thinking on the recent news of wt settlements of numerous settlements in child abuse cases.... i would imagine that the decsion to settle was reached by the legal dept.
of the wts.
the question in my mind is, did they have to fight for "approval" from the gb to reach that decision to pay out (most likely) millions of dollars?
"no weapon formed against you will succeed"
No wonder the WTS wanted to settle, rather than raise questions in the minds of the rank and file, trying to explain away how they lost court cases. The WTS may be underhanded, but they are not stupid. It seems that they listen carefully to leagal counsel, and heed well. Of course, maybe they also had "new light" or more "insight" on how to handle cases once they recieved counsel from the lawyers .
one thing that i will never miss is how you were made to feel inferior----that nothing you did was ever really good enough to satisfy the organization and of course by extension, jehovah god.
i know of sooooooo many witnesses that are truly depressed because they can never seem to satisfy god or the elders.. people even start getting mysterious illnesses and believe the "demons" are always trying to get at them.
the mentality is that "everyone hates us because we're jehovah's witnesses".
I looked completely exhausted and I was. No matter what your circumstance, from the outside it would seem that you could pioneer or do more. "Quit your job and pioneer!" I remember hearing...yet my clean laundry was still in the basket while the dirty laundry started to pile up on top of it. RELATE anyone???
Yes, yes, I can relate. I have a small settee (that's old south for small sofa) in the corner of my bedroom. Sometimes several loads of clean clothes would be piled on it. I would just reach over to get a towel off the pile before a shower. Then of course, I felt ashamed because my house wasn't as clean as a good Christian example should have. I couldn't quit work, because my husband was self employed at a service job so that he would never miss a meeting. O.K. pay but no health benefits, so my job gave us that. Boy, did I feel guilty because I didn't quit to pioneer.
My hubbie just told me today that he wouldn't listen to the singing group STYX because it was the name of the river that ran through the Egyptian underworld, but he liked the group alot, and every time a song by them would come on and he listened, he felt guilty. (He was a do everything elder for more than twenty years). I never even knew he had felt that way.Ah, yes, the GUILT TRIP WE WERE ON!!!
i for one, would blindly trust just about anyone on this forum, just the fact of knowing that you already were a jw.. does this mean that jw's in general are better people or are we a very close bunch of people?.
Contrast that to the JW funeral of my son the other year:
- As D.F.'d, D.A.'d and D - everything else as well, I was of course treated as being lower down than a snake's backside!
(This point was picked up on by non-witness relatives, who were present at the funeral).
Ironically, too, there were some who thought that this was a chance to "give a good witness" to the "unbelieving" family members, to impress them with the "Christian Love" in a JW congregation.
(Excuse me for a moment - while I bolt outside and throw up!) I'd like to forget about Rosalee-she has really demonstrated that she has nothing to offer this board except insults, and tell you how miserable I feel about the time you had at your son's funeral.
A funeral is for the living. It should be a time to comfort, support and show fellow feeling for the family of the one who died. It should be a time to remember the one who has died and acknowledge that he/she was alive, loved, and is in the memory of God.
Instead, Witnesses use the opportunity to look down their noses at the ones who have the real tie to the dead one, ignore completely his/her impact on earth during the time they were here, and use the time to tell all in attendace that they should either become witnesses, or if they are, do more, more, more before you die or you will regret it.
If anything, I guess Rosalee is a good reminder of why none of us want to be associated with this organization anymore. Come to think of it, perhaps we should all thank Rosalee.
well, i left around january or february, and it's been about 3 months or so experiencing "worldly" living.
i gotta say...it's been an interesting and uncomfortable transition, to say the least.
i would just like to update everyone on how i'm doing, and share some of my worldly experiences, as well.
Here is some motherly advise. You are going to dangerous places. Diseases, possibly deadly ones, sexually transmitted, await you. Worse yet, some of the characters you describe are not above using date rape drugs, or worse, when they get you alone. You will end up feeling very bad about yourself.
Please slow down. Freedom does not mean running headlong into whatever comes your way. Yes, please, get a hobby. You were not encouraged to do that in the borg. Get your education. Learn to play a musical instrument. Travel. DO THINGS THAT MAKE YOU PROUD OF YOURSELF AND PREPARE YOU FOR LIFE IN SOCIETY AT LARGE. As you are doing these things you will meet many new people, and form new friendships.
i gotta' admit, i gotta' lil redneck in me.
as life gets shorter by the minute, i'm finding all kinda' neat things out about it before it's unfortunately time to go to the check out line.
country music is slowly becoming a way of life for this redneck trapped in a black man's body.
I think the lyrics of country music are so clever, such as "CALL ME CLEOPATRA 'CAUSE I'M THE QUEEN OF DENIAL."
I just get a kick out of many country tunes. Others can make me cry-"FANCY" by Reba McIntyre.
