Posts by Julie

21

Taliban not original--Moses 1st

by patio34 in

jw
friends

hope you're having a swell evening.

there are two christian young women from the u.s. who are imprisoned in afghanistan for trying to make converts.

of course, it seems astonishing to folks here in the u.s.. it seems things have come full circle, because in the law of moses if someone came to you talking about another god besides jehovah, even your 'wife lying in your bosom,' you were to report them.

Julie

Rex, my love,

You said:

:If Christians (and Jews) are so terrible, why do you not see US advocating a return to Old Testament law?

Well I can give you an answer for this. See, history tells us this has been tried before. Remember the Crusades? Where the valiant knights of Christendom went to slay the heathen and recapture the holy land? Well where in the heck do you think they found the justification for that? It wasn't in the NT, no siree. That leaves the OT. And inasmuch as one could consider the era where the Crusades took place to be "barbaric times" I am sure all will agree they were still more enlightened times than OT times.

No Rex, we have seen Christendom try to implement some of the OT ways and it was a mistake. Unfortunately, though it is admitted by most believers that the things the OT condones are much too barbaric to be of any use in these "civilized" times, it is still not admitted by those same believers that the OT is one long tale of barbarism.

I guess I'll never fully understand the intricate dance that goes on in your head my dearly beloved.

Julie

21

Taliban not original--Moses 1st

by patio34 in

jw
friends

hope you're having a swell evening.

there are two christian young women from the u.s. who are imprisoned in afghanistan for trying to make converts.

of course, it seems astonishing to folks here in the u.s.. it seems things have come full circle, because in the law of moses if someone came to you talking about another god besides jehovah, even your 'wife lying in your bosom,' you were to report them.

Julie

Greetings to all,

With the eight aid workers/Christianity promoters imprisoned in Afghanistan being more and more in the news I gotta wonder. I mean after knowing for a few years now what terror the people of Afghanistan have been living with, and they are Muslims, I can't help but come up with only two possible ideas. Either these eight people have a serious desire to be martyrs or they are an incredibly special kind of stupid. Terrifying as this ordeal must be for them I cannot imagine what other outcome they may have expected. Of course there is the possiblity that, like Philip of Spain with his embarrassing failure of an Armada (which he put his hope for into God's hands instead of an actual strategy), that maybe these folks made the same, oft repeated mistake. Sad.

:It seems things have come full circle, because in the law of Moses if someone came to you talking about another god besides Jehovah, even your 'wife lying in your bosom,' you were to report them. The punishment was death.

Isn't it amazing how all those believers who Know The Bible do not see the irony in this? Hard to believe anyone could consider a book with such barbaric, assinine rules to be "holy".

Good post.

Take care all--
Julie

5

Patriotism, media credibility, and the bottom line

by Seeker in

jw
friends

interesting story about the media:.

http://www.sunspot.net/news/printedition/bal-to.media04oct04.story.

in a thread a few weeks back, i mentioned my belief that the corporations that had bought up the media outlets were more interested in profits for shareholders than objective reporting.

Julie

Hi Seeker,

:Moral: Read and listen and watch from a variety of news sources, including sources outsides the country.

I couldn't agree with you more!! There is way too much opinion and rhetoric being called "news" these days. I marvel at what passes for "fair and balanced" these days. Seems those who make that claim the boldest are those who are the least of either. It is especially pathetic that people do not even try to achieve objective news and are very happy to have it served up with healthy doses of opinion, especially if it is their own (often uninformed) opinion. And people wonder why we are wide open to attacks from terrorists. We're to damn lazy to find out what is going on in the world and settle for having our ears tickled. To see all the ridiculous writings claiming God let this happen to us because we are so immoral is laughable. We would rather point the finger at all those Other People who ar so Immoral but we can't look in the mirror and see we let ourselves be duped every day. We are soft, fat, lazy and un/mis-informed, not to mention self-centered and materialistic. But that is more painful to admit than the obvious Immorality that is all around us. Just like parents who have children with bahavioral problems, it's not the parenting, oh heavens no! It's "genetic"!

