in the early 1980s together with my brothers we decided to started collecting watchtower literature and have them neatly in a library at home.
with the help of our father he gave us all the books bought during the years that he had stored in a big wooden box.. after purchasing all the literature that we had missing from the kingdom hall we decided to write letters to the world headquarters of jehovah’s witnesses in brooklyn new york as well to the british and australian branch office.. unfortunately none of our requests bear fruit as they informed us: “it is doubtful whether they are available anywhere in the world….” (ca february 23, 1983); “unable to supply the old publications you request.” (sa: sg september 20, 1983) “we will keep your letter on our files….”(sa: sg january 22, 1983).. during the years we managed to obtain many of these early books going back to 1879 when this religious organization was started.. through barbara anderson we learned that in 30 columbia heights building new york they had a warehouse storage where they kept many old literature which don kommers the assistant of vern wisegarver was responsible for.
through these publications we learned what exactly was written by charles russell and joseph rutherford regarding predictions that never came to be.
I have a whole room full of the stuff. Rutherford's complete rainbow. Bound volumes back to the beginning of the brown ones. Loose sets before that. A set of original reprints and a set of the Chicago Bible Student's reprint of the reprints. Early and late sets of (Green and rose) of Millennial Dawn / Studies in the Scriptures. A pristine, only touched with white gloves Scenario of the Photo Drama.
--Makes me tired just to think about moving or boxing any of it...
anyone here thats a former mormon?
a person in the internet wrote abouth them.
that community could not be more impressive in its cohesion, sincerity, benevolence, decency, patriotism, and faith.. i seen mormons go from house to house before the convid virus.they always seem cheerful.
People who are unfamiliar with the JW's say many of the same things about them that you've said about the Mormons.
Ex members of both groups have shed the rose colored glasses
sometimes i forget how small-minded, petty, provincial, mean-spirited ignorant and judgemental it was and still is.... then i sit down with a jw relative, hoping to have a normal conversation and realize there is literally nothing to talk about.. nothing..... current events?
hobbies?
your job?
Then they begon talking louder about the pioneer school, the Zoom meetings and that we are in the end of the end times.
--Or going on loudly about disturbances caused by demons, angelic protection, and other imagined supernatural events.
sometimes i forget how small-minded, petty, provincial, mean-spirited ignorant and judgemental it was and still is.... then i sit down with a jw relative, hoping to have a normal conversation and realize there is literally nothing to talk about.. nothing..... current events?
hobbies?
your job?
BluesBrother
I didn't mean to imply that JW relatives refuse to talk. It's that normal attempts at conversation fall flat.
Current events are spun to fit the JW belief in imminent destruction, Hobbies are a waste of time. Your job is a necessary evil and not for personal growth or fulfillment. Travel is a frivolity unless it's done for "kingdom interests" Financial planning is unnecessary. Education will turn you into one of those smartasses who "say we descended from monkeys." Art is immoral, literature is spiritually lacking, entertainment is worldly, etc., etc., etc.
sometimes i forget how small-minded, petty, provincial, mean-spirited ignorant and judgemental it was and still is.... then i sit down with a jw relative, hoping to have a normal conversation and realize there is literally nothing to talk about.. nothing..... current events?
hobbies?
your job?
Sometimes I forget how small-minded, petty, provincial, mean-spirited ignorant and judgemental it was and still is...
Then I sit down with a JW relative, hoping to have a normal conversation and realize there is literally nothing to talk about.
Nothing....
Current events? -Nope. Hobbies? -Nope. Your job? -Nope. Their job? -Nope. Travel? -Nope. Financial planning/strategies? -Nope. Education? -Nope. Art? -Nope. Literature? -Nope. Entertainment? -Nope. Maybe a good book you've read? -Nope.
--Just venting here - sorry
elections have been held per the us constitution during many difficult times; us civil war, ww i, ww ii, whatever.
i just put on the pro-trump fox news and even they are saying ... oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. this is really scary.
are we headed towards a dictatorship?
These were MEN. We should be able to decide on our own what exactly is better for our country today without worrying what some guys thought was right that long ago.
I guess I could respond more intelligently if I understood where you're headed with this line of thought. What are you suggesting? That we trash the Bill of Rights?
The rule of law is what makes civilization above the level of mud huts possible and as such, the Constitution is the highest law of the land.
But as I've told my liberal friends for years, we have mechanisms in place to change even that. It's not easy and rightly so.
If you disagree with the Second Amendment, than start your own little movement to get it changed.
elections have been held per the us constitution during many difficult times; us civil war, ww i, ww ii, whatever.
i just put on the pro-trump fox news and even they are saying ... oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. this is really scary.
are we headed towards a dictatorship?
For years and years, the left in the U.S. maintained that the right to keep and bear arms existed only under the auspices of a well regulated militia, which is tautological when you think about it.
(The reasons were explained pretty clearly in the majority opinion of D.C. vs Heller.)
To be fair, the Latin sentence structure of the Second Amendment is confusing to some people, so their position strikes me more as inaccurate / incorrect / untenable / erroneous than unconstitutional.
But that's just me
elections have been held per the us constitution during many difficult times; us civil war, ww i, ww ii, whatever.
i just put on the pro-trump fox news and even they are saying ... oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. this is really scary.
are we headed towards a dictatorship?
Problem is, the terms of the President and Vice President end at noon on the 20th of January, election or not.
The next person in line would be Nancy Pelosi and she would serve until a proper election was held.
look at the new york post online today and watch the videos of mayhem and destruction to the city with fires all over manhattan.
the police vehicles are being destroyed and torched and the rioting just goes on and on.. i regularly went to nyc sometimes once a month for years.
now, who on earth would want to go to this hellhole??.
The NYC police department cost taxpayers in excess of 68 million dollars in misconduct lawsuits in 2019 alone, bringing the total to over 400 million for the 2014 - 2019 period.
Wrongful shootings, beating deaths, choke hold deaths, sodomy of suspects with a broom handle, stun gun coercion, you name it, they are one of the most corrupt departments in the country. -The only one I'm aware of where the officers themselves rioted (!)
I understand that it's tempting to say that much more force is necessary, but the American people as a group have not historically responded well to that. -Not when they feel they have a legitimate complaint.
the sopranos was my number one show.
to me it was the best series ever.
for a good laugh, i still enjoy the beverly hillbillies reruns.
--Not a huge TV watcher, but my wife is (Funny how that works)
These are the shows that we both liked:
The Avengers (Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg..)
The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling)
The Outer Limits
Dr Who (Up through Tom Baker)
SNL
Cheers
(Inset big gap when children were small)
3rd Rock from the Sun
The I.T. Crowd
The Office
The Unit
Vikings
Breaking Bad
Grimm
Die Helene Fisher Show (Does that count? It's only on once a year)
Ice Road Truckers
