That thing about stopping a talk to demand that a fussy child be removed happened to me. It was a Sunday meeting, and we had arrived a few minutes late. The only seats left in the KH form my husband, me and my one-year-old son were in the front row. My son was a little restless and I was trying to quiet him without having to disrupt everyone's view by getting up and walking out during the talk. We are not talking a major screaming fit here, just a little fussiness from a baby. Suddenly the speaker, a local elder, stopped speaking to the group and spoke directly to me. "Will you talk that child out of here," he said. I was stunned. I did take him out, and like a good JW mother, I paddled his little behind for the great sin of being a baby. I am ashamed to tell about that. We left the meeting, too. Unfortunately, we did return for the next one. The brother never apologized for his action. I wish I had left that day and never returned. then I would not have raised this child "in the truth' and he would not still be in a cult after I have left. More's the pity.
truman
JoinedPosts by truman
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37
Whats the worst thing you have heard from the stage???
by karter inat a circuit assembly the co stopped his talk and asked the attendants to remove a crying baby and his mother .. she go up walked out the back started crying as she was studying she never came back.. saved by the co i say..
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Who else is finishing up their semester ??
by Kudra inwell, i just got done with my final term paper!
(maybe even the last one of my school career!!
aaaaargh my neck hurts from typing.
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truman
Me, too. I just took two finals today, and I have two more next week. One is a take-home final-- an essay. I will be doing that this weekend. But overall, the pressure is almost off. I am looking forward to vacation.
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HUUUUGE Earthquake in San Jose, CA just now!
by AnneB inand there's nothing on the news here about it!.
if anybody sees a news report would you please post the magnitude and damaged areas?.
thanks...we're all fine where i live..
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truman
I felt it all the way out past Modesto
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Do JWs really want Armageddon?
by truman inrecently several threads have been under discussion concerning the possible change in the understanding of the jw this generation that will not pass away teaching.
since the change in the early 1990s that sought to disconnect the doctrine from its previous anchor date of 1914 and another change in 2007 to free it from 1935, it seems now that more alteration is in the works.
in the scotsmans thread, he says that as these new light understandings come out of the wts, most r & f jws will embrace this with both hands.
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truman
I tried to make paragraphs. If anyone can help me get that right, I would appreciate it. Thanks
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Do JWs really want Armageddon?
by truman inrecently several threads have been under discussion concerning the possible change in the understanding of the jw this generation that will not pass away teaching.
since the change in the early 1990s that sought to disconnect the doctrine from its previous anchor date of 1914 and another change in 2007 to free it from 1935, it seems now that more alteration is in the works.
in the scotsmans thread, he says that as these new light understandings come out of the wts, most r & f jws will embrace this with both hands.
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truman
Recently several threads have been under discussion concerning the possible change in the understanding of the JW “this generation that will not pass away” teaching. Since the change in the early 1990s that sought to disconnect the doctrine from its previous anchor date of 1914 and another change in 2007 to free it from 1935, it seems now that more alteration is in the works. In The Scotsman’s thread, he says that as these “new light” understandings come out of the WTS, “Most R & F JWs will embrace this with both hands.” I began to wonder why this would be so, since with each new push of the doctrine to the sidelines, the “Great Day of Armageddon” and the JWs paradise hopes are pushed away as well. I know that the changes work to relieve the too, too blatant dissonance between the previously set dates and their conflict with reality. But I wonder if something more might not be at work in the average JWs eagerness to sup up this sort of “new light” which in effect keeps them plugging along in “this old system of things” indefinitely. Could it be that deep down inside, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not really want Armageddon to come? I know in my life, I have had the experience of getting something I had long yearned for, only to find that quite often, having is not nearly as satisfying as wanting. Perhaps, deep inside, JWs know that the supposed slaughter at Armageddon would make 911 or any other human slaughter of history seem like a paper cut next to a decapitation. Perhaps each of them knows, as I did, that they have never been truly able to reconcile Jehovah’s reputed love with this massive bloodshed, especially when it comes down to considering actual individuals instead of heaving masses of unnamed worldly people. But beyond those reasons, I wonder it the hidden antipathy for Armageddon might arise from the fact that it would be a stupendous upheaval of the status quo. Certainly it would be a disruption of the comforts of our modern infrastructure. But would it not also be an overturning of the psychological underpinnings of JW group identity? In “this system” they see themselves as special, as having insider knowledge the vast majority cannot understand, or do not want to. They revel in episodes of persecution that serve to buttress this feeling of us against the world (with God on our side). In rumored threats from Satan and from his worldly henchmen, JWs have something to struggle against, and that gives them unity, direction, purpose, and an identity. All that would be gone after Armageddon. A new persona would have to be forged. No matter what the circumstances, such a shift is usually threatening. And finally, what if, after you got to paradise, you didn’t like the new set-up, the new power structures, the new rules, the people who you had to live forever with? No more “hope” for future relief would be available, only submission or death. Maybe they are all a little more comfortable keeping the whole thing as an idealized nebulous future happening by resetting the chronological markers to non-specific coordinates.
