Yes, I did notice that about half of our visiting speakers would leave after the meeting was over. I guess how could you blame them, they in many cases, were an hour away, had to get up early, and give a talk in unfamiliar settings. The last thing I would want to do is hang around another 2 to 4 hours at someone's house or maybe go out to some crapy eatery.
Atilla
JoinedPosts by Atilla
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11
Did your congregation show hospitality to visiting speakers?
by truthseeker in.
not many of the general rank and file jw's even realize that there is supposed to be an elder in charge of showing hospitality towards visiting speakers and their families.. in my old congregation, there was such an elder in charge of this arrangement - one meeting we had a local needs talk on showing hospitality - not just to the members of the hall, but visiting speakers (as well as visitors).
one brother commented on how little hospitality there was - he acknowledged that while shopping at a local supermarket, he saw the visiting public speaker and his wife having lunch in one of the supermakets cafes.. so much for hospitality.. how did your congregation fare?
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Kingdom Hall Vandalized
by Kenneson inin salem, alabama a kingdom hall and a methodist church were targets of vandals.
satanic graffiti were scribbled on the walls.
law enforcement believe the buildings were selected because of location--in remote areas.
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Atilla
The perpotrators were probably just going after the KH but decided to cover their tracks by attacking the Methodist church as well. I wouldn't think a KH would be that fun to vandalize, no windows, etc.
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J.W.'s just don't seem to be as strict anymore, what happened?
by Atilla inlet me explain.
i have been inactive for about 3 years now, i just walked away.
i was quiet at first but as i began to find out more and more about the deceptions of the wt, i have been more and more vocal in my viewpoints to my parents and former jw friends.. this past month has been very busy for me.
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Atilla
Well, nothing has happened yet? Let me explain. I have been inactive for about 3 years now, I just walked away. I was quiet at first but as I began to find out more and more about the deceptions of the WT, I have been more and more vocal in my viewpoints to my parents and former JW friends.
This past month has been very busy for me. I decided that for me to move on and not feel so bitter, that I would express some of my new beliefs. I started by calling writing a letter to my parents gently asking for a explanation of certain JW beliefs along with why the WT was an official NGO with the UN. They haven't gotten back yet, but are working on a response so they say.
Secondly, I called up the missionary pioneer couple that converted my parents and were there when I was born. They happened to be back in the U.S. visiting from their current assignment, Grenada. I had a few choice words with them and gave them a lot to think about such as your actions, i.e. conversions can have negative side affects on those you converted for years to come.
Thirdly, I approached I car full of dubs who were preaching on my street and presented the UN info. to which they said the UN was lying. However, I did get even by handing out some info. about JW child abuse to the return visit they had on my street. That's right, had, not any more.
Lastly, just two weeks ago, I called back on a former Bethelite who used to go to my KH and who I used to pioneer with on a daily basis. About a year ago, he showed up at my door, I wasn't home, and talked to wife. His intent, to encourage me to go back to the meetings. How dare he try to reconvert me? I know all the games he knows, how pathetic. So, I tracked him down, he and his wife currently work as care takers of the local Assembly Hall, and gave him a few choice words of why I don't need his help.
Well, I basically did all the above in the last month and it felt really good. It has helped me so much. So far, nothing has happened. I guess, no one cares or maybe the elders in my area just don't know how to proceed. I'm kinda disappointed in a way, I thought they would be better sports. I'm sure a special note has been put by my old publisher card but as this point, no one has even tried to challenge me. This is good, I'm no longer tip toeing around my parents and former JW friends. Everyone knows how I stand, yet they can't conveniently pigeon hole me into a category such as DF'd or DA'd. I'm lovin it. Any similar experiences out there or perhaps they will come after me next month. Who knows, but I'm movin on.
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How many brought to the JWs by the door to door work?
by undercover inminimus stated in another thread that 99% of newly baptized jws are children/teens of jws.
another poster said that they knew of only one person baptized in 20 years of door to door work.. let's do an informal, unscientific poll/survey:.
how many here were brought into the "truth", whether baptized or unbaptized publishers, by means of the door to door work having no prior experience with jws?
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Atilla
Not me, raised one, and my grandmother had some connection to JWism thus interesting my parents in the late seventies. So, I'm not sure about my grandmother, if she got reeled in by the door to door work but the funny thing is that she never really became a JW, basically just staying on the fringe and doing her own thing.
In my KH, of the 18 years I was there, I only know of one conversion, a family that had a son that liked to molest other children in the congregation. Other than that, the only new people brought in was through family or new JW families moving into the area because their own KH was too messed up.
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JW fun is at an all-time low
by Nosferatu inthere used to be much more enjoyable things in the jw religion that would give you some relief from the recycled information.
remember when there were two dramas at the conventions?
remember at the meeting, instead of having a public talk, a missionary would show slides from his recent trip, or there would be a movie shown from the wts?.
