Posts by Etude

5

New Audio/Video Website for JW's

by Jourles in

jw
friends

in order to lend a helping hand, i put up a new website dedicated to housing audio and video files related to the watchtower society.

currently, all media files are related to pedophilia.

you can access this new website by going to http://www.dirtclod.com.

What was your most embarassing moment?

by kwijibo in

mine was at the kh giving a talk - got muddled up and almost said the f word into the mike.

in fact - i said it in my mind or under my breath and then panicked because i thought i had said it out loud but the audience didn't seem to react so i new i must have not said it out loud.

i wonder if anyone noticed me breaking into a cold sweat........... anyone got any more?

Wait just a minute! You wore pants to the meetings? Where the heck is that congregation? It must be here in California, certainly not back East or the South. That's reason for disfellopshiping in some places. Maybe they can be worn in Alaska, with a matching double-botton wolverine parka.

Etude.

45

Disassociating myself ...

by dedalus in

well, it had to come to this eventually.. this winter my wife and daughter and i celebrated christmas with my in-laws, with whom we currently live (high school english teachers don't make much money!).

my in-laws have been inactive for about two years, and this year, they decided to celebrate the holidays.

one reason for this is that their son, who is eight, has multiple disabilities -- can't see, trouble hearing, other, quite sever, issues -- and christmas, with its presents and wrapping and loud carols and trees and wreaths is, well, a very accessible experience for him, the way, say, my kingdom ministry and the watchtower are not.. well, as a household we went all out.

Etude

Dedalus:

I'm so enraged I could spit sparks. Those bastards! I would hope that something happens to those elders to make them realize their insensitivity. I'm not vindictive and don't whish them a tragedy. But at this very moment, I don't really care if it did.

I hope you're dad comes around and your brother-in-law improves in health. How's you father-in-law fairing and what does he say about what happened with the elders at the door?

Etude

37

FARTING IN THE KINGDOM HALL.

by nightwarrior in

i was lead to beleive that cleanlinness was next to godliness,that jehovah is a clean god, .

as we as a family sat down behind ( being the operative word ) a couple of elderly sisters ,arriving late we took the only seats available,even then we caused disruption as we even i were fighting over the seats as to where one would sit ,sure enough i allways seemed to end up in the firing line of these elderly fat arsed sisters,whom allways ended up farting in your face,the smell was so strong that you could actualy taste the stench it in the air 10 minutes later,i allways felt sick ,my children grinning .

how did you cope yourself

Etude

The only specific experience I can recall regarding farting in the Kingdom Hall, aside from the occasional stealthy odorific breeze that I might have encountered while sitting or going up and down the isle with a microphone, has to do with a child, of course. She was (about 6 years of age) sitting somewhere in the middle of the Hall next to her mother. I was sitting about 2 or 3 rows behind where I could actually see her. It was a Sunday afternoon Watchtower study, you know, when you're kinda groggy and bored and the subject is not too interesting. Somewhere in the middle of the hour, I could see the little girls shoulders shake a bit. She was in the middle of a heave to let out this big sneeze. Unfortunately, she tried to contain it and it backfired. I guess she was packing a lot of punch in it because she almost seemed to lift off the chair at the same time the rumble from her backside echo through the Hall and kinda woke everybody up. She quickly turned to her mother in an explicative manner and said: "Mommy, it just came out!" I lost it right then and there, although I was able to compose myself just long enough to walk out and not have a "back firing" experience myself.

Etude.

28

My Ghost Experience This Morning

by rem in

i had a terrifying experience this morning and i'm writing about it as a lesson on how we perceive things.

this type of thing has happened to me several times in my life, but since it just happened again this morning, and ghosts seem to be a topic of interest on this board, i thought i'd share it.. i was staying at a friend's house while she was away.

this place is an old apartment complex built in the 1920's in san francisco.

Etude

Rem:

I think I experienced something like that many years ago when I was a teenager. What caught my attention about your tale are the following three things: 1) you woke up in an alert state; 2) you said you were paralyzed and 3) the sense of fear hit you before or just at the time everything else unfolded. I experienced the exact same symptoms. It was about 4:00 AM and I had fallen asleep on the couch in our living room. I woke up like I had not been sleeping and then started to hear the wood floors squeak and the doorknob turn while unable to speak or move. It scared the guacamole out of me.

I may be deviating a bit from the subject, but all this makes me think about some disorders that many people experience. Im pragmatic and believe in science. So much so, that I feel perfectly comfortable in saying I dont know if there isnt a reasonable explanation instead of making one fit. So I explain our common experience (with some available scientific evidence), as the result of recreations by the brain, as communicated by chemical messengers to the Limbic system while it kept it secret from you cerebrum and motor centers (phew!) But going beyond, people who experience Turrets Syndrome, who are manic compulsive or have Schizophrenia obviously demonstrate something thats way beyond their control in a permanent and devastating way. In the case of Schizophrenia, his or her delusions are so vivid and real, the person cant help but react to the voices and the visions. You and I (and some of the other commentators here) are lucky that we only experience a freaky moment of this type a few times in our lives. Those other poor people I just described have to live with their condition on a daily basis, which takes me to my point: Were supposed to have free will. How much free will does someone with Turrets Syndrome or manic compulsion or Schizophrenia has? More over, its obvious in my opinion that, what makes us who we are and makes us do the things we do is communicated via chemical messages that our bodies produce. In other words, we are at the mercy of our own body chemistry.

