england - snowing like the north pole.
europe - deep freeze.
alaska - super deep freeze & snow.
We were supposed to be visiting cantleave and nugget last weekend and sleeping beauty and hairy he goat were coming down too.
Severe weather warnings meant we had to postpone our visit till later this month as England grinds to an almost complete halt when it snows.
Apparently it costs our economy billions and over the last weekend there were over 2000 traffic incidents directly caused by snow!
whilst my parents were at the meeting yesterday i let myself in to their house to look through photos.
i was looking for old family photos for a family gathering we are planning as a surprise for my folks.
anyway, there were tons of pics of them at bethel visits throughout the world.
What I always found fascinating about the African couples is that the same fabric is used for both the woman's and man's clothing.
The couple at our hall were always colour and fabric co-ordinated unless R had an assignment or was reading the WT. In his African attire he looked so smart compared to some of the other brothers in their creased and faded suits.
i always thought they were the most boring things i'd ever seen.
a picture of someone preaching in a different land every month.. i always ended up hanging something far more entertaining, like an nfl calendar..
Holy Spirit wasn't powerful enought to get them as far as Fuerte. I haven't actually seen one since 2004
whilst my parents were at the meeting yesterday i let myself in to their house to look through photos.
i was looking for old family photos for a family gathering we are planning as a surprise for my folks.
anyway, there were tons of pics of them at bethel visits throughout the world.
I remember Twickenham assembly and the wonderful national costumes worn by the African bros and sisters. It was one of the highlights.
The same costumes were worn as normal attire to meetings and out on field service in Spain by the African witnesses, but to go on the platform the brother had to wear a conventional western style suit.
I never understood that.
whilst my parents were at the meeting yesterday i let myself in to their house to look through photos.
i was looking for old family photos for a family gathering we are planning as a surprise for my folks.
anyway, there were tons of pics of them at bethel visits throughout the world.
i figured out why many people become jws or remain in the religion.
they actually believe that they are special!
they look down on everyone else because they alone are god's people.
Yesterday I spoke to an active JW who has been posted to Mexico for his job. He has no idea of my true feelings or that I haven't been to a meeting since 2009.
We discussed many things and I hinted that I might be having doubts about my faith and the integrity of the GB regarding brothers accused of paedophilia and the society's treatment of the victims. I was completely shocked by his reaction. He said that under no circumstances should the police be involved unless there are witnesses.
He also said I should remember what happened to the rebellious Israelites who questioned the authority of Moses and Aaron.
Not once throughout the entire conversation did he mention armageddon or it being close to the end, only that we should be completely obedient to the GB and not question anything they do or say. It was like talking to a robot.
Amelia xxx
i'm scanning through some of the results from the 2012 jw survey as they're coming in.. the most populous of the six voting categories with 76 voters so far is my own category, for those who are inactive, or "faded/fading" (not disfellowshipped or da'd, but no longer reporting time on the ministry).. one statistic already leaping out at me surrounds the question "do you experience 'pre-emptive shunning' from active witnesses, who view you as 'bad association'?
" of the 74 who voted on this so far, 76% have answered "yes" to this question.. it's early days, and obviously i will have a clearer picture of the extent of the problem once the survey closes at the end of the year.
however, the results already in suggest that pre-emptive shunning is widespread among inactive ones, despite this not being an "official" policy of the society.. i was interested in your opinions as to why this may be?
I am being shunned by those who are aware I no longer go to meetings.
Amelia xxx
excuse the rather pretentious title of this thread, but it has been decided that the best way of getting a message to the governing body is just to post it prominently online.
whether they choose to condescend to read the survey results or not is up to them, but the likelihood is far greater if i publically "throw down the gauntlet" via our web pages.. anyway, my message to the governing body (in case you want to read it) together with the 2011 survey results in downloadable pdf format can be found on the following link:.
http://jwsurvey.org/general-information/my-message-to-the-governing-body-the-results-of-the-2011-global-survey.
Amelia - thanks so much for taking the survey! I mentioned you in the results PDF, but I was reluctant to mention you by name incase you didn't appreciate the attention! Sorry if that was a bad call...
It's all good thanks Cedars.
There was brother who sang in bars for a living in Spain (not approved of even though one of the bars was actually owned by a Jehovah's Witness!?) and part of his repertoire was R.E.M. Losing My Religion and Everybody Hurts.
Amelia xxx
i figured out why many people become jws or remain in the religion.
they actually believe that they are special!
they look down on everyone else because they alone are god's people.
I am sure if some-one had thought me special I would never have started that damn Watchtower study in the first place.
It was fun while it lasted.
