Posts by TerryWalstrom

47

The 1975 Generation---are they still around?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i was raised as a jw and 1975 expectations were pretty intense.

as i recall, most people did not leave after the failed expectations but many s l o w e d down.

now, i think most of the 1975 witnesses are gone or barely in.. is the older generation still around in the kingdom halls or are they much gone?.

TerryWalstrom

1975 wasn't a thing. It was THE ONLY THING.

Have you ever stood and waited for a kettle to boil?

That was what being a JW was like BEFORE the rumors began.

What rumors?

Didn't you hear--the Society says 1975 is the END of human existence.

Wuh-what?

______

Jehovah's Witnesses live inside their mind. There is no life outside their imagination. It is a bleak existence in the best of times.

So, what does a Dub do to make life more interesting? They gossip and swap fictional stories purported to be actual life events.

You've heard those stories about demons, right? Everybody had one to tell. Most of them were lying their asses off, too.

So, when that perky little 1975 date popped up like nipples in an air-conditioned nightclub, there was a mating of kerosene and matches all round.

Purpose loomed large in our lives!

Imagine standing on that beach when the water rolled back out to sea leaving flopping fish and dry sand the day the world's most terrifying Tsunami made its way toward land--those 1720 feet waves don't look so big way-way out at sea at first--but Baby, they come on faster and faster!

The Jehovah's Witness religion became an echo chamber of self-amplifying madness. The boys (old geezers) in Bethel looked out on the horizon and saw what their little earthquake had wrought--and what a surprise it must have been!

They caught the fever. . . from themselves. . . fed back in a loop like side-stream smoke from a nasty cigar.

It was like two old Fuddy Duddy seniors engaging in sex talk. At first, it's just a reflex. Gradually, something takes over. The heart beats faster and the skin reddens with an erotic flush of anticipations of something so desperately desirable!

Little by little, there is touching and kissing and disgusting sounds too awful to mention--right up until the horny old fossils land in the big brass bed and tear off each others girdle and suspenders revealing . . . .

Wrinkles and a flabby dick.

That is what 1975 really was: wrinkles and a flabby dick.

After all that hot and heavy, breathless sex talk--it was a dreadful silence of embarrassment.

In fact, it was so dispiriting. . . nobody really wanted to discuss what had gone wrong. What is worse than a flabby dick and wrinkles?

Teacher! Teacher! I know--I know!

Being a JW in 1976 and ever afterward.

THAT was worse.

__________________

17

A QUICK STORY for you

by TerryWalstrom in

gallery memoriesit was 1982.. california summer.. the entrance of creative galleries.. the limousine arrived and she emerged.. there is a word i’ve been saving for the sort of story i’m about to tell you.

she debouched from the limo.

(she deserves a special word.).

TerryWalstrom

GALLERY MEMORIES

It was 1982.

California summer.

The entrance of Creative Galleries.

The limousine arrived and she emerged.

There is a word I’ve been saving for the sort of story I’m about to tell you.

She debouched from the limo. (She deserves a special word.)

Instantly I recognized her. Who wouldn’t? (Maybe you wouldn’t.)

I’m older than you and I’ve lived a helluva life. I’ve seen things.

Her real name was Norma Egstrom, the seventh of eight kids born to Norwegian and Swedish parents. I know you don’t care about that but you need to know.

She had a rough childhood.

Her mom died when Norma was four. Her dad was an alcoholic.

He remarried and the new mom hated her guts. Such a bend in the road can make you stronger and more serious about the rest of your life if you’re Norma.

Well, by now you’re wondering who Norma is. Or rather--who did she become?

She was a slinky blonde. She was a singer, an actress, a songwriter, a poet and she would become famous. Fame is like that one perfect summer day that arrived and departed which you can never forget. Fame colors everything else.

For Norma, fame was selling a million records again and again. Fame was receiving twelve Grammy nominations and winning twice. Fame was getting an Academy Award nomination, or finding a place in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

Fame is also the memoir of an amnesiac.

