Rivergang

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Posts by Rivergang

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  10

  Gorbatchev

  by Gorb in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the real gorby has died today.

  he was my inspiration for change, with perestroika and glasnost.. that is why i chose the name gorby at jwn.. see the man at the background.

  he was there also.. g..

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  Rivergang

  They were proper statesmen, not mere politicians. Sadly, a very rare species during any era, and none existent right now.

  PS: I would include George Bush (the elder) in that category, also.
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  39

  Did becoming a JW influence you to give up something you enjoyed ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  when i was a teenager a younger fellow workmate was involved in the sport of judo.i got interested and went along to a number of sessions and took to it like a sponge to water ,and as a sport i was happy participating in.. not that much longer another workmate was getting re-activated in the religion of jw`s.

  which i had never heard o before and then got interested in that .. conflict : was judo a sport that was compatible with j.w beliefs?

  sadly i decided it was not and stopped any further involvement.. to this day i resent that decision i made back then .and i`m 82 years old now.. it was a sport i was comfortable doing and i enjoyed it.and i gave it up because of the religion .who knows what i may have achieved had i continued with it.

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  Rivergang

  Sports and just about every other form of recreational activity. Education, too - the elders had enough sway over my father that I was pulled out of the bachelor course in electrical engineering.
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  35

  Useless Majors

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was passing through a very liberal college town recently during rush hour.

  so, i decided to stop for some refreshment at a fine-looking establishment and wait for traffic to die down.

  a young waitress waited on me who probably could have been stevie nicks twin when she was young.

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  Rivergang

  You could well debate just how relevant a lot of academic qualifications are, but what is undeniable is the way those are currently preferred over practical experience.

  I certainly see it all the time!

  Persons like myself, with 40+ years of industry experience, repeatedly get sidelined by some whippersnapper straight out of university; somebody with a string of bachelor degrees to their name, but whom hardly know how to switch on a digital multimeter.
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  12

  Does Religion have any place in the modern world?

  by Fisherman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ceremoneys, costumes, spending time in church listenning the same thing again and again, forced to believe in things that cannot be proven.

  code or mindset that seperates you from others, wars, violence,....

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  Rivergang

  Each to their own, I guess. Freedom of worship is a right people have fought and died to uphold. While I don’t want a bar of religion, what a person does on a Sunday is their own business, and nobody else’s.
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  38

  Did you ever meet someone born in the 1800’s?

  by Fisherman in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i met freddie franz who was born in the 1880’s and many others from the 1880’s.

  but as a very small child i remember someone very old aged 106 and that person was born around 1856 which means that he was around people from the 1700’s..

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  Rivergang

  Not all uncommon for us Baby Boomers. Almost always, our grandparents were born before the beginning of the 20th Century.
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  19

  Elder Arrangement

  by vienne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi everyone, (including the person who down votes all of my posts).

  as some of you know, i'm working toward my master's degree.

  comments from those associated when the elder arrangement was introduced would help me with a research paper.. what was the reaction among adherents?

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  Rivergang

  The official term was “Congregation Servant”, although they were commonly referred to as “Overseers”. Whatever, they were the congregation’s “Big Ratu” when it came to most things. The more honest amongst them had to admit that after the elder arrangement came in, they had to “adjust their attitude”. Others had issues. In at least one congregation that I recall, the former Congregation Servant attempted to maintain the status quo by not recommending anybody else as an elder. He got away with that for quite a number of years, before he himself was dumped as an elder.
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  19

  Elder Arrangement

  by vienne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi everyone, (including the person who down votes all of my posts).

  as some of you know, i'm working toward my master's degree.

  comments from those associated when the elder arrangement was introduced would help me with a research paper.. what was the reaction among adherents?

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  Rivergang

  When the coming elder arrangement was first announced, which was about 12 months before it was implemented, there was considerable speculation as to its consequences.

  Many wondered if it would result in the similar sort of upheaval that followed the WTS’s 1938 move to henceforth directly appoint the congregation’s “Overseer” (prior to that, these had been chosen by election). That, in its time, caused some congregations to completely break away. In fact, in one city at least, those that separated themselves from WTS control outnumbered those who remained.

  It was speculated whether the coming elder arrangement would result in similar such division.
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  8

  "Why would anyone build a house in this system of things?"

  by Queequeg in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  recent posts about elders telling people to quit their jobs etc.

  reminded me of this.. when i was in my early twenties i decided that i really wanted to build a house (id always wanted to, even as a kid).

  i justified my "selfish" desire in my own mind by thinking that once we were living in it we'd have more freedom and skills to volunteer to do things like quickbuilds and international construction (actually, it really did work out that way).

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  Rivergang

  Waton.

  It was yet another case of “obey and be blessed” - and the “good” (ie. obedient) JWs the ones most likely to suffer.
• 
  8

  "Why would anyone build a house in this system of things?"

  by Queequeg in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  recent posts about elders telling people to quit their jobs etc.

  reminded me of this.. when i was in my early twenties i decided that i really wanted to build a house (id always wanted to, even as a kid).

  i justified my "selfish" desire in my own mind by thinking that once we were living in it we'd have more freedom and skills to volunteer to do things like quickbuilds and international construction (actually, it really did work out that way).

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  Rivergang

  This was very much the case during those years of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Then, anybody who even bought their own home was viewed as either “worldly”, barking mad, or both. Rather, the expectation was that anybody who owned property would sell it and “pioneer” on the proceeds. A commonly held belief was that if you owned a house, someone else would only “take it off you in the persecution”.

  Talk about mad people and mad times!
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  61

  Elders hounding members to quit their jobs due to missing too many meetings

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how many times did you see elders hounding congregation members to quit their jobs due to missing meetings?.

  my brother worked at a grocery store at 16 years old.

  he would miss tuesday's ministry school due to his work schedule.

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  Rivergang

  In the day, they tried that one on my father, while he was still a “bible study”. They would have had him throw in his job and move in closer to town, so as to be able to “attend the meetings.”

  Being the fiery-tempered Scotsman that he was, though, my father promptly told them where to go - and what to do with themselves once they got there!