Posts by Thirdson

22

McDonalds Prohibited?

by DakotaRed in

jw
friends

given how the org went after tobacco in the late sixties, resulting in it's total prohibition in the early seventies, based on the health communities claims of how bad it was destroying the body (a claim not disputed by me) and how they made it a disfellowshipping offense to smoke, chew or otherwise use tobacco, i wonder if they will now ban eating at mcdonalds?.

there is a group out there of health professionals (or claimed) that wish to heavily tax mcdonalds and other so called junk food places.

the taxes would be used to treat all the millions of people who are afflicted with the dreaded disease of obesity and to combat the rising costs of treating these poor misguided individuals that have been led astray, thinking they were getting healthy food at the loacl greasy pits.. will the elders start smelling everyone's breath upon entry to the kingdom halls for tell tale signs of mustard and pickles?

Thirdson

Funny you should mention this. On Saturday we went to MacDonalds since my son requested and it had been a while. While waiting at stop lights to pull in to McDs I noticed the 4 door sedan behind was occupied by a middled-aged man in suit and tie and a young man, (maybe his son) wearing a white dress shirt without tie.

I thought, is this a post field-service treat? The kid might have taken off his tie so as not to look like a total dork, after all, who wears a tie during the week let alone on a Saturday?

OK, I invented this whole life-story for the odd couple in the grey Oldsmobile. I was disappointed that they went through the drive-through while we ate inside. I was hoping to eavesdrop and maybe cadge a Watchtower if my instinct was right.

Poor kid, made to wear a tie on Saturday; don't ban MacDonalds, it might be the only thing that makes being a JW bearable.

Thirdson

39

Being a JW Kid

by Scully in

jw
friends

i've always felt that the adult jws got off pretty easily compared to jw kids.. for instance: .

my dad went to work, and didn't bother his co-workers with jw stuff.

it wasn't allowed.

Thirdson

Thanks for this. You are right about what JW kids have to go through each day. While adult JWs in the work place rarely had issues with conflicting belief situations kids at school faced them nearly everyday. Morning assembly to stay out of for one. I cannot remember the amount of times I was asked “why?”. Then you had birthdays, Easter, Christmas, Halloween, Harvest Festival, Evolution, and Religious Education, not to mention national holidays and remembrances. However, I never had many problems with teachers (other than Biology...I dropped it in High School and went back to it later in college once I wasn't so Dubbish) and I think standards of teacher behavior has improved.

We were discussing my son's elementary school while driving past. He made a critical remark, ('cause middle school is so much better). I said, “the principal there was the nicest and kindest head teacher I had ever met.” I had spent an hour touring the school with him and I saw that in both the way he treated the kids and they way they interacted with him. I then related the time when I was in 2nd grade (7-8 yrs old). The principal returned with a kid from class and beat him mercilessly with a sneaker. He boasted that the kid screamed in his office but I guess, that after 40 blows, his buttocks were too numb to feel anymore pain. I told my son he was lucky to have the teachers he has today. With a school like that and being a JW on top its a wonder I didn't grow up to be even crazier than I sometimes think I am.

13

Tell Old School Friends That You've Left?

by Englishman in

jw
friends

some of the uk national newspapers have been referring to the web-site at http://friendsreunited.co.uk/, where thousands and thousands of brits have been getting back in touch with old school friends.. just out of curiosity i decided to take a peek.

well, i was stunned.

many long-forgotten class-mates had my mind leaping back to the early 60s, particularly when they mentioned the weird nicknames that we had given to our teachers.. the french master, froggy fleuriot, mousy mclaughlan with his rats teeth, bummer burrell well, i will leave that one to your imagination.

Thirdson

Using FR.co.uk I have managed to track down quite a few poeple. The best and most recent is a friend I have known since I was 5 years old. I last saw him 20 years ago. He joined the Royal Air Force and I lost track of him. I have managed to get in touch and we have exchanged some e-mail. He gets a detachment to the US this year and I hope we get a chance to meet up.

On the other hand, a person I knew in the same grade as me at high school and a JW has recently joined the site. There are only 20 odd people listed for our graduation year, me among them. She hasn't got in touch, I wonder why . It seems old high friends are OK but ex-dubs like me are a no-no. News must have crossed the Atlantic.

Thirdson

17

Stephen Bates - Guardian Article

by anglise in

jw
friends

i have a scanned copy of a new article in the guardian newspaper (26th jan 02), written by stephen bates.. if anyone would like a copy, please shout!!.

anglise

Thirdson

Anglise,

Thanks for this and thank you Stephen Bates for again extracting the truth from the Watchtower smoke.

Would you add me to mail list for the scanned copy, please.

[email protected]

Thirdson

83

Special Dub Words That Make You Go YUK!

by Englishman in

jw
friends

for me, the word was "loving".. great "loving" kindness.. great undeserved "loving" kindness!.

disfellowshipping is a "loving" provision.. when the wtbts want their accolytes to swallow another bitter pill, another restriction, another rebuke, another demand on time, the buzz word is "loving".. the "loving" word, is, to the average jw, the same as the mccabe nod is to the salesman.

the mccabe nod is used by salesman all the time to get the prospective customer to agree to something that he doesn't care for too much.

Thirdson

Not sure if anyone mentioned this: "evidently". A word always used when there was the least evidence. "Evidently, Jesus appointed us as the FDS."

My all time is hate is "the Truth". Nothing irks me more than people who call JW religion "the Truth", even worse when exJWs still call it "the Truth" and aren't being cynical.

