Posts by humblepotato

28

Another "good" elder might be getting the axe....

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

so our congregation is full of hardliner elders, 3 of them, who are not gentle, kind or loving.. people have either moved away or quit trying because one elder inparticular was going to drive them crazy with all his rules and nit picking and being righteous over much.

(and he is pissed that he hasn't been accepted to the school.

hmmm, i wonder why!).

humblepotato

@blondie SKE School for Kingdom Evangelizers, formerly called the School for Christian Couples.

I edited it to just say School. I think most people recognize that easier.

28

Another "good" elder might be getting the axe....

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

so our congregation is full of hardliner elders, 3 of them, who are not gentle, kind or loving.. people have either moved away or quit trying because one elder inparticular was going to drive them crazy with all his rules and nit picking and being righteous over much.

(and he is pissed that he hasn't been accepted to the school.

hmmm, i wonder why!).

humblepotato

So our congregation is full of hardliner elders, 3 of them, who are not gentle, kind or loving.

People have either moved away or quit trying because one elder inparticular was going to drive them crazy with all his rules and nit picking and being righteous over much. (And he is pissed that he hasn't been accepted to the School. Hmmm, I wonder why!)

Anyways, last year, an elder from California moved here to the Midwest who was one of the few that was humble, kind, and loving. He always showed compassion, gentleness, and commended the friends. That alone created a giant riff between him and the BOE. The body always wanted discipline and was rigid with laws vs principles. He always wanted forgiveness, and for the body to stay out of the personal family matters of the friends that did not concern them. He was soft with the friends, but he got into arguments and fights a few times with the body over the last year. He really went up to bat for the friends here.

Unfortunately, last week his teenage daughter was disfellowshipped. Now the congregation is devastated because they know that we might be losing him as an elder. Also, people are devastated over the disfellowshipping of a minor child, to say the least!

Some people, like myself, hope he can stay on as an elder. Others think he will be forced to step down or get deleted. (Which I'm afraid is going to be the case.) He's already had his parts reassigned to other elders. They won't even let him be the Sunday chairman for crying out loud!

What usually happens in a case like this? I asked a question and was scolded. They said the CO will decide when he is here next month.

Sad... sad... sad...

Why does the Watchtower shoot themselves in the foot like this? Just think if they let kind people serve and shelved the jerks...

15

Do witness children have to be obediant to their disfellowshipped parent if the parents are separated.

by agnosticnow in

hi.i am disfellowshipped and separated from my jehovahs witness wife and i am having custody problems with my 13 year old daughter.she has been advised by her mother that she does not have to listen to me and so she dictates to me when she comes to stay.it seems i have lost any fatherly authority and my ex wife has given my daughter the ability to go against my wishes in regards to custody arrangements.having grown up a witness i understand that even though a parent is disfellowshipped the child must still obey the biblical command to be obedient to there parents.it also teaches that the wife must support her ex husband in regards to parenting.i am trying to find any watchtower/awake articles that support this.in any case i would appreciate any links ,information or advice.. regards pat..

humblepotato

We just went through a similar experience, although not identical, this quote helped a lot.

*** g97 12/8 pp. 11-12 Child Custody—A Balanced View ***

What, though, if one of the parents is disfellowshipped? Should the Christian parent make the child available for visitation? The disfellowshipping process of the congregation only alters the spiritual relationship between the individual and the Christian congregation. In fact, it severs the spiritual bonds. But the parent-child relationship remains intact. The custodial parent must respect the disfellowshipped parent’s visitation rights. However, if the noncustodial parent poses an imminent and substantial threat to the child’s physical or emotional welfare, then the court (not the custodial parent) may arrange to have visitation with the child supervised by a third party.

20

My Issue With the Kingdom Melodies

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

the organization really has some talented people in it.

seriously talented.

artists, musicians, animators, and any other creative venue you can think of.

humblepotato

The organization really has some talented people in it. Seriously talented. Artists, musicians, animators, and any other creative venue you can think of. The issue is that anything that gets churned out of the Borg is devoid of any life or soul.

Why is that?

I have a friend who works at Patterson and she relayed that they have a list of things a mile long that they can and can't do within the art department. Meaning, if someone creates a picture and it looks great, it will just get torn apart when it goes to the "commitee" for approval. "This guy is standing wrong, too tall, too short, wrong facial expressions...etc". And the end result is something bland and boring and nothing like the original artist intended.

The same goes for the music. Lyrics aside, a lot of the MUSIC for the Kingdom Songs have major potential to sound great. Rather, Watchower scientists take each song and suck the very life and soul out of it. They chop off the balls of almost every. single. song... I love music, from pop to rock to classical to film score, I love music... but of the 153 songs or so... maybe only 5 of them are enjoyable to listen too.

