Mum

Joined

• started 38 topics
• posted 3,357 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Mum

• 
  17

  Is the Watchtower the most "dumbed down" Christian theology?

  by cantleave in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i was a witness i used to think that the wt's interpretation of ezekiel daniel and revelation was quite didactic and intellectually robust.. then i left and started reading the works of real christian theologians and scholars.

  i was amazed at how superficial and vacuous the watchtower theology was in comparison.. since i have left it would seem the standard of scholarly insight has dropped to a new low.

  i am sure that this is because for generations the message has been, "don't go to college...." and a culture of mediocrity dominates, resulting in an uneducated leadership creating doctrine.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  I grew up in Appalachia (Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky). There are a lot of churches there full of uneducated people who insist that the King James version of the Bible is the only one that has authority. Some are semi-literate, some completely illiterate. Both of my grandfathers were country preachers. My mom's dad finished third grade and went no further in school. He read the Bible aloud constantly. He thought "without natural affection" meant wearing make-up, and pronounced "lucre" as "looser."

  However, the people I knew back then, though they were in the backwoods and didn't have formal education, had a purity of heart and certainly had their priorities straight. It was a struggle to survive, so they knew how to grow crops without modern machinery, how to preserve food, how to stop pain without a doctor, and how to endure hardship.

  Some of their wisdom is preserved in books and on film: The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow, Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn, and others I cannot call to mind right now.

  Regards,

  SandraC
• 
  13

  Transfusions and Thievery Whaaaat?

  by BlindersOff1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  transfusions and thievery.

  .. some say blood transfusions.

  are harmless.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  I thought refusing blood transfusions was supposed to be a religious choice, not a choice based on some pseudoscientific fear of becoming someone else. I've seen this same argument used as a "reason" to refuse a heart transplant as well.
• 
  25

  "Foreigners" and today's Watchtower

  by 88JM in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know this is true every week, and i say it all the time, and i know blondie will be doing her review later, but.... today's watchtower was bat-shit crazy!.

  i knew it was going to be a bizzare one just reading it, but the comments at the meeting took it even further.

  i can't post all the crazy ones, but in summary what they were saying was:.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  My first congregation was in the Midwest U.S., affluent and lily white.

  Then I got married and moved to the South, to a congregation that was newly racially integrated. On the surface, everybody was cordial. Away from the KH, however, there was a lot of offense taken on both sides. People carry baggage, and old ways of thinking cling despite instructions from the WTS to "love" the brothers and sisters.

  In my lifetime of 65 years, I hae seen a revolution in the way people of different races are treated and accepted. Ironically, a friend of mine told me that she had an African-American friend who said that in the days of segregation, it was much easier to know how people really viewed her, but that now racists are hypocritical, so she doesn't really know their true attitude.

  We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.
• 
  21

  Faith In Action DVD... A tribute to Freemasons

  by Alfred in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  very few people actually know this but the watchtower dvd faith in action is actually a tribute to freemasonry.

  this dvd presents illustrations of several famous freemasons such as john coustos (a portuguese grand master from lisbon circa 1740).

  the dvd actually presents two illustrations of coustos being tortured by the clergy while the anonymous narrator denounces historic abuse from the clergy.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  Ric B: Welcome to the board. Are you an ex-JW?

  One of my professors in college told us that to understand the United States and how it operates, we needed to look into Freemasonry and labor unions.

  I owe a personal debt of gratitude to the Freemasons because they run the Shriners' Hospitals for children. Because of them, I got more than a year of free medical treatment in my childhood. They even gave me clothes and toys to take home. Our family was very poor, so their contribution to our lives meant a lot.

  Regards,

  SandraC
• 
  45

  It's a miserable life --- Really?

  by Lady Lee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was at the check-out counter sitting in my wheelchair, listening to the customer behind me talk to the cashier.

  he looks at her and says she looks tired.

  she rings through one more of my purchases and she it has been a long day.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  We who control our own choices and do not live under the control of anyone else can take responsibility for our own happiness. That, IMHO, is the beginning of wisdom. I understand that misery is justified if we have no control over our lives. But once we are free, it's all up to us.
• 
  53

  Why Did You Get Baptised

  by God_Delusion in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi guys,.

  so then, why did you get dunked?

  were you pressured into it too, or did you do it because you honestly thought it was the right thing to do?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  I was 17, and had been publishing for two years. People were pushing me toward baptism. I had no excuses left. Besides, all of my teenage friends had been baptized. The whole JW thing for me was a kind of rebellion against my parents. It gave me acceptance that I did not get at home. At the time, believe it or not, being a dub actually improved my life. I got acceptance and friendship from my peers, praise from my elders, time away from home (meetings and service were a pleasure compared to our home life), eating out after service, and travel to assemblies in different locations.

  Too bad it went straight downhill from there. 1975 came and went, but I patiently held on until 1979. Now I have a wonderful family. The younger generation is much kinder than the older generation was. Life is good.

  Regards,

  SandraC
• 
  30

  Is there anyone out there who married a non jW...?how did it turn out for ?Are u happy?

  by Chichi89 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  please be honest....did love conquer it all?.

  how did u make it work?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  Interfaith marriages can work, but the likelihood of that happening if one of the partners (particularly the male) is a JW is a whole different ball game. I had a friend with a JW mom and a nonbelieving (i.e., not a church goer, not religious at all) dad. Because her dad was "head of the household" and had the say-so, she got to go to her cousins' birthday parties and have some normal childhool experiences. She was lucky.

  That having been said, I believe it is less about religion than it is about the two people and their maturity and readiness for marriage. As Dr. Laura says, love is a good start, but nothing more. She points out that once a child is born, the religion moves to the forefront. If one partner is Catholic and want to have the child christened, and the other partner is Pentecostal, then there will be problems.

  Sit down with your sweetheart and work out what the rules are going to be. Get pre-marital counseling. Understand yourself, and understand your partner.

  Best wishes,

  SandraC
• 
  5

  Redistributing Magazines

  by enigma1863 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i received some magazines from some witnesses and want to redistribute them with some kind of jw facts inserts.

  any suggestions?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  Print some labels with the aforementioned web sites printed on them, maybe silentlambs.org as well, stick them on the front of the magazines, and leave them at a laundromat. I've done that many times.

  Regards,

  SandraC
• 
  74

  Do you have a favourite scripture?

  by Ucantnome in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have two.. luke 4.

  16 he went to nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.

  he stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet isaiah was handed to him.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  Galatians 3:28:

  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (May not be the exact words).

  Regards,

  SandraC
• 
  67

  I'm posting here an informative email from STEVEN UNTHANK

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  yesterday, a jwn poster e-mailed me asking if i would post on this discussion board his recent email to steven unthank and also post stevens reply.

  the reason for the request is because the poster has need to remain completely anonymous.

  i agreed to share the email because i knew you would find stevens reply informative and interesting.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Mum

  The WT Society is more like organized crime every day! Their brand of "love" is more toxic than arsenic!