Posts by passwordprotected

83

What woke you up?

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

in march of 2014, i was a very active jw, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees.

so what woke me up?

an innocent comment from a co-worker about the candice conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung.

passwordprotected

The ditching of the book study groups and the "rising gas prices" reason.

I was an elder at the time and heard the pain from people who's only association was the little tea-drinking time spent in the private homes where the BSGs were held. I couldn't understand why the Governing Body would state "gas prices" as a reason to abandon the BSG arrangement, which just a few months earlier had been praised in the Kingdom Ministry.

I heard about the GBs letter through the grapvine before the body of elders had had it read to them. Icouldn't believe they were doing this, so I went online and Googled it (why? No idea now...) and came across an apostate blog. I glanced at some of the articles and seeds were sown.

I decided to try to look after my own spirituality, and that of my family, by reading the Bible more. This opened up more questions in my mind, and within a couple of weeks my life fell apart.

I resigned as an elder and quit the meetings. The whole process took about 2 months. I DAd within 6 months. Free ever since.

41

Canadian branch getting rid of their trucks and drivers

by wannaexit in

jw
friends

a recent letter to the elders outlined the new arrangement for delivering literature to the congregations.

the canadian branch will be downsizing by eliminating drivers and trucks and utilizing commercial carriers to bring the boxes of monthly literature .

more outsourcing and more lay offs.. the funny thing about it is that they want to have the literature delivered to various private homes of the rank and file rather than have the literature delivered to the kingdom hall.

passwordprotected

No more Book Study Groups in private homes because gas.

They never tell the real truth behind their cost-saving* changes.

*ditching the Book Study Group was about protecting the Org from legal challenges re. abuse in private homes.

112

Geoffrey Jackson's Golden Apple watch INVESTIGATED

by C0ntr013r in

i went through the original footage to get a good look at the watch.. from these pictures we can probably say that it is a apple watch and that it has a golden color.

the color on the pin is black, and the band is white, grey, silvery or beige.. .

the pin is in the exact place for it to be a apple watch.. only apple watch edition have the gold color.

passwordprotected

I have an Apple Watch, the stainless steel one. I could afford to buy it as I work hard for my money. But I admit to being a bit embarrassed wearing at first. Still have a bit off the JW "showy display of one's means of life" mentality.

if he does have one and he chose to wear it at the RC then that's quite brazen, right?

32

Branch Manual 2015

by Marvin Shilmer in

apparently the backroom arguments have been heard and decided.

the royal commission finally uploaded a redacted version of the 2015 branch manual.

watchtower lawyers were looking to have as much redacted from this manual as possible.

passwordprotected

We take the lead, but don't see us as leaders. That way we have plausible deniability.

85

"And what happened next was simply unbelievable!"

by Terry in

jw
friends

i always sit in the same spot, just outside starbucks in a vestibule area with a table in the air-conditioned space.

i say "always," but not today.. somebody with two laptops and a table filled with business ledgers was in "my" favorite spot!.

so, i took a tiny wooden table inside the coffee shop on a long padded bench next to 3 other identical tables.. as the clickbait banner ads like to say: "and what happened next was simply unbelievable!".

passwordprotected

Terry wins the internet.

43

G.B. & J.W.'s Becoming Clap-Happy

by The Searcher in

at the regional convention (national!!

) for scotland, mark sanderson elicited 13 rounds of applause during his closing talk, (for the least little things!

) plus a final one for his closing prayer!

passwordprotected

At my last convention (2008) Emma Kilgour, a teenager from Kirkintilloch, was interviewed on stage because she'd refused to attend a birthday party for a girl in her class. She was applauded for this.

But a bit of background on the story.

The girl whose birthday party it was had terminal cancer. This would be her last birthday on the planet. So a large party had been organised to both mark her birthday, and celebrate her short life*.

Emma explained this as she shared the experience.

But the JW spin on it was that this was a tough experience for Emma to go through. To be invited to - and refuse - a party to celebrate the life of a girl who was going to die soon.

She was applauded for remaining faithful to Jehovah's clear command in the Bible not to attend birthday parties (insert non-existent scripture here).

Emma got more applause when she explain her strong stance on having very little association with her father who isn't a Jehovah's Witness. Her parents were divorced, she lived with her JW mother. And she was praised for adhering to Jehovah's clear admonition to have little contact with non-JW parents (insert non-existent scripture here).

Jehovah's Witnesses applaud and praise human beings who behave in the most inhumane ways possible. What a fine witness.

*The mother of the girl who died happened to be my oldest son's school teacher at the time. I ended up discussing this instance of Emma refusing to attend the girl's last party with a friend of the teacher. Turns out it was a shockingly bad witness; people were appalled at the religion for having this position. And I happened to mention that Emma was interviewed at the convention and praised on stage - and by the thousands in attendance - for her stance. Needless to say this person's view of the religion didn't improve.

24

Bumbling idiots..... RC & JW broadcast

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

one of the contributing factors to me leaving was the realisation we were being led by idiots.

bethel life reinforced that, middle aged ego's trying to suck up to brooklyn.

ray franz book was a final nail for me, because he described the same incompetence along with the same ego's.

passwordprotected

The catalyst for me waking up and ultimately investigating what I'd been taught to believe my whole life was the Governing Body's collective head coming above the parapet.

This was in the letter where they announced the termination of home book study groups. The letter was headed "The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses", and for first time in my 36 years as a JW I was forced to question who these guys actually were.

I cannot be alone in this; when they hid behind the esoteric "faithful and discreet slave" concept, you didn't associate this idea with 7 or 8 old guys in New York.

But since 2008 they've been pushing themselves more and more into the spotlight, lapping up the "we love you"s and adulation from the faithful. However at the same time, you can't help but think that doing so is exposing the men behind the curtain to those who might be already questioning their whole Jehovah's Witness experience.

3

Australian branch office representatives.

by username in

on listening to day 7 of the hearing i was amazed at the serious lack of knowledge in the bible, did anyone else notice this?

passwordprotected

They know enough about the Bible to uphold their beliefs and practices. In terms of understanding the Bible as a religious text, an historical text and a philosophical text, they have no knowledge. But that doesn't matter to them, the Bible is merely a footnote to their position that the Governing Body speaks on behalf of God on earth.

18

Confidentiality. Confidentiality. Confidentiality. RC Hearing Day 5

by passwordprotected in

confidentiality.

how many times does ron de rooy state the importance of jehovah's witnesses being confidential?.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qucn5azi5gk&index=17&list=plpq6kz-aghvqbadlzmqn26dvmpzddxlui.

passwordprotected

The JW elders consciously or unconsciously lay a certain level of blame at the victim.

One of the elders (the tall thin guy with grey hair) wrote in a letter to the branch that the abuser had been counselled for his "uncleaness" when he had sexually abused a young girl who was a friend of his daughters. However, in the letter he noted that the girl was in the habit of wandering around the abuser's home dressed in her nightwear.

Angus Stewart picked up on this and questioned why there needed to be any mention of this in the letter.

Why?

Because the JWs couldn't believe the elder abuser was 100% to blame for abusing the girl. The girl had to have some responsibility.

53

Just wrote my DA letter....

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

my wife and i planned on fading but the elders now want a shepherding call and we are just done.

i know that many play the game to try to stay in, but i'm not a game player and neither is my wife.

our families already shun us because we reached out to a disfellowshipped family member.

passwordprotected

I was asked to write a letter of DA, but I refused. A letter is what they require, and what they require was of no interest to me.