JWTom

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Posts by JWTom

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  21

  Headship and WT's Changed Understanding

  by Bobcat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't think anyone has mentioned that the february 2021 study wt (p. 15, 16; par.

  8) changed wt's long standing view on headship within the congregation.

  wt used to view all baptized males as being the head of all baptized sisters.. this view led to such absurdities as a sister having to wear a head covering on a bible study because her baptized 10 year old son was sitting in on the study with her.

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  JWTom

  All: What is insane, is that in the middle of a pandemic that is going on and on with many JWs experiencing significant financial and health impacts........JW.org is publishing things like the "finer points on why a head covering is or is not needed in varying circumstances with nuanced changes from previous beliefs related to women within the religion". Most don't remember anything about the old policy and do not care (and will not remember) anything about the new policy! LOL

  Vidiot: I agree that the Book Study was killed simply due to overall liability. We hosted the BS for many years and even had to deal with the local BOE assigning a convicted molester to come visit our house for BS. Which we had to force them to correct since they were evidently clueless to even know they should not do that.
  
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  38

  What Do Today’s Jehovah’s Witnesses Really Think?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was a witness i knew what my beliefs were and could defend my views, even if it really was wrong.

  i understood jw doctrines .

  i could define what the faithful and discreet slave was.

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  JWTom

  Hello All! I have not been on in awhile. Good to catch up on topics! All of these posts are spot on.

  In my ~50 years as a witness from birth :( I would say few people that are JWs today have any idea what they believe. And could not defend any of their beliefs if a gun was put to their head.
  
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  34

  Are there more Bethel layoffs in the immediate future?

  by LongHairGal in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just saw a post on reddit: ‘wt are prepping the r&f for changes in the march/april meeting workbook’.. in the post the person noted what they read (for march 8) and it mentioned bethel adjustments and reference was made to 2015 when bethelites were let go.. if this happens (yet again) another bunch of people are being sent home to fend for themselves in the big bad world at an advanced age with little to no preparation.

  even though this doesn’t surprise me, it could not come at a worse time with a global pandemic and massive job loss everywhere..congregations are already in turmoil because of so many who reached retirement age totally unprepared because they were told armageddon would be here before they reached that age.

  this is in addition to all the other ‘needy’ and troubled types in the congregations looking for as$istance.. i hope any bethelites there have a plan and some people they can contact.

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  JWTom

  Faded4good:

  When I was there (1990s), there was so much fat related to people resources it was shocking. I came from working for a big company where they were constantly trimming departments to only have the needed people. Back then I estimated they could eliminate 30% of the total U.S. bethel population and still maintain the same level of services - mainly due to the fact that redundant roles were every where and also people that basically did nothing but live/eat at bethel.

  Going all digital as some have suggested will happen very soon would allow for the elimination vast swaths of the current org structure. I still know quite a few were laid off back in the late 90s or early 00s - some that are SPs and others that simply had to restart their lives on their own.
  
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  41

  A Salute to Petra/Atlantis

  by Slidin Fast in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  whilst i have never quite understood whether petra and atlantis are one or multiple entities i recognise the value of their work and web of contacts.

  i think it is fair to say that no-one has consistently contributed more solid gold intelligence to this site.

  no one has reliably passed on more bomb shells and solid news as well as day to day minutiae.

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  JWTom

  Yes. Thanks YOU!
  
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  13

  Meeting Workbook - I am your inheritance - April 5-11

  by JWTom in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  similar to the bethelites being dismissed topic for march/april 2020 is the article for april 5-11 related to the idea "if you just do what jw.org says....then someone is going to slide cash under your door and it will all be good related to your future finances" (link below).. i know current jws that believe this and have pimi family that believe this.

  they believe these even though they have endlessly challenging finances even struggling to pay bills.

  the reality is that anyone struggling financially as a jw is going to be in a state of poverty just trying to survive.

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  JWTom

  Similar to the bethelites being dismissed topic for March/April 2020 is the article for April 5-11 related to the idea "if you just do what JW.org says....then someone is going to slide cash under your door and it will all be good related to your future finances" (link below).

  I know current JWs that believe this and have PIMI family that believe this. They believe these even though they have endlessly challenging finances even struggling to pay bills.

