BonaFide

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Posts by BonaFide

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  12

  What I want from this board ...

  by The Berean in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  greetings to all:.

  after thinking about it, what i am hopeful of attaining, as a result of interaction with everyone, may be summed up in one word: "disclosure.".

  feel free to tell me what makes you happy or sad; where it hurts; how you are intelligent and where you are stupid; if you are angry or appreciative; if you conclude that my questions are brilliant or asinine; evil or well-meaning .... i promise to consider your words without prejudice ... for perhaps you possess a critical missing piece of the puzzling search for contentment.. i, for one, am listening.

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  BonaFide

  What makes me happy? When I connect with people. I noticed that almost all my posts have to do with people and relationships. I am concerned about my family and friends who are still in. I hope to help them.

  BF
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  42

  The meetings at the Kingdom Hall now are positively scary

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what was i thinking my entire life?

  during the first part about submission, everyone gave the same comments about being obedient to the elders even though you may not agree with them.

  and they talked about submission to the organization no matter what.. no one, i mean no one raised the possibility that the counsel or instructions might be wrong, or harmful.

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  BonaFide

  I think I better be more careful then, I don't want to be outed.

  When I served as a C.O., and an elder later, I always had conversations with other elders about certain elders that gave wrong counsel. Or we would talk about how to counsel a certain brother. Even sitting on judicial committees, I remember many mistakes made by the elders. I tried to be fair, but JW fair is not really fair.

  I am getting that urge to stand up in the Kingdom Hall and yell.

  BF
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  31

  The Casual Importance of JW elders

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so here is one thing i have noticed, and i bet i was like this before myself.. so many jw elders have a sort of "casual importance" attitude at the meetings.

  they nod a lot, they have those huge bookbags, they read those society letters during the meetings, they walk down the aisles during the meeting and whisper in each others' ear, they always sit in the aisle seats.

  they give the appearance that what they are doing is the most important thing in the world.. even the way they stand, and their manner of speaking reflects that they feel important, but that they are "trying" to be humble even though jehovah god himself is using them.. for example, tonight before the meeting i was talking to an elder about the upcoming assembly.

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  BonaFide

  A @ G, I loved your post. Imagine introducing yourself like that, I am the P.O., wow.

  But I bet you got a ton of kudos being a Gilead student and then missionary. I always tried to talk to Gilead students, I was in awe of them.

  BF
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  31

  The Casual Importance of JW elders

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so here is one thing i have noticed, and i bet i was like this before myself.. so many jw elders have a sort of "casual importance" attitude at the meetings.

  they nod a lot, they have those huge bookbags, they read those society letters during the meetings, they walk down the aisles during the meeting and whisper in each others' ear, they always sit in the aisle seats.

  they give the appearance that what they are doing is the most important thing in the world.. even the way they stand, and their manner of speaking reflects that they feel important, but that they are "trying" to be humble even though jehovah god himself is using them.. for example, tonight before the meeting i was talking to an elder about the upcoming assembly.

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  BonaFide

  "Being shown respect is powerful medicine." Wow that is true Willyoman. All of these posts are great, should be part of the required reading for this forum I think.

  Growing up, I always respected the elders more than anyone else. Teachers, doctors, school counselors, they didnt have the truth. The elders did. Thats the way I was raised, so thats what I thought.

  Yes, some of them were regular guys, but definitely those who had no position on the outside were Big Shots in the Hall.

  I forgot to mention some of them in my area wore a little Watchtower pin on their tie, one elder still does at every meeting. He keeps a photo of himself and Jaracz from 30 years ago in his pocket and shows it all the time.

  BF
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  44

  Bethelite reverence

  by Waffles in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have any of you had the experience of a bethelite brother visiting your kh?.

  here's how it always seemed to go in my experience:.

  there is a general kh-wide excitement in the air that a real, live bethelite rockstar is at the hall; overheard are numerous convo's featuring words like "o, he's a bethelite".. visiting brother bethelite gives the closing prayer and is immediately mobbed by adoring fans.. all the single sisters are on high alert, you can smell the estrogen in the air.

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  BonaFide

  For those of us that have served in Bethel, I will say this. The only thing that is great about Bethel is that you feel like you are in God's house. At least thats what they tell you. I worked in menial jobs, but we are told we are at the hub, headquarters, House of God. We were also told that we should work hard 44 hours a week, then go to the meetings and in service. I was dead tired all the time.

  So when we visit the congregations, we enjoyed the attention. In NY, there are Bethelites everywhere. The territory I preached in was pretty dirty, and riding the trains for hours was rough too. Away from NY we felt important, and the friends loved the stories.

