Posts by StephaneLaliberte

37

Avoiding Temptation As a Young Elder

by TMS in

it was the summer of '72.

i was 24 but had been the presiding overseer or congregation servant of a small congregation in the county seat of an arkansas county for about 3 years.. my regular pioneer wife of nearly four years was big and pregnant, with our attempts at birth control unsuccessful.. one of my wife's several bible studies was with a young woman named brenda whom my wife had encountered in door to door work.. brenda had two young children she could barely handle and was married to a very countryfied arkie named henry who worked as a chicken catcher, one of the most difficult jobs at the local chicken plant.. brenda eventually revealed that she'd been raised as a jw, but was never baptized, having left home to marry henry at age 14. she spoke of her family in texas, mentioning her mother and two older sisters, all jws she said.. one morning, just before the meeting for field service, we noticed a small car in kingdom hall parking lot.

my wife and i were parked to one side of the hall in our aluminum nashua house trailer.. two young women got out of the car and soon joined us for the meeting for service, identifying themselves as brenda's sisters from texas.. the two girls, ages 17 and 20, were distractingly beautiful, with the eldest decked out like a magnificent southern belle including hat and heels, her high-end clothing accentuating her very obvious curves.. with no one else showing up for field service, it ended up just the four of us in the car group with the two texas girls in the back seat.. starting our time at a not-at-home, the 20 year old asked if she could accompany me to "hear my presentation.

StephaneLaliberte

Captain Schmideo2: there is a scene almost exactly like this

Found it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlO5LT96dQ8

Very funny! And no joke, that's basically how it goes for me!

26

What was covered up in your congregation??

by karter in

family move to remote pacific island to serve were the need is great get a mention in the year book.. however one of the (married) boys in the large family has sex with his sister while his wife is in hospital giving birth to their child.

.

all hushed up not even a word said and hes now an elder d.fing people for lesser crimes.. young couple dating leave the jws and move in togather doing drugs partying ect.. his family grandfather,uncles, dad ect are all elders.. after a few years they decide to come back to the jws and are married in the k.h a few months latter.. 1 elder questions them getting married in the k.h and is voted down by his family.. to many drunks and c.s.a to mention.. karter..

StephaneLaliberte

The term "cover up" though, to me, invokes the idea that people in charge, like ministerial servants and elders ignored or purposefully hid bad things, perhaps, even all of them as a group!

So, what have I seen? Most often, the exact opposite! Many elders have a power trip and don't want to share "power", so they can't wait to throw their fellow elders under the bus. As for the others, they can't wait to throw the "power trip" elders under the bus! Result? I've seen minor flaws of elders and their family being blown out of proportion just to get them out. That was actually one of the reasons I left: How can you believe in love, agapee, when, as soon as someone made a small mistake, 20 years of "faithful service" was ignored like it had been nothing all along!

And yet, I did see cover ups!

Mainly, for anything that was perceived as a threat to the congregation as a whole or the organization. For instance,

a pedophile that was ignored for far too long.
An abusive and alcoholic father mistreating his family while he gave a lot financially to the congregation.
An elder with shady business practices as he hired many of the brothers in the congregation.
The practice of shunning the apostates is, in itself, a form of cover up. Don't address the questions. Label them apostate and cut them off!

And the most popular one:

5. Elders being so busy with the congregation and their regular full time job that they are absentee fathers.

12

Russia: Further Jail Term For Answering Fellow Prisoners’ Questions About Faith

by AndersonsInfo in

https://www.eurasiareview.com/01072024-russia-further-jail-term-for-answering-fellow-prisoners-questions-about-faith/.

july 1, 2024. by f18news.

by victoria arnold.

StephaneLaliberte

Riley: Tell him he can be released when he can explain the " overlapping generation " just using a bible without any JW study aids.

So, a man is rotting in jail and time will be added to his sentence simply for talking, and you make that kind of joke? I have a dark sense of humor, so I kinda get what you're doing here... It's madness to be willing to suffer for beliefs, some of which don't make any sense... on top of that, for a religion that has no respect for free speech within its ranks! So, I get it, the absurdity is sorta funny! And yet...

This being the internet, people could land on your comment and believe you actually support what the Russians are doing! As far as I know, this board abhor such things!

You know you've lost all freedom when your government is willing to put you in jail based on your ideas and who you associate with. They become worse than the people they feel threatened by!

This is just a sad sad situation and I hope this guy will make it out while his still young enough to enjoy the relative freedom!

37

Avoiding Temptation As a Young Elder

by TMS in

it was the summer of '72.

i was 24 but had been the presiding overseer or congregation servant of a small congregation in the county seat of an arkansas county for about 3 years.. my regular pioneer wife of nearly four years was big and pregnant, with our attempts at birth control unsuccessful.. one of my wife's several bible studies was with a young woman named brenda whom my wife had encountered in door to door work.. brenda had two young children she could barely handle and was married to a very countryfied arkie named henry who worked as a chicken catcher, one of the most difficult jobs at the local chicken plant.. brenda eventually revealed that she'd been raised as a jw, but was never baptized, having left home to marry henry at age 14. she spoke of her family in texas, mentioning her mother and two older sisters, all jws she said.. one morning, just before the meeting for field service, we noticed a small car in kingdom hall parking lot.

my wife and i were parked to one side of the hall in our aluminum nashua house trailer.. two young women got out of the car and soon joined us for the meeting for service, identifying themselves as brenda's sisters from texas.. the two girls, ages 17 and 20, were distractingly beautiful, with the eldest decked out like a magnificent southern belle including hat and heels, her high-end clothing accentuating her very obvious curves.. with no one else showing up for field service, it ended up just the four of us in the car group with the two texas girls in the back seat.. starting our time at a not-at-home, the 20 year old asked if she could accompany me to "hear my presentation.

