Posts by Thirdson

25

North And South.

by Englishman in

having finally accepted that the united kingdom is not the centre of the universe - i know, it hurts, it hurts - i have been boning up on some american history for a change.. first off, i have been watching a series on sky that deals with the american civil war.

wow, what an amazingly complicated conflict that was.

i was astonished to learn that the the uk was about to switch it's allegience fron the north to the south purely for trade purposes so as to keep it's cotton mills spinning.. secondly, i have been swotting through my encyclopaedia's for more information about this conflict.

Thirdson

Mike,

You should call my son and get his input. At age 9 he argued (and very well) with my immigration attorney an Atlanta GA, native on the subject of who treated prisoners of war the worst. He had read every book in his school library on the subject in addition to the large collection of books he owns.

Today, at age 14 he is a little embarassed to admit to his extensive knowledge and has gotten past the nickname of "civil war boy" he acquired at school. We no longer have to warn him about bringing the subject up when we have visitors. I have to admit that I tuned out to most of what he would relate because of the overload. It was only when I heard him discuss the subject with knowledgeable people that I realized exactly how much he knew.

Thirdson

P.S. We watched Lawrence of Arabia this evening together. This was his first viewing of the film and he had booked the TV this evening especially to watch this. C. certainly has an unusual interest in history.

14

Is Goal Setting Good Or Bad?

by larc in

jw
friends

is goal setting good or bad?

sounds like the title of an awake!

goal setting can be very good in that it gives direction, purpose and accomplishment in a person's life.

Thirdson

Another thought on this topic. The word goal is used with extreme frequency in WT publications even though the word is used in the NWT Bible only three times. At one time, the word "quota" was used as the stick of motivation. Any search through WT publications will yield many uses in context to life stories of long time devotees who had to meet quotas. This example is the expected quota for the average faithful JW.

Each Witness is urged to attend five congregational meetings weekly, 260 a year, spend time doing private and family study of the Bible and then devote as much time as he can to the field ministry. Each congregation has its hour quota and each Witness strives to meet or exceed it. The average minister in a congregation spends some ten hours monthly in such evangelizing. They believe in "buying out the opportune time" for themselves.Eph. 5:16. Watchtower 6/1 1961 Page 328

At some time in the late 60's the WTS changed the terminology and emphasized the change. The word "quota" as a requirement, was replaced by "goal" a moveable expectation. I remember my dad correcting "brothers" who used such terms as, "I still need to get my 10-hour quota this month." He would remind them that we don't have quotas but we have a 10-hour goal to achieve. Although the word changed, the requirement and expectation remained the same. Those who failed to achieve their 10-hour quota, sorry, goal were still deemed to be lacking in spirituality by being below average Christians.

Thirdson

45

Sex at Work...

by nativenyr23 in

ok. anybody out there ever fool around at work?

either with a boss, a subordinate, or just a co-worker??

want to hear the good and the bad.. inexperienced, naive, and wondering.....

Thirdson

Work place relationships can be frought with problems as mentioned. I once worked at a company where both the managing director and the head of sales had flings with the same woman at around the same time. They apparently had sex in a portable building used for archiving records and thought no one knew about it. But the story was still being spread when I joined which was after the woman left (or was forced to leave) the company. I guess these people thought sex at work was fun and exciting, but all three had subsequent marriage problems and the two managers lost all respect.

However, I have to confess that I met Mrs. Thirdson in the workplace, at least the same building although we worked for separate organizations. She was later hired to work for my company but we had little contact at work since I rarely visited the office and worked at client's site. A big problem could have been if we had split up and still had to work together. That is a frequent problem in organizations even when relationships start out with the best intentions. However, people meet people at work and people will date, form relationships etc. Like many companies, my company prohibits outside of work relationships between managers and reports and should ones choose to persue a relationship then one or both people will be moved.

Just be careful, and be aware of who could be watching.

