Posts by mac n cheese

50

Witnesses "Policing" People...Is It True?

by CrimsonBleu in

jw
friends

my sister told me once she likes to "police" people, that it was sort of a game she liked to play.

she is true to her word, she does just that.

always seeking the negative, rarely acknowledging positive...anything.. is this common among witnesses?

mac n cheese

I was so glad to see my Grandpa pull up and give me a ride from school, especially since I used to live really far away from him. He smoked like a chimney (a pipe), and he then dropped me off at the Kingdom Hall so that I could go out in service. I was so excited by his surprise visit that I actually cancelled on my partner so that I could spend more time with him that evening. I remember the group staring after me in amazement, since I never cancelled on people.

Imagine my surprise when at the next meeting, 2 elders asked to speak with me about "a very important issue". They wanted to know if I had been smoking clove cigarettes, or using incense. I started laughing and said, "What? Why? That's insane." They were dead serious. I think they only reason they finally told me what the circumstances were for the accusation was because I was a goody two-shoes high school pioneer. After that I explained that it was my worldly grandfather, I asked them why they'd believe the ignorant accusation when my character should have given the answer alone. They said that it as long as it was a serious accusation, they had to investigate it. When I said that not everyone who is accused is guilty, they said, "You're being too influenced by worldly 'justice'. You have to prove your innocence."

Seriously?

19

Did you participate in STREET WITNESSING in your area? What was it like?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

here in southern california, the witnesses still do streetwork.

i did it since i was a kid.

i used to spend two hours every saturday morning from 7 to 9 am walking down the street near my house with my brother or sister.

mac n cheese

In our area we used to set up tables outside of Costco, at the airport, and at WalMart. I liked it - I could talk to anyone and it was E-A-S-Y time. Of course, they turned it into a "have to be approved" to do it. Pretty unproductive though, like everything else JW - designed to show off how dedicated you were.

(off topic)

to zombiedub - I really like reading WTWizard's posts, but I confess, once I see more than two substituted vocabulary words, I just stop reading. At first, i was looking for a translator/cheat sheet and then, being my lazy self, I just gave up. But I figured that was my fault. So I've only been able to wade throug a few of some really great posts from WT Wizard.

WT Wizard - would really love to read your posts but I need a list of terms you use and their definitions so I know what you're talking about.

Mac

19

Did you participate in STREET WITNESSING in your area? What was it like?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

here in southern california, the witnesses still do streetwork.

i did it since i was a kid.

i used to spend two hours every saturday morning from 7 to 9 am walking down the street near my house with my brother or sister.

mac n cheese

BonaFide - you just described my Saturday mornings (and other mid-week ones) EXACTLY. It's making me tired just thinking about it. I can't believe we did that for years and years and years. Sheesh.

9

At the hospital today I apologized to a disassociated sister

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

got back from the hospital awhile ago.

an older brother i know is very ill. in his 60's.

one of his family members is a girl in her 20's.

mac n cheese

Wow, this sounds like...the way a true "Christian" would behave. If the elders who dragged us to Hades and back were even a BIT considerate, say, actually followed a Bible principle, or even apologized at all for the lies and abuse they heaved at us, we probably would have stayed in.

I'm glad they didn't, because the cruelty woke us up.

I'm very impressed BonaFide. If I ever am in a position to do so, I will apologize to people I judged, following your example.

18

Lost My Job Yesterday

by InOregon in

jw
friends

i am a little sad today.

i lost my job yesterday.

i have only worked at this job for 8 months and my position was eliminated.

mac n cheese

I'm an excellent employee, and I got laid off 2 months ago. My husband will be laid off next month, they gave him advance notice because he's been there so long.

It's very difficult not to let this get to you, no matter how positive you are. Just take it one step at a time, realize that many are in the same situation, and take the comfort where you can get it.

