freddo

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Posts by freddo

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  112

  Did an EX-JW wake you up to TTATT or did you put the effort to wake up yourself?

  by John Aquila in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  how many of us were woken up by some apostate yelling false prophets at a convention?.

  how many of us were woken up by someone holding a sign and yelling, what happened to 1975.

  how many of us were coerced to investigate the wt because some ex-jw pulled up a bunch of old watchtowers magazines and told us to read the false predictions?.

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  freddo

  Short answer - this forum.

  Long answer ...

  Looking back, some of the stuff that the org was spewing out jarred with me. The huge generation change of 1995 was a biggie although not decisively so at the time. Beards and pant-suits always stuck in my craw as did other petty rules. Sex rules that weren't in the Bible such as masturbation and oral sex with your marriage mate irritated me too.

  Old testament brutality and capriciousness on the part of Jehovah "who never changes" WTF?

  Though funnily enough I am always grateful for the stance on smoking - I come from a family background where about 50% were smokers and I could have got addicted.

  But when I came on this forum about ten years later and saw that others felt the same way about many of the same things as I did, well that gradually woke me up.

  Not instantly and probably a few years before I finally felt able to mentally dismiss anything the org said or did.
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  101

  My mom passed away yesterday....

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thank you all for your sincere encouragement during these last few weeks.

  finally, she is at peace.

  i was with her , holding her hand when she died.

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  freddo

  Sad news indeed, minimus - please accept my condolences.
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  26

  Bygone Days of Old Bethel...

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  something occurred to me last night.

  people that made their pilgrimage to jw mecca (bethel) would often be excited about some silly things, i say silly because for those of you who were there or lived near enough to be involved in these things regularly they lost their magic.

  i am talking about on tours one of the most memorable things people talked about or looked forward to... lunch.

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  freddo

  I remember going to London Bethel on a congregation coach not long after I resigned being an elder. We were only about an hour away and it was a pleasant day in May and the tour left us enough daylight to do something else - maybe see some sights or stop at one of the London museums on the way back or visit the gardens of a stately home (mansion with large landscaped grounds) and have a picnic.

  But no ... we had to think about being up bright and ready for the ministry in the morning so that was voted down by the elders on board.

  The next time my wife wanted to go and I said sure I'll take the car so I dropped her and her friend off and I went to the Imperial War Museum and picked them up five hours later on the way back! Much more interesting.

  Tell me again how fast those presses go? Yawn.
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  32

  Impressions of the Governing Body; who's smart, who ain't?

  by Room 215 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  based on what we've seen, it seems to me that of the seven, splane and jackson are the smartest; herd, lett and morris the least intelligent; and sanderson and losch somewhere in the middle.

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  what's your impression?.

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  freddo

  What is the main qualification to be on the GB?

  That you won't rock the boat.

  So they choose people who have followed what they say without hiccup for many years.

  Like all bodies of elders there are the alphas and the betas. As long as you don't have two alphas fighting each other then they just choose yes men into the group.

  From what I see they all like relative power and they all toed the line to the man above them in the pecking order. You don't get to D.O. or branch committee member without that.

  But most of all they had to take the wine and crackers without raising suspicion.
  
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  80

  THE WATCHTOWER (STUDY EDITION) JANUARY 2016

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  pdf .

  this issue contains the study articles for february 29 to april 3, 2016.. what about the number of those partaking at the memorial?12, 13. why should we not worry about the number of those who eat the bread and drink the wine at the memorial?12 in recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of those partaking at the memorial of christs death.

  that trend contrasts with the decrease in the number of partakers that we saw for many decades.

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  freddo

  Yearbook 2016

  Dear Kingdom Publisher,

  Have you looked at the worldwide report for M'Baaataland? This tiny landlocked African territory had a 100% increase in the year!

  Just note the thrilling bountiful thrilling blessings that were to be had when two Special Pioneers in South Africa were asked to serve where the need is greater. Mike O'Loony says "The increase was happifying indeed! We were reassigned as regular pioneers which meant we could serve shoulder to shoulder with the local brother and sister on equal terms without such a title as "Special". Now there has been a 100% increase and instead of two there are four worshipers of Jehovah serving here." How thrilling!

  Have you been wondering about the increase in partakers at the memorial? As we don't know which partakers are real, real loony or just plain cuckoo we won't publish the figures of the partakers anymore. Are we not thrilled and happified at the discretion and faithfulness of the faithful and discreet slave? We surely are!

  How thrilled blah blah blah blah ...

  Your ever loving

  Governing Body
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  13

  Geoffrey Jackson's father

  by One_day in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi everybody, does anybody know if geof jacksons father is still alive?.

  i wonder if he would dare return to australia again, maybe for his funeral?.

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  freddo

  So did Geoffrey stay in Oz throughout? As in July through until now? So Ron Jackson suffered from Motor Neurone Disease? - I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
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  5

  Latest about Chelmsford H.Q.

  by Prefect in

  1. social
  2. current

  just received this google alert this morning.. http://www.chelmsfordweeklynews.co.uk/news/13800813.plans_for_huge_jehovah_s_witnesses_hq_continue/.

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  freddo

  Wasn't that some sort of rebuttal because someone leaked to the local paper it was being stopped? I think you will find it may continue but at a much reduced size and pace.
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  312

  Mass disassociation pact...

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  any takers?

  we can pick a date and pull the plug?

  lol .

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  freddo

  If you are staying anonymous you need to send five letters - real letters - not emails.

  1 letter to an elder - any elder. Saying you disassociate/don't play by their rules and why etc.

  4 letters to rank and file members of yours and/or a nearby congregation adding the sentences "hundreds of these letters are being sent in the area. (Don't tell them "the area" is the whole country!) Do not pass them to the elders."

  They likely will immediately show one of their elders who will contact fellow elders, the branch or CO.

  So only 4 or 5 letters will likely be handed in but they will think that there are loads of letters still out there not being handed in. It will send them crazy. They may even announce that if you have received a letter then hand it in.

  If you are really cool post a letter to yourself and hand it in saying you received it in the mail - which of course you did!
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  21

  KM - another evidence for the leaked letter

  by fastJehu in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the december kingdom ministry (km) is online.

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  no schedule for the first week in january 2016 - as in previous december kms.. so another evidence, that beginning with january 2016 the org will change the mid-week-meeting.. -----> download link: http://download.jw.org/files/media_publickm/72/km_e_201512.pdf.

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  freddo

  Regarding December KM there is no "Offer the Magazines During ... (January)" item in it either unlike all the previous months.
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  49

  Are Circuit Overseers next?

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  last year saw the elimination of the district overseer...and circuit overseers now must retire at 70. how long until the circuit overseer is no more?

  of course, the role might still exist, they would simply not get paid.

  they would have to care for their own expenses.

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  freddo

  Take two circuits and make it one. So now 40 congs. Lose 10/20% in amalgamations and KH sales and you are down to 32 - 36. Let's say 34. So 40 - 34 = 6 congs less. So 6 x 2 visits per year saved = 12 weeks of CO time.

  Now ... CO visits one a year and a sub-co (from a pool of say half a dozen) does the other visit. The saved 12 weeks can be used for extra circuit assemblies as the new super-circuit won't fit into the assembly hall so easily. They can also be used for trouble shooting so that the CO might make two visits per year to "trouble-making" congs that need "specialised shepherding" (tm).

  So CO's halved, CO apartments halved, CO cars halved, CO wives halved, CO wages and medical halved.