TerryWalstrom

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Posts by TerryWalstrom

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  9

  "Daddy, is the the scale model of the new UK Bethel?"

  by Fay Dehr in

  1. social
  2. humour

  .

  ...are we having financial issues watchtower?.

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  TerryWalstrom

  CONTROL +++ to enlarge the image
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  3

  Okay Terry - you and your 197-page book!

  by Zoos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my copy of i wept by the rivers of babylon just arrived last night and as i was thumbing through just reading snippets i landed on the final page, the the end page... page 197.. .

  and what do you have to say for yourself young man?

  can't wait to dive into it this evening..

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  TerryWalstrom

  The first and last page are blank traditionally for inscriptions and notes.
  The book was designed to allow old people (like me) to be able to read it without the aid of eyeglasses. I doubt any young person would bother. Those were different times and JW's were for all practical purposes a different religion back then.
  
  
  
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  25

  How to deal with struggling with the doctrines

  by Dval in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is my first post.

  i'm still a jw but am inactive.

  im struggling with the fact that i agree with some of the doctrines (i,e, the stance on the trinity, there is no hell) but i disagree with a lot of things (i,e, men can't have beards, women have to wear skirts).

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  TerryWalstrom

  Life is analogous with freeway driving.
  The Bible is like the Driver's handbook.
  Being cautious, alert, courteous, and using common sense
  will go a long way toward making your trip a safe one.
  BUT...
  arguing over the details with a passenger in the back seat can be
  distracting, unpleasant, dangerous, and ultimately fatal.
  The Watchtower is like a backseat driver continually prodding, demanding,
  mind-changing, and irrepressibly insisting you simply follow their directions.
  
  Your life is YOUR life.
  There's no such thing as arriving safely at your destination because we all die eventually.
  The moral of the story? Make your drive the most pleasant journey possible.
  Choose your passengers with utmost care.
  Don't be shy about pulling over and kicking annoying distractions out of your vehicle.
  Let the Watchtower take the bus.
  
  
  
• 
  138

  LEAKED: WHQ Accounts: 2016-2020 Budget

  by Fay Dehr in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Running an Organization filled to the brim with VOLUNTEERS is expense?
  Nope.
  Filling an Organization with costly lawyers, fighting court battles, paying ongoing fines for failure to comply--THIS is costly.
• 
  1

  “Don’t read it, you moron!”

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “don’t read it, you moron!”when i was 11 years old, i was sitting at my desk in homeroom class when the student on my left, gregory, tapped me on my shoulder.

  he held a folded note in his hand and was gesturing for me to take it.

  he leaned toward my desk and whispered barely loud enough for me to hear, “pass this note to robbie.” robbie was the girl sitting on my right.. i took the note, unfolded it and read it just as gregory punched my arm.

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  TerryWalstrom

  “Don’t read it, you moron!”
  
  When I was 11 years old, I was sitting at my desk in homeroom class when the student on my left, Gregory, tapped me on my shoulder. He held a folded note in his hand and was gesturing for me to take it. He leaned toward my desk and whispered barely loud enough for me to hear, “Pass this note to Robbie.”
  
  Robbie was the girl sitting on my right.

  I took the note, unfolded it and read it just as Gregory punched my arm.
  A shout-whisper came along with the fist, “Don’t read it, you moron!”
  
  

  I sneakily picked up my pencil and scribbled one word of my own and passed the note to Robbie.

  
  

  You see, I had a crush on Robbie and so did Gregory Bunn.
  His note had read, “I really like you.” He signed it, “Greg”.

  
  

  I was more or less more interested in outcome; the end justifying the means.

  
  

  His 4 word message was there in the note: “I. . . really . . .like . . .you.”
  It was 100% transmitted.
  Each of his words had been 25% of the total meaning.
  I barely contributed an additional 20%.
  I had added the word “don’t” making it read, “I really don’t like you.”

  
  

  Imagine the conversation which followed.

  “Did you give her the note?”

  “Yes.”

  “Were all my words there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome!”

  ______________________

  
  

  Acting as an agent is tricky business when you have your own agenda. _____________________
  
  

  Now watch as I segue from one intended communication to a more important one...

  
  

  The so-called Faithful and Discreet Slave has claimed to be Jehovah’s agent
  since the time of Pastor Russell.
  
  

  “Did you deliver my message?” Jehovah might well ask.

  “Yep, you bet--sure did!” Replies the Governing Body

  “Did you deliver it intact?” Jehovah further inquires.

  “Every word was there!” The over-eager GB answers discreetly.

