Smoldering Wick

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Posts by Smoldering Wick

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  25

  JWs are boxing their hobbies

  by ezekiel3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  much entertainment in the watchtower, 15 august 2004, pg 24. see the picture for the full text to learn that we can "put off every unecessary weight" by boxing up our "hobbies and non-essential personal projects.

  " i wonder what's in the box.... it is interesting to see how jws are encouraged to have hobbies:.

  *** g91 11/22 pp.

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  Smoldering Wick
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  10

  Can jws participate in abortions?

  by badboy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  anyone know anything about this?

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  Smoldering Wick

  Participate?

  JWs view abortion as murder.

  They won't do it even if it means losing the mother's life. They can't even work in an abortion clinic.
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  5

  JEHOVAH SAYS..."Please Pass the Tortillas!" Y MUCHO MAS~

  by Smoldering Wick in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's old news that the watchtower bible and tract society has been trying to convert as many spanish speaking people as possible.

  i remember how the watchtower gradually added more and more mexican people into their illustrations as the years went on.

  as this family in 1999 awake photo.

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  Smoldering Wick

  It's old news that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has been trying to convert as many Spanish speaking people as possible. I remember how the Watchtower gradually added more and more Mexican people into their illustrations as the years went on. As this family in 1999 Awake photo.

  "Please Pass the Tortillas"

  http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/1999/12/8/article_01.htm

  Today, there was an article in The Huntsville Times that said that the Watchtower offers an intensive four-month Spanish-learning program to teach witnesses to bring in Spanish Converts. Although as the person interviewed for the article stated "Our first goal is to teach rather than increase our membership." LOL yeah right. In the city I live in there are like 70 Spanish Halls and 2 English Halls. When we moved here in 1965 there was only one English Hall and no Spanish ones. I spent years studying with Hispanic People (many of them became baptised Witnesses..yikes!). They are very friendly, love socializing, and in our area...are very superstitious and predominately Catholic. Many of the newer generation do not even know what Catholics believe let alone attend church. Sad to say they are easy targets for JWs.

  ~wick (of the ¡QUE LÁSTIMA! class)

  ____________________________________________________________

  Jehovah's Witnesses are expanding ministry in Hispanic community

  Monday, June 28, 2004
  By PAT NEWCOMB Times Staff Writer [email protected] http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1088444743298340.xml

  Alton Williams of Huntsville took a semester of Spanish in high school "many, many years ago." But when the Jehovah's Witnesses began offering Spanish lessons in 1998, Williams signed up.

  "The Spanish population was just growing here in Huntsville," said Williams, a physics professor at Alabama A&M University and a Jehovah's Witnesses minister. At the time, the closest Hispanic congregation was in Fort Payne.

  "They wanted to try to see if anyone would be willing to learn Spanish and try to study the Bible with the Spanish population here," he said.

  Williams was one of the more than 5,500 Jehovah's Witnesses at the Von Braun Center this past weekend for the church's annual three-day district convention. A repeat of the convention will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

  Using tapes, an English-Spanish dictionary and "field experience," Williams learned Spanish. "I feel like I'm pretty fluent," he said. "I feel like I can give a talk in Spanish as well as I can in English, and sometimes I feel like I can do it better in Spanish."

  Williams was on the early end of the Jehovah's Witnesses' attempt to reach out to the Hispanic community. The church now offers an intensive four-month Spanish-learning program.

  The number of Spanish-speaking Jehovah's Witnesses has grown significantly over the last several years. Williams said a Spanish version of the district convention is scheduled for late July in Duluth, Ga.

  Locally, the Hispanic congregation has also grown. Six years ago, the Jehovah's Witnesses church here served the Spanish-speaking population in Huntsville and Athens. The congregation has now grown enough to add a church in Athens. About 60 to 70 Hispanics attend meetings at the Huntsville church on Winchester Road, Williams said.

  Williams' ministry hasn't changed since he learned Spanish.

  "Our main work is we study the Bible with people," he said. "We go to their house and set up a time when we can sit down for an hour and help them to learn the Bible."

  While many Hispanics who move to this area are Catholic, Williams said he's found them to be "open-minded and willing to learn more about the Bible."

