Posts by Scully

36

JW recieves $55,000 for being ordered to wear santa hat.

by FifthOfNovember in

jw
friends

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/18/woman-who-says-she-was-forced-to-wear-santa-hat-gets-55000/?iref=allsearch.

ridiculous.

>.>.

Scully

miseryloveselders:

In that same link, there's another mention of JWs that quite frankly disturbed me. I'll copy it, as i don't recall it ever being discussed on this forum.

The EEOC has brought several discrimination cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses in recent years.

One high-profile case resulted in a $1.3 million court judgment against AT&T. A federal court found that the telecommunications company fired one employee and suspended another after they skipped work to attend a Jehovah's Witness convention when they weren't given time off.

According to the EEOC, by not giving the workers time off, the company forced its employees to choose between their religion and their jobs.

This here I don't agree with, and I'm more inclined to fault the WT and those JWs in this case.

Well, considering there are several conventions over the summer, sometimes at the same site over different weekends, I find it ludicrous that the JWs' requests for time off to attend conventions couldn't be accommodated. Surely AT&T grants vacation requests the same as other employers?? Sheesh, that's what we always did when we were still JWs, and my parents did it and so did their friends at the KH and in the Circuit and District: everyone used their VACATION time to go to assemblies/conventions, because we weren't like False Religious Hypocrites who wanted special privileges on the basis of their beliefs. It makes me wonder if the JWs were seeking time off over-and-above their normal vacation entitlement and were trying to acquire extra by claiming that conventions were "Holy Days" (like Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur) and needed the days off for worship. Unfortunately in the case of a convention, that claim would (or should to my way of thinking) fall flat because the dates for the convention are decided, not by any consideration of a repeating date or season on the calendar or lunar cycles, but by entirely commercial interests - such as dates when certain convention centres are available, based on the best negotiated price for the facilities. I'd actually be interested to know whether the JWs' vacation entitlement had already been used for, oh I dunno, a trip to the Dominican or something like that.

(BTW: awesome redneck accent! )

36

JW recieves $55,000 for being ordered to wear santa hat.

by FifthOfNovember in

jw
friends

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/18/woman-who-says-she-was-forced-to-wear-santa-hat-gets-55000/?iref=allsearch.

ridiculous.

>.>.

Scully

I kind of see the gift wrapping as a separate issue from the Santa hat.

The employer provides the wrapping paper, the customer chooses the type of paper they want their gift wrapped in. No biggie for my formerly JW Conscience™.

The employer provides Santa hats and demands that employees wear them, even if it conflicts with their beliefs. I'd have a problem with that. I had a problem with it when my employer required that I answer the phone by saying "Merry Christmas" - but at least they didn't force me to say it once I told them it conflicted with my religious beliefs. It's not as if I was going to be rude and say "Bah Humbug" instead of "Merry Christmas".

You get a similar conflict when pharmacy chains sell morning after pills, but an individual pharmacist refuses to sell them on account of their pro-life convictions. However, I see their circumstance as being more of the gift wrapper scenario of being the middle man providing a service offered by the employer, rather than participating in an act that conflicts with their beliefs, whether it's wearing a Santa hat, saying "Merry Christmas" or performing an abortion.

In school we weren't allowed to sing Christmas carols, but we could sing "winter" songs like Winter Wonderland or Frosty the Snowman. Some JW kids wouldn't participate in any of it, but my parents thought that would be unreasonable, just like they thought it was important for us to learn the lyrics to the national anthem in French when that was part of our French lessons, even if we never sang it.

22

DF Question

by TheLoveDoctor in

if 1 elder definetly knows how i feel of governing body and some of thier doctrine, he knows as i admitted viewing and researching apostate liturate can they still disfellowship me if i refuse to meet?

right now the 1 brother would talk to the body they would need 2 witneses or one more brother to determine if thier should be a jc yet i know and they know it would be obviouse for the need for one, could the just form one and if i refuse to meet could they df me anyway?.

Scully

I doubt they would DF you. They'd say you DA'd by your actions.

38

Do you get hassled for posting here frequently?

by sabastious in

jw
friends

most people in my life that know how frequent i post on this forum find it very troubling.

i have often been accused of "not being able to let go.

" i don't agree that i post here because i'm not willing to let go, i think i post here because i think this place helps other people and i want to be part of it.

Scully

minimus:

yeah...i post too much.

I nominate the above statement for Understatement of the Decade.

2

artrite reumatoide

by marcopolo in

jw
friends

hello all.

someone knows some effective care for this illness..

Scully

I suggest you speak to a rheumatologist.

