Posts by sd-7

53

2014 DC: Fewer, but larger venues in the U.S.

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

in the u.s. there are fewer venues this year, but they will be held in larger facilities.

as long as i can remember my family travelled no more than 2 hours to attend and in the last few years the dc was local (within a few minutes travel).

this year my family is driving 6 hours to a major u.s. city.

sd-7

I was looking on jw.org to confirm there are fewer venues, and by Jove, you're right! There is literally only one U.S. convention in my area this year. My wife made it sound like there was some kind of special international thing going on, and she may well be correct as she'd know better than I would, but maybe this is just the only game in town. If this is a permanent deal, I'll never have to stay in a hotel room hours from home again. That could be good.

On the other hand, I will miss the stores down there, especially that seafood place. Man, their fried shrimp were GOOD! And they gave you a ton of cocktail sauce to go with it, too! Not like the stores around here where you can barely get ketchup. Hmm. Well, maybe I can still take the time off like I usually do, but just make it my own personal vacation at long last.

The bad thing is that it's a stadium. They're going to fry out there. No more air conditioning. I wouldn't go to that venue at gunpoint. I don't even think the kids should go. Well, apart from the obvious reasons they shouldn't go.

Well, maybe I can find a good seafood joint up here, visit Dave & Buster's, and play through Star Wars Trilogy Arcade at least twice. Yes. I think I've got myself a plan...

--sd-7

53

2014 DC: Fewer, but larger venues in the U.S.

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

in the u.s. there are fewer venues this year, but they will be held in larger facilities.

as long as i can remember my family travelled no more than 2 hours to attend and in the last few years the dc was local (within a few minutes travel).

this year my family is driving 6 hours to a major u.s. city.

sd-7

Seems my wife's congo has been invited to an international convention. It's going to be at a big stadium. Plus side? I no longer need to worry about paying for a hotel room, it's very close, indeed. Somebody's getting a Nintendo 2DS this year! Awww yeah!

--sd-7

51

Jehovah's Witness juror - The actions of this juror are a complete disgrace, said Prince Georges County States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks.

by Sol Reform in

http://www.csnwashington.com/article/juror-email-leads-mistrial.

juror email leads to mistrial.

that juror now faces a possible contempt of court charge.the trial of a man involved in a high speed crash that killed a prince george's county police officer last year ended in a mistrial.. one of the jurors told the judge via email thursday morning that judging others was a violation of her religion as a jehovah's witness, news4's prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins reported.. kevon darnell neal, 23, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and fleeing and eluding following the death of officer adrian morris, 23.. morris and his partner were pursuing a stolen silver acura when their cruiser ran off interstate 95 near the powder mill road exit in august 2012. morris died after being ejected from the vehicle.

sd-7

You have got to be kidding me. I remember hearing about this story on the news. I might even have known this person, the JW, I mean. I had four days of jury duty myself in PG County, but they said I was an alternate juror and dismissed me.

But it's sad because from the way they handle things prior to the trial, there is literally no reason at all for a JW to be in this position. They give you every opportunity to get out of a case on the basis of some specific circumstance like religion. I think the persecution complex in itself generates an unhealthy amount of fear about an already nerve-wracking situation, so I do understand why a JW might not stand up, but standing up BEFORE the trial could have prevented this person from being in trouble with the court AFTER the trial. A man's life wasn't worth that to this woman? Someone else could have stepped in and helped to see justice done. Shameful. And a needless burden on the courts.

Hmm. But this is interesting. I suppose they'll never reveal the person's name, though...ah, well.

--sd-7

70

2014 YB Up. Partakers 13,204

by LostGeneration in

jw
friends

that is all.

link.

sd-7

In the years since then, the number of these partakers has progressively decreased, principally because faithful Witnesses of Jehovah finished their earthly life course in death.

Hmm. Let's see if the 'discreet virgin class', namely, me, can enlighten us with some deeper understanding regarding this truth:

In the years since then, the number of these partakers has progressively increased, principally because faithful Witnesses of Jehovah finished their earthly life course in death, and Jehovah has evidently seen fit to choose additional humble individuals, who "keep following the Lamb wherever he goes". He has done this so as to ensure that there will always be some faithful anointed men who qualify to take the lead as members of the Governing Body.

Or:

Previously, it was thought that the number of Memorial partakers would decrease as the years remaining before Armageddon continued to pass. However, it became evident that Jehovah had not concluded his sealing of the 144,000. Since there remains yet more time before Armageddon, Jehovah has been able to complete this valuable choosing work according to his own purposes. Are we not grateful that he has allowed such anointed ones to be chosen from amongst his people today?

--sd-7

21

If you knew that you might have pain, suffer disasters, certainly end up dead,-- given the choice, the power, would you have prevailed upon your parents not to have brought you into the world?

by prologos in

or changed the outworkings of your ancestors' lifes to suit you?--.

sd-7

The only way I could know that is if I'm alive in the first place. So...it sort of answers itself, in a way.

--sd-7

34

I feel my faith is weakening

by Brother Mike in

when you were in the truth did you find websites like this and read what the other side has to say?

i am in that stage and i feel as if i'm seeking out the ttatt.

i feel the wt society is hiding way too much.

sd-7

Well, when I believed it, I did actually stumble across this site when I Googled 'Jehovah's Witnesses', but I didn't read much of it at the time. I wasn't really thinking about those issues, apart from the sense that the WT wasn't telling the truth about some stuff. I buried it. What prompted me to consider the other side of things was frustration on a more personal level with rules that I knew were not scriptural. When a breaking point was reached, I suddenly recalled that the Society said not to talk to ex-JWs [insert loaded language word here if you so desire], and I asked myself, what are they so afraid of? What if these ex-JWs actually know something the WT doesn't want us to know? Something is clearly wrong, but I can't figure out what. Are our beliefs as unassailable as they appear on the surface?

