Skimmer

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Posts by Skimmer

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  23

  ALEXANDER H. MACMILLAN

  by bj in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the book faith on the march by alexander h. macmillan, page 43 it states:.

  "in october, 1902, i attended a convention in washington, d.c., where i was married.

  my wife and i then spent a year in california, returning in 1904 to allegheny.".

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  Skimmer

  I remember reading Marley Cole's _Jehovah's Witnesses - The New World Society_ many years ago. The first time I saw the title of the book was on a literature servant's WTBTS literature price list back in 1973 during my brief association. The book was published by Vantage Press, a vanity publisher paid in full by the WTBTS. I was told by a ministerial servant that the WTBTS deliberately hid its sponsorship so that the publishers would have a book to place in households where any official WTBTS literature was unwelcome. (Just another instance of theocratic information warfare.) To my knowledge, the book was never distributed to bookstores for sale, but may have been placed in public libraries as donations by JWs acting as agents of the WTBTS.

  I remember that the book had a relatively long chapter on the Miracle Wheat scandal that was much more revealing than anything officially published by the WTBTS. It seems like a rebuttal of sorts, but I had not read _Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave_ so I didn't know who they were rebutting.
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  13

  Wouldn't have so many converts huh.

  by esther in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, so i got my idea from bugeye's wife's thread.

  if the wtbts decided to change its doctrine so that the age for baptism was 30 years, the same age as john and jesus, would everyone who was baptised under that age have their baptism invalidated?

  if so, what would happen to any disfellowshipped ones whose baptism was invalid?

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  Skimmer

  It is unlikely in the extreme that the WTBTS will ever welcome back disfellowshipped persons with open arms. The Brooklyn control addicts have two big sticks:

  1) The Big "A" due real soon now (loss of life)

  2) Shunning (loss of associations)

  Stick #1 has been looking rather limp lately, so you can count on stick #2 being used to take up the slack.
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  3

  TAKING OUR LIVES BACK - #2

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  taking our lives back #2 .

  choices of conscience, freedom of thought, common sense, personal taste, individual maturity, accepting consequences of our choices, accountability for actions, personal determination, and the right and need to ask questions, even to question authority are among the cherished features humanity.

  when religion, government, business, or other social arrangements interfere with these, they encroach upon our dignity, our self-worth, our most basic rights and the foundation of our existence.. how the wts entrapped us: when someone begins studying with the jws, they are led to understand and believe that religion in general, especially christendom have not properly helped people to understand gods requirements and his expectations to be met in order for us to have a relationship with god and gain his approval.. the process begins with basic issues that are rather obvious to the modern mentality, such as not worshipping idols (a.k.a.

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  Skimmer

  Hello Amazing, and thank you for another excellent posting.

  I would like to briefly reply to the slander, promulgated by the WTBTS and others, that Catholics worship statues. Of course, there is no such worship and indeed the practice is forbidden. An authoritative answer complete with references from history, scripture, and tradition can be found at

  * http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07664a.htm

  The above is from the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia. While nearly a century old, it is still up to date as the real truth does not need periodic maintenance.
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  16

  DEEMINZ AT THE KINGDOM HALL!

  by TR in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the other day, i was sharing with my non jw, never has been jw, never would be a jw catholic wife the story silent lambs told us about his last visit to the kh.

  i was inspired to visit the kh and play some mind games.. my wife bettered my idea and threw in the idea to make something "demonic" happen at the hall while i'm there.

  maybe a hidden tape recorder of some evil sounds or some other tricks.

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  Skimmer

  If the Kingdom hall has an answering machine for its telephone, there are ways of hacking into it and re-recording the greeting message for some harmless fun, or for leaving a pointer to this or a related web site.

  This was done once for a toy company who sold a hand held puzzle like Rubik's Cube. The puzzle contained an official pay-per-call phone number that purchasers could ask for help in solving the puzzle. Some one re-recorded the number's message with something like "Gosh, you really must be pathetically stupid to have to call this number".

