Posts by dontplaceliterature

71

This is making the witness email rounds...Anyone believe them?

by Botzwana in

does jehovah know what is going on, and does he help?.

(as told by bro.

spangenberg, c.o.

Awesome idea for a prank.

by baltar447 in

jw
friends

it would be super funny to pay a non-dub like, $20 to dress up like a smurf and try to attend a meeting at a kh or assembly while someone else posing as a dub films the whole thing.

maybe the plant could even wear a changable disguise and duck under his seat, quickly put smurf attire on, stand up, scream, "i'm tired of this shit!

", and run out of the assembly hall.. it would be epic.

I was seriously thinking today how funny it would be to show up with a group of guys all dressed in drag with badges on. Everyone would be too nervous to offend that they wouldn't dare question the legitimacy of the sex of the queens, but it would sure make for some interesting stories/video.

Disclaimer: I am not interested personally in dressing in women's clothes.

46

No can I get out of going in service?

by Captain Obvious in

jw
friends

as some of you who read my previous thread know, my matrix moment has passed, and i am on my way out.

i am trying very hard to fade slowly in hopes that my wife will wake up, and maybe my family too.

the problem is, my conscience still works well, and i don't want to go out in if service and tell people things that i know aren't true.

dontplaceliterature

The most realistic answer to your question is this, IMHO:

You are one among many in your congregation who don't want to go out. If you stop, and don't turn in a report, you will still be one among many. You would be surprised how many do not turn in reports, I think. Chances are, your elders barely go out in field service, unless they are retired, or you have an exceptional congregation. So, even if you quit altogether, they will likely not immediatley jump onto you about it. If they do at all, it will only be because they are concerned about having to report you as inactive to the Circuit Overseer, and they know they'll get shit about it from him.

If you don't turn in a report, I wouldn't be surprised if your Service Overseer doesn't call you and ask you for your time, and when you honestly reply that you have none, he asks you if it is just okay to go ahead and mark you down for an "hour" because you "probably talked to someone without realizing it." This way, he can avoid having ANOTHER irregular/inactive publisher on the books, and dodge some tough questions about his capability as a shepherd when the CO comes around.

My advise would be to just stop going if you don't want to. They can't do anything about it besides try to encourage you...and lets face it, they are busy people with lives, and jobs, and families...they won't try to hard.

Just my two cents. My own experience has confirmed everything I just wrote, btw.

-dpl

62

A new member of the thinking class

by Captain Obvious in

jw
friends

this is my first post on this forum, though it feels like i already know some of you here.

i have been lurking for a couple of months now, and i must say, there honestly seems to be more love and respect here than any forum i have ever seen on any forum of any kind.

i am 25 years old, married 3 years to my wonderful wife who is 22. we had a somewhat classic jw upbringing... which i now know has been our biggest problem.

dontplaceliterature

Capn'!

WELCOME!

I wish you the best with your wife. We are about the same age and I have been married for a while myself, with not much luck talking to my wife. Initially, she would talk to me...then she moved on to avoiding the topic altogether, and now she agrees that I may "have a point", but refuses to entertain the idea of leaving because of the social cost. So, even if you "get through" to her, she may never leave. I hope you have better luck than I have had. Still...I've not been at it long. My wife has only known about my thoughts for approximately a year.

One of the best pieces of advice I received was to TAKE MY TIME. You've spent a long time in the cult, so don't just rush out wrecklessly if you think you have a legitimate opportunity to save anyone you love. Also, be sure you are actually convinced. If you aren't, you may go running back and become more locked into the cult than before.

There is a great resource which hasn't been mentioned on the forum lately that is worth some exploration. A poster here, MadSweeny, has an internet radio show on UStream called "Cult Free Radio". He hasn't hosted anything lately that I'm aware of, but there are archived mp3 files on this website that you can go back and listen to: http://ex-jw.com/web-directory/cult-free-radio-archives-1-6

Some of the guests on the show are also frequent posters here, and you will definitely enjoy listening to some of those files. So, go for it!

Again, best wishes!

-dpl

24

Beware of Jehovah's Witness

by StopTheTears in

jw
friends

have you ever been at home, heard the knock on the door, and found a pair of nice looking people wanting to give you a free magazine?

where the magazine is titled awake!

or watchtower?

dontplaceliterature

Oh, brother... here we go again...

I literally laughed out loud. That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw the OP, undercover.

66

Absurd WT Control in April 2012 KM

by LostGeneration in

jw
friends

yeah in the section on attending the convention, you will find this gem:.

"therefore, we should give attention to our dress and grooming while in the convention city, including when we check in at the hotel.

arriving in shorts and a t-shirt would not reflect dignity.".

dontplaceliterature

There were sisters in my old congregation wearing flip-flops (but nicer ones) to the meeting in the Summer when I was a teenager. We had a local needs part about it.

12

Kids being Sent to the Doors Alone

by TOTH in

jw
friends

i saw something weird yesterday on my way out the door.

a hispanic jw mom had two kids of about ages 10 and 12 with her carrying invites to the memorial or maybe to the special talk.

anyways she sent the girl up the stairs alone to place whatever and the boy to a downstairs apartment.

dontplaceliterature

I remember being sent to the door with another kid when I was approximately 10 or 11. She was 12 or 13. We were offering magazines about the immortality of the soul. I remember it very plainly.

We were asked some seriously difficult questions by whoever the home owner was. I was the one giving the presentation and I was humiliated because I could not answer his questions. The guy was a prick for picking on kids, but also, I should have never been at the door in the first place.

23

I Pads at Meetings

by seenitall in

jw
friends

i know a boe letter just came through approving use of electronic devices (ipads) at meetings for the wt, bible, cd-rom.

anyone care to post the original letter?.

dontplaceliterature

The only letter I know of regarding this is that Elders were specifically discouraged from using iPads/Tablets from the platform for mainly these two reasons:

1. It could be viewed as a showy display of one's means of life.

2. It could cause unnecessary distraction if there is mechanical failure.

16

Tiktaalik - A Brief Introduction

by cofty in

as a young pioneer i always relished opportunities to demonstrate my ignorance of evolution.

my usual mantra was that all fossils were fully formed fish or amphibians or reptiles or mammals with nothing in-between.

even back in the 80s this was factually incorrect, but following a discovery by neil shubin and his team in 2004 the matter has been put beyond reasonable doubt.. one of the biggest gulfs that life has had to cross was the transition from sea to dry land.. fish have conical shaped heads, reptiles have flat heads.

dontplaceliterature

I read about this in "Why Evolution is True"; Coyne refers to "Your Inner Fish" and when I get done reading the first book, I'll likely DIG UP this one. Pun intended.

74

Will Embracing the Internet lead to Increased Growth for the Watchtower?

by jwfacts in

more important than the reduction in the size of the new magazine is that the watchtower will be actively promoting its website and encouraging people use it to download magazines.

my concern is that this has the potential to lead to an increase in growth for the watchtower.. the door-to-door preaching work has been one of the most inefficient means imaginable to gain converts, and done little more than tie up the time of active jws.

now, by directing people to the internet, witnesses can spread their message at an alarming rate for little cost.. do you feel that this has the potential to lead to a surge in growth of jehovah's witnesses?

dontplaceliterature

Most people who would even be inclined to learn about JWs are already looking online. I don't see how this will change anything.