RunningMan

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Posts by RunningMan

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  11

  living forever

  by finnrot in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i remember when i was a kid i used to assuage my fear of dying with the comfort and knoweledge that i was one of the "millions now living that may never die.

  " but even as a kid, i used to think to myself that after a thousand or so years of living with these boring people that i see at the kingdom hall, that sooner or later i would become bored as hell.

  after all, everything really fun seemed to be a sin and after a thousand years of bowling with my fellow witnesses and groveling on my knees thanking jehovah for every breath that i took, wouldn't i get bored at some point?

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  RunningMan

  Actually, I consider the JW delusion of living forever to be one of the more attractive religious delusions. You don't have to do something new to find it enjoyable. How many times do you have to have sex before it becomes boring? And, just think of how good you would get at Nintendo. Although, forever is a pretty long time...

  By the way, the talk and booklet "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" was written around 1918. The gist of the booklet was that armageddon was guaranteed to come in 1925, so certainly, the readers and those in the audience would still be alive when it came. Well, my wife's grandmother died last summer, mostly from old age. She was born in 1916, so she would have been a child when that talk was originally given.

  Those "Millions Now Living", who were old enough to hear and understand the talk, are mostly dead.
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  18

  How Come Mendelssons Wedding March.....

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .....is never played at witness weddings?.

  its not a hymn, after all.

  also, i recall that in my dubbing days, the wt said it was ok to play classical music over the pa system.

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  RunningMan

  Yes, I've always wondered that. I get the impression that in the Witness's zeal for rooting out all things pertaining to false religion, Mendelsson got swept out by accident by a well meaning but poorly informed overseer.

  On the other hand, why miss an opportunity to show the worldly relatives that you are a religious freak and outcast?
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  10

  spritual hunger

  by LyinEyes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have any of you who were raised jw, after d/f or d/a , been to other churches?

  and if so , did you convert ?

  were you afraid to go to another organized religion?

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  RunningMan

  I picked up a nasty case of spiritual food poisoning at the Kingdumb hall, and now I can't even look at a plate of the stuff.
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  30

  Bethel health insurance

  by roybatty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  question for any ex-bethelites....or anyone else who might know.. after serving (aka being slaves) at the brooklyn bethel my sister and brother in law are leaving because she is pregnant.

  im just curious about something.

  how long is it normally in such circumstances before a couple leaves?

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  RunningMan

  Oh well, armageddon will certainly be here before she gives birth, so by then everything will be just grand and she can pop that puppy out on the side of the field and just keep on working.
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  11

  Warning to Presiding Overseers!

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the february issue of kingdom ministry in britain issues a warning to presiding overseers that they must stop auditing congregation accounts.

  it advises presiding overseers that they are contravening the charities act by doing the audit.

  instead service committees are now to appoint someone to do the audit.. strange things seem to be happening in britain!

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  RunningMan

  Actually JW's with their fingers in the pot is more common than you think.

  About a year and a half ago, I was asked to do a quick audit during the CO's visit. Apparently, at the elder's meeting, he mentioned that in his last circuit there were two cases of embezzlement. One of them was for an assembly hall, and the amount was over $20,000.

  Now, that circuit is likely not typical, but two congregations out of a circuit of 20 had theft. There are probably a lot more.
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  6

  Schools call in Ed Psych's for JW children!

  by dmouse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was chatting with my 14 year old son today and he happened to mention that his teacher had recommended he talk with a counsellor.

  this was news to me, sounds like an educational psychologist and i was quite disturbed that they had instigated this without contacting us as parents.. however, my son tells me that the counsellor said to him that she has a number of jw children on her books (but didnt give any details issues of confidentiality i guess), and that she was used to handling the sort of problems that jw children have!

  apparently my son told her how trapped he felt by the religion, with no possibility of escape until he was older, she said that she was hearing this from other jw children too.. does this mean that my local education authority has identified jw children as possibly needing psychological support?

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  RunningMan

  The fact that you recognize that your wife will flip is an indication that your son is right - he IS trapped, and is unable to truly speak his mind to both of his parents, although he appears to confide in you.

  If you go to the counsellor by yourself, he/she might feel obligated to include both parents. Personally, I would encourage your son to see the counsellor if he feels the need. You know that the counsellor will likely give good, objective, non-JW advice.

  I have a 14 year old and an 11 year old myself.

  I find it interesting that JW difficulties are recognized by professionals. Yet another indication of the "happiest people on earth" - complaining is forbidden.
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  11

  Sneaking out the back door?

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the february issue of kingdom ministry for britain informs that for "the past five years, more than 400 people each year have responded to help and been reactivated".

  (page 5, paragraph 14).

  interestingly, in that same period the average number of publishers has gone from 124,623 in 1996 to 119,655 in 2001. during that time around (say) 2,500 have been baptised each year.. do you get the feeling that something doesn't add up?

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  RunningMan

  In Canada, it said that 1700 persons PER YEAR for the past five years were reactivated. When I saw that, I thought it was a misprint - maybe should have been for the five years in total.

  The exodus out of the org must be bigger than even I had thought. On the other hand, I'll bet that most of those reactivated ones slip out fairly quickly. In fact, it may be the same 1700 persons every year.
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  11

  Warning to Presiding Overseers!

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the february issue of kingdom ministry in britain issues a warning to presiding overseers that they must stop auditing congregation accounts.

  it advises presiding overseers that they are contravening the charities act by doing the audit.

  instead service committees are now to appoint someone to do the audit.. strange things seem to be happening in britain!

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  RunningMan

  Speaking as a certified accountant, it is unusual and improper for management to perform their own audit. In fact, in business, an audit performed by the company President would simply be disregarded.
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  8

  One Remaining Concern

  by writerpen in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after being out for seven months now, i have overcome so much fear that was indoctrinated into me while being raised a witness - the fear of attending another church, armageddon, not being a witness, celebrating holidays, etc.

  with help from this board and other outside sources, all these fears have subsided.

  however, there is one that remains and is often stirred by a topic that is included in many of the posts on this board.

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  RunningMan

  First of all, you need to realize that the Bible does not say that government will turn on religion. It says that the beast will turn on the harlot. Anyone's guess as to what is meant is as good as anyone else's.

  In fact, the mainstream interpretation of this very enigmatic account is that Babylon the Great refers to the Roman Empire of Bible times. So, don't worry about this little prophesy.

  Next, even though there is anger with fundamentalism, religion is very strongly entrenched. After Sept 11, the first thing the President did was sing "God Bless America", and tell everyone to go to church for comfort.

  Maybe someday, governments will limit religious activities to a certain extent, but religion is a major human and social institution that will never go away, although it may mutate.
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  18

  "The stones would cry out"

  by sleepy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remmeber it being said at mettings that if we didn't do the preaching work then the "stones would cry out".. carn't rememeber where it's from or whether it's a society teaching.. any one remember?

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  RunningMan

  "He answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.'" - Luke 19:40

  Actually, I wish they would shut up for a while. I'd like to see this.