Posts by Open mind

7

Still going strong

by Lehaa in

jw
friends

haven't been around here for ages, thought i'd pop back in and say hi.. my hubbie met sass my frass over the weekend.

i've never met her b4, small world thing, her friends are his friends, etc, etc.. .

funny how things happen, anyway he comes home telling me about this ex dub he met and i should add her on facebook, after adding her i realized i knew her from here.. well i've been spending the last few hours on here looking at old posts.

Open mind

Sounds like you didn't personally need to post this. That is fantastic.

It's very good you did though. Not nearly enough postings like this one here, IMO.

Best of luck to you and yours in your new life.

om

24

Its been six months...

by MrFreeze in

today is my 6th month anniversary of leaving the organizations.

time to have a beer and celebrate!.

Open mind

Maze: " Like Jehovah's Organization is the only pitfall in today's world. Good luck..."

Nice straw man you just invented. No one said or implied that. But good job knocking down your own imagined objection.

om

40

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

by Open mind in

my whole life as a jw i've heard this refrain.

"too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that local needs talk.".

as an elder i would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a local needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.. .

Open mind

flipper: "Even if some ARE at meetings when a local needs talk is given- there are no guarantees the person will apply what's being said to themselves."

Interesting story re: your ex, Queen of DeNile.

Pitchess Co-Gen: " he was trying to convice me to stay in my parents home and not move out"

Wow. That's unusual for someone who's getting DFed. Usually there's unofficial behind-the-scenes pressure on the parents to give adult DFed children the boot.

stapler99: "they were stated in such vague terms that it was unrecognizable what they really were about."

I think many Elders get tired of "beating the sheep" month after month. (Of course, there are plenty of exceptions.) So unless someone had just been reproved or needed to be "marked", lots of months we'd just decide to give an "encouraging" talk for Local Needs. Other months, the BOE would compromise and allow two or three separate items to be addressed in the same talk. Result? The indistinct trumpet blast you described. Please pardon my WT-speak.

SirNose586: ""What Br. [Nose] said was all very timely and useful, and something else needs to be mentioned. Halo is another game that has become very popular, and features graphic violence," said Br. P.O."

I guess he really showed you who's Boss.

tracylee: "You decided to wear THAT to the meeting?" and I would ask what was wrong with it, they would just say something vague like, "Don't you think it's a WORLDLY style of clothing?"

TACTIC SUGGESTION FOR WATCHTOWER: Stop encouraging "older sisters" to counsel younger ones on dress and grooming. Just let UNSPOKEN peer pressure take it's course and continue to picture nerds gardening in khakis and big dresses in the literature.

watersprout: said re: the belly button piercing Local Needs talk: "Would they have to announce your name to mark you?"

No. Marking talks never mention the person by name. (WT legal dept at work there I'm sure.) That's why we invited the "marked" moocher over for dinner, since we didn't personally know who the moocher was.

WTWizard: "my favorite was when they were starting small fires in the bathrooms."

First time I've heard of that particular method of dealing with boredom at the meetings.

manthedan: "I had to endure countless local need parts on the new KH build,"

As found sheep suggested, were these money begging talks?

jadeen: "My brother, sister, and I got in trouble for playing D&D. "

Oh yeah. Dungeons & Dragons is positively dripping with demons. Just as bad as a Ouija Board. (I doubt we'll ever see an article about how the idio-motor effect works.)

MrFreeze: " dangers of the internet and apostate sites"

Watchtower's biggest foe. Glad you made it out.

*****************************

NOTE TO FLIPPER: Phew!!! I don't know how you do it. It's a lot of work to reply to everyone.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

om

40

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

by Open mind in

my whole life as a jw i've heard this refrain.

"too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that local needs talk.".

as an elder i would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a local needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.. .

Open mind

Happy Saturday everyone. Gotta run off to work just now but thanks for the comments.

zarco: ""Life is too Short to Drink Bad Wine" (We just finished a two-week tee-totaling test, so we enjoyed some good stuff last night.)

Hey, I wonder if our Talk Coordinator would be interested in having a guest speaker for Local Needs?

I'll check in later everyone.

om

40

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

by Open mind in

my whole life as a jw i've heard this refrain.

