Posts by dontplaceliterature

158

Circuit Accounts Servants Confesses how the SCAM WORKS!!

by JT in

jw
friends

yes, i too have wondered how an assembly that is held in a fully paid for assembly hall, with no food service, could possibly have $10,000 in expenses.

i suppose the bethel speakers have transportation expenses - maybe $1000 or so.

as for rent on the assembly hall, well you have already paid for it once, why pay again?

Circuit Accounts Servants Confesses how the SCAM WORKS!!

by JT in

jw
friends

yes, i too have wondered how an assembly that is held in a fully paid for assembly hall, with no food service, could possibly have $10,000 in expenses.

i suppose the bethel speakers have transportation expenses - maybe $1000 or so.

as for rent on the assembly hall, well you have already paid for it once, why pay again?

I seriously doubt I will be cornered over this question. If I am, I will be flat honest with anoyone who questions me about my concerns. If they disfellowship me for doubting, then so be it. It will only confirm in my mind that I am doing the right thing.

I don't have the personal will to stick around for the long haul and be constantly badgered by Elders for my lack of faith/regularity.

I'd rather just make a clean break, and move on.

Whether these people love me enough to be understanding, or not, I love them enough to tell them the truth if they ask me. It's what Jesus would have done. (Not that I'm trying to be self-righteous, or compare myself to Jesus, I just have to be true to myself)

36

Were you SPANKED?

by unshackled in

jw
friends

don't get all excited...i don't mean lastnight.

spankings were a regular occurence in my family, and don't think that was uncommon for born-in jws.

my parents loved the line "we spank you because we love you.

dontplaceliterature

@unshackled

Interesting thoughts. Not sure I would agree "multiple sexual partners" makes for a dysfunctional adult. Drugs...depends what kind...marijuana wouldn't be dysfunctional from my viewpoint. Those judgements seem very JW..."the world is evil" type of view.

Last time I checked, that was the Biblical point of view. I don't really believe that people on drugs or with mulitple sexual partners should be condemned, but there certainly is some undisciplined spirit tied to such things.

That being said, I never met a weed-smoker I didn't like, and I have plenty of "worldly" friends who have multiple sexual partners - but they don't claim to live by Bible standards, either. That is their choice, and I don't judge them, as mentioned in my related post.

The ex-JWs I mentioned that have these traits also have trouble holding down jobs, keeping meaningful relationships in tact, etc. I still love them, and talk to them occasionally, but there is no doubt that their lack of discipline (spanking or otherwise) as a child direclty correlates to their current lack of social/societal stability.

36

Were you SPANKED?

by unshackled in

jw
friends

don't get all excited...i don't mean lastnight.

spankings were a regular occurence in my family, and don't think that was uncommon for born-in jws.

my parents loved the line "we spank you because we love you.

dontplaceliterature

This is an interesting topic.

I am "born-in" and was spanked growing up, frequently. I was a pretty mischevious kid though (very smart/curious/busybody). Looking back, I don't remember ever feeling abused, and I certainly didn't go to the Kindgom Hall with welts, or bruises. However, my parents were not afraid to spank me in front of everyone in that building. The humiliation was more of a deterrant than the actual pain. That type of discipline worked FOR ME.

Yet, I can name a few kids who were beaten to excess. For some children, spanking isn't the best method of discipline. It's up to a parent to determine what works best, and do that, I think.

I will say that this has become almost non-existent in my area. The only child in my Kindgom Hall that is well-behaved gets spanked (not to excess). The rest of them are total maniacs because their parents are too worn out ot put the effort into disciplining them properly. I don't believe in yelling at your kids. That does no good, and that's what most of them do instead of spanking them.

All of the children that I grew up with that were not spanked, became pretty disfunctional as adults (drugs, multiple sexual partners, etc.). They were self-serving, to a fault. I'm not judging those people, as they were raised in a pretty screwed up religion. But I would blame their current lifestyle more on their lack of discipline as a child than I would on their being raised as a Jehovah's Witness. They are impulsive because lack of discipline caused them to shoot first and ask questions later. Had they been properly disciplined they would have learned to think twice before making some of the choices they made in life. These are still good people @ heart, but just not "centered".

