I had the great pleasure of having them over my home about 2 years ago. I tried to convince them back then that they should share their story for the spanish speaking community... I'm glad they're finally doing it... very nice couple... can't wait for the book...
Posts by Alfred
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26Nestor and Toni Kuilan in the works of a new book!
by A.proclaimer innestor and toni kuilan are writing a book of their memoirs surrounding their experience with the 1980 apostasy hunts.. .
read a little bit about it here:.
http://freeminds2.org/meet-nestor-and-toni-kuilan/.
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25
Thanks and farewell...
by Alfred inhello all..... a few months ago my wife expressed serious concerns about the time i had spent over the past couple of years reading old watchtower literature (printed circa 1880 through the late 30s) and the time spent on this site and several others.
she is very grateful that i was very persistent in trying to convince her that this is just a mind-control cult run by clueless men who simply make things up as they go along.
it wasnt easy, but im thankful that i was able to wake her up thanks to many of you.
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Alfred
Hello all….
A few months ago my wife expressed serious concerns about the time I had spent over the past couple of years reading old Watchtower literature (printed circa 1880 through the late 30’s) and the time spent on this site and several others. She is very grateful that I was very persistent in trying to convince her that this is just a mind-control cult run by clueless men who simply make things up as they go along. It wasn’t easy, but I’m thankful that I was able to wake her up thanks to many of you. But now she’s worried that I may have lost some balance in my life… Having meditated about this over the past several weeks, I believe she may be right.
That being said, whenever she brought up these concerns, I would always respond that if I were ever able to identify at least one person who was able to finally exit the WT because of something I shared with them, then I would consider all of my research time well spent. Recently, much to my surprise, I received an email from someone thanking me for helping him make the leap out of the WT. I won’t get into the details of this email… suffice to say it’s the greatest feeling to know that thousands of hours of research were not in vain.
Regarding my time on this board, as part of a compromise, I also promised my wife that I would sign off permanently from this board upon helping at least one person or reaching 1,000 posts (in no particular order). At that point, I agreed that I would simply turn the page and we would both continue with our lives without looking back. (didn’t know I would get to 1,000 posts so quickly though)
So now it’s time to keep my promise to my wife… But before permanently signing off, I must say that I have the utmost respect for everyone on this board, especially those who have literally started thousands of very informative threads on all sorts of subjects. Your persistence in getting the message out is admirable and has helped me and others immensely. I owe my life to several of you who have helped me wake up from the deep dormancy that has kept me captive within the confines of this corrupt organization. Thank you so much!
By the way, I’ve reached post #1,000 having no other JW-related books to read or anything else to post (that hasn’t already been posted on this board several times over). But I will continue to search for answers to many questions I still have by reading some non-JW related books... For example, I’ve found extremely interesting insight in a book I’ve recently downloaded on my Kindle called Soul Theft… How Religions seized control of humanity’s spiritual nature by Bill Missett. While I don’t subscribe to everything written in this book, I’m only halfway through it and it’s already answered about half of my pending questions… can’t wait to finish reading it… (I strongly recommend it)
In closing, I sincerely hope that many more JWs benefit from your knowledge, insight and your willingness to share. Hopefully, I will continue to find many more opportunities to help others develop critical thinking skills that will steer them clear of dangerous cults or high-control religious groups. When these opportunities come along, as I’m sure they will, I will definitely take full advantage of these.
Thanks again… I wish everyone the very best!
Your friend
Alfred
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37
Gated Communities in Puerto Rico now required to have a Security Guard and special entrance for Jehovah's Witnesses
by Alfred inas some of you may recall, on february 11, 2011 the united states court of appeals ruled that most gated communities in puerto rico violated the constitutional rights of jehovahs witnesses by not allowing them unobstructed access to homes and thereby thwarting their right to worship freely.
not sure how the watchtower was able to fool the us court of appeals, but there you have it... the next step in this judicial process is to determine how this needed to happen.. to that end, the us court of appeals has recently ruled that those gated communities in puerto rico that didnt have security guards (i.e.
