WinstonSmith
JoinedPosts by WinstonSmith
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27
Can't afford to pay Candace, but they can afford this:
by WinstonSmith inhttp://thetandd.com/news/local/jehovah-s-witnesses-unveil-million-assembly-hall/article_82f68742-6776-11e2-a641-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true.
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336
The New Diary of Winston Smith
by WinstonSmith inwe had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
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WinstonSmith
Roberta84: Thank you for your nice comments! I hope everyone can understand my ramblings and take something away that is beneficial :-)
Bsmart: What?? You didn't get the WTS approved version? Mate, we're sure gonna miss you in paradise...
I came across this today. It's pretty interesting given the recent "Waaah we don't have enough money to pay off the Conti case" comments.
I guess we know where their priorities lie.
http://thetandd.com/news/local/jehovah-s-witnesses-unveil-million-assembly-hall/article_82f68742-6776-11e2-a641-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true -
336
The New Diary of Winston Smith
by WinstonSmith inwe had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
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WinstonSmith
Had one of those "eye roll" moments last night.
We had dinner with some friends in our congregation, and the hubby has just bought a Tablet (because "The Society says we should use the internet" !!!!!) and as I have one too, he was asking me some questions on how to use it.
I showed him how to download an ereader and explained the difference between PDF and ePUB. We downloaded an app and, of course it came with some books preloaded. When he saw that there were books pre-loaded, he says:
"I want to delete those, I don't want them on here, because you never know whats in them."
Cue EYE ROLL.
The books that were preloaded were Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, and Oliver Twist. Obviously books reknowned for their long history of turning people away from the truth due to their demonic content....
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336
The New Diary of Winston Smith
by WinstonSmith inwe had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
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WinstonSmith
Today is Australia Day in this beautiful country. We celebrate it by firing up the BBQ, burning some meat, imbibing alcohol based beverages, and regaling our friends with hyperbolic stories. Our move here was lifechanging in many ways. The most significant of which was that our time in the congregations here became the straw that broke the camel's back and woke us up to the truth about the Truth.
Thanks Australia. If it's okay, we'd like to stick around a bit longer.
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336
The New Diary of Winston Smith
by WinstonSmith inwe had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
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WinstonSmith
Yes indeedy, I like to get the grey matter churning. Amazing, this is the same old junk the WTS has been serving up for years, yet only in the last couple have I ever drilled deeper.
The mind is a wonderful (and scary) thing.
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336
The New Diary of Winston Smith
by WinstonSmith inwe had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
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WinstonSmith
This week's WT study is a fine example of the absurdity of applying individual bible examples to the modern day. As you go through it, think how modern day elders or the WTS would react to someone engaging in the activities described....
WT Study: What Does Jehovah's Forgiveness Mean for You?
- Theme scripture: Such a shame elders often don't follow this example. - Paragraph 3-5: If someone today spied on a sister, got into a relationship with her, got her pregnant, then arranged for her husband to die so they could be together, what would the reaction of the elders be? Forgiveness, or disfellowshipping? - Paragraph 6: Was David repentant because he was sorry, or because he got busted? - Paragraph 6: It says here that Jehovah sent Nathan to David because he was interested in extending mercy. When two elders are assigned to investigate a matter, are they doing so with a view to extending mercy, or to establish guilt? - Paragraph 8: Psalm 32:5 is used here. Notice how in that scripture, David says that he confessed and did not cover his transgresion. Would you say David is being truthful here? Did he, of his own volition confess, or was it only after he got busted? - Paragraph 10: Do you think Jehovah's show of mercy was based on how David had shown to mercy to Saul, or because he had promised to bring the messiah through the family line of this adulterous scheming murderer? All I learn from this is that if the moody Old Testament God Jehovah decides to be on your team, you can get away with anything. - Paragraph 12: Is Manesseh an ancient example of the saying "there are no atheists in the foxholes"? Again, when did he show repentance? Off his own volition, or after things went really bad for him? - Paragraphs 17 and 18: James 5:14,15 is used here to show that sinners should confess to the elders. But read it again. The phrase used is "older men" do you think this is talking about a position in the congregation, or a level of maturity?
