Posts by thecarpenter

45

Might go visit the New York crew

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

i have a five day weekend coming up between june 30th and july 4th.. i'm thinking about heading up to see new york city, so would some of you new yorkers like to have a mini-fest and show me the sights?.

i'll need someone to refer me to a hotel that is in a good location for seeing the sights, but will not cost much more than about $100 a night.

either that or someone could put me up in a spare room.. let me know your thoughts!!

thecarpenter

There are a lot of events that go on at that time.

Lincoln Center (65th st on the westside) has a free evening outdoor salsa concert. Lots of people go there including a lot of JW young adults. (they don't have to know your status)

http://www.lincolncenter.org/default.asp (check out Midsummer Night Swing on the list)

You have to stop by South Street Seaport, it has free concerts, plenty of restaurants and a lovely view of the east river, Brooklyn bridge and of the Big Watchtower sign.

http://www.seaportmusicfestival.com/

"Ground Zero" of the World Trade Center No Problems seeing
Empire State Building No Problems seeing
Chrysler Building No tours of the Chrysler Building (it is a private office building) you can only see from the outside
Statue of Liberty I think you have to purchase tickets online before hand (it is the 4th of July weekend... lots of visitors)
Brooklyn Bridge Great 4th of July show
Central Park Lots of events during the day and evening
Time Square Awesome at Night, plenty of great restaurants
A nice restaurant or two No Problem
Some museums... The Met, Guggenheim No Problems seeing
Maybe go see a play or some other cultural event.4th of July weekend... plenty of events
Go past the Watchtower Society so I can let them know they're "Number One" in my book. Bring eggs

160

Laughing laughing laughing

by darcy in

jw
friends

wow.. so, you know i'm an active witness, very active.

hah.

and i'm not laughing at y'all, but wow, i can't believe how extensive this is.

thecarpenter

In fact, why don't you do a little experiment? Tell your Witness friends you've been having these really cool conversations online with former members and see how they react. I guarantee you'll see eyes a-poppin'. Then, to really work them up, give them some of the details of what you've been talking about. I 'm telling you, you'll see grown adults putting their fingers in their ears, running around yelling "la-la-la, I can't hear you!" (And please do report if you try this!)

Hey Seattleniceguy, this paragraph had me laughing so hard, I had to clean the computer screen from the coffee I coughed out.

160

Laughing laughing laughing

by darcy in

jw
friends

wow.. so, you know i'm an active witness, very active.

hah.

and i'm not laughing at y'all, but wow, i can't believe how extensive this is.

thecarpenter

22

congregations disbanded

by Fleshybirdfodder in

jw
friends

not sure if it is the correct terminology, but i've heard of a few instances where the society had to step in and completely "delete" a congregation because of issues with incompetent elders and out of control publishers.

i've never heard specifics.

does this actually happen?

thecarpenter

Well in the tri-state area MY, NJ and CN, many congregations have merged because the friends stop going to the meetings and the attendance keeps dropping. One brother in NY said to me that something like 20 congregations have merged in the last 3 years. So one of the congos is dissolved when that happens.

20

My District Convention Is Being Held At An Assembly Hall

by enlightenedcynic in

if this topic has been discussed previously, i apologize, but next week i unfortunately must attend the dc which is being held at the local assembly hall.

there are benefits to this as i don't have to rent a car or room for myself and family.

the downside to this is that it will now be harder to miss segments of the program or an entire day without being scrutinized.

thecarpenter

I heard the same thing about Nassau coliseum raising their rates. I like the stanley, I may catch one day.

29

Cognitive Dissonance and WT downsizing

by Lady Lee in

there is a discussion on the board new jwd members on the horizon!

that suggests many of those who were pushed out of wt headquarters will leave the wts and some may find their way here.. i hope that is what happens.. but i have a sinking feeling that the opposite might happen.

in leon festinger's book when prophesy fails he states:.

thecarpenter

The struggles described after leaving Bethel service seems the same as the post exit syndrome experienced by institutionalized prisoners upon their release. Now many institutions prioritize a phase out, follow up program, so these people don't disappear through the cracks and have a bad outcome.

