Posts by Doubting Bro

41

Notes from recent CO meeting with elders/ms

by Doubting Bro in

jw
friends

for some reason, i can't cut & past from word.

Notes from recent CO meeting with elders/ms

by Doubting Bro in

jw
friends

for some reason, i can't cut & past from word.

Doubting Bro

For some reason, I can't cut & past from Word.

25

Letter from GB to all Congregations

by sspo in

jw
friends

this morning i found out that last night at the service meeting, a letter was read from the society to a nearby congr.

about the danger of the internet.. they warned all the dubs about being on the internet because many are being influenced fom apostate websites and pornography.. does anyone else have the details of what was said and read?.

.

Doubting Bro

I have a copy and will paste it when I get a few moments. Nothing major and really more directed to parents about the dangers their kids face.

3

Robotic Elders - Then and Now question.l..

by james_woods in

jw
friends

i would assume that there a few of us here who are ex-elders...i am at least one, having resigned the "commision" in about 1981 and left the jw world shortly after.. here is my question: do present-day elders live under a greater degree of control from the society (circuit/district overseer, etc) than we used to in my day?.

i never really felt like we were being put under a "microscope" back in the 1975 to 1980 era - but now i read a lot of comments about how paranoid the society has become, and that maybe even the elders feel that they are under the thumb of the ever-present "big brother" wt society.. just my imagination, or have things actually become more controlling, even for the local elders?.

Doubting Bro

From the big house, there are BOE letters that control every single aspect of congregation activity. From how the meetings are conducted to how the files are kept and everything in-between. Of course, its probably always been that way since this is such a high control organization.

Practically, it really depends on the CO. The DOs hammer the COs but I've had COs that were completely anal and others (usually older ones) that were actually much more laid back. There seems to be a direct correlation between the CO age and the level of micromanagement. The younger they are, the more likely they are to be heavily involved in every detail.

I've also seen COs order elders to sack each other, which was an eye-opening experience. He didn't want to get his hands dirty so he spoke to people individually on the BOE to have the guy removed.

So, I think the pressure has been ramped up on the local BOEs who in turn ramp up the pressure on the congregation. The good news is that I think the number of elders getting discouraged and resigning is increasing. No one is there to take their place which increases the pressure on the remaining elders and they take it out on the congregation, which discourages them and causes them to slow down.

15

High propaganda Dec 15th WT study articles - the end is nigh!!

by yaddayadda in

(could someone kindly format this for me into paragraphs where i have put a [ as i use mozilla firefox).

probably already been threads about these, but major puke alert with the first and third study articles in the dec 15th 2006. the society are really ramping up the doomsday rhetoric with these.

[the first study article is entitled "the great day of jehovah is near".

Doubting Bro

Also, the latest CO visit talk had the theme of Sowing Bountifully, Reaping Bountifully and put the full court press on not becoming casual (similar wording to one of the DC parts this summer). The last portion of the part really nailed the field service, meeting treadmill as the only way to gain salvation. Its funny because this congregation is above the national average in service time and better than most I've seen in meeting attendence. Yet, its not enough. It's never enough.

He did mention that the end is extremely close and said that was what the tract campaign was all about (right, it wasn't about getting the rank & file all riled up and out in service).

Most of the comments were the usual blah, blah, blah. I'll be posting the commentary from the elder/ms meeting in the next few days.

43

JW Children and the absence of Christmas

by Clam in

jw
friends

ive just collected my 6 year old son from school.

he sat in the back of the car and told me about a little girl from the year above him who has to leave her classroom and sit in his due to christmassy things going on.

my youngster remarked "she doesnt believe in christmas.

Doubting Bro

It was never a big deal to me. I always liked being different and felt superior because of it. I'm a bit of a contrarian anyway and always seem to be in the minority on many issues. Probably just part of my dysfunctional peronality!

I would go to either the principal's office and work (seriously, filing, taking down bulletin boards, just hanging out with the principal) or go to the library. Funny thing, I think being a JW kid and being forced to interact with adults on a regular basis at the KH helped me to forge good relationships with the teachers/princpal and most of my teachers would stick up for me. I was a pretty good student and never caused them grief, so that helped. As a matter of fact, the one teacher that really hated the JWs got reamed by my principal (who was a great guy).The time spent being the only JW kid in that school taught me some valuable lessons that I carry with me.

