Posts by truthsetsonefree

8

Being An Insider as a JW Means.... What?

by AllTimeJeff in

i write this partly as a healing post for me, but also one built out of curiosity.... because as we all know, jw's have their own caste system, with the haves and have nots, the good jw's, and those barely hanging on for dear life..... since i have left, i have wondered how i should use my "insider" observations as a gilead grad, missionary, elder, etc.... frankly, for me to go all the way up the ladder is embarrassing for me to consider... what an idiot i was..... yet, for so many who are leaving, they are fascinated by what i got to do.

ditto certain others here.

(i think of randy watters or a@g videos, etc....) frankly, when i read randy's stuff at freeminds.org, i recognized it instantly.

truthsetsonefree

I know what you mean Jeff. I was a jerk until I became an elder. I was self righteous, I bought in totally. My only excuse is that I was a child when it happened. When I became an elder, that's when my humanity surfaced as I saw regular folk struggle to serve the WT. That too was when I felt the overpowering need to make sure that what I was teaching was accurate. The rest is history. But I still cringe when I think of what I was before. I guess that is part of facing reality.

17

Illegals not allowed positions of responsibility?

by ElderEtta in

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truthsetsonefree

And remember to dubs being baptized into "Jah's org" is necessary for survival. They are being "kind" to these illegals by allowing them the opportunity for everlasting life. Remember too that an illegal is to be encouraged to apply for legal status. I know this is all BS for us who have left but for JW's it makes perfect sense. As it did for many of us when we were in.

40

No More Work on Saturdays at Bethels Worldwide

by Lost-In-Translation in

jw
friends

a letter was read at tonight's meeting announcing that the governing body has decided to stop work on saturdays at all bethels worldwide.

bethel workers are encouraged to now spend saturdays with their local congregation in field service.

the new arrangement goes into effect june, 2009.. what do you think are the motives for such a change?.

truthsetsonefree

Let's not forget the obvious: It's a cost cutting move. I was wondering what took them so long. I guess they finally realized that from a printing standpoint they get more bang out of modern technology and for non-printing operations...well it's an open secret that many Bethelites don't do much on that half day anyway. At least not the ones I knew and worked with.

19

Is it true that a Gilead missionary murdered two other missionaries?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

when i was a missionary, i lived in several missionary homes (graduates of mts sometimes lived there with gilead grads).. so of course at first we were all formal and nice.

in time, we kind of got on each others' nerves.. and at first we all told these great experiences from mts and gilead.. after a few months, those stories lost their luster, and we all started to tell the inside scoop about our congregations, bethel, etc.. so one of the gilead missionary couples told me that while they were in gilead, brother jack redford told them confidentially that there had been a murder in a missionary home a few years ago.

i seem to remember it was in the south pacific.

truthsetsonefree

WTF!!! Holy crap! I can't believe he wrote about it. Of course he served his time so I guess it's not so crazy.

11

Are these the "cop out" clause in the Mill Hill/Porter child molestation case?

by hamsterbait in

the mill hill london, england, congregation was set up as a charitable trust in 1997.. www.charity-commission.gov.uk/library/investigations/pdfs/lonmill.pdf.

having read through the above link, i found a couple of disturbing statements that seemed to be a loophole that "theocratic stategists" may well use to give themselves wiggle room to evade the spirit of the recommendations that incidents be reported.. first:.

clause 4: the total [income of the trust] for 2007/8 was 6, 006, expenditure was 9, 205.. now see what is in clause 34:.

truthsetsonefree

Expect WT to use ANY loophole they can find. It's their way.

5

A Sucker is Born Every MInute...

by Priest73 in

jw
friends

google the cardiff giant.

(i'm not doing the work for you!

slackers.

truthsetsonefree

Alright I'm a slacker...who the heck would come up with a site like LMGTFY? Who would use it? Oh I guess Priest73's suckers....

27

What crazy demonstrations did you see on the Service Meeting?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

i had a couple of pretty good ones, i thought.. my first one was theocratic news.

i know a lot of congregations that did this one.

we had a long table facing the audience, and we gave the "theocratic news" from the km as if it were a tv news broadcast.

truthsetsonefree

When I was maybe seven or eight we had one where a brother was slowly leaving the truth. So this brother (who had a few pounds to spare) was thrown a rope and different people were called from the audience to tug on this rope to pull him back in. I was the last called, maybe to show that even the kids had a part to play. Anyway after much feigned struggling we got this guy back in. There were many others such as having door to door presentations given at actual doors like the mike room next to the stage or the literature room also near the stage. Sometimes I remember those demos when I think of the good times I had as a dub and the lengths JW's will go to try and make those boring meetings a little more palatable.

47

Were you afraid to go to a bar?

by rebel8 in

someone who shall remain nameless (*cough*snowbird*cough) mentioned she has never been to a bar.. this shocks me.. i was remembering how terrified i was of going to a bar when i was exiting the mother ship.

i was looking for the lightning bolts to get me.

and it was a big nothing really.

truthsetsonefree

I was, still am sort of. Co-workers did get me to go years ago. I don't care for the scene though. Too much smoke and people acting stupid because they have no clue when to stop drinking. That being said there are exceptions I know.

6

WT Plans "World Conquest Soon"!

by cameo-d in

have you read it?.

world conquest soon.

god's kingdom.

truthsetsonefree

You have to wonder what kind of a jackass of an Almighty God relinquishes his sovreignty to begin with, allowing his "children" to suffer unimaginable horrors.

14

After almost 18 years out, I faced my demon.

by juni in

hey everyone,

this past sunday i resolved to face a demon head on.

that is revisiting a kingdom hall....this after going through years of mental torment.. depression, anxiety and near suicide with years of therapy to heal the wounds of spiritual abuse.

truthsetsonefree

Glad that you were able to face that demon down. Coincidentally this past Sunday I had to get my daughter's schoolbagn from my ex-wife. She asked me to park a block away from the Hall. I actually complied because I still fear confronting all of my old friends. I am disassociated so they won't talk with me. What I really don't want to face is their rejection. Maybe one day I'll bite the bullet and show up, maybe to pick up my daughter. The most I have done is to sit outside in my car and wait for her. Its funny how elders I worked with came out the last time I did that. I overheard them speculating on why I was there and wondering what I was going to do. It took all my willpower to remember that I had every right to be out there and not just start the car and circle the block.

Isaac