Thanks for the post.
i see many new faces here since my last visit - .
this place was instrumental in helping me see the wtbts for what it really is.. .
please - keep an open mind.
I went back and looked at several of your first posts to "get to know you."
I would say that you have been very successful!!!!! I am so thrilled for you. Bet the witlesses that shop in your store are dismayed to see how great you and your work team are doing.
My family has come through the past two years of depression and we are getting better, too. We no longer hide inside our house with the shades drawn. We can go out into the front yard, and we can laugh again.
Hope others take a cue from you and know it does get better!!!
i for one, would blindly trust just about anyone on this forum, just the fact of knowing that you already were a jw.. does this mean that jw's in general are better people or are we a very close bunch of people?.
you are condescending and patronizing and you are one of those people who make themselves feel "more than" by trying to make others feel "less than."
How true. I think we should cut Rosalee some slack. She has been completely convinced, as we once were, that every pronouncement from the WTS was a voice from heaven from God himself.
She may not be aware that the President of the WTS, Rutherford, bought a house in California and deeded it to the "ancient worthies" who were sure to be resurrected in 1925. She may not know of all the ones who were convinced because of information from the "FDS" that 1975 would mark the end of this system, and of many who sold their homes and businesses to pioneer, and of course, the end never came, and the WTS blamed the people for believing them. She may not know that Rutherford said in 1921 "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" and then later when this talk was being spoken of, as I heard at an Assembly one time, the speaker said the title of his booklet was "Millions Now Living MAY Never Die." She may not know that the WTS said uniquivocably that the ones who were alive and at an age of understanding in 1914 would by no means pass off the scene, then changed it to the ones who were alive in this year, then changed it to new light that the word generation had a different meaning. No admission of being wrong, no apology. She may not know that the WTS applied for status with the United Nations as a non-governmental ASSOCIATE and agreed to promote its views, then asked to be removed when the British Press broke the news.
I think that she has been coming to this site, unbeknownst, of course, to the elders, to try to make what they teach "the one and only truth." Then she hit upon a thread that she just had to respond to. I think deep inside she is trying to convince herself, because, maybe like us, no one wants to be betrayed after doing so much for an organization, and feeling so fervently that they were doing everything possible to serve God in the right way, only to find oneself with doubts.
How horrible to know, also, deep inside, that she must hide these postings from all who know her. She must never divulge that she is disobedient to the dictates of the WTS, as she knows what they will do to her, even if she protested that she was trying to help some "poor deluded souls" to serve God.
Yes, she must be torturing herself. Oh, the inner turmoil.........
my story as a witness follows much of a 'dumb and dumber' sort of path.
i get to be both dumb, and dumber, of course.
what drove me to post on this site was sheer despiration.
Welcome, and thanks for sharing your story with us.
The WTS wants able bodied (and mind) folks who are in tip top shape to work, work ,work, and feel guilt because they are not doing more. I recall one young woman in a congregation I was in some years back pioneering with I think three small children, also home schooling them. They were very poor, because of course the dad did cleaning work at night, and they did not own an evil T.V. She would get out of the car, hoist one child onto a carrier on her back, and drag the other two by the hand, going out of course for hours. If she isn't completely used up by now, I would be surprised.
My husband was WT study conductor for quite some time. That is, of course, after he'd been a P.O. of one congregation, secretary, Ministry School Overseer, and Book study conductor. He began to feel ill, and began having lots of tests done. He found he was diabetic, and had to start taking medicine. This type of medicine can sometimes cause problems, and must be adjusted. He also found his blood pressure was really high, and he needed three different medicines to control it. He also had blood in his urine, and cancerous polyps that had to be dug out.
In the midst of all this, he was so dizzy from the blood pressure medicine, and having to get used to diabetes he could not work, and could not go to meetings. The elders, of course, carefully evaluated all of this. They then told him he "was not handling his illness correctly." I suppose what they meant was that he should schedule his illness around meetings so that he would not miss them. They took away the WT study from him so that others would not "loose confidence."
Yep, we could feel the love...........
i have lurked around here for a little while and i've finally seen the need to post.
i'm 22 years old and a ministerial servant and pioneer in my congregation.
i'm not really here to knock the organization, but i must admit that there are some things(ex.
Welcome.
The fact that you are engaged but unable to discuss this with your loved one is most disturbing. This is a time when you should be able to put all concerns on the table before the vows are made.
It is sad that the WTS puts us in positions like this. Fear, guilt--the WTS is expert at manipulating us to keep quiet.
re: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.
a bethel insider in the know told me that all of the child abuse lawsuits where the watchtower bible and tract society was one of the defendants were settled back in the beginning of this year.
i questioned it and called napa myself and they were absolutely settled back then.
I forgot to add a thank you, Barbara, for letting us know of the outcome of this case.
