Posts by jimbob

Okay...I don't know if she reads it or not...but check out the pic on the link below. She probably picked it up off the street and was looking for a trash can...

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/ROSIE_MAGAZINE_SUIT?SITE=1010WINS

47

1995 "generation change", what were your early thoughts and what was said ?

by run dont walk in

i had been long gone by 1995, had i still been in , this would of definitely sent me packing, when the magazines came out in i believe nov 1995, what was your first or early reactions.

what was said from the platform and by the watchtower about this ?.

could someone please post the articles ??????

Well, to be honest, I didn't even pay attention. Rarely did I ever pay attention at meetings. My mind was always somewhere else. (Gee...I can't understand why...:) I was even an MS at the time the "new light" came out. So I didn't even know about the change until I started questioning things. But once I finally read that, it was just another nail in the coffin. I bet if you asked the average JW today what the meaning of the generation is, they'd still quote you the old doctrine. The Society sneaks so much stuff by you, that most of us go "OK" and just keep believing. We don't even give it a second thought. It just makes you realize how much of a cult the JW religion is. We learned to just accept whatever is said from the Society....NO QUESTIONS ASKED!! Of course, the minute you start asking questions, you already got one foot out the door, cause you can't contain the genie once the bottle's been rubbed....

59

Circuit overseer "rips them a new one"

by Mulan in

jw
friends

my jw buddy just called me with some "fun" news.

they had the co last week, and of course dave and i were part of the elder's meeting agenda.

my friend has just had a conversation with one of the elders, who told her about it because it involved her.

jimbob

Hi Marilyn. I'm assuming this friend was the same "friend" we've talked about before. I wonder what her husband had to say about all this??? It never ceases to amaze me the stupidity of JWs and how they have nothing better to do. This is just like before we moved and we had our PO and his wife coming by our home and spying on us. Little did we know how much they spied on us until our neighbors told us how often he drove by our home. I can't frickin believe they have nothing better to do. Thank god we moved and nobody bothers us anymore. I know if they see any hint of Christmas at your house, they'll be back. They're just looking for any reason to DA you guys. They just don't accept the fact the someone can just up and quit....they have to have closure either by DFing or DAing people. I truly feel sorry for them...they just don't get it!

32

Just curious, what have some of you done with your exspensive book bags?

by Singing Man in

i use my book bag to store my computer soft ware in its perfect for that.

and as for all the old issues of magazines i used them to start my wood stove on those cold mornings.

one time i asked for a lot of older issues from the friends so i could use them to line the bottom of my camp tent, they were more than happy to give them to me.

jimbob

I took mine to the local transfer station along with all of the publications. Going to the dump never felt so good!!!!

63

Older ones here, what do you remember being told about 1975 ???

by run dont walk in

.

i was just a little kid when the 1975 thing came about, didn't pay much attention to it, after it was over, my parents told me it was just some people being over anxious, and being about 8 at the time i believed it, now when you research you find some amazing articles.

what do you remember being told about 1975 as the year got closer ?

jimbob

I was only 8 at the time. But my mother used to tell me how at assemblies, they would tell all the mothers in the audience how their children would never have to finish school. And just think, in just over 3 more years, I'll be attending my 20 year high school reunion...

I have had a few conversations with my JW mom about 1975, and she agrees that the Society put it in everyone's head that the end was coming. But she just views it as re-adjusted thinking and they were just over zealous about the end. People of my generation that are still JWs really have no idea what happened back then, and they will never research it cause it happened so long ago and they think it's irrelevant anyway cause new light has flashed forth and there's new understanding. If only they could take their blinders off and see how they've been lied to.....but we all know that won't ever happen under the gestapo rule of the Society.

22

Series Of Tragedies Continues Among Jehovah's Witnesses In Washington State

by qua in

do these things including the sending of convicted pedophiles door-to-door upset you too?

then why not make contribution checks payable to silentlambs at silentlambs, po box 311, calvert city, ky 42029.

imagine, for every revealing article that hits the paper there may be ninety-nine that stay untold.

jimbob

Hi Nathan. Yes, he is a baptized dub. He was dunked in prison. I remember him telling me they were going to have to dunk him in a barrel cause that was all that they had. But I did talk with my mother tonight to get an update.

