Posts by freddo

43

Which Things Did Your Overzealous Parents Ban?

by pale.emperor in

we all know the gb like to impose rules upon the rules... but did anyone else out there have parents that implemented rules upon those rules?

mine did.

my mum tended to copy whatever the elders wives were doing and took it to the extreme.

freddo

My parents were great compared with your stories.

I think the only thing that would have freaked them out would be if I brought a Ouija board home!

I used to get presents/money "instead of Xmas/birthdays" - fireworks on Nov 4th or 6th - as long as it wasn't fireworks/bonfire night.

"Worldly associates" were discouraged out of school but not banned but I spent a lot of time on my own so I used to be into making models and dioramas; and I was allowed to make warplanes (my jw mate was only allowed civil aircraft or space rockets) battleships and submarines but not to make model tanks.

I guess killing in the air with model Spitfires and Fw 190's was okay and sinking HMS Hood and the Bismarck was alright - but Tiger tanks vs Shermans wasn't!

Go figure.

I sometimes wish they were stricter - I might have woken up earlier!

58

Non JW wife/JW husband Christmas tree debate

by spacegirl443 in

jw
friends

first post here and looking for advice and help.

sorry in advance for it being so long :(.

i'm a happily married woman (no kids) who is a non-jw, presbyterian to be precise.

freddo

BTW

I put these quotes up not so you can attack your husband but so that he has ammunition if and when he consults his elders or if they stick their noses in.

I would use WT publications freely to go against jw unwritten traditions that may impact on your marital happiness.

Best of luck!

58

Non JW wife/JW husband Christmas tree debate

by spacegirl443 in

jw
friends

first post here and looking for advice and help.

sorry in advance for it being so long :(.

i'm a happily married woman (no kids) who is a non-jw, presbyterian to be precise.

freddo

Spacegirl. That quote from the 1960 Watchtower by "The Fall Guy" is genuine and is on their 2014 CD ROM (CD ROM watchtowers go back to 1950 - on line to 2000).

It is genuine and can be used. When I was an elder in elders school it was mentioned back in the 1990's.

WT publications are to a JW like Garlic is to a vampire. IF THEY HAVEN'T BEEN SUPERCEDED BY "NEW LIGHT"!

This old quote has never been superceded and when used in conjunction with the July 2009 WT about religious freedom is a powerful antidote when used by a UBM. Here it is ...

*** Awake July 2009 p. 29 Is It Wrong to Change Your Religion? ***

Although the Bible makes a clear distinction between true and false teachings, God allows each person the freedom to choose how he or she will respond. (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20) No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family. Does study of the Bible lead to family breakup? No. In fact, the Bible encourages a husband and wife who practice different religions to remain together as a family.—1 Corinthians 7:12, 13.

9

Serbia: "Parents from hell sentenced the baby to die in a hospital" - Mon, Nov 27, 2017

by darkspilver in

there's been some front page coverage in serbia today (mon, nov 27, 2017).

monster parents condemned baby to death!

- alo!.

freddo

Who jumped to a conclusion pomo? Simply a report.

23

CO Rose UK

by jookbeard in

does anyone know this guy, where he came from?

how he climbed the jw ladder, i have to say i know nothing about him but he seems to be kicking ass with the problems in the north of england..

freddo

Branch committee now "Stan" which would have a "co-ordinator" who would be no "higher in rank" than the others.

23

CO Rose UK

by jookbeard in

does anyone know this guy, where he came from?

how he climbed the jw ladder, i have to say i know nothing about him but he seems to be kicking ass with the problems in the north of england..

freddo

Bit of speculation here ...

Might it be that it's because Rose is such a thorn (pun intended) - a prick, even - that this is why some have thrown in the towel?

After all he will have done at least four "encouraging" visit to the congregations in his circuit and now will be on his fifth. If you are a doubter or a bit wobbly you might think the first visit could be down to him having a bad week; but when that gets repeated time after time it can be very wearisome.

