Mrs. Fiorini

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Posts by Mrs. Fiorini

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  28

  I was counciled for putting in Pioneer hours and not officially "Pioneering"

  by RubaDub in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i didn't want to hijack the thread about people having to "wait" until the society approves their pioneer status.. i recall once an elder was shocked that i had done the 60 hours a couple of months but not officially on the pioneer list for the months.

  i told him that i didn't need the title, that the purpose was to do the work, not get a title.. i then heard a long lecture about how that was not encouraging to others, etc, etc, etc.. he got rather annoyed when i asked him what the purpose of the preaching work is.

  of course he said to spread the good news.

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  By not "officially" pioneering, they were not able to give you public praise and set you up as an example for others to follow. The amount of time you spent in service was not the main point. (For those of us who have pioneered in the past, we know how little difference that time makes in gaining converts anyway.) They want to be able to hold you up as an example to follow, subtly pressuring others to do it as well.

  "The chain of command in cults is usually authoritarian, flowing from the leader through his lieutenants to their sub-leaders down to the rank and file. In such a well-regulated environment, all behaviors can be either rewarded or punished. It serves the leadership to keep their members off balance. If a person performs well, he will be given public praise from higher-ups and sometimes gifts or a promotion. If the person performs poorly, he may be publically singled out and criticized."

  The above quote is from pages 60-61 of Steven Hassan's "Combatting Cult Mind Control."
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  10

  I have the books....

  by Rethinking in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ...crisis of conscience and combatting cult mind control in my possession!!

  bought them today!!.

  i can't say enough how much this site has helped me thus far!

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  Those two books, more than any others, helped me to understand what it was that I had been involved in most of my life. I can't imagine reading them and still having any interest in being part of the WT.

  Good luck to you on your journey. If it's like mine, you'll need it.
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  4

  Book of Daniel and Book of Revelation

  by TweetieBird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can anyone recommend a good book (or books) for help in understanding the book of daniel and the book of revelation?

  i would like to read a non-jw version..

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  I would recommend "Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now" by Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther. The theme of this work is that the book of Revelation is about the Roman Empire during the first century. Even so, the book posits that Revelation has a message for our modern world.

  This book does not take an "end times" approach that Armageddon is just around the corner.
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  64

  How long does reinstatement take?!? Question for a elder or someone thats been in this situation

  by N-kiki in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  Mrs. Fiorini

  Welcome to the board.

  I will share an experience that happened to my former sister-in-law as a caution about being overly emotional. During her meeting to request reinstatement, she started crying. The elders denied her request to be reinstated. They told her it was because she was too emotional and therefore not ready to rejoin the congregation.

  Personally I don't get that reasoning, especially since she had been disfellowshipped for being raped and was very hurt about that to begin with. (That was some time ago when they often disfellowshipped women for being raped. I don't know if they still do this or not.) I don't know if other elder bodies would see it the same way. But I would hate for it to be used against you like that.

  Best wishes to you.
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  22

  If You Could & Still Attended, What Suggestions Would You Give The Elders?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what would like to tell the elders that you knew?.

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  I agree with jamiebowers.

  I would also suggest that they not try to handle things that they are clearly not trained to do. When dealing with people who suffer from depression and other mental health issues, serious marital problems, etc., suggest they go to a marriage counselor, therapist, or other qualified professional, instead of reading a few scriptures and telling them to go out in service more. It's not fair to the brothers and sisters or to themselves to do otherwise.

  By the way, clergy in other religions have been doing this for many years now, and have solved problems instead of making them worse by doing so.
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  33

  Been fun...see ya around the campfire someday

  by Gregor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  Sorry to see you go, I'll miss your posts.

  Best wishes to you though!
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  21

  Running ahead of Jehovah

  by donny in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as i was exiting the society back in 1992, the elders were frantically trying to reason with me and kept saying that i was trying to run ahead of jehovah or running ahead of the organization?

  just what does that entail?.

  or they would tell me to "wait on jehovah" and eventually some of my beliefs/issues will be in line with the truth.

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  "Don't run ahead of Jehovah" is right up there with "Where else would we go?" Neither makes sense from a rational point of view.

  Both are thought blockers designed to keep followers in the organization when they start to notice things that don't add up.
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  3

  Field Guide to Bad Religion

  by og in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  readers of this forum will recognize where most of the guidelines in my field guide to bad religion originate.

  my blog is getting kind of popular with alternate religion/atheist/agnostic types, so i'll probably be writing more like this.

  feedback always appreciated.. .

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  That's great. Thanks for sharing.
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  9

  Multiple Bapstism

  by unclebruce in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone here been twice dunked?

  thrice dunked?.

  it's unlikely any of you sane people here were baptised more than once but i knew a few who were.

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  I knew a woman who was raised a JW and baptized as a young child. When she grew up she married a non-JW and lived a totally "worldly" life, celebrating holidays, joining another church, etc. Many years later, after her children had grown, she became a JW again. The elders decided she should be rebaptized because, obviously, the first one didn't take.

  Sadly, her adult children and grandchildren joined the WT, too. One of her daughters is married to my brother. Even with this experience in their family, they still refuse to have anything to do with me since I left. I find this somewhat hypocritical on their part.
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  25

  Hello Friends

  by lonestar63 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  man am i glad to finally be able to register!!.

  i've been a lurker here for several months, well the old forum is where my lurking began.. i am very lucky.

  i was able to fade without being hunted down.

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  Mrs. Fiorini

  Welcome and thanks for sharing.