Booze Rutherford did everything he could to get rid of the bearded-Russell look when he bamboozled his way into the presidency. It didn't take long before brothers learned to shave and drink in order to please the new pope. That Rutherford legacy remains to this day, except for the summer dramas.
I was one of the stooges in the Ruth drama at the Cincinnati, Ohio assembly (around 1969, '70 or '71). I can't tell you the number of hours involved in rehearsals and expense (yeah, we paid for the costume, not the Tower) for the Watchtower's dog and pony show. One male suggested he could grow a beard for the part, but that was shot down because it might stumble new ones at his Kingdom Hall. It's hard to believe we were that stupid, isn't it?
For all who took real vacations or saved money for college tuition instead of attending this year's summer assemblies, I'm providing a public service. Here is what you missed in order to make it into the New System of Things:
I couldn't agree more with your assessements. The Witnesses go nuts if their kids watch the Smurfs, but see nothing wrong with kids coloring a murder scene. We shouldn't be too surprised if the parents pray for the day when God murders billions not selling The Watchtower.
this past week was the visit of our circuit overseer.
i know what you are thinking so before i post some of his comments that i personally found interesting, i only went to keep peace in the family and not give rise to suspicion about my true feelings.
so with that said, here are some things that grabbed my attention.. 1) his talk thursday nite was about being successful and how the world's view of success is far different than the organizations.
"We should not encourage our children to be financially secure, but financially responsible."
The Tower does everything they can to stay "financially secure" at the financial expense of followers. They encouraged followers to sell homes and businesses in order to slave full time for the Tower, while the Society pads their nest egg and buys property from literature sells. They've encouraged young people to forgo college education so the Tower can reap the benefits of full-time slaves. It's difficult for followers to become "financially responsible" when they have dead-end jobs with low pay, and few benefits.
The Watchtower Society has become nothing more than a publishing corporation using religion, fear, and high control to gorge itself on the labor of others by encouraging followers to meagerly scrape by. The Tower requires booksellers, not college students--apparently that hasn't changed.