i know of very few people that helped bring people in the "truth".
even those who concentrated on their own families usually realize that their children do not want the "truth".
most publishers were disorganized with regard to their return visits and house-to-house records.
I had one study in over 30 years of field service. And it didn't work out. The guy was too sharp. He never even stepped foot in the hall.
I hated service and only went out because I was supposed to
That's how I felt. Of course I would never have admitted it to anyone, even myself, at the time. But looking back on it, it is true.
most jw's that i have known were proud and happy to be called "ministers".
it gave them a sense of superiority over other laypersons.
brothers might especially be happy to have that designation, especially if they didn't want to be drafted.
I didn't feel special. In fact I never told anyone that I was a minister. I was embarrassed to use that term because most people thought of a minister as a full-time preacher or priest or something like that and I didn't want to be confused as one.
i always wondered why we remodeled our kh.
there wasn't really anything wrong with it.
i could see painting or putting in new carpet when needed.
Seems to be the opposite where I'm at. Some halls are an embarrassment. Outdated colors and fabrics. Worn out/damaged carpet and furniture.
I remember at one hall, the carpet was damaged and needed to be replaced. There were several congregations sharing this one building and the different elder bodies could never agree on how to pay for it. It seems that one congregation "owned" the hall with the others just "using" it. The elders from the "using" cong. did not want to spend money on upkeep/repair/remodel leaving the "owning" body of elders holding the bag. According to info from the WTS somewhere along the way, all cong. were to share in expenses and decisions. Since some were so stubborn our elders figured they couldnt do anything. Along comes the Circuit Overseer and he is upset about the carpet. At the elder/MS meeting he asks why nothing has been done. Elders explain that the others wouldn't help. How much would it cost asks the CO. For repair without replacing, less than 500. The CO just looks around the room and says "between the 12-14 brothers in this room you mean to tell me that you can't come up with $500?" Two weeks later the carpet was repaired. Paid for by the majority of the brothers sitting in that room. And to top it off, it was announced to all the cong. that repair would be made on a certain date and that volunteers would be needed. On that date, the only brothers to volunteer were from the "home" or "owning" congregation.
this question is inspired by a post just written by scully.
when resolutions were passed in my hall they always needed someone to second the motion and for there to a show of hands.
of course as a show of unity everyone would always dutifully raise them and the motion would be passed unanimously.
i simply wouldn't put my hand up to vote
if i didn't feel i had been given the information i needed
to make an informed vote.
That was me also. Sometimes I didn't agree with what the majority did but I knew my one lone vote wouldn't matter so I would just abstain. Sometimes someone would notice that I didn't vote and ask about it later. I just said I was remaining neutral. That usually stunned them enough to not ask anymore about it.
The worst case that I remember was a voting for a change in meeting night. One elder was on a campaign to switch the book study night and the MS/SM night. He lobbied support from other elders and pioneers. Most of the regular publishers preferred it the way it was. The night of the vote came. About half voted for, half against. They had the attendants do an actual count. There was only a differance of 2-3. The elder said we better count again. They voted again and counted. This time the votes swung 2-3 the other way. OK. Another vote. By then a lot of people just gave up and didn't vote. The usurpers ended up winning because everyone else just didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I rememeber that feelings were quite strong about the subject with actual arguments breaking out between different ones. It was then that I decided to abstain from voting if it was something trivial or if I really didn't care one way or the other.
weekend and especially pay attention to the announcements.
also watch the end of.
"60 minutes" as there may be a special announcement there also.. .
CBS (60 minutes specifically) did a story on a custody battle several years ago exposing the Watchtower to all its legalese (pardon spelling) and what non JW spouses go against when the family splits. I am looking forward to seeing the Silent Lambs segment!
I remember that. I used to watch 60 Minutes every week. I used to always think that they were very unbiased and they told it like it really was. Until I saw that segment. I think it was the lady reporter(can't remember her name) that led the story. She interviewed a husband who couldn't get visitation rights and he went on about how the WTS lawyers represented his wife and he could never win because he couldn't afford high priced lawyers. They showed survelliance camera work of the mother taking the kids out in service. There was more but I can't remember all the details. My reaction to that episode? Well, I claimed that this reporter had something against the witnesses and was trying to make up stuff on them. I refused to believe the non-witness side. It was all lies or misrepresentations. I stopped watching 60 minutes after that. I assumed since they lied about that story, they must be lying about others, therefore I couldn't trust them to telling the truth anymore. And that is what is going to happen when this new story on CBS airs. The average dub will refuse to accept any of it as truth. They will claim it to be lies or misrepresentations. The WTS is already printing WTs on not beleiving the media. So don't expect a great storm of protest from within the ranks to rise from this. It will be regarded as just another attack by Satan on Jehovah's true servants and most dubs will fall for it.
looking back it seems hysterical that during the watchtower and bookstudy one had to be careful not to answer the b part until after the conductor asked the question.
just another example of how structured everything is in that cult.