  I did try to be humble, who knows what others thought of me. But I will say that its true that some Bethelites act ridiculous, and some really are sincere and don't think so much of themselves.

  Its a rough life though. Almost everything you do is decided.

  BF
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  3

  Grumpy Old Witnesses.....did you know some!! We know why they are!

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  after all the preaching and teaching i am amazed at the amount of grumpy rude old witnesses there are!

  one old fella always left some belongings on the seat next to him, and would get irritated if someone asked for the seat....two old pioneer sisters {my mom is one} refuse to stop bickering and fighting...they are threatening to use voice recorders for evidence at their next elders meeting!.

  are they just angry being part of the "millions now living will never die.

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  BonaFide

  We had a few. Most of the older friends were very nice. There were those however, who had major issues with the younger ones, they had their own rules about preaching, car groups, where to eat, what we could talk about in the car. I always locked horns with them.

  Its just weird, the whole thing is just weird.

  BF
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  9

  So, what about those of us that are single and "undercover JW's"? Any dating sites for us?

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i admit its an unusual category to be in.

  active witness because of family and friends.

  raised in the truth but knows the real truth.

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  BonaFide

  I admit its an unusual category to be in. Active Witness because of family and friends. Raised in the truth but knows the real truth. Wants to get married. Can't marry a strict Witness for a million reasons that we all know.

  But we want to marry someone who wants to get married in a Kingdom Hall to another "Witness" so that our families still associate with us.

  So, is there any hope for us? Too bad there isn't a special symbol at assemblies we could wear....

  BF
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  31

  The Casual Importance of JW elders

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so here is one thing i have noticed, and i bet i was like this before myself.. so many jw elders have a sort of "casual importance" attitude at the meetings.

  they nod a lot, they have those huge bookbags, they read those society letters during the meetings, they walk down the aisles during the meeting and whisper in each others' ear, they always sit in the aisle seats.

  they give the appearance that what they are doing is the most important thing in the world.. even the way they stand, and their manner of speaking reflects that they feel important, but that they are "trying" to be humble even though jehovah god himself is using them.. for example, tonight before the meeting i was talking to an elder about the upcoming assembly.

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  BonaFide

  I should say, I know why they do it, but now it seems so silly to see them doing it. They don't realize they are being duped.

  BF
• 
  31

  The Casual Importance of JW elders

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so here is one thing i have noticed, and i bet i was like this before myself.. so many jw elders have a sort of "casual importance" attitude at the meetings.

  they nod a lot, they have those huge bookbags, they read those society letters during the meetings, they walk down the aisles during the meeting and whisper in each others' ear, they always sit in the aisle seats.

  they give the appearance that what they are doing is the most important thing in the world.. even the way they stand, and their manner of speaking reflects that they feel important, but that they are "trying" to be humble even though jehovah god himself is using them.. for example, tonight before the meeting i was talking to an elder about the upcoming assembly.

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  BonaFide

  So here is one thing I have noticed, and I bet I was like this before myself.

  So many JW elders have a sort of "Casual Importance" attitude at the meetings. They nod a lot, they have those huge bookbags, they read those Society letters during the meetings, they walk down the aisles during the meeting and whisper in each others' ear, they always sit in the aisle seats.

  They give the appearance that what they are doing is the most important thing in the world.

  Even the way they stand, and their manner of speaking reflects that they feel important, but that they are "trying" to be humble even though Jehovah God himself is using them.

  For example, tonight before the meeting I was talking to an elder about the upcoming assembly. He said in this special tone of importance, "You know, Bonafide, as elders we need the information too, we need that spirtual food. Even though we may have a talk on the program."

  And during the meetings the elders comments are often way longer, and they speak with more "weight" than the rest of the bro's.

  I worked in a hospital a few months ago, I interacted with a lot of doctors and staff. Even the SURGEONS AND ADMINISTRATION SEEMED MORE DOWN-TO-EARTH THAN THE ELDERS. None of them said, "You know Bonafide, as a surgeon, I need to continually learn." They just do their job and act normal.

  But the elders have that aura of Casual Importance, like they are in charge of people's lives.

  What is up with that?

  BF
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  7

  I am on page 52 of Combatting Mind Control

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yes, i finally started reading that book.

  he mentions jehovah's witnesses several times, and uses it as an example.. there is no way in the world i could have read this book before, and even if i did, i bet i would have thought that other groups are cults.. not anymore.. thanks, people.

  bf.

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  BonaFide

  OK thanks

  BF