Posts by nmthinker

don't forget to post your reported assembly and convention attendance and baptisms and whether they are higher or lower than customary (if you know).. here's some detail passed to me of the last circuit assembly held at surrey (uk) assembly hall.. attendance 922 baptisms 3 (half circuit).

nmthinker

Perusing the stats in this thread and the reddit thread (which is gone for some reason) I think WTBS has GOT to be faking their baptized and increased numbers.

In the yearbook they consistently report about a ~3% baptismal rate where 2/3 of that number leave the org as deduced by the actual increase of average publishers. But the baptismal numbers I've seen here and in the reddit thread are consistently less than .5%, half a percent, many times less than .3%

I think they are making their numbers up. With the baptismal rates so low as evidenced at every convention and assembly they are likely losing numbers in the Unites States. Its almost guaranteed

49

Forgiving Loans the Watchtower Way

by cofty in

bank - thank you for maintaining your loan repayments for the past 3 years.

to show our appreciation we are forgiving the balance of your loan.

borrower - yeah!.

nmthinker

It should come as no surprise that the LDC video has been removed from the jw.org website. It was called "Designing Future Kingdom Halls".

LDC? What LDC?

30

Pledge for Global Assistance Arrangement - $15 per publisher!

by nmthinker in

last night our congregation read a letter for the global assistance arrangement combined with the traveling overseer assistance arrangement.

the "recommended" amount was $15 per publisher, which was well over $1000 for our hall.. it seemed steep.

our congregation does not have this type of money.

nmthinker

ThinkerBelle - The letter basically admits that the funds can be used for anything. There is no separate fund, it all goes into one big slush account.

30

Pledge for Global Assistance Arrangement - $15 per publisher!

by nmthinker in

last night our congregation read a letter for the global assistance arrangement combined with the traveling overseer assistance arrangement.

the "recommended" amount was $15 per publisher, which was well over $1000 for our hall.. it seemed steep.

our congregation does not have this type of money.

nmthinker

Last night our congregation read a letter for the Global Assistance Arrangement combined with the Traveling Overseer Assistance arrangement. The "recommended" amount was $15 per publisher, which was well over $1000 for our hall.

It seemed steep. Our congregation does not have this type of money. I would be surprised if we had that amount in the bank and would be able to send it right away. Strangely our latest finance report is not posted on the board.

Also we have separate pledges after the circuit overseer visit is done. Something doesn't add up.

The final bit of irony is that there is a special fund for taking care of unexpected events that affect the kingdom hall BUILDINGS. Meanwhile they are firing people all over the world without giving them any compensation! Where is the "orphans and widows" fund?

Pathetic, really. I will never give WTBS another dime of my money. I'll be giving it to orphans and widows, the needy of my family and the congregation.

20

need input: My wife is at it again...this time about the faithful and discreet slave

by goingthruthemotions in

so you all know that i go with my wife to the meeting to protect the kids from the drival and pacify her.

tonight we are sitting there and she points to mathew and says something about the faithful and discreet slave and she said eplain this.

so breaking away from what i was reading in the meeting..." in search of christian freedom by franz"...i said.

nmthinker

When I try to reason with my wife she becomes visibly agitated and lashes out. One night we watched the faithful slave is not 1900 years old video. She doesn't understand doctrine even though she is a regular pioneer. She asked for more explanation so I detailed the reason for the talk and why is was necessary for them to bring this up (post 2013).

Within 20 minutes we had an extremely heated argument on an unrelated subject. I won't go into details but it struck me how absolutely off the rails she went. I couldn't make sense of what what going on in her head. It was like a switch clicked in her brain and she became mentally unstable. My wife has never shown any symptoms of mental illness. She is an extremely smart and capable woman.

Anotjer time I shared how the way the elders deal with child abusers could lead to cases where know child abusers were in the hall unknown to other families. The discussion started calmly but within 10 minutes she basically exploded and was shouting every vile thing at me. What made this especially remarkable was that I had just shared with her something I hadn't told another person before (except my therapist) that I had been touched inappropriately by a MS (study instructor) when I was between 10-12 and that the brother is now a coordinator at his congregation. I was asking for her advice and support is how to handle the situation and confront the brother. When I turned the discussion towards the org's policies she shut down and became very agitated.

I'm convinced this is the cognitive dissonance which we hear so much about. I believe it is physically painful for her and causes her to act very erratically.

If your wife is listening to you that's step 1. But it sounds like she is experiencing cognitive dissonance, which is painful for her and causes her to lash out. Im waiting for the opportunity to talk to my wife when she is in her genuine self, away from meetings and indoctrination. It will probably be when we are on vacation next.

