Siddhashunyata
JoinedPosts by Siddhashunyata
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23
Pennsylvania witnesses shot at
by Siddhashunyata inhttp://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20110501/news90/105010338/-1/news.
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SOME VERY OLD JW VIDEO'S. FOR THE OLD TIMERS.
by whereami inah the good ol' days.
i'm sure there must be some among us that remember this.. .
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=43578.
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Siddhashunyata
It's been quite sometime since I posted here. I'm 69 years old and yes this video portrays the spirit of the times back when the hope of a new world was strong . Baptized in 1968, I was just in time for the Special AWAKE: " Is It Later Than You Think", the issue that showed the train going off the trestle at 1975. I now know that this religion is not about the people or the hope of a new world. It is about the Watchtower Corporations.
I left in 1997. What a ride. Not always smooth because I was a "thinking' person. Not rebellious , just a "thinker". The ride was not all bad. Apparently I needed to see the way authoritarian religion is immovable and uncompromising in its aims to control its "destiny ". (Not unlike any large Corporation in the modern world. ) My involvment was a life changing experience. a mistake I will not make, can not make, again.
Oh yes, there are the trappings of religion in the Watchtower "Religion" but these are yours. They are the members personal creation and they become secondary to Watchtower business aims and survival. Your hope, faith and integrity these are yours , not the Watchtower's. The dependency the Corporation creates is artificial and necessary FOR THECORPORATIONS SURVIVAL SO DO NOT EXPECT THE WATCHTOWER TO SET YOU FREE . In fact look carefully and you will see how carefully things are done to keep you believing that your spirituality depends on the Watchtower. Your spirituality goes with you no matter where you go. YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THIS FACT IS A THREAT TO THEIR DESTINY. When you know this you are a threat and you will need to be careful lest your freedom ( even if loving) becomes known.
Here is an example of the delema faced by this anomaly calling itself "Christian"( they like the distinction of being different because , to the simple mind, "early Christianity was different" . Likewise to the simple mind, child molesting proves they are the true religion because gross sin existed in the first century congregations. Those deluded on these points may be truly lost. )
The example:
A congregatin in NYC ( I was there) determined that the best way to deal with the homeless that were sleeping on the front step was to build a $6000 iron gate across the entrance to the Kingdom Hall. Their will was done, problem solved. "The Good News Must Be Preached In All The Inhabited Earth" with out hindrance. AMEN!
Let the sincere seeker be forwarned. The experience with the Watchtower , as with all experience , is not without its benefits but with the Watchtower it comes at a very high cost ,perhaps the loss of your family.
The video of the1950's convention is wonderfull and shows how propaganda supported by testimony can drive large populations to acts of goodness . The personal cost for such and the actual result of the means used can only be assesed after a period of time( Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler). This fact underscores the importance of knowing the Watchtower's history.
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13
Did you ever experience caution or fear at being introduced to a brother with a beard?
by cattails indid you ever experience caution or an uneasy fear when being introduced to a brother with a beard?.
for years everytime i met someone introduced to me as bro so-and-so who might have a beard (and there weren't that many times), my here-comes-trouble radar turned on.. .
i would be very cautious in talking to this brother.
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Siddhashunyata
During my 30 years as a JW beards were a no no. If you had a beard you were considered rebellious. Priviledges wihheld and revoked . Tension in your life . Before the early 70's the same was true for colored shirts with a necktie (only white was acceptable). Mustaches were also taboo.
The tribal mind afflicts all JW's . At an assemby in Allentown Pa., temperatures soared to over 100 degrees and several people passed out in the grandstands but no one would think of loosening their neckties or opening their shirts. Reminds me of a statement I saw on a booklet titled Fundamentalism for Dummies......" If you act stupid we will treat you as an equal".
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JW 's , the boasting continues...
by Siddhashunyata ini don't know if this has been posted .
the president from trinidad & tobago attends the memorial.... the president of the nation (george maxwell richards) attends the memorial at a local kingdom hall in trinidad & tobago .
everyone is wondering well, who invited him & how?.
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Siddhashunyata
I don't know if this has been posted . The President from Trinidad & Tobago attends the Memorial... The President of the nation (George Maxwell Richards) attends the Memorial at a local Kingdom Hall in Trinidad & Tobago . Everyone is wondering well, who invited him & how?
The invitation was made by a sister who works for the newspaper part-time, and for her surprise not only did the president attend but also 15 others who accompanied the president, among them were his wife, security guards & two representatives from television stations from the state. It was the first time in Trinidad & Tobagen history that a president of the nation attended a meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses.
As stated in the law, the brothers followed the protocol, as observed the president, his wife, body guard & three others were attentive throughout the program, while the rest of the crew remained in the automobiles. It happened to be that the brother who gave the discourse for the memorial was one of the MS Training School Instructors from the US.
In a congregation where there are 85 publishers , the attendance for the memorial was around 300 persons. Since we give all are invitees a songbook & a Bible in order to follow the program of the memorial , the president and his party were not the exception. They followed the entire discourse using their Bibles and singing the Kingdom Melodies.
