RR,
Yes, I remember you and your informative posts. Witnet was a great place to start.
tms
Posts by TMS
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35Witnet closes its Door for good...
by Pathofthorns inkind of a sad but inevitable end to a special and unique place on the net.
free speech is severely limited in the truth, and the wide range of opinion and viewpoint between the old school and the new school i'm sure made operating such a site a challenge.. for me the most facinating thing was the way one could see thinking troubled witnesses contrasted with the ones who were the mindless products of an organization.
i think it was a valuable window into the worldwide picture of what is happening today in the religion.. the site was helpful to me, and for that it holds a special place with me.
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11
Firpo Carr said Michael Jackson wanted kids raised as Jehovah's Witnesses
by Dogpatch inbut how long ago did this happen?.
randy.
see end of my article at:.
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TMS
I listened to Firpo's comments. He's repeated the story at least twice. He carefully sets it up as a private conversation between him and Michael. He gives a lot of believable detail, but the actual story doesn't ring true. Why would Michael Jackson be concerned about his children studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses at some time in the indeterminate future when they could have done so anytime. I got the impression that the nanny was a JW also, so a "study" would have been easy to arrange if desired.
tms
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124
How many here have worked in social work, etc. & DON'T think MJ was a molester?
by avishai ini mean, c'mon, people.
seriously, i admire those who want to think the best.
but the guy had just about every red flag/indicator you can have.
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TMS
I'm not convinced Jackson was a sexual predator.
I've known three child molesters personally and observed others. My father was a child molester. When I was in my early twenties I replaced a Congregation Servant or Overseer who was a child molester. Later in life I closely observed a JW elder who cleverly hid his molestations for a number of years. All three men had voracious sex drives and to varying extents bully personalities. Before you rush to describe these observations as stereotypical, let me just say that I'm just sharing my personal life experience.
Little about Michael Jackson seems normal. Does the phrase "arrested development" fit? Do you think he can function sexually? Without being too graphic, do you think he's capable of providing sperm for insemination? Recently a story aired about a sixteen year old girl who never developed beyond infancy. I view Jackson somewhat similarly as not developing psychologically, mentally beyond preteen. I've never heard him say anything that couldn't have been said by a twelve year old.
Jackson made an inexcusably stupid statement about sharing a bed with his friends and evidently shared wine with underage visitors. That circumstantial evidence alone would be enough for a judicial committee of Jehovah's Witnesses. But it's not enough for me. I'm not certain about this.
tms
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35
Witnet closes its Door for good...
by Pathofthorns inkind of a sad but inevitable end to a special and unique place on the net.
free speech is severely limited in the truth, and the wide range of opinion and viewpoint between the old school and the new school i'm sure made operating such a site a challenge.. for me the most facinating thing was the way one could see thinking troubled witnesses contrasted with the ones who were the mindless products of an organization.
i think it was a valuable window into the worldwide picture of what is happening today in the religion.. the site was helpful to me, and for that it holds a special place with me.
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TMS
A current thread asks how long posters have been in the forum. I found the first thread I posted to after leaving Witnet. My recollection is that Witnet started out pro-JW and sort of evolved. I carried my obviously theocratic handle "tms" over into JWD to retain continuity.
tms
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TMS
It was just a SIGN.
M
just what I was lookin' for
tms
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TMS
"a bottle of milk with two inches of cream on top"
NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
M
Well, I was never comfortable with the cream even back in those days. I always waited until the bottle was half empty. A group of old single men who had been Russellites ran an unofficial dairy in the rurals near Kent. Only one of them attended the Kingdom Hall but many of the "friends' bought their milk. When I left home at 16 they let me park my old Spartan trailer on their property which I can only describe as a golf course without the holes, just beautiful.
The old men were really throwbacks with long beards and old ways. They boiled coffee on the stove and made flapjacks every morning. They saved Joe and I a stack with two fried duck eggs on top. If we left without breakfast they fed the stack to the dogs. So that was always their big joke in the morning: "Would you like some of the dogs hotcakes?"
tms
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TMS
the fern that becomes a perfect spear when thrown, even sticking into the ground
the strangely warm chinook winds in winter
thimbleberries, gooseberries, huckleberries, blackcaps
mushrooms and trilliums on the woods floor
the Seattle Rainiers
the Huskies going to the Rose Bowl. . Bob Schlorett, Bob Hivner, Don McKeta
Stan Boreson and Nomo
Henry Ford Grade School in Renton
the Roxy and the Renton Theatres
cold Lake Meridian
manic-depressive George Pringle, charismatic Joe Barnett, outdoorsman Charlie Maxwell
hearing Dylan's "Positively 4th Street" on KJR in '65
always the mountain
loving the fragrance of cedar while chopping kindling
dribbling around the puddles playing basketball
stinging nettles
rocky ground
pretending I was Chingachgook of the "Last of the Mohicans"
the Seattle World's Fair
cold waves, sand dollars Hoquiam, Aberdeen
the Gold Cup, Muncie, Alleson engines
Boeing
Shaw Drugs in Renton
Cedar River, Maple Valley, Covington, Kent
going to Black Diamond to get coal with my grandfather
ice cold tap water
a bottle of milk with two inches of cream on top
WWII barracks as rental housing
visiting my folks in ghost town Selleck after my dad got sick
my roommate and friend Joe Mallory
"Onward mighty Kent-Meridian"
"smart guy" JW outcast
the straits of Juan de Fuca
model A's, T's, Marmons in the woods with little rust
Lake Sawyer lots for $100, ten down, ten a month
doing janitorial out of George's '47 Dodge with fluid drive, no back seat
congregation picnics with horseshoes, badmitton, swimming
neighbor playing for the San Francisco Seals
nickel ice cream cones, Gene Autrey, Hopalong Cassidy, 4 inch screens
western music
not thinking about any of this for many yearstms
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25
Chevron Food Mart
by asilentone ini just won $5 chevron gift card recently.