When Norma died, the Academy left her out of their tribute at the Oscars. When I tell my story you’ll scratch your head and not remember her. That’s fame too.

Oh but wait--I’m not going to let that happen. Today, you are going to hear about Norma in this itty bitty story and I’m going to link one of her songs which really cuts me up when I listen to it and the message it spells.

You see, Norma was special and I insist you spare a moment to appreciate her. Norma became Peggy Lee.

Peggy Lee was discovered by bandleader Benny Goodman. She traveled with his band and recorded her million selling hit, “Why Don’t You Do Right?” She sang in two movies and really looked swell up there on the big screen. Easy on the eyes.
Peggy fell in love with the guitarist in the band. Benny fired him. Peggy quit. For love she walked out. Love meant something to a little girl from a cold, heartless family. She would make the most of it. She’d be a real mom and wife--not the other kind.

"I fell in love with David Barbour," she recalled. "But 'Why Don't You Do Right' was such a giant hit that I kept getting offers and kept turning them down. And at that time it was a lot of money. But it really didn't matter to me at all. I was very happy. All I wanted was to have a family and cling to the children [daughter Nicki]. Well, they kept talking to me and finally David joined them and said 'You really have too much talent to stay at home and someday you might regret it.' She continued to record and had another million selling hit. "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)"

________

The day Norma walked in the entrance to Creative Galleries I smiled and found myself saying out loud, “Peggy Lee, come inside and rest your weary frame of mind.” She actually smiled. We connected.

By the time I met Peggy Lee, she was 62 and her health had betrayed her. She was heavy now and she dressed all in black from the top of her head to the souls of her shoes. I think she felt she was unrecognizable--and what must that feel like? Imagine being beautiful and famous and having all that dissolve like a lump of sugar in a hot cup of tea.
But I had recognized her with a smile and a welcoming tune in my voice that was genuinely excited to see her and greet her.

The next fifteen minutes were wonderful.

I was all about ‘fanboy’ encyclopedic awareness. I knew the names, places, dates and particulars of her career in a respectful way. Not pushy. No gushing. Listen, I was a tall, good-looking 35 year old man paying Peggy Lee the kind of appreciation she deserved. Why wouldn’t she respond?
Right?
We covered it all, from cabbages to kings, in our cozy stroll through the gallery. I told her how much I loved the song she sang for the movie, “Johnny Guitar” and she nodded. “Nobody but you would ever remember that song” she laughed. Yeah, that’s probably true.
We talked about the voice-over work she did for Disney in LADY and the TRAMP. She truly enjoyed singing the Siamese cat song, “I AM SIAMESE, if you please”. Walt Disney, she told me, had a crush on her and even did a promo for his animated film by showing the rehearsal and dubbing session with Peggy Lee. She scrunched her face into a girlish little smile and said, “I gave Walt a kiss on his cheek and he almost fainted.”

It’s funny now--well, not ha-ha funny--but you know what I mean. Small moments in your life come and go in an instant of time and yet they linger, coloring your heart with a warm afterglow.
Peggy Lee had to go. She had an appointment with her doctor and she had wanted to get her mind off what he might tell her. She had barely noticed the gallery after she had rummaged through the Antique Guild across the narrow street outside. She had told her driver to pull up so she could go inside.

I was listening and nodding, not expecting what she said next.

“I told my driver I wanted to go in because I saw you standing just inside laughing at something and I needed to be around laughter that very moment.”
I confessed I was laughing at how long her limousine was--I’d never seen anything quite like it before.
She turned and stared at it for a few seconds and turned back.
“You see Honey, in this town nobody takes you serious if ya don’t take yourself serious.”

She gave a little wave and off she went. The long, sleek limo purred away and I stood long watching it vanish.

