JeffT

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Posts by JeffT

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  31

  Why Do You Think People Become Jehovah’s Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  besides growing up in the religion, why do you think people turn to jehovah’s witnesses?

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  what made you become a witness?

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  JeffT

  None of my family growing up was religious. I was curious about it for a very long time. Through high school and college I explored a number of believe systems.

  My senior year in college I was depressed, and adrift in the world. I got into a conversation with a roommate from my freshman year. His mother had been a JW for a long time. He and his sister both joined while in college but decided to finish and get their degrees. So he and I started a Bible study and I was baptized a few months after graduation. This was in 1973, the JW view of world conditions lined up with mine (anti-war anti-government).

  Fifteen years later I got out. I think the guy I studied with may have left before I did as I lost contact with him in the early eighties. This all took place in Pullman, WA if anybody was around that area then.
  
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  10

  Need input: JW brainwashed fantasy vs. real world reality during evacuation

  by goingthruthemotions in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hello all, hope everyone is doing good!!!!.

  so my wife tells me yesterday....on saturday we having a emergency disaster class on saturday.

  kinda like most corporation have and it's through zoom.

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  JeffT

  When Mt. St. Helens exploded in 1980 (Monday is the 40th anniversary) my wife and I were living about 250 miles downwind. By late afternoon the sky was completly blotted out, and the ash started falling. For the next week at least the roads were impassible, the state patrol was handing out tickets to anybody that wasn't driving an offical vehicle. In the middle of all this I get a phone call from an elder who tells me they had "called Bethel and had permission to cancel the meetings and field service."

  Looking back on it, I wonder what would have happened if none of the local guys even thought of calling NY. Maybe we'd have tried to all get to the meetings and gotten busted in the process.
  
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  14

  Kingdom Hall Scheduler

  by Thetruthhurts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm sure there's already topics on this but i couldn't find one so i'm starting my own.

  is the kingdom hall scheduling program new?

  is this where they are entering all of the members data now?

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  JeffT

  I smell a rat. I'd think that your phone number is all they need to send texts. I supect somebody is cooking a tell with a carrier, unless there's something about mass texts I don't understand.
  
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  23

  Cardinal George Pell Acquitted Of Child sex Abuse !

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  cardinal george pell the australian catholic who was the 3rd most senior person in the vatican was acquitted by the high court of australia of all sex charges against him this morning.. after serving about 400 days behind bars he is now free to walk out of jail, to the shock of many.. this should make news headlines all around the world judging by past experience..

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  JeffT

  Simon, I don't know about elsewhere, but here in the US the education unions have a lot of political pull. I can't find current information, but a few years ago about 1/4 of all delegates to the Democratic convention were members of education unions. With that kind of clout it isn't hard to get your dirt swept under the rug.

  Like the saying "follow the money," if you want to find pedophiles follow the children.
  
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  24

  Are Ex-JW's Suffering From Burn Out?

  by IWant2Leave in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the reason that i ask is, in the two years on this forum and you tube, i've seen ex-jw's either drop off entirely or make fewer and fewer videos.

  i know the emotional toll can be high.

  is that the sole reason, or is it cost (video) or do you think it's external pressure (legal or family)?

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  JeffT

  My wife and I left in 1988. I am working on a novel based very loosely on my time as a JW. I use this board to gather current information about JW's as ideas for my book. I no longer have some kind of burning desire to educate JW's. My information is dated and useful only as studying history, so I don't contribute as much as I used to.

  I would describe my wife as an ex-XJW. She gave them fifteen years of her life and isn't going to waste any more time or energy on them.

  Incidently, after we left the JW's we were members of an independent Evangelical church for about twenty years. We're over that now too.
  
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  39

  Has Anything Positive Come Out Of This Coronavirus Isolation For You?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i guess you could make a case of more families being together although that might not be the best situation.

  less cars and pollutants mean we can breathe better.

  if you were ever uncomfortable in crowds, this could be good news.

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  JeffT

  I've published one novel on Amazon, I'm editing the sequel and making good progress. I'm also reworking the plot outlines for two JW related novels.

  Vidiot: what kind of models? Most of mine are 1/700 warships, but I just started a 1/72 B-25, it will sort of go with Hornet, which has the Doolittle raid spotted on the deck.
  
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  14

  Hospital is laying off and furloughing

  by Anony Mous in

  1. social
  2. current

  i've been having a tough time today, i just got notice that our hospital is laying off a large group of people and furloughing others.

  nurses, doctors, we just don't have enough business during this covid crisis, we've only ran at 60% capacity, while cuomo is telling us about shortages, they weren't ever realized, and nys simply won't open up fast enough for us to recover.

  nys has given notice that hospitals are likely going to be out for 4-5 more months before all restrictions will be lifted, only necessary surgeries are allowed right now, with a few hundred of millions per month revenue shortfall, this is going to destroy and contract our business and our remote (rural) hospitals are the hardest hit, probably going to close permanently.

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  JeffT

  I'm sorry to hear that. I've been close to medical care all my life (father, brother, sister all docs). Rural hospitals are going to be really hard pressed to get through this. Where in NY are you? I grew up in Cooperstown, its only by fluke deal that we had a real hospital there.
  
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  42

  Sad News Of Zing

  by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  very sad news .i am zing's partner.

  first time on any kind of blog so please forgive any mistakes.

  we have lost zing to the coronavirus this saturday gone, in the early hours.

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  JeffT

  My condolences on your loss.
  
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  4

  How can I promote a book that is exJW related?

  by VerdadTJ2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a friend in guatemala who was born and raised in el salvador.. he wrote a book in spanish which i am translating to english.. normally, he would be making enough money to provide for his family by working at a textile factory as their graphics designer.

  but, given the covid19 crisis, he was laid off.. he was hoping to make a little side money by writing a book before this whole covid19 thing hit, and he sold only a few copies of the spanish version, because the market is small and it's really small in the spanish-speaking exjw community.the book is really good, it's very entertaining, and it gives a fresh perspective of what it was to be a latino jw and coming of age in the early 1990's.so... any tips on how to promote it?

  i would like to sell it at $10usd and sell at least 100 copies.

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  JeffT

  I just self published a novel using Amazon's Kindle Direct program. It's a print on demand service that will put out books in both Kindle and Print formats. You'll need a Word file to convert to PDG which you then upload for publication. They have tips on marketing. You will need to do the translation yourself.
  
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  Not JW related, but I've published a novel

  by JeffT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's an alternate history called "1910: war in the pacific," about a (mostly naval) war between the united states and japan after the japanese buy alaska from the russians it's now on sale on amazon in both print and kindle formats.

  it grew out of a short story i wrote a number of years ago.

  that story was just posted on jeffthomasbooks.wordpress.com.

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  JeffT

  Cofty it should be available on your side of the pond, although it may take a while to get listed there.