I'm sure I would have enjoyed the celebrations, but don't think it had any major impact on me.

34

What effect does 'Apostate Pressure' have on the bOrg?

by AK - Jeff in

will increased pressure - pickets, websites, books, letters to fellow witnesses, have a positive or negative impact on the ultimate goal most apostates have - seeing the organization eventually crumble and fall?.

my take is that more pressure is good.

it makes the 'real personality' of the organization express itself in greater oppression, more demands, greater efforts to isolate the flock from education, career, family, reality.. eventual result of oppression is rebellion.

Doubting Bro

All good points. I believe that the media is having a huge impact, especailly on the pedo cases. Personally, I've always had doubts about various things, but nothing that would have lead to me leaving or even researching sites such as this one. However, the media exposure about pedo cases and me doing other news searches which lead me to the UN thing was the tipping point for me. I thought, if the "apostates" were right about these two things, what else are they right about? After all, truth can withstand anything. The problem is that the WTS isn't teaching the truth and thus many of its doctrines (especially the key 1914) fall by the wayside.

I think the religion will eventually fade as a footnote in religious history, but I doubt any of us see it. But, what we will see is the continued, steady decline as older loyal members die off and very few new recruits come in. But, the pressure can really help those in the 30-60 year range escape. That may hasten the decline since the majority of those in local leadership are in that age cateogry.

26

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 12-3-06 WT Study (PROVE YOUR FAITH)

by blondie in

comments you will not hear at the 12-03-06 wt study (10-15-06 issue, pages 23-27)(prove your faith).

review comments will be in red.

wt material from today's wt will be in black.

Doubting Bro

I find it very ironic that the same folks that blast the Pharisees for making up all the rules around the Law have the audacity to do the exact same thing!! I actually laughed out loud several times when I first read the article. My wife & I made fun of the Kingdom Melodies comment. Are they serious? HAHAHAHA.

Also, there was one particularly annoying sister (an elderette who has an IQ of about 80) who made the comment about how "the society calls get-togethers gatherings instead of parties. Because everyone knows that those wordly parties end up with everyone drunk or doing drugs" Seriously, she said that. The demonization of everything non-JW is truly unbelievable.

When you think of proving your faith, do you think of how you organize a social gathering, a wedding, a reception or giving/receiving wedding gifts.

No, not at all. It is amazing how they can take these petty rules and someone turn them into being faithful to God. But, as we all know, faith in God = listening to what the WT says. Just another example.

The paragraph about the director of the feast also seems to me to be a complete misrepresentation about what happened at that wedding. In reading the context, it seems this director of the feast was acting more like the catering manager than a chaperone. It doesn't seem that he was a volunteer to make sure that everyone behaved themselves and even compared the wine Jesus made to other weddings that he's been involved with. The assumption that he was a Christian is a very big stretch. He was likely a Jew since the Jews didn't hang out with Gentiles, but if he was hired, it could be possible that he wasn't even Jewish. And, that wasn't even the point of the passage anyway!!

I've personally been asked several times to serve in that capacity and always turned it down. By the way, we didn't have one for our wedding, the wordly DJ actually ran the receiption (GASP).

Blondie, enjoyed your review as always. In the past, I've tried to incorporate some of your comments into the study, but honestly I can't bring myself to comment anymore for fear of blowing up.

41

Did leaving the borg ruin your marriage

by Billzfan23 in

jw
friends

has anyone else here left the borg and had it go over like a lead ballon, ruining their marriage?

mine is quickly heading that way.

i have been married for about a decade, and have a couple of kids - both in grade school.

Doubting Bro

While I'm probably in no position to give anyone advice, that's never stopped me before

Perhaps its just too much, too fast for her? You went from an elder going gung-ho to stepping aside to coaching your kid's basketball team in what, a month? I actually admire your decisiveness since I'm moving extremely slow.

Maybe you need to back off just a touch and give her some time to process things. Especially if she's a lifelong JW. Everyone takes things at a different pace.

Really, though, you know your wife the best. Follow your gut.

13

A Ghost from the past

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

a ghost from the past .

an ugly fight between two friends can damage a friendly relationship.

almost irreparably.

Doubting Bro

Perhaps he's come to the conclusion that your right after all? I'm willing to bet that your conversations with him sparked research. And, once that horse leaves the barn, there is really no turning back.