Posts by Band on the Run

26

Boy Denied Communion Because of Cerebral Palsy

by whereami in

jw
friends

can't you just feel the love!!!

!kevin castro's grandmother calls priest's offer of annointing of sick 'offensive' .

a catholic church turned away 8-year-old kevin castro of floresville, texas, from his first communion because he had cerebral palsy, according to the boy's family.. when the rev.

Band on the Run

My brother has cerebral palsy! Only last night I was reading about cp and crying my heart out. He's had it almost 60 years but it is so unfair. This thead has me in tears. The audacity to stand between Christ and a human. Christ is definitely suffering with the boy and happy with his joys. Dorothy Sayers, the mystery writer, wrote a short story about a severely mentally retarded boy. God does not have our standards. Perhaps in God's view, mentally challenged is preferred. I grew up at the cerebral palsy center. We had fun.

I became severely ill with facial pain. Church was mainly a social, intellectual occasion for me. Fortunately, I had the ties when my trial started. The suicide rate is 95%. Most churches welcomed me with open arms and much love. I became ill when AIDS first struck Manhattan. A man with AIDS was denied admission to a public healing service at the Roman Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was desperate. Going to these services kept my hope and my self alive. I called St. Patrick's and spoke with a priest. When he heard I was not Roman Catholic, I was told I was not welcome. It is Christ's body, not the cardinal's body. I promised not to seek communion. No, I could not be present for prayers.

The evangelicals have that affirmation, What would Jesus do? What would Jesus do, indeed? I have no doubt He is embracing that child. The New York Times ran the AIDS story on the front page. The church provided a private meeting for him. How many people have the NYT in their corner?

Is there any way to write this mother a note of support without being intrusive?

68

Charles Russell's Last Days

by lovelylil in

jw
friends

this link contains a play by play of russell's last days including why and how he was found dead in a toga made from sheets.

thought some may find it interesting.. http://www.gtft.org/biblestudents/pastorrussellslastdays.html.

Band on the Run

Historians agree that Roosevelt had a sexual affair with a close female friend. I think it was a journalist. The letters came to light. No one knew if she was jusing literary conventions of the day for very close female friends or an actual sexual relationship. Because the letters cast attention, something else came up. I recall Lincoln wrote flowery letters to close male friends and shared beds. Scholars said everyone wrote that way and it was very rare to have a bed to yourself, even in the White House. This secretary could have hetersexual feelings for Russell but just used the popular writing conventions. I don't know.

If the toga had to do with dramatizing how close he was to God, it shows a lack of humility and service. I know little of Russell. Reading the earliest WTs helped free me from my Armageddon fears. I love the Ray Franz example of the train fron Pittsburgh to NY and the calculation of the end of time. When the expected date yielded no Armageddon, some Bible Students rechecked the calculations. The original calculation was based on the mileage or time of a train's arrival in NY. Something to do with carrying the message. A distraught Bible Student discovered that the choo choo train's schedule was not correct. There was side rail in NJ (Secaucaus maybe) that changed the calculation. A new date emerged.

Its historical nature made the affair less scary. Armaageddon had not come. It helped me see the current regime for what it is. The WT, despite its flaws, attracts some interesting, colorful characters. No one like the Borgias, the antipopes or the WWII pope's colloboration with the Nazis but give them time.

87

Is this a forum for JW issues or a poorly designed political and celebrity site?

by Band on the Run in

it appears to me that even in the few months that i have been here there is less and less emphasis on jehovah's witnesses and anything remotely related to jws and more very poor posts about politics, foreign affairs and celebrities.

i can't omit the juvenile sex ones, which i find lacking in erotic nature.

it seems the 6th grade boys are meeting in the locker room.. the posts that involve jws have a very different tone from the drivel posted on others.

Band on the Run

DO NOT FEED TROLLS! trolls. Everything Witness related is cursed.

68

Charles Russell's Last Days

by lovelylil in

jw
friends

this link contains a play by play of russell's last days including why and how he was found dead in a toga made from sheets.

thought some may find it interesting.. http://www.gtft.org/biblestudents/pastorrussellslastdays.html.

Band on the Run

ngI have trouble believing Menta is male. Does anyone think that perhaps this is mostly dated writng? Maybe people wrote in a different manner. It certainly gives me the creep. The Witnesses don't worship Jesus but they can worship Russell. My great grandfather and great uncle(?) were active in the Bible Students. We inheirited the literat ure. I came upon it accidentally and immediately ran to my mother. It espooked the living daylights out of me. Everything I was raised that the WT condemned was trumpeted on the front page.

I wanted to be safe and have the mags burned. When my father died, we agreed we wanted all the Witness stuff in the garbage or away. Silly me, we donated them to the local KH.