Well as this past weeks watchtower brought out, we do have a support system (the best in the world) to keep the friends safe in the congregation and from falling into the cracks, the local body of elders. They are trained from the scriptures and from the GB (the best training in the world) to handle all sorts of issues whether the problem be marital (the best marriage counselors), psychological (the best therapist in the world) or whatever (the best whatever in the world). You can be confident under the direction of the GB and the local body of elders, you will have the best outcome in the world.

29

Cognitive Dissonance and WT downsizing

by Lady Lee in

there is a discussion on the board new jwd members on the horizon!

that suggests many of those who were pushed out of wt headquarters will leave the wts and some may find their way here.. i hope that is what happens.. but i have a sinking feeling that the opposite might happen.

in leon festinger's book when prophesy fails he states:.

thecarpenter

9

where in the bible god choose the WT and the GB ?

by z in

tomorrow im going to see my jw friend we all the time argue about the cult and must of the time he have no answer, and i think he is not too happy with the cult (he is ms) he is 41yr old and married no children (was virgin 28yr wtf).

about two weeks ago he was called to the back room why?

because he had some misunderstanding with ex alder the claim he doesnt have love for him lololol.

thecarpenter

Well, the WT intreprets the scriptures as pointing to them, they are self appointed.

They point to several scriptures and say it applies to them (Russell and Rutherford made this into a science). What might help is to point out the failures and show that they are like every other imperfect religion, having both successes and failures. I like the warnings Jesus gave in Matt 24:23-27; Mark 13:21-23 and Luke 21:8 (drew sagan used this approach recently).

5

SHUNNED FATHER'S LAWSUIT UPDATE

by SHUNNED FATHER in

jw
friends

i realize that alot of xjw's are hurting financially, especially if they have been fighting the watchtower.

what they do not grasp is that we can defeat the watchtower if we are united and help each other.

it is similar to a war.

thecarpenter

been following the case, I'm doing my part with a donation.

20

Overheard at the June 4 2006 Watchtower Study

by under_believer in

jw
friends

so, even back when i was a true believer i noticed this... .

this watchtower study today, i just got back from, was all about how great the elders are.

what always wigs me out about these things (because they trot this stuff out in a wt study every year or two) is how the elder conducting the study is up there talking about and praising the elders in the third person, saying how great they are, when he is an elder.

thecarpenter

I think I have to side with IW, there are many good people who are elders and are honorable people. The scriptures have said that those who preside in a fine way should be reckoned worthy of double honor. I think many mean well but are indoctrinated with Society viewpoints that are a bit extreme in nature. I think the fault lies more with the societies interpretation of the bible than with these men. I was disfellowshipped without a written or scriptural charge, because of my stand against the org regarding the NGO Partnership thing. the whole body of elders was aware of the situation. Didn't matter. I have dozens of friends that were elders, and not ONE has contacted me ONE time to either find out what happened or to offer condolences.

They couldn't call you uninformed because they are instructed not to call disfellowshipped ones and you know that. The problem lies again with the societies interpretation of how to treat disfellowshipped ones. You accused them of worshipping the society and I think that is incorrect. They are instructed to trust the society even if that goes against their better judgment or common sense, and many do just that. Plus they feel that this is what Jehovah wants them to do so they are obedient to a fault (even overlooking real mistakes and unnecessary hardships pushed on the brothers)

.I have also run into immature and weak men who were appointed elders and it is very difficult to remove them. Many elders have confided in me that certain appointments were mistakes. Some brothers reached out for the office, put on their best behavior when in the hall and also became chummy chummy with some of the elders and were wrongly appointed. Also their were case of nepotism and so on. That happens everywhere, in the business world, other churches, even in families with children.... people are people.

The society isn't always upfront or honest about what they do (UN NGO fiasco for example) but what can you do. Sometimes it is better to step away for a while.