Posts by JakeM2012

26

NEW UK BETHEL - START SAVING

by St George of England in

a letter was read tonight at the meeting with this information.. apparently, three years ago the gb authorised the uk bethel to consolidate all the uk resources.

so far over 300 sites have been looked at but more information will be forthcoming.. in the meantime we can work to this end by saving so that we can contribute to the new facility.. also skilled and unskilled trades people can register for volunteer work, collect an application form from the secretary.. to me it seems like they are going to move out of london (mill hill, bittacy hill etc), get a cheaper area, pay for the new facility with donations and free labour.

they will then sell all the high value property and probably send the money to the us.

JakeM2012

Saving???? Just bend over, thank you very much!

15

The ones who participate in CONvention...is it all a load of hypocrisy?

by MissConfused in

jw
friends

i am talking about the ones who get special mentions or interviews or part in assemblies and conventions, they are usually stars of the congregation at least as acknowledged by boe.

when i had interacted personally with these people, i did not find them special in any way.

they neither reflected any true love for j, but were quite the very opposite and ambitious to be the best in "the organization", with very little humility.

JakeM2012

Julia, I hope that you got some recognition for your years of service, regardless of whom it is from.

My mom was interviewed a few years back; she was baptised at 6 at the convention in1941 where Rutherford "gave" the Childrens book out. She EARNED her recognition and the brief applause, and I'm sure you did also.

14

I wonder if my mom will ever go back to the meetings ?

by scary21 in

jw
friends

well, my 89 year old jw mom has been in her new apartment now for over 4 months.

my sister and i moved her back to mi.

from fl.. we were forced to by the jw's who wanted to commit her.

JakeM2012

I wouldn't expect any call from your mom's congregation. They were done with her.

Not that you or anyone else is greedy but I would review you mothers Last Will and Testament and other documents. I have seen slick brothers move in for the elderly family members signature so they could act as executors then dump the total responsibility of assisting an elderly individual on the unexpecting distanced sons, daughters, etc. When I was growing up one elder specifically made this his profession.

13

New York Tourist Crap Highlights The Watchtower buildings in Brooklyn

by steve2 in

jw
friends

well i'm a day shy of having spent one week in new york - my first time.

what a dazzlingly vibrant and noisy city - one that never sleeps.

new yorkers rightly proclaim this metropolis as one of a kind.

JakeM2012

Interesting with all this "free publicity", the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is cutting tale and moving to the isolated country. The Islamic Cultural Center has recently built, close to the world trade center ground zero. They didn't build out in the country where they could hide in the woods like Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, as if they were ashamed of something. Interesting. I guess if you have been the fabricator of the 130 year snipe hunt and people are getting wise to your crap, then you would move and hide also.

I thought Watchtower had taken their signage down?

20

Truth Be Told Documentary showing in San Francisco

by SeekingTheRealTruth in

this is from a member of another ex-jw group.

if there is anybody living in the bay area..please try and attend!!

id like to announce to you that the movie, truth be told a documentary about growing as a jehovahs witness will be showing in san francisco.

JakeM2012

"I have just sent an email to the Australian SBS network and asked them to contact the site, www.smithcraft.com and run this documentary as it may give courage for those whose kids have been abused to contact the Royal Commission on Child abuse here."

Is there anyway to get this information into school councelors hands so that they know what the children are up against?

25

Hi all

by Saltheart Foamfollower in

jw
friends

firstly, love and greetings to all - i've been lurking here and elsewhere for a long time and have benefitted more than i can say.

i'm still in - i have a genuine fear that coming out would kill my mother - but i've recently taken the first step away.

i told a non-jw friend that i knew it was all a load of nonsense and i didn't believe any of it.

JakeM2012

Cool, welcome dude or saltheart doodete

17

When Jehovah's Witnesses changed from Society to Religion and why

by Terry in

[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><![endif].

[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>en-us</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>x-none</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:enableopentypekerning /> <w:dontflipmirrorindents /> <w:overridetablestylehps /> </w:compatibility> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="--" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><![endif].

judge j.f.

JakeM2012

Thanks Terry,

Wouldn't it be nice to go back in time and combat the "religious tax exemption" given to the WTBTS?

12

Asking for money...AGAIN

by raymond frantz in

i live in the uk ,a letter was read as local announcements on thursday about the relocation of london bethel and the need to donate (yes they are blatantly asking the flock )..more money .considering the fact the london bethel is located in one of the most expensive areas of london ,the sale of of these buildings will bring in hundrends of millions of pounds in revenue.there is no need asking for more money .as one poster posted here 11 years ago on the same project that nows seems to be going ahead the conservative estimates are that they will get approx 193.5m for the site (inc bittacy hill) and the new greenfield site (whichever) wil cost less that 35m.

whip up the building committes and up it goes foc (materials are estimated @ 9.23m).that was an estimate 11 years ago..so my question is did you had this letter read in your local announcements recently?

i see a pattern emerging also the sale and relocation of bethel houses build in prime land that are worth alot of money to less expensive areas and the generation of million of pounds in income .so not only makinf money off local refurfrfbrisment projects but milking it off bethel homes sale.

JakeM2012

Yes, all the branches we helped build in central and south america that were to support the preaching and "educational" work thru armageddon have been sold in the last few years because of simplification. Uhmmmm.