: have a tele-entry key pad instead) were to hire at least one security guard who would be positioned at the entrance for the purpose of allowing jehovahs witnesses free access to the community.
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Alfred
As some of you may recall, on February 11, 2011 the United States Court of Appeals ruled that most gated communities in Puerto Rico violated the constitutional rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses by not allowing them unobstructed access to homes and thereby thwarting their right to worship freely. Not sure how the Watchtower was able to fool the US Court of Appeals, but there you have it… The next step in this judicial process is to determine how this needed to happen.
To that end, the US Court of Appeals has recently ruled that those gated communities in Puerto Rico that didn’t have security guards (i.e.: have a “tele-entry” key pad instead) were to hire at least one security guard who would be positioned at the entrance for the purpose of allowing Jehovah’s Witnesses free access to the community. Also, if the gated community does not have a pedestrian entrance with required walkway, the community would have to build these amenities for Jehovah’s Witnesses following certain specifications.
The problem that this presents for smaller gated communities (mostly middle-class) is that many of these can barely keep up with the maintenance required to keep everything in order (landscaping, cleaning, painting, repairs, etc.)… Now the Watchtower has managed to put additional financial pressure on these communities by forcing them to hire a guard who will do nothing but allow Jehovah’s Witnesses to enter. On top of that, they need to alter the entrance of their community specifically for Jehovah Witnesses.
Because of this, some communities have offered alternatives to the Watchtower that would allow them free access without incurring unnecessary costs… but they refused.
It’s clear that the Watchtower is purposely provoking a completely avoidable hostile situation in Puerto Rico that is already flaring up as can be perceived by the comments in the following article.
Article in Puerto Rico's main Newspaper
This is yet another attempt by the Watchtower to instigate the “Great Tribulation” and then scream: “Persecution!”
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Watchtower hires NYC Lobbyist in 2004 for $59,880
by VM44 innyc lobbyist search.
http://www.nyc.gov/lobbyistsearch/search?client=watchtower+bible+and+tract+society+of+ny%2c+inc.. .
client name & address:.
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Alfred
VM44... last I heard, 85 Jay Street was just an empty lot... but it's probably up for sale by now...
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A Brief History of Racism in Watchtower Publications
by cedars ini've just completed a lengthy article on the history of racism in the society's publications.
many people (including myself, until recently) aren't aware that the society's early publications were brimming with racist rhetoric, and this only calmed down as the public mood towards racism changed, most notably with the civil rights movement in the 50s/60s.. a few "headliners" from the article are:.
russell segregated blacks from whites for viewings of the photodramarussell believed that the skin of a black man would turn white during the millennial kingdomunder russell, the society's publications portrayed the black races as "degraded" and the white race as "superior"rutherford viewed the blacks as a "race of servants", and spoke of "sobering the southern negro" in an article against prohibitionunder rutherford, the golden age slammed uncle tom's cabin (a work that helped end slavery) as being "the work of satan"; the same article branded spaniards a "backwards race"rutherford accused "jewish business men" of "oppressing the peoples of many nations"in 1929 the golden age (acknowledged by the society as essentially the same magazine as the modern awake!
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Alfred
Cedars...
Have you seen the 2010 DVD "Faith In Action"?
It has a reenactment of brothers sitting together at the Orpheum Theater (or Carnegie Hall... I forget which) getting ready to watch the Photo-Drama of the Creation and guess who's sitting in the front row?
An african-american couple!
This DVD had so much bull sh*t in it, that the Society probably figured: "one more misrepresentation won't make much of a difference"
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Any rumors about any releases? - Conventions start in 12 days
by Gayle inconventions start may 18 according to jw.org.. hopefully, there will drops in baptisms as reported from 2011. unfortunately, there will be the poor kids..
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Alfred
That assembly hall in Sunnyside, NY used to belong to Freemasons...
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Why is the Faithful and Discreet Slave thanked in every prayer?
by RULES & REGULATIONS inevery prayer at any meal,congregation meeting,and assemblyhas the fds being thanked for the spiritual food that they provide.jesus gave us an example on who to pray to and what to say.the society or any human were not included and was not ever mentioned by jesus.the society has always included themselves in prayers.
