Posts by roykaye

3

Was Richard Nixon's chef a JW?

by roykaye in

jw
friends

around 30 years ago, an american visitor and his wife attended the meeting at the kingdom hall at mumbai, india.

i may have been in my early teens or younger so i don't remember much.

only that his name was bro hightower and he was president richard nixon's chef.

roykaye

Around 30 years ago, an American visitor and his wife attended the meeting at the Kingdom Hall at Mumbai, India. I may have been in my early teens or younger so I don't remember much. Only that his name was Bro Hightower and he was President Richard Nixon's chef. I can't quite say if he was on Nixon's personal staff or if he was part of the White House staff when Nixon was in power. He was a very tall man. I remember that Hightower addressed the congregation at the end of the service meeting and then said the closing prayer, so I assume he may have been an elder. Does anyone know remember this person?

This thought came to me when I stumbled upon a site that lists 'prominent' JWs. Some of these people have been close to people in power. There are also scores of JWs who are unknown but in close contact with people in power (although this should be the subject of another thread).

36

Bible reading without the WT filter

by watch the tower in

you know even though i think the wt doctrine is mostly all garbage now, i still do believe that the bible is inspired from our creator.

the flaw in my understanding of it in the past was because i was interpreting it through the filter of the wts.

recently i have started clean slate and read the bible without the wt filter (easier said than done, your mind has a way of reverting back to what was programmed in there).

roykaye

Amazing that most of us have had the same experience. Once you remove your Watchtower bifocals the entire meaning of the scriptures change. Passages that you did not understand earlier take on a new meaning.

I think the most important thing to do is to first convert your NWT to toilet paper. Then read a translation like, NIV or even the colloquial 'Good News Bible'. I found that doing so helped me see the Bible in a different light. JWs are familiar with the wordings of certain scriptures in the NWT. That should change. You should read the scriptures in different words.

Investing in a commentary and Bible dictionary also helps. It helps to detoxify you from the WT poison. One more thing I found helpful is to take a long break. Just go 'cold turkey'. Stop reading any religious literature for some time 'flush' out your system, let the old doctrines fade from your memory until you CANNOT explain WT theology at the drop of a hat, and then start anew.

It worked for me.

CHEERS!

42

Video Highlights from the Drama!

by CaptainSchmideo in

jw
friends

warning!

it helps to be under the influence to watch this stuff.

actually, it might enhance the experience to toke a little doob while watching.

roykaye

What I find amazing is that the experiences across the board is almost identical. Here in India, because of cultural differences one would have thought that things would have been a bit different from the west, but I can assure you I feel exactly like all the others. The class system is very much prevalent here. And what is very true is that the most sincere ones are the ones who are looked down upon. The prominent ones have all the fun. And the dramas -- I haven't seen one for three or four year -- suck here, as much as they suck in the USA.

What is phoney is Indian actors lip syncing to American accents. And the best part was that all of us used to look forward to the drama, because that was the only thing that didn't bore you to death. Amazing how the ASSemblies arouse the same emotions across the world. One thing you got to give them, these guys are united in thought.

36

were there any embarassing moments in the congregation?

by badboy in

jw
friends

?

roykaye

Two extremely old, and extremely wealthy fleshly sisters used to attend our congregation. The older sister had this farting problem. One day she happened to be sitting in the row in front of me. Just as the song got over and we were about to sit down she cut a loud one. My son who was them three years old and sitting next to me, turned to my wife and said aloud: "It wasn't me, it was dad." While my wife and I turned red, half the rear of the hall burst out laughing.

45

Did you leave the Borg 'in search of truth' or 'freedom from rules'?

by BLISSISIGNORANCE in

jw
friends

this question is not to offend anyone, it's just that i have noticed people have many different reasons for leaving the borg and i thought it would be interesting to find out why some of you left.. for example:some leave because they want to be free to smoke, drink, gamble, fornicate, grow beards, celebrate xmas, take blood and drugs, etc.some leave because they never believed and now are old enough to do as they want.some leave because they have seen that they can be happy living life free from any religious organization, yet still feel safe in god's love.some have been hurt by the borg and have taken their wounds away to lick them, waiting to see justice.some have trusted the borg with their lives, time and money...........only to discover recently that there has been lies, cover-ups and hypocracy in the borg.

now they have left but need to belong to another organization to feel happy.. i left the borg because i found out about the cover-ups and lies.

my family was abused by it, my child was sexually abused and i was df'ed.

roykaye

I left the 'truth' because i found the truth.

