Posts by Band on the Run

19

heres a blast from the past how many have seen this picture

by im stuck in in

jw
friends

.

Band on the Run

baltar,

Do you review music professionally? Very impressive. I haven't heard of Maria Muldar or Midnight at the Oasis since the 1960s. As soon as I read your intro, I remembered. I did not know her work well and I listened to folk in NYC and Montclair, NJ. It was so cool the first time i wallked on MacDougal Street knowing Dylan walked these blocks.

I vowed I would keep up with music. Ambient music drives me crazy. My devotion is to the Beatles, then the WHO, Stones, Clapton, Leonard Cohen. Oh I saw both Dylan and Pete Seeger in concert. My mom crocheted me an afghan just like the one on the bed. I need to add black wool to it to enlarge. It is on my bed now.

Good memories.

10

Bible revision question. Important?

by hubert in

jw
friends

i have been talking lately with my neighbor about the watchtower religion, and she said she is very good at going verse to verse with them to disprove their bible.

then she asked me if they have their own bible?

so, i told her yes, they started making one in the 1950's.

Band on the Run

I'd say that such actions are misleading. A bracket doesn't disrupt reading. I didn't realize NWT came in 1950. We used a Protestant bible at home. It had gilt pages. Now I'm wondering why they weren't using NWT. I remember the1961 Yankee Stadium convention. We used that one. I was so young so maybe I just don't recall correctly.

I thought 1961 was the unveiling. People were so excited. Whenever we were in Yankee Stadium, the Witnesses had more allure for me. My mom said there was a family rule not to make commitments until three months after a convention. She said zeal passes. The coolest Yankee Stadium was when all these international Witnesses came in the costumes of their native country. We met so many European witnesses. It took a long time but my employer took us to Yankee Stadium to watch a game as a socialization event. So I am finally in Yankee Stadium for a baseball game. Reggie Jackson played. We lost. I was very annoyed with the Yankees.

I was mind trippping from being in that stadium before I can remember. My photo was in the newspaper. I must have a year and a half. It was so familiar but it was finally real. Yankees and not Freddie Franz or Nathan Knorr. I felt like doing carthweels. A senior partner who was an avid Yankees fan stood on his chair and screamed his heart out about a certain play. It was embarassing with all these other law firms there. The color was not lost on me. I love the Yankees with my all b/c they are home. I don't like baseball, though. We left early once it was clear which way the game was going. Part of me can't believe that I was really there for a normal purpose. Go Yankees!

75

On A Scale Of 1 to 10 How Would You Rate Your Looks?

by minimus in

jw
friends

be honest.. .

Band on the Run

This is freaking me out. Sometimes I look in a mirror and see a very attractive person. Other times I don't how someone so ugly can live. The extremes bother me. I had such low self-esteem growing up that I covered any mirrored surface completely with Beatles posters. Looking back on photos that I recall were confirmation of how ugly I was, I now see a beautiful woman. My mind was freaky. I don't know.

Does it matter unless you are at an extreme? Looks always equated with marriagable to me. Beautiful = love. Since I was scapegoated, all I knew was I must be so ugly. I kept looking for an explanation.

13

I am thinking about ordering some sweets online

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

any recommendations?

.

Band on the Run

It is corn starch? It looks like gelatin, like a jell-o, not a powder or roux. I rarely ever bake so I don't know all the ingredients. Maybe I should start baking. There isn't a decent bakery in this area. I am used to the finest foods. What a difference.

53

MY DISASSOCIATION LETTER please read

by josephus in

jw
friends

hi all this is josephus here and im posting my disassociation letter minus any identifying details which ill leave blank.

i would like thoughts on it if poss, but not spelling tips as my girl will check it 2morrow i just wanted to see if i struck the right balence .

or maybe if i put something wrong.. thanks all josephus.

Band on the Run

It is far better than I would do. You don't waste time arguing with them. They can debate their doctrines but they can't dismiss your feelings. No one can know your feelings except you. Your letter is very moving. When you wrote about the effect of their teachings on ordinary people, I was ready to cry.