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do you think that by including themselves in every prayer,they intentionally try to inculcate that into each brain,so that their powers are never questioned?.
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Alfred
Mentions of the phrase “Faithful and Discreet Slave” in Watchtower Magazine in last 4 decades...
70’s 116
80’s 184
90’s 259
00’s 294
Mentions of the phrase "Faithful and Discreet Slave" in prayers in last 4 decades
(don't have the numbers but it's likely proportionate to the numbers above)
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A JW's Comment Regarding The Magazine downsizing
by Bangalore inon one of those pro-jw message boards there was a small discussion about the magazine downsizing.here is one comment that stood out.. .
though the special letter read, mentioned printing, paper and the cost of presses has led to a reduction in the number of pages in the public issues of the magazines, it makes me wonder- hummmm.
the message to the public will now be shorter - and more than likely more direct.
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Alfred
In this case, I think "Bye" means: "I tried warning you... but at least I counted my time and saved myself."
it just underscores the mentaility that some JWs have in Field Service... the "love" slowly fades away and counting time eventually becomes more important than saving lives.
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More Publishers requires MORE Watchtower buildings ALL OVER THE WORLD.
by Alfred inkindom ministry 1970. .
branch letter.
dear kingdom publishers:.
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Alfred
Sorry... that's Kingdom Ministry January 1970
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More Publishers requires MORE Watchtower buildings ALL OVER THE WORLD.
by Alfred inkindom ministry 1970. .
branch letter.
dear kingdom publishers:.
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Alfred
Kindom Ministry 1970
Branch Letter
Dear Kingdom Publishers:
The 1970’s have arrived! What will this decade mean to Jehovah’s witnesses? When we look back we see that 1959 closed with 803,482 publishers in the world, and 1969 closed with 1,256,784 publishers. In ten years Jehovah’s witnesses increased by 453,302 publishers. That is truly remarkable! But during just the past service year, 1969, the total average of publishers increased over the previous service year of 1968 by over 100,000! Will this rate of increase continue in the 1970’s? Without question the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is preparing for such increase with the purchase of new property in Brooklyn, buildings that are equal in total space to the four factory structures that it already had. So, evidently the Society expects things to expand rapidly, and to keep pace with the increase 100,000 publishers in a year’s time requires more buildings all over the world.
In addition to what we have purchased in Brooklyn, we are finishing a large printing plant in Thun, Switzerland. We recently enlarged the Bethel home in Wiesbaden, Germany, remodeling the top floor of the home there and putting in more bedrooms. Chile has just put the roof on their large new branch office and missionary home. And the reports coming in from all over the world show marked increases.
Truly, things are happening! Did you notice that here in the United States we again had new all-time peaks in the number of both congregation publishers and regular pioneers in November? All of us who have dedicated our lives to do Jehovah’s will want to keep active in the field, helping people to take their stand on Jehovah’s side. This includes showing them the importance of associating with us in our Kingdom Halls. It will not be long before these, too, will be deciding to dedicate their lives to Jehovah.
So what will 1970 bring? Will it mean another 100,000 regular publishers on the average? The 1970 Yearbook has now been shipped out to all the congregations and to the branches in all parts of the world, and the brothers will be thrilled when they read the report, for they will see the marvelous witness that was given in but twelve months’ time. Readers of The Watchtower will also enjoy a summary of this report in the January 1, 1970, issue. Many, we hope, will want to know why Jehovah’s witnesses are so energetic and active, and, if it be Jehovah’s will, they will associate with us in the 70’s, sharing in the house-to-house work, making back-calls on interested people, starting Bible studies with those who really want to know, aiding them to be disciples of Christ Jesus.
This is another year in which we will keep our eyes on the text for the year, and, together, all of us will try to follow out this admonition so positively stated by Christ Jesus, namely, “Go therefore and make disciples . . . baptizing them.” (Matt. 28:19) May all of you have that pleasure before 1970 ends.
Your brothers,
BROOKLYN BRANCH OFFICE