Mommiedark mentioned "happify" or "happifying". Some of my colleagues at work are frequently amused when I ask at the end of a meeting, "is everybody happy?". When asked whether I really cared if they were happy I said, "my goal at work is to make sure you are happified." I love that word, NOT.

Thirdson

9

Refugees-Will They Ever Find a Home..Awake 1.22.02

by ISP in

jw
friends

poor refugees..... the article says...... ....they [jw's] realise that the complete solution to the refugee problem lies with god's appointed king, jesus christ.

he certainly understands how easily hatred and violence can destroy people's lives......when that day dawns, nobody will ever need to become a refugee.

and everyone will have a place to call home.. yes the real solution to the refugee problem is armaggeddon when god's king, who knows all about hatred and violence, will destroy 99% of mankind.

Thirdson

ISP,

Regarding refugees, is there any mention of the practical work of the WTS? Any mention of Aidafrique by any chance?

Such involvement can never have God's approval and blessing, as amply demonstrated by men's repeated failures in trying to improve the world. Men's efforts might be compared to removing water from a sinking ship with a spoon. Watchtower 10/15 1972

Thirdson

34

Hypocrisy Within My Own Family

by Reborn2002 in

yesterday my brother (ever-loyal witness baptized same day as me 10 years ago; who is married to a holier-than-thou regular pioneer and subsequently with her encouragement has since avoided me as much as possible since i da myself) and his wife (see description above) came over to visit.. well.. shooting the proverbial shit, we got to the topic of movies.

asking politely if he or his wife had seen lord of the rings.. she interjected that it was inappropriate because it suggested wizardry and spiritism, and would never see such filth.

trying very hard to remain polite, my mom noticed the pause and said if they wanted to borrow any movies we have on tape to watch at home.. sneaky as i am, while they flapped their gums with my parents i glanced in the bag to see what they borrowed.. they took:.

Thirdson

Reborn,

We know where you are coming from. Don't feel bad I read lots of posts and often don't post something. You don't know who has read what and don't know the impact you have on them.

The very worst of this board often get the most posts on their hateful, prophetic, or condemnatory posts, but I doubt such ones are amongst the most respected. I appreciated your original post, don't lose heart.

Thirdson

P.S. Tonight I learned that adding the "F" word has a powerful affect on ratings. This went from a "PG" to an "R" and there was a rush at the box office. I'll try to remember that next time I post something.

9

Dr. Martin Luther King Day

by Thirdson in

jw
friends

monday in the usa is mlk day and many will reflect on the life and work of the great civil rights leader and the dream he set in motion.. while generally i agree with being law-abiding to the utmost degree i hope that if i had lived in the us during the 60's i would have stood up for the rights of minorities in america.

this leads me to my question.

what was the watchtower society's stance on the civil rights movement?

Thirdson

Thanks Lisa, for your comments. I don't want this to be a "black thang". I want to point out the work done by some for the betterment of others in contrast to the "do nothing" attitude of the one institution we all came to love and hate. Since I didn't grow up in the USA I have no knowledge of that time period and am genuinely interested in the experiences of people who were JWs during those times.

Thirdson

9

Dr. Martin Luther King Day

by Thirdson in

jw
friends

monday in the usa is mlk day and many will reflect on the life and work of the great civil rights leader and the dream he set in motion.. while generally i agree with being law-abiding to the utmost degree i hope that if i had lived in the us during the 60's i would have stood up for the rights of minorities in america.

this leads me to my question.

what was the watchtower society's stance on the civil rights movement?

Thirdson

Monday in the USA is MLK day and many will reflect on the life and work of the great civil rights leader and the dream he set in motion.

While generally I agree with being law-abiding to the utmost degree I hope that if I had lived in the US during the 60's I would have stood up for the rights of minorities in America. This leads me to my question. What was the Watchtower Society's stance on the civil rights movement? Did they encourage desegregation? Were Kingdom Halls, particularly in southern States havens for people of color, were they the first to integrate and were they ahead of general society by being different and treating people of all color and ethnic background as equals?

I ask the questions because of the strict law-abiding requirements of the WTS. Were civil rights regarded as God given rights? Did the laws of Caesar get overridden by God's principles that caused the Watchtower to lead the way in civil rights movement? Or did the WTS stay out of confrontation, faithfully obeying Caesar and telling blacks in the org to wait on Jehovah to sort things out?

Since today minorities enjoy a degree of equality, not perfect, but much better than the early 1960's who do black JWs credit the change to? Do they look favorably on the Watchtower's role, agree that waiting and doing nothing was right (if this was the policy) or do they credit the change for the better to the personal sacrifices made by many, many people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. included?

Thirdson

3

Who here has the goss on Adelaide congregations??

by TheApostleAK in

jw
friends

croydon congregation in victoria ("dried as dust").

elizabeth in adelaide: immaturity, stupidity.

fulham gardens in adelaide: materialistic, snobbery.

Thirdson

Hi Apostle,

Are there still just two congs in Elizabeth? I was in the Vale congregation during the period 1970-72 when Keith Kreiger was congregation servant (before the PO position of the elder arrangement.) I seem to remember it being a fairly nice congregation back then, just a few mishaps with inexperienced servants giving public talks. I rather liked Sabrina Brotherton, she was a year older than me, I went for older women when I was 12...oops I digress.

My connection to Uncle Bruce is via Elizabeth Vale although I have never met my good friend.

Thirdson