  ____________________

  An indiscreet and unfaithful agent acting on behalf of the employer can create liability ruining the reputation and good standing of that employer.

  It only takes one careless chef to destroy a restaurant business.
  
  

  Question: Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses excuse the FDS for poisoning millions of people around the world who eat the “Food at the proper time?”
  It is Jehovah who is damaged and the “agents” get off without accountability.
  They never take the blame!

  JEHOVAH gets a diminished reputation and the rank and file members going door to door are stuck handling the blowback and collateral damage.

  The fact of the matter is clear. If the GB were FAITHFUL their predictions and interpretations would never err. If the GB were DISCREET they'd never cover up when caught out making False Prophecy. If the 'food' they dispense was "AT THE PROPER TIME" we have to ask how it is they end up publishing so many worthless prophetic fulfillments which remain empty and untimely? So, in view of this analysis, what should we recommend to a householder offered a publication from the Watchtower Organization? "DON'T READ IT, YOU MORON!"
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  46

  Season 1 Episode 1 A&E Cults and Extreme Belief (Video)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://www.aetv.com/shows/cults-and-extreme-belief/season-1it will post soon on site..

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  TerryWalstrom

  I sometimes play chess with a fellow who's girlfriend is a JW.
  I suggested he watch the A&E with her and that he gauge her honest response.
  Would her sympathy be for abused children or would her automatic reflex be to
  defend and deny on behalf of the abuser organization?
  
  I also suggested a phrase to use when the time was right.
  He should suggest she investigate and if she refused to check anyplace other than the official Watchtower communication lines, he should say:
  "Would you ask O.J. if he is guilty and let it go at that?"
  Well, apparently he pulled it off.
  He called me yesterday.
  "She hit the ceiling and kept demanding we watch something else. I had to to say the O.J. thing to her almost immediately."
  I asked what she replied.
  "Nothing. She just kind of froze and sat still through the whole thing."
  I asked if she ever said a word and he told me she changed the subject.
  
  Wow!
  AT LEAST she watched. Seed planted.
• 

  How My Mind Formed, Vanished, Rebuilt

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how my mind formed, vanished, rebuilt_____.

  as a kid i walked everywhere.point a to point b, one step at a time.. the body is engaged and the mind is free.free to think.i took my "mind" with me on my walk as a 'companion’ coordinating the physical exertion with the mental exertion.. fresh air, the scent of grass with frying eggs and bacon mixed in the air.a thousand natural sounds of life became stimulus---the actual world.

  reality.. i thought up games and challenges.i loved tongue twisters such as:"the silent sea ceaseth, and thus sufficeth us.

• 

  TerryWalstrom

  HOW MY MIND FORMED, VANISHED, REBUILT
  _____

  As a kid I walked everywhere.
  Point A to point B, one step at a time.

  The body is engaged and the mind is free.
  FREE TO THINK.
  I took my "mind" with me on my walk as a 'companion’ coordinating the physical exertion with the mental exertion.

  Fresh air, the scent of grass with frying eggs and bacon mixed in the air.
  A thousand natural sounds of life became stimulus---the actual world. Reality.

  I thought up games and challenges.
  I loved tongue twisters such as:
  "The Silent Sea ceaseth, and thus sufficeth us."
  Or, "The sixth Sheik's sixth sheep is sick."
  "Rubber baby buggy bumper."
  If I could enunciate precisely while speaking quickly I could articulate confidently.

  I took 3X5 cards with historical dates and figures. I memorized them as I walked along.
  Muhammed: 570-632 A.D
  Battle of Thermopylae: 480 B.C.
  Sinking of Titanic: 1912 and so on.
  A Sense of History was developing. Who and what came first, next, and afterward.

  On my 3X5 cards I printed Vocabulary Words.
  16 per day.
  EFFULGENT
  BELLICOSE
  MAUDLIN
  Etc. I learned the Latin and Greek root words as hints.

  A mail order memory course enabled me to create long lists in my head which could remain firmly in place.
  I recited long passages of Poetry.

  Then, a kind of Zen exercise of SIMPLY EXISTING without thinking.
  It is the ON/OFF switch. It came in handy later on.
  "MIND" as a machine, a tool, a gizmo I needed to learn how to operate...self-operate...skillfully.

  I was tall and thin and easily targeted by bullies at school.
  I couldn't understand my exclusion and it hurt me deeply. I sought comfort and refuge on my INTERIOR.
  As an only child I discovered how to self-entertain.
  All I need is me.
  But I grew lonely.
  I met a Friend who was in a religious cult. How do you suppose this will impact my MIND?