Peggy Lee lived another twenty years. She didn’t let go and never gave in to her diabetes and heart condition. She continued to perform in a wheelchair for the crowds who still paid to hear her sing.

And now I get to the reason I told you my little story. I wanted you to know what sort of life Peggy Lee had lived and what sort of person she really was. Why? I want you to listen to this song and understand it comes from deep inside a person who has REALLY LIVED and knows what life is all about.

Thanks for listening!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFe4nak-oM

_____________________________

42

DESTROYING the Governing Body’s claim of authority

by TerryWalstrom in

destroying the governing body’s claim of authority.

begin at the beginning.

what source authority did early christians have?.

TerryWalstrom

1919 seemingly 'updates' the Org concept.

JW's try to assert an unsupportable premise that Jehovah always works through an Organization.
What they don't stop to consider is how that premise reveals an embarrassing connection: Jehovah's organization in Israel was more often than not CORRUPT!

The 'corrections' Jehovah sent were outsiders, gadflies, Gentile kings, and nominal foes.

Apostates today could easily be seen to be Jehovah's way of "correcting" the corruption of today's version of his organization.

84

I COLLECT QUOTES. . . Here are some of my favorites

by Terry in

jw
friends

please post your favorites too.

my favorite quotations:.

you cannot change what you refuse to confront.. sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.. don’t think of cost.

TerryWalstrom

You guys are special. As in "special" olympics :)

8

From the Spirit Realm: Weird Interview: Russell and Rutherford

by TerryWalstrom in

russell: oh my yes!

russell: oh my no!.

russell: certainly.

TerryWalstrom

In the last hour, the temperature outside Starbucks has dropped from 97F to 93F as clouds elongate and compress, slinky yet sketchily about the blue Stephen King-ish dome of our planet.
I've been reading a Watchtower from 1900.

This religion is so-o-o-o-o not the same religion it once was. No improvements at all, as a matter of fact.

I'd love to have a conference in which Russell's followers, Rutherford's hardcore group, Knorr's (my) era, and subsequent JW's all convene and reveal what constitutes "Truth."
Surely there would be fisticuffs and bruises to be enjoyed by all.

37

Nobody at work knows what JWs believe

by Athanasius in

recently susie, one of my co-workers mentioned that her husband's family were all jws.

the family converted after susie's husband left home, so he never joined the jws, nor does he intend to.

anyway another co-worker asked her: "what do the jws believe?".

TerryWalstrom

In Pastor Russell's era, the loosely federated ecclesias who shared Russell's religious assertions were all about readying themselves as "Brides" and thus, the work was character building and promotion of END TIMES signaling.

Under Judge Rutherford, the federation of ecclesias became unified under a monolithic and tyrannical monarchy disguised as Theocracy.

The work consisted--NOT of preaching salvation--but of exonerating the brand name JEHOVAH and racking up Supreme Court wins as defenders of Free Speech and the Free practice of conscience. Rutherford, of course, would never allow a person of conscience within 5 miles of his throne.

Next, under Nathan Homer Knorr and his oracle, Fred Franz, the work was about organizing into a Corporate replica of normal religion and pumping up the volume on statistical conquests, placements, hours spent witnessing, attendance at Memorials, languages translated, etc.
After Knorr died, post apocalyptic 1975 ass-reaming--the Org turned into a nasty Inquisition-minded litmus test for Puritanical slavery, compliance, and mindless worship of the Golden Calf of JW.ORG.

Whatever they "used to be" is no more. It is only an after-image and not a reality.
The organization is a lean, mean litigious machine squeezing its assets for cash and placing its jackboots on the necks of every member as they choke out their oaths of Loyalty and "Sir, Yes sir--may I please have another?"

The Legal problems won't pull down the Tower, but one thing might.
The escape of all their young people.
The only patch they can sew on that torn garment is "child baptism."

