Posts by Thirdson

19

50 Years Ago in the Watchtower

by Thirdson in

jw
friends

no doubt you are familiar with the practice of many popular magazines to print selected extracts from their issues 25, 50 or 100 years ago.

(scientific american goes back 150 years).

what is interesting is the ideas presented then, sometimes they are fanciful and just plain wrong.

Thirdson

No doubt you are familiar with the practice of many popular magazines to print selected extracts from their issues 25, 50 or 100 years ago. (Scientific American goes back 150 years). What is interesting is the ideas presented then, sometimes they are fanciful and just plain wrong. Other times, discoveries are reported that have a major impact on our lives.

For a bit of fun I have reproduced a sample from the Watchtower October 1,1951 issue. Perhaps this isn’t as interesting as that of science magazines because the WTS doesn’t change that much and it is sad to see so much rehashed with each issue. However, 50 years is a long time to wait without doing anything except wait.

Looking Back -- 50 Years Ago

Simply for upholding these Scriptural principles, Christians are frequently charged with carrying on a "hate campaign" and being "against everything". (John 15:19) By contrast, worldlings, in display of their own righteousness, will point to their institutions for the care of the blind, of the aged, of children and of animals. Yet, what do these things really prove? Are they not only blank admissions of the imperfect, selfish conditions abroad that prompt their need? For example, during its toll-taking wars, this system of things reaps a great harvest of widows. It is not unselfish love so much as natural duty that the ones responsible should later care for these widows.

Like Jesus, Christians today prominently display their light as from a lampstand. God's glorious new world, its program for true world betterment, the visible organization now given them for the work of praising God, God's Word the Bible, their fellow workers, the people of good will flocking into the ever-expanding theocratic organization-all these things true Christians love with their whole souls or lives. Their lives are given that others may learn this and have life.-Matt. 5:14-16, NW. –- October 1, 1951 Watchtower

Thankfully, over the past 50 years the “worldlings” have continued to care for the blind, aged, children and animals. Meantime ,the WTS has increased and given many a life of waiting and doing nothing. Aren’t we glad that the selfish and duty bound worldlings do their stuff.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

Lots of editing for crappy spelling and I used Word!
And again...must have drunk too much wine this evening.

63

"Hey there all you lurkey ones..."

by Simon in

jw
friends

hmmn, doesn't quite work does it?

ok...we'll stick with 'thirsty' then .

why not register and make a post or two...ask a question...make a statement...whatever !.

Thirdson

Hey Farkel,

So you've moved to Pitcairn Island? Is that so you can live with the other "Christians?"

Regards,

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

63

"Hey there all you lurkey ones..."

by Simon in

jw
friends

hmmn, doesn't quite work does it?

ok...we'll stick with 'thirsty' then .

why not register and make a post or two...ask a question...make a statement...whatever !.

Thirdson

Hi Target,

Welcome to the board. It is good to be out in the open and thanks for joining us here.

Like you, I moved a long way away in order to quit. I still have some family on the inside. Of those, my parents keep in regular contact (e-mail, cards and phone calls) but my two remaining JW brothers do not.

Your account of racism reminded me of an incident in one British congregation I used to belong to. An elder was plainly seen moving his entire family to sit elsewhere in the Kingdom Hall after a Black African family sat in the row behind him. It was pointed out to him and to his credit he aplogized to the brother. However, he never seemed to get around his problem and for several years in the late 70's early 80's he applied to emigrate to South Africa. Maybe he had a noble effort to preach where the "need was great" but I think the lifestyle he desired in apartheid South Africa by being white was his real motivation. It could be that my view was clouded by my upbringing in multi-racial communities or the fact that my then wife and later my son would have been regarded as "coloured" by the SA government of the time.

Racism in the JW world is another matter and the topic often gets heated exchanges here. Just one variation of an old Apartheid joke:

Among JWs there is no discrimination, everyone is treated the same regardless of color. "Now, if you would like to take your seats, spirtually strong at the front, spiritually weak at the back!"

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

38

WTC Eight Black Boxes Dedtroyed

by Satanus in

jw
friends

" [ntsb web site] .

"both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder have proven to be valuable tools in the accident investigation process.

Thirdson

The importance of the evidence from the flight recorders is no where near as high in this case as that of a crash due to unknown causes. In these cases it is known that the planes were deliberately crashed. Settings of control surfaces, engine speed, aircraft speed and direction of flight are not that useful since some of the the planes were filmed and pretty much is known (at least in three cases) of how the planes crashed.

Cockpit voice recorders may be of some greater importance and I guess the exact contents (from the ones found) won't be released that quickly. Even so, these are records of a crime not a record of two pilots struggling to cope with mechanical failure.

The fact that not much has been released and that the "black boxes" have not been found at the WTC site should not be seen as a cover-up...at least not in my opinion.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

21

I Got a Witness Today. Yep.

by Farkel in

jw
friends

this morning i walked over to a 7/ll to get a cup of coffee.

as i was leaving, i was approached by this very timid asian fellow.

he wasn't in a suit.

Thirdson

Farkel,

: That cheap bastard gave me a four-year-old-mag! It's all probably "old light" by now. Dammit!