  The idea for "improvement" by covert re-recording I got from someone who suggested a similar trick for "improving" rental video tapes. His idea was to rent some tapes from the "adult' section of an otherwise mainstream video rental outlet and re-record the juicy parts with clips from Disney animation. He figured that the guys who rented the tape afterwards would be too embarrassed to complain about the "improvements".
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  9

  Did WTS encourage college back then?

  by sf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  please post vital wt articles stating basically college was not for jws and why it wasnt....and... what is the societies "new light" now?

  thx.

  i need this asap!!.

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  Skimmer

  Remember that there is always more than just the publicly available printed publications on most WTBTS directives. From my experience back in the 1972-1973 time frame, anyone who became known as considering college was immediately branded as a bad association. And it was not just fear of exposure to sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. The big point at that time was 1975 and anyone who was willing to start a four year program that lasted after 1975 was marked as being unfaithful and also ungrateful for the "fine spiritual food in due season". There was also guilt by association; any male who let his children consider college was removed from consideration for any kind of advancement in responsibility or position.
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  16

  DEEMINZ AT THE KINGDOM HALL!

  by TR in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the other day, i was sharing with my non jw, never has been jw, never would be a jw catholic wife the story silent lambs told us about his last visit to the kh.

  i was inspired to visit the kh and play some mind games.. my wife bettered my idea and threw in the idea to make something "demonic" happen at the hall while i'm there.

  maybe a hidden tape recorder of some evil sounds or some other tricks.

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  Skimmer

  Some ideas:

  1) Leave a cigarette butt in a urinal or floating in a toilet at the Kingdom Hall during any of the non-public meetings. Repeat on a weekly basis. Losing lottery tickets could also be placed in semi-inconspicuous places

  2) Hack into the sound system; place a hidden radio receiver that can be switched on by remote signal. Transmit various enlightening information. The possibilities are endless.

  3) If the library has audio or video cassettes, these can have segments re-recorded. Fun, fun, fun. Extra credit if an "improved" cassette recording of a Kingdom Melody is played during a meeting.

  4) Place a copy of _Crisis of Conscience_ in the library, but first have it re-bound with a cover from some WTBTS book. See how long it lasts. Repeat with bindings from other WTBTS books.

  5) Religious tracts from other groups can fit nicely into the contribution boxes.

  6) A contribution box might also be improved if one were to deposit a floppy disk with a bunch of HTML pages from this and related sites.
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  34

  Eight questions about Nathan Knorr

  by Skimmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have some questions about nathan knorr, the third president (1942-1977) of the wtbts.

  accurate answers are welcome.. 1) how did it come about that knorr was made president of the wtbts in 1942 after the death of joseph rutherford?

  rutherford as we know was an usurper inheritor of russell's wtbts in late 1916 after russell went to his reward.

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  Skimmer

  The story about Rutherford being secretly buried in the middle of the night is almost too strange to be credible. Yet somehow I can almost picture Knorr and a few other of Rutherford's bodyguards shoveling away at the Beth Sarim site. Maybe Knorr as the new WTBTS president acted as the police look-out while the other cane-wielders dug away. Has the city of San Diego ever been notified of this? Positive results of an exhumation would be most embarrassing for the WTBTS, even if the statute of limitations for illegal internment has long expired. If there was enough evidence of a secret burial, perhaps the San Diego coroner staff just be interested given that the city had earlier denied a permit for a private burial at the site.

  What would the WTBTS do if someone wrote them and told them that there was an effort to get the San Diego authorities involved to resolve the question. Would the WTBTS go into denial mode? If they know that there is a secret grave, would they admit it, or would they just stay silent and hope that no one would investigate?

  If I had Rutherford buried under my garage, I'd dig him up and auction off the remains.

  The alternative of Rutherford being planted in a Staton Island Methodist cemetery is easier to believe. But if there is a tombstone there with Rutherford's name on it, perhaps there's just an empty coffin underneath.

  ----------------

  In Dante's _Divine Comedy_, there is a special place reserved in Hell for heretics with special treatment for those who converted many away from the real faith. It is located on the outskirts of the Infernal City of Dis, and it is a cemetery of sorts with all the coffins above ground. Each coffin has the name of its unfortunately conscious occupant marked on the outside. Each is made of metal and is sealed for all eternity. The temperature of a coffin is proportionate to the damage done by the occupant. Some glow a dull orange while others are bright red. A few are white hot.
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  34

  Eight questions about Nathan Knorr

  by Skimmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have some questions about nathan knorr, the third president (1942-1977) of the wtbts.

  accurate answers are welcome.. 1) how did it come about that knorr was made president of the wtbts in 1942 after the death of joseph rutherford?

  rutherford as we know was an usurper inheritor of russell's wtbts in late 1916 after russell went to his reward.

