Posts by JeffT

I just launched a new website to talk about my books. The website has links to all three books in the alternate history trilogy I published over the last year.

Of more interest to this group there is a description of the suspense/thriller I plan to release this summer. The draft is done, I'm starting the rewrite/edit process now. The website includes a blog where I will provide more information and answer questions.

Enjoy.

Website address www.jeffthomasbooks.net

37

What Is Truth?

by minimus in

jw
friends

just because you believe something as truth, it doesn’t make it truth.

religious leaders may be admired and believed but they could be dead wrong.

politicians can spout out “facts” that support their truth yet once further evidence comes through these facts are questionable.

JeffT

Truth stays the same, whether you believe it or not.

35

Anyone know a link to the leaked music video the cult is so upset about?

by mickbobcat in

i have been hearing the cult is upset that this video leaked and is trying to remove it off the net.

lol are they really that stupid?

but if anyone has a link to the video i would love to see it.

JeffT

If get what you’re saying but by that logic, if someone took a photo or video of my 1980 Chevette and posted it online, I’d still own it and it would have the same value or possibly more if so if someone saw it and just had to have it at any price.

That picture belongs to whoever took it. The copyrights belong to the photographer and were created as soon as he took it. There maybe privacy issues, depending on where he took the picture, but that is a separate area of law. Whether or not you gained or lost money is irrelevant to who owns the copyright and what they can do with it.

An aside to everybody on discussions like this: neither the WTBS nor the legal system is required to think and act logically.

35

Anyone know a link to the leaked music video the cult is so upset about?

by mickbobcat in

i have been hearing the cult is upset that this video leaked and is trying to remove it off the net.

lol are they really that stupid?

but if anyone has a link to the video i would love to see it.

JeffT

Just for the record as a writer I made less than $3000 last year.

Copyright infringement is not about money its about ownership. I can't steal your car just because its a 1980 Chevette and you'd have to pay somebody to haul it away. A lot of that free stuff on the net is there because either the artist/writer/singer wants it there, or the copyright has expired and its in the public domain.

35

Anyone know a link to the leaked music video the cult is so upset about?

by mickbobcat in

i have been hearing the cult is upset that this video leaked and is trying to remove it off the net.

lol are they really that stupid?

but if anyone has a link to the video i would love to see it.

JeffT

2 points.

1) I am a writer. Copyright laws insure that I get paid for my work. Bypassing the law is theft, plain and simple.

2) That said, It's hard to copyright music. The words are easy enough to sort out, the music is harder to prove who owned what. There's a musician, Rick Beato, on you tube that does a good job of explaining why there are so many lawsuits in the music industry. He uses the Spirit/Led Zeppelin fight to illustrate the problem. Short answer: all pop music sounds the same.

15

Jehovah’s Witnesses That Acted Like Humans

by minimus in

jw
friends

when you look back , did your witness associates act like normal human beings?

did any of them ever show compassion and feelings for a disfellowshipped person?.

any elders ever try to be kind to you, not “kind” as watchtower organization dictates, but truly kind and caring for you if you were experiencing difficulties?

JeffT

My first congregation was full of good people. It was part of what attracted me to the Watchtower. I remember one elder who was a pain, but most were OK. The others were pretty decent, especially the elder that married wife and I. After about ten years there, I left to go back to school. A few people discouraged the idea, this elder (he actually stepped down as an elder for a while because he couldn't handle the crap level) pulled me aside and told me to go for it, wife and I needed to get away from her family.

I sometimes wonder what the good ones are thinking now? Do they go to sleep at night, struggling with the knowledge that they wasted their lives?

22

Degree of Effectiveness of JW Letter Writing Form of Witnessing

by Disillusioned JW in

a newspaper article quotes a jw as saying "every (letter) i put in the mailbox, i feel, 'ah, this could reach somebody.

'" the article also quotes her as saying "we are accomplishing even more now than we were door-to-door because this way everybody in the house gets a chance to pick up that letter and respond to it.

it just feels good.

JeffT

this way everybody in the house gets a chance to pick up that letter and respond to it.

We got a letter a few days ago. We passed it around and everybody got a chance to laugh at it before I threw it in recycling. Is that what he means?

6

Non first hand..

by zachias in

jw
friends

there is a "jehovahs witnesses discussion forum" that ask for people to share "non first hand experiences you feel compelled to share."..

so stories about smurfs wandering about conventions for example.

yes "non first hand experiences you feel compelled to share.".

JeffT

It sounds impressive, but "Rumor" or "Gossip" would be easier to say more accurate.

27

With a whimper, not a bang

by JeffT in

jw
friends

the thread about old timers got me thinking about trends i see with the watchtower.

i've changed my opinion about where the organization stands.

when i joined the religion in 1973 it was dynamic, even the small congregation i attended sent out three or four pioneers.

JeffT

The thread about old timers got me thinking about trends I see with the Watchtower. I've changed my opinion about where the organization stands. When I joined the religion in 1973 it was dynamic, even the small congregation I attended sent out three or four Pioneers. The literature sounded deep, or it at least offered a lot to think about. When my wife and I left in 1988 it was already getting stale. My research started after sitting through a circuit assembly part about the dangers of higher education because the end of the world was so soon. I remember thinking "doesn't that mean it has to actually end at some point."

From everything I've seen there is nothing new going on, all the literature, talks etc just beat the same dead horses. I don't believe scandals, financial issues, or lawsuits will bring them down. Unless it completely rebuilds itself the Watchtower will die of boredom.