He is currently attending her congregation. He started immediately after he got here. She hasn't talked to him, but she said everybody is cautious. They all know who he is...but of course, when your name and picture is plastered all over the news, how can you NOT know. She told me he answers and they call him "brother Thompson". I'm sure they chalk it up to another terrible person who's turned over a new leaf since he joined the JW religion. But no matter what, he will carry his past for the remainder of his existence...JW or no JW. I'm sure the elders watch him pretty close. I think any religion would watch a convicted rapist closely. Even the JW's. But in the meantime, they will continue, I'm sure, to show him "brotherly love". I think he's a sick bastard who should've stayed locked up. My mother said her hall gets all the wackos. (and believe me, it does) If I hear anymore info, I'll be sure and post it. I'm sure the elders will promote him soon so he can be in on all the juicy committee meetings and counsel them on fornication and molestation issues. (I'm kidding here....but then again, nothing in the JW religion surprises me anymore)

22

Series Of Tragedies Continues Among Jehovah's Witnesses In Washington State

by qua in

do these things including the sending of convicted pedophiles door-to-door upset you too?

then why not make contribution checks payable to silentlambs at silentlambs, po box 311, calvert city, ky 42029.

imagine, for every revealing article that hits the paper there may be ninety-nine that stay untold.

jimbob

Okay, I just read this thread and I have some information regarding Curtis Thompson.

Back when I was just out of high school in '86 and pioneering like every good high school graduate should (instead of college), I knocked on a door near Sandpoint, and an older lady came to the door. We talked for a while and I learned she was familiar with JW's and had a son in prison (she never told me why he was there) that had become a JW and asked if I'd like to write to him to encourage him. Well...being someone who hated field service, I thought this would be an excellent way to count time.....:) The name of the fellow in prison was Curtis Thompson, and at the time, he was in the Walla Walla state penitentiary. We corresponded for several years, but not very frequently.

His letters were always chock full of scriptures and the usual WT bs. But I was happy to write back cause I got to count several hours and at least 1 RV. After a while, I did learn why he was in prison, (for rape) but I never knew the extent of how violent he was. But there was one occasion where he did write me asking for any sisters that may be interested in writing him. I of course told him NO WAY (in a polite JW kind of a way) and he pretty much didn't write to me after that. It's been around 9 or 10 years since I last heard from him. But after reading what he did, it just makes me sick. Of course, the JW's feel that anybody who becomes a JW is cured of any past problems they may have had. Absolute BS!! This just makes me sick...I feel even sicker that I wrote to the sorry bastard after what he did.

He actually resides in my mother's territory, but she hasn't made mention of him going to her congregation. I may have to ask if he is. But I doubt it. Too bad he wasn't locked up for good!!!

24

Seattle PI article on Jdubs

by jimbob in

some of it is a joke, cause they say the jw's are a fast growing religion...i'm sure the author of the article only talked to dubs and not ex-dubs to find out the real "truth"...].

the article can be found at this link:.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/136796_jehovah27.html.

jimbob

This article is in today's Seattle PI. Some of it is a joke, cause they say the JW's are a fast growing religion...I'm sure the author of the article only talked to Dubs and not ex-dubs to find out the REAL "truth"...]

The article can be found at this link:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/136796_jehovah27.html

Below is the article:

Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Changing tactics speed growth of Jehovah's Witnesses

By VANESSA HO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

RENTON -- The next time you feel down about rejection, consider Sheryl Brown and Helen Schwerdtfeger. As longtime Jehovah's Witnesses, they have knocked on hundreds of doors to promote the benefits of studying the Bible. Along the way, they've weathered insults, slammed doors, growling dogs and aching feet, and come away with just a handful of converts.

And yet, here they were on a sunny morning in summer skirts, Bibles in hand, ready for more. But instead of ringing doorbells, they circled bus stops and parking lots, in search of lone commuters -- and anyone else, really, who looked available. No one escaped their eagle eyes -- not drivers, joggers, baristas or construction workers.


		Scott Eklund / P-I
	Helen Schwerdtfeger, left, a longtime Jehovah's Witness, shares some Scripture with Tyler Moore, 17, of Renton.

"Wherever the people are, you have to go. We really try to find people," said Schwerdtfeger, 58, after trying to entice some people waiting for the No. 111 bus to read an Awake! magazine.

Jehovah's Witnesses once conveyed their message almost exclusively door-to-door. But the increase in high-rise apartments -- coupled with a declining chance of finding anyone at home during the day -- has prompted new tactics. People now are as likely to hear about the coming kingdom of God at a gas station or Laundromat as they are at their front door.

The group's aggressive methods have helped propel them into one of the nation's fastest-growing religions. They've also irritated some people.

The city of Stratton, Ohio, fought to keep an ordinance requiring Jehovah's Witnesses and other door-to-door groups to get a permit before knocking -- until the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional last year. In Blainville, Quebec, city lawyers have been trying to reinstate a law restricting when Jehovah's Witnesses can knock on doors.

In Renton, where Brown and Schwerdtfeger preach, the mayor's office has not had complaints about Jehovah's Witnesses. But that doesn't mean the work is easy.

Jehovah's Witnesses follow a literal reading of the Bible that compels them to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and spread the "good news" about God's earthly paradise. But because they can't enter many apartments and condos, they often resort to thick reverse-directories for hours of "telephone witnessing."

Some members, such as Maggie Wood of Issaquah, like to write letters. "Dear Neighbor," Wood writes on flowery stationery. "I try to pay a visit to every person in town with the best message ever."

