FatFreek 2005

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Posts by FatFreek 2005

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  47

  OK, I am too old and missing it - but what is this SPARLOCK phenomenon?

  by james_woods in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  at first, i thought it was some legitimate cartoon character (disney or such) that the society was putting down as "demonized".. then, i started getting the idea that perhaps (unbelievably) the society had made him up as a negative "teaching device" to warn jw kids about "worldly demonism".... can this possibly be true?.

  surely not even the wtbts could be that stupid!!!.

  can somebody explain this to me, please???

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  FatFreek 2005

  I wonder if Watchtower is treading on thin ice by its choice of the term "Sparlock".

  Check for yourself by going to sparlock.com and there you will see a commercial product being advertised, using that exact name. I don't think those folks will think very kindly about Watchtower using their trademarked term. The following quote from sparlock.com.

  "I only started to take this seriously back in the early 1980’s when I finally decided to gather all of my resources together and develop a full scale world class mortarless concrete block building system. I have named it SPARLOCK™ ."

  Len
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  40

  How can I convince my mother the JW's are wrong?

  by schnare in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is probably going to be a long post, since i am going to be added some parts of our conversations on facebook.

  my mother has been involved sort of with the jw's, since she was younger.

  so she's always kind of believed in their stuff.

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  FatFreek 2005

  Hi Schnare,

  You've already had some good suggestions. Mine is to try to keep it very simple, one main thought, one common thread which JW's cannot disagree with. The subject of contradictions. Watchtower and JW's hate 'em.

  The following link is to THE GREAT WATCHTOWER CONTADICTION, an 11 minute read (if she'll read it) that's free and available online. She should have a WT Library CD -- please get her one if she doesn't have one. Otherwise she may not believe the more than 20 quotations from Watchtower literature that are found inside that essay. She has a better chance of believing them if they're on her own CD from her own kingdom hall.

  Good luck,

  Len
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  22

  Do you still keep WTS literatures?

  by umadevi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was cleaning my bookshelf earlier this week and got rid of all the wts magazines.

  as for the books i haven't decided yet.

  what about you?.

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  FatFreek 2005

  I still keep what's not available on WT Library CD. What's the sense, otherwise?

  I have the initial release (1971) of Aid to Bible Understanding, the Interlinear, and Crisis of Conscience. Oh, wait -- strike that last one -- Ha!

  On a more serious note, it's interesting to me that Ray F. wrote the first and the third book on my list.

  Len
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  66

  Norwegian branch up for sale

  by InquiryMan in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the norwegian branch, as well as the swedish one, are now up for sale and the scandinavian headquarters will be located at the present danish bethel.. http://www.oblad.no/nyheter/omradet-i-ytre-enebakk-legges-ut-for-salg-1.7365526.

  this news even made it to the national radio news yesterday.. .

  .

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  FatFreek 2005

  That account from the October, 1984 Watchtower was truly inspiring. Those Norwegian brothers were undoubtedly moved by an earlier 1984 issue.

  
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  23

  Blantant coitridiction in todays wt

  by elderelite in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this isnt news worthy of course, but i thought i would point it out anyway... apologies to blondie, i dont see the normal wt thread yet.... .

  para 2 states that "the other sheep should never forget their salvation depends on their active support of christs anointed "brothers" [gb] still on earth".

  para 13 says "he [peter] pointed out that their hope is not founded on their works, but on [the deserts gods] undeserved kindness".

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  FatFreek 2005

  By Blantant coitridiction I'm quite sure you meant Blatant contradiction. That's a good one you spotted. Add it to the growing pile alongside THE GREAT WATCHTOWER CONTRADICTION.

  Len
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  30

  The best ex-JW books - and what made them unique...

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at some point in my life, i would really like to write a book about my jw experience and jw teachings in general.

  however, if i did, i would preferably like to write from a unique angle that makes the book a little different from the many others out there.

  i can imagine some being quite self-indulgent, and i would want to avoid that wherever possible.. i must confess, due to a variety of circumstances i am not well read when it comes to all the various ex-jw books out there.

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  FatFreek 2005

  Hi Cedars,

  As I type, I'm looking at my copy of William J. Schnell's "30 Years a Watch-Tower Slave". I bought it not long ago for $2.95 and it is the abridged edition.

  Schell was born in 1905 and attended his last kingdom hall meeting in 1954. While I haven't read his entire account, thanks (in part) to his caustic rhetoric he seems credible on the whole and relates valuable insider information for the 1920's thru the 1940's. I suspect that Ray Franz kept his focus on being empathetic to the reader, factual, and objective partly because of Schnell.

  I still intend on finishing the book.

  Back in the day, his book was the one to be left on the bookstore or library shelves as he was considered as "evil slave" -- equivalent in those days to the apostate in ours.

