Posts by pale.emperor

28

Why did the Governing Body come behind the curtain?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

in the movie the wizard of oz, while the whole yellow brick road gang was being addressed by the great and powerful wizard of oz, the dog toto ran off to the side, pulled back on a curtain, and showed that a normal-looking humbug of a person was operating cranks and levers.

for a short while, the normal-looking man kept yanking levers and cranking cranks, and said into the microphone (which made the great and powerful wizard speak the same words) "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

i am the great and powerful wiz .

pale.emperor

Taken from the May 15, 1999 Watchtower, page 8.

21

Northenden Assembley Hall Of JWs (Manchester, UK) - A Little History

by pale.emperor in

this is the circuit assembly hall i attended since childhood.

if you're a jw and you grew up in liverpool, lancashire or manchester then this is the hall you attended.

when i was little i remember the decor inside being red and cream coloured.

pale.emperor

I remember the doughnuts!

I also remember being served in my seat. And some poor woman lugging tray in front of her with loads of hot food in those aluminum boxes like you get in a takeaway.

You had to buy these meal tickets from the desk and you'd swap them for food or drinks. You'd get 10 little tabs per ticket. And each tab was worth about 10p. Looking back it was most likely a money making thing. I mean, if you dont spend all of your tickets you couldn't exchange them for your money back.

And would you believe i still have some?

21

Northenden Assembley Hall Of JWs (Manchester, UK) - A Little History

by pale.emperor in

this is the circuit assembly hall i attended since childhood.

if you're a jw and you grew up in liverpool, lancashire or manchester then this is the hall you attended.

when i was little i remember the decor inside being red and cream coloured.

pale.emperor

This is the circuit assembly hall I attended since childhood. If you're a JW and you grew up in Liverpool, Lancashire or Manchester then this is the hall you attended. When i was little i remember the decor inside being red and cream coloured. But they did a major renovation in the early 00s in shades of green and gold.

Originally known as The Forum Cinema, on the corner of Palatine Road and Longley Lane, Northenden. It was opened on 22nd November 1934, and was a project of the independent Forum Cinema Company.

The building is designed in a stylish ‘Jazz Modern’ Art Deco style and has seating (1,904 seats) in stalls and circle. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer 3Manual/8Rank theatre organ. The Wurlitzer came from the Cameo Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It also had a fully equipped stage and large stage house and dressing rooms, which in the early years hosted an annual pantomime. There was also a ballroom and a cafe upstairs. The first lessee of the Forum was E.M. Burns of Cheadle.
From 15th April 1936 the Forum was taken over by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) It was re-named ABC in February 1964 and was advertised as the ABC Wythenshawe, though it remained popularly known as the Forum. For many years the Forum was where teenage boys and young men invited their girlfriends for a night out. In the days before going Dutch and sharing and sexist overtones and parents deciding that their daughters better not rely on payment from a male, males were expected to fund such a night out. Popular movies could see queues stretching back almost to the bus stop at Princess Parkway. The ABC closed on 23rd February 1974 with Bruce Lee in “Fist of Fury” being the last movie shown. (I bet a lot of JWs dont know that!)

The building was used for several years as a live theatre, known as the Forum Theatre. It was taken over and became an Assembly Hall for the Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been custodians of what is now a Grade II Listed building. In all fairness, they've kept it very well.

There was an upper deck which was usually closed of in the morning session in order to try and fill up the lower section first (it never worked). Getting a seat up there was a dream come true because you could easily fall asleep and no one would notice. As a child my family never sat at the top. But as soon as i was old enough and dating i always made sure i sat up there. I even picked up a girl in the back row during the session one time!

I always wondered what the deal was with the wierd shapes on the wall. Was that part of the original decor? Oftentimes when i was bored i'd try to make out what it could be. I wondered if it was an abstract Jehovah sitting on his throne.

It used to be equipped with a kitchen too and up until the mid 90s they used to sell hot food and drinks in during the lunch break. That was scrapped because "the sisters (note, sisters, not brothers) cooking the food are missing out on the spiritual food during the sessions". Of course, after i left the borg i learned it was for tax saving reasons.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to go during the lunch break. Down the road there used to be a Woolworths so virtually every young one would walk there, buy chocs/sweets and walk back. But it closed in the late 90s and there was nothing but furniture shops a newsagents and a Tescos.

All in all, a lovely building. And i do have some nice memories visiting the place. But have absolutely no memory of a single talk given there. Says a lot doesnt it?

28

Why did the Governing Body come behind the curtain?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

in the movie the wizard of oz, while the whole yellow brick road gang was being addressed by the great and powerful wizard of oz, the dog toto ran off to the side, pulled back on a curtain, and showed that a normal-looking humbug of a person was operating cranks and levers.

for a short while, the normal-looking man kept yanking levers and cranking cranks, and said into the microphone (which made the great and powerful wizard speak the same words) "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

i am the great and powerful wiz .

pale.emperor

I sincerely hope they dont stop putting the GB in front of the camera. I love seeing this rubber faced idiot making a fool of himself.

I have to wonder WHY the rest of the GB let Stephen Lett go in front of the camera. Surely they can see he's an embarrassment? How he got elected in the first place is a real miracle.