Perhaps, Jw's would be financially better off if they figured out how to re-harness the construction talents they have into money making profits. Oh, excuse me, that what the rest of the world does in everyone being paid for their work and skills as needed. Forget it. Maybe they just need to get a real job. ukooo...

120

Why do the GB need a new Bethel compound if the end is so close? Here is the "official" answer

by sir82 in

jw
friends

as most of us know, the society is spending 10's of millions of dollars on a giant, state of the art, secluded bunker country club headquarters in very remote, isolated warwick ny.. the question that "some" have is, why?

if armageddon is coming "very soon", why go to all that time & effort & expense?

why have thousands of jws dedicating their time to this massive effort instead of the "lifesaving ministry"?.

JakeM2012

Smiddy says, " Going back more than twenty years ago they have said , it ( new buildings /expansions etc. ) will be used in the new system of things to provide spiritual nourishment for the survivors of armageddon and the resurrected ones."

They made that comment about all the branches in central america when we were building them, "to encourage us". Now, they have sold most of them. ummmm.

19

Dysfunctional witness families

by concerned2 in

jw
friends

being raised as a jw i feel dirty even posting here.

my life growing up was one filled with fear.

armageddon was preached to us day/night.

JakeM2012

Concerned2, I appreciate your story very much because I have joked for decades said that I had a dysfunctional family, but from your description, you win.

I wouldn't take too much from your family's actions personally, to the point it disrupts your immediate family's peace or somehow you carry some guilty feelings that you are to blame for their dysfunctionality. The reason for this encouragement is the behavior of my dysfunctional family.

For example, my family has the judgemental and punishment aspect of Jehovah's Witnesses professionally down pat. They are very good at imitating the hate that Watchtower teaches, they are not only haters of what is bad, but anything inbetween of being an angel, or Jesus Christ himself to somewhere between most human behavior.

To illustrate, if you had a brain tumor, my family would angrily say, "you don't have a tumor, you have a demon." My extended family is still very active in "the truth" acting like the "example" family in the circuit/district, with one of my brothers as chairman of the RBC, one brother is long-time ex-bethelite, one brother is still in bethel, brothers have talks regularly at the circuit and district conventions. etc.

However, with all that so called "spiritual" fluff there is absolutely NO LOVE between the families. IMHO, They have all had their souls (hearts) ripped out by the WT organization and been taught by WT to maintain a highly judgemental system within the congregation and family. This system of condemnatory judgement does not produce peace. Although I have not been disfellowshipped or disassociated, (and I do not know that they know of my inactivity), my mother will not talk with me, return calls after leaving messages etc. This has been going on for over seven years, and I've learned not to blame myself for any of the families problems including the "strained relationship" with my mom or siblings.

The problems that exist in the family were from before I was born or from when I was just a child, and I will not take ownership of the families problems nor blame myself. I haven't led a life of debauchery, I am still married to my wife and have excellent loving and normal children etc. As far as the family fueds, I went out of my way to treat all honorably and not get into their fights or take sides.

However, After I had experienced the full wrath of my family when my brother launched a full on character assassination I consulted with a family councilor to try to understand what was going on. The professional councilor listened to me for less than 45 minutes when she said, "I don't need anymore information, I know what's going on".

She indicated that that since I had a great relationship with my father when he died, the other siblings and my mother, (that did not get along with Dad), projected their hatred of the deceased father onto me and my family. It was a simple case of jealousy, like experienced in the bible story of Joseph. The councilor explained to me that since I had a good relationship with my father before he died, (when my brothers and sisters did not), their reasoning was that I "may have had influence with my dad and been his favorite, but they have influence with my mom now, and she is alive, not dead". To set it straight, my father and I did have some problems over the years, but he mellowed somewhat and I got to know him at a golden time when he was actually fun to be around, he was not perfect at all though.

The councilor indicated to me that with the lack of human "qualities" of my siblings, to not even attempt any relationship with them, it was not worth it. Further, she indicated that the "character assasination" and continued hateful attitude towards me would not stop, reguardless of how I tried to make it work.

Like a cat that had played with the mouse to the point of its tiring, when the mouse caught its breath and tried to leave, the cat would just paw the mouse back into submission. I felt like I was the mouse, exhausted by their games of condemnation, but whenever I tried to go about my business they would attack again.

Their behavior got old but I tolerated it for a few years and realized that my family councilor with was 100% correct, and that the situation would not improve reguardless of what I would try to do to improve it or just not bother them. Therefore, I moved out of town.

I didn't just move down the street, I made a major move to another part of the country. The result is at first I did take a hit financially getting reestablished, and lost many "conditional friends", however, my immediate family has an abundance of peace and happiness and we are building other friendships. Until I read someone's post like yours and I am reminded what sore shape I was in staying around them I rarely even think of them. I have learned to minimize and compartmentalize my thoughts of my family, they are simply not worth the pain.

My advice to anyone younger and old enough to live independently either single or just getting married, is to leave your JW family behind and make your own life. If you have family members as J witnesses, move as far away as you possibly can afford to and you nor your family will be influenced by their negativity and dysfunctionality. This may sound like overkill, but I had a brother tell me this 30 years ago, and I truely believe it is the best course, and regret that I didn't do this when I first married. I believe that the husband and wife have to, not just resist, but fight these negative influences.

Thanks for venting about your family and I hope the best for you.