as you know, when you work your whole life, you pay into social security.
at retirement, you collect a paycheck from the government based on a percentage of income you drew for all those years.
do any of you know anyone that had been at bethel for decades and then were laid off?
So many of them live at the mercy of some congregation that takes them in.
An old CO who had to retire because of age and health was taking in by one of the local halls by me.
They gave him a small apartment, and he lives there with his wife.
The same happens all over.
i was just reminiscing about the last thing i did as an elder.
after a painful awakening due to family matters,,deleted as an elder due to what i now have come to realize is normal children trying to be more than just zombie tag alongs who don't make problems for their parents and want to explore their talents and intellect.
mistakes and difficulties arise in families but real families do not resort to draconian measures when hormonally influenced children want to take a different path.
My "last act" before I resigned was as the School Overseer.
Every year during the service meeting, they interview the SO.
I took this opportunity to say some things that should go without saying.
1. I talked about how - if you are a JW and really feel people are going to die soon, you should take the school seriously, and really try and improve your writing, speaking, and teaching ability, and if you are not, what does that say about your true feelings. (Really this was meant as a slap in the face to all those self-righteous ones who love to talk but don't ever do anything).
2. My fav was bringing out how "we" are about truth and accuracy. And when we give talks, especially elders, what we say really needs to be accurate, and how much of a disservice it is when we are not. I talked about how you would find up to date accurate information, especially when you are talking about any STEM subject (like the universe, or medical issues, creation...). How if we - especially as elders and servants, are not accurate that it goes against all the JC stood for.
I gave an a few common examples:
No the earth would not become a frozen ball of ice, or a cinder if it were just a little bit closer or farther from the sun.
And I used one about divorce. How we always hear that 1/2 the marriages or more end up in divorce. I cautioned that it is not as simple as that. 1st you need to know how statistics work. In our hall we have a few who were divorced 2 and 3 times, how does that work as a total when there are couples who never have..
Also there are countries Columbia, China and in the Islamic world, and even Brazil are in the single digits. So you can't use Blanket Statements, or Paint the World with broad strokes. Be accurate and NOT misleading because it helps your argument.
I did it all with love and charm, but I saw specific people squirming in their seats, and not happy.
F-them, and I am sure it was like punching the ocean, but I spoke my mind can called them out in the only reasonable way as an PIMO elder who was going to resign in a matter of weeks.
how can the watchtower society claim effectiveness in their 140 years of preaching the ''good news''..... spending billions of hours in ''field service'', having the ''faithful and discreet slave'' lead the preaching work, passing out billions of watchtower literature since the 1870's, while the pentecostals have been more effective using other evangelical methods?
congregations.
119,954. members.
god is the WORST salesman EVER EVER EVER.
He cant get people to want to live in paradise forever.
Sad.
i know a few family's who have left the cult but send their kids to a religious school because of the public schools teaching many times that homosexuality is ok. the bible is clear that its a sin.
there is no just love each other and its all ok. i don't believe in the bible or any religion.
i have a niece who came out as gay and i told her i don't care.
NO!
i thought this might catch your eye.
especially if you're a man.. they say thinking about sex is wrong!
that's biologically impossible.
I hear you. Mine was poisoned by guilt to make sex bad.
I like to call her my practice wife was not much when it came to sex
i thought this might catch your eye.
especially if you're a man.. they say thinking about sex is wrong!
that's biologically impossible.
sparky - he was an old German guy.
Fun wasnt part of his vocabulary.
i thought this might catch your eye.
especially if you're a man.. they say thinking about sex is wrong!
that's biologically impossible.
In the early 80's I remember our Book Study conductor talking about sex during the study of the Family Book.
Pointing out how anything but Missionary position was showing disrespect to god and wrongful sexual appetite.
one of the most despicable things i can remember is having the elders determining whether or not you “qualified” for proper funeral services in a kingdom hall and if the talk could be given by an elder.
people are hurting terribly and the family is then told, even though the deceased was a member of the congregation, they still weren’t good enough to qualify for proper burial services per the congregation!
.
Its because the Funeral is all about it being a Recruitment Talk.
Nothing to do with comfort.
I bucked that and gave funeral talks for the family, and not a recruitment talk.
The 3 I gave were amazingly well received by the families, friends, and unbelieving family there.
I had older respected JWs ask me to give theirs when they died.
I had elders who praised them.
And I had a small group of jealous elders from my area use them against me to try and get me removed, cuz I did not follow the outline to their liking.
Funny enough, the month after the last one I gave, the outline changed to make it easier to do the talk the way I did.
Ironically, this event aided me in Fading immensely!
news reports.
"golf-ball size hail.
" anyone know anyone who was under that?.
Its the END TIMES!
Matthew 24!! See its all real!
Jehober is bringing the big A!
Oh wait, it was just the weather :(
how alienated from jehovah and un-christian so many bethelites must be, who finished their higher education and gained their degrees!
i don't know how they can live with their consciences!.
pages 6 & 7, pars.
OMG! First of all - this is all made up, it is NOT a real story. Just like most of the "real life" experinaces
What challenges did she face? She admits: “Studying for my courses took so much time and effort that I was too busy to linger in prayer to Jehovah
Really, she couldn't linger? WTF?
I am ashamed to admit that the education I pursued taught me to be critical of others
For the millionth time - JW Double Speak - Critical thinking = being critical of others. (what colleges do to you)
I HATED THAT SO MUCH even as a True Believer!
Critical thinking is the ability to examine something and weigh it on merritt and evidence, not "BELITTLING" others - AKA Elder the WT and the GB.
CULT CULT CULT!!!
