Posts by BackseatDevil

57

Casual sexism in Watchtower literature

by slimboyfat in

i notice the sexist language of the watchtower a lot more these days.

is it on the increase or am i simply more tuned into to noticing it now?

for example this statement in the june kingdom ministry:.

BackseatDevil

So some months back I was doing laundry at my aparment laundry room and noticed the Awake! Realize I get hives just getting NEAR the magazine, but anyway, I suffered through and noticed they still have the "Young People Ask" articles. This one was on 'should I have sex before marriage'.

I read. The entire article seemed to be written only for the girls. Arguments include 'no potential husband would want a woman who has slept around' and 'women who put out are always fun to date but never the ones men marry', etc. I was really kind of shocked (and NOTHING shockes me about that religion anymore). I checked the beginning again to see if there was anything anywhere that said "a young woman asked..." and there wasn't.

I. was offended on behalf of females everywhere. It was... like i said, shocking.

37

Circuit visit (top secret) video presentation

by slimboyfat in

i'm just back from the meeting where it was a video presentation given by the circuit overseer.

apparently it's not on general release, only being viewed during co visits at the moment.

top secret.

BackseatDevil

Just as side note. The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures is not a bad translation of the bible (well, as good as one can get considering there are no original documents in the original languages), but it is widely viewed in the scholar community as being "colored" with the JW's religious beliefs. Over time since the 1960's they have made small changes here and there putting more emphasis on whatever dogma they want to promote.

The other lanuages the the NWT are translated to are FROM THE ENGLISH VERSION of the bible. They are not translating it from the acnient documents to whatever language.

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

@lrkr We overlap time frames.

24

My First Birthday!!!!!

by Gojira_101 in

jw
friends

my birthday isn't until the end of july but yesterday i got my first birthday gift in the mail.

my best friend (stubborn disbeliever) sent me my gift early.

i know what it is, but seeing it all wrapped up and knowing on my birthday i can open it...it really struck a cord with me.

BackseatDevil

Happy happy birthday Gojira_101! I remember my first birthday.

That's lie, I don't remember it at all. I vaguely recall shots that tasted like German Chocolate cake, who knows.... LOL.

The point: You only get one FIRST birthday. Make it... YOU. Each birthday is another trip around the sun, another adventure, another chapter in your life. In essence, it's your New Year's. And may you have a fantastic one at that, and many many more.

Happy Birthday, Love.

17

What the heck is a Bethel Elder?

by Julia Orwell in

jw
friends

how is he different to a normal elder?

is he ranked higher than a normal elder?

what does he actually do?.

BackseatDevil

@Julia Orwell there were some nice ones too. I just didn't meet any of them. LOL.

Generally speaking the younger and newer they were, the nicer they were. The longer they were there, the more responsibility they were given (slowly, over time) until they weighty and bloated with their own self-consuming need to exist. It's a fascinating. Like leading a mouse with bread crumbs in circles until they think going in circles is the only way to stay alive.

9

The Flying Spaghetti Monster's The Eight "I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts"

by schnare in

jw
friends

i just found this kind of funny and wanted to share them.

apparently there is even a flying spaghetti monster bible.. .

1. i'd really rather you didn't act like a sanctimonious holier-than-thou *** when describing my noodly goodness.

BackseatDevil

I will certainly second that!

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

BM & SoSo, I feel so bad about bitching about the hair in my story... I mean roommate and I both had long black hair... we just wanted someone who knew how to use scissors - we weren't really asking a lot, you know, an inch off at most. I made it so dramatic, but I didn't have NEAR the trouble you two did (or any black brother it sounds like).

And you two were in Brooklyn Bethel... like... and established home. It would seem like they would want everyone representing JWs to NYC looking their best.

I feel so humbled by my menial little hair story because we just went to this nice lady in New Paltz every third Wednesday to avoid all these stories we were hearing. We didn't actually experience it.

8

TIME FOR A MIND EXPERIMENT

by Terry in

try this "mind experiment".. there is a very large sports stadium the size of texas.

inside this stadium there are four enormous crowds of people.

they are all believers in jehovah god and think of their religion as the truth exclusively.. group number one are all the people who read and believed the teachings of charles taze russell.. group number two are all the people who came along after judge rutherford became president of the society.. group number three are the jw's under nathan knorr up to the year 1975.. group number four are all the jehovah's witnesses post 1975 up to today.. .

BackseatDevil

One of the JW doctories that is consistant is the belief of "truth at the proper time"... the idea of light becoming clearer over time. In your experiment, each group would think they had their "truth' at the proper time, therefore the other three groups would either be presumptuous or not keeping up. For those not keeping up, those would be considered "weak" witnesses, and for those being presumptuous, they would be considered apostate.

I would think.

Then again, you set it in Texas, as i we need any more freaks in this state (or running it) LOL.

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

geez @Satanus! score? I guess.

I wasn't a big drinker at the time. our room only had alcohol on Fridays and even then, it wasn't all the time. My neighbor had full liquor cabinet, across the hall my other neighbor had his entire mini-fridge dedicated to beer, and during the housekeeping training I noticed many Bethel elders had at least some bottle of something and little tumbler glasses or something out (normally be against the rules). Drinking... was an issue. It wasn't a big issue, but it was an issue.

14

I thought baptism was a dedication to God

by irondork in

according to this description, unless the elders determine that you really want to be a member of the watchtower corporation, then you are not worthy of dedicating your life to god.. .

w98 3/13 dedication and freedom of choice p.17 par.18.

before a person can qualify to become one of jehovahs witnesses, he must meet scriptural qualifications.

BackseatDevil

Hey, they let me get baptized at 10. The only thing I was dedicated to was homework.

And even that was half ass. LOL.