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  Skimmer

  Personally, I think that Knorr takes the number one spot on the WTBTS Evil Chart because it was during his tenure that the most damaging doctrines originated or the worst in the existing doctrines were made more prominent. In all but the last year of his three and a half decades running the show in Brooklyn, he had just about complete control over the output of the printing presses. In was under his administration the Fred Franz was able to propagate his screwy type/anti-type baloney and his chronological speculations. It was under his administration that the unfortunate JWs in Malawi were persecuted while the JWs in Mexico enjoyed their organizationally approved "non-religious cultural association" and their party/military membership cards. It was under his administration that the modern judicial/shunning policies came about. It was his administration that prohibited blood transfusions (since modified) and organ transplants (later overturned). It was his administration that continued the goofy policy of no vaccinations started under Rutherford (later overturned). All of this happened on Knorr's watch, and that makes him responsible.

  I think the anonymity policy was done for only one reason. Since Knorr was not prolific as a writer, he didn't want anyone else to gain prominence and possibly control.

  Fred Franz gets the number two spot on the Evil Chart with Rutherford close behind. I can see why some might switch these two positions. Freddie wins because of his long years of influence. Rutherford gets points by being the most vile, backstabbing, and hypocritical WTBTS president.

  I place Russell as a distant fourth. Other may disagree, and in doing so present the valid claim that he was the WTBTS founder and so can be held in part for all subsequent actions of the WTBTS. Yet I'm sure that if Russell could have foreseen how Rutherford perverted Russell's ideas, then Russell would never have allowed Rutherford a chance of a takeover.
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  38

  Adam to be Resurrected - Yes?

  by Focus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  will adam be resurrected?.

  focus.

  (anti-flipfloppery class)

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  Skimmer

  A few years before his death in 1992, Fred Franz wrote an article entitled something like "My Life as A JW" that was published in one of the magazines. In the piece, he commented about an early meeting he had with Russell where Franz asked Russell about the question of the resurrection of Adam. Franz phrased the question in a way that he thought the answer was definitely in the negative, and Russell commented that "he had answered his own question".

  So Russell at the time (ca. 1912?) thought that Adam wasn't coming back.
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  34

  Eight questions about Nathan Knorr

  by Skimmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have some questions about nathan knorr, the third president (1942-1977) of the wtbts.

  accurate answers are welcome.. 1) how did it come about that knorr was made president of the wtbts in 1942 after the death of joseph rutherford?

  rutherford as we know was an usurper inheritor of russell's wtbts in late 1916 after russell went to his reward.

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  Skimmer

  I have some questions about Nathan Knorr, the third president (1942-1977) of the WTBTS. Accurate answers are welcome.

  1) How did it come about that Knorr was made president of the WTBTS in 1942 after the death of Joseph Rutherford? Rutherford as we know was an usurper inheritor of Russell's WTBTS in late 1916 after Russell went to his reward. Since Rutherford knew he was dying in 1942, did he try to extend his influence beyond the grave and so hand pick Knorr in a hope to retain the policies at the time?

  2) Is it accurate to say that Knorr was nearly single handedly responsible for the prohibition on blood transfusions?

  3) Is it accurate to say that Knorr was nearly single handedly responsible for the establishment of the modern shunning doctrine?

  4) There was a report that Brooklyn Bethel residency was off limits to married people -- until the day that Knorr got married. Is this true?

  5) There was also a report that Knorr was a closeted homosexual, and that his marriage was a sham and a cover-up. Is this accurate?

  6) Where is Knorr buried? I doubt if he has a pyramid grave site marker like Russell, but it still might be interesting to get a photo on the web. For that matter, where are Rutherford and Fred Franz planted?

  7) If Knorr was responsible for most of the post 1942 quack medicine and disfellowshipping teachings, do you think he has more blame for total human suffering than all the other WTBTS leaders put together?

  8) Why do you think that Knorr established the general policy on anonymity for WTBTS writings?