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I saw witnesses on campus today!!!
by tsunami_rid3r inthey had a table full of literature set up in the university square in the sun at noon.
those 2 dudes must have been sweating their balls off.
do you think they get time just for sitting there?
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truman
Yes, they are out on my campus as well--every Wednesday. They have a table and several stacks of literature, but no Watchtowers. Seems kinda lonely though. I never see anyone talking to them.
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JWs preaching at college
by truman intoday, while i was making my way across my college campus between classes, i encountered a surprising sight.
there in the quad was a table with literature spread out on it, and two jws sitting beside a sign proclaiming "free bible course".
how interesting, in light of all the recent denouncing of higher education, that they should be right there in the middle of academia.
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truman
Yes, I too wondered how the students seeing the JW info table would feel if the JWs were up front about their negative attitudes concerning higher education. Also, the subtle manipulation of language they used on their sign, saying 'free bible course' instead of their normal terminology, 'free Bible study'. It seems an obvious attempt to align their program with an academic mind set and make it seem the equivalent of a college course. Which it certainly is not. In college courses, the student is expected to assimilate information and then be able to synthesize conclusions and extrapolations from what has been learned and apply these insights in new ways. The answers are not always to be found in the text; a student must actively think his or her way to them. In JW study, a student is expected (allowed) only to absorb information and regurgitate it back unchanged. The first method of learning is dynamic, the second stagnant. but you guys are right--table sitting sure is an easy way to count time for field service.
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JWs preaching at college
by truman intoday, while i was making my way across my college campus between classes, i encountered a surprising sight.
there in the quad was a table with literature spread out on it, and two jws sitting beside a sign proclaiming "free bible course".
how interesting, in light of all the recent denouncing of higher education, that they should be right there in the middle of academia.
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truman
Today, while I was making my way across my college campus between classes, I encountered a surprising sight. There in the quad was a table with literature spread out on it, and two JWs sitting beside a sign proclaiming "free Bible course".
How interesting, in light of all the recent denouncing of higher education, that they should be right there in the middle of academia. Even more interesting, and even a bit intriguing, was the fact that on the JW's information table, not a single Watchtower was to be found. Neither was there any obvious identification of them as JWs. The literature on the table was only the Awake and a few brochures about 'the new world'.
The lack of open JWness about their display made me wonder whether they were trying to reel people in before disclosing that fact. I don't believe I have ever seen a JW info table before without a Watchtower.
I did not stop to speak to them today, but I may if they are there next week.
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Anyone from the Modesto or Tracy Calif. area?
by angeleyes71 injust wondering if there are any df's or da's in my area that i can talk to.
i was df'd in tracy then moved to modesto where i still live.
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truman
Hi, I am not far from those areas. I tried to send you a pm angeleyes, but I am not sure it went through. I would be glad to comunicate with you. I have been out of the org for about 6 years, after 27 inside.
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Ex-Witness English tutor encounters a current Witness tutee...
by Rosie Angel ini've been tutoring this nice esl lady named patrice for awhile now.
i knew she was a witness, since i saw her studying out of the revelation book, so i kept my guard up around her.
somehow, though, i recognized an uncited passage from the nwt ecclesiastes in a paper, and i mentioned that she really needed to cite passages from the bible, just like any other book, so she used the odd witness citation.
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truman
Hi Rosie,
I too am an English tutor who works with a lot of ESL students (as well as native English speakers) at a community college writing center. I also have encountered Witnesses among my tutees. I have never had one of them discover that I am an ex-JW, but once my tutee was a young girl who was in my former congregation. Of course she recognized me. Later, when I saw that she never scheduled with me again, I found out that she had told another tutor that she would not work with me because I no longer go to the KH.
Here is a suggestion for how to deal with the situation: Try thinking about how you would handle it if the student were trying to push her agenda on some other subject (sexual orientation, politics, etc.). What would you say to her to steer the session back to tutoring? As much as you can, detach yourself from an emotional response to the problem.
Good luck!