Thirdson

12

Disfellowship article-Make them squirm

by good2bgone in

jw
friends

the august km disfellowshipping article will be discussed the weeks of aug 19 & 26. i'm thinking of explaining the shunning policy to a reporter or some friends.

they could go to the meeting that night and explain before the meeting that they are interested in listening and learning what jw's believe and see how they treat others.

would it make the elders squirm when the article is discussed?

Thirdson

Onacruse,

JWs just HATE it when someone gets the scoop on them. LOL

They sure do!!!!

It really irks my mother that I read the KM before she gets hers and I had a copy of the letter sent to elders in the UK (before the Panorama program aired) the very day the letter was read out. And I am just an "almost apostate".

Thirdson

PS Thanks to everyone who publishes or e-mails the supposedly secret stuff.

16

Reporting Time

by dsgal in

jw
friends

.

i read on another post that something new was started at the last elder's meeting about "turning in time" or "getting time in".anybody know what it is?

Thirdson

You've got to keep up with the national average.

I heard this all the time. The mean average, as used by the WTS will always require a large number to fall well short. I tried telling this to elders; you will never get everyone in the congregation to put in average hours. It is the same as saying that not everyone will earn an average wage. I even showed the congregation realistic "averages" but still, the under achievers were looked down on.

Thirdson

14

Is Goal Setting Good Or Bad?

by larc in

jw
friends

is goal setting good or bad?

sounds like the title of an awake!

goal setting can be very good in that it gives direction, purpose and accomplishment in a person's life.

Thirdson

Hi Larc,

In the JW setting goals are a poor motivation. There is no structured goal setting, no performance evaluation, no help on achieving goals and no reward for achieving or bettering goals. In the work place goal setting and performance evaluation is important if not essential. I am assessed on my goal achievement and I assess my reports. We have goals in various areas and not just related to work productivity but focused on growth in technical skills as well as team and management growth. At work we even have goals in participation in volunteer, community activity, and in fund raising for charity.

I find that problems or lack of motivation occur when goals are simply transferred to each succeeding year. Goals associated with "just doing my job" neither motivate nor grow people. In the JW world, goals are focused on commitment of hours spent knocking on doors, i.e., "just doing my job." With personal responsibilities, the need to work and develop in the secular world, or even the need just to provide food and clothing means that the time commitment to the Watchtower Society's sales program is always a lower priority. JWs don't grow through developing a commitment to charitable activities, they don't grow by being better people, they get few rewards and then only if they are of the male persuasion. A JW is assessed merely on what he/she writes on the time card. Their spirituality is graded according to the amount of time they spend in the almost futile activity of finding converts through cold calling.

If a JW spends 10 hours a month knocking on doors and sets a goal of increasing this service by 10% each year how long will it take the person to burn-out or runs out of hours in the day? At some point, and varying with each individual no further increase can be made. In any congregation, long term members reach some point of stagnation and stop growing. A number of these leave while the rest simply go through the motions of being a JW and never respond to the constant urgings to do more etc.

Thirdson

13

Questions from a non-JW

by imzadi in

jw
friends

some of you may remember me from the old h20 board.

at that time i was posting because a very close friend of my family was seriously dating a jw and i had questions.

well, my friend and the jw were married early this year and i still have questions.. the wedding had well over 200 guests in attendance and i knew most of them, meaning there were extremely few jws.

Thirdson

Hi Imzadi,

It is possible to leave the JW faith and still believe in much of the doctrine. My sister-in-law's brother still believed that celebrating holidays was wrong 20 years after he stopped going to JW meetings.

Sometimes the upbringing and the doctirines are very hard to break from. I know, I've been there. For some, even though they are no longer members they continue to believe in the core JW theology. If they don't reconsider their beliefs and examine others they will still hold to the teachings they received. Some even feel they will be punished by God (i.e., totally destroyed) because they knew the "truth"(tm) but don't follow it.

It might be simply a matter of time for your friend. On the other hand she may feel that despite the "wrong" she has done recently she could still return to the fold. My one brother felt that way for a long time. After he read my passed around copy of Crisis of Conscience he changed his mind.