I'm curious as to how many of these they receive. Frankly, I don't think the important part is informing them. Being able to put your feelings and publish them to the society has to be therapeutic. Your letter is short. It will prob. be read. Putting keyboard to computer is the important part, IMO>

51

Help: Re: Letter to elders NOT to disfellowship otherwise legal action will be taken

by LouBelle in

hello there everyone.

i remember reading a while back about someone on here ( i think) that wrote a letter to the body of elders & headoffice that they should not take any action to disfellowship them as they would be distancing them from friends and relatives and would proceed to take legal action if the body of elders went ahead.. if anyone has that link or can point me in the right direction i'd appreciate that..

Band on the Run

Every country has different law. Former British colonies have common law in common so the historical basis is the same. Once they are independent countries, the law evolves according to the culture and experience of that country. Other European countries have civil law based on the Napoleonic Code. It is very different. All Western democracies have brakes on courts becoming involved in internal religious matters.

I don't see the legal damage. If you negotiate from a position of not recognizing their authority, how can they hurt you in a legal sense? Withih my family, all the problems resulted from believing in the legitimacy of the WTBTS. It is like voodoo. If you don't believe it, you are safe from it. There is no way a court will order them to not police their religion and have your family and friends not shun you.

Knowing what is happening to other similarly situated people can help? Are you being treated different from other Witnesses accused of the same offense? How about the ignorance defense if you are keen on staying. I had no idea. Thank you for making me aware of how wrong this was. Now that I know, I can conform my behavior to your requirements. Do you have any suggestions for how I can prove to you that I will never repeat my conduct. I need your counsel. I appreciate that your are spiritually more mature than I am. You are a good role model. Would you be willing to help me b/c I am so sincere in my devotion to Jehovah and his organization? ---I'd rather be disfellowshipped.

51

Help: Re: Letter to elders NOT to disfellowship otherwise legal action will be taken

by LouBelle in

hello there everyone.

i remember reading a while back about someone on here ( i think) that wrote a letter to the body of elders & headoffice that they should not take any action to disfellowship them as they would be distancing them from friends and relatives and would proceed to take legal action if the body of elders went ahead.. if anyone has that link or can point me in the right direction i'd appreciate that..

Band on the Run

I'm a lawyer and were I counsel for the Witnesses I would not be afraid at all. Having not read the legal strategy, I can't comment. With what I know, it is inconceivable to me that a court would police relationships within a religion. It is exactly what courts are forbidden to do. All I can think of maybe having a chance is a libel, defamation action. Maybe if they were so intrusive making allegations that you lost a job. Henry VIII launched his infamous law suits against his lawful wife. It was the very thing that Founders were insistent be stopped in this country.

I would be interested in hearing the theory. There is always the theory that any legal letter might have a chilling effect. You don't stop them from practicing their religion. Heck, the Supreme Court ruled recently that the Salvation Army could practice hiring discrimination as part of their religion. They had new light that all workers should be members of their religion. They fired people who refused to join the religion. Antidiscrimination statutes exist. The First Amendment trumps even discrimination statutes.

Besides, aside from business loss, I don't see what damages or remedy any court would order. If they aren't sophisticated, they might be afraid. On the other hand, threat of legal action inflames a situation. You would likely end up with a far worst situation. Broken hearts and souls don't count in law. Law does not guarantee justice. I see little justice in law. I would think not being afraid of them, not recognizing their legitimacy and talking to them as someone entitled to certain human rights might accomplish more than legal letter.

Perhaps I am not aware of something. This is my knee jerk reaction from all I've ever been exposed to in First Amendment law. I'm not as strong in torts such as libel and defamation.

45

What was the first single you ever bought, and what are your memories?

by lifelong humanist in

jw
friends

some light relief!.

even now, i can vividly recall buying my very first 45 rpm single in 1967.. i was only just 15 years old.

i worked as a 'paper boy', delivering newspapers to people living nearby.

