Posts by neverendingjourney

45

Testimony card returns

by sir82 in

jw
friends

old timers, or careful readers of the proclaimers book, are familiar with the "testimony card" used in the early days of rutherford-era door to door witnessing.

the jw would traipse up to a house, knock, hand the card over to the householder, and wait while he read it.. well, it seems that "everything old is new again".

here is an excerpt from a recent boe letter:.

neverendingjourney

Do they really want the average Joe-in-the-street to connect the dots between "Jehovah's Witnesses" and "the internet"?

I don't think this reflects a lack of thought on their part. Up to now they've eschewed the internet precisely for the reasons you mention. The more likely explanation is that their management-by-committee structure breeds schizophrenic decision making.

At some point a GB member or two changed their views or a particularly intractable GB member or two died and the scales were tipped in favor of this new approach. Given that leadership consists of a bunch of geriatric buffoons, it's no wonder the rollout has been less than stellar.

127

I'm sitting here listening to a JW try to recruit somebody

by Terry in

jw
friends

i'm at starbucks .

just outside in the courtyard.. i'm trembling.

my hands are shaking.. wow!.

neverendingjourney

Ignorance breeds certainty. As evidenced by his anti-science comments, he doesn't understand critical thinking but what you said resonated with him enough for him to want to have a follow-up with you.

I was baptized when I was 16 and was never more certain of my beliefs. I can't imagine how many times I argued with a much older householder about things I actually knew very little about. Every now and then someone would be in a position to provide a well-thought retort.

Even though I never admitted defeat, those memories stayed with me. As I grew older and my thinking process matured, I was able to revisit some of the points they made. I fought against it and tried my best to repress doubts, they eventually resurfaced.

This young man may never have a change of heart. He may enjoy the comfort that a regimented and structured belief system provides. He may be unwilling to face the real world as it actually is, but you've done your part (and more than I would have likely done). We are all accountable for our own actions, after all.

14

Bro Lett at Int. Conv in Israel last year.......

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

having been recently introduced to governing body member lett's "unique" speaking style, i found another video on youtube (and also on jw.org) of bro lett visiting the international convention in israel.

apparently his buffonery is not only reserved for video intro's to dramas, but also in real life as well.. i used to think those ol' time pentacostal and baptist ministers in tents would overdue it......i was wrong.

this guy has them all beat.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltvx_e4xe4e.

neverendingjourney

I don't understand how anyone could take him seriously.

What would Lett be doing if he weren't a Witness? Who would hire someone like that? He would never make it past a screening interview.

47

convinced 95% of all active jw's don't have a clue as to where 1914 originates

by goingthruthemotions in

so talking with my wife last night...i was explaining to her about a conversation i had with a person at work about end times.

he has a strange belief that some scriptures in isaiah perdict something huge is going to happen in september of 2015. she then states that no one can predict the future only the father knows and he is in a cult.

lol on the inside.. i then stated "what about 1914 and the dubs perdiction and what it means today" she said no there was never any predictions.

neverendingjourney

Oh how I wish the internet had been around then...I just might've googled something out of curiosity and I could've been out decades ago.

I've had similar thoughts. I was baptized in 95. According to this source (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2?page=3) there were fewer than 10 internet users out of 100 people in the United States back then. I was not among them.

Five years later I bought my first PC and had dial-up internet in my house. What would have happened had I been born five years later? Would I have done online research? I might have learned the true origins of the religions before baptism.

It really serves no purpose to speculate, but I can't help but wonder.

34

How big a fee does the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society get for booking Jehovah's Witnesses into Convention Hotels?

by Balaamsass in

curious.

i know travel agents and on-line sites get a kickback or fee for booking hotels.

how much is this fee?.

neverendingjourney

I'm sure someone will completely flame me for the comment but the practice appears innocuous to me.

Not a flame, but while the business practice of obtaining comps in exchange for a guaranteed number of bookings may be completely justified, the lack of transparency combined with the guilt, coercion, and manipulation the society uses to obtain such perks is not.

Here's a better idea. Instead of using its leverage to obtain kickbacks for itself and its "special full time service" members, why doesn't the society use it to actually negotiate better-than-market rates for its rank-and-file members, many of whom already are straining their budgets to attend given that they've decided to follow its advice on higher education and career choices.

47

convinced 95% of all active jw's don't have a clue as to where 1914 originates

by goingthruthemotions in

so talking with my wife last night...i was explaining to her about a conversation i had with a person at work about end times.

he has a strange belief that some scriptures in isaiah perdict something huge is going to happen in september of 2015. she then states that no one can predict the future only the father knows and he is in a cult.

lol on the inside.. i then stated "what about 1914 and the dubs perdiction and what it means today" she said no there was never any predictions.

neverendingjourney

I say that 100% of them do not know that it was all cribbed from the Adventists and 95% do not know that the actual prediction was for "the end" in 1914.

