AllTimeJeff

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Posts by AllTimeJeff

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  10

  Forever Young

  by AllTimeJeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey everyone.

  so this is what 10 years out feels like.

  employed, paying bills, and watching the slow demise of planet earth.

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  AllTimeJeff

  Hello Yesu. I am not an active atheist or theist. Having spent my first 30 years debating in that arena, I am happily a live and live, tolerant agonstic. (so long as I and all people are tolerated...)
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  10

  Forever Young

  by AllTimeJeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey everyone.

  so this is what 10 years out feels like.

  employed, paying bills, and watching the slow demise of planet earth.

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  AllTimeJeff

  Hey everyone. So this is what 10 years out feels like. Employed, paying bills, and watching the slow demise of planet Earth. Awesome.... (I'm kidding. I am sure we will all be ok. Look! Unicorns!!)

  Been reading a few posts this week in particular. For sure GB 2.1 is in full effect. No more Gilead? No more sending white bread Americans with above average networking skills to 3rd world hotspots in order to be potentially murdered by the "WeDon'tGiveASh*tAboutYou" locals as a way to show you rock? No more book studies or Theocratic Ministry School? No more Presiding Overseer, because he is now the Coordinator and doesn't babysit? No more deep embrace of the hallucinogenic "doctrine" that was in fact, the overactive imagination of college dropout Freddie "The TypologyTypist" Franz?
  Sign me up!

  I recall getting in several heated debates as I exited here and on a couple of other sites that were for me. I look back and they are a personal journal of sorts. Glad you can read them too if it helps. I thought I'd share two things that popped into my head lately.

  1) Jehovah's Witnesses will not die instantly. They will slowly evolve and turn into something else. That is in fact, what has happened and what will continue to happen. As with all bad ideas and movements, idiots and blinded people are hard to show the truth. I have learned the hard way that beliefs trump facts. (pun intended) It is only by having the right values, including an acknowledgment that facts are more important, can true change happen. Having said that, we live in a country where it is a Constitutional right to make bad decisions and have poor judgement. Welcome to freedom! The freedom to sign your life over to a registered cult.

  2) Jehovah's Witnesses will continue to exploit young people, and I'd like to offer myself as exhibit A to get this rolling.
  

  In 1991 for reasons I cannot specifically recall, I took advantage of the time home schooling provided me and started to "walk" my territory as an auxiliary pioneer. I was 16. I read the life stories of missionaries and circuit overseers every day and it affected me! I also did it for the approval of the elders, and because I had set goals for myself. It is how I got my good name out there and became a ministerial servant at 19.

  If you saw the 19 year old version of me, you'd hate me. I was committed to my goals and every bit the @$$hole! But you would have liked the 16 year old me. I was just a kid trying to do his best, please his parents and his "church". It grew and turned into something I couldn't have possibly comprehended. And as I look back, no one pushed me to do it. I was sincerely trying to do my best. With no true guidance from anyone. No internet. I missed that by four years. Nothing but the "atta boys" and occasional honked horns of elders as they drove by me while I walked to my next return visit in the late afternoon. That's where it started for me.

  I am very sensitive when I see intelligent and ambitious young people these days, of any stripe and from anywhere. They need guidance, they need wisdom. And it is not in ready supply. The fact is, programming is very real, and it happens EVERYWHERE. Not just JW's. In America. That is why marketing and the news is so important. "Can we win the battle of the message? What are the optics?" It doesn't matter if it's right or not, so long as it feels right.

  The human animal runs on emotional beliefs, not cold facts. JW's are masters of this, and know it better than anyone. And who is better to influence than the young? Whatever the GB needs, you can be sure they will figure out how to suck their youth into a generation of JW's that will roll their eyes at you when you mention 1914, 1975, all of the changes to the word "generation", and those old fogies Russell, Rutherford, Knorr and Franz. And why not? They get told everything in their KH.

  What is the hope for anyone young? Access to information, education, and the wisdom to tell the truth and facts from the crap. True reasoning ability, and a desire to make a difference. (so maybe college shouldn't cost so much?)

