Posts by cyber-sista

49

Were You Treated With Respect When Counseled By The Elders?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i knew a certain few elders that really got off by "talking down" to the "flock".

many elders were pretty nice guys but a few could turn----just like that!

what was your experience with "those taking the lead", the "loving shepherds"???

cyber-sista

The elders talked to me like a child--very kindly, but what they said was horrific and still causes me nightmares at times. They had very sick minds.

54

We need solid advice from former Elders

by peacefulpete in

almost unbelievably after 4 years of staying away from the hall and the jws last week they called and said there were allegations of apostasy against us.

we have been very quiet about our feelings and so were very surprised and angered.

we were told that they were going to discuss the allegation and determine if we would be formally accused of apostasy.

Peacefulpete...I'm obviously not an elder, but I can tell you for certain there is no particular rhyme nor reason for what elders do in some congos. I also became painfully aware that there is no real organized organization out there. I wrote the society begging for help in regard to my former congregation of elders who were "beating the flock." In the end nobody came to our defense--but the branch, CO and the society defended the elders. These guys can do just about anything they want and it depends on who the elders are in your area whether you treatment will be fair or not. The organization is much like a disorganized government with a crappy legal system and no clear direction from the top. I am so sorry this is happening to you. I too am on the fade, but would not be surprised if this sort of thing will happen to me one day. Please keep us posted. I am still trying to figure out how to handle myself with this whole situation. Again, I am sorry you have to go through this. The best to you and your wife. Tell your family you love them--unconditionally--maybe they will be stumbled out of the Org after seeing the unfair treatment you have received.

Cybs

20

WT expansion and enslavement of the 3rd world...

by cyber-sista in

as some of you know i still receive some of those dopey jw forwards from those who are trying to encourage me to come back to the organization.

this recent one i received was a bit more informative as to the workings of the organization.

i don't think this sister knows who passed this one on to her and i'm sure it wasn't meant to go out over the whole internet.

cyber-sista

XQ...I agree with you on some levels. Before the missionaries came here to Hawaii the religion wasn't all that great either--human sacrifice was practiced along with many restrictions and class distinctions. The missinaries changed some things fo the better, but made many other things much worse. The whole point is while there are some well meaning one in the Org--the missionaries, etc. I don't believe the expansion of the Organization there is because of the goodness of their hearts--they are not there for a self sacrificing purpose.

PS.

XQ, Being that the WT has ripped off some of our money and some of our family and friends--I put them in the "villain" class

20

WT expansion and enslavement of the 3rd world...

by cyber-sista in

as some of you know i still receive some of those dopey jw forwards from those who are trying to encourage me to come back to the organization.

this recent one i received was a bit more informative as to the workings of the organization.

i don't think this sister knows who passed this one on to her and i'm sure it wasn't meant to go out over the whole internet.

cyber-sista

I was at a low point in my life when I was first sucked into the Org. Like so many others I was given a hope which was eventually dashed to pieces and it left me in a very bad state when that happened. Now I feel as if I was exploited, but at least I have the chance of picking up the pieces of my life, getting some support and carrying on with a new life.

Imagine if I was in a poverty stricken land and on top of my bad living condition I was thrown out of the Org for one reason or another and lost all my friends and connections and support group. Now that would be really rough. I feel for these people, as they are especially vunerable.

24

Those silly Kingdom Melodies

by RR in

jw
friends

ever get one of those jungles in your head and you can't get rid of it.

i was trying to put my son to sleep, there he is leaning on me and i'm humming, and realized it was a kingdom melody.

15 years and they're still in my head!

cyber-sista

being only out a short time now those KH melodies continue to play on in my brain--there are lots of triggers out there to get them going. Just writing this email triggered "let's watch how we walk and watch how we talk and stumble none in our minestry" (I never liked that one even when I was a JW) Hopefully they will fade away one day

20

WT expansion and enslavement of the 3rd world...

by cyber-sista in

as some of you know i still receive some of those dopey jw forwards from those who are trying to encourage me to come back to the organization.

this recent one i received was a bit more informative as to the workings of the organization.

i don't think this sister knows who passed this one on to her and i'm sure it wasn't meant to go out over the whole internet.

cyber-sista

Thanks elsewhere--finally got it.

Anyway, my thoughts on the above letter was that it sounds more like a real estate developer than a religion. The focus was on the building expansion--not the preaching and teaching work. He mentioned this program or the program a couple of times in the letter. The Org most definitely has a PLAN.

And the sisters carried most of the building material on their heads...

20

WT expansion and enslavement of the 3rd world...

by cyber-sista in

as some of you know i still receive some of those dopey jw forwards from those who are trying to encourage me to come back to the organization.

this recent one i received was a bit more informative as to the workings of the organization.

i don't think this sister knows who passed this one on to her and i'm sure it wasn't meant to go out over the whole internet.