221

Judge sanctions WTS - $4k per day penalty for not producing sex abuse documents

by Simon in

judge sanctions jehovah's witnesses.

imposes $4000-a-day penalty for not producing documents in sex-abuse case.

by dorian hargrove, june 24, 2016. a san diego superior court judge has ordered the church of jehovah's witnesses, also known as the watchtower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, to pay $4000 a day for every day that it fails to produce documents requested in a civil lawsuit brought by former parishioner, osbaldo padron, who claims a church elder sexually abused him when he was seven years old.. in a june 23 ruling, expected to be made final today, judge richard strauss admonished the church for willfully ignoring a court order to produce all documents associated with a 1997 body of elders letter that church leaders sent to parishes around the world in a quest to learn about sexual abuse of children by church leaders.. over the course of the past year, the watchtower society and its lawyers have fought hard to keep the letter confidential, claiming that turning over the documents would infringe on the privacy of those mentioned in the letter that were not associated with the case.. in march 2015, the church turned over a heavily redacted version of the letter.

TerryWalstrom

The restructuring of the Watch Tower organization always screamed : We are playing a game of Cover Your Ass.

The cut-outs are transparent to courts because criminals so often utilize the same shady strategies.

39

What happened to Marvin Schilmer and his Blog against the JW's?

by TerryWalstrom in

https://www.blogger.com/blogin.g?blogspoturl=https://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2013/07/complete-donation-what-happened.html.

TerryWalstrom

The beauty and simplicity of Shilmer's Blog is that he let the EVIDENCE speak for itself.

I was always filled with self-loathing at how easily and effectively he got his point across while I rely on a quadra-jillion words.

Brevity. Conciseness. Transparency. And photographic documentation!

39

What happened to Marvin Schilmer and his Blog against the JW's?

by TerryWalstrom in

https://www.blogger.com/blogin.g?blogspoturl=https://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2013/07/complete-donation-what-happened.html.

TerryWalstrom

I'd love to have as much as I can acquire of Marvin's superb assemblage of honest rebuttal to the assertions and malfeasance of the JW's.

8

From the Spirit Realm: Weird Interview: Russell and Rutherford

by TerryWalstrom in

russell: oh my yes!

russell: oh my no!.

russell: certainly.

TerryWalstrom

Weird POSTHUMOUS Interview with Russell and Rutherford

Q: How do you wish to be called? Is it Pastor or Doctor, or what?

Russell: For many years I served as a Pastor. I never darkened the doorway of an institution of theology to obtain certification in Christendom.

Rutherford: Call me Judge or Joe, as long as you call me for supper! ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Q: Very well. Pastor Russell and Judge Rutherford can you briefly describe your relationship?
Russell: We live on in the capacity of disembodied beings.

Rutherford: I'm serving in an executive capacity in heaven on the board, as it were.

Q: Board? Of what?

Rutherford: Board of Directors!

Russell: He only thinks he’s directing!

Rutherford: I DIRECT the preaching work and oversee the protocols of doctrinal dissemination.

Russell: He blusters and bullshits!

Rutherford: Shut yer pie hole, you old fossil.

Q: Have things changed for you since your demise and resurrection? I mean...as far as your mission in connection with Jehovah's Kingdom?

Russell: Oh my yes! So many things are clearer now than in my earthly state.

Rutherford: For instance: the first thing you discover in heaven is that God's name isn't JEHOVAH!

Q: Startling news for a Jehovah's Witness!

Russell: Not for me...I never was one; although I used "Jehovah" to reference deity.

Rutherford: At any rate....Jehovah is not the name our Lord prefers to be called. In fact, He despises the very use of it.

Q: What exactly IS the Lord's name?

Rutherford: He says it’s Jerry Randolph.

Russell: I too was shocked.

Q: How is this possible?

Rutherford: He says He can call himself anything He likes and He likes Jerry Randolph!

Russell: All those Jehovah's Witnesses drive him batty with their constant, “Jehovah this and Jehovah that--like they go out on double-dates together or some such.”

