often during wt/book studies and/or public talks i would be following along and note little discrepancies and inconsistencies.
perhaps it was a scripture that didn't really support the point being asserted in the paragraph or maybe it was an illustration that sounded good but wasn't completely parallel or maybe it was a line of reasoning that wasn't as conclusive or solid as the speaker/elder/co/wt publication made it out to be.
or maybe it was the excessive use of weasel words like, "evidently," "perhaps," "must have" and so on.
Wonderful telling of a tragic tale. Thanks for being brave enough to finally make the break. It sounds as if you did so with an intelligence that many of us don't have. You also have the gift to write clearly with well-organized thoughts.
Sure, you acknowledge making errors along the way. Yes, we're all human, aren't we?
Again -- I'm impressed. Again -- thanks.
Len Miller
my life ... and how jwd came to be - part 1 .
my life ... and how jwd came to be - part 2 .
my life ... and how jwd came to be - part 3
Unfortunately, when I found it I couldn’t open links for parts 1 and 3 of his story (can anyone help me with that?).
Hit Sinedie,
This is the first time I read his story and it was very well written. Thanks Simon and, of course, Angherad (spelling?).
To read the other parts, use Google search and try the following search terms -- quotation marks are important.
"and how JWD came to be" "Part 1" simon
Use the above for parts 2, 3, and 4 -- substituting the appropriate number.
Len
Any other guesses?
Yeah -- THE GREAT WATCHTOWER CONTRADICTION essay is an 11 minute read, aimed for new ones but will give the diehard JW something to fear when he ventures out to the next door.
Len
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???
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
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.
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
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?.
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
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.. .
.
That account from the October, 1984 Watchtower was truly inspiring. Those Norwegian brothers were undoubtedly moved by an earlier 1984 issue.
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".
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
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.
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
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.
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