Sad state of affars my friend, thanks for helping to highlight it.

Warm regards,
Julie

5

Here come the torches and pitchforks

by FrightMare in

jw
friends

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/277/nation/schools_and_local_governments_:.shtml .

a week after the attacks, the hamilton county commission in chattanooga, tenn., voted to post the ten commandments in city and county government buildings.

if a court frowns on the action, commission chairman bill hullander said, 'i would sure not want to be the person to walk up there and pull the nail out of it, so to speak, and take it down.

Julie

Funkyderek--

Great article! Thanks for posting it.

Seeker--

Amen!

Julie

59

Beth Sarim Revisited 4 Newbies

by Farkel in

jw
friends

at 4440 braeburn road, san diego, ca., in the rich and prestigious neighborhood of the kensington heights neighborhood sits one of the biggest embarrassments in the long and continuing list of embarrassments the watchtower society has created for itself.. most dubs know nothing about it, and if it wasnt for a few brief comments about it in the proclaimers book in 1993, even fewer dubs would know anything at all about it.. it is the home once known as beth-sarim (pronounced beth-sareeeem), the house of the princes.. it is a house with a history the society has shown by its historical lack of candor, hopes everyone would forget.

in fact, the society has done just about everything it could do to ensure that its history will be forgotten.

in the first book devoted to discussing the history of jehovahs witnesses, this house and its history is not even mentioned.

Julie

Hey Farkel--

:Who says the WTS doesn't engage in the (unpublicized) selling of Indulgences! Just ask the GB, DOs, COs and other powerful elders. Da Judge set the standard, and it is still practiced today. Anyone who knows anything about the power brokers in the WTS knows this to be true.

I always find it interesting how much the WT has always borrowed from the Catholic Church of the middle ages. Remarkable.

Julie

62

What R U Reading lately?

by Tina in

jw
friends

i'm interested in finding out what everyone is reading these days.. or what books have had an impact on your worldview since leaving the org.. what have you found helpful in re-constructing and broadening the way you think and feel?.

what have you found to be particularly enlightening on 'your journey?'.

thanks in advance,luv to all.tina.

Julie

Hi PLH,

:ps. do any of you book lovers have a thing with needing to own the books you read?? i know i could save a lot by using the library but i NEED my own books lol

With my limited resources I often check out a book at the library to see if it is re-readable first. I am not at all this practical when it comes to the ancient reference works I am highly addicted to.

Books are the greatest love of my life.
(well, ok, maybe books *and* chocolate )

Regards--
Julie

59

Beth Sarim Revisited 4 Newbies

by Farkel in

jw
friends

at 4440 braeburn road, san diego, ca., in the rich and prestigious neighborhood of the kensington heights neighborhood sits one of the biggest embarrassments in the long and continuing list of embarrassments the watchtower society has created for itself.. most dubs know nothing about it, and if it wasnt for a few brief comments about it in the proclaimers book in 1993, even fewer dubs would know anything at all about it.. it is the home once known as beth-sarim (pronounced beth-sareeeem), the house of the princes.. it is a house with a history the society has shown by its historical lack of candor, hopes everyone would forget.

in fact, the society has done just about everything it could do to ensure that its history will be forgotten.

in the first book devoted to discussing the history of jehovahs witnesses, this house and its history is not even mentioned.

Julie

Hi Farkel,

Wow! What a scandal! I knew something of these mansions before but not this much! I found it all interesting but here's a few items of special interest to me.

:“In time, a direct contribution was made for the purpose of constructing a house in San Diego for Brother Rutherford’s use. It was not built at the expense of the Watch Tower Society.

I wonder where the direct contribution came from. We'll probably never know, eh?

:Rutherford even bragged that he had trees and plants that were native to the soil where the ancient worthies lived so they would feel “more at home.” Yeah, right. How much “at home” would they feel when they saw a car drive by, used a toilet or running water for the first time, listened to a radio or heard the telephone ring?

This is such an excellent point. I can't believe no one thought to ask this question back when this statement was made. Maybe some private persons wondered but apparently none of the reporters who wrote the articles you mention. Too bad.

