Posts by peacefulpete

43

April 2003 KM: ``Mind Your Manners in Public"

by Room 215 in

now that it's dispensed with its annual ``don't you dare partake" in advance of their spring travesty of a communion, the faithful and discreet slave shifts its focus to another seasonal perennial: the km's recurrent exhortation to ``mind your manners at this summer's district conventions.

by ``connecting the dots" between the leadership's admonition to mind one's manners at the hotel, to tip approriately, to avoid ``double-dipping'' by eating and then loading up on unapproved takeaways for lunch at hotels that prvide complimentary breakfast, to refrain from losing all inhibitions in after-hour socializing and to forego the donning of outlandish skin-tight (or conversely loose fitting ``hip-hop" outfits) forte duration of the assembly, a picture quite different from the idealized notion of jws being a worldwide fraternity of solidly mature, temperate ministers who lives find fulfilment only in the service of god and their fellow man.. what sort of adults need to be lectured in such terms, let alone a group that boasts of its aloofness from satan's world?

what does it suggest about leadership's awareness of how far removed from reality the rank and file is from their literature's stylized imagery?

peacefulpete

The great effort required to "remind" the friends to behave civilized, reveals to me that the glowing reports are the result of social pressure and image consciousness rather than elevated ethics or model unselfish love.

26

Is Jesus Dead?

by Tower Man in

since it's about that time of year, i have a new article on my site about the resurrection.

http://www.towertotruth.net/is_jesus_dead.htm

tower man

peacefulpete

He's not dead, just mostly dead. There's a big difference between dead and mostly dead.....This is about as funny as those who say a person isn't really dead when they are hit by a truck, they are just now invisible and mute and powerless to assist the living......ie. mostly dead.

23

Jesus or Judas:Will the real terrorist please stand up?

by Valis in

i was reading the religion section of the newspaper yesterday and they had this article that purported judas iscariot as a terrorist, citing his last name was somehow connected to a group of assassins...i'm not much of a bible scholar, but to me i would think that from the perspective of the roman and jewish authorities, jesus was seen as the real terrorist and threat to both societies.the article went on to mention that judas may have been trying to incite jesus to further action or at least have him martyred to spark a reaction among the discontented ones...any thoughts?.

sincerely,.

district overbeer

peacefulpete

Gumby.....I can't do that sort of thing with my primative Webtv. Sorry, but a word search "Yahoo groups Jeasus mysteries" gets you there. Then you will need to join to post. but you can read I believe without subscribing.

23

Jesus or Judas:Will the real terrorist please stand up?

by Valis in

i was reading the religion section of the newspaper yesterday and they had this article that purported judas iscariot as a terrorist, citing his last name was somehow connected to a group of assassins...i'm not much of a bible scholar, but to me i would think that from the perspective of the roman and jewish authorities, jesus was seen as the real terrorist and threat to both societies.the article went on to mention that judas may have been trying to incite jesus to further action or at least have him martyred to spark a reaction among the discontented ones...any thoughts?.

sincerely,.

district overbeer

peacefulpete

There is a Jesus Mysteries discussion at Yahoo that entertains and debates any and all theories about a historical Jesus. The matter is likey to forever stir debate as the NT has passed thru too many editors and political revision to ever formulate a precise reconstruction of it's developement. There are very powerful reasons to believe that the Jesus group was a failed Zealot movement. The very names chosen for the charactors do seem to to be clues. (Simon the Zealot, Sons of Rage/thunder,)The "cleasing" of the Temple is if historical a major event linking Jesus to the Zealots. They sought to do this very thing but failed due to the thousands of Jewish Temple guards and the perrenial Roman army of 500+ stationed there. It is however much more likely that the stories are composites of quasi historical accounts of various Jewish liberation leaders, sages, and pagan dying son of god stories. These stories merged and became a legend of it's own. Then comes the 3-400 year process of selecting and editing of these legends to meet the needs of the Roman chuch. This was tricky as many passions were attatched to contradictory aspects of the legend, compromises were made and subtle rewording was required to unify a majority of Jesus cultists. Voila Christianity!

