Remember the great Rap purge of the late '80s? I remember a Family Study (bethel family WT on Monday night) where the conductor went off on Slayer and other demon bands.
TheListener
JoinedPosts by TheListener
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21
Question for ex or current :) bethelites
by EndofMysteries inif any of you have worked in the mail department or are familiar with how mail is handled.
two questions.
1. if a letter is sent to the main bethel address and the name is "the governing body of jehovah's witnesses", will that letter reach them or is it opened and read by an underling who decides if it works it's way to them.
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Question for ex or current :) bethelites
by EndofMysteries inif any of you have worked in the mail department or are familiar with how mail is handled.
two questions.
1. if a letter is sent to the main bethel address and the name is "the governing body of jehovah's witnesses", will that letter reach them or is it opened and read by an underling who decides if it works it's way to them.
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TheListener
Couch and his "homo" comments are legendary. He even talked about how bethelites would visit the Manhattan nighclub CBGBs and could turn "homo" by touching the door handle. He was insane in the membrane.
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....and a new wrinkle
by outsmartthesystem inso i was giving my daughter a hug at bed time last night.
she stands up at the foot of her bed and wraps her arms around my neck.
she then asks why i don't serve jehovah anymore.
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TheListener
outsmarthesystem, I really feel for you. The stab of pain you must have felt when your daughter said and did that must have been really strong. Your continuing to show love and concern for her and to spend time with her are great. I think the best thing you can do is to let her see by example which parent is less stressed, which parent has unconditional love and which parent puts her and her interests first regardless of what the WTS says.
I have found in my own life that spending as much time as I can with my kids in activities they enjoy has made a really big difference in our relationship.
Depending on your situation and your kids personalities it may be helpful if they see you reading your Bible and when you're with them talking about God or Jesus a bit to them. It might make it harder for your wife and others to paint you as a Godless heathen if the kids know otherwise from a young age.
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What to tell your kids
by TheListener inwhat did you tell your children about why you don't go to meetings anymore or aren't a witness?
especially if you have a witness spouse..
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TheListener
What did you tell your children about why you don't go to meetings anymore or aren't a witness? Especially if you have a witness spouse.
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World map showing net reduction in publisher numbers
by cedars inmp has asked which country has lost the most publishers, and i decided to investigate.
one thing led to another, and i decided to produce another world map, this time showing the net reduction in publishers for each country.. this has been calculated by means of the following equation for each country:.
2011 total no.
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TheListener
Can't we just call it: An Approximation of Missing Members on an Annual Basis - or something equally zingy!
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2005 - The year the Society began its decline (without anyone noticing)!
by cedars ini've just finished an article for randy over on freeminds.org, which i've submitted to him for review.
hopefully it should be online soon, so please keep checking!.
the article discusses the fact that the watch tower society is already in decline, and suggests the year 2005 as the turning point.
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TheListener
Great thread.
When I was still in I remember thinking the WTS was a very professional and efficient organization. I remember stories of other companies using the WTS as a role model. We had quality audio, quality dvds, quality publications, and our branch offices had all the up to date technology. We even invented MEPS (I have no idea if others use it or even if the WTS still uses it).
What I see today, through glasses of skepticism, is an organization with the shine wore off. An organization going through the motions. I believe others have stated this as well.
I have a spouse who is an active devout witness. I have never heard her or any other witness friend she has ever state anything negative about the organization or its cost cutting policies. However, they do all seem truly excited when there is less of something (like one less meeting and less magazines and books to read).
And from my perspective all witnesses seem to be so busy they can't see straight, so stressed out they can't think straight and so wore out they have every odd medical disease in the book. There must be something to that.
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i am a regular pioneer in my cong reading crisis of conscience.here goes...
by MsGrowingGirl20 ini'm on page 90 right now...the info is definitely new and gives me a totally diff view as to how i used to think of faithful and discreet slave.
i was thoroughly disgusted with the way the brothers handled the oral sex and leadership problem and the insight on the scriptures book...... still have alot of questions though.
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TheListener
Welcome to the forum.
I read CoC. I was so nervous to buy it I had a friend drive to another state and buy it for me. I was so so nervous that someone would find out I bought it and read it.
That book helps clarify things that many people already sort of have a feeling aren't right. It helped me by putting specific thoughtful arguments together for specific Witness doctrines. Other books are great but they don't take the time to go into the detail that Ray does.
I wish you well on your journey.
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2011 Watchtower publisher statistics with analysis
by jwfacts inthe 2012 yearbook has released the publisher statistics for the 2011 service year.
a scan of the report can be found at http://www.jwfacts.com/images/2011-publisher-report.pdf and i have started updating the graphs at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php.
as expected, it is following on from similar trends to the last 15 years.
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TheListener
Yadda Yadda 2 I totally agree!
The time per month spiked yet the amount to gain a convert increased as well. The effectiveness is down because those going out are just ticking the boxes. They aren't really into it like the witnesses of previous generations.
Could be more people are faking their time and padding their reports so the overall amount is higher but there isn't much productivity.
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I didn't marry a "pagan" said my wife
by NVR2L8 in18 months ago when i told my wife that i no longer believe the wt teachings and that i had attended my last meeting, she said that everything would change because she didn't marry a "pagan".
so after a short moment i told her that i understood her reaction, but this would be the only time i would not act on such a comment - the next time i would simply pack up and leave.
isn't it strange that the one who is supposed to be in the "truth" is the one who is ready to forfit our marriage, when in fact the bible tells christian spouses to remain with their unbelieving mate?
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TheListener
Good luck.
My marriage has survived despite the fact that my wife remains a JW. We don't discuss religious things. Well, not JW religious things. We've developed an unspoken rule not to discuss how ridiculous the JW religion is or how important it is for me to get back to the fold before the end. So far so good.
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You might have a problem when the conversation ends with your wife walking away from you...fingers in her ears.....yelling " Jehovah help me! Jehovah help me!"
by oompa inbut when they end like that three times....it's strike three... or maybe it was strike #3,333,333.......but it is sad and painful for us both i know.....a person must be in a very very bad place to act like that in front a man you have loved and been intimate with for 15 years....and at that moment i am satan in front of her....a begging pleading attempting to reason satan...but still satan to her and her friends.....but this nice woman needs satan out of her life now....oompa.
i am not a bad person...i am not satan...i asked her why she thought i had tried so hard....told her that if she was in a burning building just how hard would she think i would try to get her out??
she did not like that analogy either...so i have started the painful process...the building is going to burn to the ground now....and i will never put her through that fingers in ears thing again.... and i will be fair and reasonable....and pay her the alimony and give her half....i could so be a satan to her in divorce....but i won't!...i can at least prove to them all that i am decent man...and not mentally diseased or satan.....and ahhhhh i feel good about that....plus both my boys are free now...
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TheListener
I'm really sorry Oompa. I'm glad your children are free. I think your decision about being as reasonable and considerate as possible during any divorce proceedings will be the right thing.
My wife and I don't have those tough conversations anymore. Almost all religious conversations are a demilitarized zone and we just don't go there. It works for us. BUT, it isn't really a perfect situation having a marriage mate where you can't share everything, discuss everything and enjoy each other for who you are. It also sucks knowing my wife (and other JWs) think I'm the devil's tool and mentally diseased - even if they don't say it to me I know it's part of their underlying thoughts.
Hang in there man.