Posts by Syme

13

The "Good Cop/Bad Cop" Alternating GB Theory

by ILoveTTATT in

jw
friends

Syme

Interesting theory; but I think you should swipe the Knorr/Franz duo.

I think Fred Franz was a true believer; delusional of course, maybe *the* most delusional of all, but that is the nature of a really true believer, after all. Everything in Franz's life and writings speak of that. Gee, he even stayed celibate for his whole life, like a medieval monk. When Knorr became President instead of him (although being older in age and in the 'truth'), Franz didn't care. Even when he did become President after Knorr's death, he wasn't a real leader; he was more like a symbol, or the Society's "wise man". The real power was the then-new GB committees.

On the other hand, Knorr was, and acted like, a business man. Remember all the business-like things he introduced: special training for house to house preaching, Gilead training, DFing and tightening of the membership rules (smoking, for instance), and a lot more. He was authoritarian just like Rutherford, and when the GB was established in 1971, it marked the decline of his power, which may have led to his quick decline of health after that, and his untimely death.

28

Whatever happened has a lesson for us!

by Kalos in

when my dad left jws, his stoic remark was: it was not a total wastage; after all i learned something good about the witnessestheir resolve to continue with their original claim that they are the appointed channel of god, even when they know in their heart of hearts that they are not.

why cant i imitate that sort of resolve in doing something worthwhile?

he thus echoed confucius who said: to be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.. a poor choice we made, some obstructions or some resistance are almost always viewed with fear and anxiety.

Syme

Kalos, very interesting post!

Just one tiny objection: amateurs didn't build the Ark; beacause there was no Ark at all. As a man of science (as I suspect you are), you should know that. Professionals did build the Titanic, true, but professionals also built every ship, airplane and vehicle that didn't sink and didn't crash.

Of course, that has nothing to do with your main idea, with which I agree. We should learn from unfortunate experiences of the past; e.g. someone who as a result of TTATT learns to develop critical thinking and avoid any future similar snares, yes, that one has learned from the past. However, a guy/gal who leaves the JWs only to fall in the trap of another organized religion, well, that one didn't learn from mistakes, since they still let religious wackos strip them of their money and their thinking skills.

P.S. Interesting username. It means "good" in my native tongue

9

Everyone asked to take their literature back to the KH?

by MrMonroe in

may be bullshit or just confusion, but here's a post at a facebook ex-jw page:.

"so last night i performed one of my occasional meeting attendances, and whilst watching the kids and planning my exit strategy in the event of a walking dead style zombie outbreak, i think i heard them read a letter saying that the brothers are now to destroy all old literature in their possession if it's in bad condition, or return it to the elders if it's in good condition, but you can no longer keep any old literature... hmmm".

anyone know anything about this letter?

Syme

I read a similar letter in a bullettin board of a certain KH; similar, not exactly the same.

I posted the info on the following thread:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/284792/1/Strange-letter-to-local-congregations

What you heard sounds even more serious, though. If that's the case, I hope it will shake some older j-dubs and wake them up. (yeah, maybe I'm just being optimistic)

109

Topics Ive Been Pondering On

by JWINQUESTION in

this is my first post on here so bear with me.

currently i am still an active jw with serious questions about the jw org.

i was hesitant signing up but really need as much input from the people on this forum to get a clear understanding on things.

Syme

@JWINQUESTION

Are you really comparing the private sexual preferences of 2 people with the act of murder and cannibalism?

Do you understand what you're doing?

This is extreme homophobia and racism, to say the least.

I'm sure the moderator of this forum does not allow room for such extreme projection of hatred on the basis of sexual orientation here.

8

Strange letter to local congregations

by Syme in

this summer i saw on the bulletin board of a specific kh a strange letter, the info of which i'd like to share with you.. it came not from the gb or the branch office, but from the local evangelizers school.

what it said was roughly this:.

because they want to enrich the school's library, they ask from the brothers in the region (i.e.

Syme

This summer I saw on the bulletin board of a specific KH a strange letter, the info of which I'd like to share with you.

It came not from the GB or the Branch office, but from the local Evangelizers School. What it said was roughly this:

Because they want to enrich the School's library, they ask from the brothers in the region (i.e. about 6-7 circuits) to find all the old literature in their homes, escpecially from the Russel and Rutherford era, and hand them over to the School! They understand that many brothers may have emotional ties with those books, but it is for a good cause, so that the students in the Evangelizers School can have a full library in order to be able to search ''all the deep truths" (some verse cited here, Timothy or something).

You understand how shocked I was, seeing that hypocritical letter. I have been at the Evangelizers School (MTS then) and I assure you there's no need for such old literature. We had some old literature in the library, true, but no way did he sit and study that old books. It would be completely useless.

