burnedout

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Posts by burnedout

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  14

  Did I throw these guys under the bus?

  by burnedout in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  over a year ago i knew i had to resign my position as elder because of many reasons.

  i was the youngest elder being 40ish... and there had already been some resistance to my wanting to cut back on the many responsiblities i had.

  i knew that to make it easier for me to resign, there had to be some replacement.

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  burnedout

  Over a year ago I knew I had to resign my position as Elder because of many reasons. I was the youngest Elder being 40ish... and there had already been some resistance to my wanting to cut back on the many responsiblities I had.
  
  I knew that to make it easier for me to resign, there had to be some replacement. There were two MS's that were obviously reaching out, and one brother that was reaching out to be an MS. During the course of one year I helped to make sure these brothers were recommended for appointment.
  The two MS's were appointed as Elder and the other brothers is now an MS.
  
  Now that I am off the BOE and recovering, I see the stress building in these three brothers (yes I still attend meetings every so often... family reasons). My wife even mentions that they look like I USED TO!!! I can't help but feel guilty for being instrumental if not soley responsible for their new found high level of stress in 'serving the congo.' I do know they were really wanting these positions...
  
  Have I condemned these men to the same situation I was in?... abusing alcohol, yelling at the family due to stress of getting to the meetings on time so you can 'perform onstage', at the border of self-harm or suicide?
  
  Did I throw these guys under the bus?
  
  Burnedout
• 
  22

  Funniest Thing to happen during a meeting?

  by truthseeker1969 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am sure all of us have laughed at something that happened at the kingdom hall or assembly.. the first one i can think of is a brother giving a talk on voting and saying " why is it that men sit iin pubs and discuss how bad the economy is and the cost of everything and yet when the 'erection" (election) comes up they never do anything about it.. my brother in his best beavis n butthead voioce said " huh huh he said erection".

  we sat for the next 45 mins trying hard not to laugh.. of course, i got the look from the elders and the talk about not laughing.. .

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  burnedout

  One Elder was giving the local needs talk and says, 'Friends, this is a problem that we need to NIP IN THE BUTT!!!'
• 
  14

  Do you still rush about??

  by watersprout in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was in the wt i was always rushing.... never had time to do anything.... always had the meetings to prep for... dinner to get ready before the meeting... clothes to get ready.... ministry to go on.... there was always something i had to do for jehovah....etc etc etc..... i never sat down and enjoyed being in the moment... i always felt guilty... i would always be thinking ''i shouldn't be sat down i should be doing something for jehovah, he despises a lazy person.

  it got soo bad i ended up in a hole to which i couldn't get out.

  i needed help to function.. after coming out it took a long time to get used to enjoying some ''quiet'' time.

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  burnedout

  I do not feel the need to 'rush about' anymore. I am a born-in that was running at full throttle for a long time (21 years appointed) and busy before that as a teenager. Am still 'in' to an extent (wife and kids, in-laws, etc) but no longer care if I am late for a meeting or just plain don't make it there.

  Finally, I have a little peace that increases each day...
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  22

  Paradise Earth

  by MrFreeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, lets speak hypothetically here.

  lets say the wt is right about paradise earth and the new world.

  if we did live forever, what would happen if we fell off a cliff accidentally?

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  burnedout

  Funny thing about the 'no reproduction' in Paradise. I remember some public talk outlines said there would be no reproduction and some said that there would be. Maybe different jokers making up the outlines.

  Supposedly no more eating hamburgers in Paradise either.
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  15

  Is it normal to spend so much time here?

  by burnedout in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i am fairly new to taking a stand on what i have long felt about the org.

  no longer an elder now (big weight off my shoulders), and really find i am researching on this board all kinds of things i suspected and are now confirmed.

  looking back over the years i had many intuitions about some situations and never took action on those feelings.

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  burnedout

  I am fairly new to taking a stand on what I have long felt about the org. No longer an Elder now (BIG weight off my shoulders), and really find I am researching on this board all kinds of things I suspected and are now confirmed. Looking back over the years I had many intuitions about some situations and never took action on those feelings.

  I used to spend all kinds of time working hard on talks and parts, coming up with new and interesting illustrations trying to 'help' others, (always hated field circus) but now I see all that was a waste of my time and energy. Has anyone else realized they are spending a ton of time here confirming what they always knew?

  BTW, things are going ok with my wife regarding how I feel about the org, I have followed the advice of many posters here and have been gentle with my observations. I don't make a big deal about what I hear from the stage, but when she asks me what I think I explain my side.

  Also, I have made progress with not drinking... Thanks to all for their support and help.

