JeffT

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Posts by JeffT

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  32

  Sanderson’s “Young People” convention talk

  by FFGhost in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so did anyone else have the misfortune of listening to sanderson’s talk corresponding to the saturday morning convention program?.

  full title is “young people - choose a path that leads to peace!”.

  the basic idea is, hey you teenagers, you ought to be pioneers, wt construction workers, and/or bethelites.. i tried to put myself back in time an embarrassing number of decades…if i were in this talk’s target audience, how would i respond?.

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  JeffT

  The talk was virtually identical to every “Hey you kids, forget about college” talk given for the past 50, yes, 50 years.

  It was a talk like this at a circuit assembly in 1988 that started my personal investigation that led to DA'ing a year later. My focus was my two older children who were just entering their teenage years. They were clearly college material and I wanted them to have a decent life.

  I had already defied the elders and went back to school in the early eighties. I guess they are right - going to college and being a JW doesn't work.
  
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  13

  Mega Millions Jackpot…

  by Biahi in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  in the us, our mega millions lottery jackpot has reached over 1billion dollars!

  what would you do if you won?

  i think i’d run public service announcements on television, alerting people of the dangers of the wt cult, among other things.

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  JeffT

  In 1990 my parents came into some money - $900K not all that much in comparison to what we're talking about here. For those wanting to know that don't remember my history, it was half the Nobel prize in medicine.

  People poured out of the woodwork asking for money. We got letters, phone calls, you name it. One lady wanted us to buy here a trailer. We got at least one request for help with rehab (that is at least a good use of the money). Some one else offered to give Dad the cure for cancer for some money.

  In the end, Mom and Dad gave the money to their team at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. I don't know the details, knowing my parents I believe they weighted the money to give more to lower paid employees at The Hutch. My boss at the time was flabbergasted that some one could have their hands on that much money and give it away.

  Based on that history, I say Blondie's got the right idea, disappear from the face of the earth, every nutjob on the planet will be trying to find you.
  
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  9

  Employee "Preaching " to other employees.

  by Foolednomore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have hired a new employee, he is a good accountant.

  has never experienced jw's but i have three employees who are.

  one elder, two ms.. the new employee came to me an asked questions about jw's that the elder employee has been preaching to him.

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  JeffT

  The problem is when you work in a place where the management are jws and you are not.

  Actually, at least in the United States, the way out of this one is rather simple: call your state Dept of Labor and/or Unemployment agency. Tell them your employer is harassing you and has created a hostile work place. They will contact employer and tell them to knock it off. That letter will probably include a note that the only reasonable company policy is to enforce a "no politics or religion policy." If they fire you, you can make a good case that it was retaliatory.

  I was on the sidelines but had a good view of two such fights (no JW's but similar issues). One employer lost about $100K, the other $250K.

  At my last employer (a 28 day rehab facility) I had a co worker who was a JW that didn't know I was an ex, as I respected the company no religion or politics policy. When I heard him preaching to patients I reported him up the chain of command. He left shortly after, I think HR made it clear he could shut up or leave.
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  13

  Anyone else heard this?

  by BoogerMan in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the other day, i chatted to an elderly woman and her daughter who was about 45-50. total strangers.. we were discussing covid when the daughter said, "my neighbor studies with jw's, and the jw's told her 3 months before the virus started, that they had to stop going from door to door because something was coming.".

  i've never heard anything like this before - have you?.

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  JeffT

  the JW's told her 3 months before the virus started, that they had to stop going from door to door because something was coming.

  "Something" is a big word. I'm predicting that "something" big will happen this fall. If the Republicans win big in the election I'll say "see, I predicted this." If the Democrats win big I will say "See, I predicted this." If the Mariners win the world series, everybody in Seattle would agree that was something. Maybe Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr announce a reunion tour. See how that works?
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  JeffT

  I'm curious about something not in the timeline (which is excellent BTW). How/when/where did Lloyd and Dijana meet and get married? I just wonder where that fits in.
  
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  17

  Rosemont Cemetery II

  by RolRod in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  okay, so here's a follow-up to my post a while back regarding the society tearing down the pyramid monument.

  they cleared the area and this is what they did.

  notice ... nothing about the watchtower connected to it, just slabs of cheap concrete..

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  JeffT

  In the 19th century it was common practice to shorten first names on documents (or apparently headstones). "Chas" would have been understood to be short for Charles. "Jos" was short for Joseph, "Wm" for William etc.

  http://genealogyintime.com/dictionaries/list-of-first-name-abbreviations.html
  
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  173

  Roe vs Wade Overturned by US Supreme Court!

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  i know there was a leak a few weeks back, but this really does seem to have come out of the blue.. the anomaly was the original decision.

  it clearly had no basis in law or the constitution, and was a flimsy, ridiculous ruling.

  plus the whole thing was based on a fraudulent case in the first place.. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61928898.

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  JeffT

  One for the guys: did your significant other ever wake you up a 3 AM to tell you she felt the fetus move?
  
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  173

  Roe vs Wade Overturned by US Supreme Court!

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  i know there was a leak a few weeks back, but this really does seem to have come out of the blue.. the anomaly was the original decision.

  it clearly had no basis in law or the constitution, and was a flimsy, ridiculous ruling.

  plus the whole thing was based on a fraudulent case in the first place.. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61928898.

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  JeffT

  A thought experiment, I can't find any case law on this, but I suspect we'll see some soon. Pretend you're on the jury:
  

  A pregnant woman gets hit by a drunk driver. She survives, the unborn baby dies. Can the drunk driver be charged with murder? If he is, can he argue that it can't be murder because a fetus is not a human being and has no right to life?

  For the record, I'm generally opposed to abortion, but I don't think I'm smart enough to decide for everybody. I do think that the first three months should be enough time to decide what to do. After that it, its a matter of saving the mother's life or similar situation.
  
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  14

  Sixteen years later and wow is life different

  by BlackSwan of Memphis in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have no idea if this is the right place to post this.

  if you're just leaving the witnesses or questioning and toying with the idea of leaving..... life goes by fast.

  and either you rip the band aid off and deal with it or let it fester and eat you alive.

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  JeffT

  I'm 71. I became a JW in 1973 during all the pre-1975 hype. Looking back I had about one or two years when I was totally into it, a few years of hanging out with JW friends, got married, and just wanted a normal life with wife and children. I was not very into it for a number of years.

  The Watchtower's position on higher education was the issue that finally pushed me over the edge. I wanted a good life for my children. Wife (also a convert) and I DA'd ourselves in 1989 after a year of independent study at the library and joining an XJW support group. (That's what we had before the internet )

  All three children have college degrees, two have advanced degrees and the third is thinking about picking up a Master's.
  
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  5

  Poor Little Dewey, Watering Flowers Alone in Space

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the earliest movies i can remember watching, probably because of the heart-wrenching ending with little dewey alone in space, watering the flowers in the garden, was silent running.

  i'm not going to admit to how long i sobbed after watching that.. apart from it being a pioneering movie about environmental apocalypse and the people involved going on to create other great scifi movies, and the robots being the inspiration for r2d2 in starwars ... it reminds me of growing up.. it's now a 50 year old movie.

  but back i thought the little robot was real.

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  JeffT

  I saw that when it was released, I was in college at the time. I loved that movie, although it has some big plot holes. The spaceships were fantastic!