Band on the Run

Addenda --

I never thought the Kingdom Hall music was good. No one could play the piano or read music. One person had to do everything. Then the Society came up with a bunch of Kingdom songs. New light was that the old song book with a light green cover was very bad. It had works by Beethoven and Handel. Such reprehensible people. My overseer never heard of Beethoven. He pronounced it beet (as the vegetable) ho- ven. I slinked down in my seat. Their ignorance fueled my desire to learn Beethoven.

Later in life, I attended NY Philharmonic concerts at Lincoln Center and attended concerts in Central Park.

The new book was bright fuschia if I remember correctly. It is not a dignified color. Now I'm Anglican and I'm used to a professional choir. They realized it was too WASPy as the only music source. Now we have a separate songbook of Negro spirituals. It is so funny to me. The only WASPy correct, stuffy stereotype seeking soul with a formal songbook.

45

What was the first single you ever bought, and what are your memories?

by lifelong humanist in

jw
friends

some light relief!.

even now, i can vividly recall buying my very first 45 rpm single in 1967.. i was only just 15 years old.

i worked as a 'paper boy', delivering newspapers to people living nearby.

Band on the Run

I, too, bought albums. My parents played no music except polkas. My mom had classical recordings which my father demolished. The Beatles Yesterday and Today. I was a fan from before their first appearance on Ed Sullivan. We saw newscasts of the British girls going crazy so we started screaming and screeching too. I had to wait until I had a part-time job to afford the Beatle album.

I also like The Stones and The Who. I'd pick up the Who albums to purchase so many times but I could not figure out how to explain the art to my parents. They would find Picasso revolting and a joke. The girls all listened to one radio station on large transister radios. I felt a sense of community. The Beatles were very middle class and I lived near a ghetto. Years after the Beatles reigned supreme elsewhere, my little neighborhood was a hot bed of Frankie Vallie devotes. I did not realize it then but all these class and status issues were going on.

I despise r&b. A delegation of white students asked our principal if white rock could have equal time with r&b in the cafeteria.He said no. The strange thing is that today I love Motown. Now it is rap I despise far more.

204

Paul, leading authority on Christianity, does NOT quote Jesus!

by Terry in

paul's letters practically invent christianity.. the gospels trickled in after him.. paul never walked with jesus and yet explains him.. never a quote from the master at all.. yet, paul is such a maven.. if jesus couldn't be bothered to actually reveal what he was all about to his apostles with whom he ate, drank, spoke and slept---why this persecutor, saul?.

the apostles heard every word jesus spoke and were willing to die for him.. paul didn't--yet--miraculously explained every detail of the entire history of god's purpose including his messiah.. .

can anybody provide a non-gimmick answer?.

Band on the Run

He may assume that the Christians he was writing to already knew the miracles. These were not random letters. We don't have the correspondence going to Paul nor do we have the individual situations of the Christian congregations he founded. Not so long ago, no one knew the Gnostic gospels. Theories existed that such writings existed from Paul's arguments to them.

Paul is not interested in preaching Jesus of Nazareth. Christ crucified is a much more compelling subject. Writings of the miracles may have existed. The synoptics basically repeat each other in most place so there had to be an earlier source. There is so much that we can't know right now. Issuing definitive statements as to what Paul knew and did not know is a gamble.

There is no clear idea of Christianity absent Paul's teachings and theology. Without a contrast, it is hard to judge him. As I mentioned before, he doth protest too much according to contemporary standards. Maybe it wasn't too much according to the literary conventions of his day. He fashioned a form of Christianity that could be transferred to consecutive generations. I suspect his theology wasn't legitimate when he wrote but it certainly became legitimate. I concur with his emphasis on the Risen Christ. The folly of the gospel --fools for Christ. Great humans have done good works and transformed thought in their cultures. I've heard that Christians are the only ones who believe their myth actually happened. Paul writes about what makes Jesus unique and special. I love his teachings, minus the way those with power interpreted them.

When I read Paul now, I feel that his writings do not remote resemble what the WTBTS teach. Like Jesus, Paul morphs with the times. Feminists despise him. Now he is presented as a feminist. Paul founded Christianity, not Jesus