in life, i usually trust new people, at least on face value, until i discover otherwise.
yet, my normal belief system is now in doubt.
i've just replied to a thread started by 'goldensky' - an alleged spanish lady with lots of history as an extremely devout jw in spain.
The constant suspicion, I think, is in reaction to the slew of trolls and apologists we've been getting here fairly regularly for the past year or so.
I guess it's a good sign though... we're doing our job, and a lot of people hate what we stand for: FREEEEDDOOOOMMMMM!!!!! [in Mel Gibson voice]
a couple of weeks ago, an ex-bethelite(10 years) by the name of mel smith was disfellowshipped.
i understand that he still lives in ny are and has a mortgage company.
evidently, he was hurt while serving at the farm and watchtower did some horrible things to him.
Apart from that, I've had my fair share of ignorant and narrow minded elders, but none of them, over 30 years, has ever been stupid and cunning enough to send a blank sheet for a JC.
Dude, how could you know this?
You just can't give it up, can you? YOUR'E WRONG. DEAL WITH IT.
Or don't deal with it. Your choice.
dear all,.
i discovered this site only a couple of weeks ago and i already feel affection for you.. i am a 48-year-old woman and i live in spain, where i was born and raised, so i apologize in advance for my inevitable lack of style and possible grammar mistakes, due to english not being my native tongue.. i grew up in the truth and jehovah and the congregation have filled my whole life.
i've had little contact with the outside world.
Welcome to the board. I read your first post with strange emotions...and, serious doubts about you as the poster!
It's common for foreigners to speak with very formal English, and to take great care to speak the best they can, as is more than apparent with goldensky's posts.
I don't doubt her authenticity just due to that, but I would like to know more about how and why her doubts grew out of thin air.
Goldensky: surely, there must be something that triggered your doubts? Doubts can pile up in the back of our minds, but what brings them out is often a greivance we have, a disagreement about policy, an old wound... something. It's hardly ever pure reason.
a couple of weeks ago, an ex-bethelite(10 years) by the name of mel smith was disfellowshipped.
i understand that he still lives in ny are and has a mortgage company.
evidently, he was hurt while serving at the farm and watchtower did some horrible things to him.
Sorry, Daniel-p, I just can't believe that an elder, PO at that, can summon to a JC with a certified letter. Even if it were so, I can't see a PO insert a blank sheet in the envelope, because :
- he will have to report to his hierarchy about his handling of the JC .
- whatever one may say, he has a conscience.
You are free to believe it, I am free not to, according to what BE writes, I don't have to know him personally for that.
Besides, as I posted earlier, BE has hardly delivered on this site the insider knowledge that one would expect from a bethelite elder. All that he has written could have previously been gleaned on this site or on others, I find that his posts are just regurgitation. Can't help, not meaning to be provocative or insulting.
Man, nothing gets by you. We were all trying to pull the wool over your eyes! Now you got us, please don't hurt us!
a couple of weeks ago, an ex-bethelite(10 years) by the name of mel smith was disfellowshipped.
i understand that he still lives in ny are and has a mortgage company.
evidently, he was hurt while serving at the farm and watchtower did some horrible things to him.
Bethelite Elder,
IMO, this simple phrase reveals your ignorance of how this organization works. Summoning someone to a JC is informal, and certainly not by means of a certified letter. It dismisses you as a credible poster, let alone a bethelite elder.
You shouldn't be so dismissive of someone you don't know, and of procedure YOU aren't very familiar with. Summoning someone to a JC IS FORMAL. By the person's response to that summons, they can be DFd.
THere sure are a lot of people on here who like to piss on other people and call into question their qualifications. Ironically, it's these very people who are often the least qualified to render an opinion on anything about the SOciety's procedures and policies.
Did you ever serve at Bethel? Were you ever an elder? For how long? ... Yeah, that's what I thought.
a couple of weeks ago, an ex-bethelite(10 years) by the name of mel smith was disfellowshipped.
i understand that he still lives in ny are and has a mortgage company.
evidently, he was hurt while serving at the farm and watchtower did some horrible things to him.
Sorry for the blank posts lately. Ive been having issues with my browser and this site.
Anyway, I was saying that I agree with flipper. By Mel's commujnications with me, he has shown himself to be methodical, careful, and not given to sensationalism with his story.
a couple of weeks ago, an ex-bethelite(10 years) by the name of mel smith was disfellowshipped.
i understand that he still lives in ny are and has a mortgage company.
evidently, he was hurt while serving at the farm and watchtower did some horrible things to him.
a couple of weeks ago, an ex-bethelite(10 years) by the name of mel smith was disfellowshipped.
i understand that he still lives in ny are and has a mortgage company.
evidently, he was hurt while serving at the farm and watchtower did some horrible things to him.
From Mel:
"I think this could be a force for good. I have no problems with what I have seen thus far. [in reference to his name being divulged here] Let them know you have touched bases with me and I am official and prepared to deliver my experience in an effective manner."
a couple of weeks ago, an ex-bethelite(10 years) by the name of mel smith was disfellowshipped.
i understand that he still lives in ny are and has a mortgage company.
evidently, he was hurt while serving at the farm and watchtower did some horrible things to him.
Bethelite Elder, check your PMs.
i am sure all of you know about it by now..
I think about the same as I did before - he's amusing and sometimes hilarious. I don't care about his personal life - nor that of Roman Polanski, Frank Sinatra, Brad Pitt, etc., etc. I couldn't care less. In fact, I'd rather not know. I do not understand why this has dominated the news recently.
Congratulations, Bee, your life doesn't revolve around TV Land.
