Posts by problemaddict

10

Fred Franz Personal Experiences

by Bob_NC in

there is so little to be found about the personal side of fred franz.

it's as if he was an enigma except for his appearances to give district convention speeches years ago.

there is, of course, ray franz' take on his uncle in his book coc.. please share you first-hand, or second-hand reliable, experiences.

problemaddict

I was out of high school when I met Franz in the 90's. I had "connections" to be able to spend some time in the inner sanctum. He was already very old, and he gave the longest prayer i ever recall hearing at the Long Beach convention in LA.

I was swimming in Kool Aid at the time so he semmed great. Wow! Just like us! Except very old, a bit bewildering, and not quite there.

Now in hindsight, I do not believe he was a willing pawn to any degree. Others took the lead, and made the decisions, and Freddy was used to research and do the dirty business of coming up with doctrine etc. He was kind of just another pawn, but in a posision to affect others.He was essentially easily bullied by the others if need be, and really its kind of like if you stand in the manure for long enough it doesn't smell like manure anymore. That is how i picture his tenure.

98

The world cup

by Laika in

4 weeks of football and wimbledon tennis in between!?

life is beautiful.. aaahhhh!

i'm so excited!.

problemaddict

World cup? What is that like a thing countries pass around and sip out of or something?

6

JUSTICE #4a - Blind Guides & Molesters

by Amazing in

ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

matt 23:24 (kjv) .

jesus' style of illustrations often employed the use of extremes.

problemaddict

Holy crap! An 11 year old thread like this that got NO TRACTION?

7

The WT Society taking child abuse more seriously now?

by adjusted knowledge in

with the constant reports of child sex abuse in the congregation from members who now will not be silent, i wonder if the wt will continue to change their policy in this matter.

they have made some adjustments compared to a decade ago.. .

i didn't even know about the case below.

problemaddict

What an article. THIS guy was a trip. Rubbing his groin on a woman while she was making tea? Sheesh.

The short answer is yes they are handing it MUCH better now.....but these are old cases and they will continue to come up. They will expose the backwards thinking of "keeping it in house".

I recently had a conversation with an elder buddy of mine who I am very open with (childhood friends.....everything off the record), and I asked his the firs thing he would do if someone came to him in the hall and said they had been abused. He gave me the whole, contact the parents, discuss with the accused, weight the information, all after calling the branch of course...blah blah blah.......I said.........WRONG! You call the police! It could not be easier. They will investigate, pull his record, see if there are any allegations on record, and then you can do all that other crap.

It was interesting even though in the end he agreed, that he just had a hard time thinking something OUTSIDE of the organization was the answer in that circumstance.

9

I just noticed this tactic

by problemaddict in

in reading terrys latest post, if made me think of something that exists and many of us have experienced but i have not really put into a logical thoughts process before.

in terrys 4 facts everyone should know about jw's, the second one referrs to the walsh trial where unity is said to be more important than truth, in no uncertain terms.. this made me think about how one would bring up this fact.

my mind wandered to the beginning of my fade, when inevitably, many of us open up our mouths and say too much.

problemaddict

In reading Terrys latest post, if made me think of something that exists and many of us have experienced but I have not really put into a logical thoughts process before. In Terrys 4 facts everyone should know about JW's, the second one referrs to the Walsh trial where unity is said to be more important than truth, in no uncertain terms.

This made me think about how one would bring up this fact. My mind wandered to the beginning of my fade, when inevitably, many of us open up our mouths and say too much. Depending on our button we say things like...

The society had a wink wink relationship with the UN that was exposed secularly.
Did you know at the walsh trial the president of the WTBTS said....
____people could have died from refusing blood over the decades, and this 1994 watchtower martyrs children.
Did you know organs used to be forbidden?
Did you know statements regarding the end have been made almost 7 times over the years?
Did you know the generation teaching has changed a total of 11 times?

......and many many more.

Because to those without open minds these things seem so far fetched, they seem to immediately wonder HOW do you know these things. In fact, I have very point blankly been asked by someone I shared the letter from Rutherford to the third Reich with......where did you get this?

In other words, very point blank, the source of the information is more important than the information itself. In speaking with someone about the Walsh trial, I invited them to research wether it was accurate on their own. Later, they came back to me and said "all I found was apostate information, I assume that is where you got it!". At that point, the very mention of the item, has already identified you as "associating" with apostates, which then by default makes whatever information shared invalid.

Anyone else notice this? Is there a work around?

