too bad- some folks here did a calculation and said that evin if all dubs placed all their tracts they'd only cover 300 million of the earth's inhabitants (mainly in western lands where people toss them straight in the garbage), thus only reaching a maximum of 4 1/2 % of the earth's population... .
i think many publishers, inflamed with zeal, get packet after packet of 50 tracts each for "placement in the ministry".
(eeeee- i love using those buzzwords!
do you count tract placements on your Service Report at the end of the month?
YEP, this is a brand new thing. They said to write the number of tracts on the back of the service slip.
IMO, this is leading to bragging rights on how many were placed, and possibly to starting to count tracts
in the future, so costs can be down. (I remember when tracts were $.01 each)
(copied from my blog) .
anyone who's seen my posts on jwd knows that im an active jw whos married in the religion.
i recently started leaning my "family study" with my wife to a more free-thinking, personal researching mode.
Question? how do you tell her about the news stuff without telling her you got it from apostates?
She knows I have doubts about doctrine, already. I set my email to receive Google News Alerts that have the words "Jehovah's Witnesses" in them. Mostly stuff about funerals and new KH buildings come up, occasionally something meatier. If I find something on the JWD that's news-worthy, I track it down to a non-apostate news source, then say that I got it from the Google News Alert.
This took time. I had to be receiving those News alerts for 2 months, occasionally leaving one on the printer, before she finally asked, "What's this?" The stories I was leaving were not very objectionable, so I was able to tell her about Google News Alerts. I just started mentioning them occasionally after she knew I was receiving them.
To decide to start receiving such Alerts is brave for some. I said that I wanted to know what the world is saying about JW's. This works for me because I have "doubts." You might have a harder time about it. Try just establishing that you are trying to be "more mature" and take an interest in news from the internet (news in general, not JW stuff). Then if you ever want to discuss a subject, track it down to a major news source.
hi my name is crystal...i am 20 and was disfellowshipped two years ago.
that was the hardest thing i have ever been thru in my life yet.. i was disfellowshipped for falling in love with and having relations with another female.
tried to fight it for a long time... but shit happens.
Welcome to JWD. You have a bunch of stuff to deal with. Power to you.
The 21 yr old woman has some kind of problem. Is she a faithful JW? She probably thinks it is easier to groom your brother into husband material than to compete for good brothers at a respectable age.
Try to remember that you used to be a victim of a cult, and your family still are victims. That might help you to forgive them eventually.
(copied from my blog) .
anyone who's seen my posts on jwd knows that im an active jw whos married in the religion.
i recently started leaning my "family study" with my wife to a more free-thinking, personal researching mode.
my wife still judges me for our differences in "conscience matters."
Stick to your guns on this stuff. Even if these things seem minor, they are clearly conscience matters. You need to establish that your
conscience allows things that are on the fringe of "spiritually weak." It is the best way to fade. There's no point in starting to cave in on things that would make you appear spiritually stronger.
Don't overwhelm your wife with negatives about WTS. I did that and had to back off. Now, I occasionally tell her something I read or heard.
I just told her last week about the California lawsuit about Clergy Privilege. I told her that this would, undoubtedly change the way congregations report things to Bethel, so there is less of a file to turn over from now on. I managed to tell her this stuff without too much personal opinion in it. I am introducing the idea to her that this is a legal corporation, not a spiritual one. This week, I mentioned the Chiropractor, Dr. Brenda Upton, that got rewarded Worker's Compensation, a ruling against the WTS. I slipped in that things like this might be why the Organization is getting rid of people before they are a health burden- so unloving and not showing concern for "family." Now I need to back off for a few weeks, unless other JW's start the conversation.
Little dents or chips in the armor take time. You can stop for awhile, but never go backwards in your own "independent thinking on conscience matters." Good job again. Do you feel any better about the incident now that it has had time to pass?
the reason i heard constantly by the elders, as to ones spiritual progress in the organisation was, .
"brothers are appointed by holy spirit.".
if this is the case, why is god speaking to himself when he says in 1 tim 3 v 6 .not a newly converted man, for fear that he might get puffed up with prideetc.. to re-iterate if god appoints elders, why would he give himself this advice ???.
"…Brothers are appointed by Holy Spirit."