The conditions I mentioned are obvious and extreme, but I think that there are many, many shades in between that make us either have an addictive personality (or not), or behave a certain way and lose control temporarily (or not). That is something I dont think the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses and their governing body will ever get. When someone cant help what they do, often the organization reacts intolerantly and will disfellowship the individual. All of this makes me wonder how much self will we really have. I guess to put it simply, thats what imperfection is, thats what the Bible calls sin. Thank God that Jesus knew that. Its a shame that the Watchtower organization does not. If it's something like a "possession", it has to be demons. If it deals with morality, it has to be the person's fault.

Etude.

11

The good, the bad and the ugly.

by Etude in

i had posted some comments on another thread about good and bad witnesses in response to a request, but i think i waited too long and the thread died before anyone read post.

i'd like to start a new thread just to share some of my experiences, particularly at bethel.

here's the previous post: .

Etude

Thanks for the encouragement, Utopian_Raindrops. I have several pages of my story and I haven't even gotten to the items that really bugged my regarding policies at Bethel. Here are two other excerpts:

On my first day, shortly after I met my first roommate in our quarters on the 7 th floor of 107 Columbia Heights, he proceeded to tell me his rules. Basically he told me that since he was there first, I had to adjust to his ways and not the other way around. I never expected this. I thought that gentle, spiritual people would surround me. I cant blame the Jehovahs Witnesses for my rude awakening. I can only blame my sheltered upbringing. Well, I dont know what bug had crawled up his anus, but I immediately decided that this is not the sort of guy with whom I was going to be buddies. He had been on light duty from work at the bookbindery because he nearly got one of his forearms torn off at one of those machines that puts the covers on the books. Obviously, he didnt follow safety procedures. He was rather surprised and almost hurt 2 weeks later when I announced to him that I was moving in with another brother to the roach-infested Towers Hotel from which the Society was leasing 3 or 4 floors and was also planning to purchase. I guess he figured that because I was a newcomer that I would be at his mercy, lost and looking for orientation. Since I lived in NY, I had taken many tours of the facilities and also knew several Bethelites. This gave me a slight advantage and a little less awe.
I dont think I ever spoke to Nathan Knorr, but I heard enough from him to form an opinion of what kind of person he was. It seemed obvious to me that he called the shots around Bethel and the Organization and that his right hand man was Fred Franz. You must bear in mind that these feelings were half conscious and that even if I fully realized them, it was in a reverent manner. You just dont criticize authority when it seems that awesome. It was early in my Bethel service that the change came which instituted the Elder arrangement in the congregations. It was also about that time that there were changes in the hierarchy and the governing body came really to be. Knorr was not happy about that and it showed from his speeches to the family at breakfast time. I dont know if those events made him more so, but he proved to be insensitive to the point of being cruel. Once, on an open microphone that broadcasted to all the dining rooms in the Bethel complex, he proceeded to chastise a sister who didnt show up to read the daily text out of the year book at breakfast. Naming her, he said something to the effect that she must have better things to do than to show up. Not a couple of days earlier, I had seen that sister nearly pass out as her husband caught her on her way to the floor while she was trying to exit the dining room during the prayer just before breakfast. It turns out she was pregnant and had severe morning sickness. It didnt take an anointed of God to figure out why she didnt show. But even if he didnt know, his derogatory comments were at least not appropriate and were meant to embarrass her in front of the entire Bethel family.

Etude.

11

The good, the bad and the ugly.

by Etude in

i had posted some comments on another thread about good and bad witnesses in response to a request, but i think i waited too long and the thread died before anyone read post.

i'd like to start a new thread just to share some of my experiences, particularly at bethel.

here's the previous post: .

Etude

Yes indeed. I started learning when I was around 20, before I went to Bethel, from my aunt who was a concert pianist. I gave my first recital in Camy Hall in New York, back around 1973. I found that I couldn't handle the pressure of audiences. After all, I started because of a personal desire for music and not to make a career. Piano etudes were written as studies of certain playing techniques but were elevated to a high art form by many famous composers.

Etude.

11

The good, the bad and the ugly.

by Etude in

i had posted some comments on another thread about good and bad witnesses in response to a request, but i think i waited too long and the thread died before anyone read post.

i'd like to start a new thread just to share some of my experiences, particularly at bethel.

here's the previous post: .

Etude

Thank you, Gopher. It has taken me a few years to muddle through my feelings in order to write down my story. Overall, I think it's been cathartic. I didn't know I had such juicy stories but it's been hard drawing them out. I was there when there were a lot of changes afoot but I have a hard time placing dates. For many years, I had an aversion to anything having to do with the Watchtower.

Etude.

