Posts by peterstride

9

Germany, the "truth" is worth lying...

by Norm in

jw
friends

the multinational printing empire and con operation in brooklyn better known as the watchtower society is in a desperate struggle to appear mainstream and normal to the general public all over the world.

after over 100 years of publishing the most insane drivel and countless failed predictions this is of course an uphill struggle.. what makes it even harder is that they merely want to foster the illusion that the watchtower society is mainstream.

they have no wish for it to actually be mainstream.

peterstride

Amazing how when I was in the borg, I used to laugh at others that were volunteering their time to help fellow human beings, since I thought I knew that it was useless until god stepped in and made things right.

While it may be correct that all injustices may not end until god does step in (for some of us that still want to believe that), it's also important to help our fellow human neighbours, when possible.

After all, wasn't it Jesus that said that when the day of reconning came, he would ask us if we had helped others that were in need, even in the slightest way?

Incredible how an organization that claims to be from god, can be so ungodly and so unloving.

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada

62

Canadians

by Defender in

jw
friends

i see that a lot of posters and possibly lurkers are from canada.. can you please mention briefly what part of canada you're from.

maybe some of us can get together.. i'll start; i am in vancouver.

peterstride

Getting together sounds good! It will give us all a chance to meet several more people that didn't make it to the BRCI conference.

Being a downtown Toronto boy, I have a few interesting places in my mind where we could meet, are easy to drive to, and have ample "free" parking nearby!

Is everyone in the Toronto area that wants to meet, free next week on....hmmm....I'm picking a day out of my hat here....let's say Monday evening, July 16th?

For out of towners it should be an easy evening drive since the majority of traffic is heading out of Toronto, so heading in should be a breeze. And by the time everyone heads home in the late evening, the traffic will be clear!

I can be e-mailed directly, if you so desire, at [email protected].

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada

137

Freedom of Thought and JW Opposers

by dunsscot in

jw
friends

does freedom of thought really obtain in this forum?

are those who have left god's organization and jehovah god himself actually now more open-minded and unbiased?

if those who espouse atheistic thoughts or those who believe every vile utterance spoken against jehovah's people think they are now speaking from some olympian perspective, i beg to differ.

peterstride

I'm waiting for his reply also......

18

leaving Jehovah's Witnesses

by jayhawk1 in

hello, my name is jeremy.

i have been reading this forum for some time.

i asked the elders, they said that i could grow the beard, so i did.

peterstride

Welcome to the boards Jeremy!

I was born into the borg, and didn't wake up until I was 30. That was 5 years ago.

If you haven't had a chance to yet, you should pick up Raymond Franz's two books, "Crisis of Concience" and "In Search of Christian Freedom", both available (as far as I know) in the USA through Amazon.com. Those are the two books that I read that were real eye openers.

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada

54

advice needed--please respond

by lisaBObeesa in

jw
friends

this is a question my df mother would like me to post for her:.

would it be morally right to go back to the jws, even though she doesn't feel it is god's org?

she would do this in order to speak with her life long friends and her youngest daughter, all of whom are quite emotionally distraught due to her dfing.

peterstride

Then we should all guess that you're not a good JW since you're not following the Kingdom Ministry's "suggestion" to stay away from the internet, and especially from anywhere where apostates might be found.

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada

137

Freedom of Thought and JW Opposers

by dunsscot in

jw
friends

does freedom of thought really obtain in this forum?

are those who have left god's organization and jehovah god himself actually now more open-minded and unbiased?

if those who espouse atheistic thoughts or those who believe every vile utterance spoken against jehovah's people think they are now speaking from some olympian perspective, i beg to differ.

peterstride

While on the question of dogma, we do well to heed the apostle Paul's advice, that we are all human and falible....which also means that we should not judge others for believing things differently than us. That's something that the WTS fails in, since it judges everyone else with the most severity.

Other issues stand out. For example, how many times has the Watchtower pointed out that if someone says that something is going to happen, and it does not, then that someone is a false prophet?

Well, the WTS predicted that the end would come several times, including 1918, 1925 & 1975. The masthead of the Watchtower (or was it the Awake) up until 1995 stated that it was a promise that those that saw 1914 would live to see Armageddon. Once the 80 years had expired, they quietly changed that also. There are many many examples like this out there.