StephaneLaliberte

When I first got married, twenty years ago, there was a girl at work who wasn't subtle about her feelings for me. She told me my wife was lucky, that she'd give anything to find a man like me. Sometimes, just like TMS said in the OP, she even moved uncomfortably close. She was undeniably attractive—absolutely! But what made it easy for me to resist was imagining the aftermath. I have a vivid imagination, and I could see every detail of how my life would turn into a living nightmare: the guilt, the tension between my wife and me, the uncomfortable conversations until I revealed what happened, and then my wife crying. That's where my imagination always stopped—my wife crying about something like that. An absolute, unbearable nightmare.

And so, the more I saw that office girl as a threat, the more unpleasant I became with her, until she finally "snapped out of it" and got a boyfriend.

35

Re-activate me?

by punkofnice in

there was a knock at my door and i thought it was my take-away being delivered.. long story short, it was 2 elders calling to see me.

i guess to re-activate me.

once they said who they were i recognised them.

StephaneLaliberte

FragrantAddendum: Did you, at one time, even long ago, had an episode where you got thrown out of a hall for troubling the peace? Something like get up during a meeting and call them all liars or something similar?

There has to be a reason on why some elders threaten to call the police on you.

If there isn't, your husband should stand up for you, reach out to Circuit Overseers etc. And if it's been years, well, I guess that's debatable.

22

August issue is now up on JW.com

by ozziepost in

just a heads up that the english version with the changed cover is now up on jw.com.. i haven’t yet read it but if any you have the time i’m looking forward to people’s insights.. in the meantime i must find a red 🍷.

cheers,.

ozzie (of the ‘is he still here?’ class ).

StephaneLaliberte

if we notice a fellow Christian who shows such a disobedient spirit, we will make a personal decision not to associate with him for social occasions or recreation

I think the point here is that it won't be enforced by the elders. But you're right, the statement doesn't make sense. A better version would be:

we will make a personal decision on whether or not we'll associate with him for social occasions or recreation

35

Re-activate me?

by punkofnice in

there was a knock at my door and i thought it was my take-away being delivered.. long story short, it was 2 elders calling to see me.

i guess to re-activate me.

once they said who they were i recognised them.

StephaneLaliberte

If I get a visit from them, I'll say this:

"I know I told you, 12 years ago, that I needed time, and, would you believe it? I still need more time!".

22

August issue is now up on JW.com

by ozziepost in

just a heads up that the english version with the changed cover is now up on jw.com.. i haven’t yet read it but if any you have the time i’m looking forward to people’s insights.. in the meantime i must find a red 🍷.

cheers,.

ozzie (of the ‘is he still here?’ class ).

StephaneLaliberte

-- removed: copy of previous comment

22

August issue is now up on JW.com

by ozziepost in

just a heads up that the english version with the changed cover is now up on jw.com.. i haven’t yet read it but if any you have the time i’m looking forward to people’s insights.. in the meantime i must find a red 🍷.

cheers,.

ozzie (of the ‘is he still here?’ class ).

StephaneLaliberte

To me, the most interesting article was the last one.

From what I see, they won't disfellowship as much as before, and when they do, it will be for shorter periods, provided the sinner stops sinning and expresses the desire to return.

However, people wanting to leave the religion will be completely shunned, as has been the case since the 1980s—no changes there. It’s still very much a cult.

Notice that when they mention apostates, they write: "apostates and others who actively promote false teachings and wrong conduct." The definition of an apostate is not "those actively promoting..." It is merely what any dictionary will tell you: "a person who renounces a religious or political belief or principle." In other words, people who no longer want to be considered Jehovah’s Witnesses.

According to that article, apostates are comparable to child molesters/abusers and those who scheme to end a marriage—in other words, the scum of the earth. So, there you have it: you can't leave. They will shun you.

I don't see how this is supposed to soften their position with governments that condemn them for this. All they did is soften their position on sinners.

36

Big News: August English Watchtower released on servers

by ukpimo in

big news.

just in from a friend who is fading.. disfellowshipping will no longer be a term used by jws.

study article 35, paragraph 4 footnote says this:.

StephaneLaliberte

The way I see it, they are trying to confuse outsiders about disfellowshipping. However, in the process, they are also confusing their own members. Zero contact is easy to understand. But saying you can greet someone at the hall or encourage them to return to being a Jehovah's Witness is not exactly clear. This doesn't make the rule easier to enforce either. So, I expect a lot of people will start breaking that rule.

"I saw you eating at the restaurant with your kid."

"But we talked about how he could come back to Jehovah!"

It's not black and white anymore. They're trying to confuse the governments and lawmakers, and are confusing themselves in the process.