15

Have the rules changed for inactive people?

by cognac in

jw
friends

cause i see a bunch of inactive doing disfellowshipping things and its known by the elders and the elders aren't doing anything because they are inactive.... so, just wondering if the rules have changed, or there is more of a loophole somewhere that wasn't there before?.

Scully

I had a JW relative investigate by speaking to one of the Elders™ who came to the house. He said that he and other congregation members had observed Mr Scully smoking, and so asked the question "Do you consider yourself to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses?" - when Mr Scully said "no", that was taken as a verbal Disassociation™. I still wanted to know about the claim regarding writing a letter - and apparently the rules changed around that time and they started making DA announcements for verbal as well as written DA statements. They also started DAing people "by their actions" - so say a JW joined the army - they would be automatically DAd "by their actions" because their actions were in direct violation of WTS standards of conduct. Apparently the DA was on both counts - actions and verbal statement. Whoever started the rumour about the letter was under the impression that DA statements were only valid in writing.

I think there will be lots more people DAd "by their actions" - it saves the Elders™ from having to investigate allegations of wrongdoing, you only need two Elders™ to allege that a person made a statement to the effect that they do not consider themselves to be a JW, and it prevents any messy legal proceedings (slander/libel) if a person is labelled as Disfellowshipped™. This is one reason why the announcement does not identify a person as DFd or DAd any more - only that they are "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses" because there's no overt defamation of character taking place. The whole concept of "DA by one's actions" makes any action that violates WTS rules a completely voluntary decision to disassociate on the part of the individual.

15

Have the rules changed for inactive people?

by cognac in

jw
friends

cause i see a bunch of inactive doing disfellowshipping things and its known by the elders and the elders aren't doing anything because they are inactive.... so, just wondering if the rules have changed, or there is more of a loophole somewhere that wasn't there before?.

Scully

We were about 8 successful years into our fade when out of the blue two Elders™ stopped by our new home. They offered Mr Scully a Bible Study™ and assistance to reactivate us, which he declined. The Elders™ then asked him if he considered himself to be a JW, to which he answered "No". They left, and we didn't hear from them again. About a year later, I heard from some JW ladies who stopped by that they had announced from the platform that Mr Scully had written a letter to DA himself which was a lie, and I called them on it. I sent them packing and told them I didn't want to see them again or any other JW if they were going to spread malicious gossip about my husband. They never came back.

25

Ya ever struggle with feelings of hatred or negative views of others? Misanthropy?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

somedays i've got a monster within my blood, and every so often i'd love to just give into it.

throwing the jw factor aside, i genuinely believe that having and demostrating love for others is an honorable way to live.

however, and there's always a however with everything in life, but i struggle sometimes trying to be consistent with love.

Scully

Reminds me of an old joke:

A Yankee lady and a Southern Belle were seated next to each other on a plane. The Southern Belle, in an attempt to make conversation, asked her seatmate: "Sooo, where y'all from?"

The Yankee lady rolled her eyes and replied dryly: "Where I come from, we don't end our sentences with a preposition."

The Southern Belle reflects on that for a moment and then tries again: "Sooo, where y'all from, bitch?"

29

Should I contact the Society and tell them I want out?

by sinis in

as of late i have been thinking about this.

my sig other and i have successfully faded, and the last kh i attended (cards were moved to) was like 8+ years ago.

i really do not care either way, however i have been asking myself as of late if i should.

Scully

Essentially, you are free of the Organization™. You have escaped and are living life on your own terms now.

Maybe it's just me, but to go back and tell them you want out is signalling them that they still have authority over you. Why on earth would you want to give them that? You owe them NOTHING. Why go looking for trouble? Your life can't possibly be so boring and dull that you need a run-in with JW Elders™ to spice things up a bit.

It would be like avoiding a hornet's nest successfully for 8 years and then going over with a stick and start poking and jabbing at it. Or like tiptoeing past a sleeping bull only to run back a while later and stomp on its tail.

25

Ya ever struggle with feelings of hatred or negative views of others? Misanthropy?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

somedays i've got a monster within my blood, and every so often i'd love to just give into it.

throwing the jw factor aside, i genuinely believe that having and demostrating love for others is an honorable way to live.

however, and there's always a however with everything in life, but i struggle sometimes trying to be consistent with love.

Scully

I've shed a lot of idealism over the years and I'm pretty much a cynic nowadays. But then again, I seem to be surrounded by dishonest people who behave like spoiled brats, whose lives are utterly enmeshed with the lies they tell about themselves and believe to be truth. These are the ignoramuses who make me want to take up the solitary existence of a hermit (provided my cabin in the woods is outfitted with a damn nice kitchen).