TMS

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Posts by TMS

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  59

  Would I lie to you?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  given recent posts on the forum and discussion, maybe we could play this game: would i lie to you?

  in the uk we have this tv programme where minor celebrities tell weird or embarrassing stories about themselves and the rest of the participants have to guess if it is a true story or made up.

  when the others have voted then the person reveals if the story is true or false.

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  TMS

  1. A group of group of 15 or so young JW young men were at a playground basketball court. The group was evenly mixed between black and white brothers, but several white brothers languished on the sidelines, not being picked to play. One tall white brother had enough of this and at the conclusion of one game shouted "blacks versus whites!"

  Quickly, two teams took the court, entering into an overly competitive game of b-ball which was eventually one by the blacks, but not without a couple loud disagreements.

  2. At what we used to call a District Convention, a brother in his mid-twenties approached me. "You know, TMS, I was appointed a department head at this assembly, well actually, another brother and I were both given departments. I don't think it's right. All we did was lay carpet in the circuit overseer's RV and we get the appointments. I'm not accepting it. I've never even been an assistant before. I don't think this is right. We shouldn't have received these assignments for doing a favor for the circuit overseer."
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  59

  Would I lie to you?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  given recent posts on the forum and discussion, maybe we could play this game: would i lie to you?

  in the uk we have this tv programme where minor celebrities tell weird or embarrassing stories about themselves and the rest of the participants have to guess if it is a true story or made up.

  when the others have voted then the person reveals if the story is true or false.

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  2. 
  3. 
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  TMS

  slimboyfat: "TMS I'd like the second story to be true. Good story."

  Actually, that was the phony, fabricated, but "feel good" account.
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  59

  Would I lie to you?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  given recent posts on the forum and discussion, maybe we could play this game: would i lie to you?

  in the uk we have this tv programme where minor celebrities tell weird or embarrassing stories about themselves and the rest of the participants have to guess if it is a true story or made up.

  when the others have voted then the person reveals if the story is true or false.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TMS

  1. As a precocious little Witness boy, I got got some early opportunities. During the weekly TMS the school overseer asked for a volunteer to give the weekly #1 or so-called instruction talk. When none of the adult male members responded, the brother was forced to recognize my 11 year old hand. I gave my first instruction talk on the book of Esther, based on the book: Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers.

  2. As a member of a judicial committee, we informed a sister of our decision to disfellowship. She immediately broke down, imploring the individual elders: "How was I not repentant?" I reported the incident immediately, confessing to my husband. I haven't slept since then, praying to Jehovah over and over again."

  We asked the sister to step outside for a few moments while we discussed things. The committee of elders decided that she indeed was showing repentance and reversed their decision.
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  155

  Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi people,.

  i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).

  1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.

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  TMS

  born in. . so to speak

  baptized 3-9-1957

  departed in 1998 after 50 years of indoctrination
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  30

  Is this the earliest WT reference to 1975?

  by Splash in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i thought that the 1975 thing started in the mid to late 60's, but it seems the seeds were sown two decades earlier.is this the earliest reference to it?.

  18 how many today are awake to the fact that the lord christ jesus, by his resurrection of the faithful bride members that slept in death, is taking his "bride" unto his father's house and the marriage of the lamb has begun' .... they do not say, 'it is a long time yet to the wind-up, and, according to the present understanding of bible chronology, six thousand years of human history will end first in the coming seventies and till then it is a long stretch to serve the lord continuously and undividedly.'.

  ... they keep their eye and heart on jehovah's kingdom, and not on the time clock.

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  TMS

  My Watchtower non-education is rapidly fading, but. . . . . "Aid to Bible Understanding" in the article on chronology mentioned 1974 as the likely end of 6,000 years of human history. I guess the authors missed the cardinal/ordinal year miscue. "All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial," published in 1963, in its chapter on chronology mentions the difficulty of knowing how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden before procreating, thus starting the so-called 6,000 years.

  Doesn't all this shit sound quaint, archaic and ludicrous now?
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  73

  Everybody loves Raymond

  by Saintbertholdt in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  a while ago the user vinman started a forum thread called: "ray franz was an idiot".

  the reaction to it was quite negative but i have to admit that the title of that thread was intriguing to me.

  by nature i am an iconoclast.

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  TMS

  I definitely think Ray was involved in some sort of power struggle and lost

  It's possible to get sucked into such a struggle by simply expressing an alternate viewpoint. The less-than-well-intentioned "brothers" come at you with such force, vindictiveness and fake righteous indignation, that you feel compelled to "fight fire with fire." Not favoring a Kingdom Hall remodel, for example, quickly becomes "disrespect for a traveling overseer" or worse, the FDS.