And at the airport and in downtown Seattle, Jehovah's Witnesses occasionally display "The Watchtower" magazines for passersby.

But face-to-face visits are still preferred.

That is what propelled Brown and Schwerdtfeger to meander through Renton in a gray minivan recently, searching for people who were alone. They spend 70 hours a month preaching, and have become adept at reading human dynamics and body language. People who are alone and aren't too busy are the most receptive. People in groups are the least.

Brown, who is 46 and was raised a Jehovah's Witness, spied a young man waiting for a bus on Sunset Boulevard Northeast. She parked, threaded her way down a cracked, weedy sidewalk in her nice pumps, and yelled over the roar of traffic. He didn't want any pamphlets, but took a Bible tract.

"Oh, good! A thought for the day!" he yelled back, voice slightly off-kilter. "I'm going to kill you! Ha ha ha ha!"

Brown's face froze into a stiff mask. "Well," she said. "That's not a good thought."

Effective methods

To outsiders, the group's methods might seem sure to produce failures, but researchers say they're effective.

"It is extremely difficult. It's not like handing out free samples of some product everyone wants. ... so you're inclined to think this whole system is some dismal failure," said Laurence Iannaccone, an economics professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. He and Rodney Stark, a sociology professor at the University of Washington, published a 1997 study on the growth of Jehovah's Witnesses.


		Scott Eklund / P-I
	Cheryl Brown, left, and Henry Schwerdtfeger, both Jehovah's Witnesses, go door to door spreading their message.

Iannaccone said the Jehovah's Witnesses have grown about 5 percent a year since 1980, making them one of the fastest-growing denominations in the world. Their growth, which slowed in the 1990s, comes at a time when other evangelical denominations are booming, while many mainline churches are declining.

Jehovah's Witnesses now number about 6 million worldwide and 1 million in the United States. There are about 30,000 in Washington, where new Kingdom Halls, as the faith calls its churches, are planned in Issaquah, Vancouver and Sultan, as well as in Rochester in Thurston County. In Puyallup, a new Assembly Hall -- a building for 1,700 people -- is scheduled to open soon.

"It could be there are other more efficient ways, but in the final analysis, (the evangelism methods) have worked very well for a century," Iannacone said.

The methods worked on 28-year-old Derseh Gizaw, who was in jail nine years ago, when a Jehovah's Witness gave him a book of Bible stories, which resonated with Gizaw, who was doing time for assault.

He was baptized in July.

"I changed my life around," said Gizaw, a heavy-equipment operator who lives in Renton. "Knowing all the truth, it straightened me up and brought me closer to (Jehovah). It gave me a conscience, basically."

'Life-saving work'

Back in the van, Brown and Schwerdtfeger met several people who politely took their literature. And on one day, Helen Schwerdtfeger dropped off magazines for a woman she had been visiting for nearly five years.

"They've been life-savers for me," said the woman, Mary Rose, an unemployed mother of three who had gone through a difficult divorce. "Helen ran to the store for me when the kids had the stomach flu."

But many people were more like a young man Schwerdtfeger spotted at Coulon Park. A former hairdresser with an easygoing charm and thick Brooklyn accent, Schwerdtfeger beamed at him.

"Have you ever been bullied?" she asked, referring to a cover story in an Awake! magazine.

Waves of apathy radiated from the man. Schwerdtfeger fanned them away.

"How would you like to be remembered? Have you ever thought about that?" she said. The man stared at his cell phone, as if willing it to ring. Then Schwerdtfeger heard the phrase that terminates so many of her conversations:

"I'm not interested."

But rejection never bothered her or Brown. They figured they caught someone at a bad time, or that the person wasn't ready to hear about everlasting life. It was never personal. Schwerdtfeger converted more than 30 years ago, to join her husband in his faith, and she had met many people who appreciated her.

"It's life-saving work," she said. "The goal is help people make changes for the better. Practical changes. You know, the Bible is very practical, and it's never out of date."

And just the other day, Brown knocked on the glass-encrusted double doors of a new mansion, only to hear a dog bark and a woman curtly cut her off.

But as she retreated down a lushly manicured front path, she remained upbeat and whispered brightly, "We get to see some beautiful landscaping."

SOME BELIEFS

Established in 1872 in Pittsburgh, Jehovah's Witnesses believe the world, as we know it, will end soon and that God will set up an earthly paradise after the battle of Armageddon.

They believe 144,000 people will go to heaven and serve as co-rulers in God's kingdom and that billions of people will have the opportunity to live forever in perfect health on Earth.

A Christian denomination, they preach door-to-door to follow in the practice of Jesus.

They believe they adhere to the oldest religion on Earth, the worship of Almighty God revealed in the Bible as Jehovah.

Because they pledge allegiance to God's kingdom, they do not vote, salute the flag, run for public office or serve in the military.

More headlines and info from Issaquah, Puyallup, Renton. P-I reporter Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or [email protected]