I love history. This Witness stuff is fascinating. Even if I were never a Witness, it would be interesting. Somehow I doubt that current Witnesses would have any concerns if they saw a Russell era publication with spooks and cross, given as Christmas gifts, and the present WT. It is a small enough area that one could truly be a history buff.

87

Is this a forum for JW issues or a poorly designed political and celebrity site?

by Band on the Run in

it appears to me that even in the few months that i have been here there is less and less emphasis on jehovah's witnesses and anything remotely related to jws and more very poor posts about politics, foreign affairs and celebrities.

i can't omit the juvenile sex ones, which i find lacking in erotic nature.

it seems the 6th grade boys are meeting in the locker room.. the posts that involve jws have a very different tone from the drivel posted on others.

Band on the Run

I dare anyone to go through every thing I've posted here and analyze the content. I've explained my background when pertinent, such as the ever fresh First Amendment discussions or encouraging someone starting college at an advange age to muddle through because the end result is wonderful. Sometimes when discussing New Testament, I've mentioned that I studied with elaine Pagels, the pre-eminent Gnostic scholar - at least in the States. She may be internationally prominent, too).

I've contributed content that I am very proud I wrote. Do I call out those without much education and reprove them? No. As much as I believe in education, I believe in morals and character.

Nowhere in my life have I ever had this problem. I was laughed at for wanting college. Now I am scorned for trying to bring the skills I was FORTUNATE to learn to make a contribution here. I am a single person. Truth is not defined by what I say. I believe there has been a massive communication failure here. I am not worthless because I am a lawyer, NYer, whatever, oh, my Bethelite bodyguard father and my great grandfather from Russell's days. Someone comfortable in their own skin should like the input. I'm in a community where the other argument is highly sought after to provide a wider picture. My specialty has been the Establishment Clause. I spent months researching one aspect full time. I suppose I can't mention any of this because some people have no egos.

You do not know me. If you knew me, most of you would cry for me. Before I dumb down, I will take my marbles and leave. In the past, I would post a long apology and step n fetch it. Take it as my distance from the Witnesses that I absolutely refuse to do so. There is a NY Times forum, politico. There is a wondrous world out there. No, I will not apologize.

I curse the problems inherent with the Internet. This site had no contract. I owe no one here anything. Enjoy ignorance.

68

Charles Russell's Last Days

by lovelylil in

jw
friends

this link contains a play by play of russell's last days including why and how he was found dead in a toga made from sheets.

thought some may find it interesting.. http://www.gtft.org/biblestudents/pastorrussellslastdays.html.

Band on the Run

Ifound the account odioius and fascinating. Is the author female? The account seems super erotic. The author doesn't write like a friend but a lover. Maybe I'm wrong and it is a man. Then Russell was gay. Historians say it is important to read scads of documents from a period because mores and styles of writing change. Lincoln is one example. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in a similar style but she was a lesbian.

Running the risk of further annoying some people, my mom and dad were active in Rutherford and Knorr's tenure. I don't recall any thing resembling this account for treating someone as a divinity.

Russell would have had to be famous as a president for every casual train employee to immediately recognize him. All this in a day with much less mass communication than our. If anything this account, reminded me a bit of the gospels. Some things are too dramatic.

I must confess I don't understand the Bible Students myself. Russell is no paragon of virtue or a mighty theologian. He appears to have had business acumen and organizational prowess but so do many. Maybe I am ignorant but he sounds like another crazy version of the Watchtower. My mom said the Society was very different in his day. Dissent was allowed. Has anyone read a book or article on Russell by an academic scholar. I know nothing of the time frame or what was happening in other religious movements.

Doesn't anyone else see the eroticism?

87

Is this a forum for JW issues or a poorly designed political and celebrity site?

by Band on the Run in

it appears to me that even in the few months that i have been here there is less and less emphasis on jehovah's witnesses and anything remotely related to jws and more very poor posts about politics, foreign affairs and celebrities.

i can't omit the juvenile sex ones, which i find lacking in erotic nature.

it seems the 6th grade boys are meeting in the locker room.. the posts that involve jws have a very different tone from the drivel posted on others.

Band on the Run

I am slumming, for the most part. You make a lot of patently false assumptions. Objectively, I will bet heavy money that I have done more for the poor and oppressed than almost anyone. You do not know me. And I am feeding a troll which shows how much practical knowledge a law degree provides.

What have you done for the poor, the homeless, prisoners? I've devoted hundreds and hundreds of hours. But that will hurt your fragile ego too. won't it?

This site can do without me. Healthy debate is one thing. Differing opinions might exist. Plain meaness is no excuse -.

