Posts by LongHairGal

23

Governing Body and rank and file liabilities

by greendawn in

i get the impression that generally the rank and file jws are to be thought of as victims whereas the governing body are the real and only villains in this organisation.

.

do you think this is a valid opinion especially when it comes to the elders and circuit/district overseers who willingly enforce the gb's often criminal policies?

LongHairGal

Most of them both GB and RF see themselves as not accountable and not liable for anything.

Just about every dub I ever know feels as long as they do their personal thing i.e. fs, meetings, prayer, they are not responsible for the "big picture" of what happens. Most have what I call a head-in-the-sand attitude. Some are almost wearing blinders like what a horse would wear and would actually become ill if you even engage them in what they would consider a "negative" conversation.

5

The least likely of people are the ones who shun you...

by dh in

jw
friends

as anyone who might remember will remember, i posted some time ago that my mother finally stopped going to jw meetings a couple of months back, after 30 years of being an anchor of her congregation... now, ever since leaving there have been no elder visits (my dad is still an elder), and the c/o came around and my mom talked to him one on one, and that all seemed sorted.

'sisters' from the congregation still come around and see my mom (but only 'ones' that we here 'friends'), and there were about 150 'we miss you' 'please come back' cards... but as much as most of the people in my mom's congregation are 'cut up' and 'sad at the loss of sister _ _ _ _ ', they still call around for a coffee, or meet my mom for a coffee and are ok about it... this in itself might seem strange, but not so, considering the congregation i grew up in, everyone would still talk to me since i am not df'd and they always ask how my brother and i are doing.... anyway, to cut a long story short, i asked my mom how her oldest friend was, a woman who was her friend when she first became a jw in the mid 70's... now this is a person who always lived over 100 miles away from us, but would come and stay at our house every now and then, for assemblies etc, a person my mom had a very special friendship with... a very open minded and spiritual woman by all appearances, somewhat eccentric and a big fan of dr. seusse (which is where i get my love of dr. seusse from)... well, it turns out this one person who you would never in a million years expect to pass a sweeping judgement, when my mom told her she would no longer be going to meetings, she said 'then i don't want to speak to you again' the end!

can you believe that garbage?

LongHairGal

A slight correction:

There are two old souls who I would have fond memories of.

30

Visiting graves . . . did you do it?

by garybuss in

jw
friends

today we had a nice road trip and visited two cemeteries where grandparents and aunts and uncles are buried.

we usually make the yearly trek on memorial weekend but this year we helped my son move and were out of town.

it's an upbeat day.

LongHairGal

Your post brought back memories (but not dub related).

I must have been a morbid little girl. When I was young my family (not dubs) spent time in New England which is chock full of old cemeteries. I loved to go looking through them and still do. It was amazing to look at old old headstones and wonder what the neighborhood looked like in those days. I guess in the span of time we are nothing.

5

The least likely of people are the ones who shun you...

by dh in

jw
friends

as anyone who might remember will remember, i posted some time ago that my mother finally stopped going to jw meetings a couple of months back, after 30 years of being an anchor of her congregation... now, ever since leaving there have been no elder visits (my dad is still an elder), and the c/o came around and my mom talked to him one on one, and that all seemed sorted.

'sisters' from the congregation still come around and see my mom (but only 'ones' that we here 'friends'), and there were about 150 'we miss you' 'please come back' cards... but as much as most of the people in my mom's congregation are 'cut up' and 'sad at the loss of sister _ _ _ _ ', they still call around for a coffee, or meet my mom for a coffee and are ok about it... this in itself might seem strange, but not so, considering the congregation i grew up in, everyone would still talk to me since i am not df'd and they always ask how my brother and i are doing.... anyway, to cut a long story short, i asked my mom how her oldest friend was, a woman who was her friend when she first became a jw in the mid 70's... now this is a person who always lived over 100 miles away from us, but would come and stay at our house every now and then, for assemblies etc, a person my mom had a very special friendship with... a very open minded and spiritual woman by all appearances, somewhat eccentric and a big fan of dr. seusse (which is where i get my love of dr. seusse from)... well, it turns out this one person who you would never in a million years expect to pass a sweeping judgement, when my mom told her she would no longer be going to meetings, she said 'then i don't want to speak to you again' the end!

can you believe that garbage?

LongHairGal

My dub friends are few. If I lose them at some point I'll feel sorry for about five minutes. I have made friends outside and have (thankfully) no family inside.

What gets me is this: how do they imagine they will be missed? It is not as though they were my friends when I was active. I experienced maybe not exactly shunning but something close to it. I always felt an arctic chill with many of them anyway. Conversations with certain people were like a trap where things could go wrong. If I went to a gathering I had to watch what I said. When I was in a car group I needed to put tape across my mouth.

Many who have had better experiences than I did might have something to lose and I feel sorry for them.

But as far as dubs thinking they will be missed - are they serious?

47

Drama at DC in KC

by stillajwexelder in

.

well basically it was aimed at youths and was all about timothy and the apostle paul.

it was rammed down everybodys throat --no college- get pionerring just like timothy

LongHairGal

The college issue was one of the first areas that I could plainly see that they were talking out of both sides of their mouth. Out of one side of their mouth they were saying to get it but out of the other side they were saying not to get it. And they would give unreasonable and unbelievable examples of what they thought a person should do. I would shake my head in disbelief at the unreality of the stupid things they would say!

