Of course, all are welcome to post on this, not just ATJ!!
Thanks,
palmtree67
JoinedPosts by palmtree67
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22
AllTimeJeff: When you get a moment, Your take on this would be appreciated.
by palmtree67 inthis is one of the first major incidents that made me start questioning.. our hall had 5 elders and 2 ms's.
we also had various other brothers, all doing fine.
some of the brothers who didn't have priveledges did magazines, literature, etc.. one day, the elders decided the brothers were not reaching out enough.
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AllTimeJeff: When you get a moment, Your take on this would be appreciated.
by palmtree67 inthis is one of the first major incidents that made me start questioning.. our hall had 5 elders and 2 ms's.
we also had various other brothers, all doing fine.
some of the brothers who didn't have priveledges did magazines, literature, etc.. one day, the elders decided the brothers were not reaching out enough.
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palmtree67
This is one of the first major incidents that made me start questioning.
Our Hall had 5 elders and 2 MS's. We also had various other brothers, all doing fine. Some of the brothers who didn't have priveledges did magazines, literature, etc.
One day, the elders decided the brothers were not reaching out enough. So they removed the brothers who were not MS's from their duties and assigned sisters to work the literature counter and do magazines. The brothers who were removed were publicly humiliated. One of them begged the elders to not do this to him, they refused. The decision had already been made and would not be reversed. Sisters were also assigned to do the accounts and order literature.
That was shocking enough. A couple of weeks later, at the Service Mtg, the brother announced we would break for the second school. And a SISTER WITH A HAT ON took students into the second school. You could've heard a pin drop. People's jaws dropped.
This went on for 8 months. People were uncomfortable going to the literature counter to get their magazines. The sisters had to start bringing the mags out to people. when questioned, the elders went on the defensive, they said the CO had approved the arrangement. Later on, an elder I knew personally said that he asked the CO if he had been consulted on this, and he denied it. Someone was lying. Flat out lying. The elders said, and I quote, "The brothers needed to be taught a lesson." and "We're elders, we can do whatever we want."
A local needs part was given in which the cong was told that anyone not going along with the body of elders was disloyal to Jehovah. They counselled that no one should be going to other congs or other elders and telling them what was going on, since other lders in other congs would not understand the situation in our cong. One sister said after that meeting, "Well, haven't we all just been spanked?" We all shut up after that.
Two of the sisters who were given assignments: One had an unbelieving husband. She quickly developed terrible stomach problems, lost a ton of weight and barely came to meetings after this. The other sister was a daughter of one of the elders who battled depression and she quickly went downhill as well.
The two other sisters who got assignments were both elders wives and Boy! Did their assignments ever go to their heads! They became haughty and sarcastic.
The 8 months this went on was IN BETWEEN CIRCUIT OVERSEER VISITS. So no CO ever saw sisters behind the counter. The first CO Visit with the new CO, he praised the cong for our over-the-national-average meeting attendance!! Everyone knew that wasn't true, rumors started flying that someone on the elder body was fudging the numbers.
Eventually, over 20 publishers officially walked out of that cong. Including one of the MS's who had a bookstudy in his home. Others started attending other congs as much as they could.
Assuming every other brother in the cong was indeed a big, fat loser - Why, with 5 elders and 2 MS's did they need sisters to fill those positions????
This was about 5 years ago now. Nothing has ever been done. The PO from that cong no longer attends meetings.
As I say, it was the start of me questioning alot of things. Everything that happened here was TOTALLY against everything I had been taught my whole life......and NO ONE SAID A THING!! In my first post ever, I think I mentioned that I needed to make sense of some of my experiences.
I would just be interested in hearing your take on this, due to the experience you've had in the org. and the fact that I respect very much the things you have to say.
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palmtree67
I even passed the math!
I got 99% in four out of the 5 subjects and 62% in the math. The grades came with a letter from the minister of education saying I placed in the top 1% of Canada. And they want to use the essay I wrote for teaching!!
Yay! I'm the smartest of the stupid people!!
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Let's start our own governing body
by bluecanary ininspired by dt's topic but meant to be entirely humorous.
let's nominate members to our own governing body.
they can each be head of their own department.
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palmtree67
Mastadon,
If we're having our own governing body, why can't we have a tattoo parlor at one of the "branches"?
I nominate you as head.
Can you put a nice palm tree on my........?
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Not been on for AGES but need to rant
by billie jean ini've not used any boards for a long time because i felt i'd got what i needed from them and felt i needed to 'move on' for want of a better word.
i've just come back from staying at my j.w parents house for a few days (which was long enough) we don't usually bring the subject of 'it' up but the other night i got it all, the bile was out, they were on defensive mode, to the point of shouting, insulting me, telling me that they'll 'cut me off' if they find out i'm apostate, then laughing at me and causing me to actualy feel worthless it was unreal.
i told them i'm an atheist and tried to tell them what the 'truth' does and what it really is but i got absolutely nowhere.
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palmtree67
I've been through that with my parents, too. Last November, in fact!! Same screaming, insulting, etc.
Not fun. Sorry to hear it.
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palmtree67
I'm pretty sure WTS has covered their asses legally to prevent anyone suing for this.
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palmtree67
Maybe they are announcing that you are no longer part of the legal entity of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Altho, you could be right. They are still calling into question what you believe. Implying you don't beleive in God.....
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palmtree67
Oh, sorry, the first part of that didn't show up for me til now.
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palmtree67
Do you mean when they announce you as "no longer being one of Jehovah's Witnesses"?