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Atilla
Looking back, I would hardly call those extra things fun but I guess they were a retreat from the normal, something a little different. I do agree, now a days, everything is very bland with the WT religion. I think they are trying extra hard to be viewed as normal and in the process made everything even more boring.
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Dont walk on the grass.New system rules.
by sleepy inwhat rules do you think we would have had in a watchtower run new system?
when my local assembly hall was built it had grounds around it , which had a very large amount of money spent on them.brothers would come every week to look after them.you would think then that you could have a taste of the new system in these surroundings.the assembly hall with its large gardens could be a glimpse into the new system.the brothers and sisters just like the cover of the paradise tract sitting on the grass.but you havent bargined of the insanity of watchtower rules.we were told dont walk on the grass.
now why in gods name build an enormass garden around the assembly hall only to be told you carn't use it?all you could do was stand on the concrete pathway and look.
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Atilla
BTT, well sorta.
On one of the tours of Bethel back in 96, think it was the Watchtower farms, we were walking around and stupid me I stepped of the pavement sidewalk onto the grass. Instantly, the guide stopped what she was doing and said, please don't step on the grass. Oh, I accidently stepped on the grass two more times during the tour of course subsequently followed by the please don't step on the grass.
So, I'm not sure if the WT has a thing with grass, or maybe they just really like their grass.
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I am attending an assembly.
by jwbot inthe circuit assembly is coming up in september.
there are several reasons i am going:it is at the maine center for the arts, at my college.
i really like this place, it would be interesting..my mother told me that i would not be shunned ("what would be the point on going?
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Atilla
Go have some fun, this time you will be on the outside of the fish bowl looking in.
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Question... Do JWs shun Family?
by Sassy ini had a disagreement with xq in chat today, because he was trying to say that jws for the most part disobey the wts and still treat family like family even if they are dfd or quit being witnesses.. i don't feel that is true.
i think that the majority of us on here who no longer are jws have family members who no longer have anything to do with us and shun us.... so i said it would be interesting to take a poll and see how many here are treated just like all the rest of your 'loving family' who is a jw still.......are you treated the same?.
does family shun you for being df'd, da'd or no longer participating?or do they hide and talk to you but only when other active jws can't see?
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Atilla
Why ask the Pharisees what Jesus did or said? Suggestion - get the 2003 CD rom from the society from your family/friends and check it out yourself
Are you calling us Pharisees, if you are well then thanks I guess. Secondly, how would the WT CD Rom help in this case, shouldn't someone simply look at the Bible and not man made words by a publishing corporation. Look closely at the back of of the WT CD Rom, notice how the Society doesn't guarantee that what once appeared in print will exactly appear the same way of the CD Rom, i.e. they have changed things to cover their butts.
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Question... Do JWs shun Family?
by Sassy ini had a disagreement with xq in chat today, because he was trying to say that jws for the most part disobey the wts and still treat family like family even if they are dfd or quit being witnesses.. i don't feel that is true.
i think that the majority of us on here who no longer are jws have family members who no longer have anything to do with us and shun us.... so i said it would be interesting to take a poll and see how many here are treated just like all the rest of your 'loving family' who is a jw still.......are you treated the same?.
does family shun you for being df'd, da'd or no longer participating?or do they hide and talk to you but only when other active jws can't see?
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Atilla
Growing up, I knew many cases even in our own KH where the daughter or son was totally shunned until they repented or came back. Now that being said, I have gone to the extreme and by all cases, my parents should no longer talk to me. However, I hold several trump cards. First of all, I have a young child who my parents love and they know better than to cross my "worldly" wife. Secondly, my brother is also not a dub anymore, so it's just them and they don't have many friends at the KH.
Thus, I have been able to pursue a policy of total anti-JWism. In the last month, I have called up the missionary couple who converted my parents and gave them hell for teaching my parents that crap and I have also hunted down many of my former JW friends and have done some major apostasizing. All of it was done with no consequences and my parents still talk to me just as much. Since I just left 3 years ago and haven't attended meeting since, no one can DF me or even say anything and they know it. The Org. is losing it's power on people.
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Loyal to America?
by IronGland inas a boy i lived at times in hampden-sydney, a small college town in virginia, where my family had lived for generations.
h-s was the old south of idyllic imagination.
georgian buildings stood on rolling green laws shaded by ancient oaks.
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Atilla
Senior Bush calls it, "The New World Order."
Yep, I remember when I heard Senior Bush say that live on TV. It was the early 90's, I was about 10 yrs. old and we had just got done with the book study. We were studying the Revelation book at the time and our family was assigned to a family's house instead of the KH. It was snack night and someone had turned on the TV and there was Bush talking about the New World Order.
The lady whose house it was said oh, that is the sign, Armageddon is any day now. Yep, that's what I grew up under, fear and longing for nothing.