1914 seemed the most obvious place to start, and the rest is history.

You're at an age where finding out something like this, like what you may learn if you continue to read and reason, can be both blessing and curse. You need to be able to support yourself and be on your own or else the pressure on you will be hard indeed.

I would advise avoiding any kind of dating stuff for the foreseeable future. What you learn could make you more vulnerable than ever to potentially irrational decisions. There is a lot of work to do in order to get your mind free enough to function in the outside world. Right now, no one can be trusted not to manipulate you in the same way JWs do. You have to be careful not to end up enslaved to someone or something else. What you learn will set you free to an extent, but for a time, you will only think you are free. You have more to learn before you can be well-rounded enough to truly be free.

So, my advice is to read as much as you can on all subjects that concern you. You'll be ready to leave, of course, long before you exhaust all the matters you might wish to learn more about. But don't be content with what you know today. Learn more about as much as you can. I'm sure anyone here could give you a good reading list as you make your decision.

mind what you have learned

You'll be fine, but you need to keep reading and find someone you can trust on the outside to talk to about it.

--sd-7

10

Were you afraid of Armageddon on New Year's Eve 1999?

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

obligatory false predictions link.. so were you cowering somewhere with a stash of watchtowers hidden in your bunker on 12/31/1999?.

were you excited about armageddon coming and wiping all the wicked off the planet?.

were you arrogantly bragging how much better you and your fellow bros were than the worldlies, who were out celebrating blindly, like those in noah's day?.

sd-7

Not at all. I was worried about the power going out, maybe. But then nothing happened, and I shrugged. Then hunkered down as I thought people were shooting outside. Maybe it was just fireworks, but I figured, why take chances? There's always the rest of the year for that.

--sd-7

42

New to JWN and excited!

by sunny23 in

have been visiting jwn for about a week now and it motivated me to join.

i look forward to meeting everyone i can and learning from their experiences and wisdom as i search for more and more reasons not to get reinstated.

here's most of my story:.

sd-7

The second is a history of how the scrolls were selected and by who, to form the 'bible'. What was the motive, what was left out, why? Its fantastic.

I've read Bart Ehrman's 'Jesus, Interrupted' and part of his 'New Testament' textbook and I concur--the man is brilliant with the information he presents. Definitely helped educate me a LOT about the New Testament in its historical context.

Also, welcome. Nice story, there. Sad in many ways, as well. Hey, at least you're on the right track to becoming fully free. Sounds like you need no advice from me, you're well along.

--sd-7

9

That talk at the assembly where...

by ?evrything in

jw
friends

...someone who was disfellowshipped ended up goin to a bar getting into a fight/getting preggo or somethin of the nature and then realized how pitiful their life had become.

they then 'prayed' to jah and wala the light clicked and they came back and feel better then ever!!.

sigh.

sd-7

I remember hearing those stories in talks--and there were innumerable iterations of them--and I'm not sure when it was that I started to question it, but it was certainly long before I started doubting things as a whole. One of the big things that educated me on the outside world was, ironically, the recruitment work. I'd go out and see the ordinary people going about their lives. I'd think, none of them look particularly unhappy. If anything, the people inside the KH look stressed and distraught. They look like the ones who are 'sighing and groaning', and not because of the outside world, either.

I used to think, well, maybe this person shouldn't have gone to that bar, you know? Maybe that wasn't the best environment for someone who knows next to nothing about the outside world. Maybe it's possible to have a gradual, peaceful transition to not being a JW. If only you just play your cards right, do it carefully.

Well, I didn't really get to see the best of what the outside world has to offer, myself. But I've made the best of the life I've ended up with. I'm still living with no more or less good or bad than would have happened anyway. If a person decides to get really drunk around total strangers or use drugs or engage in other risky behaviors, he or she assumes the risks associated and will likely find themselves in a bad situation. That is entirely unrelated to leaving a religion. That is related to making decisions that are in that person's best self-interest, or failing to do so.

--sd-7

21

musings from a sound booth - good and bad experiences in one morning of ministry

by Captain Blithering in

jw
friends

howdy all , relieving the boredom at the meeting again.

yesterday on the ministry i was offering halloween mags (i know,i just dont even try anymore!

) - the lovely missus said "you cant place those" so i said half sarcastically "the truth never goes out of date or changes" .

sd-7

the lovely missus said "you cant place those" so i said half sarcastically "the truth never goes out of date or changes" . A long moment passed then she turned to me and said "yes it does!"

Classic! Those are the moments I'll always miss because I couldn't be a good double agent. Ah, well, it's more fun out here anyway.

Doing the sound booth was pretty much as much fun as you could possibly have during a meeting, if you ask me. So how do you manage to not get caught by the bros carrying mikes? You mean they never look at you while they're standing there? Or are you like totally enclosed?

Anyway, I think the reason I can't do it is because I can't take it seriously anymore. I mean, how do you say all that stuff with a straight face now? I know I can do the satire, but...being around folks who would actually read and believe said satire as essentially the word from above, wow...ha ha ha...oh, man.

Hey, that reminds me. I think the two-day assembly is coming up for the Mrs. Hmm. Well, at least she hasn't tried to invite me or ask me to come with her.

It's got to be awful, I do remember how it was. Hang in there.

--sd-7