Posts by s0rt3d

8

Did you ever know of a elder wanting montary comp for doing a sheparding visit?

by highdose in

i knew an elder who would help and support those in the cong, but in return he expected some kind of compensation such as: goods brought for him or his family, services given for free etc.. this elder had a working class job but lived a very middle class life style because of this unspoken arrangement.

great holidays, new cars and his wife was very much the queen bee of the cong.

hardly wore the same thing twice and delighted in patronising the other sisters who she considered beaneath her.

s0rt3d

In the village that I once served in there was an elder sort of like that. He was the PO. Loved to eat and you'd win his favor if you fed him. He was especially nice to those who would be able to do him favors - let him use the car, give him or his family lifts, run errands for him - you get the pic.

He was falsely humble and loved the power his position gave him: he'd use it as an excuse to pry into your and other's affairs and seemed to want to find dirt on people so he could 'beat' them in private meetings and from the platform. (Guess it made him feel more 'holy' and righteous, good about himself.) He'd pop in unannounced at people's homes - hoping, I think, to catch them 'out' or maybe get a free meal. He excused his behaviour by calling it 'caring for the flock,' showing an interest in them.

He was smug and loved to criticize other elders, find fault with them. If you were too friendly with those whom he disliked you could be sure he'd try to make you unhappy. If you were a bro. you got no 'decent' parts in the meetings, if any at all. He frustrated the hell out of one Special Pioneer elder that was sent to help out as he wasn't given any responsible parts on the meeting for weeks!

Remember those service meeting parts that were to be used just for addressing the needs of your own congregation? He'd tailor those talks to target members of the Cong. who crossed him. Small cong. You couldn't help but know who he was talking about. In one case I know of he'd been untrue (lied) about the person he targeted but I couldn't - didn't? - want to believe it: he was an elder, the PO, in good standing.... Later I found out he really had lied! From the platform too!!!

Anyway, to get back to topic, he didn't outright ask for money but did expect to rewarded materially.

9

were you a smiling JW?

by highdose in

jw
friends

just recently in the past 3 years that i've been out i've noticed i'm now getting laughter and smile lines.

nothing aging but i've realised i spent the rest of my life priviously not smiling at all.

people used to say to me " smile highdose!

s0rt3d

As a JW I did smile from time to time, maybe even a lot - but that was when I was new and felt I'd found 'The Truth.' In later years I felt weighed down, that real living and real happiness would come in the New System. I didn't smile much then and the smiles weren't always heartfelt. :(

Since I left I am happier and healthier - mentally and emotionally. I feel better about myself and about others: the world is no longer a place full of trouble and terrible things; I've come to see there is a lot to be positive about.

BTW, highdose, I think laughter/smile lines are quite attractive! (It's one of the many things I enjoy in my partner - seeing those pleasant crinkles around the eyes when we are laughing.) So, please take it in a positive way when I wish you many more laugh lines! :)

25

What 'hooked' you... and what made you leave?

by s0rt3d in

jw
friends

i wasn't born in.

i got hooked in as a teenager.

was going through a tough time, wondered why we exist, why god wasn't doing anything to solve man's problems, if there was a true religion and, hey-presto, a jw classmate showed up with book that not only asked the questions i was asking but answered them too!.

s0rt3d

Thanks all of you for sharing.... I remind myself that even though I had bad experiences where the elders are concerned, they aren't all bad. I am sure that there are those who try to do what they can and to be decent human beings despite all the rules and restrictions laid down by the WBTS which they must enforce and themselves obey.

It isn't always easy to do so.... Several months after I'd left the cong. I was in a car with a relative (who, thankfully, was the driver) when I saw in the distance, walking along the sidewalk, a man who looked like my chief persecuting elder. My heart began to pound rapidly and I could hardly breathe, so panicked was I. Even though we passed the man and it wasn't Bro. M, my heart continued to do the two step. I realized long after that just how traumatising the whole episode with the elders had been.

In fact, a whole ocean away, totally different country, several years later, JWs called at my door. We chatted briefly (I remained 'incognito') and that was that... or so I thought. That night I started panicking again, thinking they would somehow find out who I was and the whole Inquisiton would start again. Cult induced paranoia? PTSD?

So glad I am OUT!!! And I urge those who aren't sure to really think about it before they commit themselves to the WBTS.

19

HI

by recovering in

jw
friends

i am giving an update to my health.

i would like to thank everyone for the support you have given me.

i have been undergoing treatment for the cancer and so far so good.

s0rt3d

Sunshine and best wishes to you both, NewChapter and Recovering.

11

What would Jesus do? What would the Pharisees do? What would the HLC do?

by undercover in

jw
friends

mark 3:1-6. once again he (jesus) entered into a synagogue, and a man was there with a dried-up hand.so they (the pharisees) were watching him closely to see whether he would cure the man on the sabbath, in order that they might accuse him.and he said to the man with the withered hand: get up [and come] to the center.next he said to them: is it lawful on the sabbath to do a good deed or to do a bad deed, to save or to kill a soul?

but they kept silent.and after looking around upon them with indignation, being thoroughly grieved at the insensibility of their hearts, he said to the man: stretch out your hand.

and he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.at that the pharisees went out and immediately began holding council with the party followers of herod against him, in order to destroy him.. .

s0rt3d

Fantastic! Too sad though that the mind-controlled dubs who visit (troll) this site will refuse to see/accept the logic and sense of it!

1

Roaring lion seeking to devour 5 year old

by not bitter in

jw
friends

one memory that sticks in my brain was when i was around 5 or 6 years old and our meetins were held in a local school gym.

the loos were at the end of a corridor.

you had to pass the cloakroom before reaching the ladies.

s0rt3d

"The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection." Wow! At just 5 you already knew that! I'd do the same walking back in the dark, on my own, from the KH to where I lived - I was afraid of human beasts.

(I'm not superstitious anymore, though. I am still afraid of human beasts....)

25

What 'hooked' you... and what made you leave?

by s0rt3d in

jw
friends

i wasn't born in.

i got hooked in as a teenager.

was going through a tough time, wondered why we exist, why god wasn't doing anything to solve man's problems, if there was a true religion and, hey-presto, a jw classmate showed up with book that not only asked the questions i was asking but answered them too!.

s0rt3d

I wasn't born in. I got hooked in as a teenager. Was going through a tough time, wondered why we exist, why God wasn't doing anything to solve man's problems, if there was a true religion and, hey-presto, a JW classmate showed up with book that not only asked the questions I was asking but answered them too!

It all seemed to make perfect sense... although I do remember feeling VERY disappointed with the first meeting I attended - it was so boring! And I couldn't help marveling that all these grown people believed the earth would be a paradise again.... but that's also what made me keep studying: how could all these adults be wrong?! (Talk about naive!!!)

I left (many years later) when I went to the elders for help because I was secretly 'sinning' - the 'love' I was shown, and subsequent persecution and contempt, made me question if something was wrong in our branch. I just couldn't believe something was wrong with the WHOLE organisation. I took the humiliation and punishment but the way I'd been treated and the way the whole thing 'played out' eventually led me to take the first steps in my movement away from the 'Truth'.

13