Posts by freddo

33

YOUNG PEOPLE ASK Should I Grow a Beard?

by neat blue dog in

ok, ok, so the actual title of the article released today on jw-org is "young people askshould i get a tattoo?

", but i thought i'd replace some words and phrases from the actual article, as follows:"regardless of the motive, you should think long and hard before deciding to have anything growing out of .

your skin!

freddo

@pale.emperor

Your last paragraph in bold strikes me as strange coming from somebody from the UK.

56

What TV shows were forbidden in your JW household?

by Funchback in

in the u.s., three's company was not allowed.

it was explained to me that it was an immoral show because a man and women lived together and no one was married.

the sister who gave this observation was a family friend and we were newbies to the religion.. at least i somehow managed to watch the benny hill show undetected..

freddo

My parents weren't real jw die-hards when it came to TV watching in the UK.

In the 1970's the UK only had 3 channels and Colour TV was only transmitted on one of them part time from 1967 and by mid 1970 all 3 were full time colour.

My family were fairly early in getting a colour TV and I remember that my normally frugal parents spent £250 on a Colour TV set (about £3000 in todays values!) in 1970 from an inheritance. I distinctly remember my mother saying we might as well spend it as "it would be all over by 1975!"

So programmes - Bewitched was allowed although other jw's felt it was "wrong".

Scooby-Doo was my favourite which I always got away with because as I said "it was always the fairground owner or the museum curator in a sheet"

Smurfs were never big over here and were just viewed like the seven dwarfs in my area - no one to tell us they were demonised!

Dr. Who/Star Trek/Star Wars - no problem. A bit of concern over Lord of the Rings and in later years Harry Potter seemed to be a no-no but I always took the view it was fantasy and watched it without telling anyone!

Soaps

Dallas was big over here and a cause of debates. The UK Soaps of Coronation Street and especially Eastenders were watched and condemned in equal measure by the moderates and the self-righteous.

I remember my mother being told by a self righteous elder relative that she shouldn't watch soaps and she told him that as long as he watched James Bond films with "sex and violence" he could keep his nose out!

Superman and Batman was OK and Disney fantasy stuff like Beauty and the Beast was too so in a jw way it was quite moderate.

23

Favourite Comedy Quotes

by LoveUniHateExams in

i wanted to post a serious, profound quote in stillin's thread but my mind went blank and i'm pretty crap with serious quotes anyway, so i put a jokey quote from the red dwarf computer holly: .

it's better to have loved and lost than to have listened to an album by olivia newton-john.. when a bemused lister asks why, holly replies "because anything's better than listening to an album by olivia newton-john!".

this got me thinking, what are everyone's favourite comedy quotes?.

freddo

Blackadder is entertaining his relatives Lord and Lady Whiteadder - extreme protestant puritans - in the hope of getting an inheritance from them.

He offers Lady Whiteadder a pair of earmuffs to keep out the cold.

Lady Whiteadder: "No, thank you! Cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics!"

77

Trying To Leave - Im Going Crazy

by pale.emperor in

this is my first post.

i really feel i need to leave the jw's rather than go along pretending everything is perfect etc.

no friends, me at work.

freddo

Get some professional medical help p.e. You mentioned that being dead might be a relief to you. That is a concern.

You are tied in to this weird family (even by jw standards) and you and your wife must break free and I reckon to move physically a fair way away is the best option.

How old is your little girl and what kind of work do you do? Is it a transferable skill if you move.

40

Who Picks The Governing Body?

by millie210 in

hey everyone,.

just a simple straight forward question on exactly what the process is.

if a gb member died tomorrow, do the remaining ones choose who gets to be next?.

freddo

Pretty much yes. Just like an elders meeting where they say "Billy's good but his wife's a fruitloop; how about Cecil?" "Yeah, he won't rock the boat - two thirds in favour? Aye!"

Except they don't have to ask the CO if it's OK!

161

I am leaving the JW's . I am alone and scared. Advice and help needed please

by scared and lonely in

i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.

i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.

i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.

freddo

S&L is now "Formerly SandL" - he's posted under his new name in the post two back from this one.

For what it's worth he has now convinced me to give him the benefit of the doubt.

11

Does anyone know the themes of this year's circuit and district conventions?

by mamacita29 in

i'm trying to get a jump ahead for my colleague.

i am making progress though and she is now willing to listen to logic.

logic and reasoning is like kryptonite to jw's.

freddo

Any circuit assembly reports anyone?

As in number baptised/number attending?

3

Reveal article Feb. 25, 2016 - "JWs' sex abuse scandal is a lot like Catholic Church's"

by AndersonsInfo in

https://www.revealnews.org/blog/jehovahs-witnesses-sex-abuse-scandal-is-a-lot-like-catholic-churchs/.

jehovah’s witnesses’ sex abuse scandal is a lot like catholic church’s.

by heidi hirvonen / february 25, 2016 .

freddo

Very good stuff!

May I ask- what is the readership count of these articles? Is it 100's, 1000's or what?

41

Why the Deficit at the Circuit Assembly?

by JT-LadyC in

have you ever wondered why there is always a deficit at the circuit assembly?

did you realize that before the program begins, the circuit is already in the red?

many of the friends thought they were paying for the use of the building and covering the costs of the utilities, etc.

freddo

And how he describes it in the US is exactly how it is done in my corner of the UK. Except it's £10 per publisher not 10 bucks. And then the CO writes to the congo's to make up the deficit if not enough came in!

And when the assembly hall is paid for - no change in the "per capita" - and then in 2014 or 2015 the assembly hall slush fund err ... maintenance fund of about £800,000 is cleaned out and sent to the branch too.

And don't forget Sophia's ice cream money. We need that!

81

Your feelings for the former travelling overseers

by Hecce in

during our wt life we met a good number of friends involved in the circuit and district work.

i am sure that we share the same experience and that we remember fondly some that we caring, loving and generally interested in the brothers.

at the same time we might remember others that were arrogant, selfish, abusive and oppressive.

freddo

The only one I found to be a really "good egg" actually came off the circuit due to health issues in his late 70's a year or two before the "kick 'em out at age 70" and "no more D.O.'s" changes in 2014.

Most of the others were "nondescript predictable watchtower chanting drones"with unpleasant, unhelpful and petty demeanours.

One from a few visits back was an arrogant "look at me" self important bastard and he was taken off at age 70 on the last switch in 2015. Good riddance to him and his stuck up wife and I hope that the congregation he's gone to as "just another elder nobody" has a body of elders that bring him down a peg or two.

Good riddance to him.

Did I show a little too much emotion there?