Talking personally it was one overbearing CO that A) almost made me resign once as an elder and B) another one that made me actually resign about five years later. It was a kindly more reasonable CO in between that made me "hang on" longer than I should have.

Lets hope Rose works his "magic" in another circuit when they get swapped in September because as sure as grass is green I know Vigo and Gillies and Co. at Bethel UK won't have the common sense or humility to remove this idiot!

26

"In a human moment before Jehovah grabbed her"

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i often wondered how far back the witnesses had been involved with my family.

my grandmother died at the end of 2013 and while going through her photos we found some of my great-grandmother, dora, who was born in 1901 and died in 1994. there is a photo of dora dated 1946 standing outside her house in east riding, yorkshire.

on the back of the photo her husband had written "in a human moment before jehovah grabbed her".. my great grandfather, who died before i was born, did not like the witnesses.

freddo

Note to Pete ...

I had two Welsh Great Grandparents and six English. The name Jehovah was certainly known among the independent chapels of Wales.

To Truthseeker ...

As regards the photo - I just took it as a rueful husband lamenting the normal human wife he lost to "Jehovah" through the Jehovah's Witnesses.

I think of the 3 "great" JW Matriarchs (as in staunch finger wagging JW automatons with or without JW husbands) of my family and in-laws living in then Southern England.

They all lived through the "Blitz" (Look up "Coventry Blitz" on wiki for an example) as young women or young mothers. A frightening time that makes today's bombings in London seem small by comparison.

They all lost a close relative in death or saw first hand the bombings on their towns by Nazi bombers, killing or disrupting the lives of them, their family and their friends. They all had husbands in the forces or firefighters at risk.

So along come two nice ladies from dubland - fired up with Rutherfordian zeal filtered through Knorr's corporate expansion campaign and Freddie Franz's answers for paradise and resurrection within the 1914 generation and the rest is history ...

After the war they all had young children "at home" when their husbands were working (remember the Jesuits - give me a child at 5 and we'll have him for life?) and they were studying with the JW's. These kids - including me are the kids that became elders and pioneers that were the glue of the congregations from the 1960's to the early 2000's.

They are old and dying off. Their kids are a less committed and THEIR kids even less so. The org is slowly crumbling. But sadly - oh, so slowly!

78

Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)

by rulehayl in

jw
friends

hi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.

my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.

she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.

freddo

rulehayl ...

Your first post was about your study conductor saying you were on a slippery slope by your associating with your workmates. Ask her how what she says fits with these two verses.

Romans 14 v 5,6 and Colossians 2 v 16

If she has to give convoluted replies that don't seem to make sense that might give you pause for thought.

There is no rush for you to decide to be baptised or not; (after all you wouldn't want to follow those who say that Armageddon is near, would you? Luke 21 v 8)

In fact if you take a while (say a couple of years rather than the expected few months or so) you will see whether the response from your study conductor is loving kind and patient (1 Cor 13 v 4) or exasperated and impatient.

136

List of UK Travelling Overseers in 2013

by soiledumpling in

hi pepeep am attempting to get a current list of uk travelling overseers.

left 4 years ago and have heard rumours of many new ones.

.

freddo

Peter Morgan not on circuit work then? Or is he 70 now?

26

"In a human moment before Jehovah grabbed her"

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i often wondered how far back the witnesses had been involved with my family.

my grandmother died at the end of 2013 and while going through her photos we found some of my great-grandmother, dora, who was born in 1901 and died in 1994. there is a photo of dora dated 1946 standing outside her house in east riding, yorkshire.

on the back of the photo her husband had written "in a human moment before jehovah grabbed her".. my great grandfather, who died before i was born, did not like the witnesses.

freddo

Wow! 1946. That is so poignant.

It could be written by any UBM down the decades, couldn't it? (Or by anyone that desperately wants his or her spouse to wake up like they did.)