  Isn't that what being young is all about? Maybe that is gone too. Maybe everyone will just turn into automatons that just listen and do what they're told.

  I am lucky. I am 42, and still young enough, but have had more than a lifetimes worth of experience to know that the key to the future is to influence the young. I hope we all have the wisdom to help out when we can. And I hope more than a few young JW's stop by sites like these and read up. There is nothing like getting your critical thinking skills going for the first time.
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  31

  Griffin Assembly Hall (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) now a Megachurch

  by Sanchy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my mom, while pregnant with me, was one of thousands of jw volunteers to work on the construction of this once beautiful assembly hall in south florida circa 1984. it had a beautiful pond, waterfall, and even a resident alligator.

  many remember it as well for it's huge plaster murals on the walls showing scenes of paradises.. pics as it was before (sorry for the low quality, struggled to find good pics of the auditorium as it was, if you have any good ones, do share them):.

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  AllTimeJeff

  I grew up in the Fort Lauderdale area. The plastered walls from what I was told and remember (I was 10) was that they sort of snuck it in, misrepresenting what they were doing to Bethel until it was too late. At every CA, an announcement was told "not to touch the walls." It was a nice facility. Many adulterous arrangements were evidently made their based on all the disfellowshippings I remember... lol

  I miss the alligator and the pond. I don't miss the drive out there. Not that I live down there anymore. The location wasn't very good imo

  I recall at the time that we would rent the WPB auditorium for DC's when we didn't use the Hialeah racetrack. Whatever their reason for getting rid of Griffin Road, I am sure it was in some way a small "F you" to the local elders that did things their way.
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  61

  Is this a normal JW practice? Warning, this will be a bit graphic.

  by Sequoia in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this post may be disturbing and i apologize, but i'm just trying to find out if this is a practice the jw teaches.

  i was taken advantage of by a guy claiming to be a jw preacher.

  he took me to his house supposedly so i could give his daughter piano lessons, and then he basically forced himself on me while telling me he was in love with me and wanted to marry me.

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  AllTimeJeff

  After some thought, while JWs absolutely do not train or condone what Sequoia has brought upor alleged, it should surprise no one that a random crazy might do this. An internet board is very limited in a situation like this.

  Let's refocus. Sequoia, there are limitations on an internet board. Most of the people here mean well. The most important thing is for you to do the right thing for yourself. I for one believe that sexual assault victims get put through a lot. I don't envy that for you. You should go to the police. If physical evidence is lacking then there may be nothing legally that can happen. At the least it will put all parties on notice.

  Sadly, it's the times we live in that reminds us all to be careful who we invite into our homes these days. I wish for you healing and wisdom in the days ahead Sequoia.
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  61

  Is this a normal JW practice? Warning, this will be a bit graphic.

  by Sequoia in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this post may be disturbing and i apologize, but i'm just trying to find out if this is a practice the jw teaches.

  i was taken advantage of by a guy claiming to be a jw preacher.

  he took me to his house supposedly so i could give his daughter piano lessons, and then he basically forced himself on me while telling me he was in love with me and wanted to marry me.

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  AllTimeJeff

  There is nothing to be gained by debating this IMO. She had a question and got an answer. Sounds like a bad situation. There is no discussion board "truth-o-meter".

  Given the seriousness of the subject, we should treat it as such. If at a later time, other info comes out, no big deal.
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  27

  "Don't listen to apostates!!"

  by Schnufti in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  next time a jw says that to me, i will ask him to read the following from "what does the bible really teach":.

  watchtower itself uses this illustration.

  so why is it that they throw apostates out of the congregation?.

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  AllTimeJeff

  Alright, JEHOVAHTRON wins. I don't where all of the GB members meet to form this..... thing, but I am pretty sure that Geoffrey Jackson is connected by being waaaay up Loesch's @$$
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  14

  What is Gilead's current curriculum?

  by careful in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some years back alltimejeff reported on what gilead's curriculum was like from a guy who had gone thru it.

  it was detailed and enlightening for those of us in the dark.