"let everything take place by arrangement" to the nth degree.
And the - frequently a bit elderly - ones who don't listen to what the others are saying in their replies, but who just HAVE to come with their reply, which consists of exactly the same words that are used in the paragraphs, because although the others have given that reply 10 times over with their own words, this elderly one just HAS to give it once more, because the EXACT words of the paragraph haven't been re-told. Or, he/she is so eager to reply that they don't care what the others have said, they just HAVE to give the same reply once more, because they didn't bother to hear what the others said.
Oh man, yea. Talk about beating a dead horse. People would just answer the same point over and over. Different words but the same thought. I got it already. Let's move on. They wonder why meeting attendance drops for the study. It's because for part of the crowd, the material is too deep(read "they're stupid") and for the rest it was too painstakingly dull, dull, dull(repitition for emphasis )
here in wisconsin, around 6months ago we had a terrible crash on one of our freeways because of fog and driveing to fast for conditions.there were many casualities, anyway many persons who loved ones died in that crash have memorials at the sight such as crosses ,flowers ,etc.well it seems the county were this happened wrote letters to all persons leaving memorials to stop ,their saying it is a road hazard and a distraction to drivers.well now we hear it is non religious people are complaining , saying it is offense to them to have to drive by these shrines.
i feel if they dont like it they should close their eyes.
lol what do you think.
I've lost friends in car accidents. By chance, I was the first on the scene of a friend killed in a wreck. I drive by that site several times a week. But I still think roadside memorials are tacky. I mourned my friends deaths, I greived with the families, but life goes on. I don't need a reminder on the side of the road to remember what I saw that day.
looking back it seems hysterical that during the watchtower and bookstudy one had to be careful not to answer the b part until after the conductor asked the question.
just another example of how structured everything is in that cult.
"let everything take place by arrangement" to the nth degree.
Let's look at the B part a little differently. Let's say as a child your parents expect you to answer at the WT study. Being shy and not liking to answer you plan just a few paragraphs to raise your hand on, mostly B parts. Then comes the study. You haven't been called on for the first couple of tries. Your last opportunity is coming. The A part question is asked. Sister Big Mouth answers. Your heart sinks. She answers both the A part, the B part, and gives her experiences from service the day before. You didn't even get a chance to raise your hand. Now you must face the wrath of your parents on the drive home as they berate you because you did not show your love for the organization by commenting at the meeting.
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why doesn't the wt society use acts 8:3 in various translations (tev, niv, pme, jb, liv eng, ncv, barclay, nlt, cev) in support of their interpretation of "house to house"?????.
i mean saul (b4 conversion) went persecuting christians by going house-to-house..... ak
"Saul, though, began to deal outrageously with the congregation. Invading one house after another and, dragging out both men and women, he would turn them over to prison".
I wonder if the same Greek words are used for "one house after another" as are used in whatever scriptures the WTS uses to prove that the apostles/disciples went from door to door.
i don't understand the logic of boycotting the dixie chicks because of the comments the singer made about being ashamed that bush is from texas.
it doesn't make sense to me.
keep in mind that i'm just a canadian, so maybe i'm just not tuned in to the american way of thinking.
She had the right to say whatever she wanted. Will it hurt sales of their albums? Maybe. That's a chance she took. And that's a personal decision by each music buying customer whether to buy their album or not or whether to go to their concerts or not. What I find irritating is that the radio stations are o so patriotic and have banned them from being played. What makes them my conscience? It's their job to play the requested and popular songs and sell their advertising time. I don't need them to censure my music or decide for me if one pop star, rap star, rock star or country star should not be listened to because their views go against what the owner of the radio station believes.
Clearchannel is going to be the death of radio in the USA. They own over 1200 radio stations and they decide what's gonna get played or not played. They have jumped on the pro-war bandwagon and rammed it down everybody's throat. Yea, I can change the dial when I don't like what they play, but they are putting a death grip on independant stations, leaving less and less choices for real music fans to find real music.
Remember John Lennon's comment about Jesus? Look at the fervor that it created. Radio stations prompting zealot teenages and young adults to burn albums because of one comment. Looking back at it, you have to admit how short-sighted these ultra conservative types were. And in time, the same thing will happen about the mess with the Dixe Chicks. I used to not like em, but since everybody's started hating them, I think I'll go buy one of their albums.
