Posts by StephaneLaliberte

26

What if JWs voted in elections?

all this political banter is exhausting, so i want to ask a question that has probably been asked before, so here it goes….

let’s try to keep this non-partisan - just give your opinion and why you think that way.. i’ll go first.

i think jws would generally lean to the right, but not by a whole lot.

StephaneLaliberte

[...] most of the Brothers are in the low income bracket, any direct and immediate financial support (as typically offered by these parties) would be highly desirable. [...] Witnesses are typically the kind of people who want instant help, rather than a people who would be happy to the government's long term strategic planning projects to help the economy, like the investing in ports, bridges or cleaning up the environment. - no-zombie

When I first read your comment, I disagreed, thinking that JWs don't typically respect laziness and often help one another whenever possible. But after giving it more thought, you're right. Despite not being lazy, I've seen many of them, including myself and my family, benefit from low-income housing projects and other assistance programs. They encourage hard work to support one's family, but since they frown upon business success and higher education, many JW parents end up in low-paying, hard-working jobs. They work hard for little reward, often for most of their lives. As they dedicate so much time to their religion (10 to 20 hours per week), they don't have the time to invest in themselves through training or exploring job opportunities outside their core trade. Some managed to do so anyway, but they did it against the current.

As for long term strategic plan, they don't really have any as Armageddon is just around the corner.

26

What if JWs voted in elections?

by Las Malvinas son Argentinas in

all this political banter is exhausting, so i want to ask a question that has probably been asked before, so here it goes….

let’s try to keep this non-partisan - just give your opinion and why you think that way.. i’ll go first.

i think jws would generally lean to the right, but not by a whole lot.

StephaneLaliberte

Had I not been raised as a JW, I would probably be conservative (Right / Republican). However, because of my upbringing, I find myself dead center between the left and the right.

JWs' theocratic vision for the world is one without countries and borders, where everyone is equal and the diversity of cultures is experienced through music, food, and clothing. It's a beautiful dream.

Unfortunately, this vision of the world is utopian. In today’s world, culture is tightly linked to their countries of origin and their religions.

People who have left the JWs know all too well that religious people lie. They say one thing in public and practice another in private. For instance, JWs tell the world that they don’t practice shunning when, in fact, they do. Or that taking a blood transfusion is a personal choice, when, in fact, it isn’t.

The same can be said of other religions whose values conflict with the host country, such as Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others.

In Canada, religion has mostly been removed from politics. As a result, views previously seen as incompatible with religion, such as women's equality, LGBTQ rights, sex before marriage, abortion, drug use, and more, have become accepted. Over the years, most Christians have peacefully come to terms with these changes. As a result, we now have a country where human rights take priority over religious views. This is also one of the reasons why living conditions tend to be better than in many other places and why many migrants come to Canada to live and share this dream.

Sadly, this is not the case for a significant number of migrants. Based on demonstrations and political activism that we see on the news and social media; it is easy to see that many strongly identify with their countries of origin and their religions.

This directly conflicts with the vision of a peaceful multicultural country that, I believe, Trudeau naively supports. Unfortunately, he and his political party even go a step further: they assume that people who fear such individuals are inherently racist nationalists. Do they even understand that people will boldly lie to protect their beliefs?

The country believes in religious freedom, but the religions do not. Many Christians, such as JWs, will retaliate against their children when they leave the faith. The same can be said of other religions, some even more violently than others!

All I can say is that I dream of a world where these words from Pierre Falardeau, a well-known separatist nationalist in Quebec, would make sense: "If you share my values, I don't care about your race and where you're from; I'll call you my brother."

5

2024 GB Update #5

by ukpimo in

let's mine for the next gb update!

it isn't yet on the servers, however the code 1112024014 is to be used for august.

it should be out publicly on the borg website tomorrow.

StephaneLaliberte

and "very important" reminders about remaining neutral before the upcoming elections

To be fair, that's not such a bad advice for most of them: A lot of people have a political opinion and shouldn't. That's the reason why we have so many stupid exchanges on the news and social forums.

Black women should vote for Kamala.
But she's Indian.
No, she's also Black on her dad's side.
Yeah, but Jamaicans aren't the same thing as Black Americans.
When they live in the US, they are!

Another one:

Trump said they'll never have to vote again! He'll turn the place into a dictatorship!
He was talking about the Christians that never vote; he needs their vote this time.

And another:

This poll says this party is winning!
No, look at this poll: we are winning!

These exchanges have no bearing on the content of the political ideas and intended directions of the parties, and yet, take up the majority of the space on public forums. Why? Because a lot of dumb people with the right to vote, a vote equal to yours, will make their decision based on feelings and not facts.

64

Ages of each user here?

by ukpimo in

jw
friends

i'm interested to know the age demographics here.

it must be significantly different to other exjw forums.

it would be a damning report for watchtower if most of us appear to have left for decades.. you don't have to mention your exact age, you could always say "in my 50s".. i am in my 70s.

StephaneLaliberte

Mid-40s. I became inactive about 10 years ago.

28

Remember the sex talks?

by KerryKing in

i remember sitting through public talks where the speaker spent the hour discussing in great detail anal sex, masturbation (of yourself and others), sex during menstruation and so on.

.

i was a child, looking back now, i realise that they systematically stripped away our childhood innocence, we knew and heard things no 'worldly' child would have heard.. the child abuse and grooming happened to every single one of us, the feelings of guilt and shame was in all of us even if we didn't actually do anything bad, the mental images caused by these filthy men hung around in our innocent minds till there was no room for that innocence.. it has taken me 44 years to realise that what was done to us, even those of us not physically abused, is a crime.. do they still have talks like that nowadays i wonder?

StephaneLaliberte

I was a child, looking back now, I realise that they systematically stripped away our childhood innocence, we knew and heard things no 'worldly' child would have heard.

I also remember these talks and remember I was a bit troubled by them. I was thinking the same thing: worldly children didn't hear about such things. But then, I remember the pride that I had in the sexuality course in school where they talked about a few things I already knew about.

My mom was also very open on the subject.

Now that I'm an adult and dad myself, I look back at all this and think my mom did a great job. I also believe the watchtower did a fairly good job had I been older than 10 year old at the time. I mean, the way the approached the subject is fine by me, but gosh, why in the world would you need hearing about the details when your 5 years old?

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.