From: Tim.ONeill@english.utas.edu.au (Tim O'Neill)
Subject: Re: [This is what Corey and Tim says] This is what the Jehovah's Witnesses do.
Organization: University of Tasmania (Australia)
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 02:27:11 GMT

In article <LAURAF.92Jul23142629@wolf.eecs.umich.edu>, lauraf@eecs.umich.edu (Laura Falk) writes:
> 
> References: <1992Jul22.001419.12399@sdf.lonestar.org>
> 	<1992Jul22.184137.12369@e2big.mko.dec.com>
> 	<1992Jul22.232752.5755@newsroom.utas.edu.au>
> Distribution: 
> 
>    > >I don't care if this breaks all the rules of Internet etiquette.  This
>    > >must be posted to show what the JW's do when they encounter arguments
>    > >they cannot rebutt.  According to Andrea, I am an 'apostate', apparently
>    > >because I had the "truth" and I rejected it.  
>    > 
>    >         You are right that what you've done breaks all the rules of net
>    >     etiquette.  I suppose you feel that the ends justify the means, but
>    >     posting private mail without permission is still a dishonorable
>    >     activity, regardless of your reason.
> 
>    Don't sweat about it for a second Corey, I, for one, was very interested to
>    read Andreas' comment. Hell hath no fury like a fundamentalist religion scorned.
> 
> Actually Corey, I was very interested to read Andreas' comment as well.  I never
> got that information from Andrea.  It is too bad that you feel that way about
> the truth.  What are you going to do when world events unfold as foretold in the
> bible?  What will you believe when the cry of "peace and security" goes out?
> Would you not rather live forever than to die?  Does this system have sayings of
> everlasting life as what Jehovah does?  I for one being one of Jehovah's Witnesses want to
> see you remain a spiritual brother!

Yes, well Laura IF your weird apocalyptic ravings turn out to be true, you can say 'I
told you so.' to the evil people like Corey, myself and just about everyone else on the
planet (but I do seem to remember that you people have predicted the end of the world
a few times and have been absolutely wrong every time, so excuse me if I remain 
completely unimpressed)
 
>    If your religion is so bloody fantastic why don't you try to convince him to
>    come back? Where's all your loving-christian-niceness now? 
> 
> Tim, that is what Mark was trying to do.

Really? That's not what Mark says. Read his reply to my post.

>    >     Regardless of the fact that Andreas as labelled you as an apostate, I'd
>    >     say, after having read a few of your postings, that you've made it
>    >     pretty clear that you've done precisely what an apostate does, namely
>    >     you've renounced your religion, and have done so publicly, at least
>    >     as far as the net is concerned.
>    And many of us applaud you for it Corey. It's called being intellectually
>    honest and true to your convinctions, and it takes GUTS.
> 
> It takes GUTS to be **different** and be true to your convictions.  As the book
> of Matthew states broad and spacious is the road leading off to destruction but narrow and
> cramped is the road leading off to life and few are the ones finding it.

And, of course, your particular version of truth is THE TRUTH? That's odd, there are a
lot of other people who think theirs is. You can't all be right.  
 
>    >         No, Corey ... that sums up Andreas alone; or perhaps only provides
>    >     the basis which *you* consider valid for summing up all Witnesses.  
>    >     Andreas is reminding you of a truth which you are already aware of,
>    >     that we don't waste our time arguing with people who apostasize from
>    >     our faith; but you clearly are ignoring (perhaps because it's
>    >     convenient) the fact that we'd MUCH rather see you remain our spiritual
>    >     brother, so that you live forever in God's 'new system' as a fellow
>    >     servant of Jehovah. 
> 
>    Which is why we're not going to talk to you anymore, or listen to anything
>    you have to say. Hey, I can see the logic there.
> 
> How much time would you spent listening to someones belief on a matter than is
> conflicting with yours?

I spend a great deal of time doing just that virtually every day. But I thought you
people were under an obligation to convince as many others as possible that your sect
is THE TRUTH? Isn't this the last generation? Isn't Jehovah going to blow up the world
pretty soon? Surely you should be talking to Corey as much as you can, your religion
requires it.
 
>    Well I don't know about Corey, old son, but the book he mentions happens
>    to have been the very publication which fell into my hands about ten years
>    ago. It was my first encounter with creationist propaganda and, since my
>    field is the humanities, I found many of the anti-evolution arguments in it
>    pretty convincing. Luckily I went to a library and checked up as many of the
>    quotes and footnotes in the book as I could and did a bit of reading on 
>    evolution and anti-evolutionism (this is called looking at both sides of the
>    story). I found that your sweet little book is a bizarre collection of
>    out-of-context quotations, misquotations, misleading quotations, non sequiturs,
>    errrors of fact and just about every other dirty intellectual trick known
>    to man. (I'll substantiate this statement in long and glorious detail if you 
> 
> Please do!!!!  I keep an open mind just as long as what is being said agrees 
> with the bible.

Now there's a nice contradiction in terms!

>    Chin up Corey, it takes courage to say "I was wrong, what I used to believe
>    seemed to make sense but now it doesn't and I was wrong". Not very many 
>    people have that courage, but that's the only way anyone learns anything.
>    And if your dear sweet JW brothers don't want to listen to you, that's
>    their loss as far as I'm concerned.
>    Tim O'Neill
> 
> You are right, Tim, it does take courage to admit when one is wrong!!  However,
> I have a question: why is it JW's loss if Corey gives up everlasting life for
> Satan's system, which as he well knows will be destroyed very soon?  None of us
> or Jehovah wants to see anyone destroyed!!!

It's your loss if you refuse to talk to someone simply because he is an 'evil 
apostate', because this makes you both narrow-minded and vindictive.
Tim O'Neill