Posts by snakeface

25

It must have been a brother!

by hoser in

i was listening to a conversation of jws recently about how trusting they are with each other and how out in "the world" you have to be ever so careful that you don't put down your purse or wallet for a minute otherwise it will be stolen.. i entered the conversation with an experience that one of my close friends had.

(true story) he was in a public place with a wallet with significant amount of cash and bank card, credit card, id, etc.. somehow he lost or misplaced the wallet, panicked of course.

he went to the police, cancelled all his cards and thought it was gone for sure.

snakeface

Yeah, when I had a book study at my house I would notice things missing after everyone left.

I had a close friend, a disabled brother, who told me this story that happened to him. He had gone shopping in Walmart and used one of their scooter/wheelchair things. He was able to stand and take a few steps, but he couldn't walk and carry things at the same time. Someone had driven him to the store. Well when he went thru the checkout line he stood up to pay. Then when he sat down in the scooter he put his wallet in the basket rather than in his pocket. Then he got into the other person's car, along with his items, but left his wallet behind.

It wasn't till he got home and his ride had left that he realized he had left his wallet behind. He called the store; they said it had not been turned in but they would call him if it did appear. But then someone came to his door. It was "worldly" people who had found the wallet. They had just come thru the checkout line, saw the wallet and reasoned that a disabled person had left it. So they looked inside for ID and immediately went to his home with it, to return it, on their way home from the store. Everything was intact. The brother was relived, of course

There are plenty of honest "worldly" people out. Not all of them are demon possesed immoral criminals, as the WT tries to scare members into believing.

175

Where Do You Think That Plane Is?

by minimus in

jw
friends

what do you think happened?

?.

snakeface

There are several possibilities...but the end result of any of them is that the plane went down in the water.

Could have been a bomb on board, or engine failure, or structural failure (plane breaking apart), or shot down by military by mistake, shot down by terrorists, or other possibilities. The possibility of any of these happening is very remote; however, any of them would end with the plane going down into the water.

9

Has anyone compared hotel prices from the WT with those on the web?

by mynameislame in

just wondering if anyone here has compared the prices of the wt approved hotels with the same hotel on hotwire, hotels dot com or some other such site?.

i know my dad used to call the hotel and use his mastercard perks to get a better rate than the wt was offering.

this was well before the internet age.

snakeface

I used to work in some hotels, and the elders would meet with the hotel mgt to make the arrangements for the following year's convention. Let's say the hotel had 200 rooms that rent for $100/night. The elders would ask for a particular rate, let's say $65; the hotel would accept the offer because it guaranteed that rooms would be sold. They'd set aside, say, 175 rooms and leave the other 25 available for walk-ins or "regular" reservations. They cannot count on walk-ins. The only way they could count on having that revenue would be to reserve for the WT or to book in some tour groups or something. We would also have the Worldwide Church of God every October. They filled up every hotel and motel in the area. The only reason any hotel would turn down any other group would be if they already booked other groups such as European tours or something. Or if the group caused problems such as partying or destructive behavior etc.

41

Do you think not having the book study in private homes has had much effect?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

it's been a few years since the organization ended the book study arrangement in private homes.. gone was the last opportunity to have tea and biscuits and a natter with the friends afterwards.. do you think people regret losing the book study?

for some, it may have been the only time they were able to get some "associaton".

.

snakeface

I HATED the book study! I hated having to go to someone's home; I always begged the elders to assign me to the group that meets at the hall.

I had a book study at my house for awhile. People's kids would break stuff, and a few days after each meeting I'd notice little things missing. I finally told the elders I did not want to have it any more.

At least at the hall you can form your own clicks and sit with whoever you want. With the book study arrangement, you were assigned to a group. Your friends could be in other groups while you were stuck with idiots you didn't like.

And as far as goodie night....the book study was during the week. People have to get up for work and school the next day. Why sit around and chat with people who do not invite you to do stuff with them on Friday or Saturday night?

57

ATMs in assembly halls

by Xanthippe in

i only heard about these atms last year on this forum.

the poster seemed to be saying they are for donating only, is that correct?

absolutely gobsmacked over this, don't the brothers see any correlation between this and the likes of jimmy swaggart?

snakeface

This really may not be as bad as it sounds. Just as brothers used to spend the whole day working in foodservice, I was one who sometimes spent the whole day in the money room, counting money and preparing it to go to he bank. 2 or 3 of us in a room all day, and stayed 3 hours after the session ended as we were still counting. Other brothers periodically took the money to the bank. I and other brothers could easily have pocketed hundreds or even thousands of $ each convention. There was always a concern about getting held up. Yes we all worked in small groups but a thief would just need a gun and take the $. When you used to give $ to the brother in the parking lot or at the literature desk, he could have been pocketing some of it.