  He said Witnesses respect other denominations. "Our first goal is to teach rather than increase our membership."

  Williams has used his ability to speak Spanish during trips to Mexico and Spain. "Jehovah's Witnesses believe really in one worldwide organization that shouldn't be divided by languages or governments," he said.

  The Huntsville convention is one of about 200 that will take place across the country over the next several months. This is the eighth year Huntsville has hosted the Jehovah's Witnesses delegates, who represent 50 congregations in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and southern Kentucky.
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  44

  Did Being a JW Make You a Bully VICTIM in SCHOOL?

  by Smoldering Wick in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i read this article in the montreal gazette that talked about a young witness kid being bullied in school.

  it made me think back to all the times i was treated differently in school for being a jehovah's witness.

  i grew up in a predominately mexican community and went to public school there from 1st-12th grade as a jw.

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  Smoldering Wick

  One thing I have noticed is that generally, parents who went through school as JWs are not so 'zealous' in making their kids out as the people who have been converted as adults. -Simon

  Simon,

  That's so true. My son is 19 now...and went to most of the same schools I did. I didn't have the heart to pressure him into standing up for his JW beliefs. Early in grade school, I did go to his teachers and "discuss" the School Brochure and made sure they knew what he could and could not do. I would pick him up and take him to McDonald's, the zoo or park... if the class was celebrating Christmas or whatever...I made sure to do something fun (the other classmates were actually jealous lol)

  My son handled school very well. It was the JW kids who bullied him. After the meetings they would torment him in the parking lot..hitting, kicking, poking with sticks, making fun. (I didn't know they were doing this til later). One time at a sister's house her kids tied him to a fence and told him to bark like a dog. You can imagine my horror when I looked out the window to check on him!

  At present, he's 6'2' and 320 lbs...they'd think twice before messing with him now lol. (I think his decision to lift weights and become a defensive linebacker had something to do with him being bullied).
• 
  44

  Did Being a JW Make You a Bully VICTIM in SCHOOL?

  by Smoldering Wick in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i read this article in the montreal gazette that talked about a young witness kid being bullied in school.

  it made me think back to all the times i was treated differently in school for being a jehovah's witness.

  i grew up in a predominately mexican community and went to public school there from 1st-12th grade as a jw.

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  Smoldering Wick

  I read this article in the Montreal Gazette that talked about a young witness kid being bullied in school. It made me think back to all the times I was treated differently in School for being a Jehovah's Witness. I grew up in a predominately Mexican Community and went to public school there from 1st-12th grade as a JW. I had very light skin and had blonde hair past my waist...so I stood out in school anyway. I was shy & quiet but, when it came to being a witness I always took a bold stand in school. I have so many experiences as a witness child in school that I could write a book about it. One that stands out right now happened when I was in second grade. It was Valentine's Day and the teacher had set up bags with everyone's name on it. We were to take turns getting up in class and distributing the Valentines we had brought from home into each bag. When it was my turn, the teacher asked me where my Valentines for the class were. (Of course as a witness, I didn't celebrate Valentine's Day and did not come to school with any) I told her this. She took that opportunity to tell the class to take the Valentines they had for me and throw them away. She went to the chalkboard, took the bag with my name off, and threw it in the trash. I was so humiliated. (yes even as a six yr old) Later, when I raised my hand to ask to use the bathroom, she gave me a harsh look...so I lowered it. I ended up peeing all over my desk, books papers etc.. Of course, the kids pointed and laughed...and the teacher ended up with a crying, wet kid. *sigh* I was wondering if any of you had stories to tell about being a witness in school? ~wick (now of the potty trained class)

  __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ We must help bully victims be less of a target principal: Defends position. Says kids must learn to behave in age group

  ALLISON LAMPERT

  The Gazette

  June 25, 2004
  

  CREDIT: ALLEN McINNIS, THE GAZETTE Westmount High School principal Claude Dansereau says it is often necessary to address both the behaviour of the bully as well as that of the victim when dealing with these situations at school.

  The principal at the centre of a bullying controversy at Westmount High School has dramatically improved student attendance and discipline.

  Claude Dansereau made headlines this week for urging an eccentric 15-year-old student at the school of 500 to make himself less of a target to bullies.

