Quendi

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Posts by Quendi

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  62

  Name Actors/Actresses & Singers Who You Think Really Are Not That Good

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some people rave about certain celebs as being so great and in reality, what's so great about them?.

  i think harrison ford is a good actor but not great.

  same goes for tom cruise.. patty labelle, i've seen a few times live.

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  Quendi

  Charlie Sheen and Tori Spelling couldn't act their way out of a room with only one wall. Both of them are worthless.

  Quendi
• 
  68

  Interracial Marriage

  by Quendi in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here is a question i want to pose because i do not know the correct answer.

  i have seen many interracial married couples among jehovah's witnesses--moreso than i have seen in other religions.

  however, i have been told that once upon a time, interracial marriage was frowned upon by the wts hierarchy.

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  Quendi

  Interracial marriage has been a long-standing interest of mine, paulnotsaul. I have known quite a few couples and asked them many questions. They were always happy to answer them. What interested me the most was how they coped with the different pressures they faced and what were the sources of those pressures. I thought it was interesting that both Witness and non-Witness couples gave me the same answers.

  The organization has always presented itself as being above the fray of racial tensions, hatreds, and prejudices. I will be the first to admit that it has made much better progress along those lines than many others have. I was very pleased to see that friendships and marriages of all kinds existed, and that many of these were strong. I'm an Army brat, so ethnic diversity was nothing new for me. But I often encountered racism and wondered what was the organization's real history of dealing with this problem. I'm glad that you are in a strong and loving marriage and wish all the best for you and your family.

  Since leaving the WTS I have learned that its outward appearances can often mask a very ugly reality. Raising the question of interracial marriage is another way I am using to investigate the backstory of the organization. I hope I can use that backstory to help others who are still trapped inside. The more all of us know about the WTS, the better informed our decisions about it will be. I am grateful for everything our friends here have shared on this question.

  Quendi
• 
  32

  Favourite Poem? Post it here ...

  by talesin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's one of mine .... .

  he is dead.

  stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,.

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  Quendi

  And finally, these two by John Masefield which sum up my love for ships and the sea. --Quendi

  Sea-Fever

  I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the

  sky,

  And all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by,

  And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white

  sail’s shaking,

  And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking

  I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running

  tide

  Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

  And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

  And the flung spray and the blown spume and the sea-

  gulls crying.

  I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

  To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s

  like a whetted knife.

  And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover

  And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s

  over.

  —John Masefield

  A Wanderer’s Song

  A wind’s in the heart of me, a fire’s in my heels,

  I am tired of brick and stone and rumbling wagon-wheels;

  I hunger for the sea’s edge, the limits of the land,

  Where the wild old Atlantic is shouting on the sand.

  Oh I’ll be going, leaving the noises of the street,

  To where a lifting foresail-foot is yanking at the sheet;

  To a windy, tossing anchorage where yawls and ketches

  ride,

  Oh I’ll be going, going, until I meet the tide.

  And first I’ll hear the sea-wind, the mewing of the gulls,

  The clucking, sucking of the sea about the rusty hulls,

  The songs at the capstan in the hooker warping out,

  And then the heart of me’ll know I’m there or there-

  about.

  Oh I am tired of brick and stone, the heart of me is sick,

  For windy, green, unquiet sea, the realm of Moby Dick;

  And I’ll be going, going, from the roaring of the wheels,

  For a wind’s in the heart of me, a fire’s in my heels.

  —John Masefield
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  32

  Favourite Poem? Post it here ...

  by talesin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's one of mine .... .

  he is dead.

  stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,.

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  Quendi

  Here is the poem that best sums up my feelings about leaving the WTS behind. --Quendi

  The Road Not Taken

  Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

  And sorry I could not travel both

  And be one traveler, long I stood

  And looked down one as far as I could

  To where it bent in the undergrowth;

  Then took the other, as just as fair,

  And having perhaps the better claim,

  Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

  Though as for that the passing there

  Had worn them really about the same,

  And both that morning equally lay

  In leaves no step had trodden black.

  Oh, I kept the first for another day!

  Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

  I doubted if I should ever come back.

  I shall be telling this with a sigh

  Somewhere ages and ages hence:

  Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

  I took the one less traveled by,

  And that has made all the difference.

    —Robert Frost
• 
  32

  Favourite Poem? Post it here ...

  by talesin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's one of mine .... .

  he is dead.

  stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,.

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  3. 
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  Quendi

  First, thanks sizemik for the poem you shared. I have added it to my Poety file in my computer and will share it with many other people. I have several favorite poems I'd like to share starting with this one. --Quendi

  ---

  Inaugural Poem :

  On the Pulse of Morning

  Maya Angelou
  20 January 1993

  ---

  A Rock, A River, A Tree Hosts to species long since departed, Marked the mastodon, The dinosaur, who left dry tokens Of their sojourn here On our planet floor, Any broad alarm of their hastening doom Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages. But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come, you may stand upon my Back and face your distant destiny, But seek no haven in my shadow. I will give you no more hiding place down here. You, created only a little lower than The angels, have crouched too long in The bruising darkness, Have lain too long Face down in ignorance. Your mouths spilling words Armed for slaughter. The Rock cries out today, you may stand on me, But do not hide your face. Across the wall of the world, A River sings a beautiful song, Come rest here by my side. Each of you a bordered country, Delicate and strangely made proud, Yet thrusting perpetually under siege. Your armed struggles for profit Have left collars of waste upon My shore, currents of debris upon my breast. Yet, today I call you to my riverside, If you will study war no more. Come, Clad in peace and I will sing the songs The Creator gave to me when I and the Tree and the stone were one. Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your Brow and when you yet knew you still Knew nothing. The River sings and sings on. There is a true yearning to respond to The singing River and the wise Rock. So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew The African and Native American, the Sioux, The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh, The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher, The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher. They hear. They all hear The speaking of the Tree. Today, the first and last of every Tree Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the River. Plant yourself beside me, here beside the River. Each of you, descendant of some passed On traveller, has been paid for. You, who gave me my first name, you Pawnee, Apache and Seneca, you Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then Forced on bloody feet, left me to the employment of Other seekers--desperate for gain, Starving for gold. You, the Turk, the Swede, the German, the Scot ... You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare Praying for a dream. Here, root yourselves beside me. I am the Tree planted by the River, Which will not be moved. I, the Rock, I the River, I the Tree I am yours--your Passages have been paid. Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need For this bright morning dawning for you. History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced With courage, need not be lived again. Lift up your eyes upon The day breaking for you. Give birth again To the dream. Women, children, men, Take it into the palms of your hands. Mold it into the shape of your most Private need. Sculpt it into The image of your most public self. Lift up your hearts Each new hour holds new chances For new beginnings. Do not be wedded forever To fear, yoked eternally To brutishness. The horizon leans forward, Offering you space to place new steps of change. Here, on the pulse of this fine day You may have the courage To look up and out upon me, the Rock, the River, the Tree, your country. No less to Midas than the mendicant. No less to you now than the mastodon then. Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out And into your sister's eyes, into Your brother's face, your country And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning.

  ---
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  68

  Interracial Marriage

  by Quendi in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here is a question i want to pose because i do not know the correct answer.

  i have seen many interracial married couples among jehovah's witnesses--moreso than i have seen in other religions.

  however, i have been told that once upon a time, interracial marriage was frowned upon by the wts hierarchy.

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  Quendi

  @NewChapter:

  You're right to say that the law mandated segregated circuits and congregations in the American South, but those laws were ruled unconstitutional in a series of SCOTUS rulings. And long after they had been struck from the books, segregation prevailed in the organization in that part of the country. When I started studying with the Witnesses in Tuscaloosa, Alabama back in 1974, the congregations and circuits had only recently desegregated, and that happened only when Brooklyn ordered the local brothers to do so. The Civil Rights Bill of 1964 had effectively nullified segregation, but nearly ten years later Witnesses in the American South had done little or nothing to comply with its spirit. Real Christians wouldn't have had to wait on orders, but would have done so at the first opportunity which presented itself.

