"The box is right next to the two paragraphs with the generation change in them. Yet the box makes NO MENTION of it.
It's a subtle mind game to make you accept the change .....heres 5 things we've changed that you've previously accepted, can you spot another in the paragraphs on this same page? IF NOT THEN YOU ARE NOT KEEPING UP!!!!"
WMF: Good point. Very devious.
on this week's service meeting there's a q&a for an article about informal witnessing (tm).
the second paragraph recommends dressing modestly at all times so you're ready to witness at a moment's notice.
it even says that your neat & clean appearance may arouse "curiosity".. .
A householder once asked me, "Do JWs have to dress the same, and all in black?" So then I noticed, all the women were wearing long black skirts and long black coats. Being a witness was great training for a life of frumpdom.
Cate
remember some of the garbage served at the district conventions?.
i was at the dollar store today and noticed they started carrying "shasta" cola.. i started laughing because they used to serve that skunk water at the district conventions when i was a kid.. they always brought in the cheapest, nastiest soda they could buy.. one year we had something called vess cola - that was actually worse than the shasta!
then, they ran out on sunday and had to buy pepsi from the local distributor - we were all rejoicing!!.
At either the International Assembly in Oakland or the one in San Francisco, we all stood at long plywood tables and ate tofu instead of real meat. Tofu shaped liked a chicken leg...tofu shaped like a hamburger patty. Gross.
Cate
recently,.
there was a morning worship a few days ago where the gb member spoke about false security.
he stated that many people look to social security and pensions for their security and how unwise that is.
I remember a talk from a long time ago (about the time these older Bethelites who have been let go would have been joining) about the proper attitude to have about going to Bethel. The best attitude was to "commit to working at Bethel for life." So it is not surprising that these people thought the commitment went the other way as well; i.e., that they would have a home for life.
Cate
firstly, thank god i found this forum!
i've spent the better part of today while my kids were in school reading many threads.. some background...i am in my mid 30s, married, 2 kids.
i was born and raised a jw...came from "good" stock...elders, pioneers, etc.
A couple of thoughts:
I began having serious doubts first, which shook my husband up, but I brought up issues a bit at a time, and he would think about them later (according to him). One of the issues I had was with blood (as you mentioned). I asked my husband how it could be okay to accept fractions of blood, if the only thing that was supposed to be done with blood was pour it out on the ground. If we accept blood fractions, aren't we encouraging people to break God's law?
The other question I asked him was: How did he plan to explain to people in the door-to-door work the change in the understanding of the generation. As you mentioned, we spent many, many years insisting that we could absolutely prove, from the Bible, that the generation alive in 1914 would not pass away before the end came. What do we say now? Why should they have any confidence that our new explanation is worth anything more than the old one?
I wish you the best. My husband and I are both out now.
Cate
posted this at the end of the last thread i started (entirely diff subject) but: i resigned from the world of the ministerial servant drone on sunday.
no more ridiculous 5min announcement parts.
no more idiotic q and a'a.
If you feel like telling us, what reason did you give them for resigning?
Cate
good excuses.
pinkeye.
(highly contagious, and you aren't supposed to touch other people's dishes and glasses.)tuberculosis.
Explosive diarhea.
good excuses.
pinkeye.
(highly contagious, and you aren't supposed to touch other people's dishes and glasses.)tuberculosis.
Too drunk to drive.
i came on jwd a year ago tomorrow, having realized that jws were not the truth, quite painfully, on march 29, 2008. i was here within a week, and within 2 months i was officially dad by my congregation.. ever since joining, i have never actually wrote down a comprehensive look at why i left the organization.
what doubts caused me to leave?
why did a gilead grad leave what i once considered so precious?.
Very well written and very interesting. I can relate to so much you said. There came a time when I could no longer just push the doubts aside. Thanks for sharing.
Cate
i wondered what would happen if 10% of those who received them, turned up?
in fact if only 2.5% turned up, our kingdom hall would not cope as it would mean in excess of another 250 people coming, even 1% would be another 100 and we couldn't cope.
does the society, have a means of guestimating the percentage that may turn up for every 1000 leaflets distributed?or is it just busy work for the publishers?
Yep, busy work. Just like the rest of field service. There are much better, more efficient, less annoying ways to reach people these days than knocking on their doors.
Cate