42

Are You Ashamed Of The Way That You Disciplined Your Child?

by minimus in

jw
friends

most articles in the publications recommended physical punishment, (corporal) when disciplining children.

the scripture says that "he will not die" if you beat him.

so many parents literally beat their children.

roykaye

Hi

This Organisation is so cultic that even here in India where the culture, lifestyle and attitudes are so very different I can immediately identify with this. I used to be an MS and a substitute elder till last year. There was this old fart (now mercifully dead) who used to be the PO and was later deleted. When he was an elder he used to strongly advocate beatings. We used to have open disagreements, especially since the WTS's newer publications maintained that beatings were not necessary and that rod meant the 'rod of discpline'. I would point this out to him and he would try to rubbish me. He was in his 60s and I was hardly 30. One day my son who was just a year old was cooing at the back of the hall (since i was on the body I used to be very 'correct' in these things). The PO asked my wife after the meeting to beat my son to correct him. She almost told him to F*** Off. This old coot went and complained to the CO (who happened to be in the hall on a private visit). Fortunately the CO was a nice chap and we got on quite well, so instead of listening to the PO he shooed him off.

Some time later this PO was deleted and I was appointed the substitute PO. Once day while I was giving a talk on child rearing the topic turned to the 'rod'. As I started speaking, he interrupts the talk, from where he was seated, to maintain that rod mean actual rod. I had to literally ask him to shut up so that the talk could proceed.

Even though I was a borg hardliner, I has resolved before my marriage that whenever I became a father I would not treat then like many of us were. Although my dad was strict (he carried a cane in his briefcase) I don't think he ever beat us mercilessly. At the most it was just one strike on the palm with the thin cane. It hardly hurt, but what hurt was the embarassment. But I didnt want to embarass my kids.

Even today when I am out of the BOrg, I never bet my kids. A stern voice I feel is enough to make them feel you mean business when it comes to TV watching or putting their books way or whatever. Where personal preferences are concerned each child should be treated as an individual. Most beatings take place when parents want the kids to conform to their thinking even when no principle is involved. This is the reason I feel, most JWs beat their kids. What they'd ideally like to do is beat anyone (adult, publisher, elder, inactive one, non-believer) who does not believe or think like them. Because They can't beat adults.They turn their ire on kids. Just a theory.

love

Roy

21

OBSERVATIONS BY MY THERAPIST

by Far North in

jw
friends

my last therapy session was all about the "truth".

after many sessions i finally brought up the thought that maybe some of my depression and low self-esteem issues have to do with spending 40 years in a high-control religion.. i won't bore you with all the details but some of the highlights of what i said bothers me are:.

my never feeling like i am doing enough or are good enough.. having regrets about missed opportunities and having let others control my life.. constant changing of doctrine and dates.

roykaye

yeah, You can take a man out of the Watchtower, but it is hard to take the Watchtower out of the man.

34

Jobs that the WTS doesn't approve of

by freedom96 in

jw
friends

there were several different careers that the wts did not aprove of.

such as a being a cop, for having a gun.

couldn't be a martial arts instructor.. maybe it was a well paying career.. did you have a job that was not approved of?

roykaye

Hey, what about journalists?

64

DID ANYONE EVER ENJOY GOING IN SERVICE?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i was raised with a bookbag in my hand.

every saturday and sunday our family was out in service.i vacation, temporary and auxillary and regular pioneered.

i never enjoyed it but did it because i was supposed to do it.

roykaye

We were two ministerial servants and we invented a perfect way to avoid d-to-d. We'd first delay the group by 15 minutes saying that some older ones had promised to come and they'd be disappointed if we left. Then after assigning the territory we'd go back to the rendevous point and pretend that we were waiting for those who may have missed the group. Often we'd spend over an hour 'waiting' for the non-existant latecomers, in between we'd pretend that we were scouting out territory for the next week. The last hour would be spent having coffee and gossiping.

Loved service!!!

Edited by - roykaye on 28 August 2002 15:21:51

20

What Really Happened To Ray Last Sunday.

by Englishman in

jw
friends

last sunday evening the following posters piled into the pub: ballistic, little toe, simon, angharad, me, her ladyship, latte, celtic, matty, trucker gb, isp, jstlaws and joy2bfree.

many of us quickly became aware that some of the locals were feeling agitated because, it was rumoured, one of the regulars had been beaten up.

possibly, it was mooted, by someone who was connected to a local kingdom hall.. .

roykaye

Does Ray have two-wirnesses to the incident? If he doesnt, he does not stand a ghost of a chance in preventing Lucy's son getting baptised. In fact with all these apostates around maybe the Borg is looking for people like Lucy's son to "reach out".