2016-08-16 branch relocation project - key events.
2016-08-17 branch relocation project - personnel needs.
2016 key events programme.
From some comments that I read, I have the feeling that brother's with desired construction skills would be placed under passive/aggressive pressure to assist with the construction projects even if it meant foregoing vacations that they would normally take with their family.
Am I right? Do anyone here know of stories related to that?
thinking back to how they went from votes by the congregation under russels time to private closed doors in rutherfords time so as to not waste time, etc, of other members.
if it really wasn't to hide things from the org, it would have an option for the person it's against to have it open to the public.
a time announced for any members or the person to bring any they want to attend.
They brag so often about the concept that their elder's book has nothing that is not already written in a watchtower somewhere, I would act surprised, puzzled, and ask how come they are imposing rules that I had never heard of before.
Not once, even before I was baptized, have I heard of such procedures. I'd ask for them to point to some publication that would explained how JCs are entirely closed with absolutely no observers or recordings allowed.
so my wife and i have been in the process of fading for a few months now as per my original post here.
about a week ago, i was browsing some ex-jw facebook groups when i saw a post that linked to the crisis of conscience book.
i said "f@(k it" and hit share on it.. a few hours later, i get a long text letter from my mom (who was a fb friend of mine) telling me the typical "good luck finding friends in the world" and how we have "nothing in common anymore"; basically, it was a 'farewell' text.
Before you go at that meeting, remove the link from facebook.
At the meeting...
If you do not show any remorse or regret over posting this thing, you will have a JC.
we had a bad experience with watchtower trying to infiltrate our forums.
let this story be a warning for all you guys here.
if you value your privacy do not ever send your real contact details to anyone, even if you trust them (because their accounts could be hacked or accessed by their relatives - and yes, this happened to people i know several times already).
I'm a guru in IT and at one point in my life, I thought about hacking angry, rambling apostates who threw unfounded accusations. However, for every apostate of the sort, there'd be 20 other apostates who'd correct the lies, stand for the facts, and write something similar to: "There is enough condemning evidence against the society, we don't need to make up new ones".
Understanding that apostates were largely made up of people seeking facts, my desire to hack them faded away. In the end, years later, I became inactive myself.
For the Bethel to have a hacking policy against us would utterly senseless. I believe in the lone wolf theory.
this is a true story.
it's about a sister named henriette venema.
she was a very loyal jw.
I remember a sister who had a stroke in our congregation, they cleared the hall right there and then. Brother's outside instructed people to go as most seamed lost an unable to understand that the congregation meeting could not go on.
I also remember a brother who fell back, but in his case, they brought him behind and the meeting went on.
Thanks for your story TimeBandit
i really fail to see how much actual "witnessing" is occurring with the trolley carts.publishers, usually pioneers, just stand or sit there not engaging anyone and count their time.. the only thing i notice that it's accomplishing is brand exposure for jw.0rg so the public is exposed to the logo and literature/poster card headlines.. take for example this "evening" witnessing by a pioneer elder while on summer holiday/vacation.. .
is this not a wth kinda moment when you consider the years of slaving, knocking on doors, business territory and bible studies we had to keep performing so we weren't branded a "weak" publisher?.
Any higher resolution of that pic?
this site is such a great and valuable resource and simon is to be commended for running it for so long.
when i first came i was in such a bad state and really needed support and friendship.
so many posters commented on my threads and showed genuine care some are real life friends, some are facebook friends, some i talk to on the phone and some are forum friends.. i have just realised though that everyone online is not your friend.
Hey Kate,
In order to be friends, I believe you need to meet people in real life, invite them over for supper and do some things together. For me, at least, at this time, it is impossible to do with anyone on this forum for the simple reason that I try to remain anonymous.
What I do find here and that I cherish, is support with ideas and comments that come from all types of angles on a subject that is very specific.
When i speak about my the JWs with my friends, most have no idea what to say; they don't understand the JW mentality. As for my friends who are still in, I can't talk about that subject at all!
I get this here. Here, I am reassured that I am not alone. Here, I have people sharing my joy and frustration. I have "colleagues" I would say. But to use the word friends? I can count my friends on one hand. I don't have many.
concise thoughts from the wtbts.
par.2) however, there are numerous situations for which the bible provides no specific command.. par.3) in the absence of specific laws, how can we know what choices will please jehovah?.
par.16) many matters could be decided one way or another, and jehovah would still be pleased.. .
There is no such thing as a personal decision. Especially when you have privileges in the congregation. Sure, they produce articles telling people not to judge and then, they produce other articles where anyone with privileges should do everything they can not to even drop a feather on the conscience of others. Though the actual solution lies somewhere in the middle, what happens in the congregations tend to lean of the far left where even the color of you tie matters. In the real world, there is very little space for personal decision.
The reason behind this is simple, there is no real consequences for gossiping. However, if someone with privileges hurts the conscience of others, he may lose his privileges. End result: Gossip country. Just to give an example, we used to say that the highway of information in a congregation was the pioneers, not the Internet.
april 17, 2016 to selected bodies of elders in the united states branch territory re: arrangements for electronic donations to local congregations.
(attachment 1) 2016 04-18-e scong--arrangements for electronic donations to local congregations.
(attachment 2) credit card donation arrangement instructions.
Yesterday, I went to a funeral held in a church. For the first time, I gave a donation: their building and personnel were at our disposition. Buildings need maintenance, people need food and I’m not a free loader.
While I did this, my JW mother in law complained: "Pfff... JW don't charge a thing... Catholics beg even at funerals. Shame on them." I didn't have the right one-liner to rebuke her, so I simply kept silent.
Still, I was thinking of this: Over the years, I attended at least 15 Catholic funerals where I never gave a penny. Never felt forced to do so; it’s just a method of collecting funds. Not my personal favorite, but still, no one is forced to give anything. On the other hand, JWs take recurrent payments on credit cards and are instructed to vote on a minimum donation. They focus so much on the "collection plate" that they forget all the talks, articles and admonitions to make regular payments, to give loans and set up wills in their favor. If they reply: Yeah, but no one is forced to, they still can give cash in the donation boxes. Than the same can be said of the Catholics. You may refuse to give in the "collection plate" and then, walk to the back and give donations in a donation box!
on a road trip with my jw dad and stopped at the rest stop.
this jw lady walked up to me with a craptower.
big mistake.
To be honest with you, I could not imagine doing this in front of my father (also still a JW) and even brag to him about it. He would feel humiliated and that would be the last thing I would want.
I try to keep a good level of respect between us. For instance, I don't even bring up JW stuff to my kids as they are to young to understand things like that... they see black and white and would end up thinking less of their grand parents. I don't want that.
On the other hand, if I was alone, where I am unknown, I would dream about something like you did. Some day, over the rainbow... :)
