dfed
in another thread you ask for evidence that the wts does not pay taxes.
we were specifically talking about the ny headquarters in brooklyn.
Garbage pick-up is just one...think about all the garbage the WTS generates
Actually, the Wt has their own garbage trucks. But the real issue is the Wt has property that is kept off the tax rolls. This property is "lost revenue" for the city. This includes not only real estate taxes but consider that if these building were occupied with working people they would be contributing to the community by paying taxes and supporting local businesses who in turn pay taxes.
being raised in the 'truth', i obviously spent much of my youth in service.
of course, as we got older, my friends and i would act the fool in service as much as possible.
we used to use the names of popular rap artists with the old farts we called on.
I remember "vacation pioneering" (that term really dates me as an old man) with other boys in the congregation. When you get five teenage boys in a car for several hours a day bad things will happen. Nothing horrible, just typical teenage boy things. These things happen even though we wore ties and had a bag full of Wt rags. From a spiritual perspective my pioneering time was a f****ng waste of time. From the perspective of hanging out and having fun it was ok. Not great, just ok.
i felt privileged to be invited to a special meeting which was earmarked only for publishers in good standing who had been baptized at least 25 years.
i was baptized 28 years (yes i was quite young) and clyde was baptized 25, but he refused to go.
it was all organization, organization, organization.
I remember that my parents both went to the meeting. Both were extremely excited before it started. When they came back I wanted to find out what the talks were about. I only heard how the meeting was long, the assembly hall was crowded, and it was unconfortable sitting for five hours with a bunch of fat old people.
well, as a nice start to the new year, the jan 1st watchtower article, "how firm is your trust in god" blasts those who live comfortable lives, those who don't reach out, and those who pursue higher education.. definitely, they are taking a harsher stand, having completely painted themselves into a corner.. i highlighted the interesting comments.
i did not include all the text for each paragraph, just the main points.. .
1 a young man wanted to be more useful to the congregation.
The society always points to materialism as the primary reson why it discourages higher education. However, just as detrimental to an individual's faith in the Wt society is that someone who goes to college learns how to think critically. Because, what we were taught to believe as witnesses falls completely apart if you begin to think critically.
hi my name is desi.
i'm an ex-jw from the bronx.
just thought i'd intro myself to the group.. are there any other ex-jw's here from nyc?.
I live in brooklyn and work in midtown. Anyone for lunch?
the bible is a serious book.. and the bible is a set of instructions set before mankind.
i believe being disfellowshipped the second time here makes me feel upset.
it would make anyone hurt frustrated or mad.
Many have started the transition at the same place, exiting from a cult. However, we have all ended at different places. My personal feelings include tremendous anger at the society and at what I consider to be a mythical god. I have no regard towards the bible one way or another. I may end up at a different place, but this is where I am right now.
i've always wondered this.
does anybody have first hand information if they do and how much, or is their service sort of like when co comes and goes along to book studies to give "encouragement".
or even more so, do they stand with magazines on street corners?.
Do they really do that with Schroeder???
Yes. The next time I see him I will take his picture.
i've always wondered this.
does anybody have first hand information if they do and how much, or is their service sort of like when co comes and goes along to book studies to give "encouragement".
or even more so, do they stand with magazines on street corners?.
Schroeder is in a semi coma state. However, at least once a month I see him and his wife in from the of the Towers building on Clark Street out in service. Schroeder is in a wheel chair with two nurse/body guards and has the two mags pinned to his shirt. He has no idea where he is and what he is doing, but at least, he is a regular publisher.
three times a week in the kingdom hall in miami, my brother and i strove to sit perfectly still in our chairs.
our mother carried a wooden spoon in her purse and was quick to take us outside for beatings if we fidgeted.
i sat onstage in the kingdom hall in surrey, england, where my father's job had taken us.
Letter to the Editor.
In response to the Turn of Faith article there was one letter to the editor in the August 28, NYT Mag:
I am uneasy about the parallels I sense between Joy Castro's upbringing as a fundamentalist Jehovah's Witness and Muslims who are educated in fundamentalist Islamic madrasas around the world (Lives, Aug. 14). Everything Castro describes, from the social isolation to the promise of eternal life in paradise to the desire for destruction of everyone who isn't a Witness, sounds chillingly like the formula we now know breeds young people willing to blow themselves up along with everyone around them.
Gail Ostrow
Bridgeport, Conn.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
LOAD-DATE: August 28, 2005
I was 18 y.o. in 1975, thus a high school graduate that year which, for most people is a significant year. For the youth raised in the "truth" looking forward to your graduation year brought on new meaning. I remember growing up listening to all the propaganda about 1975 and how the GT was going to be horrible and that we would probably die while being persecuted. I used to worry if I was going to be strong enough to endure the persecution. I also understood the party line that even if you died you would be resurrected. However, I would be without a penis - Remember there is no marriage for those who are resurrected. (What a fucking way to grow up). This may explain why I married at 19 y.o. I wanted to have sex before Armageddon.
I believed everything until the early 90s. The king of the north passed away and it just did not seem possible that everything could take place before the passing of the 1914 generation. That is when I decided to really investigate what I had been told which was the beginning of the end for me.