:Well, at least we know Rutherford lived like royalty: he had live-in full-time servants to attend to his every need.

Yes, and if they fell for the same line of crap as all those poor souls at Bethel, they're actually "slaves". Amazing the level of hero-worship given to a man who was so critical of other religions for "idolatry". Stupendous hypocrisy.

I was amazed to read that only four people went to his funeral, and even moreso to find out who those four *weren't*! Wow.

(On a sidenote-I know what you're talking about on the California real estate thing. I often check out properties natiowide and I marvel at what a rat-hole you can get for $2-300,000 out there! Remember dear, we have lots of beaches in Michigan, it's incredibly beautiful and a hell of a lot cheaper to live. Come any time. )

Farkel, this post serves more than one pupose. It not only exposes another big lie from the WT but it highlights how thoroughly people will let themselves be fooled. So sad there are still so many deliberately ignorant, mislead people out there. Something that never ceases to amaze me.

Take care--
Julie

P.S. I hope you have gotten rid of that bad virus you had, you sounded awful and that was just in e-mail!

18

Road rage episode

by Introspection in

jw
friends

ok.. for those of you who may not know me from previous posts, all i can say is this is unusual for me and please do not judge me as a person for it.

for the other friends who know me by such, please take this into consideration when you read this.

i would like to get some feedback on this, perhaps from some of the folks from the martial arts threat joel started recently, especially if you have also read my other posts.. (hopefully a well balanced combo).

Julie

Hi Intro--

I think that this guy was being very aggressive. I do not think that you safely, calmly following him was wrong at all. Maybe you did do him a favor, if in fact, you managed to make him think about his actions.

Long ago (and far away) I was out on "the strip" with a car I had that looked like nothing but secretly had an engine like a rocket (it was a prototype I was fortunate enough to acquire). I used to win plenty of money racing this car and often times the loser of the race (always a guy) would get ticked for losing to a girl in a seemingly nothing car. One of these sore losers got really aggressive afterwards, tailgating me and in general harrassing me pretty badly. I got off the strip for a while to get away from him and his buddies. A couple hours later I returned and saw their car wrapped around a pole and people being carted off in ambulances. If you made this guy think even for a moment about his actions, you never know, but you may have contributed to preventing such a thing happening to him. Not likely but hope springs eternal.

Regards,
Julie

30

For Princess and any others curious

by Rex B13 in

jw
friends

this is strictly for those who want to know how to become saved.

22 this righteousness from god comes through faith in jesus christ to all who believe.

there is no difference, .

Julie

Rex,

I want you now more than ever.

Julie

62

What R U Reading lately?

by Tina in

jw
friends

i'm interested in finding out what everyone is reading these days.. or what books have had an impact on your worldview since leaving the org.. what have you found helpful in re-constructing and broadening the way you think and feel?.

what have you found to be particularly enlightening on 'your journey?'.

thanks in advance,luv to all.tina.

Julie

Hi Tina,

Great idea for a thread! I've enjoyed reading about everyone's readding choices. To all you Harry Potter fans out there, Bravo!! My kids are into the books as well and when I saw some Simple-minded parents whining some time ago about how evil they were and they had to remove those books from school libraries, well--I HAD to have look. They are imaginative and brilliantly written. I love them! It looks like htey have done some fine casting for the movie too. Should be good.

Tina, as you know I was fortunate enough to not be raised in the WT-cult and wasn't nearly vulnerable enough to fall for their nonsense when they came knocking on my door. Therefore I cannot list any books that helped me after leaving. The one book that did help me after studying with JWs and becoming really intrigued as to jsut what was in the bible that made so many hold such differing views, was of course the bible itself. You should see all the post-its I have flagging heinous acts sanctioned/committed by biblegod, and all the contradictions! Dozens if not hundreds.

I won't bore with the bulk of my reading list but I would highly recommend my recent read of Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot by Al Franken. He is brilliant and does such a fine job of shattering all Rush's blather and much of the rhetoric put out by the Republicans during their recent reign of hate-mongering (a.k.a. the Clinton years).

Love to all--

Julie