Posts by Balaamsass2

33

Can you openly express doubts in the congregation these days?

by Elena in

i know of a lovely old sister who has been a jw for several decades now who openly expresses doubts about jw interpretations.. she does it in such a lovely way and everyone loves her.

she is such a sweet old soul, makes everyone happy around her.. she has said things like- even if we have got it wrong about this and that i still believe the bible is gods word”.

she answers up regularly and she goes on ministry groups but like most of us she is definitely jwlite, we don’t really do door to door work anymore.

Balaamsass2

My mom in her 70s and 80s LOVED to screw with and embarrass pompous elders.

She always prominently displayed all the old WT literature in the living room. Russel's "Studies in the Scriptures" set, and photos of her as a kid marching with the "Religion is a snare and racket sign". She was famous for poking fun at terrible speakers in midweek field service, but then she treated the car group to lunch....so she was popular with the sisters. She donated monthly ...by check (so they were reminded who donated)...to the hall, and gave every CO a green handshake. All visitors got a cocktail. :)

She was never DF,d, or reproved. She called Rutherford "a horses ass" and a "woman hater". She reminded Elders her brother was a C.O. I would get phone calls from elders in her halls asking "for me to PLEASE do something about her". lol :)

I simply smiled and said "I'll look into it"..and suggested she had a touch of mad cow..... :)

29

Patterson New Visitor Centre & Museum Announced

by raymond frantz in

https://www.jwupdates.com/post/new-patterson-visitor-center-and-first-century-museum.

january 1, 2024, marked the official opening of the patterson visitor center, located at the watchtower educational center in patterson, new york, u.s.a. the feature museum of the visitors’ center is entitled “first-century bible village.” brother isaiah miller, who works in the museum department at bethel, said: “the bible village was designed to provide everyone with a realistic and educational experience.

studies show that interactive learning has a powerful effect on people of all ages.” after her tour, one visitor exclaimed: “this museum made me feel like i had been transported back to the land of ancient israel.

Balaamsass2

I had to google references to Ken Ham. What a nut!

He has quite the museum. :)

Children playing with dinosaurs...lol. Reminds me of the old NWT maps -inside covers with dinosaurs in bible times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Museum

:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE0MRhsfWMc

8

Halloween

by NotFormer in

just a bit of idle speculation.. on another thread, a publisher was reported to the elders for smoking 🚬, when all they were actually doing was holding a drinking straw in mcdonald's.. is it plausible to be questioned by elders about wearing something that looks a bit too much like a costume on the 31st of october?

🧛🧜.

for that matter, wearing red and green on the 25th of december?

Balaamsass2

Toss a coin. Moon phase.

Any random crazy "report" could turn into a congregation gossip event and turn into an investigation by Keystone cop elders. It all depends on the hall, elders, and popularity of the "sinner".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkO_eu5_7zs

10

want to show support to a one time member

by enoughisenough in

i put this under beliefs, doctrine, practices but it could well fit under coverups, i think.

anyway fyi and if you are interested, a one time member here , easyprompt now has a youtube channel :easyprompt_fragrantaddendum exposing wt...i have watched a couple of them, and they are well put together..

Balaamsass2

Bamm! Great video!

65

Has anyone heard of "Secret Disfellowshipping" by Jehovah's Witnesses? Menlo Park Ca. Congregation. Update.

by Balaamsass in

no doubt everyone has been following the juan viejo postings regarding the watchtower kingdom hall "grab" on jwn for the last couple of years.

called the mrs and me to say "wow- you have to google this" we did...came here to jwn ...became members..and the rest is history.. in the last nine months i have been calling and emailing contacts in the silicon valley for verification on the societies theft and forced sale of the menlo park kingdom hall (near the new facebook heaquarters) because the story seemed...a little far fetched.

every reliable contact i made has confirmed what juan reported.

