it was the summer of '72.
i was 24 but had been the presiding overseer or congregation servant of a small congregation in the county seat of an arkansas county for about 3 years.. my regular pioneer wife of nearly four years was big and pregnant, with our attempts at birth control unsuccessful.. one of my wife's several bible studies was with a young woman named brenda whom my wife had encountered in door to door work.. brenda had two young children she could barely handle and was married to a very countryfied arkie named henry who worked as a chicken catcher, one of the most difficult jobs at the local chicken plant.. brenda eventually revealed that she'd been raised as a jw, but was never baptized, having left home to marry henry at age 14. she spoke of her family in texas, mentioning her mother and two older sisters, all jws she said.. one morning, just before the meeting for field service, we noticed a small car in kingdom hall parking lot.
my wife and i were parked to one side of the hall in our aluminum nashua house trailer.. two young women got out of the car and soon joined us for the meeting for service, identifying themselves as brenda's sisters from texas.. the two girls, ages 17 and 20, were distractingly beautiful, with the eldest decked out like a magnificent southern belle including hat and heels, her high-end clothing accentuating her very obvious curves.. with no one else showing up for field service, it ended up just the four of us in the car group with the two texas girls in the back seat.. starting our time at a not-at-home, the 20 year old asked if she could accompany me to "hear my presentation.
Stephane - “…That's where my imagination always stopped - my wife crying about something like that. An absolute, unbearable nightmare…”
I heard that.
Like I said before… most times, I didn’t even realize it if/when a woman was expressing an interest, but that kind of scenario still played out in my head from time to time, and it was always fucking horrible.
I guess that just means we’re decent(ish) guys. 🤷
it was the summer of '72.
i was 24 but had been the presiding overseer or congregation servant of a small congregation in the county seat of an arkansas county for about 3 years.. my regular pioneer wife of nearly four years was big and pregnant, with our attempts at birth control unsuccessful.. one of my wife's several bible studies was with a young woman named brenda whom my wife had encountered in door to door work.. brenda had two young children she could barely handle and was married to a very countryfied arkie named henry who worked as a chicken catcher, one of the most difficult jobs at the local chicken plant.. brenda eventually revealed that she'd been raised as a jw, but was never baptized, having left home to marry henry at age 14. she spoke of her family in texas, mentioning her mother and two older sisters, all jws she said.. one morning, just before the meeting for field service, we noticed a small car in kingdom hall parking lot.
my wife and i were parked to one side of the hall in our aluminum nashua house trailer.. two young women got out of the car and soon joined us for the meeting for service, identifying themselves as brenda's sisters from texas.. the two girls, ages 17 and 20, were distractingly beautiful, with the eldest decked out like a magnificent southern belle including hat and heels, her high-end clothing accentuating her very obvious curves.. with no one else showing up for field service, it ended up just the four of us in the car group with the two texas girls in the back seat.. starting our time at a not-at-home, the 20 year old asked if she could accompany me to "hear my presentation.
Who is that? Zendaya?
we have lonely old folks and even some not so old.. they know the gb are not who they claim to be.. but they stay in the congregation because they are lonely.
i wonder what percentage of jws this is the case, i would guess a lot.
.
Beth - “…the incredible shrinking religion.”
LOL, I wish I’d thought of that one first!
😄🫶
i still read on reddit.
(though no longer post) occasionally, i'll venture over to the ex-seventh day adventist (sda) sub and catch up a bit.
it's been a long time.
Phizzy - “…Mere numbers mean nothing…”
This.
It took me a while before I finally figured that out… that it doesn’t matter how many alleged members adherents the WTS claims.
If they’re just warming seats, tuning out on Zoom, fibbing about their activity, living as they please without quaking in fear of being disfellowshipped removed, or - most importantly - closing their wallets (either because they’re PIMO or broke as shit)…
…any numbers the WT claims are essentially irrelevant.
awake 1976 - should a pocket calculator be in your pocket?.
somehow this totally zany 'bible based' article passed me by first time around!.
anyone remember it?.
WTWizard - “…do they really want life to be a complete drudgery?”
When I was younger, I thought maybe the WT leadership figured that since secular infrastructure could be initially problematic in the New System (for a number of obvious reasons), the rank-and-file might be better off not letting themselves become overly dependent on technology.
These days, I think they just never wanted the average JW to be too comfortable, lest they pine for the New System a little less… and let’s face it, life these days is arguably more comfortable than back in, say, the 50s and 60s.
Similar to how they never seemed to particularly want overly good-looking members. I always found the sheer blandness of young people portrayed in JW media was depressing AF… I’d be like, “this is how a ‘righteous’ kid is supposed to look?” 😟
i was thinking about the male children ( even unbaptized ) being placed ahead of the sisters.
; and i thought the jw were raising a bunch of misogynist.
would these kids not feel more important than their mothers let alone other women.
A lot of folks tend to forget that virtually all the female heroes of the Bible were portrayed as brave, strong, and tough.
family move to remote pacific island to serve were the need is great get a mention in the year book.. however one of the (married) boys in the large family has sex with his sister while his wife is in hospital giving birth to their child.
.
all hushed up not even a word said and hes now an elder d.fing people for lesser crimes.. young couple dating leave the jws and move in togather doing drugs partying ect.. his family grandfather,uncles, dad ect are all elders.. after a few years they decide to come back to the jws and are married in the k.h a few months latter.. 1 elder questions them getting married in the k.h and is voted down by his family.. to many drunks and c.s.a to mention.. karter..
I didn’t see a lot of the kind of experiences described here. Maybe it’s ‘cause I was young and my parents were able to shield me somewhat.
I don’t doubt them, though…
…and I think a big reason for it is the Org’s hardline stances increasingly alienate the majority of decent, conscientious folks, to the point where only the assholes were left with any authority.
Then it’s too late.
i still read on reddit.
(though no longer post) occasionally, i'll venture over to the ex-seventh day adventist (sda) sub and catch up a bit.
it's been a long time.
I don’t think it has much to do with sexuality.
It’s just easier these days to reject something you can’t subscribe to, especially belief systems that have a poor track record.
family move to remote pacific island to serve were the need is great get a mention in the year book.. however one of the (married) boys in the large family has sex with his sister while his wife is in hospital giving birth to their child.
.
all hushed up not even a word said and hes now an elder d.fing people for lesser crimes.. young couple dating leave the jws and move in togather doing drugs partying ect.. his family grandfather,uncles, dad ect are all elders.. after a few years they decide to come back to the jws and are married in the k.h a few months latter.. 1 elder questions them getting married in the k.h and is voted down by his family.. to many drunks and c.s.a to mention.. karter..
Know what’s really fucked up?
When loyalists who are actually in the loop take it to the next level and have the audacity to suggest that if it’s this bad in “God’s Exclusive Earthly Organization”, it’s gotta be an absolute nightmare in “The World”.
🙄
https://www.eurasiareview.com/01072024-russia-further-jail-term-for-answering-fellow-prisoners-questions-about-faith/.
july 1, 2024. by f18news.
by victoria arnold.
Agreed, and the teabagging-level irony is not lost on me.
The problems start when you’ve made so many “boogeymen” (and done so in such an egregious and harmful manner) that they get fed up, find allies, organize, and start to fight back.
