Posts by Wait For It

21

By Way of Announcement, Darlene Jefferson Has Been Disfellowshiped

by Cold Steel in

i was watching a jw video where the announcement was made of a young lady's being disfellowshiped, and it happened in a regular kh sunday meeting.

this struck me as being a bit...cold.

is this when the shunning begins?

Wait For It

@Cold Steel, you can get reproved for anything you can get disfellowshipped for. All it means is that the person seemed repentant in the judicial committee vs a disfellowshipping which means the person displayed an unrepentant attitude. But really it just boils down to if you've convinced your committee that you are sorry. Doesn't matter if you actually are or not, but they have to believe you. And it also depends on what kind of elders you get: harsh or forgiving.

things you can get reproved for: sex, drugs, gambling, and whatever else is in the flock book (conveniently not available to rank and file.)

21

By Way of Announcement, Darlene Jefferson Has Been Disfellowshiped

by Cold Steel in

i was watching a jw video where the announcement was made of a young lady's being disfellowshiped, and it happened in a regular kh sunday meeting.

this struck me as being a bit...cold.

is this when the shunning begins?

Wait For It

I haven't been disfellowshipped, but I was publicly reproved once. I was told by my JC that I had to be present for the announcement or else they'd revisit their decision and disfellowship me (I was a teenager). So a part of being present for an announcement is to shame the individual. If you don't show up then it's assumed you aren't very repentant.

66

When you were fully in, did you believe that you would not die?

by TTWSYF in

i know that it must seem silly to ask, but my brother and his family think that the big a will arrive before they die.

i tried to explain to my brother that everyone else who has ever lived in the past has died and only jesus has [physically] rose from the dead.. it is amazing that anyone could buy that line.

what crazy cult culture that could make people believe such nonsense?!.

Wait For It

I never truly believed it personally and never really liked talking about it for that reason. It was this thing I grew up hearing but couldn't be fully invested in so I rarely thought about the future. I always thought it would be far more likely that I would live out my life and die of old age and (hopefully) be resurrected when everything was over. To be honest, that's what I hoped for because the thought of living through Armageddon/the great tribulation really terrified me.

My dad was/is definitely a believer and would always tell me that "this system probably won't be around by the time you finish school." I even had an elder say "we never thought you guys would get this old in this system." Well, I graduated a decade ago and it's still here.

38

The Biggest Mistake The GB Have Made In The Last 10 Years

by pale.emperor in

i think the single biggest mistake the governing body have made in the last 10 years has to be creating jw broadcasting and putting their gb members on there... on a weekly basis too.. when i was a kid, i had no idea who the governing body were, what their names were or what they looked like.

there was one or two long term pioneers that knew the names of two of them but that was about it.. when i was about 10yo i imagined they looked something like this:.

ahh.... those learned men with a lifetime of bible knowledge just oozing out of their very hearts.

Wait For It

@Datadog, ugh the song's words on the screen. I wonder when they'll include the Bible verses on the screen. They might as well, everything is already scripted.

38

The Biggest Mistake The GB Have Made In The Last 10 Years

by pale.emperor in

i think the single biggest mistake the governing body have made in the last 10 years has to be creating jw broadcasting and putting their gb members on there... on a weekly basis too.. when i was a kid, i had no idea who the governing body were, what their names were or what they looked like.

there was one or two long term pioneers that knew the names of two of them but that was about it.. when i was about 10yo i imagined they looked something like this:.

ahh.... those learned men with a lifetime of bible knowledge just oozing out of their very hearts.

Wait For It

@nicolaou, no, but they do include some of the shorter videos from the broadcast in the CLAM meetings only because it's in the script for the week. Sometimes they are from older broadcasts though.

38

The Biggest Mistake The GB Have Made In The Last 10 Years

by pale.emperor in

i think the single biggest mistake the governing body have made in the last 10 years has to be creating jw broadcasting and putting their gb members on there... on a weekly basis too.. when i was a kid, i had no idea who the governing body were, what their names were or what they looked like.

there was one or two long term pioneers that knew the names of two of them but that was about it.. when i was about 10yo i imagined they looked something like this:.

ahh.... those learned men with a lifetime of bible knowledge just oozing out of their very hearts.