  In Jehovah's Witnesses, there was a place for my MIND.
  All I had to do was apply my efforts and I'd be on the side of Goodness and Rightness!

  I made friends. I received direction on what was “important” and how to meet strangers and shake hands and look people in the eyes.
  I learned how to organize sermons and stand before a crowd and speak persuasively.
  I was encouraged to SACRIFICE my youth to my Gawd.

  I went to prison ....voluntarily...to please my Deity and "Christian family".

  What is a crucible? It is a place to be broken--UNmade--and reformed.
  I was pounded into tiny pieces and intermixed with strangeness, vileness, and pain.
  I came out the other side shattered on the inside...but CALM and COMPOSED on the surface.

  The Old Me was buried without a funeral. A New me arose.

  I did as I was told, worked hard at it. Learned doctrine. Kept track of hours spent preaching, reciting god-words to strangers.
  I longed to be NORMAL. What did NORMAL people do?
  I got married, fathered children, worked at meaningless jobs.

  And then...it all fermented.

  I exploded into dust. I came apart. The Old Me and the New Me unshackled.
  I WANTED MY MIND BACK.
  I planned the escape carefully.

  I moved my family far, far away from cult influences.
  I secured a job--a creative career... in Art.
  I made new friends...(GENUINE FRIENDS) and started life all over again.

  Trial and Error. Many mistakes. Much pain.
  WHY do we exist? (Fill in your new answer)
  WHAT is my purpose? (Fill in your new answer)

  Listening is not the same as hearing.
  Seeing is not the same as observing.
  Blurting is not the same as articulating.

  How I formed my mind was by learning to feed it, cultivate it as one cultivates a garden.
  Then I surrendered it. Lost. Got it back again.

  AM I THE SAME BOY who walked and smelled flowers and bacon?
  Am I less? More?
  
  Think of A WALL made of BRICKS. If we replace one brick at a time until none of the old bricks remain--is it THE SAME WALL?
  
  In our body and brain, we replace our constituent parts each year. Our "bricks" aren't the same.
  
  This I what I believe. We B-E-C-O-M-E who we are. Never the same moment to moment.
  Consciousness is like the weather; wafts of winds,in constant flux and subject to every distant influence no matter how small.
  MIND is a peculiar illusion we bag and tag and label.

  WE CANNOT understand or know who we really are because we are changing while insisting we’re the same.
  Confusing? Yeah. No choice but to “Suck it up and deal.”
  My opinion?
  I am my writing. I'm in my children. I'm in my Art.
  What we create and leave behind is ultimately who we are.
  These words are my thoughts.
  When I die, if the words exist anyplace at all--then I AM THERE.
  Now, go back to your day and it’s thousands of little wafts.
  Become, become, become who you are.
  Above all: THINK!

  ________
  
  
• 
  76

  Posters You Miss

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone that you miss from this site, dead or alive??.

  i miss farkel, blondie and a host of others!.

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  TerryWalstrom

  
  Alan F (Alan Feuerbacher) retired to Colorado and continues to write.
  An inactive activist, he's been toying with the writing of either a long article or a book on the topic of 607 BC as what might be construed as an "update" of Carl Olof Jonsson's opus. Barbara Anderson has invited him more than once to publish the material amassed so far. It would appear he's not in any hurry to complete the research and writing at this point.
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  46

  Season 1 Episode 1 A&E Cults and Extreme Belief (Video)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://www.aetv.com/shows/cults-and-extreme-belief/season-1it will post soon on site..

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  TerryWalstrom

  Without proper permission to show a non-public person's identity, a legal problem could arise. (Not that the Watchtower would ever sink so low...:)

  I think scratching out the faces created a disturbing sensibility, like a Japanese horror movie.
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  10

  News from Australia: Tasmania Anglicans to sell property for redress

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/tas-anglicans-to-sell-property-for-redress/news-story/f56eb0caabc16212229c3b0d6d940e3c.

  tas anglicans to sell property for redress.

  survivors of child sexual abuse in tasmania will get a payout after the anglican diocese announced the sale of more than 120 churches, halls and houses.. kaitlyn offer - australian associated press april 22, 2018 2:30pm.

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  TerryWalstrom

  The parishioners who DONATED the land and property to the church are not exactly thrilled at this. The intention of a donor is thwarted by converting to cash.
  Not all the money will be used for victims of abuse either. The donated land is a kind of get-of-trouble-easy solution if you stop and think about the details.
  
  The Watchtower will go down with the ship before they'll stop fighting. Why? Because their Self-Belief is absolute.