Q: So, can we assume Jehovah's Witnesses ARE God's ...um...Jerry's chosen people?

Russell: Oh my no!

Rutherford: They are on his shit-list!

Russell: Jerry mainly blames old Freddy Franz. Too much imagination in one little man--and no room left for actual facts!

Rutherford: And----look around heaven all you like; you won't find Freddy anywhere!!

Q: Oh! Should we assume he is...um...in another less appealing place?

Rutherford: Oh yes! He is in Detroit!

Russell: In a very small walkup apartment without central heat and air!

Q: Say whaaaat?
_______

Rutherford: That's right. He has been set the task of reading all of L.Ron Hubbard's writings and giving a report on them to the Big Guy in the sky.

Russell: Jerry is fascinated by Scientology! He hasn't made up His mind. He can't understand most of it....

Rutherford: ...but, He really likes Tom Cruise movies!

Q: Since you mention Scientology----exactly what IS the only true religion?

______

Russell: Oh, I asked Jerry that myself right off when I reached the spirit plane.

Rutherford: So did I!

Q: And......?

Russell: Jerry hasn't made up his mind. He’s sort of leaning toward the Magic 8 Ball.

Q: This is astounding! The Supreme Being doesn't KNOW which religion is true?

Russell: His Holiness, Mr.Randolph, insists He is not the SUPREME being. He thinks of Diana Ross as the Supreme being.

Rutherford: Imbecile! Jerry was making a play on words when He said that! Idiot!

Q: Um....this raises more questions, naturally....

Russell: Don't call me idiot, you buffoon.

Rutherford: Kiss my pucker, whisker boy!

Q: Gentlemen!! Gentlemen!!

Rutherford: We're NOT men anymore. I told you. We are spirits in a material world-don’t you listen to Sting?
_____

Q: All Right. Whatever you like. Can we move on? I'd like to know what purpose God, er uh, Jerry has for mankind. Can either of your give a detailed synopsis?

_____

Russell: Certainly. Jerry woke up in the middle of the universe in the middle of endless eternity and decided He existed. After that, He was really bored.

Rutherford: Yes. Who wouldn't be with all that time on His hands?

Russell: So, He decided to start a hobby or two to occupy Himself.

Rutherford: And, to cut to the chase, He has been improvising and experimenting ever since then!

Q: Fascinating!

Russell: He began toying with..the act of creating. . . using parts of Himself.

Rutherford: That is where his bosom companion came from that we used to think of as Logos.

Russell: Yes, but we were wrong, Joe--don't leave that out!

Rutherford: It was Freddy who was wrong. He wrote most of Watch tower material that didn't make any sense, you see.

Russell: Don't go scapegoating Franz, Judge. You approved of everything he wrote!

Rutherford: Hogwash! I had a magazine to fill. I needed SOMETHING to put in it; even the horse plop Freddy churned out.

Q: Excuse me---are you saying that God and His son are not part of a Trinity?

Rutherford: You can explain that one, Charlie.

Russell: Not much to explain, really, God is really bored. He suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. He switches back and forth all the time.

Q: Astonishing!

Rutherford: Worse than that. Tell him, Pastor!

Russell:Jerry can't really be regarded as "sane" in the same sense that you and I are sane.

Rutherford: Speak for yourself, Pastor!

Russell: I WAS speaking for myself! Anyway, Jerry gets depressed. His interaction with humanity is a lot like a young lad with toys.

Rutherford: Or dinosaurs! He was fascinated with strange concoctions for millions of years!

Russell: Yes. He came up imaginative and scarifying inventions. Finally, He ended up making them fight and eat each other.

Rutherford: Then--Jerry sent a huge asteroid to crash into Earth and He started all over.

Russell: Yes, with HUMANS!

Rutherford: He was maturing a bit. Humanity was a more refined game.

Russell: Hardly that!