Wait For It

@Nicolaou, I don't think the older ones are watching it. Many don't even own tablets. In my elders' attempt to help strengthen my faith, they had me study with an older pioneer. I asked her what she made of the generation chart the GB came up with on the broadcast and she had no idea what I was talking about. She doesn't watch them and I honestly don't even think she knew about the changed teaching. Not too surprising since she is a 1975 denier even though she was around and in the Org during that time.

Some KHs do stream the broadcast if they have the capability.

I'm really glad for the broadcast and the annual meeting broadcasts. Seeing Tony and the others knocked my rose-petal glasses off and helped me see behind the curtain. They weren't magical men who talked with god anymore. They weren't fairytales casually mentioned in the WT on Sunday. They were real and they were horrible.

19

August 12, 2016 BOE Re: Obtaining Video Equipment for Displaying Spiritual Programs

by wifibandit in

august 12, 2016 to all bodies of elders in the united states branch territory re: obtaining video equipment for displaying spiritual programs.

spiritual_programs_video_equipment_kits-e.

Wait For It

Interesting. This explains a lot now. My congregation put TVs in a few months ago and it was this huge thing because they invited everyone to come help install everything. I don't know if they got them from the society, but I'm doubtful since the brothers went out and purchased huge Smart TVs: two larger ones for the main halls and two for the two back schools. If anyone has gone shopping for TVs, they'd know Smart TVs are not cheap.

I remember asking where we got the money for that and no one was able to answer. Though my husband is under the impression that it came from LDC. I don't think it did, but given that our hall is home to a lot of congregations, I'm sure they all pitched in for the spurge.

I feel bad for the poorer congregations since I have a feeling they will get pressured to eventually purchase it as the society seems super into including their propaganda videos in the mid-week meeting. Before we were all expected to watch any assigned videos and come prepared to discuss. Now we can't even be trusted to do that on our own.

25

TWO MEN who changed Watchtower History but YOU NEVER HEARD of them!

by TerryWalstrom in

two men who changed watchtower history but you never heard of them!

cults are famous for control--especially controlling information about people, places and events which are embarrassing to their self-myths.. especially is this true for two important figures in watchtower history.. .

the first man is william f. hudgings.

Wait For It

Wow! I'm really enjoying all your research. Thank you!

44

For those who are still in... What do you do about field service?

by Wait For It in

jw
friends

for those of you who are still in because of family circumstances, what do you do about field service?

do you still go regularly, sporadically or not at all?.

if you do still go, how do you manage?

Wait For It

@Millie20, that's a good idea. I could just go on one of her bible studies. I'll try that if she asks again.

@hoser, I don't think that's the case. She doesn't know I have doubts, but I've always been a low hour publisher and she's always been trying to encourage me to increase my time. I think this mainly stems from wanting her son to have more responsibilities in the cong and that can't happen with a "spiritually weak" wife.
@stan livedead, the worst that can happen: they influence my spouse in some way which would cause more tension in my marriage. Or they could mention something to my elders which could lead to a JC down the line. I'm not too worried that would happen, but I like to think of all possible scenarios.
@MarkofCane, it is a very sad situation to be in. I feel sick just thinking about going to meetings. I haven't been out in service in months and I'd prefer to keep it like that.
The only reason I'm even entertaining the thought of going is because of my kids. Getting DF or DAing, wouldn't bother me a bit, but it would restrict me from being around my kids when they are at gatherings and such. We have a large cong and many from other cong are invited to those events. My husband is a good dad, but too trusting and buys into the whole insta-friends concept. So until something changes, I'll have to stick it out for a bit.

23

So are the GB now saying that they are NOT the "faithful and discreet slave"?

by stuckinarut2 in

so can someone clarify this please?.

the claim has been made that the gb is the faithful and discreet slave.

especially was this highlighted during the agm (when the silver bible was released).. but are they now saying that this "appointment" isn't happening until the "great tribulation"?.

Wait For It

Well, they eat it up because they either don't fully understand it or don't care. They are so focused on paradise that nothing else matters.