  Widely described as a no-nonsense principal, he arrived at Westmount high in 2000, after spending years running Batshaw's schools for young offenders and children in youth protection. Many of Dansereau's beliefs stem from his experience at Batshaw. He said he believes kids need to adjust to the society they live in.

  Earlier in the year, Dansereau told the mother of Grade 8 student Luke Trust to visit her son less frequently at school. Although Luke, a devout Jehovah's Witness, said he liked seeing his mother, he was often taunted by other kids over her visits.

  Dansereau's advice, described in a Gazette article sparked public debate over school's responsibilities toward victims of bullying. Critics said asking the 'bullied' to change is tantamount to blaming the victim, or advocating conformity.

  Dansereau disagrees. Although he wouldn't comment specifically on Luke's case, Dansereau said educators should punish tormenters, but also help their victims become less of a target.

  "If a victim is acknowledging being bullied since Grade 1, than you have to address the situation of the kids who are bullying that victim," he said in an interview.

  "But obviously there is some work that has to be done with the victim. How come the bullies are seeing that kid as such a good target? How come this kid is being systematically victimized?

  "Both (kids) are in the process of being adults and both have to receive our help and guidance and that's what we're trying to do at Westmount."

  He described the case of one student who didn't want to listen to music during a class dance in the school auditorium. The boy left the auditorium and sat in the corridor with five inches of toilet paper sticking out of each ear, Dansereau said.

  "That's a situation where obviously the kid is seen by a group of students and he will be teased," Dansereau said.

  "We have students who are acting in a way that they are easily targeted by other kids. They have to learn how to behave within their age group."

  That doesn't mean a student who's into the goth subculture, or dresses like a punk needs to transform him, or herself into a copy of Britney Spears.

  "We have kids who express their individuality in different ways," Dansereau said. "It's more a question of maturity."

  Asking victims to change, he said, isn't a way for schools to avoid enforcing zero tolerance policies toward bullying. Enforcing zero tolerance will never completely eliminate bullying.

  "Zero tolerance doesn't mean that kids who are making one comment will be automatically suspended," he said. "What it means is if as an adult you are witnessing a kid being abusive verbally... you intervene."

  [email protected]

  Online Extra: A Grade 8 student who is relentlessly teased by his classmates says he should not have to conform to their style of dress and behaviour. You can read about it in The Gazette's revamped Web site www.montrealgazette.com

  © The Gazette (Montreal) 2004
• 
  5

  i don't want to live forever... will i be df'd?

  by dh in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is just a hypothetical question, but lets say you are a jw, but with one thing and another you realised that you didn't want to love forever, and so told the elders that not wanting to live forever yourself, you would be unable to to sell everlasting life to people on the doors, and that if you don't share the hope of other jw's, how can you really call yourself a jw?

  basically you do not feel like a jw because you do not want what jehovah is offering you.. would they df you?

  or would they let you fade?

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  Smoldering Wick

  It would depend on how you answer this question:
  
  "Do you believe that this is spiritual channel that Jehovah is using to deliver his spiritual truths today?"
  
  ~Quotes

  My favorite answer to this question (which I used during the last elder's visit) is:

  "I have my doubts."

  ("I'm not sure and "I don't know" work well too)

  You can't get disfellowshipped (that I know of) for not taking a stand or doing nothing. It's been five years since the last meeting I attended... and two years since the elders called me to tell me they took my card out of their file and wouldn't be visiting or calling me anymore. (yayyy!!)

  ~wick
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  75

  How many raised in "the truth" have left??

  by L_A_Big_Dawg in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this subject has been gnawing at me for awhile now.. so many of you:.

  1) were raised in "the truth?".

  2) did you get baptized and at what age?.

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  Smoldering Wick

  1) Were raised in "the truth?" Yes...i'm RAW. (raised as a witness)

  2) Did you get baptized and at what age? 9

  3) What age were you when you faded, were DF'd or DA'd? Faded, age 33 (1999)
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  26

  A House Built on Fallacies

  by Farkel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here are just a few examples of the kinds of fallacious dub arguments we've heard and used ourselves when we were dubs.

  heck, the whole darn religion is nothing but a series of fallacious arguments!.

  ad hominem - (attack the arguer, not the argument).