Hugs,

Mac n Cheese

17

What is the worst experience of COGNITIVE DISSONANCE in JW's you have had?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

last year, i listened to a talk on cd from a member of the governing body, brother losch.

he says the dead bodies will be all over the place and we will have to bury them.

it has been mentioned on this forum many times.. so i knew that my family had not heard the talk, or else they would definitely have talked about it.

mac n cheese

When we were told that by kissing before marriage, we were being "unclean". This was because one of the other pioneers (a weirdo single brother) didn't like that my then-fiance put his hand on my knee when he kissed me goodbye from service.

We went round and round with them, saying that since this happened in front of a car group from service, how could have POSSIBLY been "unclean"? We read them definitions from the publications, showing that what we did was not anything warranting the witch hunt they dragged us to. We even showed them from the Bible that they were wrong, and that's when they got really mad. We started laughing because BOTH of the elders refused to even LOOK at the scriptures we used. They said they had the authority to call it what it was.

They let us sweat for half an hour outside of the meeting, while we were thinking not only were we going to be removed as pioneers and as an MS, but that we would have to change all our wedding plans since they also threatened us with having to move the wedding out of the KH. This was with three weeks left to go before our wedding and with a ton of out of town guests.

In the end, we got a slap on the wrist and we kept our "privileges". We showed them, we then managed to fool around a lot more in private and apparently, God approved, because we never heard a word about it.

What butt-wipes.

9

Anyone have Russell Cantwell as Circuit Overseer?

by cabasilas in

in the 60s when i first started associating with jws in southern california our circuit overseer was russell cantwell.

he was one of the plaintiffs in the landmark supreme court case cantwell vs connecticut.

i found a time article about the case here:.

mac n cheese

No, but we had Henry Cantwell, who was part of that family. Nice enough guy, a real farmer "aw shucks" kind of person. He was harmless and ineffective. I heard he retired to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he slowly lost his mind (Alzheimer's, I think).

Oompa, he also cracked the can't do anything well joke - "cantwell".

Mac n Cheese

27

X Files: I Want to Believe

by John Doe in

jw
friends

after all the negative reviews on here and elsewhere when this movie came out, i forego going to see it in the theater.

i rented it today and watched it, and i must say i regret not seeing it in the theater.

it was based much more on the characters and their motivations in this movie than in the last movie, but it was very interesting.

mac n cheese

Hi,

I enjoyed the latest film, "I Want To Believe". It was so good to see Mulder and Scully up there, on the big screen. Of course, I'm a real fan from a long time ago. For a long time I avoided it (demonized, you know), but then I found out that a lot of the really smart people in my congregation loved it. So we tried it out and we were hooked. Of course, we had to have whispered conversations about it.

I read that with last year's release, they were testing the waters for possible future movies. I'm bummed it didn't do well either. FWIW, we went with a friend who wasn't an X Files fan and she LOVED the movie.

Mac n Cheese

14

Have you ever heard of JW female molester?

by asilentone in

.

mac n cheese

Hiding,

I'm so sorry that happened to you. While a lot of molesters are protected by the elder body and the WT policies, there is a another type of victim rampant in the Borg - the person who find himself defending lies that he's been accused of. It doesn't take much for certain users to plow through unsuspecting people who would normally never harm a single person, and then find themselves being hauled in the back room to defend themselves. I've seen it happen over and over again and it was one of the final nails in our coffin.

The whole thing makes me sick - molesters going free, innocents being punished. I would say that this is the defining characteristic of this organization than anything else.

It was the appreciation of true love and how to treat others that drove me from the WT organization.

(sorry to the OP if I've "hijacked" the thread, Hiding's comment really struck a nerve with me)

Mac

14

Have you ever heard of JW female molester?

by asilentone in

.

mac n cheese

yes, a family member that I avoided at all costs, because she always freaked me out. when someone finally said something to the elders, she turned around and accused her husband. poor guy, he was always viewed with suspicion after that. she was good at deflection. she's still in and causing all kinds of trouble.