  Quendi
• 
  68

  Interracial Marriage

  by Quendi in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here is a question i want to pose because i do not know the correct answer.

  i have seen many interracial married couples among jehovah's witnesses--moreso than i have seen in other religions.

  however, i have been told that once upon a time, interracial marriage was frowned upon by the wts hierarchy.

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  Quendi

  @BluesBrother:

  I personally knew the Alabama couple who was denied a ceremony and use of the Kingdom Hall. That was back in the late 1970s when they had this problem. Ironically enough, they went to Mississippi of all places (not far from their home in west Alabama) where a justice of the peace did the honors. The local brothers had no reason to deny this couple a ceremony. Even if they didn't want the Kingdom Hall to be used, the ceremony could have been held elsewhere, even a private home, to accommodate them. The refusal to perform the ceremony or allow the Hall to be used was due to simple racism.

  @paulnotsaul:

  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all bans against interracial marriages in the United States were unconstitutional in the case of Loving v. Virginia. That decision was handed down in 1967.

  Quendi
• 
  68

  Interracial Marriage

  by Quendi in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here is a question i want to pose because i do not know the correct answer.

  i have seen many interracial married couples among jehovah's witnesses--moreso than i have seen in other religions.

  however, i have been told that once upon a time, interracial marriage was frowned upon by the wts hierarchy.

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  Quendi

  I appreciate your answer, Mary, because even though that was the prevailing view of the time, it certainly wasn't one a true Christian would espouse. The Society is fond of quoting Peter at Acts 10:34, 35: "For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him." The WTS says this indicates that it has always been a color-blind organization, but that clearly is not true. Those words are more than nineteen hundred years old, so there's really no excuse for either Russell or Rutherford to be racists. Still thinking, I bet both of us are glad that we have 'tossed' these people into the garbage bin they belong.

  And Snoozy, you're right to say this was the attitude still back in the 1960s, long after Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks had made their points about the injustice of racism. Yet the Society still had segregated circuits in the American South and did not encourage interracial marriages among its followers. As soon as I can get some real information about whether interracial couples were disfellowshipped, I'll let you all know.

  Quendi
• 
  68

  Interracial Marriage

  by Quendi in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here is a question i want to pose because i do not know the correct answer.

  i have seen many interracial married couples among jehovah's witnesses--moreso than i have seen in other religions.

  however, i have been told that once upon a time, interracial marriage was frowned upon by the wts hierarchy.

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  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Quendi

  I remember reading these passages and feeling absolutely disgusted that any professed Christian would think this way. Thank you, NewChapter, for sharing them with us. Thanks also for the suggestion to bring this question to jwfacts and see what our friends there can find. Pams girl, you're right to denounce this religion as "hateful, racist, and slanderous", at least in its past manifestations. Of course, some will defend Russell by saying he was simply a product of his times. But that flies in the face of the fact that many people of his times knew racism was wrong and would have nothing to do with it or those people who espoused it. How did Russell justify his thinking?

  Quendi
• 
  19

  Rutherford grave

  by django in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  hi everybody.

  i would like to know where is the grave of joseph franklyn rutherford?.

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  Quendi

  As strange as the circumstances of J.F. Rutherford's death and funeral were, I don't believe much has changed in the nearly seventy years following his death. Does anyone know where N.H. Knorr, F.W. Franz, and Milton Henschel, Rutherford's successors are buried? What were their funerals like and who attended?

  Rutherford was estranged from both his wife and son. His son wanted absolutely nothing to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. It was known that Rutherford was having an extramarital affair with one of the secretaries in Brooklyn. I'm not sure if this woman also worked in Beth Sarim where Rutherford spent his winters. I believe only one person from Brooklyn Bethel made the trip to San Diego for the funeral and that person certainly wasn't N.H. Knorr. The 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses makes a perfunctory mention of Rutherford's death on 8 January 1942 and them moves quickly to Knorr's election as the WTS president on 13 January. From all I have read about Rutherford's tenure as WTS president, I'm surprised the Brooklyn headquarters staff didn't break out in a chorus of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!"

  Quendi