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336
The New Diary of Winston Smith
by WinstonSmith inwe had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
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WinstonSmith
00DAD: I really enjoyed the thread and blog post from Cedars. It would not be hard to imagine that in the near future the Bodies of Elders will get a letter specifying the type of chairs they can have in their back meeting rooms. Any attempt to get nice ergonomic chairs on wheels will be viewed as a sign of rebellion against the Slave. Only the best chairs can be used by them. Based on recently discovered manuscripts, the new light is that this is in fact the 'crown of glory' mentioned in the scriptures :-P
Tornapart: Wow, that is fantastic news! I echo RayP's advice to keep it up. It is a real challenge to not dump all our newfound knowledge and understanding on others. Helping a cult addled mind is a delicate task. Good on ya mate, keep us updated.
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336
The New Diary of Winston Smith
by WinstonSmith inwe had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
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WinstonSmith
So I'm reading In Search of Christian Freedom at the moment. It's quite different to Crisis of Conscience, and I'm really getting into it. Over the last couple of days I've been reading in it about how the Christian congregation slowly changed from being a collection of like minded people to being an authoritarian structure. Now we see power in the hands of a chosen few, and it is these ones that dictate what others are to believe.
Coincidentally, tonight I read Ephesians 5. After giving advice to the individuals in the congregation to be mindful about walking wisely (vs 15), Paul goes on to say in vs 17 that people should "go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is." I note here that it was up to the individual to do the perceiving, not someone up the hierachical foodchain.
Jehovah's Witnesses pride themselves on being set up in a similar way to the Christian congregation in the first century. A review of history and scriptures however shows that they are in fact far from it.
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30
Some observations on Animal Farm by George Orwell
by WinstonSmith ini recently finished reading animal farm, written by george orwell.
as someone who has recently awoken to the truth about the truth, this book blew my mind.
the parallels with the watchtower society are quite astounding.
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WinstonSmith
Anyone else read this book lately? Re-reading the list of comparisons is chilling, especially when you think this was written with Communist Russia in mind!
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336
The New Diary of Winston Smith
by WinstonSmith inwe had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
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WinstonSmith
Here are some points to keep in mind as you consider the Watchtower study article for this week:
Cultivate the Spirit of a Lesser One
- Paragraph 5: After relating the example of Leo who trained as an astrophysicist and lawyer, the paragraph asks "Despite his background, what has helped Leo to conduct himself as a lesser one?" Note how the WTS subtly implies that those who are well educated are haughty? Despite his background he was still able to be humble. What's implied is that people who are well educated have difficulty being humble.
- Paragraph 7: Do you think that David was hoping Jehovah's shield would protect him while he was shagging Bathsheba and arranging the death of her husband?
- Paragraph 7: Do you think the GB were conducting themselves as lesser ones when they signed bibles for public officials in Cuba? WT 99 5/15 page 8. - Paragraph 8: So in other words unhappiness or discomfort at organisational policies is a sign of a lack of humility. Interestingly there are no scriptures in this paragraph. Might it be because there isn't one that backs up this thought? - Paragraph 9: Surely as Christians and lovers of God the bible should be our main source of spiritual food. Note how in this paragraph the bible is mentioned ever so briefly, then the rest of the paragraph discusses how beneficial the WT, AW and other publications are. Its obvious where the priorities are. Reminds me of Russell's comments about reading the Studies in the Scriptures. - Paragraph 17: Starts off with "to apologize is difficult for most people" the GB are certainly qualified to make this statement. Time and again they have refused to apologise for their mistakes. On the few occasions when they do attempt this, they make it seem like the publishers fault and that there is no error on their part.