one of the many questions that i am asked is what are the current gb members like, who are the hardliners and who are more moderate.. because of my previous job, at a european bethel, i had dealings with most of them with the exception of sam herd.. these are my observations of my conversations with them and how others who had dealings with them.. other ex bethelites may have contrary views to mine, but i would be surprised.. i had spent a lot of time with splane, lett and morris.
hardliners.
david splane, without doubt the one who commands the most respect and attention.
also FYI I am loving life outside the witness world now........Very happy and content
Congrats to you JWF on that score.
I've felt for a while the current GB is a little rudderless on doctrinal issues. Your description says nothing to change my mind.
i swear my money comes and goes.
last month i sign contracts that cost me one thousand bucks and today i have a thounsand dollar car repair.
its summer time and i know how imporant it is for my signifcant other to go to theme park, but i'm hurting.
Yeah Miz . . . I recall you lunching your gearbox or something a few months back. In my last few years I travelled for talks almost every weekend (I was the talks servant). . . mainly because we just wanted to get away from the disaster of a congregtion we were in. It may have been self-inflicted but I ran up huge K's . . . and repair bills. It's a hell of an expense . . . and if you're not believing anymore then the pain really sets in . . . I feel for you buddy.
point 1. not so long i would have strung them all up and hanged them.. point 2. these guys were the real succers, not only did they become jw,s, they embraced and adopted the cults teachings, and to some extent subjugated thier familys happiness, and thier own,to elevate themselves, and achieve status and recieve privellages, ie not have a f-----g life.
point 3 they had the onerus task of making sense, of the ever changing (truths) and having to teach that crap to the rest of us, and cope with the subsequent questionings that would invariably follow.. point 4.they had to take the lead in (sales) distributing literature.
point 5.they were the authoritarian face of the society, and a lot of people, (myself included ) thought they were jumped up janitors and window cleaners with a chip on thier shoulders.
I applaud those that wake up and leave and feel sorry for those that still believe but want to be REAL shepherds. They are the underdog elders that get sh1t on by the power trippers.
I tend to agree with punkofnice here . . . from their posts and expressions, the ex-Elders who have identified themselves on this forum are among the good ones . . . which is probably exactly why they're here.
I would revise my earlier statement also, that I can only remember one loving shepherd . . . there were a few others, but they often didn't last. A couple of Elders from other congo's, whom I'd known for many years, would be in fairly constant contact about the issues they were dealing with. They were often very distressed and upset about matters. I could sense the stress they were constantly under and they toiled away for years dealing with the same old shit . . . it's heartbreaking to recall. One even cried over the phone. I guess that accounted for my distancing.
I recall one particular congo that was awful. The CO used to accompany me on prison visits (which I was assigned). He once stated "I dont know what the answer is regarding that bully and his Jezebel wife, not to mention that idiot that follows him around." He was talking about the PO and his wife and his "hatchet man" Elder buddy . . . to me, an MS! He said he couldn't be bothered with it . . . "I should be retired anyway"
During the early 90's I became ill and needed an operation. Being on National Health, I had to wait 14 months. During that time I did a Business Management Diploma. The education I received on leadership and people management would have helped some Elders immeasurably. It actually employed some very loving principles. I honestly feel that was a big part of the problem . . . lack of training and educating.
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really put his foot in his mouth last night.
God help me . . . give 'em time and they could turn the whole friggin' Bible into a whip-cracking exercise.
How did we ever put up with that "shit"
i'm a sucker for heavy rock .
so long as it's good .
always have been since early 70's.. thought i'd start an entertainment thread so post your fav heavy rockers here.
Feel free to share your favorite music . . . the heavy rock reference is only a stimulus, not a rule.
seriously!
i've been planning on going to this foreign langauge district convention for over a year and because some genius in new york planned it on july 4th weekend all the hotel prices have been jacked up making it impossible for me to attend.
f**k!!!!!
Yup . . . it would be an alcohol problem down under as well. Even suffered from it myself once.
i'm a sucker for heavy rock .
so long as it's good .
always have been since early 70's.. thought i'd start an entertainment thread so post your fav heavy rockers here.
LOL @ ballistic . . . proves that heavy rock "rules" . . . sorry to dissappoint, but you're not the first to post your "heavy rock" on this thread
my jw mom had a bad car accident, she has neck problems and she might need a transfusion, so this is what ray means when illusion meets with reality, anyway i need to voice my opinion on the matter without pushing her away..
so this is what Ray means when illusion meets with reality
Oh Dear me JJJ . . . I'm so sorry this has been visited upon you. "Mum . . . it's your life, your decision . . . don't let others make it for you" is about as close as you could get with advice I fear. I hope it doesn't come to that decision . . . I really do.
i'm a sucker for heavy rock .
so long as it's good .
always have been since early 70's.. thought i'd start an entertainment thread so post your fav heavy rockers here.
It's good to see the busy JW routine gives you space for the important things in life . . . no doubt you have it down to a fine art after years of practice.
a 21-year old woman from argentina is refusing a blood transfusion.
here's my translation from spanish, plus the original spanish for anyone to check.. http://www.laautenticadefensa.com.ar/noticias.php?sid=84322.
a young woman refuses a blood transfusion that would save her life.
What's been taken away is my ability to exercise that freedom of choice. And that's all you can ever take away from anyone unless you can somehow control their mind too.
I think TD's identified the problem in the above statement . . . the mind control factor. For a person to be truly coerced it needs to be established that the freedom to choose has been comprimised. This is exceedingly hard to do when the individual in question is making what appears to be an informed conscientous decision according to their religious belief. The whole issue of mind-control must then be presented and proven. Under those circumstances, disfellowshipping, shunning etc doesn't equate to coercion if the individual is in agreement with it. They would have to indicate at some point that it was not entirely in accord with their wishes.
One thing I have noticed, is that there is growing public intolerance toward JW's in a number of South American countries. Brazil for example, has had a number of public protests in recent years over the shunning policy of JW's. While the GB is ambivalent to such protest and arguably even invites it . . . growing public frustration at these types of incidents will only increase. This will at least make prosyletising in these countries more difficult . . . hopefully.