11

The good, the bad and the ugly.

by Etude in

i had posted some comments on another thread about good and bad witnesses in response to a request, but i think i waited too long and the thread died before anyone read post.

i'd like to start a new thread just to share some of my experiences, particularly at bethel.

here's the previous post: .

Etude

I had posted some comments on another thread about good and bad Witnesses in response to a request, but I think I waited too long and the thread died before anyone read post. I'd like to start a new thread just to share some of my experiences, particularly at Bethel. Here's the previous post:

I did time in Bethel from 2/74 for about 2 and a half years. I remember the "New Boy" talk, which was delivered by Knorr. I remember his welcoming comments about how this was our home. But not a few sentences later, he told us that we couldn't as much as hang a picture on a wall of our room without permission from the Home Overseer. I remember him emphasizing, not so much that we maintain our promise to serve for 4 years, but that he wished that we make Bethel our life time goal. He pointed out as examples several brothers that had done that, among them, his right-hand boy, Fred Franz. It didn't take me long to realize that a lot of the ways things were done at Bethel were directly influenced by him (Knorr). For example, it's my impression that Knorr had a vision of what a Bethelite's appearance should be. I was "strongly encouraged" to shave my mustache off, even though it was basically left up to one as a matter of conscience (as if it was really a choice). I really don't know what the reason was. I just know that if you didn't, you were then branded a B.A. (bad attitude) and were not given "privileges". That view might have been associated with the "clean image" that Knorr had in mind or perhaps with the fact that he felt that others in the "world" looked like that (had mustaches), especially in Brooklyn Heights.

I stayed there long enough to witness the repeal of the "four-year sentence" and was able to leave after 2 and a-half years without reproach. But not before I had the "education" of a lifetime. I was rather sheltered and naive and because of my time at Bethel, I had a very fast and hard awakening. [] The majority of time I spent at Bethel was so traumatic for me that it has taken me years just to be able to talk about it. "Talk" is probably not the right term since I have never talked to anyone about my stay there. I have recently written an account of my entire experiences as a JW and would like to include a paragraph that discusses some issues found in this thread. Sorry for being so verbose:

At Bethel, the "Brothers" were very conscious of our looks to the point that it was discouraged for us to wear blue jeans during our personal time on the street, mostly because the homosexuals in the area seemed to wear them too. On one occasion, I remember being in my room at the as yet not remodeled roach-infested Towers Hotel. There were no direct phones since the Watchtower Society had not yet purchased the hotel and was only renting several floors while the deal was being completed. There were, however, hall phones that connected to the main hotel switchboard. If I got a call from my family, at 124 Columbia Heights (there was no way to call the hotel directly for a connection to me), the switchboard at Bethel would call the Towers Hotels main switchboard. The hotel attendant in turn would ring the hall phone on my floor. Someone would pick it up and knock on my room door. I would go to the hall phone were I would be informed that I had a call at the front desk at 124 Columbia Heights. I then would have to get dressed and run a bit more than 2 long New York City blocks so that I could get my call. On one of those occasions, I happened to meet brother Knorr who was also headed for the front door to enter the main lobby. My clothes and hair were in disarray since I arrived running on that cool breezy morning, after being in bed, having finished the night shift at the factory. What impressed me was his look of disdain and disapproval. I think he almost said something to me. If he had, I would have fired right back. All I could think of was about the sacrifice I was making being there at Bethel, not for him, but for Jehovah, and the hard work and inconvenience I was going through, and the roaches and bed bugs I had to endure at the Towers Hotel. I think I would have definitely pointed that out to him as something that would out-weigh his reason for disapproval. By the time I got to the phone, whoever called had gotten tired of waiting and hung up.

Etude.

44

Who still goes to meetings?

by christopherceo in

just a curious question to see what types of stories i get.

let's hear how you do it.

Etude

I agree with you, "blacksheep" and with you, "RAYZORBLADE". I haven't attended a meeting since about 1981. I didn't think I could stomach it. However, especially since I joined this newsgroup, I have this morbid curiosity to be there and actually listen to something that would amaze me. More than that, I want some ammunition for the day that I confront some of my family who are still Witnesses and discuss issues. The reason is, they think that when you leave the Organization, it's as if you forget everything that you've ever learned and have no credentials to discuss anything with understanding. I want to have some recent topics to argue with them. Then again, except for scandals, I can't think of anything new that they could possibly come up with. It's the same garbage, different day. Maybe it's how they say it that makes me curious. After all, there are those new "understandings".

I also think about how boring it would be to read through and hear some of the issues in the infantile way it's written and delivered. In all my years hearing lectures (since 1970), there were very few lecturing individuals I encounteed who could manage insight into a subject. I probably could have but didn't have the avocados to deviate from the hour-sermon outline and really speak my mind. While at the mini-Gilead school for new boys at Bethel, someone told me that the Society writes their literature for an audience with an 8th grade level education. Frankly, I think it's somewhere below that. They say the same thing about military documentation, but I find that much more interesting than the Watchtower. I'm not saying that I'm going. I'm just considering it. I can understand other's "no way in hell would I go back" position. Some wounds are hard to heal. I guess mine are, but I still have the scars and that makes me reluctant.

Etude.