Posts by rocketman

56

No Part of The World Circuit Assembly Highlights

by DavinciCodeBreaker in

well this past weekend was pretty much as predicted, the demonstrations were probably the worst i have ever seen.

you know the ones i mentioned on a post last week where in the middle the participant has a sudden epiphany!

here is a sampling of just a few.. .

rocketman

Unshackled wrote: "BUT JWs don't pass a collection plate! The collection plate is clearly Satan's evil tool for soliciting funds. However, tall boxes, automatic bank withdrawals, debit machines, adjusting your will to leave real estate and stocks, and soliciting tax return money ARE all the true religion's loving provision for you. Just beware of that dang evil plate." Great way of putting it!

As for the point about what to discuss w fellow believers: I guarantee that most jws do NOT want to hear about that scripture their fellow jw happened to appreciate during bible reading. They do NOT want to talk about all your wonderful field service experiences. Jws want to talk about regular, every-day stuff, like sports, weather, work, etc. This is one of the dilemmas that many jws face - they WANT to be normal, but this religion keeps on pushing them in the other direction.

12

Why was the type/antitype understanding of the Olive Tree thrown out? (May 15, 2011 Watchtower)

by pirata in

in the may 15, 2011, pg.

23 public edition watchtower, in the article 'o the depth of god's wisdom', there is a small footnote that essentially does away with an entire 1983 study article worth of material regarding the meaning of the olive tree, spoken about by the apostle paul:.

(romans 11:17,18 nwt) 17 however, if some of the branches were broken off but you, although being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became a sharer of the olives root of fatness, 18 do not be exulting over the branches.

rocketman

illuminator wrote: "Of course this gem of new light starts with the word "EVIDENTLY". "

Yes, there they go with that word again.

As for pirata's theory, it makes sense to me.

36

Assembly changes

by d in

i was wondering what changes have you seen with assemblies now.compared to assemblies in the 1950's..

rocketman

I know personally a brother who suggested to local elders the idea that food service should end (due to the long hours of toil and the fact that the workers got little from the actual assemblies) and that the attendees bring their own. He was villified by the elders for this suggestion. Then the Society years later went ahead and made the very changes that this brother suggested.

129

The secret things men hate about being men

by FlyingHighNow in

jw
friends

these are hastily thought up facts and then some stereo-typical reasons, in response to sam's why men seldom get depressed thread.

feel free to add ones that have been missed.. men:.

have to shave everyday or they look like miami vice wannabe's.. have to register for the draft.. have to keep up that macho image for their buds.. have to pretend to love beer.. to them, size is an important issue.

rocketman

I don't like beer. And when I'm out, I don't pretend to like it. And yes, peope have questioned why, and probably think I'm less of a man because of it. But I'm not going to chug something I don't like just to please someone else.

I don't like protein powders either. So I don't use them. That's almost unheard of in the bodybuilding community, but the same principle applies - if I don't like something, I'm not drinking/eating it to please someone else.

73

My Labrador died can anyone please help me. I can't stand the pain.

by Witness 007 in

my wife recovered from depression just 14 months ago and things have been going well.....so much so that i started a buisness for her and we are two weeks into it.

my labby was ill vomiting abit of discomfort, i thought great, you ate something bad again!

the vet gave him a shot and sent us home.

rocketman

Losing a beloved pet is always difficult. We shouldn't underestimate the bond that can form between human and animal, and the heartache that occurs when that bond is broken.

Animals give love unconditionally. In that respect, we often value their friendship to the same degree (or even greater in degree) than human friendships. It's not that we place animal life above human life in value, as many people mistakenly believe that animal lovers do. It's just a fact that in many cases, the bond can be just as close, if not closer, between a human and a pet because of the unconditional nature of that love.

Naturally then, when that bond is broken, there is a feeling of deep sorrow. Your pain is understood and appreciated. In time, the wound does heal, but it's a grieving process.

54

Do you think a lot of JWs are ashamed of their beliefs?

by I quit! in

jw
friends

the reason i asked this is because i'm going to the funeral of a man who wasn't a jw.

my mother-in-law has lived in the same neighborhood as him for years and knows his wife.

i asked her if she was going attend the funeral service.

rocketman

I was embarrassed. I'd sometimes rather have walked over burning coals than explain the wacky beliefs I was supposed to have had. Everything from someone sneezing to the blood issue and holidays and political involvement had me cringing whenever they would come up.

98

It might be better to not even have the Internet. April 15th WT

by life is to short in

ok i was just blown away when i heard this today while driving, at first i thought it was the some old same old but then it went on and it seems like it is on a different level.. the subheading is "guard your heart by exercising self-control.

on page 27 par 17 it says "one way a person could wonder into the foolish course of the "young man in want of heart" is by aimlessly flipping though television channels or surfing the internet.

whether intentionally or not, he might chance upon sexually stimulating scenes.

rocketman

What Lunatic Faith wrote in her first post really caughet my attention - being lectured on dress because jw men supposedly can't control their own impulses. Wow, that woman lecturing her was truly deluded. There they are, immersed in their religion, and they can't even control their roving eyeballs in the Kindom Hall, while God's Word is (supposedly) being discussed. Good grief. And yet we know that this religion is saturated with sexual obsession, so it doesn't surprise me.

As far as the Internet goes, Mad Sweeney's comment is something I'll echo - how many jws really decide not to have Internet? We're never told who these people are - they are under the guise of "some". Now, there probably are a few who don't have it, but that's likely because they can't afford it. If a jw can afford it, it's a pretty good bet they'll have it.