  (hey, atj, are you still checking in here?).

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  AllTimeJeff

  I was in Cameroon for parts of 2005 and 2006 Fulano. I graduated cuma dum stupid from class 119, which was featured in the Jan 1 2006 WT.
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  61

  Is this a normal JW practice? Warning, this will be a bit graphic.

  by Sequoia in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this post may be disturbing and i apologize, but i'm just trying to find out if this is a practice the jw teaches.

  i was taken advantage of by a guy claiming to be a jw preacher.

  he took me to his house supposedly so i could give his daughter piano lessons, and then he basically forced himself on me while telling me he was in love with me and wanted to marry me.

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  AllTimeJeff

  Hey folks. Remember, sexual assault victims do not always "see" what happened as something they should report. Plus, the act of sexual assault, whether it was merely a failed attempt or sadistically successful, absolutely causes upset and confusion. While I sympathize with this being an unusual place to ask, I think we need to take this seriously.

  Sequoia, to answer your question, for all of their misguided beliefs and tactics, JW's have never taught that sexual assault is ok. You are the victim of a predator. Predators are everywhere unfortunately, and frequently use organizations and positions of trust to do as they want. It seems like a coincidence that he is a JW in this case to me, unless his local elders have information on him we are not privy to. I agree 100% with what Steve2 said as well.

  Regardless, you should not only report this to the authorities and go to the police, you should get some support from friends and family who will take care to listen to you and help you. I wish you some healing, as this isn't an easy thing to deal with.
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  130

  Not a sympathizer

  by Richard Oliver in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i think everyone here is under the impression that i am a watchtower sympathizer, i am not.

  i just like facts and when people say things, which are their opinions but that facts point out as not being true, than that is when i get so motivated to make a comment.

  i have read posts here, listened to six screens and read jwsurvey and seen things that people say, which are opinion, but pass them off as fact.. there are legitimate things that people on here and former jws have concerns over without manipulating what is said or trying to pass off opinion as a fact.

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  AllTimeJeff

  If there is one thing 2016 taught me, it's that beliefs are more powerful than facts.

  As the old saying goes, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but not your facts. I disagree with this actually. Civilized behavior means that we control our emotions and behavior. As such, being civilized means that some opinions should hold sway. Facts should rule. You are entitled to say it if you want, but if you say stupid stuff, you shouldn't expect to be celebrated for exercising your Constitutional right to free expression. Babies do that too.

  In any case, JW's are full of crap. Just because some people are hurt by them and may not have their facts 100% straight doesn't change the established fact that JW's are a cult, and it is accepted that they have harmed many people, especially those who no longer want to be a part of their fruity little club.

  Having said that, I have never approved of Six Screens and I never will. The end has never justified the means IMO.
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  63

  Life is changing for me: no pioneering, got a job!

  by Skepsis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a month ago i decided to register in this board.

  i had decided to step down pioneering but was frightened about the consequences.

  i had finished my university degree some months before (despite disaproval from brothers in my congregation) and i had to choose: continue pioneering and working in jobs with no future or starting a career, working full-time.. i was thinking to postpone the decisiton but... i was fed up with preaching.

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  AllTimeJeff

  Congrats on the college degree!

  Just another perspective, understand that there is no "one way" that pioneers stop pioneering, servants and elders stop "serving". The personality of each congregation and their elders, along with the current CO affects those events. I always advise to be cautious as you fade away, especially if your plan isn't to blow up the bridge.

  I personally like the advice of LisaRose. I think as you get older you'll regret the times you don't fully listen to that voice inside yourself. In fact, you'll probably find that like an underused muscle, once you start getting to know you, you'll get stronger.Get to know yourself. That won't happen EVER inside a KH or talking with other JW's, because part of the whole JW indoctrination is to take away your identity. That's why everyone is "brother" and "sister". Because your name represents YOU, and that doesn't jive very well with a cult....

  Get some friends too. I wish I had done that when I left. Best wishes!