15

25 years of anointed remnant

by MacHislopp in

just as a bit of personal reasoning.

from the wtbs inc. official figures and statistics,

25 years later, for the year 2002, the total is 8,760 members.-

peacefulpete

McHisopp......do you work for Enron?

22

Giving Thanks to Watchtower

by thinker in

i came to this forum in the later part of 2000 shortly after meeting my wife.

although i still come here often to read, i rarely post anymore.

recently two very fine people, an elder and his wife, left the wt.

peacefulpete

I feel I must add that members of high control groups/cults are ordinary people, good people,smart people,hopeful people. Arrogance, stupidity,cruelty etc, are not prerequisites to being mislead. Anyone is vulnerable to cults. A few people have learned, usuallly thru experience, to recognise unhealthy or unethical methods or policies. These do then have a responsibilty to further develope these critical thinking skills and assist others to protect themselves from the attraction of cults and high control groups. It is not helpful to make unfounded generalizations about what "type" of people become or remain victims of these groups. This also promotes a more healthy self opinion. Many mistakenly feel shame or guilt for having participated in these groups like the JWs, this reveals a lack of understanding about how and why cults work. I read an interesting line that said, " Noone joins a cult." No person would knowingly attatch themselves to a destructive group. Rather, people seek friendship, security, certainty, comfort, community and things like these that cults promise and for many within the cults appear to provide.

27

Then & Now

by RAYZORBLADE in

i think this post may be an absolute: no brainer

personally, when i was an active naive jw, i studied the bible and could rattle scriptures off, left right and centre.

real good fundie.

peacefulpete

My interest in the Bible as a piece of ancient literature was peeked after leaving the org. and feeling free to consider the facts and theory that were taboo as a literalist. Like any aborted behavior my ability to recite JW pet verse has faded, but my familiarity with the book as a whole is better than ever. This research has freed me from much of the angst felt by many here who have yet to face the reality that the book is of human origin.

23

Positions

by Phil in

does anyone know all the positions that are identified in the watchtower organization?

i hear people talking about elders, overseers etc.

what are all the positions from the to to the bottom?

peacefulpete

you did miss the Zone Overseer, possibly the most powerful men in the org. He controls whole continents or in our case, most of the western hemisphere.

28

Living a lie?

by Victorian sky in

i've been inactive for several months.

i know it's not the truth and mentally i've walked away.

would it be living a lie to remain inactive?

peacefulpete

I know I am slow to reply to this but maybe someone will read it. I walked away in one clean break and never have or will return. For me to attend a meeting now is to lie to all there, many of whom I care about, and to reopen deep wounds in myself. Ther is no risk of reinvolvement yet the programming creates an unrest that I simply do not need. I found closure by informing the elders that I do not require or desire "sheparding calls". As a former PO I know how relieved that must have made them. They in fact told me "do the honorable thing and disassociate yourself". If I had done so my divorse would have been finalized. My wife who despised enough my position enough to seek a divorse was only able to escape the grip of the org. by my NOT having thumbed my nose at the elders when tempted to do so. While most all have shunned me and now her anyway at least we are together and my folks allow us to visit them. My situation would be much worse if my ego required the satisfaction of mouthing off or public disavowing of the org. I have achieved closure and yet retain a sober awareness of the power cult thinking has on good hearted people. Steve Hassan's book called Releasing the Bonds incurrages an insightful and compassionate exit to best assist those inside the cult by not reinforcing stereotypes about the "wicked hearted apostates". I feel this for us has meant being clear to the elders that we do not welcome their visits to "shepard" us, and yet to the extent possible sought to remain close by phone and letter with those we wish to help exit. Remember that a common sentiment among cults is that "there is no place to go to", therefore fear compels them to not consider leaving. They need a place to go to before even considering leaving, we let them know by our love that they will always have us to come to.

24

Satan Had it easy! Does the bible make sense?

by Mecurious? in

my response to the thread above on do you still believe got me to thinking.

satan had it easy.

in genesis he was allowed to corrupt adam and eve and bring death to the whole human family.

peacefulpete

That Quote was "God will be all things to everybody" I dont yet know how to edit.