Years ago while I was still active I remember mentioning to someone that I would never in good conscience bring a kid there. Why, so some idiot could discourage him/her from getting an education and then that kid would hate me when they were older? If you really think about it, they would hate the "truth" and by extension they would hate Jehovah because those are the reasons they didn't get their education. Who is going to pay their bills when they are 40? The idiot who told them not to get an education? The saddest part about this is that the persons in the congregation who are influencing the young and impressionable are persons who are not exactly something to look up to. For instance, you have cases of ones who are some kind of public assistance or other aid and who are not really responsible who are going around influencing certain ones not to get an education. I know of a case in point of a young man who has been influenced to his detriment to drop out of college by certain ones. Sadly, the more responsible e.g. educated/affluent men in the congregation did not associate with him so therefore they had no influence.

To sum it all up: there is no accountability there. Just hypocrisy, bullshit and heads in the sand. If you are related to the right people maybe you'll be okay. For everyone else: let the buyer beware!!!

28

Field service horror/humor stories.

by sonnyboy in

jw
friends

this has probably been done before, but has anyone had any scary or funny things happen to them during field service?

i used to go door-to-door with the most obnoxious elder in the world.

if we approached a house, saw signs of life, but they didn't answer the door, he'd actually go around and knock on their windows!

LongHairGal

I remember being in a car group many years ago. It was in the winter. The brother went to do two short calls with his companion and I sat and waited in the car with an elderly sister.

Well, as we were waiting in the car one of the householders (a man) came out of his house wearing a shorty bathrobe and he bent over on the lawn to pick up a newspaper with his rear-end facing us. Needless to say, I saw everything he owned. I am sure he did it deliberately. The old lady didn't see anything though.

When I got home I told the story to my mother (not a dub). She laughed and said: "those were the Christmas balls".

LHG

24

Are you generous?

by JH in

jw
friends

i love giving and helping people.

makes me feel good.. how about you, do you ever help out people out of pure agape love?.

giving time or money, without expecting anything back in return?

LongHairGal

Seeing generous individuals exploited by the dubs and seeing abuse in the workplace, I am rather hesitant with my generosity. I know people will say how good it makes them feel, etc. This is not to say I would never help anybody. Maybe it would be better to say what I wouldn't do:

I won't get involved if there is a danger to me (I'm a woman so maybe a man feels differently);

I won't help a pompous ass. In fact I would run from such a person.

I won't get involved if there is commercial interest at the bottom of it.

In every other instance it would have to be judged on a case by case basis.

42

At last finished reading Crisis of Conscience

by diamondblue1974 in

jw
friends

.

and what an eye opener it was...dont get me wrong i faded some 10 years ago and the reasons for such were contained in the book, i.e 1914, failed prophecies and so forth.. the expose is disarming by its objective style and whilst i now read any literature through sceptical eyes i could see a person genuinely grieved by what had taken place and the crisis he was subjected to conscientiously; it said it all to me when he said that his aim was not to divert people from the jws but give them support so they could develop as christians and therefore allow them to come to their own conclusions (or words to that effect).. extremely well written and consise with reams of references (which i happen to love).. anyone that is recently out must read this book...it objective, honest and was totally surprising in parts.. db74

LongHairGal

Cameron:

Informative. This must explain why there is an unaccountability that runs from top to bottom. Kind of like a crowd mentality ("it wasn't me pushing, it was everybody else.."). So, it is hardly surprising that I met with so many individuals there who had no sense of accountability on a personal level with anything they did - as long as they got their meetings and service in and weren't guilty of any of the biggies (fornication, drugs, etc.) They felt they were under an umbrella of protection of some sort.

I seriously would have a problem serving a god who would condone any of this.

LHG

56

first post, need to purge my feelings!

by Krista in

jw
friends

this is my first post and here's my story.. my father became a witness long ago and my mom remained a lutheran.

our attendance was sporadic due to mom's opposition.

they knew our mom was lutheran and that she kept us from attending many meetings.

LongHairGal

Welcome Krista!

It is good that you came here to vent. Let it all out! I love to read stories such as yours that tell about the absolute hypocrisy that goes on in many places. Not that I should feel good that such things take place, but that it validates what I have seen and experienced. You get depressed if you think that only you see these things.

Also, with regard to the persecution you are receiving because of your good looks: that is a reality there. The only protection you would have is if you are married to the right man. Then you can be as beautiful as can be. But if one is single she is a threat to everybody there - men as well as women. If there are other good looking women in the cong. then it is not so bad. But if you are the only one with the va va voom looks you are in for heartache. Now, I am not going to tell you to start dressing in a dowdy fashion because that still won't help - as long as your figure can even be slightly discerned. Ha Ha. You would have to wear a burka to please these people!!

Nice to have you here.

LHG

60

Does the Ransom Sacrifice doctrine add up?

by nicolaou in

common to almost all flavours of the christian faith is the teaching of the ransom.

that the sacrifice of jesus' perfect human life paid back the debt of the perfect human life which our forefather adam had forfeited.. but is it truly a 'corresponding sacrifice'?.

points to consider:.

LongHairGal

Terry:

The part you mention about there not being a perfect wife for Jesus in order to make perfect children was a queston I also asked.

I was then told: "Well, Jesus's perfection is so great that it would overcome her imperfection...so it wouldn't matter, etc."

I don't know if this could ever be true so the point is moot but that was the type of answer I got.

LHG