Stephanus

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Posts by Stephanus

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  27

  My Eldest

  by TR in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is my eldest daughter, angie.

  she's 17, will be a senior in high school this fall, but is in college.

  she's an honor student.

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  Stephanus

  Just pray that the signature on the application form doesn't read: "Fred Hall"!
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  To WTS Re Bowen And Related Issues

  by book_friend in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  unofficially but in factuality the isolating equivalent of "disfellowshipping" has clearly been directed against bill bowen by watchtower society members at the watchtower owned and operated kingdom hall he has attended in the wake of his having exposed to through the media that you have had maintained a policy of covering up pedophilia.

  bill has also received at least one harassing letter through the u.s. postal service.

  further, virtually every move he makes while in kingdom hall is monitored including when he goes to the bathroom.

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  Stephanus

  Sometimes a good old fashioned threat is as good a method as any to get someone's attention. Trouble is, the boys in Brooklyn will have seen it all before, and would the threat of mass emailings be something that would concern them?
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  13

  New Rumor............"Apostate Cruise"

  by open_mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i ran into a jw from my local congregation last night.

  he was, to my surprise, very polite to me.

  he was curious as to why i haven't been attending the meetings lately.

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  Stephanus

  My family and I are going on a cruise in September - maybe that's what started it!
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  4

  Song Grammar

  by RunningMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a running joke with my son (age 14) regarding.

  the grammer that appears in our kingdom songs.

  know, all the usage of e'er, n'er, pray'r, pow'r, etc.. just imagine what it would be like if people talked like.

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  Stephanus

  This grammar is not uncommon, though not all-pervading, in the older hymns Christendom. Like everything else the Tower has stolen from Christendom, they've pushed the format to breaking point. My feeling is that the writers of those ('Tower) songs were very few, lacking imagination and sticking strictly to a rigid formula, trying to work as much doctrine into the songs as possible, rather than just songs of praise to God. Contrast Christendom, which has a vast repertoir of songs built up over hundreds of years, in many styles, by thousands of individuals.
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  13

  Congo gives Award to Watchtower and Awake!

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the august 15 issue of the watchtower reports that the association of congolese and african journalists for the development in the democratic republic of congo has awarded a certificate of excellence to jehovah's witnesses in recognition of the watchtower and awake!

  magazines.. it states that this was to "reward individuals or social organisations that distinguish themselves through their contribution toward the development in [the congo]".. oh dear!.

  cheers,.

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  Stephanus

  I've often wondered about the Suriname Education Department thing. I imagine Awake! is pretty widely available in a country which wouldn't have huge resources for printing educational materials, it is written in half-decent Dutch (the official language) and is written at a grade school level, perfect for school children. Note that the articles mentioned are specifically about South America or problems in Third World countries. I think the Suriname govt has been incredibly pragmatic by doing this, but of course the WBTS would put their own spin on this. Now, if a FIRST WORLD country adopted Awake! as its educational resourcebook, that would be news. The fact of the matter is that the third world is desperate for whatever bits of the developed world it can get to come its way, in whatever form.

  The way the 'Tower shamelessly seeks these less than powerful accolades reminds me of a popular conspiracy theorist we have down here in the Antipodes: http:/www.barrysmith.org.nz/ He often talks about all the bigwigs he is in contact with, like various government ministers in South Pacific Islands and the President of Zambia, but hasn't got the ear of one reputable govt minister in his own New Zealand, let alone any in arguably more significant places like Oz, Canada, the UK or the US.
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  20

  The Casket Under the Coat Rack........

  by soylibre in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the craziest things i ever witnessed as a jw was a funeral for an unbaptized publisher...she attended my cong.

  and was very quiet and softspoken...the type who never caused any trouble and who would ocassionaly comment, directly from the paragraph....nice lady with a young daughter about 11. well one day she's driving down the road and gets hit by a pepsi truck....(can anyone say lawsuit???

  ) she's hospitalized and is in critical condition....to make a long story short...she's faced with the blood issue and finally gives in and accepts a transfusion and dies anyway...ok let's fastforward...no one apparently knew about this except her mother....a non-jw who had studied off and on for years and years.....so the obituary appears and it's public knowledge that her funeral will be at such and such kingdom hall at such and such time....actually published info...well, she had tons of non-jw family...typical of us black folk...anyway let me get to the point....apparently the day of the funeral, just some hours before in fact....the elders find out about the blood and don't want to have the funeral in the kingdom hall....but what are they to do????