When I was a child, my Catholic aunt made me read some anti-Witness pamphlet written by her church. It talked about various end-of-the-world predictions Witnesses had made over the years. I don't reacall the exact nature of what was said, but I remember believing it was an obvious lie made up to make the Witnesses look bad. It never occurred to me that the Witnesses might have actually made such predictions. In fact, I'd been repeatedly told by the congregation that such things were lies.

After all these years, I wish I could somehow get my hands on that pamphlet again. I have a feeling everything in there was actually true.

9

Why Do JWs Think Bankruptcy Is Not Wrong? Does Pioneering Blot out Theft?

by BucketShopBill in

i mentioned a few elders on one of the highest viewed judicial committee videos filed bk, one of them has done it 3 times and feels no remorse!

my post is not to attack people who really need to avail themselves of a legal process because bad things happen to good people.

the economic climate had and can change radically!

neverendingjourney

Rattigan,

We handled a lot of small business bankruptcies and almost all were devastating. We had a client or two who I believed to be scam artists or people with giant egos that outsized their business acumen, but for the most part filing bankruptcy was crushing for the principals.

My experience with personal bankruptcies was different. The situation was quite the opposite. Most of the people who filed bankruptcy as individuals were people with significant emotional/psychological/addiction problems. A few had learned to game the system and would file every few years. Some were just incredibly irresponsible. That's not to say there weren't exceptions. One of the most hearbreaking stories was an older woman who filed to discharge medical bills that had been piling up since she was diagnosed with lupus.

Granted, this is strictly anecdotal and the law firm I worked for was in a poor part of town that catered largely to the underclass, so take it for what it's worth.

16

'Jehovah's Kingdom' convention banner

by undercover in

jw
friends

making the rounds on facebook is a snapshot of some jws holding a huge banner from the upper deck at a convention.

it says, "jehovah's kingdom" and underneath a crudely drawn download 'bar' with the number 99% on the right side, as if to say in computer lingo, jah's day is almost here.

behind are other dubs holding up smaller placards, but i can't remember what they said.. is this a wt sanctioned or approved action?

neverendingjourney

Is this a WT sanctioned or approved action?

I think they get carried away since international assemblies are one of the few ocassions they get to express any individuality. You see that with the delegates dressed in supposedly local attire. Some Witnesses use them as an opportunity to express themselves and get carried away.

That's my guess, anyway. I saw pictures from some local kingdom halls where they had literally piled hay on the stage and had the delegates stand for pictures behind it wearing their "local garb."

9

Why Do JWs Think Bankruptcy Is Not Wrong? Does Pioneering Blot out Theft?

by BucketShopBill in

i mentioned a few elders on one of the highest viewed judicial committee videos filed bk, one of them has done it 3 times and feels no remorse!

my post is not to attack people who really need to avail themselves of a legal process because bad things happen to good people.

the economic climate had and can change radically!

neverendingjourney

I worked for a bankruptcy atttorney in the early part of the prior decade. In going through his files, I was surprised to learn that a local Witness family had filed bankruptcy. I believe they had filed repeatedly, but it's been so long I can't really remember.

It stood out because the family was known for living well outside their means. They were always dressed in the latest fashions, drove new cars, etc. I don't beleive the father was ever an elder and as far as I know all the kids have since left "the truth." One of the sons later became known for having a habit of filing lawsuits as a result of various car/industrial accidents.

79

I know 2 of the Elders on the Ray Franz JC

by James Jackson in

when i read coc, i was stunned that the 2 elders (theotis french & rob dibble) were on ray franz judcial committee.

i have known these men for over 20 years having done rbc and convention work with them.

they are still elders today which means they were in their early 30's(which is unheard of for a case of this importance to have inexperienced elders to sit on) on this committee.. without revealing myself, i have never tried(but have wanted to), ask them about their on having to judge a former gb member.. then out of the blue, about a year ago, i was mentioning how hard it is trying to get younger ones to volunteer to one of these elders, and he says"this is nothing compared to to sitting on the committee that had to disfellowship ray franz".

neverendingjourney

Unless you have been in my situation, it is hard to explain the mindset of a former longtime Elder(21 years), Regular Pioneer (14 years), one was at the top of his game, handling many responsibities on the Circuit and District level, serving on over 50 Judicial cases, including Appeal Committees, various Elder Schools (including Teaching parts in these schools), and even spending a week at Patterson for the COBE Kingdom Ministry School. I could go on but some of you guys are wearing me out!

I find the listing of organizational bona fides very strange now that I've been out for nearly a decade. Take this Theotis French fellow. He might have had an incredibly impressive resume that would have left me in awe when I was a witness, yet he's still a bus driver.

It's only within the confines of the cult that any of that matters. As far at the real world is concerned, it's meaningless gibberish. It doesn't make you more qualified than the next guy for a job at McDonalds.

I known people who once held high positions and have subsequently left the witnesses. I'm specifically thinking of a former bethelite and a former CO. Their linkedin pages now summarize their time spent in the witnesses as work in the "non-profit" sector, which is essentially a void and a liability. It must be a bitter pill to swallow.