There are some very good speakers in the cult that i remember. I can still remember some from the North West of England like Dennis Green (DO), Paul Robson (CO), Don Wilson (CO)... you knew when these were gonna give a talk that it was going to be good. They'd have you on the edge of your seat. Why not use people like that?

41

An Active JW Sister Modelling For Me

by pale.emperor in

since leaving the borg i jumped both feet first into classes i've always wanted to do but was never "allowed" to.

two of which are life drawing and photography.

i've been studying for almost two years now and have seen more nude men and women in our classes than i care to remember.. today in the photography studio i was working in with three others (two women, one man) we were told we had a new person modelling for us.

pale.emperor

Just to say that here in the UK the nudity taboo is still pretty strong. There are very few nudist beaches (that I'm aware of) in the UK...

I think some Americans think Europeans are very relaxed when it comes to things like nudity. That would indeed be the impression if you watch a lot of French films. Maybe in France it's fine to walk about with you "bum, balls and ninny" flowing freely. But try that in Liverpool on Crosby beach and although no one would stop you you would get a lot of attention from the other beach goers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cAIHJ6f6zQ&has_verified=1

33

Manmade rules

by Jrjw in

i was talking to someone a few years ago and he said in his congregation they have a rail of white shirts prepared in the cloakroom for if a speaker doesn't have a white shirt on.

it was a rule in their hall that all brothers in the platform must wear white shirts when going talks and if the speaker won't comply when asked to change into the shirt they provide an elder in the congregation will do the talk instead.

i have never known any other halls do it so it must be a rule the elders have made up without gb input.

pale.emperor

My favorite rule came direct from the Borg, don't hold your significant others hand during the prayer cause it can be distracting.

I remember this one. I got a phonecall from an elder for doing just that in a Sunday meeting. He tried to counsel me on it, I asked for a scriptural basis for his rule. He said something about "modesty, decency" etc. but i asked for a scripture. He had none but Watchtower quotes.

I countered with "God is love", where better than to show love than in Gods house? Is God offended by love?

I won.

A more ridiculous one though, a sister i know was counseled for wearing a thong because her lack of panty line was distracting.

Distracting for who? Who's checking out her ass enough to be distracted? The sister should have said "im not wearing a thong either... (wink)"

41

An Active JW Sister Modelling For Me

by pale.emperor in

since leaving the borg i jumped both feet first into classes i've always wanted to do but was never "allowed" to.

two of which are life drawing and photography.

i've been studying for almost two years now and have seen more nude men and women in our classes than i care to remember.. today in the photography studio i was working in with three others (two women, one man) we were told we had a new person modelling for us.

pale.emperor

Pale, you sound like a Puritanical American. I'm surprised it's such a big deal to you.

The nudity isnt a big deal to me. The fact that she's a JW was getting nude for us was because...

Had the impression it wasn't such a big deal there, even among JDubs.

To JWs it is a big deal. Nudity = porn as far as JWs are concerned.

28

Why did the Governing Body come behind the curtain?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

in the movie the wizard of oz, while the whole yellow brick road gang was being addressed by the great and powerful wizard of oz, the dog toto ran off to the side, pulled back on a curtain, and showed that a normal-looking humbug of a person was operating cranks and levers.

for a short while, the normal-looking man kept yanking levers and cranking cranks, and said into the microphone (which made the great and powerful wizard speak the same words) "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

i am the great and powerful wiz .

pale.emperor

If they were still hidden, you would have accused them of being arrogant and pompous.

Not arrogant and pompous, no. I would've been suspicious if there even was a GB and if the whole thing wasn't just run by one person.

28

Why did the Governing Body come behind the curtain?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

in the movie the wizard of oz, while the whole yellow brick road gang was being addressed by the great and powerful wizard of oz, the dog toto ran off to the side, pulled back on a curtain, and showed that a normal-looking humbug of a person was operating cranks and levers.

for a short while, the normal-looking man kept yanking levers and cranking cranks, and said into the microphone (which made the great and powerful wizard speak the same words) "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

i am the great and powerful wiz .

pale.emperor

I was a kid in the 80s and 90s. I remember the JWs saying how different we are to other religions because we dont even know who are GB members are. Maybe you'd find a very uber dub who would know one or two of their names but that was it. The reason JWs gave was that "they're so humble, not drawing attention to themselves".

Now? Now they say "see, they come forward to show that they're just like you and I. Their identities are not secret, they're so humble for showing themselves to us".

Halo Effect anyone? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect

48

Anyone struggle to find meaning in life?

by Good JW in

just wondering if this is a common thing for you guys and girls?

when i left the jws it was hard to make a connection with people, much of the time i felt that whatever they wanted to talk about just didn't seem relevant/deep/meaningful.

i find myself filtering my mind to get to a level with others (small talk mostly).

pale.emperor

My life has a lot more meaning that it ever did as a JW.

How long have you been awake from the JWs may i ask? Because when i first left i went through stages of loss like someone had died. It passed.

Personally, i have a lot of interests. What things are you interested in? Are there things you'd like to learn or do but were never "allowed to" when a JW.

My advice is do anything and everything you want to do (as long as you dont harm anyone of course) and really get it out of your system and discover who you really are. Read self help, psychology, other religions, philosophy etc. May i suggest Philosopher Alan Watts? His audio lectures are on YouTube and he really had a massive influence on me.