i know its been awhile since i've been around, so i just wanted to drop in and let you know whats been going on with me.
it's been a long hard road since leaving the wts back in 06. some amazing things have happened in such a short period of time.
for much of the time i was full of anger at the wts.
Billy Graham, like so many of his comtemporaries doomday sayers, has made fantastic predictions about the end of times. None of his apocalyptic predictions has taken place. To better understand why his message is completely off target, take a look at "The Signs of the Last Days - When?" by Carl Olof Jonsson.
Observador.
per a recent letter to elders:.
beginning september 1, there will be a change to the way attendance is recorded at congregation meetings.. currently, attendance is counted at 4 of the 5 meeting (public talk, wt study, congregation "bible" study, and service meeting).. but after sept. 1, meeting attendance will only be taken at 2 of the meetings - during the "first quarter" of the wt study, and also at the cbs.. .
no reason in given for the change in the letter, and i can't figure out why myself.. the numbers are not published anywhere - the only "official" record is a 6 month average the co puts together during his visit.. why request less information from the congregations, especially when it "costs" nothing to accumulate it in the first place?
The only thing I can think of is that the Society just wants to add some excitement into otherwise completely boring meetings. Receiving a letter from the society and reading it to the congregation just might give the brothers some sense of being "in the know".
That feeling of "Wow, how wonderful Jehovah's organization is... it keeps us all well informed..." (gasp)
Think about it: in a rational organization, this procedure not only would be viewed as irrelevant, but the congregation wouldn't need to know a change in an irrelevant procedure has happened.
what is your opinion of prince nowadays?.
one of the worlds raunchiest rock stars, prince is in his stacked heels and flamboyant suit strutting from house to house around an ordinary suburban estate.. from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/07/06/prince-how-the-rock-legend-turned-his-life-around-115875-22384807/.
flanked by minders, he goes up a garden path, knocks on a door and politely asks the householder: would you like to talk about god?.
The confusion/reaction from the JWs is typical:
when Prince does any dumb/stupid non-JW thing, they say "ohh, but he's not a real JW";
but when he plays a little song from JW's songbook or goes to the field service, they'll say "what a fine example for wordly people. Jehevah has blessed him... blah blah blah..."
Observador
out of a sense of morbid curiosity, i recently attended the sunday afternoon session of the district convention.
the session consisted of a drama and the infamous "remain in the secret place of the most high" talk.
overall, i got a sense that the wts is in damage control mode because the end hasn't come yet.
Thanks Olin for the review.
I love when they explain this mindless, non-sense doctrines from the platform of a Convention. It was sh*t like that that contributed for me leaving the Org. Most JWs at that point in the afternoon are thinking about a number of other things such as what they're gonna eat, with whom, the drive home, the girls (or boys) they weren't able to meet, the next day at work, etc. etc.
But also remember: a number of JWs a little more settled in life are actually thinking about this non-sense, trying to wrap up the "wonderful" 3-day convention, and this simply doesn't make any sense. A number of these JWs have better jobs, better education, a home, and they are getting quite annoyed by those mindless repetition of old messages; don't see anything exciting; nothing worth fighting for any longer.
Those are people in their 30s, irritated by these non-sense, and a stone-throw away from opening a web browser and typing the words Jehovahs Witnesses in the search box.
Exactly what happened to me.
I love the Information Age.
Observador
in her radio show, dr laura schlesinger said that, as an observant orthodox jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.
the following response is an open letter to dr. laura, penned by a us resident, which was posted on the internet.
it's funny, as well as informative:.
That's very good. Well written.
And for those who say that this is all in the OT, as many JWs would say, don't forget that the "women on the congregation must remain silent".
Observador.
i went to the sunday circuit assembly and came back all riled up with all the nonsense.. the sunday program was on ''safeguarding your spirituality''.
''it is better to remain single and not marry.
that gives you more time for studying and the preaching work.
Here's what I could never figure out: If all these JW kids are so hell-bent on pioneering and avoiding college as if it were a giant leper colony....why the flurck would you take the ACT (or SAT or any other test exclusively designed for determining ability to do well in college, and good for absolutely nothing else)?
And what I don't quite understand is why all these young people who didn't go to college ARE NOt all serving as Pioneers where the "need is great".
They should all be there, right? right?
But no, they get married and, after they have their first kid, they have the perfect excuse to stay put, as I have seen over and over and over again.
Observador
i went to the sunday circuit assembly and came back all riled up with all the nonsense.. the sunday program was on ''safeguarding your spirituality''.
''it is better to remain single and not marry.
that gives you more time for studying and the preaching work.
I once told my mother that I religion that gets all fired up when tragedies happen around the world doesn't do for me.
She got all offended, acussing me of inventing things, her memory completely failed her.
I hope this year she'll remember that conversation we had years ago.
Observador.
what do you think of this kid?.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajg9tol1a0u.
His parents gotta be very carefull or else he'll be deaf before he's 13.
darn pretty too.. have you seen this video on how to help the victims of the haiti earthquake?
the website says that they're aiming for $10,000 and have reached 4,7000. not much, but it's probably $4,700 more that what the wt has donated to those poor people.. i love the bad publicity on the wt organization, and making a donation will help someone out there in haiti.
it's called exjws4haiti.com.. take a look: http://www.exjws4haiti.com/.
darn pretty too.
Have you seen this video on how to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake? The website says that they're aiming for $10,000 and have reached 4,7000. Not much, but it's probably $4,700 more that what the WT has donated to those poor people.
I love the bad publicity on the WT organization, and making a donation will help someone out there in Haiti. It's called exJWS4Haiti.com.
Take a look: http://www.exjws4haiti.com/
Observador
this subject may have already been hashed out on here in the past so let me know if so.. i was just curious though, because it would be an excellent point when discussing malawai and such.. here's the oath of citizenship:.
i hereby declare, on oath, that i absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which i have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that i will support and defend the constitution and laws of the united states of america against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that i will bear arms on behalf of the united states when required by the law; that i will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the united states when required by the law; that i will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me god.. just wondering.. .
There are several aspects to becoming an American citizen that makes it objetionable to a JW. Not only the text you provided above, but the cerimony itself where you place your right hand over the heart and you pledge allegiance to all those things in the text.
Would the modified oath be so heavily modified to remove references to "bear arms", the "flag", "work of national importance", the word "God", etc. ? I doubt it.
It would be interesting to see such a modified version of it.
Here's my take: probably, as a way to rationalize the situation and make the JW feel good, the JW makes a request and accept whatever modification was made, very much like I heard once a JW photographer describe that he never pays any fee to a Church that charges a fee to photograph a wedding (he discounts the fee from the work and request the bride/groom to pay the fee). This way he feels good and continues to perform his profession, while his elders have an easy way out if anyone ever questions it.
Could this be the case here? I don't know... Remember, this is a religion where APPEARANCES is very very important...
Observador.