Balaamsass2

"

Bill Covert12 hours ago

The doer of that deed would of been Merton Campbell, he was the northern Cailf. Service Desk. "

Bill, Merton Cambell (pompous ass), and his wife(a nice lady), both had grey hair in the 1970s when I was at Bethel, so he would be ancient (or dead) after 2000. :)

4

Any JW's been “debaptised” in Belgium?

by was a new boy in

'the belgian church, facing rising protests after a television film on sexual abuse and cover-ups in its ranks, has appealed against a government data protection agency ruling that the diocese of ghent must let a person be “debaptised”.

the church considers baptism a permanent act that cannot be done away with, but the agency ruled in december that the plaintiff’s personal data record overrides the church’s interest in preserving its records.. .

the number of “debaptism” requests had been falling since a peak of 5,237 in 2021, when the vatican said it could not bless same-sex unions, but they have reportedly spiked again after the television series gotvergeten (“forgotten by god”) last september depicted the scandals in belgium.

Balaamsass2

In the USA Religion gets a freer hand than in most other countries.

As the congregation Secretary, WTBTS would swing back and forth on record-keeping policies.

I believe they will continue to do that...depending on which way the wind blows from country to country.

They would save a lot of energy, angst, and money if they simply got Elders out of the spy and cop business.

101

The Next Big Thing In WT World

by NotFormer in

things got a bit lively after the agm leaks in october.

there was a lot of discussion going on on this board for a few months.

now that all the leaks have been more or less confirmed as policy, and we've had lively discussions at length concerning the changes, things seem to have slowed down here.. a few suggestions have been raised as to what might be the next changes, such as women being allowed to wear slacks (in the usa, anyway), decoupling from 1914 as an anchoring date and others.. so, what changes do you think will be announced this year?.

Balaamsass2

"

NotFormer4 hours ago

Women more visibly in positions of trust is a popular speculation. How likely is that? Is the male population dire enough in some congregations that it may be contemplated?"

In the 1960s when I was a little kid, a single Pioneer Sister conducted our book study group.

In the 1960s a servants wife, who was an accountant, did the congregation accounts.

65

Has anyone heard of "Secret Disfellowshipping" by Jehovah's Witnesses? Menlo Park Ca. Congregation. Update.

by Balaamsass in

no doubt everyone has been following the juan viejo postings regarding the watchtower kingdom hall "grab" on jwn for the last couple of years.

called the mrs and me to say "wow- you have to google this" we did...came here to jwn ...became members..and the rest is history.. in the last nine months i have been calling and emailing contacts in the silicon valley for verification on the societies theft and forced sale of the menlo park kingdom hall (near the new facebook heaquarters) because the story seemed...a little far fetched.

every reliable contact i made has confirmed what juan reported.

Balaamsass2

This was an early post of mine. After attending a few Tahoe Aposta-fests I learned firsthand of other "Disfellowshipping in Absentia" cases. One was for a San Francisco Bay Area Elder who simply obeyed Ceasar's command to testify truthfully in court in regard to a Child Molesting case. (related to the C. Conti case) He was simply following biblical commands...#1 Obey the government #2 Not Lie.

Result? He was secretly disfellowshipped... in absentia....for refusing to Lie...directly by Watchtower's service desk.

23

When The 'Tower Is Mentioned In A Will

by NotFormer in

i assume someone from wt attends the reading of the will.

an elder, a co, some especially selected person from the branch under whose purview this sort of thing is maintained?.

what is the procedure?.

Balaamsass2

Notformer, not unusual in Watchtower land. This particular Elder has no issue with helping Watchtower direct JWs into disinheriting "worldly family".

He hasn't spoken with his own grandchildren in years because his Daughter left Watchtower.

16

Murder JW Style (True Crime)

by Tahoe in

a home remodeling job in england that went wildly wrong:.

a builder who bludgeoned his client to death with a hammer in a row over her new extension has been jailed for at least 15 years for murder.. peter norgrove killed sharon gordon at her home on 20 july last year.. her daughter rhian brown said norgrove acted like a "wolf in sheep's clothing" after earning her trust at the church they attended in dudley.. wolverhampton crown court heard he led the jehovah's witness service the same night he killed mrs gordon.. he repeatedly lied to her about the work he was doing, which took 15 months instead of six weeks.. .

"he didn't have the experience to be doing the work he was doing," miss brown said.. "he took full payment for the extension in advance, which we believe to be more than £30,000.".

Balaamsass2

Yikes!! That poor woman!

We have given lots of work over the years to down-and-out JWs. About 75% of the time it didn't go well, and it became obvious why they were down and out in the first place. Lots of mental illness. :)

Now that we are no longer JWs we don't get hit up as much, and it is so much easier to say no thank you.