They added more songs to the orchestral batch...most of them are just sampled and synthesized embarrassments...

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.

i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.

i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.

humblepotato

I am currently a believer.

I see "evidence" of a creator... but not proof.

But I also see "evidence" of evolution... but not proof. (Evolution in itself DOES exist, but the idea that life sprang from a common ancestor and evolved into what we know today, without the help of a so-called creator, is what I'm talking about. Lot's of evidence... it's not just undeniable proof. It's all to easy for me to say "God did it.")

It just takes a lot of reading, studying, critical thinking, and pondering. But like you... I just can't imagine that this life is all there is. Even if the "afterlife" is a fairy tale... it currently brings me comfort.

But it is VERY interesting to listen to all the different view points. Even if you don't agree with what is being said, it might intrigue you enough to do some research on said disagreement and form your own opinion.

Welcome, by the way!

70

Witness Carts - A Vehicle for Significant Decline

by slimboyfat in

i was stalking to a jw today about her recent experience on the carts and with being a jw generally.

until this conversation i considered the carts as just an ineffective preaching method and a harmless waste of time.

but now i wonder if the effect of the carts might be to produce noticeable decline in jw numbers.

humblepotato

I agree with the decreased morale for sure!

When it first started in our congregation, everyone was excited and wanted to do it. Selfies and pics all over Instagram! Well, time and time again of 0 results ... it's like pulling teeth now to get someone to do cart witnessing because the friends don't enjoy it anymore.

16

JW.org videos....look like....

by Anders Andersen in

.... i just looked through some videos on the scientology and the mormon youtube channels.animated whiteboard animations, bad acting, compelling music...it's all the same as jw.org...or the other way around.the similarity is very striking to me.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghjomvjadbghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxf3pwvjoka.

i wonder why that is....

humblepotato

I think they all use the same cult handbook!

20

Which Public Talks did you enjoy giving/hearing? And which ones did you dislike giving or hearing?

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

i was just going through some of my talk outlines and i've decided to git rid of quite a few of them.

i'm still serving, but as time goes on... there are many subjects i will not teach anymore.. i got rid of the outlines dealing with blood, the field ministry, and ones talking about 607 and 1914. i can barely stand hearing them let alone give them.

in fact, talk 41 "stand still and see the salvation of jehovah" is one i got rid of because its whole point was about having blind obedience toward the gb and the elders during the great tribulation, and that we need to start practicing obedience now if we want to survive.

humblepotato

I was just going through some of my talk outlines and I've decided to git rid of quite a few of them. I'm still serving, but as time goes on... there are many subjects I will not teach anymore.

I got rid of the outlines dealing with blood, the field ministry, and ones talking about 607 and 1914. I can barely stand hearing them let alone give them. In fact, talk 41 "Stand Still and See the Salvation of Jehovah" is one I got rid of because its whole point was about having blind obedience toward the GB and the Elders during the Great Tribulation, and that we need to start practicing obedience now if we want to survive. (Cultish anyone?)

I did keep the ones that talk about mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and comfort. Those usually don't get too heavy into doctrine and your basically just talking about being a decent human being. (Which I guess is a stretch even for some in the "truth".)

But it got me curious, what kind of talks did you like hearing or giving? No matter where you are in your fade, everyone feels differently about them. Do you just hate them all? Or are there any that still bring back good memories? If I can make someone feel valuable and worthwhile and not make them feel guilty for not doing more, then I count that as a good day!

13

Isn't it wonderful how, even now, Jehovah helps his people? Prayer is so powerful.

by paul from cleveland in

“i have to thank jehovah god for this,” serena williams told the crowd after receiving the trophy at the australian open in january, her sixth win there.

“i was down and out and he helped me today and i just said prayers”.

humblepotato

Wow... embarrassing.

63

New Spiritually Weak Label: Not Using Tablet/iPhone

by Doubtfully Yours in

with last night's meeting it became official: here in the states is a must to keep up with 'jehovah's org' that one fully jumps on board with this tablet/iphone crap.. so, now, all of us that up to this point have refused to follow the wtbts in their electronic/wireless revolution will deal with the browbeating from the 'spiritual' ones.. already receiving lots of grief from hubby and rest of the family/close friends when seen at the meetings with paper publications.

damn it!!!

am i alone in this resistance???!!!.

humblepotato

In my part of the US (the Mid-west), smartphones and tablets are certainty encouraged, but half of the congregation is old and doesn't want one. And nobody really seems to care or say anything about it.

Having said that, I do believe that as time goes on... there will start to be more and more pressure to get one and use it.