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  Smoldering Wick

  Fallacy Tutorial Pro 3.0

  http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/
• 
  125

  It's Time to Find New Vistas

  by Farkel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i cannot compete with threads anymore.

  they beat me!

  threads about pit bulls and other dogs and virginity get all the attention.

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  Smoldering Wick

  There comes a time in a man's life... (around 56 yrs of age, I believe)

  when he begins to feel he has learned enough. He is satisfied with his

  knowledge and/or abilities. He no longer needs any additional insights

  and most people (who aren't intellectual equals anyway) are

  unnecessary.

  The ironic thing is...around this same time god/mother nature/

  evolution begins the ultimate life's lesson. Slowly she takes back all

  that she has given this man. His memory begins to fade. His strength

  wanes. His manly prowess (Viagra?) and sexual drive diminishes. All

  that made this man great and self-sufficient subsides. Slowly he comes

  to know that he needs others.

  My brother (TMS) mentioned to me the other day...how he and his wife

  appreciated one of your threads. I agreed that you are a good writer.

  However, I made it known that I don't gravitate to your threads because

  you come off as arrogant and condescending. I said I would much rather

  read a post that was full of heart that I could relate to than let's

  say...a perfectly worded essay on Thomas Jefferson. We left it at

  that.

  It didn't take long for you to prove me right lol.

  personal side comment: I've noticed that people who misbehave socially either crave

  attention, love, or both.

  I met you once or twice in chat here on JWD...and I tried hard to get

  you to "play" with me. I succeeded somewhat in that I at least saw a playful side and you were nice to me but quickly scurried off to find something more worthy of your time.

  I am not sure if you will pick apart my words and fling them back at

  me as a burning sack of poo. (taking that chance lol) Especially since

  I'm over 25 ;). But, I will say that hurling demeaning words while you

  set the bridge on fire...as you try to fit your head out the door...

  isn't the best way of departure.

  I have no doubt that TMS could go head to head with you on any subject

  if he so desired. Being an elder for over forty years, he has mastered

  the art of word play. (he needs no defense from his little sister)

  But, as he so succinctly stated: argumentation is a lesson in

  futility. (I also have no doubt that if you both were in the same room

  having a few drinks...you'd have a great time.)

  So, as one who never got caught up in your volatile intellectualism...I

  will say that if you ever need a heart to heart, I'll be here... as would so many others on this board.

  I wish you well. Maybe upon your return...we will get to see a "softer

  side of farkel" I hope so. I also hope it won't take too long for you

  to figure out you need us as we need you.

  ~wick

  
  I never watched the lion king...but Tim Rice wrote some nice lyrics: From the day we arrive on the planet
  And blinking, step into the sun
  There?s more to be seen than can ever be seen
  More to do than can ever be done

  Some say eat or be eaten
  Some say live and let live
  But all are agreed as they join the stampede
  You should never take more than you give

  In the circle of life
  It?s the wheel of fortune
  It?s the leap of faith
  It?s the band of hope
  Till we find our place
  On the path unwinding
  In the circle, the circle of life

  Some of us fall by the wayside
  And some of us soar to the stars
  And some of us sail through our troubles
  And some have to live with the scars

  There?s far too much to take in here
  More to find than can ever be found
  But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky
  Keeps great and small on the endless round.
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  125

  It's Time to Find New Vistas

  by Farkel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i cannot compete with threads anymore.

  they beat me!

  threads about pit bulls and other dogs and virginity get all the attention.

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  Smoldering Wick

  When you are a big fish in a small pond, it is hard to adjust as the pond grows bigger. It?s like a child star who grows up and loses his/her appeal to the public. Instead of evolving and adapting to the change, they give up and hide from the public.

  Every person on this board is relevant...from the constant fluffers or thought provokers to the lurkers who occasionally post. We all have different reasons for visiting or becoming a part of this family.

  Intellectualism and/or "blather" (these are interchangeable to me) can only go so far. Each serves a purpose. If this board were only "blather" or only intellectual banter...then it would lose its wonderful appeal.

  If it is attention you crave, then you can threaten to take your toys and leave...or you can evolve, adapt, and share the limelight.

  ~wick