Posts by Open mind

55

2019 Elders Manual and a Whole Lot More!

by Atlantis in

single zipped folderhttps://we.tl/t-uiqj87wimd.

2019-02-02-musical preludeshttps://we.tl/t-zyfpnodizd.

s-21-e congregation's publisher record (2018-12).pdfhttps://we.tl/t-i9qamx3s0q.

Open mind

Thank you so much Atlantis!

Someone, who isn't an elder, tried telling me that the following bit from Chapter 14-7 had changed a long time ago.

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

"7. To ensure that elders comply with child-abuse reporting laws, two elders should immediately call the Legal Department for legal advice when the elders learn of an accusation of child abuse. "

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

Clearly this has not changed. If little Johnny comes running out of the back room at the Kingdom Hall saying Elder Bob raped him, who are the Elders supposed to "immediately" call? Watchtower! Not 911.

Even though Chapter 14-6 plainly states "Child abuse is a crime." The crime scene is getting older by the minute, DNA evidence may be getting washed away, but the first priority is circling the wagons to protect Watchtower coffers. Forget about the abused child or the (possibly) falsely accused Elder Bob.

When will they learn?

31

Role Call!

by new boy in

jw
friends

how many here have been active here on this site in the the last seven days?.

Open mind

I was a daily addict here roughly 13 years ago for the 3 years it took for my wife and kids to awaken.

Now, I check in about once or twice a year.

This place will always have a special place in my heart even though the atmosphere changes.

But, to answer the OP, yes, I just checked in today.

Cheers! (I'm still learning to refrain from posting a signature at the end of my entries. Got to keep in step with present truth and all that.) eye roll

33

Bohemian Rhapsody

by cofty in

been to see the new film (movie) tonight.

outstanding!

brought back lots of memories.

Open mind

As movies go, I'd say it was fairly good. Some of the acting seemed a bit forced to me.

However, Rami Malek's performance was absolutely worth the price of seeing it on a big screen with fancy Lay-Z-Boy recliners!

He really did a great job of capturing Freddie's energy and passion.

Also, as someone said earlier, finishing up with a recreation of the Live Aid concert was perfect.

Alright, here's a corny Queen fan-boy trivia question/joke I just made up.

Q: What's Brian May's favorite sexual position?

A: 39

(Let the groans begin!)

24

elder bags.

by blownaway in

not sure if this was every where or just our area, but you could always tell who was big shit top dog in the hall elders by the size of their bag.

my dad used to call them elder bags.

.

Open mind

I was forced into being the Congregation Secretary for about two years. The previous secretary gave me his Humongo Bag which I would dutifully drag to the Hall when I knew we were going to have an Elders mtng after.

Hated it.

Here's a similar thread from the jurassic period when this place was called JWD.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/185320/elder-bag-going-way-dodo

13

"We're involved in a life saving work"?

by eyeuse2badub in

as my wife left for fs this morning (aka gossip and coffee time with her friends) she mentioned to me that one of the parts in the clam meeting this week was:.

to remind the 'faithful' that, "we are involved in a life saving work!".

so i just calmly mentioned to her that if he really wanted to, jehoober could save thousands of lives every day just by controlling the weather or providing just clean water or just a just a few loaves and fishes!.

Open mind

Many JWs, my wife included when she was still in and I was mentally out, cannot bring themselves to believe that their loving God Jehovah is going to kill virtually everyone (except maybe those who are Bible Studies) on earth at Armageddon. They would much rather believe that Jehovah will individually judge "the hearts" of humanity and that hopefully tons of non-JWs will be allowed to survive.

If that's the case, the preaching work is NOT a "live saving" effort. The only way it can be is if the all-loving Jehovah kills 99.9% of the planet's population at Armageddon.

17

Do Circuit Overseers outrank Elders? Why can't they talk to disfellowshipped people?

by garyneal in

jw
friends

last sunday, our family went to the kingdom hall and i realized that this was the week that the circuit overseer was in town.

when we sat down, i noticed he came over and talked to her then he walked away i guess to talk to others.

a few minutes later, he returned to tell her that he could not talk to her because he was informed that she was disfelloshipped.

Open mind

What dubstepped said sums it up pretty well. The CO isn't likely to be involved in meeting with her to determine whether or not she qualifies for reinstatement, so there's no reason for him to talk with her. The only reason I could see is if the CO has a particularly over-sized ego and thinks that he might be able to read her mind/heart by speaking with her.

36

I've graduated at last

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

after a bit of a kerfuffle over a procedural matter, my university has awarded me a degree.

(the procedural problem was caused by my independent selection of what i wanted to study).

award : bachelor of arts.

Open mind

Very well done!

25

How to deal with struggling with the doctrines

by Dval in

this is my first post.

i'm still a jw but am inactive.

im struggling with the fact that i agree with some of the doctrines (i,e, the stance on the trinity, there is no hell) but i disagree with a lot of things (i,e, men can't have beards, women have to wear skirts).

Open mind

This oft-cited quote by the late theoretical physicist and free-thinker Richard Feynman echoes some of the ideas already given here:

"I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned."

That thought helped me have the courage to begin to objectively evaluate the teachings I had been force-fed since infancy.

All the best to you on your path.

61

For Active JW Men: Ideas on Awakening Your JW Spouse (Long post)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

disclaimer: your mileage may vary.

if you are a married, "active, in good standing" (tm), jw male who has recently discovered that the .

watchtower is not what it claims to be, this thread is for you.

Open mind

bumping at the request of Confusedandangry.

5

Current/recent Elders: WT Legal phone hours?

by Open mind in

when i was serving as an elder about 10 years ago, the wt legal department's main number could not be reached on the weekends.

does anyone know if they have since made themselves available to elders 24/7?.

the most recent instructions i could find (october 1, 2012 letter to boe) still say the first thing elders are to do when becoming aware of an accusation of child sexual abuse is to "immediately" call watchtower legal.

Open mind

Thank you sir82. Their policy is still bad, just not quite as bad as when I was serving.

carla: Yes, that's how it was, and I was able to make quite a few JW relatives squirm with that information. I would lay out the hypothetical scenario of a child saying he was raped in the back room of a Kingdom Hall at 3 pm on a Friday afternoon and all the DNA evidence being gone by Monday morning.

An elder relative of mine chimed in once saying, "There's nothing stopping the parents from calling 911. It's their primary responsibility."

I replied, "OK, let's say the parents have headed out for a cabin in the woods for the weekend with no cell phone coverage and they drop off little 13 year old Johnny at the Kingdom Hall for a cleanup afternoon on their way out of town. You're the elder on scene and Johnny comes out of the back room saying he was raped and his parents can't be reached. Are you going to call 911?"

He looked at his toes for a few seconds and then said, "Yes, I would. But that's a pretty far-fetched scenario."

I said, "Maybe, but the policy should be changed to accommodate a situation like that, don't you think?"