9

4 IMPORTANT FACTS to memorize about Jehovah's Witnesses

by Terry in

fact number one: .

the writers and leaders of the watchtower claim it isn't mere imperfect men making their best guesses who publish these things needing "refinements".. "this chronology is not of man, but of god.

being of divine origin and divinely corroborated, present-truth chronology stands in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct...." (watchtower, july 15, 1922 p. 217).

problemaddict

One small correction....

Didn't the Apostles not confront each other when they felt they were teaching something wrong?

This is a double negative.

9

4 IMPORTANT FACTS to memorize about Jehovah's Witnesses

by Terry in

fact number one: .

the writers and leaders of the watchtower claim it isn't mere imperfect men making their best guesses who publish these things needing "refinements".. "this chronology is not of man, but of god.

being of divine origin and divinely corroborated, present-truth chronology stands in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct...." (watchtower, july 15, 1922 p. 217).

problemaddict

Nice reminders. These are definitly powerful points to bring to somones attention who will listen.

10

August 2014 Kingdom Ministry (KM - 08/2014 PDF)

by WatchTower87 in

our kingdom ministry august 2014 - special number - :-p. .

instruction: press the 'skip ad' button top right, you should then see the download screen more easily.

no virus ;-).

problemaddict

Thank Ann. I think its odd they would include "former understandings" in quotes for literature they plan to release to the public?

I wonder how close they are to just having the congregation print its own tract with a printer, instead of printing and shipping. That would be a nice cost cutting measure.

10

Who Will Be The Next Governing Body Member To Defect Like Raymond Franz? I Think Samuel Herd Might Be A Prospect.

by frankiespeakin in

not really, it could anyone of those guys who shows a sign of humaness/compassion and regret and go on exposing them all to the media worse than ray franz ever could have.

yes i know this may be wishful thinking/computing on my part but i feel it is a harmless indugence or may be it is just my deep unconscious foretelling a likely scenerio.. and it is good to create a distrust among these guys each one trying to beat the other to jump ship because thier unconscious is giving them fits to get the hell out when the getting is good.

maybe even report their fellow gbs to the authorities to be granted clemency or something.

problemaddict

Sam Herd was just at the last Assembl day i went to. He is loosing it. When he went of script, he seemed MORE strict, not less. He isn't going anywhere, let me assure you.

83

1975 end prediction

by FL_Panthers in

jw
friends

does anyone have the article written by the wt saying that the end would come in 1975?.

how did people back then come to this year?

i need this information becuase i was told, this was never literally written by the wt in any publication.. thanks.

problemaddict

Hey Panthers,

So I kind of see where you are going. I had a very similar mind set when I was fading at first. Heres a few things to consider, and mind you, everyone has different things that are important to them. For example, I could give a rip about the UN controversy, but the blood issue is what makes me nuts. But attempting to see this from another perspective would be good.

First, many alive during that time will tell you very clearly that people were expecting something. That they were selling homes, not saving for retirement, and that some elders and CO's were even more flat out about it. The generation older than you (and me) to a large extent took the "hints" from the branch as gospel. I remember one time a woman claiming tobe of the annointed out here telling me, "well sure the branch couldn't write that, but just look at the pictures and read between the lines. You have to be a discerning Christian!". What was it that i was asking her? Well she felt that i should stop dating the black woman I was dating because a mixed race marriage takes away from the message? Anyways i digress.

Second, you are not going to see in black and white a "the end is coming in 1975 so get ready" if that is what you are looking for. The smoking gun is not so blatant. It is more subtle. It is the zeitgeist of the time period, and those that lived through it. I wasn't even born yet so its hard for me to pinpoint, but the talks recorded that you can listen to certainly give MIXED MESSAGES.

Third, at best, isn't implying it ridiculous enough? Even if it wasn't clearly stated matter of factly, isn't the "wouldn't it be interesting if....." statement just as ridiculously stupid? It would be if you considered it from the standpoint at looking at another religion don't you think?

Fourth, there were very clear statements that did not come to pass about other earlier dates. Are those less important than 1975, and if so, ask yourself why?

The question here is not wether they were wrong, used poor judgement, had a few rouge people stirring things up, did it for growth, or Franz was just off.....the question is how can you simultaneously claim your appointment is analgous to Moses being appointed, say others following your lead will have a direct impact on their salvation, and then be wrong about SO MUCH.

My exit from the organization was a death by a thousand cuts. I could only give so many passes before I just felt like I was being inauthentic.