Posts by Athanasius

15

Went to a viewing at a Catholic Church...not what I expected

by PaintedToeNail in

jw
friends

a child in my daughter's class lost his mother very recently.

we went to the viewing last night at the local catholic church.

in the foyer area there was a bulletin board with pamphlets regarding child sex abuse, including by the church, in both english and spanish.

Athanasius

After leaving the JWs I visited a number of churches, and all had programs to help the needy and the disadvantaged. The Anglican Church that I attend has a food pantry and a clothes closet for the poor. We even have a free medical clinic for the needy. Around Christmas time the parishioners put together gift baskets of food and toys for needy families.

Some years back our priest read a letter to the congregation that was from the Diocese of Los Angeles, informing us that a priest who had once served our parish had been arrested for child abuse. If anyone had been victimized by this man, we were told to contact the Los Angeles Police Department. Unlike the Kingdom Hall, there was no mention of contacting the church legal department first. Instead contact the proper authorities immediately.

The Watchtower organization doesn't even take care of their own needy, much less those of the community at

9

What was the longest Elder Meeting you have ever experienced?

by Yondaime in

a couple years back my hall had around 12 elders, and the body was literally divided into little factions of elders(gotta love jehovah's holy spirit !).

the branch sent 2 more elders to help resolve the issues between them, and that didn't help at all.. so when the circuit overseer visited, a meeting was held after the sunday meeting.

i waited in the hall by myself since the rest of my family was out of town for a certain family event.

Athanasius

I served as an elder from 1972-1984, and don't recall any elder's meeting being longer than 2 hours. Of course it was a different religion back then. Still most of the meetings were routine without any conto. However, the JC meetings were a different matter and could go on for hours and hours.

26

trying to remember what I left behind.........

by ScottyRex in

jw
friends

i watched this tonight and it made me think.......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=almbxqvwpei have a look x

Athanasius

The video used the soundtrack from the film Gladiator by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, works that copyrighted. Did the makers of the video, whoever they are, get permission or pay for the use of this music?

13

Revise Tax Code to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse

by ABibleStudent in

over the last five years, i have read lots of threads complaining about the wtbts, but few threads about becoming involved to help jws to critically think for themselves so that they can decide whether to stay, change the wtbts, or fade.

i'm curious if anyone is willing to write to their political representatives like i did today?.

before someone writes that the bill that i wrote would infringe on rights of either the establishment or free excercise clause of the u.s. constitution, i already checked with a lawyer and she said that the concept sounds promising.

Athanasius

The Watchtower worships the almighty dollar, so something like this would surely get their

13

Revise Tax Code to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse

by ABibleStudent in

over the last five years, i have read lots of threads complaining about the wtbts, but few threads about becoming involved to help jws to critically think for themselves so that they can decide whether to stay, change the wtbts, or fade.

i'm curious if anyone is willing to write to their political representatives like i did today?.

before someone writes that the bill that i wrote would infringe on rights of either the establishment or free excercise clause of the u.s. constitution, i already checked with a lawyer and she said that the concept sounds promising.

Athanasius

Good work ABS. However, you should run it by an attorney who specializes in these issues. Also you might want to do some research and find out which members of Congress are advocates of children's rights; as these members might be especially interested in a bill like you propose.

The Watchtower worships the mighty dollar, so something like this would surely get their

29

A possible way for the Watch Tower to generate revenue via their website.

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

earlier in the week someone posted the potential value of the jw website based on visits and if they used advertisements.

many stated they would never do that but i propose they could.. besides their real estate profit making business model, they have the conventions as cash generating machines.

they give directions to their members to which hotels/motels to use.

Athanasius

Perhaps the Watch Tower magazine didn't carry advertising, but the Golden Age magazine did during the first years of its publication. 21st century JWism isn't what it used to be. No doubt the new GB will ad advertising as a revenue source.

13

Any news from the elder schools held this month in Canada& USA

by wannaexit in

jw
friends

......inquiring minds want to know.

Athanasius

You are probably correct, DOC. If the CO is appointed by the GB, he is their agent. Corporations have been held liable for the actions of their agents. I was hoping Band, the lawyer, would comment on the subject.

53

How did your family react when you made it known that you did not want to be a JW anymore?

by Yondaime in

please share your experiences..

Athanasius

They didn't take it very well and it cost me my marriage. One day I was a respected elder in the congregation, and the next day I was a non-person.

But that was their problem. So I went back to college, got my degree, got a great job, made new friends, and married a wonderful non-JW woman. Sure there was some pain to endure at first, but it didn't last and the rewards were far greater than anything in the Borg.

11

New theory on GB or the mysterious people who profit from all the money going to the WT

by EndofMysteries in

with all the money grabs and shady things going on, you wonder how can they actually believe they are representing god and even believe in god and still be doing these things.. then i thought, what if a trend started awhile back, people who gave up everything and got high in the org, but also since they got high up, they were privy and learned things that convinced them it was a lie.

now if they remained believers, they may end up like ray franz, a true believer wouldn't want to deceive people seeking god, they would be afraid of god's wrath.. since as is shown on this board many also become athiests, some could have become so while still in and in high ranks.

at this point they think of their options, a. leave, screwed, welfare, older they are the harder to adjust and everybody turns on them or b. kind of shady but the org and everyone put them in this position and they will turn on them in a heartbeat with no remorse so he is going to beat them to it and insure the rest of his/their lives are well taken care of and going to get rich off it.. so those higher ups who turn athiest opt for option b since they don't believe in any god and since the whole org will turn on them for disagreeing and not believing and leave them with nothing, they will instead keep working their way up, start companies for the things wt already buys, turn it into a big cash cow for themselves.

Athanasius

Being a retired accountant, I feel that your theory has merit, EM. Moreover, I've suspected that this has been going on for a long time. But until we can get a hold of the Watchtower's financial statements, it must remain just a theory. Perhaps that is why the Watchtower refuses to release their financials to the public. If the Watchtower's financial dealings were honest and above board, they would have no reason to withold them from the public.

While it's not illegal for the Watchtower to pay a JW owned company twice as much for supplies as it would to a non-JW company, if this became public knowledge, the rank and file JWs might think twice about paying $20,000 for the one day use of a building that the R&R JWs built and paid for.

13

The "Good Cop/Bad Cop" Alternating GB Theory

by ILoveTTATT in

jw
friends

Athanasius

I agree with some of what the OP said, but differ as to his analysis of GB 1.0. Having been an elder during the 1970s, those years were labled by some as Watchtower Vatican II. The JW disfellowshipping rules were reformed and liberalized. You could even greet a DFd person. Locally we even had independent Bible studies and didn't fear being brought before a JC for studying the Bible. It was after Ray Franz was purged in 1979 that the repression began and the reactionary GB members like Ted Jaracz enforced their authority.

When the GB began repealing the reforms of the 1970s I resigned as an elder in 1984 and quickly faded. But through the years I've talked with refugees from the Watchtower Gulag and things have gotten steadily worse in JW land since 1980. Perhaps the 1990s were less repressive for JWs than they are today, but when one looks back at 1970s JWdom, it is almost like examining a different religion.