cyber-sista

Thank you for the emails. My brother in Brooklyn 
		 also sent me the
information the other day on the last book. I guess that is the end
of an era of printing in Brooklyn
		. We have a giant addition going on
here in south Africa
		. We're getting one of those new presses like
Wallkill is getting that turns 90,000 mags an hour and does all the
trimming, packing,labeling, etc so that they're not touched until
they are shipped out. We will also get a book binder. Up til now
			Japan has supplied our books in the lower part of Africa
		.
 We left Sunday for a two month trip. It won't be quite so hectic
as the last one. We just do three countries, Moszambique 
			,Malawi 
		 &
		Zambia. All three have big programs so there is a lot of work to
do.
Mozambique 
		has built 364 KH in the last four years. They need
another 223. We will set them up so they finish in about two
years. Then they just need 25 a year to keep up with growth.
Malawi 
		has built 742 KH in the last four years under this program
and they need 134. They built 132 last year, so we want to start
reducing the work so that they go gradually into the mode of
keeping up with growth of 40 KH per year.
Zambia 
		 has the record for the most KH built in the world under
this program. They have done 1095 KHs in the last four years under
the program and need 325 more. It will be the same with them, we'll
start reducing the work so that they gradually reduce. They could
build all 325 in a little over a year if we kept up our pace. But
we don't want to build them all and then have to send everyone home
and then have to set up again when more halls are needed. It's
better to reduce gradually and curve down to where we are just
keeping up with the growth.
 Both Zambia
			 and Malawi 
			 also have Assembly Halls to build. 
		Zambia has asked for 240 now. We have to discuss that when I'm there.
		Malawi wants 49. The reason is that when the brothers have to travel
a long distance, they can't afford it, so they just send one member
of the family. When we set up an assembly hall for the circuit, they
can stay with in walking distance (if it's less than 4 hours or so)
and the whole family attends.
 Teaching Committee prefers it that way. But we have to see how we can
build something super simple and cheap but at the same time get them
the assembly site that they need. So, like I say, there is a lot to
do on this visit.
 We were just in Malawi 
		 a few weeks ago for another project we were
working on there. I'll send a couple of pics of halls on lake Malawi.
It is a really pretty lake. We have built seven halls along the lake
where there are no roads. We sent the materials in by boat, the name
of the boat is Utewete (
		 for in God's service) and the brothers
and sisters carried the things up the mountain. The one I'm sending
pictures of was 2000 ft up from the lake and about a mile in. They
(mostly the sisters) carried the materials up on their heads, and a
good portion of them with babies on their backs. In 
		 they carry
the babies kinda on their side so that it can nurse easy. So it is
pretty classic to see a sister with materials on her head and a baby
strapped to her side nursing away.
 The brothers say it took around 300 trips up the mountain so we
figured at 2000 ft each that is the equivalent of carrying materials
up the side of Mt Everest more than 20 times.

20

WT expansion and enslavement of the 3rd world...

by cyber-sista in

as some of you know i still receive some of those dopey jw forwards from those who are trying to encourage me to come back to the organization.

this recent one i received was a bit more informative as to the workings of the organization.

i don't think this sister knows who passed this one on to her and i'm sure it wasn't meant to go out over the whole internet.

cyber-sista

still trying...

20

WT expansion and enslavement of the 3rd world...

by cyber-sista in

as some of you know i still receive some of those dopey jw forwards from those who are trying to encourage me to come back to the organization.

this recent one i received was a bit more informative as to the workings of the organization.

i don't think this sister knows who passed this one on to her and i'm sure it wasn't meant to go out over the whole internet.

cyber-sista

As some of you know I still receive some of those dopey JW forwards from those who are trying to encourage me to come back to the Organization. This recent one I received was a bit more informative as to the workings of the Organization. I don't think this sister knows who passed this one on to her and I'm sure it wasn't meant to go out over the whole internet. Like I said I don't know it's origin--someone on a building committe perhaps. I am sure that most of us realize that the WT Org is expanding into the 3rd world. This email really focused on the Organizations building expansion. As a faithful JW I may have read this and said to myself that all these building projects were proof that Jehovah is blessing his Organization, but then again there would've been that little voice inside that disturbed me when I read something of this sort.

What I read here (and I am sure this is not a new thought to most of you) is the fact that the WT is now taking advantage of 3rd world labor. Following the examples of American manufacturers that have relocated to the 3rd world to take advantage of the "cheap" labor and the hard working ethic of the people of these countries. The big difference is the WT doesn't pay at all--they demand free labor from their workers. I think moving operations out of the US is a very smart and calculated move. I think part of the problem they were running into in the US is that the young people here are no longer willing to slave at the WT factories. During the last assembly I attended--just a couple of years ago--a leaflet was passed out. It was much like an advertising campaign calling for young ones to become workers for the organization--bethel service was emphasized over and over again. I really felt as if they were beating the young ones at that assembly--demanding that they get busy working for the organization and putting all other pursuits that a young person may be interested in. The CO gave a very pointed talk. He was sneering when he talked about the normal pursuits of young people. He lumped together marriage, having a family, education and getting a job as "worldly" pursuits. It was also stressed that parents need to make these decisions for their children--training them from an early age to serve Jehovah and his organization--it was emphasized in a strange twisted way that the young people do not have a choice in this matter. With the vast majority of the young people in the US leaving the Org this only leaves a small fraction who remain. Even with this group of "faithful" young ones I know very few who want to pack it off to slave away in a bethel factory somewhere. US manufacturers also get away with a lot more as far as working conditions and standards when they relocate in 3rd world countries. The Organization will be able to get away with a lot more in these countries. So besides the greater labor force they can tap into in the 3rd world, I am also wondering if moving their factories and assets into other countries will be better for them if they end up with many court cases in the US in the near future.

The letter: sorry can't seem to paste it hear--posted below...

73

Tell us about your avitar.

by carefully faded in

jw
friends

i loved the recent topic asking what each of our screen names means.

great question as i have always wondered about quite a few of our screen names.

as i was reading the responses, i looked at holey cheeses - king of the juice's avitar and thought about how i have been wondering for the past three years, what the hell that is a picture of.

cyber-sista

These are fun and interesting, but ((((((((((((((((((((((Bryan))))))))))))))))))))))) I am so sorry about your story--yikes! What a deal......

Mine is some kind of space explosion, because when I left the Org I was exploding out of my space and there was a lot of energy and anger flying about. I have been looking for a little superwoman to fly out of the center of it--kind of like flying out of the center of the wormhole escaping from the Org Universe and breaking on through to the other side of life. Something like that--the meaning of it is constantly evolving and so am I.