Once the memorial was over, and as followed by protocol, all the attendees remained seated until the president and his party left the Kingdom Hall. After wards, they were taken to a room where they were given Bibles & literature, that they accepted kindly . They also expressed their gratitude for being present & for the simplicity and sincereity of the service & the generous use of the Bible throughout the conference. Literature was also given to the rest of the president's party who were in the parking lot, besides the arrangements that were made in order for them to listen to the entire program while they were parked.
In the newspaper, The Guardian, an article was posted with pictures following the day of the memorial.
The experience of this sister who invited the president of the republic after being interviewed teaches us how we should never overlook anyone when doing our preaching work, or offer bible studies or invite them to the memorial.... n o t even the president himself.
sincerely
aurita -
15
GIVE ME YOUR INFORMED OPINION........
by Terry inas you well know, the chief difference between the left (democrats/liberals) and the right (republicans/conservatives) comes down to one thing.. the size of government and the role of government.. with that in mind i ask for your informed opinion.. 1.what does government do that isn't wasteful, inept and costly that the private sector can't do better?.
2.why do people disagree on the role of government when there are thousands of examples of where government fails to provide?.
3.do you think government automatically becomes efficient, orderly and manageable when your preferred party takes office?.
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Siddhashunyata
"Perhaps the failure of government is actually the failure of the weak, the voiceless and the disenfranchised and that is the self-same failure of NATURE itself? "
"It is an Emersonian hitching of one's wagon to a star.
Provide for the weak and the defenseless at cost to the strong? An amazing idea. If not from nature--then where? "
I think Emerson would not agree that Nature fails at any thing therefore, from his viewpoint, the failure must come from ignorant men working against Nature. Hitching one's wagon to the star of loving your neighbor as yourself is basic to spreading Emersonian self-sufficiency.
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Is "consciousness" overrated?
by Narkissos indisclaimer: this is the rambling of a french mind, where the single word conscience embraces what the english language distinguishes as "conscience," "consciousness," "awareness," and is closely related to connaissance, "knowledge".. to this french mind "consciousness" appears as a wonderful yet bittersweet product of reflection (the specular or "mirror" metaphor being central to it).
although it is objectively related to animal sentience, our view of consciousness, i think, is entirely dependent on the seminal technique (the "technique of techniques," as french theologian gabriel vahanian put it) of language / symbolism (the ability to point to "things" even though absent or non-existent) and imagination (representing "things" on our inner and cultural "mind map"), from which both memory and anticipation as we know it derive.
functionally it serves a practical purpose, which is precisely technique: through this way of dealing with "things" we can "change" them.
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Siddhashunyata
Consciousness and the world are related in a way that cannot be known through thought. Why not observe this relationship directly and make observations. Much of what is expressed in this thread is.......................unscientific.
Is consciousness overrated? We might just as well ask is humor overrated or is tea overrated?
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So What Happens for 8 months at the Book Study ?
by Siddhashunyata inany ideas about how the dubs will deal with the reality that for the next 8 months what they are doing at the book study is basically defunct ?
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Siddhashunyata
Yeah, my best guess is a complete fall off of attendance to the point of why bother. Sort of like summer school or the last week of high school for seniors.
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So What Happens for 8 months at the Book Study ?
by Siddhashunyata inany ideas about how the dubs will deal with the reality that for the next 8 months what they are doing at the book study is basically defunct ?
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Siddhashunyata
Any ideas about how the Dubs will deal with the reality that for the next 8 months what they are doing at the book study is basically defunct ?
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Odic force - the interface between the spiritual and physical worlds
by truthseeker ini've been reading johannes greber's "communication with the spirit world" - a fascinating book indeed.
how much truth there is in his encounters with the.
spirit realm, i don't know.. .
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Siddhashunyata
"The Angel Michael is different from Gabriel, and Gabriel from Raphael and other spirits, to mention only these Biblical characters"
Somehow , this language blows the writer's cover. Biblical characters?
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The necessity of failed prophetic dates
by proplog2 init is very tempting to ridicule the jw habit of setting dates for the end of the world/ armageddon/ great tribulation.
but prophecy has been a significant part of the judaeo-christian panorama.
there has also been a great deal of tension between "prophets" and "preists".. .
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Siddhashunyata
proplog2,125 years of details are against you. . You need to explain how unrightous means justify so grand an end. Hitler and Mao also had grand schemes that mesmerized idealist followers. Its not too hard to do if your methods are honed to control information and behavior. The Watchtower Society has done this alone, they never needed God's help. Before the internet, an innocent , conscientuous believer would suffer alone. Now he has a way to compare his experience with others all over the world and the wave of consensus is that the Watchtower Society is in love with itself and operates as a self perpetuating corporation . It is no different than any other high control group. Devoid of detail the grand scheme looks good but up close it falls flat from the blood and tears of broken homes and broken hearts. If there is some kind of end to all this , the Watchtower and Jehovah's Witnesses will drink from that "Cup" along with the others and you should choose fear over denial. Remember, "....with him there is not a variation of the turning of the shadow." That means he is a God of details and the details are against you.