  Burnedout
• 
  22

  Funniest Thing to happen during a meeting?

  by truthseeker1969 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am sure all of us have laughed at something that happened at the kingdom hall or assembly.. the first one i can think of is a brother giving a talk on voting and saying " why is it that men sit iin pubs and discuss how bad the economy is and the cost of everything and yet when the 'erection" (election) comes up they never do anything about it.. my brother in his best beavis n butthead voioce said " huh huh he said erection".

  we sat for the next 45 mins trying hard not to laugh.. of course, i got the look from the elders and the talk about not laughing.. .

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  burnedout

  - Late 70's, filthy trucker cb talk bleeding over into the sound system during the WT study.

  - carrying the mics once, I farted by accident. a brother smiles and says 'nice crop dusting there boy'

  - during sisters talk on TMS, as the two sisters go up on stage during counsel for previous talk, one sisters' chair leg is near the edge of the stage... she cartwheels over and lands upside down, her skirt no longer hiding her black thong. (my hunch about her was right... she WAS hot)

  - fire started in mens restroom by someone lighting a match to burn off remaining noxious fumes. (he did the 'wave the match' thing before tossing it in the trash can) WT conductor stopped the study and gave a 10 minute lecture on fire safety and how JW's should not even have matches on themselves because someone might think we were smokers. (not sure which was funnier, the fire or the lecture)

  - teenagers going out to the parking lot during the meeting and switching license plates on the Elders' vehicles. not sure how long it took before it was noticed. Once a few of the elders noticed related their story about having a wrong license plate, they knew where it happened.
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  17

  I remember an illustration "something" like this in a talk one time LOL

  by therevealer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife stood before me with some items in front of her.

  without a word, she emptied a large jar of mayonnaise and proceeded to fill the empty jar with rocks right to the top, rocks about 2" diameter, then asked me if the jar was full.

  i agreed that it was.. she then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them in to the jar.

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  burnedout

  I saw a Brother do the jar/rocks/marbles illustration, or I should say he tried... he dropped the jar while trying to pour the marbles in.

  Brothers were scrambling around trying to pick up the broken glass and marbles. The only application the brother could make was 'time and unforeseen occurrence.'
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  5

  Separating the corporation and the JWs (a comment on faith in action dvd)

  by Aussie Oz in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  while watching the faith in action part 2 dvd, one thing i noticed was what i feel a clever distinction made by the wt.

  at 7:15 a very bad actor plays rutherford announcing the name 'jehovahs witnesses'.

  he says "the watchtower bible and tract society and the international bible students association are merely names of corporations... we are servants of jehovah god commisioned to do a work in his name".... i wonder if this is a subtle ploy to separate the corporation from the 'religion' in the minds of the rank and file?.

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  burnedout

  Having owned a business, I understand having a legal entity to get things done, but as an Elder it was difficult comprehending the thinking of the org sometimes. For example, the BOE would get a letter from the GB, and another letter from one of the Corp's. A GB letter was full of the 'aren't we happified that...' 'this new arrangement shows God's love...' but a letter from the Corp was all 'Do This! Don't do THAT!' very explicit instructions with an occasional cited scripture thown in just so we knew it had God's backing.

  Once during a BOE meeting, a letter was read from the Corp (one of those ass-chewing, you guys are stupid letters) and one elder raises his right arm in a Nazi salute and says 'Heil Hitler!' He stated what most of us were thinking, some laughed but the PO gave him the stink eye (he was a Marine in WWII)

  Why not just have all this correspondence come from ONE place? It was like getting memo's from Management, Sales, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, and so on.
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  22

  Who drove the Christendom Car in Field Service?

  by prophecor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  they were affectionately called christendom cars.

  you know, the 2 door coupes that the friends had to struggle to get in and out of the back seat, out in service.

  was it you, or did you do the spiritually respnosible thing and drive the 4 door sedan?.

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  burnedout

  I used our 4 door car and also my Camaro IROC-Z Convertible (for RV's on Sunday after the meeting)

  It was fun to hear the different comments about the Camaro... ' That looks like Satan's car', 'It's pretty cool to have the WT Conductor come to the meeting in his Camaro with the top down!'

  My response? 'I did the WT and now I am going to try to start a BS, what do you want from me?' then a little rev from the V-8...

  Nobody complained about my convertible after the PO got a Mercedes SL 500 ragtop.
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  48

  True Friendship Only Found In the Organization?

  by What Now? in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

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  often times, i read in the magazines that only among jehovahs people will you find true friendship.

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  burnedout

  Undercover has it right... the friendship is conditional and they are just your co-workers.

  By the time I get done with all the JW activities, the last thing I want to do is spend more time with the people I just spent time with.

  Maybe I am just a loner, but I only had a handful of what I call REAL JW FRIENDS. I was always suspicious of everyone, maybe the reason is that

  as an Elder you get to read peoples 'Letter of Introduction' and even as you pick up the letter you ask yourself, 'what kind of baggage is this person carrying?'

  No way would I do business with a JW, too risky. I found worldly business dealings more straight forward and honest.