i have never went to chevron food mart before, what kind of foods do they have?
do they have sandwiches, etc....?
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TMS
I should know this. A group of bikers have learned how to mix common junk food ingredients found at the Chevron Food Mart and create gourmet meals. Everything is either microwaved or warmed in the bike's manifold. Some of the ingredients I recall: Cheese Whiz, Vienna sausage, catsup, tortilla chips, Wolf Brand chili, tabasco sauce.
tms
ps. . You might want to purchase some Pepto Bismol if you have any money left
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28
I was counciled for putting in Pioneer hours and not officially "Pioneering"
by RubaDub ini didn't want to hijack the thread about people having to "wait" until the society approves their pioneer status.. i recall once an elder was shocked that i had done the 60 hours a couple of months but not officially on the pioneer list for the months.
i told him that i didn't need the title, that the purpose was to do the work, not get a title.. i then heard a long lecture about how that was not encouraging to others, etc, etc, etc.. he got rather annoyed when i asked him what the purpose of the preaching work is.
of course he said to spread the good news.
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TMS
I will limit myself to one account, but I know of several unrecognized, unofficial pioneers.
In a small town in Arkansas a man I will call "Jerry" became a JW. Jerry was a WWII veteran, a war hero who came home from the war with a shot-up right arm. His right arm was just useful enough to hold a board in place or a cue stick. He built his home, managed his farm, fed his animals, drove his truck left-handed.
Although JW's were not liked in this town, Jerry was. When we were builidng the Kingdom Hall, all you had to do was mention his name and a truckload of lumber and supplies was on its way from the building supply company. I recall once one of the elders wanted to see an invoice. The driver said: "I need Jerry's signature."
In field service, Jerry was usually warmly received and invited in. His humble, self-effacing manner and reputation in the community caused many to agree to bible studies, subscriptions, literature placements that they would not have accepted from just anyone. Jerry's wife was a nominal JW who worked in the local diner, not out of necessity but out of pure work ethic and to some extent to keep the pressure to pioneer at bay.
The ultimate plan was for Jerry's teenage daughter to eventually become a pioneer on graduation. Actually she and Jerry planned to submit their applications at the same time. During the daughter's senior year in high school she and a boy from another congregation engaged in what the Watchtower calls petting. I can only tell you, this was the most innocent form of this transgression imaginable, actually just a touch. But it bothered her conscience and she confided in one of the elders. Immediately a judicial committee was formed. The daughter was found to be "repentant" and given private reproof, but this disqualified her from pioneering.
Jerry decided not to submit his application either but nevertheless to fulfill the commitment he had made in his heart. He and his daughter made pioneer hours(100 a month) for three years before she eventually married and started a family.
This may sound morbid, but I used to keep up with Arkansas obituaries. When I saw Jerry's about 13 years ago, I got a funny feeling because I knew it was in his will for me to give the funeral talk. But I was no longer a JW and no one had my phone number. Within three months I read his wife's obituary.
tms
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42
Witnessing =Dirty Householders/bible studies yuck remember??
by Witness 007 inwe had a bible study women who collected all the qaurter left bottles of coke and would "recycle" them into one bottle.
a couple we studied with would give us coffee with lipstick on the cup after removing the cigrette buts and a quick rinse!
a study gave me a glass of water which was brownish looking....tasted awful.
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TMS
I used to hold my newborn while sitting in a recliner near an open window as my wife "studied" with Brenda H. Brenda's three preschoolers were not potty trained. Excrement was smeared on the walls. Super roaches battled for food items, sometimes in a tug of war over a large morsel.
One week my recliner was thrown out into the yard. Brenda explained that it had a rat's nest in it.
I tended to my son in the car after that during Brenda's studies.
tms
ps: My wife was always big on teaching some of these folks how to clean, especially if they were advancing in their study. One young lady had inherited a wreck of a house from her grandmother. Grandma dipped and chewed and lived in filth for seventy-five years. My wife volunteered our services to bring the house to livibility, if possible. Several weekends we cleaned, painted, made minor repairs. We made a bonfire of most of the furniture and helped the lady find good, clean, used furniture in the antique and second-hand stores.