  The reality is that anyone struggling financially as a JW is going to be in a state of poverty just trying to survive. No financial security will come from JWLand. That has been proven true...again and again and again....
  

  https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=202021095&srcid=share
  
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  34

  Are there more Bethel layoffs in the immediate future?

  by LongHairGal in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just saw a post on reddit: ‘wt are prepping the r&f for changes in the march/april meeting workbook’.. in the post the person noted what they read (for march 8) and it mentioned bethel adjustments and reference was made to 2015 when bethelites were let go.. if this happens (yet again) another bunch of people are being sent home to fend for themselves in the big bad world at an advanced age with little to no preparation.

  even though this doesn’t surprise me, it could not come at a worse time with a global pandemic and massive job loss everywhere..congregations are already in turmoil because of so many who reached retirement age totally unprepared because they were told armageddon would be here before they reached that age.

  this is in addition to all the other ‘needy’ and troubled types in the congregations looking for as$istance.. i hope any bethelites there have a plan and some people they can contact.

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  JWTom

  Thanks for the tip that this was out there. Likely some changes are coming....exactly what is hard to say from anything in the meeting workbooks.
  

  I was at Bethel during the first real "layoffs" in the 90s. These work in fairly predictable ways: 1) Over 50 and <10 years bethel service typically end up with as SPs as mentioned; 2) Under 50 and >10 years bethel service were given like 1-3 months to make plans to leave, get a job, etc. Of course there were lots of exceptions to the above but that was a general theme. The "dead wood" was at the top of the list regardless of age/seniority and also people with consistent/chronic health problems.

  During this time there was a younger couple (40ish) with professional skills that filed a lawsuit related to being dismissed after 10 years of being at Bethel. They won a judgement of $175,000 related to their case that the "Living Together in Unity Bethel Manual" basically says "come here and make a career of being at Bethel", "stay forever, make this your home forever", etc, etc. And in the 90s it did say that. The couple alleged they did what was encouraged and after many years devoting their professional skills to Bethel they were being booted or something to that effect. Most Bethelites that are getting booted do not have the balls or resources to do something like this - but it was a legitimate complaint especially if you had valuable skills and were thinking you could stay at Bethel forever.

  Fortunately my wife and I left on our own terms after less than 10 years. We did not need help getting back into the job world or making money. However, this discussion is a cautionary tale on what the JW.org will do to you after it has decided you are no longer needed.
  
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  14

  April 30, 1993

  by pistolpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  this year was actually “the beginning of the last days for the watchtower.

  before this year, there were very few that questioned the watchtower.

  they were truly god’s only channel.

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  JWTom

  @bluesbrother

  For many the collapse of the generation teaching of 1914 and also the falsehood of the "Millions now living will never die" teaching (oops, all those many millions have all died). Also, at US Bethel there were some prominent members of the Gilead School that left when the decision was made that not all of the anointed were selected prior to 1935 - and that more anointed were being selected in current times (of course this had to be changed since all of the 1935-era anointed were about to die off, leaving none on the earth). The 1935 selection of anointed teaching was also a bedrock belief that has gone to the trashcan.
  
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  23

  So what have the rank and file been saying now that a vaccine is being given. What happened to Armageddon

  by goingthruthemotions in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a vaccine is here!!!

  the light at the end of the tunnel is visible!!!

  so what happened to armageddon?.

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  JWTom

  In JWLand there will always be a reason for the next thing or next view of what is happening. There is an explanation or scripture that will be used to justify a random position regardless of what reality is.
  
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  17

  Reading the Watchtower publications will give you an university education.

  by Overrated in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the watchtower said that reading their stuff would get you a college education.

  can anyone recall that gem?

  my parents sure bought into that crap.

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  JWTom

  @howthebiblewascreated @ funky

  To be fair, there is a great deal about human nature, values and in some cases commerce that can be learned from a study of the bible. Also I would agree that in the magazines published from 1950s-1980s there was a great deal of interesting and educational content published that would benefit an average person in building knowledge.

  Sadly though, what you need to survive in the world we live in is a well rounded education across many topics that are relevant in holding down a job to pay the bills. What WT offered never provided that.

  Double sadly, in the U.S. for many years if you didn't have a piece of paper saying you went to college then you were also black-balled as someone that was not worth hiring for professional roles.
  
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  29

  Publisher's Record Cards

  by Faded4good in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, i haven't been to a meeting in over 17 years and i don't live anywhere near the place i grew up.

  i have had minimal contact with my jw family, essentially just occasional phone conversations.

  i think they could easily guess that i'm inactive but they pretend not to know and they've never shunned me.

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  JWTom

  Faded4Good - Yes, but also many of them are likely being trashed after 5-7 years. I was in a congregation for 16 years that was constantly a revolving door of elders, ministerial servants and publishers. The idea that anything was kept track of or organized is laughable.