Not a very effective ministry if it takes this guy four years to place a pair of mags. My supplier (the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport JW desk) has magazines only a few months old. (I wonder if they will be allowed to keep their desk now that tighter security is in place?)

How’s this for an idea? The WTS could publish the mags on super-rapid-bio-degradable paper. They could sell themselves as Earth-friendly as the mags would be dust in a couple of years. Better still, old light would blow away in the wind. Little, timid JWs would have the choice of selling bags of happy dust or new magazines.

Regards,

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

7

king of the north?

by Lolieworm in

jw
friends

i haven't been to a meeting in 2 years so i don't know if this is right.. i was wondering if the us after these terrible attacks can be identified as the king of the north in daniel?

or has that already been identified?.

laurie

Thirdson

I think it is wishful thinking that China may become the "king of the North." The problem compared to the Soviet Union is China's ranking as a trading partner with the US. China is the second biggest trading partner and the number one country in terms of trade deficit.

China needs the US as much as the US needs China's cheap goods. You don't go to war with your best customer!

Of course the Kings of North and South pertain only to Biblical times and it is a real stretch jumping 2000 years in a verse or less. But then again, since this doesn't worry the WTS writers then I suppose switching the US from king of South to King of North could be accomplished. (The northern governments of the US and Britain became the "South" in the first place because Britain once held Egypt).

Who knows, if the WTS is still around in 2025 (headquartered in Brazil maybe) all the kings will have lost their crowns and new ones will be in fashion?

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

17

WT says Don't look or hear news

by Patriot in

jw
friends

i just got this from a witness who i bumped into yesterday.

she is very disturbed by this announcement the congo.

got on friday at their service meeting:.

Thirdson

Partiot,

The org also says don't watch "R" rated movies and videos as well since this is part of the corrupt world of Satan. Huge numbers of JWs ignore that directive. I can't imagine many JWs heeding the call not to watch the news...its on all TV channels and since everyone is talking about the events I doubt many could stand not to watch.

I echo Individual's wife's sentiments and gratitude. You have my support and admiration.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

38

Need help locating WT destroying U.S.Buildings

by Tallyman in

jw
friends

i am in need of references to watchtower publications that contain images.

of united states government buildings, especially the white house-.

depicted as being violently destroyed by the watchtower society.. i have much of the wt literature pre-1992, and a bit of the post-1992 stuff,.

Thirdson

Tallyman,

In addition to your request for pictures these thoughts and images are published on the official WTS website. I hope they won’t use these sentiments regarding the hundreds of New York firefighters and police officers killed rescuing people

At Mount Fugen, over a dozen policemen and volunteer firemen were on duty when the superheated volcanic flow hit them. They were trying to help and protect endangered people. They were like well-meaning men and women who are immersed in improving this world. Lofty though their motives may be, "that which is made crooked cannot be made straight." (Ecclesiastes 1:15) The crooked system of things cannot be straightened out. Is it reasonable to make oneself "a friend of the world" by trying to save a worldwide system that God is determined to eliminate?
From Watchtower.org at this URL:
( http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2000/2/15/article_02.htm

More pictures on this site

More happy people at seeing destruction
(How We Know We Are in "the Last Days")

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

28

``Quality Time'' in Field Service: Fact or Fiction

by Room 215 in

jw
friends

based on comments in various threads, it seems that many of you are acquainted with the various ``dodges'' jws use to strech out their field service time: foot-dragging, driving around on return visits from one far-flung end of the territory to the other, the skilful avoidance of contact with housholders, coffee breaks, etc.

etc.. do you have any impression of how pervasive these time-wasting such practices are, and what proportion of the time reported by jws is actually bogus and not spent productively?

or, put another way, how rare is is to encounter who just loves to go out and who uses his/her time efficiently from beginning to end?.

Thirdson

This is all true. I knew a handful of JWs who were enthusiastic about the FS. The "Pioneer Shuffle" in the UK area I lived in was termed the the "Pioneer Plod". Much of UK door-to-door work in cities and large towns is done on foot. We'd meet for FS at a home and then walk to the territory. We'd approach someone on the street as soon as possible with a mag to get an immediate "No", start the clock and then walk for 30 minutes to start the real "work". With leaving to do "return visits" after half an hour you spend the next 2 hours walking all over the neighborhood.

This is an effective ministry. Meet 3 people in first hour and manage one 30 second presentation of the latest mags. Then engage in return visit activity for next hour and find one person home who says there not interested in any more mags. The result, you feel good because you did it, you looked good because you set the lead and can have "freedom of speech" when bragging about the FS at Service Meetings.

The FS serves little purpose as an education tool. The WTS makes lots of money because "publishers" buy the magazines. Most of the magazines are not placed but end up as trash. Those that are placed likely become immediate trash because the householder took them to be polite. Ordinary congregation members keep doing it because this is how they are controlled.

A billion hours a year are spent like this. What a colossal waste of time.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

24

Watchtower charities and nonprofit organizations

by Kent in

jw
friends

i followed the link on the "support freedom" banner, and checked out "guidestar".

http://www.guidestar.org.

a search for "watchtower", naturally came up with their "charitable" work, and it's really impressive!.

Thirdson

Maybe they should correct their official website main page ( http://www.watchtower.org
to be something like this
Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'