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  Stephanus

  I'm disgusted and horrified by the whole thing, Soy! It can leave a bad taste in your mouth when a mainstream minister tries to say things about someone they never knew, but at least they are trying to make a positive effort to confront the grief of those that loved the deceased. This story is the craziest I've ever heard! It just goes to show why Dubland is so heavily managed to make sure the outside world neither sees or is seen, because it's when idiotic, heartless behavior like this leaks through the cracks, that it becomes obvious how inadequately the average Dub is taught to handle and deal with the realities of life.
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  13

  Congo gives Award to Watchtower and Awake!

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the august 15 issue of the watchtower reports that the association of congolese and african journalists for the development in the democratic republic of congo has awarded a certificate of excellence to jehovah's witnesses in recognition of the watchtower and awake!

  magazines.. it states that this was to "reward individuals or social organisations that distinguish themselves through their contribution toward the development in [the congo]".. oh dear!.

  cheers,.

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  Stephanus

  Reminds me of the back of an Awake! a few years back (g95 4/22). They were trumpeting the fact that the Dept of Education in Suriname was using Awake for educational purposes. Article follows:

  *** g95 4/22 32 Awake!-the Basis for a Test ***
  Awake!—the Basis for a Test
  WHEN students in the South American country of Suriname opened their high school entrance examination booklet in July 1993, they discovered that regular Awake! magazine readers had an advantage. This was because nearly half of the questions in the 36-page booklet, which had been prepared by the Ministry of Education’s Examination Bureau, were based on two articles from Awake!
  Pages 1 through 9 featured the article “Shantytowns—Hard Times in the Urban Jungle,” which appeared in Awake! of October 8, 1992. There were 21 questions that tested comprehension on that material. Pages 10 to 16 of the examination booklet contained 14 questions on the article “The Capybara—Mistake or Marvel of Creation?,” which appeared in Awake! of September 22, 1992.
  “By using these articles to examine the textual comprehension of students throughout the country,” remarked one headmaster in the western part of Suriname, “school authorities show that they view Awake! as a model of correct grammar and crisp writing.”
  If you would like a copy of Awake! or would like to have someone call at your home to discuss this matter, please write to Watchtower, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, NY, 11201-2483, or to the appropriate address listed on page 5.

  Here's another quote from that year:
  

  *** g95 1/8 23 Magazines That Give Practical Comfort ***
  This kind of initiative can lead to an ever-widening circle of positive contacts. From letters received we know that professional people are often impressed by the research and the excellent writing style that go into our magazines. So true is this that in some countries, such as Suriname, in South America, the Awake! is used as a principal educational magazine by students and teachers. The Witnesses there have a high level of magazine placements, and the interested ones eagerly await each issue.

  Perhaps it is on this basis that the COs, etc. make comments to the effect that reading Watchtower and Awake! is the equivalent of a university education!
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  16

  "Mists of Avalon"

  by Mulan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  did anyone watch this show on tnt this week?

  it's another version of the arthur legend.

  i finished watching it tonight.

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  Stephanus

  Geoffrey Ashe in his book Avalonian Quest mentions an archaeological dig done at Glastonbury Abbey in the early 20th century. It shed a lot of light on the 12th century excavation, for example the reason for the two levels at which objects were found on the grave site.
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  2

  When I met a WITCH in the ministry!!

  by philo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many who join the jws are running away from something.

  nothing unusual about that, it happens in relationships.

  but i didn;t know about that in 1987.. it was one field service weekday, as a fresh faced, new convert on the doors.

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  Stephanus

  Hmmmm, 1987. I was living in a church run house "The Guys' House" which was next door to "The Girls' House" with a vacant lot in between - used as a car park for residents of both houses. Can't remember why but for some reason on a hot Saturday morning, I'm dressed in nothing but boardshorts, exposing my pale body to the sun, standing in the vacant lot between the Guys' and Girls' houses talking to a typically over-dressed Dub (suit, etc.) and his wife. I'd like to know what they thought of it all - probably confirmed their views of the lack of morality of Christendom or some such!
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  jw wife laughs at my devilish ears

  by BERNARD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been out of the so called truth for two years now,and im happy.

  my wife and my mother-law who are still jw, know for sure i'm caught by satan the devil himself.this being the case,i was in new york yesterday at the seaport looking at the crooked watchtower building with the time and weather temperture on the top of the building in lights, blinking in red, i was just thinking too myself, those the only two things the watchtower ever had right in the sight of the public,in sight of anything for that matter.

  anyway i bought these devilish ears that blink back and forth in bright red.

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  Stephanus

  She can't be too sold out to the WBTS if she can find that sort of piss-taking amusing!