So, the "we need them for the School" claim is completely BS. That leaves one conclusion: they want to get rid of really old books, which are a complete liability now, and they do it very abrupltly and with real nerve: they simply ask of the brothers to give them their old books!

The fact is that in that specific region of the country, so-called apostasy is an issue; there are many "apostates" in the region's main city who do a kind of a "preacing work", i.e. go where the jws street-preach, and engage in talks with the jws. In the same city and region, there are a lot of older JWs who have in their possession a real 'treasure' (for them, at least) of very old literature, going back to Russel's era. For me, all this old WT literature is of zero value (if not sub-zero), but I love books generally, so imagine what it feels like to be asked from the "Mother Org" to hand over the books with which you grew and cherished for decades!

Has any of you heard of a similar guideline in your country/region? It would be interesting to know if this was just a caprice of the local School, or if it is a directive from the Borg.

52

I loathe authority

by punkofnice in

now i'm not preaching hatred here i am just expressing how i've felt for years even when i was a jw.. i totally loathe the police/policticians...any authority......anyone that is over anyone else.

i have a total hatred of them all.

i wonder if it's because i was raised a jw?.

Syme

It's not bad to loathe authority. It's human nature, I think. In fact, in an ideal society, no one would impose authority to anyone, so yes, it is a perfectly healthy sign to detest authority. Escpecially authority of the strong upon the weak, or the minority upon the majority.

44

How Often Do You Come To JWN? How Often Do You Post?

by minimus in

jw
friends

do you check this site, daily?.

do you post very much?.

.

Syme

I come and read threads every day; I post replies at least 1-2 per week; I start topics rarely, once in 3 months or more.

109

Topics Ive Been Pondering On

by JWINQUESTION in

this is my first post on here so bear with me.

currently i am still an active jw with serious questions about the jw org.

i was hesitant signing up but really need as much input from the people on this forum to get a clear understanding on things.

Syme

Welcome, JWINQUESTION

In regards to your 1st question:

Wishing for something to be true, doesn't alone it true. It's cruel to see your child die before you do (probably it's the worst thing that can happen in one's life), but it happens. Death is a part of nature as much as life is. Believe if you want in an afterlife, but as far as this life is concerned, death will always be a part of it. Think about this: Most living beings on Earth, die young, long before their age. An octopus gives life to millions of eggs, because the vast majority of them will die almost instantly. Even so, life is so abundant on Earth that it still thrives. But this tells us that the so-called 'miracle' of life is not much of a miracle. However wonderous, it is the most usual and automated procedure that takes place on this planet, for the past 4 billion years, and we are just a part of it.

As for the 2nd question:

Why do you connect homosexuality with bearing children? It is completely irrelevant. Homosexuality appears on so many species (check Wikipedia), that you can not rightfully call it "unnatural". The fact that homosexuality does not result in reproduction, does not prevent it from appearing in a lot of species, even in some of our closest ones, like chimpanzees. So, if nature appears to 'accept' homosexuality, how much more should we, as "higher" human species, full of reason and compassion, accept it, and protect those who fall into that category, from discrimination!

And one other thing: if you accept only sex that results in reproduction, then what should be done about contraception, oral or anal sex, or even masturbation? All these are forms of sexual activity that don't result in reproduction. What should we do? Ban them? If homosexuality is wrong because it "doesn't produce kids", then all the latter activity is wrong too. But that's something that only a religious fanatic (like Talibans) would assume. Not to mention the fact that is a basic human rights question, and that is unethical, and in some cases illegal, to discriminate people on the basis of their sexual orientation.

26

ALIENS!! (and the downfall of religion)

by disposable hero of hypocrisy in

let me clarify, when i say aliens, i don't mean shiny helmeted spaceship dwelling anal probers.

(although i could be proved wrong).

if any alien lifeform was found on mars or another planet or even a comet, be it tiny bacteria or even some form of non carbon based life form, would that not destroy religions grip on mankind?

Syme

I agree with those who said that discovery of alien life is not going to spell the end for religion. Religion is far too deeply rooted in human nature in order to be wiped out by a single incident, however extraordinary that may be.

The ONLY way to bring religion to oblivion is through secular, scientific, religion-free, superstition-free education; this a long process that will take a lot more decades, and possibly centuries.

Even if we discover a million alien species, even if we shake hands with ET himself, religion & superstition will NOT fall, except if the former happens.

Expecting something like "First contact" to wipe out religion, tells that you're still under religion's spell, in the sense that you expect for a 'miracle' to happen, and make your wish come true, just like that.

STOP believing in miracles!

27

I put the kingdom first! Now look what happened...

by Julia Orwell in

i put the kingdom first - by sheree stokell.

so they dunked me in a pool.

armageddon would be here soon.

Syme

Julia, excellent poem! Well done :)