respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  39

  To all JDub lurkers: How can you continue to preach knowing that you are telling lies?

  by macys in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this is a damn serious question.

  you must know by now that jerusalem was not destroyed in 607 bce and that 607 was initially picked by ct russell by using his "pyramid scheme" measurements.

  there is no hiding these facts yet you continue to preach this nonsense.

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  respectful_observer

  How can you continue to preach knowing that you are telling lies?

  Unless said lurker decides to just turn in a slip every month with fake hours.
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  32

  The disappointed look on a Jehovah's Witness face - that you're living a good and fulfilling life

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  another thread got me thinking of this issue.

  i don't think you'll ever come across a set of people with such a skewed and twisted outlook on life.. my memory serves me well when i recall a sort of blood lusting excitement over things like the 9/11 atrocities.

  in fact i remember jw's describing the event as 'sad but exciting.

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  respectful_observer

  That analysis seems pretty spot on from my view.

  My perspective is a bit different since we're still "in", but we miss a lot of meetings, mostly because we travel a lot -- for work, pleasure, and family. There are a couple of people in our congregation who ALWAYS start with "it's soooooo good to see you!" at just about every meeting we're at. It's written all over their faces that they want us to voice regret, or somehow skulk around in shame or apologize for not being there for 3 weeks. Instead we have big smiles and tell them how much fun the trip to [insert foreign country, opposite coast, etc.] was.

  We're still young(ish), educated, work hard enough to have nice things, and we're articulate and sociable. However, we've decided that it's not really worth it to waste our time on, or justify ourselves to, people with whom we share no similar interests or circumstances. We don't apologize, nor are we ashamed of how we spend our time, and the great opportunities and experiences we have in life.

  We are, by far, the least "spiritual" of our extended families. Yet, we seem to enjoy the greatest "blessings" out of everyone.

  Basically our life looks (and is) pretty awesome and you can see and feel the frustration/confusion on many of their faces as to why that is.
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  43

  Counsel from Bro Losch (GB Member) to the Elders about the NFL

  by James Jack in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  while attending a week long training class for elders in patterson, bro losch gave the concluding talk about loyalty to the borg, which i was in awe of(i went more in detail in a recent post about a s.a.d.

  where losch was the speaker).

  at the end of his talk, here's what he said: .

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  respectful_observer

  An Elder sitting next to me from Alabama said: "that driver is in the wrong and needs to be counseled! I am going to write a letter to the Branch about this driver and his lack of respect toward members of the Governing Body"!

  Since he was from Alabama, he is likely a Crimson Tide fan, and therefore cannot understand why anyone would prefer the NFL to college football.
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  91

  Is the Watchtower organisation facing the biggest crisis of its history?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  recent developments make me think they might be.

  the problems they are facing are not just lack of funds but also draining authority, and the two could be a heady and explosive mix.

  one of the best analyses ever written of the watchtower was a book called "trumpet of prophecy" by sociologist james beckford in the 1970s.

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  respectful_observer

  While I feel that JWdom could survive, I think it is beginning to go into a downward spiral. I think that spiral could end with a smaller, weaker JWdom or maybe a shake-up in leadership and theology (what some might call a cleansing or reformation). I just don't think it can recover in that it can start really growing again and picking up steam as it did after its former problems or crises.

  I get the sense that the "downward spiral" will be more evident in the "quality" vs. quantity of JWs. Whatever growth the organization has will likely be from those less educated, and from the more economically challenged parts of the world. As a result, the mathematical growth on the Annual Report will really be a representation of true growth in areas just mentioned, but those growth figures will be eaten into by the attrition that results as more and more people with critical thinking skills fade into inactivity.
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  40

  Boredom at the Kingdom Hall meetings

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  put aside all the stupid rules,beliefs,doctrines and practices of the jehovah's witnesses.this is one of the main reasons why i stopped attending all meetings!

  boredom.

  monotone speakers.

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  respectful_observer

  I would bring THE NEW YORKER magazine and read the main article which usually took 45 minutes to read.That was the only way I would make it through the boring Watchtower study.
  One time an elder's little son looked back from his seat and caught me reading something different than the Watchtower. He looked at me and asked me,'' What are you reading?'' I said,''The Watchtower!'' He said,''That's not the Watchtower!'' He then tried to tell his mom on what he saw but the mom told him to be quiet.

  I was at the Regional Convention a few years back, and because of the tiered seating I was able to clearly see the sister in front of me spent the entire morning reading "50 Shades of Grey" on her iPad!!
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  21

  Pictures in the Watchtower

  by Sour Grapes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after sitting through last sunday's watchtower i got so sick of seeing the bobbing/nodding heads when talking about the pictures.

  they act like god himself took the picture.

  there must have been 10 comments about the group in service and the one brother was looking at his phone with a smile, which is a dead give away that he was reading something interesting.. what got me was how the older brother in the posed picture had a bible in his hand had a stern look on his face looking at the young brother.

