Posts by Big Tex

30

Your favorite Witness?

by larc in

jw
friends

who was your favorite witness?.

mine was john richards.

when i got to know him, he was an old man, and our theocratic ministry school servant.

Yeah I do. His name was Lester Wagner, and he too was from the old school. He was the epitome of the kindly old gentleman. He was one of the nicest and most knowledgable men I've ever met. I got to see the Witnesses through his eyes for many years and that outlook helped me through some bad times. He started studying in Pennslvania before WW1 and knew everybody from way back. I heard really interesting stories, like how they used to have the Ameican Flag hung on the wall of the KH or how all the Bible Students hid their literature (or burned it) when Rutherford and 8 others were sent to the Atlanta prison. He also gave the best Memorial talks I ever heard.

I wish the way he saw the Witnesses was the way it really was.

27

Are the Disassociated shunned?

by NotBlind in

on a whim, i recently visited the jw media site and found this question in their beliefs faq at http://www.jw-media.org/beliefs/beliefsfaq.htm:do you shun former members?those who simply leave the faith are not shunned.

if, however, someone unrepentantly practices serious sins, such as drunkenness, stealing, or adultery, he will be disfellowshipped and such an individual is avoided by former fellow-worshipers.

every effort is made to help wrongdoers.

Big Tex

I think the WTS is trying to deceive the media, and therefore the public, about its shunning practices. But the day is coming when those who are inactive or who have faded into the woodwork are going to be shunned as well. I think ending subscriptions to the magazines was a first step in that direction. I think WTS is trying to consolidate people in a tight little band that is easy to control.

26

The dreaded disfellowshiping

by link in

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i have been informed on good authority (a dub for 27 years) that you cannot get disfelowshiped for committing a wrongdoing, only for being unrepentant.. can anyone tell me if this is true or not, and if it is not where the misunderstanding comes from?

link

Big Tex

Well yeah I agree Minimus, that oftentimes elders do look at actions equaling repentence, but there are many cases where the person was DF'd just to silence them. A CO sat in my living room and told me that if I said another word about my father abusing me, I would be DF'd immediately. Now I'm sure in his mind he justified that threat by thinking I had an unrepentent and willful attitude (I wasn't waiting on Jehovah), but the bottom line is if I hadn't shut up, I would have been DF'd.

I still say anyone can be disfellowshipped for any reason. All it takes is an elder to notice you. I think it's like the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the one with Donald Sutherland) and whenver the aliens found out you were still human they would point and screech at you. I wonder if they would make that sound if I showed up at a Kindgom Hall . . . .

307

Super Bowl Predictions

by WildTurkey in

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im a huge cowboy fan but i dont think they will make it to the super bowl, damn sure would love to be wrong.

ok here is who i think as of right now pittsburgh stealers and san francisco 49ers and god i hate them both, well thats my pick how about you?

Big Tex

Super Bowl bound! Or at least until Quincy plays again. Go Cowboys!!

57

A Silent Ram

by DakotaRed in

jw
friends

this is probably going to be the most difficult thing i have ever written.

but, since i dont plan on being around [here] much longer, what the hell?

for some time now, we have discussed and expressed our outrage and horror at child molestation.

Big Tex

Dakota,

Thanks for having the courage to share this part of you. I know how difficult talking, even typing, about it is. It's a little thing, but when I was in therapy for my abuse I read a book entitled "Victims No Longer". It's a book aimed specifically at adult male survivors of incest. By no means does it solve all problems, but it was helpful to me to read what other men had to say about their experiences and having a psychologist address specific issues I was having at the time. By the way, I hope you don't leave. If you do, I can understand, but maybe it might help if you just took a break. Take care my friend

Chris

8

Ray Franz TIME 1982 scan?

by izobcenec in

jw
friends

i'm looking for quality scan of that time article from 1982...i found.

few scans on the web, but they are low quality...can any1 make new.

scan?

Big Tex

I remember reading it the first time in a bookstore so no one would see me. I felt so guilty about it. Thanks for scanning it and posting it so it can be read again.

26

The dreaded disfellowshiping

by link in

.

i have been informed on good authority (a dub for 27 years) that you cannot get disfelowshiped for committing a wrongdoing, only for being unrepentant.. can anyone tell me if this is true or not, and if it is not where the misunderstanding comes from?

link

Big Tex

Repentence is irrelevant. Resistance is futile. You can and will be DF'd for anything. All it takes is the will to make it so.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

9

I'm going to a birthday party!

by glitter in

jw
friends

my mum's best friend's daughter's 18th in november, and i'm definitely going and my sister probably is (she's out at the moment)!

she didn't have a birthday party until this one because with me and my little sis being jw it meant two less people to go (we're more family than friends) so she missed out on birthday parties too and she wasn't even jw!.

i just need to think of the perfect present to make up for all those years.. it official that i'm not a jw now if i go and it's a bit scary because 100% not wanting to be a jw has happened so suddenly (after finding everything out about the scandals, i was about 90% out before) - i didn't celebrate my birthday in june and i didn't celebrate my friend's birthday the week after and now i can't wait for christmas and for june to roll around again.. i'm so excited!!