Posts by Swan

16

What a jerk...

by joannadandy in

ok so it always bothered me what a jerk jacob was.

he was a deceptive little cheater, and yet he was favored over his brother?

he used a blatant trick to confuse his obviously blind old father...how is he a biblical hero?.

I have always had a problem with a lot of the Bible characters. Yeah, they were imperfect, like us, but I still didn't think they were great heroes. Here are some examples of my least favorite Bible characters.

Jacob, for the same reasons as mentioned above. Poor Esau out there starving to bring the family food and that heel holding Jacob pulls a sneaky.

Lot, for offering up his daughters to be raped instead of the strangers. Hospitality is good, but I don't think you should ever offer up anybody to be raped. Male chauvinist pig!

Abraham, who treated Hagar and Ishmael like dirt, and favored Isaac. He should of told his wife, sorry, you gave her to me to have a child by, so I'm going to take care of them, not send them off into the wild.

Paul, who had some real issues before he converted, and still needed counseling even after he talked to Christ. Talk about dysfunctional. He didn't just go and visit those places, he later wrote them letters telling them about all of the gossip he heard and that they better knock it off. What a control freak! After Jesus went on and on about not judging people. No wonder Barnabas didn't want to go out in the service with him anymore. And what about this thing between Paul and Timothy? Is this where pedophilia in congregations first started?

One the other hand, I think Jonah had the right idea. There were many times I didn't want to go out in the field service.

I also liked Peter, who was kind of a likable bumbler.

Tammy

48

Is Mutual Respect Possible?

by Sociologist in

jw
friends

one of the most striking things about this and similar message boards concerning jehovah's witnesses is the strength of feeling jw-related discussions evoke.

as i dabble in sociology, i was wondering what you all thought about the following questions.

my objective is not to criticize persons belonging to other group but rather to attempt to grasp the dynamics of the conflicts at work here.. the questions:.

Swan

Question 6 in particular offends me.

To what extent are both sides willing to accept responsibility for their own decisions? It is easy to cry mental manipulation, brainwashing, etc, but in reality such a paradigm could hardly account for millions of people subscribing to this or that belief system. It would seem that people who believe the Watchtower (or any other religious or non-religious tenets) do so because they have CHOSEN to believe it; people who don't believe it have CHOSEN not to believe it. That is not to say that such choices are always made consciously; many are made by default. But would you agree that there is a strong tendency in both camps to say that the problem is all "out there," with the other side? How realistic is such a position?

You assume that we have all consciously chosen to believe it. At what point in my life did I make that decision?

The very earliest memories I have are of my mother indoctrinating me with the lies they fed her. I never grew up with access to anything to tell me any different, and was told that if I did try and seek out anything else, that I would lose my whole family and be destroyed in a horrendous cataclysm.

I have nightmares to this day that are, in the opinion of my counselor, the result of early exposure to pictures and illustrations of such horrible destruction, that the WTC attack is minor in comparison. I look at those pictures and I am not only reminded of how frightened I was a 3 or 4 year old child, I can actually feel the same fright I felt back then!

I used to have nightmares as a child too. I remember them vividly to this day. I dremt of an awful Jehovah God destroying the people of the earth and not knowing if I would be next because I hadn't sat still in every 2 hour meeting in the Kingdom Hall. I was one scared little kid. I dreamed of demons attacking me. I dremt the moon turned into Jehovah's hand and it reached down and shook the earth, killing everybody. I dreamed of running away from angels with swords that were slaughtering everybody, because I was afraid that I would be next. Why? For not sitting still, for whispering in the meeting, or for not cleaning my room.

Yes, I'm bitter, but I am not violent towards JWs. I feel that most of them are victims like myself. Yes, I am very opposed to their oppressive regime, because I experienced the trauma of it first hand. If you see me as intractable on this issue, it is because they made me that way.

23

Hi -New Here

by RandomTask in

i want to share since i'm new here!

i was more or less born into the jw religion and raised as one.

my mom was a pretty strict believer, but she didn't get baptized until i was 9, "surprisingly" my parents got divorced three years later.

Swan

A good post Random. Thanks and welcome!