  I appreciate the counterpoint on Ray even though I don't totally agree. I'm pretty certain he sweated getting his documents out of Brooklyn, though, as I would in that situation.
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  48

  Any Senior Citizens, Retirees here?

  by AlwaysBusy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  howdy....well, what do you think?

  of everything?

  is it all crazy?

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  TMS

  Able to retire 11 years ago at 55.

  Spent at least 3 years reliving my JW life in my dreams, sometimes angrily. These dreams(nightmares?) still recur, although less frequently.

  My 50 years of JW life was not a total waste, as it gave me a unique skill set.

  I started a blog several years ago on a whim. Somehow, it got several million pageviews. I live off SS, a small pension and Google adsense.

  Worked a few years as a volunteer with CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates. . . . learned a lot.

  Learned a great deal from this website and the one before it. . . . . especially during those heart-wrenching first years of making the break.

  At peace
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  25

  The Watchtower Corporation has paid off CNN...

  by Calebs Airplane in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  rick mclean gets only 15 minutes of fame.... no mention of how the watchtower protects pedophiles.... http://www.themasonictrowel.com/books/the_hidden_powe_behind_freemasonry/files/chapter_19.htm.

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  TMS

  A few things:

  A subliminal message showing JW's calling at a home. The householder comes to the door with her young daughter. The fact that potentially a pedophile could be at your doorstep, close to your young ones was conveyed.

  Also, the victim, now an adult, referred to "the church," indicating she's no longer a JW.

  The father of the victim stated that his ideal scenario would be for McLean to be caught and spend life in prison. He said fellow prisoners "know how" to deal with people like that. IMHO, an active JW would likely think that, but not say it on national tv.

  Was is that mother that said the incidents had "torn the family apart?"

  My guess is that the family are no longer JWs. Although it did not come up in the story, at one point, they were likely approached about protecting Jehovah's name.

  Also, one more thing. How did McLean have time to sell his possessions before being indicted? That indicates to me a possible delay in reporting the crime.
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  30

  Question for current and former elders: did you feel qualified to give counsel for depression?

  by kneehighmiah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you feel the counseling demands placed on elders are fair and scriptural?.

  i live in an economically depressed industial city.

  my dad is an elder in a lower income black congregation.

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  TMS

  JW elders are not trained counselors period. There is simply no training within the organization.

  As a Congregation Servant, then elder from the 60's to 90's, I know I was inadequate despite using every JW resource. One of my concerns was how to make real shepherding calls, not just share material from the Watchtower or Kingdom Ministry. In the 80's I listened to talk radio during my night job featuring Dr. Henry Ruben. I actually mimicked his questioning technique and style, at least becoming a good listener, but without the skills to do talk therapy. I got the image of a counselor without the substance or training.

  I did get assigned as a JW rep to visit patients at a state mental hospital who identified themselves as JW's. I remember one clinically depressed sister walking out to me, shoulders sagging, her body language indicating to me she was totally down. I've never felt less adequate. The so-called New Order or Kingdom hope, knowing Jehovah, etc. is useless in that situation. That person needs, not only talk therapy, perhaps pharmaceuticals to balance body chemistry, all skills not taught at the Kingdom Hall.

  Alcoholism, alcohol dependency, etc. is another problem not in within the wheelhouse of JW elders. I took assignments to "counsel" such men in the congregation. Actually, no one else would. Do you realize how stupid it is to assign an alcoholic JW a Watchtower article to read for his problem? Two men I "worked" with stayed in the congregation as long as I was there because I was an advocate for the fact that they were "good" men deep inside. Both men were disfellowshipped shortly after I left the organization for being "practicers of sin."

  JW counseling is bull shit.
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  19

  Seattle Convention Videos

  by exwhyzee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is the link to the website that was set up for the intl.

  convention here in seattle the weekend before last.

  we went to dinner in the city with family members afterward and saw a lot of old friends.

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  TMS

  After watching just a few minutes of the scenery, the economy of Washington State, I turned it off. The amaterish narration, linking the beauty and prosperity of one political division of the United States, a state, with Jehovah, was nauseating. I grew up in Seattle. Yes, there is much in the way of natural beauty to be enjoyed if you're not a relgious fanatic distributing literature, conducting "Bible studies," attending meetings every spare moment.

  And Boeing? The only decent job my skills-challenged dad ever had was with Boeing in the 50's, in the boiler department. While some JW's did continue working at Boeing if the job was not obviously linked to the military, defense, my dad's "conscience" led him to quit.

  This video induced a profound sadness I've not felt in a while.

  tms