But keep in mind that Holy Spirit only considers those that the Body of Elders recommends as Ministerial Servants and Elders, then only if the Circuit Overseer agrees with the Body (He usually wants them to be unanimous).
Nothing new here, but most Bodies will refrain from appointing a brother if one elder can apply any scriptural reason to say that he isn't comfortable with a recommendation. You can apply one scriptural reason to ANYBODY. So, if Johnny was dating his daughter but she broke it off, Elder Bob can say he is not "serious." Any elder can accuse a brother of some unknown secret then say he is not "free from accusation." A married man, they look at his wife and kids and say that he is not "presiding in a fine manner" over his household. If they are really pressed, you can get somebody to say they occasionally miss a meeting or weekend of field service, then they don't have a "fine standing." (1 Tim. 3:8-13)
Truly, it's those who get their noses stuck far up the obedience line who are appointed. Nothing new again, but as one who was an elder for many years, I am not proud to say that I was very obedient until I learned to think for myself. Some of the best brother had a very independent attitude about them and never got appointed.
my roommate who is disabled was in the hospital for a couple of days last week (nothing too serious).
one of the 'sisters' from the hall brought her a few of the tracts to hand out while she was in the hospital (like to nurses and whoever).
she hasn't been to the meetings for a while because she hasn't been feeling well so this was the first time she had seen them.
I wonder how many JW's will throw their tracts away and count them.
Your roommate is not alone.
a very nice fellow at work - who happens to be direct line supervisor to me - is a jw.
unknown to me, since we have few personal conversations, although i sensed he was 'religious'.
in speaking with another christian there one day about my 'cult experience', she mentioned that she thought this person was a witness, and it seems now that is the case.. i think, from what others have told me, that he might be relatively new to the jdubs, but am not sure of this.
I do not wish to offend the guy, or hurt his or my work situation......
Your last post seemed reasonable. Bide your time and see what you can do.
the craziest statement (not lies not incorrect application of scripture) just total abuse of elder position and misuse of platform.
an elder when on the platform(or as some might say the stage after all the majority are actors made a statement to the congregation because his wife was a bit sickly asked the bro/sisters to arrange a rota to make his dinners.my thinking was if he can't feed himself how can he feed the flock.visiting brothers could not beleive what they heard they thought he was joking.. i can asure you this elder wasn't noted for his humour.. kt.
I would volunteer to feed him and his wife. I would want to help the wife of this lazy elder. I would bring a wonderful meal for her and a can of something to put in the microwave for him. I would insist on serving her, so he don't switch them.
If she's not eating, then just the can would do, along with a stale baked good.
(copied from my blog) .
anyone who's seen my posts on jwd knows that im an active jw whos married in the religion.
i recently started leaning my "family study" with my wife to a more free-thinking, personal researching mode.
I too, stare at the possibility of losing my wife to the cult. I hope I don't, but it is a struggle.
You already realize that you cannot win an argument against WT policies. The JW just
resorts to mantras such as "The light is getting brighter." "Spirit-directed organization."
If you want to stay undercover, you still did okay. Present arguments against WT policy
but then stop short of proving you won the argument. Good Job. You now seem more
reasonable than your wife. She blindly obeys, but goes beyond command. You don't
insist on your point of view, but point to the Bible as your guide. You did good.
I often feel that my reasoning with my wife and trying to get her thinking about the bible
and the organization seems to be going to waste, but truly, a dent or a chip in the armor
is never a total waste. Even if an avenue of reason doesn't work, you learn to pursue a
different avenue.
CHEER UP. You did good.
a very nice fellow at work - who happens to be direct line supervisor to me - is a jw.
unknown to me, since we have few personal conversations, although i sensed he was 'religious'.
in speaking with another christian there one day about my 'cult experience', she mentioned that she thought this person was a witness, and it seems now that is the case.. i think, from what others have told me, that he might be relatively new to the jdubs, but am not sure of this.
If there is a totally anonymous way to help him, fine. Otherwise, I would say to leave it alone. It may jeopardize your work, you may be accused of bringing your religious differences into the workplace. Your supervisor may also use this as a (deep down) reason to make things worse for you at work, somehow lay you off or overlook you for privileges or promotions.
While each of us wished someone helped us out of the organization years ago, we cannot all say that it would have done any good.
Not knowing anything about him, bide your time and look for an opening. Perhaps you will find one. Perhaps not.