You have to know the history to know where a certain group is going, not blindly accepting them and forgetting their past history, just because "they are human and they make mistakes". By knowing their history, you will know their future, since they will make the same mistakes over and over and over again.

You certainly wouldn't invest your money with an investor that has a terrible track record, would you? How much more important is your life then?

Just my thoughts on the matter,

Respectfully,

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada

16

R. FRANZ UNWITTINGLY TELLS THE TRUTH

by Yadirf in

jw
friends

raymond franz unwittingly reveals the truth insofar as the comparability of todays jehovahs witnesses and those who were true worshipers in queen esthers day.. raymond franz said:.

raymond franz, a high-ranking jehovah's witness who was disfellowshipped and then wrote two books about the inner workings of the faith, said he doesn't believe cases of pedophilia are any more prevalent in the denomination than in others.

but the religion's insularity leads to problems, he said.

peterstride

Dear Jedi TR,

Your last post.....LOL! :-)

Rock on!

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada

31

The CO's visit

by OrangeBlossom in

jw
friends

this past week was the visit of our circuit overseer.

i know what you are thinking so before i post some of his comments that i personally found interesting, i only went to keep peace in the family and not give rise to suspicion about my true feelings.

so with that said, here are some things that grabbed my attention.. 1) his talk thursday nite was about being successful and how the world's view of success is far different than the organizations.

peterstride

If the WTS had the truth and nothing but the truth, they wouldn't be afraid of others reading whatever material they wanted to read, since they would see right through it, and prove in their minds that the WTS was the truth.

But the moment any religious cult orders its members not to read anything that contradicts them, warning bells should be going off.

The WTS is loosing its grip on members, and they know it. In their desperation, I'm afraid, they will go to drastic means to hold on to whatever members they have.

Just my opinion,

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada

62

Canadians

by Defender in

jw
friends

i see that a lot of posters and possibly lurkers are from canada.. can you please mention briefly what part of canada you're from.

maybe some of us can get together.. i'll start; i am in vancouver.

peterstride

Hey Josephus,

You play chess on Gould Street in Toronto? Great, maybe I'll run into you since I'm there once in a while, whether playing chess, or ice skating at the outdoor rink across from Ryerson!

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada

16

R. FRANZ UNWITTINGLY TELLS THE TRUTH

by Yadirf in

jw
friends

raymond franz unwittingly reveals the truth insofar as the comparability of todays jehovahs witnesses and those who were true worshipers in queen esthers day.. raymond franz said:.

raymond franz, a high-ranking jehovah's witness who was disfellowshipped and then wrote two books about the inner workings of the faith, said he doesn't believe cases of pedophilia are any more prevalent in the denomination than in others.

but the religion's insularity leads to problems, he said.

peterstride

When Raymond Franz said:

"But the religion's insularity leads to problems, he said. [Insularity defined: Suggestive of the isolated life of an island.]

“The thing is to keep everything within the system,” Franz said. "That's a natural reaction for Witnesses because they are essentially a closed community . . . " -- http://www.geocities.com/investigatorjw/coverletter.html";

he was merely pointing out that they are a closed community...like many other cults...not that they are the true religion.

Many religious cults use words such as truth, brother, sister, the way. Many religious cults promote being separate from others that are not part of the cult. Many other cults tell their members not to speak to ex cult members.

If being separate from others is an indication of being the true religion...welll...several religious cults would definately qualify, starting with David Koresh in Waco. And as many of us know, David Koresh and the JWs share the same roots...that of the Millerites from the early 1800s in the US. From the Millerites sprang up several other groups, most of them active to this day.

Anyone else know of any other cults that are essentially closed to outsiders? Let's see how many we can list on this board!

( Of course, cult members will swear up and down that they are not a cult, and will offer proof of why they aren't. However, if they were to take a trip to their local bookstore/library and look at information on recognizing a cult...well, I'll stop dreaming since most cult members have also being "warned" about reading other materials...pre-emtive strikes to keep them ignorant, and within the fold. )

Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada