Posts by wheelwithinwheel

9

Non-JW needs advice

by agr8day in

jw
friends

first off, those who have left the watchtower are extraordinarily courageous and thank you so much for having the fortitude to post your stories publicly.

you are all no doubt helping untold numbers of people.

i am catholic and i have a friend who is a jw.

wheelwithinwheel

You seem to be a great friend to have.

I agree 100% with joannadandy.

The WT uses guilt, study preparation,service and meetings and the"you're not doing enough" refrain to keep their members well-occupied. Wonder why many can't keep up and feel depressed? The WT maintains their members inside the WT circle by calling outsiders, even relatives, "worldy" and forbides any 'fun' association with outsiders by labeling holidays as pagan. Week-ends are okay if they are spent in service and at meetings. I've noticed some who do well and finally wake-up and leave are those who get really involved in outside interests but this can be easier said than done. Perhaps you can get your friend interested in some non-JW activities without her feeling she's neglecting her religion or that you're encouraging her away from her religion.

Most witnesses don't bother with education and aren't bothered by the WT viewpoint on education because the "end" is so near. You might try the approach that the "end" could still be some years away. This can be argued by the latest WT prediction 1975...27 years ago ... and yes I'm 49, been there, done that, never got a decent education, and am now doing cleaning (the WT's preferred career choice) with absolutely no benefits and in 15 years its pension time ohh-ohh. But then I'm the stupid one. You could perhaps mention that you believe it would be a good idea for the young man to further his education to better provide for himself and his future family. I've been humming this 'just in case the end comes later' tune for some time now and have found a few listening ears.

good luck!!!!!

18

To: Lurking Elders or Former Elders

by somebody in

jw
friends

if the watch tower society prints information such as this, claiming that they a legal instrument used by jws, .

watchtower 98 3/15 18 .

living up to christian dedication in freedom .

wheelwithinwheel

When I copied the quoted footnote 'what not to be used...' into my book, I realised the WT was 1. covering its ass and 2.hanging the elders out to dry for any consequences of WT legal's orders, which must be followed to the letter.

I had already experienced WT legal meddling firsthand. Maybe that's why, as I wrote 1., 2., 3., and finally got to 6., I was quite shocked and upset by what I believed to be a shirking of responsability.

So began my path out of eldership and eventually out of the org.

The strange thing is the elders I've talked to, including my dad, don't seem to have a problem with the legal instrument's covering it's ass-hole.

Since I'm out I now see that the WT will never take responsibility for anything... be it legal matters, misunderstanding and misinterpreting the Bible, failed prophecies or other matters

6

Dressed to kill

by JH in

jw
friends

do you beleive that one day the witnesses should stop wearing suits, and look more like every body in the street.

they give the impression that they still live in the 50's.

i think that they would be more accepted if they would dress differently, like everyone else.

wheelwithinwheel

It's all part of the WT master plan

12

current or recent jw's? especially elders.... what

by surferdude in

jw
friends

what were or are the qualifications for certain "responsibilities" around the hall?

our hall literally has only ms or elders --- attending, doing stage set up, handling book counter/service desk, and reading wt and closing the service meeting with song and prayer.... the only exception is the young son of a high ranking elder at our hall... they put the restrictions that a ms has to meet on these activities, i am regular, but not active enough in the service although i assured them i was "doing the best i could" (3 - 5 hours a month) but they acted like that was terrible.... we had a heated discussion for 30 minutes.... .

sd .

wheelwithinwheel

A friend of mine was finally judged qualified enough to become a ms - he was immediately assigned the privilege of mowing the kh lawn. This is a 5 hour job, every week, due to the size of the cheap land that the brothers bought, out in the backwoods. After being counselled regularly on his lawn-cutting skills he finally told the elder that, at the salary he was getting, nobody had a right to criticize his efforts, and that the elder could just do the job himself. Was it really a privilege? Funny, the elder didn't seem to relish the job and promptly assigned it to another aspiring ms.