81

Do you believe Jehovah's Witnesses' Governing Body is the "faithful slave"?

by Marvin Shilmer in

this question is known to be posed by jws to other jws as an acid test of loyalty.

i'm not the first to notice what i'm about to point out and comment accordingly, but today i felt compelled to add a short article on my blog highlighting the new language that governing body member geoffrey jackson supplies as a response.

a person who honestly hesitates to respond with a robust "yes!

nmthinker

I am not sure what the author wanted the reader to understand when reading that.

Doesn't that seem WEIRD to you?

the wts has made public that there is nothing special about the HS that God gives the FDS, it is the same HS experienced by all JW. JW understand and believe it.

Riiiiight - thats why they instruct mothers to shun their children if they believe anything besides the "healthful teaching" - which itself is defined by the Governing body. No special privilege claimed there!

31

Having One Of Those "Pondering Disassociation" Days :(

by freemindfade in

there are a lot of things that make me have days like this, the utter embarrassment of being are part of a cult that protects child abusers, that enforces emotional brutality through shunning, and that lies constantly.

the lying i can tolerate, the world is built on bullshit, i have a high lie tolerance.

i can ignore it if it has no effect on me etc.

nmthinker

Thanks for sharing your story with us. I'm in a very similar situation.

My wife is a regular pioneer and returned from pioneer school about a month ago. Upon completing the school she has become even more entrenched and transformed into a super-devout witness. She started asking my how I feel about loyalty to the governing body and the organization as a whole.

Funny thing is, my wife has always been the "spiritual" go-getter although she has always been quite shaky on the doctrine. When we talk about doctrine she is amazed at how much I know and how well I can explain things (in a very factual way). Ironically enough, throughout my childhood and pre-awakening adult life I was perpetually confused about the doctrine, I could never truly understand the core of what we believe. The reason, as we all know, is because the R&F are intentionally kept in this state because the organization doesn't want people waking up to the insanity of, for example, two-tier salvation and Jesus not being the mediator for the vast majority of witnesses.

Anyways before I go further on a tangent things have been great between us until she came back from pioneer school. Now she feels GUILTY that I'm not taking the lead and she probably thinks I'm spiritually weak and will be destroyed at the big A.

I've told her how I honestly feel about DF'ing and while she listens and lets it sit for a while, after a few days she tries to re-emphasize that I'm doing something terribly wrong by not obeying the faithful slave. Mind you she never did this until after returning from pioneer school. She is basically taken on the pattern of guilt-tripping me the same way the org does to all its members. It feels very uncomfortable, because this is my wife who I love dearly and I know truly loves me.

I feel like the wheels are coming off because on the one hand I'm further emotionally and mentally detaching from this religion, meanwhile my wife is trying to be the best witness she's ever been. I'm worried she will feel guilty enough about my non-zeal to tell the elders or word will get out if my wife tells someone.

She can sense the distance between us is growing, at times even begging me to never leave her. In the past she has said that its scripturally OK to separate from apostates (although not divorce). If I reveal how I really feel and DA, it would do a lot to relieve the pressure from me, but it could be devastating and damaging to my dear wife. I keep telling myself "love does not look for it's own interest" that it bears and believes all things. So far I'm coping but I feel like this conflict is killing me from within.

35

Article: Reveal News Organization: JWs Cover-Up of Child Sex Abuse and Oust a Victim

by AndersonsInfo in

https://www.revealnews.org/article/jehovahs-witnesses-cover-up-child-sex-abuse-and-oust-a-victim/.

jehovahs witnesses cover up child sex abuse and oust a victim.

topics: criminal justice / religion .

nmthinker

Amazing article. By far the most damning revelation in that the branch instructed that the elders not try to investigate other cases of possible abuse when they had strong suspicions of a serial abuser. However, years later when Debbie, a disfellowshipped mother made a verbal comment to her child in poor judgement they recommended to call the police!

That is absolutely incredible, my jaw dropped when I read this. I don't know what to say, its truly disgusting!

The elders informed the Watchtower that they suspected Lawrence could have more victims – other children who had visited his home in the 1970s and ’80s – and asked whether they should investigate. The Watchtower wrote back that it would not be “the course of wisdom for the elders to take the initiative to approach these possible victims concerning this matter.”

....

“Marley was having a real hard time wrapping her mind around a gay lifestyle at all,” McDaniel said. “She would come into my bedroom at my apartment in the middle of the night and say, ‘Mom, I need to know. Please tell me.’ ”
In her frustration one night, McDaniel said she sarcastically told Marley: “What, do you want us to do it in front of you?”
McDaniel’s comment reached her family and the elders, who reported it to the Watchtower, according to documents from Marley’s custody hearing in 2012. The Watchtower instructed them to report it to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services as a possible case of child sexual abuse. They did not call police when faced with accusations that Lawrence had molested McDaniel, but they brought in the authorities over this comment.