overview of his life, from china central tv america:.
http://www.cctv-america.com/2015/03/22/singapores-founding-pm-lee-kuan-yew-dies-at-91.
He ran a very tight ship but the streets of Singapore are safe to walk.
It is almost hard now to credit, but pre-independence, Singapore has a serious gang problem. However, Lee Kuan Yew quickly put a stop to that:
- admittedly, by using drastic measures deeply disapproved of by Human Rights advocates and such!
If ever there was a classic example of the "Benevolent Despot", it would have to be Lee Kuan Yew.
Bill.
Were I to learn that Night Owl is a close cousin to something that lives under a bridge, I would be not at all surprised!
Bill.
was life that bad for you?
we are really sorry...
Bung bill:"mad people and of mad times" It was that bad?
Bloody oath it was!
PS: Are you hankering for "The Good Old Days" or something"? As the Australian country singer, Tex Morton, once said in one of his songs about the "Good Old Days" (to quote) "I only hope we don't see them again!
Bill.
was life that bad for you?
we are really sorry...
Like Bluesbrother, I was a teenager during the late 1960s, and a young adult in the 1970s. My memories from those years are predominantly of mad people and of mad times. Now, I am left with a feeling of just wanting to put as much distance as possible between now and back then!
Bill.
Brokeback Watchtower,
Night Owl did ask "who" controls our minds - not "what". To an extent our background, upbringing and life experience in general condition the way we look at things - but "who", as in a person or group of persons telling us what to think? I for one gave that away long ago!
Bill
last time i was at the kingdom hall they were praising themselves about all the growth in members they have been having.
is this "growth" they are having statistically accurate?or are a lot leaving?
Look to the BRIC countries that's where growth will be.
Strong growth in the " B " and the " R " parts of that acronym are likely enough - but in its " I " and " C " components (i.e. India and China)? Somehow find that hard to believe!
Bill.
this point was raised in another thread vaguely, and wanted to try and expand on it.. the wt has said (and rightly so in my opinion) "that excessive use of drugs and alcohol can ruin your life".
in my eyes this is a fact.. this is where it starts to get a little suspicious, as they also say (or subtly hint at) "that if you leave the wt you will becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol and will ruin your life".. its almost like a self fulfilling prophecy.
as there are a lot who leave the borg and they do start drinking heavy or smoking, or taking drugs...or whatever.. the wt capitalizes on the fact that people want more freedom, and they subtly ingrain the thought that.
There is a certain irony at work here, as alcohol abuse is rife amongst the JWs (noted already by others).
The "pioneer" brother who introduced me to the JW religion was very fond of his booze, and he also introduced me to the habit of boozing. I award him full marks as a teacher - he made a bloody good job of doing both! (From a kid who never used to touch the stuff beforehand).
There is simply no need to "Leave the Truth" in order to become addicted to the brown bottle:
- opportunities there are aplenty within "God's Organisation" to achieve that very status!
Bill.
That's a simple one to answer - nobody; and it has been that way for a long time, too! (And long may it bloody continue that way).
Bill.
PS: I am intrigued as to why you are making it sound like a given - i.e. that our minds are always going to be controlled by somebody? All I can say to that idea is "when Hell freezes over first!"
during the second half of the twentieth century, retirees generally found that they could afford a reasonable standard of living.
all except mugs like me who had an implicit belief in the biblical promises highlighted in the watchtower.
i'm not complaining about my lot, i take personal responsibility for my decisions to believe the rubbish in the bible, and by keeping on working during what would normally be retirement years i live ok. but it's no thanks at all to the yahweh/jesus combo god who filled my head with a pack of lies.. so what about witnesses these days?
I notice that my JW daughters are both very much planning for retirement " in This System of Things". I am , of course, very happy that some common sense has rubbed off on them:
- they must have drawn a lesson from what is happening now to their Dad, who once actually believed the bull$h*t in that 1969 Awake about "never growing old in This System", and as a consequence donated his retirement savings to the WTS.
At least they are not going to make that mistake!
Bill.
did you really believe in things as ;- the earth is only 6000 years old- the 144.000- 1914, based upon the destructiono of jerusalem- harmagheddon or the end of the world coming soon???
?i married a jw when i was an interested person and studying with the jw's ( not the way they wanted) but i told my wife before marrying her that " most probably " i would never have been a jw.she accepted me as i was and married me.
after that i had interrupted the study for one year, i started all over again with an elder of my wife's cong.
I regret to have to report that yes, there was a time when I believed all those things you just mentioned. Later on, it became a case of :
(i) wanting to still believe it was all true,
(ii) then desperately wanting to still believe that this was the truth.
(iii) and finally the realisation that I was just trying harder and harder to defend something that was indefensible!
Bill.
PS: Not in any way proud of all this. Like Cofty, though, I could never have remained with the JWs (or any religious group, for that matter) if I didn't believe their teachings.