  Len
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  47

  Lots of JWs out at tables this morning!

  by AuntBee in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, i actually stopped at two different tables that i saw.

  the first was 2 elderly men - they were so sweet and open to discuss.

  i brought up the topic of the divine name and why the wt inserted it into the nt with no evidence from greek manuscripts.

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  FatFreek 2005

  AuntBee: She went completely ballistic, and took the paper with my info, held it up in front of my face, tearing it up. CONVERSATION OVER! As i left, she called out that i will die soon, but she'll pray for Jehovah for me. Yikes, i think a few people walking by heard her!

  Cofty: That would have been really funny if you could have filmed them tearing up your magazine, it would have been a hit on YouTube.

  Excellent, Cofty. These days many folks have cell phones with them at all times and most of them have video (along with audio) capability. You can easily delete the file later but you never know when you're going to run across something priceless -- like AuntBee's moment.

  Len
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  28

  Is your 3-day Watchtower Emergency Kit all ready?

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  have i missed something by not browsing each and every posting here?.

  up till very recently, my two sons (one a jw and one, a non-jw) lived in the same community.

  the never-baptized son decided to move to a different u.s. state and within a few miles of my home i'm a df'd person as of 33 years ago.

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  FatFreek 2005

  No offence Len, but your JW son seems arrogant and full of his own importance, a typical JW.

  None taken. He's close to 50 years old and has made choices, as everyone has -- and must be responsible for what he says. If he sees this posting (there's a slight chance) he needs to take it as a wakeup call. Either he's running ahead, or certain local elders are running ahead. He needs to realize that his Dad (that's me) got his wakeup call by way of the 1975 yearbook and its attempt to preclude a massive escape of members by relating the 1925 date failure and how those early ones were to blame for "reading into" Watchtower statements as "definite" instead of "probable". He needs to realize that his father-in-law (now 77ish) sat with the other youngsters in Rutherford's audience at the 1942 release of the book Children. Paraphrasing, there were only months left before Armageddon and those youngsters at that District Assembly were urged to spend some 6 hours daily when they returned to their home congregations, talking and studying with their classmates and friends about that book and its glorious contents.

  Not an excuse but Watchtower has taught them how to run ahead of themselves -- then deliver their half-baked apologies some years later. All under the ruse that, at least they were trying -- at least they were sincere -- but Jehovah decided to wait a bit longer for the last few that would be collected into his grand refuge. And isn't it wonderful that we waited on Jehovah?

  When I posted this I didn't know for sure -- that perhaps there was some Service Meeting announcement where brothers were encouraged to put some notes in their margins regarding an Emergency Kit. Watchtower has been known to use the margin technique at Elder training classes. You know -- we're telling you something -- but if you divulge it to anyone outside this room, we really didn't say it. Cuz we didn't print it.

  Len
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  28

  Is your 3-day Watchtower Emergency Kit all ready?

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  have i missed something by not browsing each and every posting here?.

  up till very recently, my two sons (one a jw and one, a non-jw) lived in the same community.

  the never-baptized son decided to move to a different u.s. state and within a few miles of my home i'm a df'd person as of 33 years ago.

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  FatFreek 2005

  What's up? Have I missed something by not browsing each and every posting here?

  Up till very recently, my two sons (one a JW and one, a non-JW) lived in the same community. The never-baptized son decided to move to a different U.S. State and within a few miles of my home – I'm a DF'd person as of 33 years ago. As the JW son was helping him pack things into the rental truck, they proceeded to have a bizarre conversation.

  NonJW: In a way, I'm looking forward to the move where I'll be able to share with Dad in family get-togethers including holidays. You're my only family here but don't celebrate holidays. When ya'll did get together, I was excluded.

  JW: Because you're not a JW – you're not one of us. But hey – your move is probably just as well anyway since you and I will be out of touch in the very near future.

  NonJW (realizing he's talking about the Great Trib): Say what? You mean if ya'll sense some kind of pending disaster you're not going to alert and invite your own brother to a safe refuge? (NonJW sensed a judgmental anger from JW)

  JW: You won't even know where we've gone and we won't be able to communicate back to you. Remember, M..., you're not one of Jehovah's Witnesses. This whole thing won't last more than 3 days and we're already stocked up for it – an “emergency kit” we've been asked to prepare, water, medical supplies, etc.

  The conversation ended abruptly as nonJW began with more penetrating questions and JW decided that he had divulged enough.

  Len
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  32

  Pioneers and Their Way of Counting "Time"

  by Eiben Scrood in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the congregations in my area there was an expression to the effect that 'there's counting time and then there's the way pioneers count their time'.

  the watchtower's guidelines were pretty strict on when time could be counted.

  some pioneers followed it and others didn't.. on particularly motivated young man comes to mind, he would work full-time or close to it and pioneer.

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  FatFreek 2005