garybuss

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Posts by garybuss

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  38

  Were you born into the jw faith?

  by nakedmvistar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how many of you on this forum were born into the jw faith?

  do you think this put you at a disadvantage when leaving the org.

  do you think that someone who becomes a witness later in life would have an easier time adjusting back to a "normal" life?

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  garybuss

  I am a COW. Child Of Witnesses. It was hard to leave and impossible to stay.
  
  I have learned to live life in spite of being trained not to learn to live life. gary
  
  
  
  
  
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  27

  Why is the WTBTS Dumbing Down?

  by hillbilly in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have you noticed the watchtower's slow drift into another self-destructive trap of their own design?

  i know i will get a couple of responses from some.

  the opinions will generally come from two camps: the society will never die because there will always be ones willing to write a mental "blank check"and embrace "god" through his "orginization".the society will prosper because it is god's orginzation in our times.. .

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  garybuss

  minimus, you wrote:
  
  

  I think that they are not making so much money on publishing as they are on property and donations.

  Me thinks so too. When I was working for the group, ALL the emphasis was on the getting (read selling) magazine subscriptions and selling books and magazines for a set price. The meetings were all about literature distribution. Some meetings were about reading from the books the group leaders wrote and published. Other meetings were about making effective presentations in order to sell the books the group leaders wrote and published.
  
  Assemblies were used to drum up enthusiasm for reading and selling the books the group leaders wrote and published. If certain members did not spend enough recourses of money and time on the meetings preparing to sell the books the group leaders wrote and published, or if they did not report enough hours selling the books the group leaders wrote and published, they were made to feel impending doom or guilt.
  
  All focus was on the distribution of the books the group leaders wrote and published. Members were not recognized as members unless they turned in a monthly field service report which consisted of a tally of hours spent in literature sales, books sold, and magazines and subscriptions sold. Members were rewarded for their religious behaviors turned in on the monthly report which was simply an activity report on individual literature sales and effort in recruiting new group members by offers of positions of authority or respect like a servant or a pioneer.
  
  When a relative cuts down on sales meeting attendance or unpaid literature sales, they are seen as religiously weak and not good for association.
  
  Now mail subscriptions are no longer offered in Canada and the USA and recent articles in a group paper discouraged free distribution (waste) of the books and magazines the group leaders wrote and published.
  
  I think you are right on. Donations are a much easier way to make money. No need for low paid labor to feed. No messy ink or paper processing machines to operate. Printing will be mostly farmed out. I think the Awake! will be discontinued and The Watchtower will be sold for a set price again and will be a members only publication like the KM is now. Members will be by list and not sales activity.
  
  The group owners will capitalize on the 12 or 14 million total supporters and try to get them to support the group on some level. A gold mine for the Corporation would be selling annulment of failure. Or selling association rights for say . . . $500 a year. Or a simple yearly subscription to membership complete with association rights for $20. That's $20 X 12 million or more free and clear.
  
  
  
  
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  20

  J.W's and Divorce

  by meadow77 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it has become apparent to me, through many of your stories that jw's seem to have a hard time staying with their spouses who leave the borg.

  i was wondering if this is just a case by case thing or are they in fact encouraged to leave spouses who no longer believes.

  it seems strange that they would encourage that seeing as how we are instructed to stay in marriages even with a non-believer if they are happy to stay in the marriage.

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  garybuss

  peacefulpete, You wrote:

  And now look forward to a life together promoting peace and environmentalism through activism.

  I am interested. Will you share with me what those activities are? Here or personal e-mail is fine too.

  Best wishes. gary
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  16

  Question

  by Mantis in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi, i've been reading this site for quite a while now.

  i've read the gentile times reconsidered book and found it very interesting.

  i've tried to verify everything in that book and found it to be accurate.

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  garybuss

  
  
  Mantis, The preaching line is a separate issue and it's a red herring. The strategy is to get a loop started and keep making it bigger. I have never found any reason to talk with someone who does that. The straw man approach is a looser's tactic. It's about control and indicated to me I was talking to the wrong person.
  
  Best wishes, gary
  
  
  
  
  
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  51

  Newly DA'ed Our story

  by Robotnomore in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my wife and i have been witnesses for almost 50 years.

  we are both third generation witnesses and raised in the "lie".

  we raised our kids in it also.

