MY observation from my brief time on this board is that the WT$ is loosing/lost the only good elders who are decent, caring, and humble enough to know their limitations. Having to enforce the ridiculous and often harmful rules would be a thankless and depressing job. I was always glad that as a sister I was never expected to "reach out" for that job.
Posts by 3rdgen
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83What was your most DISTURBING event as an elder ? (Per T.O.S. no full names please).
by Balaamsass ini'll start the ball rolling.
dealing with kids in any type of judicial manner.
i would do everything i could to get parents to "deal with it-kindly" at home.
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64
Starting to read Crisis of Conscience....
by confuzzled777 inafter almost 2 years of being wrongfully disfellowshipped and over a year after finding this site....i am starting to read crisis of conscience.
i will not lie....i am a bit nervous as to what information i will find in the book.
i have a strong feeling that i will end up crying through most of it as i will start to see the truth about the "truth".
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3rdgen
I completely understand your apprehension about what you will discover in this book. There is a reason that there is an expression "ignorance is bliss". This is because at first there is a feeling NOW WHAT? Don't worry, take things slowly, and understand that after this read you will feel an enormous burden is lifted from you. The freedom to give yourself permission to think for yourself is priceless!
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156
Who would you have Lunch With? From JWN?
by AvocadoJake inthe last few years "warren buffet.
" has donated his time to the highest bidder for charity.
the ebay auction usually goes for $100,000 to spend lunch-time and pick his brain on his view.
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3rdgen
Hi Mickeymouse, and iCeltic. we would loooove to have lunch with you as well! All the other names mentioned are on my favorites list too. I would like to add: Mr. and Mrs. Flipper, XYZ, and zengalileo whose haliarious antics and reports of bovine love fests at Bethel farm made me wet my pants! Shamus's thread on "Is maple syrup for true Christians" is classic. We'll try to clear our plate enough to meet up soon. BTW, I see Baalams ass every day ha ha.
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156
Who would you have Lunch With? From JWN?
by AvocadoJake inthe last few years "warren buffet.
" has donated his time to the highest bidder for charity.
the ebay auction usually goes for $100,000 to spend lunch-time and pick his brain on his view.
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165
Your most DISTURBING WATCHTOWER Bethel/Branch experience? (No full names please)
by Balaamsass inok.. you 70 plus bethelite members.... this is your chance to share stories!
inquiring minds want to know !no full names please..follow t.o.s.
to avoid borg libel lawsuits).. i will start the ball rolling with week one.
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67
Read S. Hassan's Book: Do JW's really fit the cult mold?
by simon17 infirst time i got a chance to read his book, "combatting cult mind control" and was interested to see if jw's fell into the cult mold.
my opinion after carefully reading and having left the witnesses after almost 30 years is... no, they don't.
however, i would add that they wish they were but are simply too big and unwieldy to really pull it off.
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3rdgen
I'm with Poopsie!
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18
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THIS?
by lola-rabbit indose anyone remember this issue?
i remember i was 18 when i read this, being a youth myself i put myself in their shoes and i was so sad and angry.
their short lives were stolen.
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3rdgen
I remember seeing this issue and not being able to bring myself to read the article because my own children were about the same age as these sweet faces pictured on the cover. Something that will haunt me (probably forever) is that when my son was only 3 he had to be rushed to the hospital. I remember being in the ambulance and praying for strength to stand firm on the blood issue. Fortunatly, it never came up and he made a speedy recovery. Yet, the thought that I might have sacrificed my precious child to the WT$ makes me truly sick.
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93
What's The Biggest Difference In Today's JWs And The Witnesses From Decades Ago?
by minimus ini believe today's witnesses lack zeal, resolve, "love" of the "truth"......just to name a few things.. years ago, witnesses were excited to knock on doors and tell people they were gonna die if they didn't accept paradise.. now, when you see jws in service, they all look zombied out.. it's a slowly dying religion that will last probably forever like an ancient rotted out tree..
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3rdgen
Something else that comes to mind, (although I couldn't call it the biggest difference) is the delivery of the music. When I was a child every KH had a piano and usually several people who could play.
The piano player often selected the song. The public talk speaker picked the song to open the meeting. There was a grand piano at circuit assemblys and a full orchastra at the DC. And speaking of the district convention, there was a CHOIR!!! I remember dreaming of the time I would be old enough to be able to join. (some in my family were professional singers and musicians) Well no such luck. They scrapped the choirs long before I came of age.
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93
What's The Biggest Difference In Today's JWs And The Witnesses From Decades Ago?
by minimus ini believe today's witnesses lack zeal, resolve, "love" of the "truth"......just to name a few things.. years ago, witnesses were excited to knock on doors and tell people they were gonna die if they didn't accept paradise.. now, when you see jws in service, they all look zombied out.. it's a slowly dying religion that will last probably forever like an ancient rotted out tree..
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3rdgen
I thoroughly agree that there has been a gradual shift in enthusiasm for a # of reasons. Outsmarthesystem's comments are spot on. I remember when it wasn't a crime to speculate or have Bible discussions with other JW's. In fact, the Truth book recommended taking the course of the Beroeans "carefully examining the scriptures daily as to whether these things were so." In the 70's I actually looked foreward to the Service Meeting. Our small cong was as close as a real family. We had domonstrations with props like cardboard cars, telephones, hard hats, aprons, big charts and graphs, to name just a few. We weren't afraid to inject humor either. One demo I'll NEVER forget was making the point of resisting the temptation to listen to gossip. Two bros sat on the stage facing each other so that we only saw them in profile. One was named Lip and the other named Tongue. When one starting harmful talk about a JW coworker, the other turned to face the audience and said "Tell me more!" He was sporting a GIANT (at least a foot long) EAR !!! It was made of construction paper with all the details of a real ear. And get this, it was ok to laugh, the prop was DESIGNED to be funny. The early 80's with the exit of Ray Franz and many others put FEAR into the GB and they put a chokehold on the elders after that. More and more rules and regulations. Less and less thought and creativity allowed. It's like all the "spiritual food has been dumped into a blender and been turned into mush.
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27
Pre paid legal inc. is a cult
by zengalileo ini tried selling pre paid legal for about two yers.
hardly made a sale.
none of my friends gave a crap about it.
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3rdgen
We have been Pre-paid legal customers for over 12 years and I must say having it has come in very handy a number of times. We have been able to resolve serious disputes that surely would have
gone to court without their help. All it took for our opponants to back down was recieving their Parker Stanbury letterhead with 27 attorneys listed. We would inform them that as long-time
members we have built up hundreds of hours of representation. Case closed. However selling it might be another matter, though.