Thirdson

30

ALL Time FAVORITE Vacation Spot?

by YoursChelbie in

jw
friends

as the summer nears it's end and the parents hurry up to get the kiddies ready for back to school, i think of: "what get-away will i plan for next year?

" i didn't get to vacation this year but will most likely be vacationing somewhere far away from texas next summer.

any favorite vacation spots you might recommend?

Thirdson

Anywhere is good. Just go somewhere you've never been before.

I have vacationed in various places, I've cuised the Pacific; been to the Grampian Mountains of Victoria, Australia; the Mountains of Bulgaria; Venice, Italy. I've even been to Englishman's home town but I think the couintryside is better than the coast in that region.

I took Mrs. Thirdson to the nicest places in England not far from where I grew up (but not where I grew up!!!) and she thought it was wonderful, while I thought it was ordinary. We honeymooned in British Columbia and I think the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island is the place I want to end up in. I want to go back to Australia, I want to visit New Zealand.

It all depends on what you want and how much you want to spend. Me personally, I like to do things, I don't like lying on a beach, but I do like exploring rock pools. I don't like crowded resorts but I do like visiting interesting cities. I prefer bed & breakfast to cheap hotels and like to drive but in certain places the subway/rail system is the better way to get around.

I guess I don't really have a favorite vacation spot because I haven't been to enough places to make a decision yet. I hope I never have to make that decision.

Thirdson

8

Hypocritical funeral of a JW fireman, geesh

by Aaac in

jw
friends

a typical jw funeral: helmet placed on the coffin, bagpipe played, honour made etc.

how outragingly are these people abusing their dead members!

they are trying to get some sympathy of the tragedy of 11th sept.!

Thirdson

Isn't Uncle Onion of this board a firefighter?

I'd like to see his take on this especially how he was treated by JW elders for being a JW and a firefigther at the same time.

Thirdson

33

Why dont JW's have a youth group?

by In_between_days in

something that has been alarming to my jw family is the amount of teens ("young ones") that have bailed out of the organisation, never to return.. they use the excuse, as would most jw's that "satan is getting them - he knows young ones are vulnerable.".

if you want my opinion, young people are getting far more educated - they are becoming far more broad minded than they were say 10 or 20 years ago.

because of the slow yet sturdy slackening of the "no college" rule, many more young jw's are attending university or college than ever before, and with further education comes more knowledge, more interaction with reasonable and intelligent conversations with educated people and most importantly -use of the internet ("satans latest tool, as put by a jw i talked to recently).

Thirdson

I grew up in a JW family and I remember that everything that was organized for young people was stopped after a short while. To be a JW is all boring meetings and no fun. No wonder most of the kids I grew up with left the "troof" not long after reaching adulthood. I was late but eventually joined them.

In contrast to my experince, my son is going on a church sponsored youth trip to southern California in a few days time. They will be working on various projects including house renovation and work at a center for recovering alcoholics and drug users. They will also be working in Mexico on a project run by the Catholic Church. The purpose of the trip is all about growth, spiritually and, as community members. Although there is work involved there will be lots of fun activities. They are staying close to the beach, where most evening activities will be taking place and will be visiting Disneyland. In addition, a number of local clergy have invited the group to their homes for BBQs etc.

The priest/youth minister (unlike JWs, many churches have clergy assigned to a family or youth ministry) leading the trip is a former US Army Ranger and Police Officer. I don't think he stands for any nonsense yet at the same time he is very kind and caring. I was really impressed by his organization of the trip and thoroughness of the preparation details discussed in an hour long meeting with parents, volunteer leaders and youth last week.

I have enough doubts of my own to expect my son to join a church. However, I think he sees that to claim to be Christian means more than sitting in church one or three times a week and means more than going around selling magazines door to door. Like most of the 20 young people (aged 14-17) going on this trip, my son lives in an affluent suburb. Working in other communities, with other denominations, with the poor, homeless and those suffering from substance abuse I think will teach more than 100 sermons can and certainly more than a thousand Watchtower Studies ever could.

Thirdson