35

Do not let work get in the way of pioneering

by life is to short in

the april 15th wt is strange and it just throws things in here and there that are kind of out of sort.

i think it sticks in your mind more like hey i probably should pioneer when they throw things in that are kind of in left feild.. like this example on pages 16 and 17 it is talking about making decisions and in paragraph 15 it says "for example a congregation publisher might decide to pioneer.

will he succeed?

rocketman

Miseryloveselders wrote:

"

Part of why I stopped donating any money to the WT is because of articles like this. They have a lot of nerve to print this kind of stuff. When you consider the wear and tear on your vehicle, the money spent on clothing and shoes, the time spent "willfully volunteering" for a publishing company, after a while one has to say that enough is enough. What more do you want from us? All the time spent in field service, preparing for field service, preparing for and attending meetings, its never enough for them. Never enough. They want you to pay for the CO and his wife, pay for some mediocre speaker from Bethel to come and deliver a talk at your local congregation, pay for rooms at hotels that they have contracts with to stay during the conventions and assemblies, pay for suits, ties, dress shirts, shoes, brake pads, gas, oil changes, the electric bill at the hall, the gas bill at the hall, the water bill at the hall, the phone bill at the hall, clean the hall after the meeting, spring cleaning at the hall, fall cleaning at the hall, take the CO and his wife out to eat, take the visiting speaker and his family out to eat, occasionally take the DO and his wife out to eat, drive around doing return visits, etc.. It never ends. On top of that, none of that is good enough for them as they want you to do more. Please.

You know, Babylon the Great actually has services and charities for the general public. Everything from hospitals, soup kitchens, temporary shelter for the homeless, funds for people suffering abroad in various countries dealing with disease, earthquakes, hunger, poverty, you name it. What do Jehovah's Witnesses have? A "volunteer" service offerering literature and free bible studies that nobody wants. Those volunteering are routinely and systematically made to feel that their work is never good enough. The only charitable work Jehovah's Witnesses do is provide free shelter, the best medical care, and luxury living to anonymous shysters at Bethel."

This is just about the best two-paragraph summation of the jw religion that I have ever read. Excellent post on an excellent thread.

90

Stupid not just once but twice, and it is praised

by therevealer in

jw
friends

12 the watchtower ?

5 what good results there can be when.

children are trained to keep a simple eye!.

rocketman

Let's just say, absurd as it seems, that this story is true. What does it do? It does nothing but set up another generation of jw youths for failure. Where are all the jws who, in the past, did the same thing - turned down a good opportunity in order to pioneer? How many of them are at or near retirement with nothing saved? How many are having health issues and can actually afford health insurance? How many can do anything to help someone else financially? - They can't even take care of themselves and have already lived the majority of their lives dependent on others for help.

I know this because I've seen it in my own family. Relatives who are aging and have no real way to retire and will work until they die or are too old to enjoy life. Relatives who lost a spouse and can barely fend for themselves, often needing help. It's sad. They gave their best to the WTS in the 1960s and 70s and the decades beyond, and now have virtually nothing.

55

Believers: Does Jesus Personally Talk to You?

by leavingwt in

jw
friends

some of my christian co-workers have related to me how jesus has spoken to them.

one of the comments that i remember specifically, was this:.

"jesus put it on my heart to [take a certain course of action].

rocketman

Badseed wrote: "

There's a church across the river from where I live. I went there a few times, enjoyed parts of it. I like to be honest about my past so struck a conversation with the minister, 1- told him I had no money to give him 2- I was an x jw, etc. I always felt they really didn't like me because I'm not into pastor worship. He's not god and I don't believe god talks to him more than anyone else. Not what he claims though.

So a while back, since they have some real estate, I wanted to rent an appartment from them. The reason was a new tenant had moved into my building and she was a real pain, dirty, slob, bad element and I wanted to get away from her at all cost. The pastor's wife told me that her and her husband had prayed over it and the answer they got was that they should not rent to me. Six months down the road, the slob upstairs moves out, guess where?? In one of the pastor's rentals. Now that's payback.LOL Within a year, that real estate will lose half its value, it will be totally destroyed. They just finished two weeks of renovating her old rent here, the place stunk, not even funny.

My point? The pastor and his wife prayed god, I didn't, yet they got stuck with the rotten apple and my wishes were answered. I wonder what god was trying to tell them? I have yet to meet the wife so I can tell her. It'll make my day when I do."

This experience kind of sums up my feeling on the matter. How do I REALLY know whether God or Jesus has in some way communicated with me or worked in my life somehow? I just don't know. I don't speak to God in prayer - I just can't speak audibly or inaudibly to someone I can't see. I do read the Bible and try to do what is right. And sometimes I feel like, when things in my life work out a certain way, that maybe, just maybe, God/Jesus was looking out for me. But I have doubts, because it's hard to know for sure. I can't tell whether something is just happenstance (like the experience by Badseed) or whether it's somehow God-directed. I should add that maybe Badseed's experience shows that God was trying to teach the pastor and his wife a lesson. I mean, who knows?

The other issue I have is that too many awful things happen to people to believe that God is somehow pulling the strings. If he's behind it for good, is he not behind it for bad? And if so, why allow such terrible things? And what about people who survive plane crashes and such as say that God was with them - why them and not the ones who died?