Posts by problemaddict

39

Newbie here; my intro post :)

by Sparlock the Wizard in

so, i finally decided to become a member and make my first post .

a bit about me:.

i've been lurking around the forum for quite some time (about 6 months i think).

Welcome STW. You are among some of the younger here. In my informal survey, I find that alot of us gex x'ers wake up around the 30 mark. With the Millenials (that is what you are), I predict it will be sooner.

Take your time. Study all you can. Don't go extreme in either direction. At some point you will need to be loyal to you. Its bad for the soul to not live with integrity. But there is a WAY to do it, so as not to lose family and loved ones. Always study with the idea of how you would explain it to others if needed.

Welcome to the board. Research some of the older deeper threads.

23

Curious About My Disfellowshipping.

by vajeni82 in

i recently read an interesting thread (is there a 'third' way to leave?

) that talked about fading instead of being df'd or da'd.

i myself had planned to fade, but was df'd instead.

problemaddict

This can be complicated without knowing what you did. You say you did something you think would barely garner "reproof". The policy is that even something that may seem on the more minor scale of offensive behavior, if you respond "brazenly" which you no doubt did, you could be an unrepentant sinner and disfellowshipped.

So that COULD be what happened. Not saying it neccesarily was.

As far as freedom od informtion, I have thought about that as well. Can you request your "file" in the United States, and if so, under what grounds?

33

How to tell family why you are no longer attending meetings?

by El_Guapo in

jw
friends

so it has been over a month, maybe closer to two that i haven't attended a meeting.

my stress level has gone way down, and my life is pretty good right now.

well as you know, there are tons of nosy witnessess.

problemaddict

How good of a relationship do you have with your mother? My mother knows I no longer attend, she is mad zealous, and she is not shunning me nor will she. She is disappointed to say the least, but she is not shunning.

Of course i haven't dropped any serious bombs on her either. I suppose it depends. Do you want to give her answers that will amke the problem go away but aren't honest (as jgnat suggested), or do you want to tell her the truth, but just not all of it?

Those are questions only you can answer because you know your relationship with your mother and we don't.

No matter what, i would find out HOW she found this out. And of course there is always the right in the middle statement of....."Mom, I love you and appreciate your concern, but I don't really want to talk about it. I love God and my family. i don't want to affect anyones faith negatively. I don't really want to discuss it. So......how bout them Lakers. Dwight sure is a bust eh?"

That would be my humble suggestion. it is honest to the person who birthed you, but not shun inducing. :)

10

$10 M NEW Assembly Hall in South Carolina

by truthlover in

jw
friends

does anyone know if regular kh were sold with monies sent to the society in the area as well as in other close states?.

did the elders ask for pubs to donate towards the building of this new assembly hall and is it to be used for weekly meetings?

i note it is to be used for 40 2- day assemblies per year but throughout the week would it stand vacant or be used by congregation meetings?.

problemaddict

^^^^^and permits/inspections.

10

$10 M NEW Assembly Hall in South Carolina

by truthlover in

jw
friends

does anyone know if regular kh were sold with monies sent to the society in the area as well as in other close states?.

did the elders ask for pubs to donate towards the building of this new assembly hall and is it to be used for weekly meetings?

i note it is to be used for 40 2- day assemblies per year but throughout the week would it stand vacant or be used by congregation meetings?.

problemaddict

Yeah they are discussing what they believe it to be "worth", not the actual cost.

Something is always off there. When i see the "cost" of the local KH's, I know it can't be the actual numbers. with food,a nd labor provided by the loacals at their expense, the only REAL tangible cost is that of materials.

27

Watch Tower Corporation Listed Top Forty Revenue-Generating Companies in New York City, Reporting an Annual Revenue of About 951 Million US Dollars

by frankiespeakin in

so are they a religious non profit corporation?

how is this dicotomy possible that they could generate such revenue and not make an accounting to irs?.

originally known as the peoples pulpit association, the organization was incorporated in 1909 when the society's principal offices moved to brooklyn, new york.

problemaddict

I agree with Steve. I do not believe the branch legally has to release their financials as a charity publically. Otherwise there are plenty of astute researchers here who would be pouncing all over it. In Canada charitable organizations have to reease their numbers.

Also there are several corps set up now to move money around. It would be quite a trip down the rabbit hole. But something from 2000 doesn't tell us anything about today in my opinion.

61

Do you think those at the top realise that it's their fault - suicide as a result of being disfellowshipped?

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

i have been stunned to hear of two suicides in our area recently.. this adds to the other 3 that i have known of from the past.. the two recent suicides resulted from 1-the person being gay & hearing a horrific talk at the kingdom hall & 2-the person with problems who was disfelloshipped & then took his life the next week.. it astonished me that jw's in general don't rebel against this sort of thing.

it's an appalling lack of support which leads people to feel distressed, abandoned & unloved.

how the witnesses in the locality can just sail on without giving the cruelty of these measures serious though is beyond me.

problemaddict

Irondork is right. Many people do NOT shun their loved ones and friends. Many people do NOT think that disfellowshipping for these "infractions" is scriptural. Many people do NOT think that it is a loving arrangement and that their obedience to God himself is at stake when shunning others.

Of course.....many do think that.

20

Pulling the rug out from under the "apostates"

by konceptual99 in

would anyone agree that recent comments and changes to wt doctrine are designed to try and pull the rug out from under long established counter reasoning put forward by those the wt would consider apostates?.

the section in the recent wt, whilst not an apology, is apologist in it's tone and suggests that the wt society has just been doing the right thing by setting expectations.. apostate: "you keep saying the end is coming and it still hasn't.".

wt - "well, our zeal in following jesus may have prompted us to raise expectations too much but we are only doing what we are asked to do.".

problemaddict

I have said this a few times before. The purpose specifically of some of these things is simply to disarm dissent arguements. I agree 100%.

56

Whats your opinion of the WTS. apologizing now for its past wrongful teachings ?

by Finkelstein in

something happened recently by the wts.

that doesn't rarely often and that is the wts.

executive editors apologizing for the organization's past mistakes and proclamations.

problemaddict

Actually after reading that I see it clearly. We are just like the First century Christians. Our screwing up and being "eager" is only further pfoof we are the original congregation re-established!!

3

Well I'll be..............The Nation of Islam has a working relationship with Scientology.

by Theocratic Sedition in

jw
friends

i wasn't aware of this relationship until reading something online yesterday.

it'd be like the watchtower joining the un.

oh wait, that..... anyways, this is crazy!

problemaddict

Hilarious. Hubbard was both a genius and a con-man of the highest order. Scientology is a master manipulator of people. It simply is amazing.

They capitalize on one particular thing. Personal experience. if they can create a personal experience that betters you in any way at all, they can claim they are onto something, and the person who had that experience just goes along. It works on the weak and strong alike, because if there is one thing its hard to try to explain away, its your personal "spiritual" experience.

They then have their own unique language and volcabulary, a heirarchy, things to strive for, secret teachings only available to some members (now available to anyone who watches south park), and money coming out of their ears.

All that will still not make it any easier for people to accept the stories of the alien overlord Xenu and thetans (souls) attaching themselves to you and being the cause of your suffering.

It is truely a cult of all cults. Some of their methods sound familiar.

Read "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief" - Lawrence Wright.

Fantastic book. I can hardly put it down. While Scientologists are WAY more extreme.....some of the methods feel familiar.