"too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that local needs talk.".

as an elder i would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a local needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.. .

Open mind

@ 21stcenturywoman: Wow. That elder went a tad beyond even Watchtower rules by making a reference to her appearance. You're right about identifying the person based on who was recently reproved.

Week 1: Brother Horny has been reproved.

Week 3: Local Needs: Beware of the snare of Bestiality.

40

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

by Open mind in

my whole life as a jw i've heard this refrain.

"too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that local needs talk.".

as an elder i would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a local needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.. .

Open mind

@ Found Sheep: Reading about how your "scandalous activity" kept you in the local JW spotlight for a year just demonstrates what a sad little religion this is.

om

40

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

by Open mind in

my whole life as a jw i've heard this refrain.

"too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that local needs talk.".

as an elder i would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a local needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.. .

Open mind

I'm trying to be as gracious as Flipper and reply to everyone (this time) so....

"Hey there sir82!! Thanks for posting."

om

40

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

by Open mind in

my whole life as a jw i've heard this refrain.

"too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that local needs talk.".

as an elder i would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a local needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.. .

Open mind

(I accidentally posted too early.)

watersprout: Belly button piercing? You've gotta be kidding me. Too bad we don't have audio of that gem.

Anony Mous: "There are only 3 subject for those:"

(See watersprout's post.)

Jadeen: "Marrying only in the lord".

I hope you're having your reward in full! Good for you.

LostGeneration: "Local needs was always the ultimate read between the lines exercise."

I almost forgot about that subset of Local Needs talks: The Marking Talk. (Elder Bodies usually use the monthly Local Needs slot for this baby.) When we were new members of a former congregation, we heard this marking talk about not being a moocher and not encouraging the moocher by giving material assistance to him/her. We had no clue who they were talking about and ended up inadvertently inviting the targeted moocher over for dinner the following weekend!

BTW: The moocher wasn't a pioneer or "exemplary" or the mooching would probably have been encouraged by the BOE.

Found Sheep: Did they have talks on apostasy about you? Or are you faded?

WontLeave: "These talks are a means to whip the congregation into a frothy lather against someone so they'll do the dirty work of guilt-tripping the "wrongdoer"

Exactly.

LongHairGal: "I would be using my middle finger to get something out of my eye, if you know what I mean."

LOL. I'll have to keep that in mind if I'm ever there in person for another Local Needs talk. Not too likely though.

straightshooter: "Sadly most local needs talks I heard was a total waste of time. "

That's how it was this week for us as we were half-listening to the talk (during commercials) and mainly watching TV. It was almost a surreal experience. The speaker had "no hold on us".

om

40

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

by Open mind in

my whole life as a jw i've heard this refrain.

"too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that local needs talk.".

as an elder i would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a local needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.. .

Open mind

OTWO: "On your title, nobody should really hear the talks. "

Good point. The "should" is from a JW Elder perspective, but the title didn't indicate that. As for NOBODY "should" listen to them, well my wife and I don't mind. The wackier the topic the better as far as we're concerned. I would have loved to hear all about the evils of belly-button piercing.

willyloman: "poor communication skills exemplified by the WTS"

Absolutely. It's not about results, it's about appearances.

charlie brown jr.: "I was humiliated but like a Brainwashed Idiot..."

One of the few Local Needs talks that hit its mark as intended. Sorry you went through that. Hope it wasn't one I gave.

watersprout:

40

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

by Open mind in

my whole life as a jw i've heard this refrain.

"too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that local needs talk.".

as an elder i would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a local needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.. .

Open mind

My whole life as a JW I've heard this refrain. "Too bad so-and-so wasn't here for that Local Needs talk."

As an Elder I would have a hard time putting my heart into writing up a Local Needs talk that was targeting one or two congregation members, knowing full well they probably wouldn't be there to hear it.

Now it comes full circle. This week we were multi-tasking as usual watching American Idol on TV while the phone was tied in to the meetings. Usually we just listen to the Local Announcements, but since there was a Local Needs talk, we listened to a few minutes of it as well. We definitely fit the target demographic of the talk. The irony was not lost on me that I too had wasted many hours preparing these talks and in the end they were just so much wasted breath.

How about you?

Ever have a Local Needs talk with your name on it?

om