Privilege? : in my experience in kh's, quick-builds and Ass's = free slave labour

9

JW wifes

by happy man in

jw
friends

.

i have read that some of you here who leave the truth, have still your wife inn the religion, some of you have devorse beaucaurse you left and she still inn.. this must be a very difficult situaition.

myself have a very devoted jw wife,she is all that you here say jw are not, always ther fore the peopel who need help.always have here door open fore evryone .. go a lot in sevice, take care of evrything in the home , try to help evryone.. when i tell here some of this stuff, i see the brightness in here eyes was going down, happiness was perhaps littel bit away, now i must ask you who have been in this situation, can it realy be worth the price, to see your loved ones bee unhappy, and even perhaps lost ther hope and happiness..

wheelwithinwheel

My best friend, while I was a JW, was a great guy. After I left I made a point of rescuing him. But, even though hes still a great guy, hes lost that glint of fun in his eyes. Hes often very irritated and seems troubled and discouraged. Last week he told me hes very depressed and is thinking of seeing a psychiatrist. Although my being out and him being in made things complicated for our friendship Im now wondering if I did the right thing. I thought I was helping him see the light but perhaps I was just being selfish. From reading posters here and from personal experience, leaving is difficult even when youre ready.

21

First Elder to Testify in Abuse Case

by Kenneson in

sheldon longsworth maintains that he doesn't recall telling vicki boer to confront her abusive father.

yet he told her to tell her father to go to the local elders.

wonder how she was to do that without confronting him?.

wheelwithinwheel

Hawk - a question? does this Frank Mott Trill have a daughter (I think maybe Sarah) who is also a lawyer and often worked for the WT ... if so, is she still in? Sorry to be off subject but I had to ask

1

have you watched this slideshow?

by wheelwithinwheel in

jw
friends

+ - 10 min.

http://www.politicsandprotest.com/

wheelwithinwheel

+ - 10 min. http://www.politicsandprotest.com/

20

Watchtower email sent to me by accident

by Quotes in

jw
friends

as you may already know, i own the internet domain "watchtower.ca" (note, ".ca" stands for canada).

if you go to www.watchtower.ca (thinking it might be the bethel canada site, which it would be if non-idiots were working at bethel canada) you are redirected to http://quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com (heh heh heh).. but it gets better: any email sent to <anybody>@watchtower.ca gets sent to me ([email protected]).. i just thought i would solicit your comments on the email i received via this method.

it appearst that brian andersen was forwarding some information from his private home email address to his work email address.

wheelwithinwheel

so if I wanted to e-m Stan Szostak I could use [email protected] or if I decided to get in touch with Ken Little I could type in [email protected] ..... verry interesting!!!

21

First Elder to Testify in Abuse Case

by Kenneson in

sheldon longsworth maintains that he doesn't recall telling vicki boer to confront her abusive father.

yet he told her to tell her father to go to the local elders.

wonder how she was to do that without confronting him?.

wheelwithinwheel

Longworth said he consulted several other Witness elders, who advised him that Biblical teachings required Boer to try and sort out her dispute with her father in a face-to-face meeting.

Bet big bucks these other Witness elders happened to be the WT Soc legal dept. ... too bad the lawyer for the plaintif didn't ask! This Longworth has been coached as usual and doesn't realise the WT is covering it's legal a$$!

43

What org rules were stupid to you?

by MARTINLEYSHON in

jw
friends

when i was in the truth i thought that the most ludicrous and petty ruling they ever introduced and still practiced is that congregation book study conductors were and are responsible for collecting every group members report.

surely every member ought to be responsible for his/her own actions.

at the beginning of the following month and certainly before the 5th i would always receive the stupid telephone call from the secretary are you aware that 3 publishers havent reported?

wheelwithinwheel

My all time favorites were the list of summer assembly rules that everyone had to study and comment on every year. Bethel visiting rules cracked me up too.