A family attending the convention likely would have budgeted a certain amount to bring. Instead of having to carry so much cash, they can use their credit card for food, gas, and hotel, so why not their donation too? And they can pay it off the next month and not have to pay interest on it. If a gang were to go in with guns and hold up the entire place, they would not get much cash. Just jewelry and equipment. And brothers don't have to stay locked in a room all day + 3 more hours, or risk their lives transporting thousands of $ to the bank in their own cars.

37

Chat with Elder, how would you reply?

by awakening in

jw
friends

had a sit down chat with an elder who is aware of my doubts.

we were on the subject of new light, i was saying that if the org changes a teaching then the old teaching was wrong and cannot qualify as truth at the time it was taught, so where did the falsehood come from?.

his response was the gb is imperfect!!

snakeface

Here's an illustration: Suppose I'm in middle management with authority to hire. I hire someone, knowing he will steal and do other bad things. I do this to prove to onlookers that I have the superior wisdom and mgt abilities to run my department in spite of this person's misconduct.

Not very sound reasoning, is it? Same reasoning as saying Jehovah/ Jesus uses imperfect men and know these will sin, yet they will carry out their purpose anyway.

16

Where does the need to worship god come from?

by Socrateswannabe in

where does the need to worship god come from?.

this is a question that i asked myself repeatedly when i used to believe that god exists.

i struggled with this because i have never had the urge, and i imagined myself an ingrate because of it.

snakeface

I think belief in a diety satifies a need in people. a need to have a protector, the hope of a better afterlife, one who will punish wrongdoers. In a sense, santa clausan superman, E T, batman and other "heroes" who have superhuman abilities appeal to this need as well.

27

Amusing line in April 2014 KM

by respectful_observer in

under "2014 convention reminders":.

seat saving: when the doors to the facility are opened each morning, please to not rush to the seating area of your preference as if competing with fellow attenders.

a self-sacrificing spirit that moves us to seek the good of others identifies us as true christians and moves onlookers to praise god.. ................................................................ i personally don't recall them previously making reference to the jw-version of the "running of the bulls" that takes place every morning when the doors open at 8:00 a.m. have seen it myself many times, it's always good for a laugh.

snakeface

Ha Ha! Well you know what I have seen? On several occasions I have purposely sqeezed to the front of the line to get in first - for a specific reason. I've been the first one to get inside the door, and then I have RUN to the best seats. And you know what I saw every time? That the best seats were already saved (covered with WT magazines) before the rest of the people even got inside! The reason I tried that a few times was to see who was saving seats - it is the workers who get there before the doors open. They save seats for themselves and for their friends who will be arriving later. This was in Florida, at the circuit assemblies, special day, and at the district convention.

16

Where does the need to worship god come from?

by Socrateswannabe in

where does the need to worship god come from?.

this is a question that i asked myself repeatedly when i used to believe that god exists.

i struggled with this because i have never had the urge, and i imagined myself an ingrate because of it.

snakeface

Good illustration, Apognophos. You are right - there does seem to be 2 types of people (introvert/extrovert?). I was just watching segments of the movie Gravity on youtube last night, and in the "detach" scene, Sandra Bullock asks the other astronaut, "What should I do?" at a time when they are having a crisis. It made me think about that, how some people look to others, whereas with some, the thought of asking for help does not occur to them. Maybe it is people from this second group who exploited the other group's need to please (and expect a reward from) a superior being...and that might be how organized religions began.

16

Where does the need to worship god come from?

by Socrateswannabe in

where does the need to worship god come from?.

this is a question that i asked myself repeatedly when i used to believe that god exists.

i struggled with this because i have never had the urge, and i imagined myself an ingrate because of it.

snakeface

I tend to think ancient peoples observed how powerful the forces of nature are - wind, hurricanes, ocean waves, earthquakes, etc. - and reasoned that there must be some super-powerful being manipulating these things. Therefore the people wanted to get on this being's good side, rather than getting on his bad side, so they'd get good weather (for their crops). Since many of these things - sun, moon, rain, lightning, wind - live in the sky, they reasoned that "god" lives in the sky.