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  garybuss

  
  
  Sinner, Hope ya stick around. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. gary
  
  
  
  

  The Way I See it http://www.freeminds.org/buss/buss.htm
  
  
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  38

  Question for fade-aways.

  by bay64me in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i panicked, i prepared and had excuses ready.

  strategies and contingency plans up and running.

  i have been awaiting, nay willing my "inactive persons' shepherding call" (whatever) and it hasn't happened yet!.

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  garybuss

  rebel, you wrote:

  I just can't sit back and watch the elders walk all over someone I love and reduce her to a quivering wreck.

  I would be proud to have you for a friend. Thanks for sharing this with us all. You are too good for them. gary
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  38

  Question for fade-aways.

  by bay64me in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i panicked, i prepared and had excuses ready.

  strategies and contingency plans up and running.

  i have been awaiting, nay willing my "inactive persons' shepherding call" (whatever) and it hasn't happened yet!.

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  garybuss

  rebel, you wrote:

  Funny - when they left I felt so miserable - are these visits supposed to build you up?

  You have a wide, wide ethical streak and you are too healthy for their weasel tricks to work on. I applaud you.
  
  Ever notice when we make a mistake the elders put us on trial and disfellowship us, but when they or the society makes a mistake, they say "Wait on Jehovah."? Seems like a slight double standard to me.
  
  Best wishes, gary
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  18

  The Thread that "kills" the WTS

  by eyeslice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many opinions have been expressed on this board as to what is killing the society today.

  i am positive that issues such as the un scandal, the pedophile issue, etc.

  are having a negative effect and contributing to a general slackening off and sense of malaise amongst the rank and file.

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  garybuss

  This religion will by no means pass away till all the available money is collected.
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  35

  I got an answer from my dad

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for several months i have been asking my family and the organization what the difference is between someone who "simply leaves the faith" and someone who "went out" (disassociates).. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=39631&site=3 .

  today i finally got the answer from my dad on the phone.

  according to my dad (an elder), someone who simply leaves the faith is someone who still believes in jehovah and the organization, but does not attend the meetings.

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  garybuss

  
  
  Elsewhere, When are you going to appreciate the fact that you are the strong one and your father is the weak one? You are the doctor and your father is the patient? You are the parent and your father is the child?
  
  The strategy I take with believing Witnesses that I have to deal with is the same I take with other fragile theists. I treat them like I do the schizophrenics. I protect their delusions and revere them or pretend to fear them like they do.
  
  To understand how to deal with a believing Jehovah's Witness, establish and keep rapport with a person who suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia. Once I can do that, I can deal with the Witness. The Witness's delusions are as real to them as a schizophrenics delusions are to her. These are fragile people and their delusions can never be confronted. It is upsetting to them to even have their delusions discussed. Usually when that happens, rapport is lost and contact is lost. On some level they know they are delusions but they need them and they will fight to the end or run away to protect them.
  
  Believing Witnesses are not rational people and can not be dealt with with reason and logic. To establish and keep rapport with a person suffering from Witnessism requires dispensing with right, with logic, and with reason. Rapport requires compromise, silence and understanding that I am dealing with a sick individual.
  
  Since, unlike many of the schizophrenic patients, Witnesses can function in the world and their delusions are only accesses by choice, many of us like flower and myself, remove ourselves from the line of fire as much as possible. I would not try to convince a person suffering from Witnessism that their apocalyptic delusions are not real any more than I will try to convince a Paranoid Schizophrenic that the mail man is not trying to kill them. Both are the same. Both are fragile and both will see me as the enemy if I threaten part of their reality.
  
  Just my thoughts. Thanks for sharing your experience. gary
  
  
  
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  38

  Question for fade-aways.

  by bay64me in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i panicked, i prepared and had excuses ready.

  strategies and contingency plans up and running.

  i have been awaiting, nay willing my "inactive persons' shepherding call" (whatever) and it hasn't happened yet!.

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  garybuss

  Hi ugg, You wrote:

  ..and a list of things they can use on their "visit"

  Can you give an example of those "things"? Whips? Thumb screws? Thanks! gary