TMS

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Posts by TMS

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  38

  Most Poorly Written JW Book

  by JW_Rogue in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so i was thinking the other day that the wt corp has produced thousands of books over the years.

  although the writers have changed the style is almost always the same.

  however, some books are just worse than others.

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  TMS

  Mankind's Search for God, c.'91, was pretty uneven. After touching briefly on a few religions, it quickly navigated into JW doctrine.

  In 1967 I noticed that the Awake! had an article "The Christian View of Rock n Roll" or something similar. I quickly ordered 100 extra copies, expecting some exhaustive probe into the background of the Beatles, Stones, Dylan, backward masking, druggery(remember that word?), but all I got was a lame two pagers saying almost nothing.

  Babylon the Great Has Fallen! God's Kingdom Rules, plagiarizing The Two Babylons was a cumbersome book study book, lengthy and requiring an additional question booklet. At that time there was no required number of pages to be covered each week. Some study groups blitzed through the material, leaving others hopelessly behind. Finally, we were told to skip over the first part of the book. Did we ever finish it? I don't recall.
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  26

  My Story "Act 2"

  by MarkofCane in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  “it has been said, 'time heals all wounds.

  ' i do not agree.

  the wounds remain.

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  TMS

  The facility, finesse, care and yes, luck, to successfully extricate a family unit from this high control association is a unique skill set. There is no instruction manual because there are simply too many variables, not to mention that the awareness, the need to depart, also comes gradually.

  Of course, if both spouses see reality at nearly the same time, fading or leaving becomes a coordinated effort. In my own case, reading a single chapter of CC online was enough for me to instinctively toss my 1956-96 "Watchtower" and "Awake!" volumes into the dumpster, up to that point my single most valued possession.
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  21

  looks like the org. stopped all the "leaks"

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  cedars site hasn't had anything new since september when the new mid week meeting was disclosed.

  wonder if the moles were caught.

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  TMS

  Well, it's been a fun ten years thanks to Watchtower dullness.
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  44

  The Watchtower's Most Heinious, Vile Crime

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i described myself recently as no longer angry.. that was a lie.. i am angry at the way jehovah's witnesses treat their most precious.

  endowment; their young, developing, stumbling, exasperating, questioning, experimenting, growing,.

  offspring.. at the very most urgent time in their young lives; when they need the.

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  TMS

  ho hum tms!
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  40

  Cut and Paste of "The List" by Prominent Bethelite of Previous Watchtower Predicted Dates

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  " {watchtower sep 1 1989 12}.

  " {tiah 240-1, also references in wr oct 1879 3941, tkic 84}.

  '" {zions watchtower mar 1880 repr 82}.

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  TMS

  It may be time to repost. Perhaps some "newly interested ones have not seen this. More than dates, some interesting views of radium, germs, "Negroes" getting white skin in the new system and other silly ideas.

  Personally, I knew about 1914, 1925, 1975, even 1874, but not all the other predicted dates.

  tms
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  39

  My Personal Proof That Elders Are Not Appointed by Holy Spirit

  by TMS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this topic is not about men living sinfully at the time of their appointment as elders.

  it is not about pedophile elders, although i've personally known three, two who were pedophiles at the time of their appointment by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.. first of all a quick summary of what jehovah's witnesses are taught about the appointment of elders and ministerial servants:.

  before the visit of the circuit overseer, the local elders meet to consider who, if any, among the local congregation they will recommend as elders or .

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  TMS

  another old thread
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  9

  Public or Group Prayer As A Weapon

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the sillier notions taught at km schools is the concept of "teaching through prayer.

  " the idea is that words supposedly directed to jehovah god through christ jesus are actually aimed at individuals who are in a position to say "amen" to the supplication.

  for example, in a judicial setting brother pompous opens the hearing in prayer: "dear jehovah, we ask your blessing on this arrangement.

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  TMS

  Almost no one could identify with this thread six years ago.
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  29

  The Retractable Dangling Carrot

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some scattered thoughts about the granting or denial of privileges of service as a control mechanism:.

  this method of persuasion involving reward or punishment is so deeply ingrained in watchtower function, it is second nature.

  although sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant, everyone from new bible study to traveling overseer is subconsciously aware of the possible limiting of his official opportunities to serve god and his brothers.. .

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  TMS

  Opening my mail sometime in the spring, my heart would pound seeing a letter from the Watchtower, knowing it was my district assembly speaking assignment. Ripping the letter open, I would quickly scan it to see if the part was something I could "sink my teeth into."

  These superfluous perks were not worth the time spent away from family for rehearsals, not to mention the elder duties needed to maintain the privilege, but that was not my mindset at the time.
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  29

  The Retractable Dangling Carrot

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some scattered thoughts about the granting or denial of privileges of service as a control mechanism:.

  this method of persuasion involving reward or punishment is so deeply ingrained in watchtower function, it is second nature.

  although sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant, everyone from new bible study to traveling overseer is subconsciously aware of the possible limiting of his official opportunities to serve god and his brothers.. .

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  TMS

  this thread from 14 years ago may or may not be relevant now
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  74

  Living Through the Brief Liberalization of Jehovah's Witnesses, Never Recovering

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the book crisis of conscience detailing the turbulence at bethel during the early to mid 70's, the transformation from autocratic rule to governance by committee or a body of men, many of us can speak to how that felt among the rank and file of the local congregations during those years.

  we learned new concepts based in large part to research done for the aid to bible understanding volume, then we were asked or coerced into unlearning those principles, going back to the old ways.

  some of us never readjusted, finding ourselves very different from our more hardline compadres.. the inertia for the changes that eventually were initiated in the congregations came from the discovery that the greek words episkopos and presbyteros were used biblically to refer to all qualified men in a congregation, not just one.

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  TMS

  a couple things. . . . . .This thread from three years ago came about as I finally understood why my last few years on the elder body were so problematic. My difficulty sprung from actually believing in the principles taught about the role of the conscience, the understanding of the word minister, "Rights or Duties, Which?", etc.

  As stated in the thread, reverting back to the old ways was not something taught. The pendulum simply swung. I recall raising the ire of fellow elders by using that exact phrase, "the pendulum has swung" when referring to the backtracking on the treatment of the disfellowshipped, the relative authority of the circuit overseer, etc. "No pendulum has swung," I recall a newer elder correcting me. "This is spirit direction."

  After 50 years in and now 20 years deprogramming, decompressing, detoxifying, it's obviously a process. At least the nightmares and angry wordfights in my sleep have dissipated. What I can share is that the most painful things in those memories were always things I didn't say or didn't express well enough.