RunningMan

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Posts by RunningMan

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  70

  PSYCH PROFILE - ANSWERS POSTED

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dr. phil gave this test on oprah.

  some folks pay a lot of money to find this stuff out.

  don't be overly sensitive!

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  RunningMan

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  4

  Where are they now?

  by RunningMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there has been a fair bit of discussion regarding witness kids, and whether they stay in the organization or leave.

  looking around me at the the dc this weekend, i began to wonder whatever happened to my old group.

  when i was younger, i grew up in a congregation that had a lot of kids.

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  RunningMan

  There has been a fair bit of discussion regarding Witness kids, and whether they stay in the organization or leave. Looking around me at the the DC this weekend, I began to wonder whatever happened to my old group. When I was younger, I grew up in a congregation that had a lot of kids. When I think back on them, it seems that most are either gone completely or inactive.

  So, I just did a quick review of the 30 that I can remember. These ranged in age from 5 years older to 5 years younger than me (maybe a little more than 5). Here is where they are now:

  Fanatical Witnesses... 1
  Active and strong........ 7 (Im not sure of how strong some of these are)
  Active and shakey...... 2
  Inactive...................... 4
  Totally gone.............. 16 (DF'd or walked away)

  Number of elders.......... 0
  Number of elders wives.. 3
  Number of Min servants.. 1

  Now, over 20 years have passed since this group were teenagers, so I suspect that most have chosen thier life course by now. This was a very strong congregation. We had very little trouble. There were lots of aux pios, etc.

  So, where are your childhood friends? Has everyone noticed the same thing?

  Edited by - RunningMan on 3 July 2002 12:46:2

  Edited by - RunningMan on 3 July 2002 12:46:31
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  10

  Gems From The Stony Hearts

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just thought that you would enjoy a gem from the heart of brooklyn taken from the book isaiahs prophecy - light for all mankind, pp 335,6 #12, under the heading the senseless one.

  "of course, confirmed atheists say that there is no jehovah.

  in effect, so do "intellectuals" and others who act as if there were no god, believing that they are accountable to no one.

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  RunningMan

  Well, I object to the statement that I have no truth (TM), accountability, generosity, or love. If anything, my observation is that these qualities are virtually absent among Witnesses.

  And, if atheists are slow to provide for needy ones, what about JW's? They are notorious for not contributing to charity.

  I also like the quotation marks around "intellectuals". They appear to be trying to turn the word into an insult.
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  38

  Teen wins fight to refuse blood transfusions

  by blondie in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/07/02/mia020702

  cbc news.

  teen wins fight to refuse blood transfusions .

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  RunningMan

  What do you mean by login? If you are referring to entering your username and password when you post, you can just check off the box under your message, and the system will remember your information.

  Without checking, I believe the new book is called "Worship the Only True God", or something like that. The titles all sound pretty much the same after a while.
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  44

  My surreal district convention

  by RunningMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i just got back from yet another summer ass-marathon.

  seventeen hours of sitting in hockey arena seats that were made for three hour games, trying to stay awake, while not losing contact with my extremities.. needless to say, the program was dull and boring.

  in fact, i'm not completely sure that they didnt just re-run last year's.

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  RunningMan

  Betweenworlds: No, we don't have food served at our assemblies. The hoagies were transported 150 miles in a cooler, then prepared on a hotel room table with a plastic knife. Ahhh, the good life of luxury.
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  44

  My surreal district convention

  by RunningMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i just got back from yet another summer ass-marathon.

  seventeen hours of sitting in hockey arena seats that were made for three hour games, trying to stay awake, while not losing contact with my extremities.. needless to say, the program was dull and boring.

  in fact, i'm not completely sure that they didnt just re-run last year's.

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  RunningMan
• 
  38

  Teen wins fight to refuse blood transfusions

  by blondie in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/07/02/mia020702

  cbc news.

  teen wins fight to refuse blood transfusions .

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  RunningMan

  The real irony of all of this is that last weekend at my district convention, the replacement for the "United in Worship" book came out, and all references to blood transfusions have been removed. In another generation, the blood doctrine will be no more. It will be merely a footnote to JW history, like the old vaccination doctrine.

  How many families destroyed, and how many children and adults dead - for nothing?

  As far as this judge's decision is concerned, I have no doubt that her failing health was the reason for the decision. Why not allow the girl to have her final days in peace? The legal system stands firmly on the other side, after granting four consecutive victories to the father.

  Only a JW could consider this story to be a victory.
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  18

  News on Crisis of Conscience !

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since 1983, the book, crisis of conscience, by raymond franz has taken on a life of its own ... translated now into many languages.

  while at brci, i saw crisis of conscience in spanish, portuguese, italian and others languages, even japanese ... japan has long been the love child nation that the watchtower uses to beat the western jws over the head ... more than this, though ... .

  crisis of conscience is now in its fourth edition, being revised in april 2002 !!!

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  RunningMan

  Isn't it amazing that CoC is still as relevant and up to date today as it was 20 years ago?

  When I look in my library, I see dozens (more like 100) of the Society's books that have become obsolete. Most of them barely last a decade before they become so filled with errors that they are unusable.

  Maybe true light just stays bright.
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  44

  My surreal district convention

  by RunningMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i just got back from yet another summer ass-marathon.

  seventeen hours of sitting in hockey arena seats that were made for three hour games, trying to stay awake, while not losing contact with my extremities.. needless to say, the program was dull and boring.

  in fact, i'm not completely sure that they didnt just re-run last year's.