I really think that people shouldn't be too hard on their children at the Kingdom Hall, though. It's tough for a toddler to sit through a meeting without being noisy/fidgity. It's tough for a toddler to sit through a Disney movie without being noisy/fidgity. So how could we expect our kids to be quiet little angels during the meetings?

32

Assembly/Convention Accounting

by dontplaceliterature in

jw
friends

just having had my circuit assembly recently, i felt that the expenses in a watchtower-owned building seemed extremely over-inflated.

over $9000 for two days.

there were approximately 750-800 in attendance each day.

dontplaceliterature

@stuckinamovement

Thanks for confirming my gut instinct. I have always counted on you as a balanced voice of reason on this forum.

Still, this information need to be available and fully disclosed to the Circuit. It would keep people like me from asking too many questions. I really have a hard time viewing the WTBTS as a bunch of money making schemers. In relation to other church's, they are quite modest.

22

Question for all you Current/Former Elders out there

by dontplaceliterature in

jw
friends

the "situation"a brother and sister from my parents congregation committed adultry with one another.

he was single, she was married to another brother in the same hall.

her husband divorced her.

dontplaceliterature

I spoke to someone who was previously disfellowshipped and then reinstated for audultry with another member of the congregation. He told me he was not required to write a letter to his ex-spouse.

He is now a Ministerial Servant (after approximately 2 years of being reinstated). The offenders and the offended both moved to different congregations immediately following the offense.

22

Question for all you Current/Former Elders out there

by dontplaceliterature in

jw
friends

the "situation"a brother and sister from my parents congregation committed adultry with one another.

he was single, she was married to another brother in the same hall.

her husband divorced her.

dontplaceliterature

@DesirousOfChange

I suspect this would only add to the issue of it all being a "planned" putting away of her husband.

True, but at least it would have shown some compassion and respect for the offended mate. I can only imagine the embarassment that would come from being "cheated on."

32

Assembly/Convention Accounting

by dontplaceliterature in

jw
friends

just having had my circuit assembly recently, i felt that the expenses in a watchtower-owned building seemed extremely over-inflated.

over $9000 for two days.

there were approximately 750-800 in attendance each day.

dontplaceliterature

@JW GoneBad,

There were not Credit Card / Debit Card machines at my Assembly.

I have a hard time believing that this actually happens, or at least that it is a permanant institution by The Branch. My gut says, some wacky Assembly Overseer tried that out on his own, or at the very most, The Branch wanted to try it out at a few Assembly locations.

I would think the reaction to such a think would be repulsive. I would have been disgusted by it even before I "woke up".

32

Assembly/Convention Accounting

by dontplaceliterature in

jw
friends

just having had my circuit assembly recently, i felt that the expenses in a watchtower-owned building seemed extremely over-inflated.

over $9000 for two days.

there were approximately 750-800 in attendance each day.

dontplaceliterature

@mythreesons,

I'm inclined to agree with you about the legitimacy of the accounts. I just think it's really jacked up that they don't make this information readily available to the congregation.

If the Assembly Overseer walked out on stage and said, "In connection with this Assembly, we have expenses in the amount of $10,000 - $3,000 of which is for real utility/supplies, $3,000 of which is for Circuit Overseer, District Overseer, and Traveling Bethel Speakers expenses, $2,000 of which will be transferred to the WWW, and $2,000 of which will be saved towards next years Assembly," the brothers and sisters would nod their heads and donate accordingly. I just think it's wrong that they aren't told going into the deal, that they are paying for all this extra crap.

158

Circuit Accounts Servants Confesses how the SCAM WORKS!!

by JT in

jw
friends

yes, i too have wondered how an assembly that is held in a fully paid for assembly hall, with no food service, could possibly have $10,000 in expenses.

i suppose the bethel speakers have transportation expenses - maybe $1000 or so.

as for rent on the assembly hall, well you have already paid for it once, why pay again?

dontplaceliterature

BUMP!

I emailed my Circuit Accounts Servant and asked him for a break-down and a copy of the accounting form.

We'll see how he responds. My guess is, he won't. Then, I'll get pulled aside at the next meeting and told to mind my own business. I exlained in the e-mail that I was just curious, because the numbers seemed over-inflated, and I wanted to know what exactly we were paying for with our contributions.