Q: Are you saying God did not have the divine purpose temporarily thwarted by man's SIN??

Rutherford: You can think what you like. Jerry told me He was just making everything up as He went along.

Russell: Jerry use to love putting a good scare into primitive humans.

Rutherford: And impressing them with miracles and wonders!

Russell: Or getting really angry with them when they failed to play the game His way.

Rutherford: Oh boy--did He ever get angry!!

Q: Are you saying the Bible isn't true, not fully accurate?

Russell: The Bible is mainly man’s guesses, opinions and rumors.

Rutherford: Yes, unfortunately for the True Believers there isn't much substance there after all.

Q: Amazing!

Russell: Sigh. Yes, all those theology students may as well be partying it up.

Q: So then, there is no Hell either?

Rutherford: Oh YES there is! But, it isn't what humans think it is!

Q: Explain, please?

Russell: Hell is a continual seeking to make sense of who God is and what He wants mankind to do.

Rutherford: Yes, He seems to be sulking right now. He’d love to end it all, but since He can’t ever die--He craves the distractions and the company.

Russell: What the Judge fails to tell you is that Jerry sometimes will whisper "inspirations" into men's ears and convince them of this or that to start a new religion going and see what kind of marvellous ideas they come up with.

Rutherford: Like hiring scriptwriters for a movie.

Russell: I suppose you could say that.

Q: Such as?

Rutherford: He really liked what Muhammed did with some the ideas Jerry gave him. That fellow went out and conquered most of the world.

Russell: Joseph Smith was a favorite for awhile too, don't forget.

Rutherford: Not as much as you were, Pastor. Don't be modest!

Russell: Oh my---well, I suppose I should be straightforward and admit I was a favorite of His for awhile.

Rutherford: Not JUST you! He really liked my style too.....for awhile!

Q: Are you both saying that God.....er...Jerry has set into motion first one religion and then another and another all through history JUST TO OCCUPY HIS MIND???

Rutherford: I'd say that's pretty much it.

Russell: Yes, time is really nagging at Jerry. He is very sick of it!

Rutherford: Even tried to commit suicide back in the day.

Q: WHAAAT? WHEN?

Russell: You know the story---He got Himself crucified!

Rutherford: Tried every way He could to get Himself done in!

Russell: Just one aspect of Jerry's Multiple Personality Syndrome.

_____

Q: Explain, if you can.

Russell: Jerry is depressed and pretty unstable. He has done everything there is. He tires easily of the same old same old things.

Rutherford: That is true! He starts messing with what He has going. It confuses the hell out of people, animals and Earth itself!

Q: I just don't know what to make of this.....

____________

Russell: I'm surprised you didn't ask about Satan!

Q: OH! Yes, please tell me---is there a real devil?

Rutherford: Nobody knows for sure. Nobody has ever seen the devil. We only hear rumors from the angels that all is not as it seems.

Russell: Yes, most angels will not discuss Him-whose-name-must-not-be-mentioned without trembling.

Rutherford: My own opinion is that this is just another of Jerry's darker personality disorders at play.

Russell: Perhaps. It is difficult to surmise.
__________

Q: Have the two of you been involved in any SANE aspects of the Preaching work among the group Jehovah's Witnesses?

Russell: Yes, I write "New Light" doctrines and Joe changes them!

Rutherford: Ha ha ha ha---that's a good one. ha ha ha ha.

Q: Is that true?

Rutherford: Certainly not. Freddy is in charge of that.

Q: And Fred Franz is where?

Russell: Nobody knows. However--let me just tell you this one thing. . .whenever Freddy’s name is mentioned all the angels tremble.

___________
End of Interview

Terry Walstrom

__________________

For the peculiar Interview with Russell and Rutherford in the Spirit Realm:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SGD-bUsJTYPh8665Ln9Y5dMdOcgjBSAXqyQaQ85Ga0s/edit?usp=sharing

__________________________