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  respectful_observer

  
  alcyone3 hours agohttp://wol.jw.org/en/wol/mp/r1/lp-e/w13/2013/1406

  I'm blown away. For once the photo depicting working late isn't a white collar setting. Virtually every photo/illustration in WT publishing history that relates to the conflict between employment issues (overtime, flirting in the workplace, etc.) and spiritual responsibilities is an office/white collar setting. It's those scary college educated people working in offices that are the real danger.
  
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  8

  Wow...not even sure this qualifies as a "fade"

  by respectful_observer in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm posting this both as an anecdote and also to see if, by chance, this person reads this site.

  (if you do, it'd be great to catch up since you now live fairly close to me!).

  i've got a friend who until very recently was actively serving as an elder in hall close to bethel, and on a body heavy with bethelites.

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  respectful_observer

  Hope he's OK.

  He appears to be. One of his parents finally got in touch and was told he wanted to be left alone.

  I feel bad for him. He's a really nice guy who obviously is dealing with significant issues and feels like he has to literally cut off everyone in his life. I just wish he knew that there are people he could talk to that won't judge.
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  8

  Wow...not even sure this qualifies as a "fade"

  by respectful_observer in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm posting this both as an anecdote and also to see if, by chance, this person reads this site.

  (if you do, it'd be great to catch up since you now live fairly close to me!).

  i've got a friend who until very recently was actively serving as an elder in hall close to bethel, and on a body heavy with bethelites.

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  respectful_observer

  I'm posting this both as an anecdote and also to see if, by chance, this person reads this site. (If you do, it'd be great to catch up since you now live fairly close to me!)

  I've got a friend who until very recently was actively serving as an elder in hall close to Bethel, and on a body heavy with Bethelites. He suddenly moved out of the area, providing different explanations, and different destinations, to different people. As soon as he moved, he canceled all social media accounts and changed his cell phone number. Not even his family had means of contacting him or knew exactly where he moved. He has not been to a meeting since, his old body of elders has not been contacted by any new congregation or received any requests to move his publisher card elsewhere.

  Everyone-- friend, family, old congregation are completely flummoxed. He was an active, engaged elder one day, and completely off the grid the next.

  Brings a new meaning to entering the "witness protection" program.
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  21

  Drink Driving

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. humour

  with the christmas almost upon us i would like to share a personal experience with you about drinking and driving.. as you may know the local police are having a serious go at drink drivers this year... well, a couple of days ago i was out for an evening with friends and had a small number of drinks before dinner, followed by some rather nice red wine.

  feeling jolly i still had the sense to know that i may be very slightly over the limit.. that's when i did something that i've never done before - i took a taxi home.. sure enough on the way home there was a police road check, but since it was a taxi they waved it past.

  i arrived home safely without incident.. this was a real surprise as i had never driven a taxi before, i don't know where i got it and now that it's in my garage i don't know what to do with it.. any ideas?.

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  respectful_observer

  Not to make light of driving under the influence, I'll share this story:

  There was a local bar who had a reputation for over-serving its patrons, resulting in a recent spike in drunk driving related accidents in the area. As a reaction, the local police department decided to park a police car just down the road from the bar's parking lot so they could monitor patrons behavior as they left and walked to their cars. As the end of the night came and "last call" was made, the patrons began to stream out into the parking lot, each heading toward their respective cars.

  Immediately the police officer watching from his car noticed that one patron in particular was in a really bad state. His walking was unsteady. He wandered the parking lot back and forth trying to locate his car. Finally as enough cars had cleared out, he found his car. As he leaned against his car to steady himself to unlock to the door, he dropped his keys on the ground. He finally collected himself enough to get into the car, start the engine and pull out. The moment the car's tires touched the public road, the police officer flipped on his lights and pulled the driver over.

  As the officer approached the car, the window rolled down. The officer asked, "Sir, good evening. Have you had anything to drink tonight?"

  The driver responded, "Not a drop officer!"

  "Really??? I find that hard to believe, you see, I've been watching you for the last 10 minutes stumble around the parking lot until you were the last car left. If you haven't been drinking, how would you explain that?"

  "Oh, that's easy officer. You see....I was the decoy!"
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  17

  Congregation average

  by dothemath in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a while back at our co visit, he commended the cong.

  because our average hours had gone up.. we went from around 7.3 to about 7.5. i recall the days when anything less than 10 was considered awful.. of course now, they don't even print the hours in the km or anywhere.. i was wondering how these numbers compared to other congregations?.

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  respectful_observer

  The best one is the body I was on many years ago. They would take the hours of fathers of children and deduct 4-5 hrs depending on the month. The reason: those hours are the weekly study with his children so the remainder is his actual support for the ministrySeriously!?! WTF?

  How times have changed. There's brother in my hall who I'm close with who has never been seen out in service in the last 3 years, and who hands in reports 6 months at a time just before the C.O.'s visit. He admitted to me that he only reports 2-4 hours a month, yet they approached him just a few weeks ago and asked him if he'd be interested in running mics and being an attendant because "they really need the help".