Tammy

Edited by - UglyDuckling on 5 August 2002 22:58:50

38

IF BETHEL MONITORS this board what are they saying

by minimus in

jw
friends

it's been said many times that bethel monitors this board.

if they do, what do you think they're thinking?

do you think this board could cause a staunch bethelite to question things?

Swan

JWs who are lawyers. That's a scary thought.

So how do you decide whether to tell a JW joke or a lawyer joke?

20

QUALIFIED ELDERS---WHERE ARE THEY?

by minimus in

jw
friends

lately, more and more elders are either resigning or being deleted.

a few elders have been known to be "good elders", brothers that really did care about the flock more than the organization.

some that are presently elders are having their own crisis of conscience.most elders that i have come to know are quite simply, not that bright.

Swan

I knew some who were real gems. They were honest, humble, and were genuinely concerned for the congregation. They were victims, just like I was, and were doing what they thought was best. They were fooled just like I was.

Then there were some who were absolute tyrants caught up in their own little ego trip. They wielded their power arbitrarily and mercilessly. My mother said that we should accept these elders and obey them because they had Jehovah's spirit. Jehovah allows some things to go on as a test of our obedience.

To paint all elders with the same brush would be a terrible injustice.

Tammy

36

What do you enjoy doing with your spare time?

by Celtic in

jw
friends

.

i know i've posted a question similar to this before, but what with all the newcomers here, i thought no harm to ask the question again.. what do you enjoy doing with your spare time and why?.

celtic mark - cornwall uk

Swan

larc

When they asked Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, he answered "Cause that's where the money's at."

Of course, Willie was caught, incarcerated, escaped, caught, incarcerated, etc., etc., etc.

Life's too short. Go for the groceries.

7

hey I'm new here too :)

by Monster in

jw
friends

hi people its nice to meet you all.

i envy many of you here who had nice relationships with your family before family ties were cut.

because you had such strong relationships with family members i guess i can understand your angry feelings towards jws.

Swan

Hey James! Great story! I wish I had had the guts to do half of the stunts you pulled.

The love you have for your parents shows through in your post. I'm glad you had the chance to reconcile with them.

Welcome to the board.

Tammy

3

News about Stayton, Oregon & Monmouth, Oregon

by Swan in

news about stayton, oregon & monmouth, oregon.

i'm actively seeking any news from anyone in these areas about friends and family in those congregations.

any news that you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Swan

News about Stayton, Oregon & Monmouth, Oregon

I'm actively seeking any news from anyone in these areas about friends and family in those congregations. Any news that you can give me will be greatly appreciated. All contact will be kept confidential if you wish.

Tammy Coleman Fisher

36

What do you enjoy doing with your spare time?

by Celtic in

jw
friends

.

i know i've posted a question similar to this before, but what with all the newcomers here, i thought no harm to ask the question again.. what do you enjoy doing with your spare time and why?.

celtic mark - cornwall uk

Swan

like Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.

I love those books, Mulan. I haven't read the Fiery Cross yet, but hope to get to it soon. She is so thorough in her research. Have you read Edward Rutherford's Sarum and London? Both are very good, but I liked Sarum better. It covered the history of Salisbury and Stonehenge.

Tammy

27

Paganism is ok when we say it is

by zenpunk in

jw
friends

we all probably know already that jws don't celebrate christmas, labeling it a pagan holiday and telling its whole sordid history to anyone who'll listen.

however, i found out that wedding rings are pagan in origin.

the jws know it but they include the exchange of rings during the wedding ceremony, explaining that rings are exchanged as an outward symbol to everyone that this couple is married, thus justifying the pagan origin of the whole thing.

Swan

That is true Crazy.

But those are just the anglo names for the days of the week.

In Spanish they are different, reflecting more of their Latin roots and the pagan gods they were named after.

lunesMonday for the moon

martes
Tuesday for Mars

mircoles
Wednesday for Mercury

jueves
Thursday for Jupiter

viernes
Friday for Venus

sbado
Saturday for Saturn

domingo
Sunday for God

Edited by - UglyDuckling on 5 August 2002 17:2:36