jim,.
i just read on another post that you are close to being df'ed for having doubts.
i, too, am on the bubble, so to speak.
Oh, if I could only go back 13 years... The things I could and would do!!!
Amen to that! If I could go back to a time when I was an "insider" but; a) knew what I know now, and; b) realized then that the "powers" have no power over me whatsoever, it would be a wonderful situation, and I would make the most of it.
on another thread, i was struck with a thought.
someone mentioned how brainwashed the r&f were to accept the drivel pumped out of bethel and it suddenly dawned on me that the 'tower and the awake!
and all the other literature are irrelevant.
I am surprised that you don't think this is a UL; it certainly has all of the hallmarks of one. I am going to do a bit of research into this one, and see if there is another UL on record from which it may have come. It sounds very familiar.
cd
on another thread, i was struck with a thought.
someone mentioned how brainwashed the r&f were to accept the drivel pumped out of bethel and it suddenly dawned on me that the 'tower and the awake!
and all the other literature are irrelevant.
The society has often adopted urban legends as true if they serve their purposes, and this one has urban legend written all over it. The hidden thief, the danger to the family, the change of heart, the final punchline (the bible returned at the assembly) are all classic themes in UL's.
While it makes for a nice story from the platform, I would look for more evidence than it being in a talk outline for verification of its accuracy. Let's face it, the society may have published a few other "facts" which don't stand up to scrutiny as well.
regarding dfing policy:.
is it true that those wishing reinstatement sit up the back?.
in an average congregation, how many dfed would be sitting up the back?.
Where I attended, there was very rarely someone there in that situation. Many of those who are put out simply stay out, never to return. Of those who do try for a comeback, rarely would two be in there at the same time.
But it does bring up an interesting question; would a DF'ed person who wants to be reinstated be obliged to not speak to ANOTHER DF'ed person who also wants to be reinstated if they met in the Kingdon Hall? That would be an interesting scenario.
this is the story.
i have been operating a pay-day loan business for almost 2 years now.
i started out in business with a brother who passed away almost a year ago.
"Get a life"? Oh please, I am sure you can come up with a more scathing reply than that hackneyed old chestnut. That's a response more worthy of the likes of Fred Hall, but coming from him it would have even MORE grammatical errors.
The bottom line is that however legal it may be, the business practice you describe stinks. Once you were willing to take part in it you also assumed the inherent risks.
this is the story.
i have been operating a pay-day loan business for almost 2 years now.
i started out in business with a brother who passed away almost a year ago.
Perhaps this is more in line:
Main Entry: usu·ry
Pronunciation: 'yü-zh&-rE, 'yüzh-rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ries
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin usuria, alteration of Latin usura, from usus, past participle of uti to use
Date: 14th century
1 archaic : INTEREST
2 : the lending of money with an interest charge for its use; especially : the lending of money at exorbitant interest rates
If someone is in danger of having their utilities turned off, they are far better off arrainging for a payment plan than turning to such a scheme.
In fact, I don't really believe you actually did this for two reasons; one, no one would pay 30%/week interest - even a loan shark would give better rates than that, and the newspaper accounts of the practive mention a far lower rate. Second, I could not imaging you doing this and then coming here looking for any sympathy. The post reeks of a troll, and is completely out of context.
just wondering if there were any positives to being a jw.
i have read most of the posts and see that a lot of people were jw for years and years and was thinking that not all that time could things have been bad?
oh and somewhere in gen. it is supposed to state that we are living in the 7th day now????
Of course there will be good experiences. People have good times in almost any situation, and this is no different. But is the overall experience positive? I don't believe that it is.
But there are measurable benefits. The training in public speaking is a good skill one takes away from the experience. I have no trouble getting up in front of a roomfull of people and talking at length about alomst anything.
Also, when I was in retail sales, much of the training we received followed the same pattern as what was taught to us during the service meetings. It all seemed very familiar, and was also based on overcoming objections. Let's face it, if you are willing to wake someone up on a Saturday morning to tell them that everything they hold sacred is wrong, selling them a new stereo is pretty easy.
Lest I take credit for creating what I simply plagiarized, I should inform you all that the above was scanned in from a December, 1974 issue of National Lampoon (back when it was funny). I managed to find this issue on ebay after much searching. I had the original back in '74 as well, but was so mortified by this (painfully accurate) parody of AWAKE!, that I threw it away for fear of some sort of divine retribution.
A few more pages.
One of the Society's lesser-known publications.