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  2. 
  3. 
• 

  RunningMan

  No, they didn't mention anything about God's planned massacre of children, mentally ill persons, or everyone who lives in China.

  However, on the subject of death, I very nearly ran over a parking attendant. He stepped right out in front of me. Honestly, with 50 guys in the parking lot waving their arms, and none of them identified (vests, signs, etc), it is truly amazing that no one picks them off.

  On Sunday, there were five of them waving me into my parking spot. I don't know how I managed to park by myself at work this morning.
• 
  44

  My surreal district convention

  by RunningMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i just got back from yet another summer ass-marathon.

  seventeen hours of sitting in hockey arena seats that were made for three hour games, trying to stay awake, while not losing contact with my extremities.. needless to say, the program was dull and boring.

  in fact, i'm not completely sure that they didnt just re-run last year's.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  RunningMan

  Well, I just got back from yet another summer ass-marathon. Seventeen hours of sitting in hockey arena seats that were made for three hour games, trying to stay awake, while not losing contact with my extremities.

  Needless to say, the program was dull and boring. In fact, I'm not completely sure that they didnt just re-run last year's. So, much of my amusement during the three days occurred in my own head. Fortunately this year, my 15 year old son has joined the conspiracy to mock the program.

  Day 1: No time was wasted in working in tired old Matthew 24:14. A new record was set this year, with the scripture being cited twice in the first morning. Next year, I will get a sign that says 24:14 and bob up and down behind the speaker. Of the approximately 50,000 verses in the Bible, I'm sure the JWs could get by quite nicely with around 200.

  One of the mornings talks featured an old quote from the 1920s. The speaker shouted "advertise, advertise, advertise", then another brother knocked him on the side of the head, and he completed the sentence. I guess manuscript talks are no longer enough, I suspect they may be just lipsyncing them, now.

  Once again, the program was laden with symposiums. For some strange reason, they seem to think that if you bundle three talks and call them a symposium, they are not just talks, they are... fun.

  The new book to replace the United in Worship book was released at the end of the day. During the concluding talk, I did my stretches and warm-ups, preparing for the sprint up the stairs to the book distributors. At the sound of the "amen", I took off like a bullet to beat the crowd. Unfortunately, I was caught on the jumbotron in full gallop, with my hand over an old lady's face, pushing her away. Sure it was embarrassing, but Mom should know better than to get in my way.

  The new book dropped 3 chapters from the old one: mosaic law, blood transfusions, and anointed crap. Other than deleting all references to the generation, I couldn't find any other significant changes. This seems to indicate that their problems with blood and anointing are maybe bigger than I thought. Either that, or they were in desperate need of new revenue.

  Day 2: Lunch featured hoagies. My son's hoagie was so long, we had to cut it to get it into the bag. We called it a "Jehoagie", because it seemingly had no beginning and no end.

  In the afternoon, there was a spontaneous question and answer portion, where pre-arranged questions were asked and answered. Apparently, this was developed for the growing African market. One of the questions was "What should you do if a guerrilla comes to your door?" I immediately conjured up a mental image of answering a knock at the door to Magilla guerrilla, wearing a suit and tie, and carrying a briefcase. I whispered to my son, "Well, hide the bananas, of course". At this point, we all lost it, and it took my wife quite a while to settle the row down again.

  Towards the end of the day, there was a portion that was customized for our assembly. Last year, four teenage Witnesses were killed in a car accident. They interviewed the father of one boy, and the brother of another. I couldnt help but recall the words of an old Don Henley song: "Is the head dead yet? You know the boys in the newsroom Got a running bet. Get the widow on the set. We need dirty laundry."

  It was a truly nauseating display of manipulation, basically saying that God has taken these four kids hostage. If you don't sell Watchtowers door to door, you will never see them again.

  Day 3: The long awaited drama. The script for this drama was the worst I have ever seen. When the Israelites were mocking Jeremiah, the insults were so lame, that I was actually embarrassed for the actors.

  The following talk was tamer than I had anticipated. Except for one part where the speaker referred to media propaganda, then paused to wipe the froth off his mouth, there was nothing really worth waking up for. Actually, although there were a few references to apostates, there was nothing out of the usual about it. I'm certain the audience didn't notice anything.

  The public talk was entitled "The scene of this world is changing, unfortunately the manuscript is not". It was the same talk that has been delivered every year for forty years. Here is the outline:
  Part 1 (15 minutes): Everything is going to hell.
  Part 2 (20 minutes): We knew it all along, its in Revelations, people! Just ask the four whore's men of the apocalypse.
  Part 3 (15 minutes): Jehoover will suck up all the badness.
  Part 4 (5 minutes): Sell Watchtowers door to door or God will kill you.

  Concluding talk. Well, it looks like Canada will report 2% growth this year. Note the word "report". Due to attaching electrodes to 95 year olds (15 minute rule), and increasing fictionalized reports (BS conductors will whip harder), they seem to have gained 2% on the numbers. They must think people are pretty stupid, because they didnt baptize 2% last year, so the growth is obviously just in the counting.

  It finished up with a final slathering of fear and guilt, and once again, it was time to get the hell out of there for another year.

  Edited by - RunningMan on 2 July 2002 15:45:33