Jehovah's Witnesses is a disease. Certain people must be predisposed to it.

87

Is this a forum for JW issues or a poorly designed political and celebrity site?

by Band on the Run in

it appears to me that even in the few months that i have been here there is less and less emphasis on jehovah's witnesses and anything remotely related to jws and more very poor posts about politics, foreign affairs and celebrities.

i can't omit the juvenile sex ones, which i find lacking in erotic nature.

it seems the 6th grade boys are meeting in the locker room.. the posts that involve jws have a very different tone from the drivel posted on others.

Band on the Run

I value education. I value social clubs. NY, Paris and San Francisco are my preferred cities. This does not make me a snob. Reverse snobbery exists and I will not dumb down. These are my preferences which I freely own. It is up to God to judge me, not strangers on the Internet. Liking the above things does not mean I do not have respect for those with other gifts.

If I valued conformity, I'd still be a Witness. There is a meaness here that extends beyond my merit or demerits. Are some of you shallow that you can not tolerate a divergent view? The worse thing someone could say of me was that I was a good German. No one here knows my life or my heart. I never posted nastiness on any thread that is posted here.

Not agreeing with someone, backing up credibility with credentials, does not make me a monster. Rather, the meaness is purely juvenile. I am a threat to no one. If you hate me, why give me so much power that I don't possess?

46

Star Trek was pivotal to me growing up and here is the best of it, imo

by sabastious in

jw
friends

i saw this episode when i was a little kid and it has stuck with me since and will so until i die.

i highly recommend taking the 42 minutes out of your life to watch it.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5djw1kzcki.

-sab.

Band on the Run

The Franklin Institute of Technology in Philadelphia had a Star Trek exhibit with props from the classic and TNG. There were a few items from the other shows. The costumes and props were amazing. They had such detail and were custom built. I would think on TV all they had to do was visit Toys R Us. The centerpiece was the bridge. I played Spock. Then, the piece de resistance, I summoned up the courage to sit in the captain's chair.

What a feeling of power. It felt a bit naughty to be there, without a Star Fleet degree and commission. Infants were placed in Kirk's chair and their photos were taken. I seriously debated it but refused to pay $20. for a photo.

It was a great experience. Tellingly, I waited until the closing day. Otherwise, I would have changed my mind and paid the $20.

78

How (not) to destroy a thread and turn it into a battleground

by Terry in

jw
friends

we are adults here and don't want jwn to reflect a hostile enviornment for lurkers who may.

wish to learn about the watchtower.

many first timers might be very curious to discover whether.

Band on the Run

Terry,

This thread warmed my heart. Its timing was synchronous as Jung would say. Yes, almost spooky. Yes, this is Band who will not hide her light under a basket. I suspect much has to do with the medium. Decades after leaving, any Witness topic gets me high strung. Combine that with the lack of social cues on the Internet. Im supposed to be too ashamed to admit it but when I worked for the Senate I saw some interesting things. The opposing Senators were so genial when the cameras weren't around that I found it shocking. When the cameras arrived, all hell broke lose. When the cameras left, there was not the slightest harsh feeling left.

Twelve Step work and its no cross talk policy (No commenting on another's share, no advice giving) has taught me that no one can judge another's opinions. They are valid for that person only. Here, we want vigorous debate and many people solciit advice and experience. I left a post with my reflections on how I perceive the forum to not be much about the Witnesses but much silly stuff. Perhaps one of the responses I received would have said their comments to me in person. And I must also be too willing to go for the jugular.

The Internet seems to need heightened civility standards. When I read the posts, I think that often this is the best commercial the Witnesses could run against us. I am relatively new. After carefully reading heated exchanges that often disintegrate into insulting visuals (some of which I admire the creativity involved), I have no clue what the gripe is. I've never seen a forum with such a range. Someone with serious academic qualifications can discuss ancient Hebrew grammar and word connotations while another post deals with favorite songs of the 1970s. Jesus left the love one another command.

I've seen trolls before. Wikipedia's prime directive is not to feed them. Yet I do. It is so hard not to do so. There is much love and kindness here but I see frequent mean spiritedness and a desire to cut someone for the pleasure of cutting someone. I confess that I have not much experience with internet forums.

I had some kind comments to my thread. Someone mentioned that newbies feast on the meat of Witness doctrine and ignore the rest. I don't know whether I will stay or go. Excuse my NYness. If I leave, this forum loses something valuable just as when anyone is insulted and leaves. Staying just to prove I cannot be bullied is not workable. There are so many other wondrous things to do in life.

I value the Witness material. It has been my only chance in all these years to validate my experiences. So many times I thought I was unique. What I've found is that it was not me that was strange. Rather, a very small religion is a cult.