Posts by Tech49

9

JW "charity" during wildfire crisis

by RedPillPopper in

jw
friends

so i live in the area of the 'valley' wildfire in northern california.

i just returned home after 3 days evacuated.

there is a family who run a fitness center and had opened their doors in disaster relief to affected people with beds, food, clothing and shelter.

Tech49

I live in an area where wildfires are a serious threat every summer. Our town is pretty small, some of the nearby towns are a little bigger. Anyways, last year, the city planning department asked the COBE if the local KH and parking lot could be used in an emergency, for shelter, storage of equipment (parking lot is pretty big), etc. They really like the fact that our seats are all moveable... so they could pull them all out and have one large room if needed. Now, granted, this would be in the event of a MAJOR local disaster, more than likely fire related.

Being that the town is small, and most people know one another, including the "brothers", the elders told them that it shouldnt be a problem, and that a "great community witness" would surely occur if such a thing were to happen. They were a little giddy about being asked to provide such a service to the locals.

Then they sent word to headquarters, just to confirm. And you can guess what happened next. WT sent out word.... "absolutely NOT". The usual replies with "liability", "insurance" , "we already provide a GREAT service to the community", blah blah blah. So the brothers had to go back to the city and rescind the offer. They were pretty embarrassed.

It was really sad, just sad.

61

Today's Special Day Assembly Expenses and the $10,499 Deficit. Silent Majority?

by Tenacious in

today i attended a one-day assembly in my hometown.

i knew when it came time to read the afternoon expenses that it would be an incredibly high and ridiculous amount that was nowhere near the real expenses for that day.

sure enough, after lunch came the announcement.

Tech49

I can confirm what James Jack mentioned earlier. We had our Circuit Assembly day yesterday, accounts were read and brother mentioned that yes, our per capita expense had more than doubled to the $10.50/publisher fee. Even in his tone and inflection, you couldn't help but notice him stumble at that one. Thusly, with an attendance of right at 1,000 our amount "due" was just shy of $11,000. This on an assembly hall that is fully booked every weekend, and has been paid for for years. Our contributions were thus far at less than half of what was "needed". They had an announcement about contributions 3 times throughout the day, in addition to the CO talk about using our material possessions for the greatest good (meaning DONATE).

Along with the very pointed standard comments about not buying the newest gadgets and phones (including a demo, yes seriously). The father and son re-thought buying the newest phones for the whole family, so they could send the money to WT instead (seriously, they said that!). Oh, and a comment or two thrown in about "tight pants" , and what Tony Morris was really trying to say,...from the CO...

Oh, and for the first time ever that I can recall, we had a flat ZERO baptized. Way to go pioneers, elders, and CO's ! Outstanding use of your time for the last 9 months! Bravo! The cart witnessing is obviously soooo effective!

I overheard more than one comment about the lack of baptismal candidates, even the brother giving the talk wasnt quite sure what to think! MASSIVE FAIL.

13

JWs are not charitable

by BashfulAshG in

hey guys,.

i'm just venting here because obviously, i can vent to no one else because i am still in the congregation.. jws as a whole do nothing to help the poor, the homeless, the sick, the hungry, though some individual jws do.

because they are too busy giving to the gb.

Tech49

One day I was at the KH early. The phone rang in the library. I answered, and a young lady was looking for help. She gave a tearful account of her current circumstances, and sounded like she TRULY did need a hand. She was reaching out to any and all churches in the area, looking to get signed up for anything she could.

I was an elder at the time, and gave her the cold, typical JW answer: "We dont have any type of outreach program, or funding for the needy. "

Right then I realized how utterly ridiculous that sounded, so I added "However, I know that the Catholic church up the street has a great program for actually helping needy ones, so give them a call."

I was just beginning the process of waking up, and this was one of those defining moments I will never forget, the moment when I was truly embarrassed to be affiliated with WTBS.

81

Do you believe Jehovah's Witnesses' Governing Body is the "faithful slave"?

by Marvin Shilmer in

this question is known to be posed by jws to other jws as an acid test of loyalty.

i'm not the first to notice what i'm about to point out and comment accordingly, but today i felt compelled to add a short article on my blog highlighting the new language that governing body member geoffrey jackson supplies as a response.

a person who honestly hesitates to respond with a robust "yes!

Tech49

IF, and I mean IF....... Mr. Jackson meant that it would be presumptuous to assume that THEY were the only spokesmen for God on earth (thusly insinuating that there could be others)..... then who is the other "spokesman"? Whom else is chosen by the Almighty God..... who Mr. Jackson, WHO?

Why answer with vagueries and riddles? If, Mr Jackson Sir, you have to make up this stuff as you go along, something is seriously wrong, and you are only deceiving yourself. The rest of us see it, we are not blind......you are the Emporer with no clothes.

64

Geoffrey Jackson: "That would be presumptuous of us"...

by Calebs Airplane in

within the first few minutes, mr. stewart asked geoffrey jackson if the members of the governing body consider themselves to be god's spokesperson on earth.. his response: "that would be presumptuous of us" (implying that they don't consider themselves to be god's sole channel of communication).. to me, that was the worst lie of about 26 lies he's told during this hearing.

however, mr. stewart missed an opportunity to call out mr. jackson on this bold-faced lie.

he should have asked him to explain why the watchtower magazine teaches otherwise.

Tech49

I have been thinking about this comment (see Original Post by Caleb's Airplane).

Mr. Jackson DID in fact answer the question. His brain DOES work. His answer should be very eye-opening and appalling to his faithful followers..Here's why.:

READ THIS SLOWLY........He couldn't say YES.

Why not? Because he doesn't believe it either. He knows it fake, a facade, a mockery, a self-appointed position of oversight. Again, why?

He stumbled. He hesitated, and then chose his words very carefully. In fact, If he felt that he was in fact (or at least a part of) Gods Channel, there would be no hesitation. Right then, at that very moment, he lost all credibility. Why wouldn't he have said a confident "YES, WE DO!" Because he doesn't, .... they don't. To do so is foolish, arrogant, and yes, presumptuous.

In replying with the "that would be presumptuous of us" remark, he is saying that there is no good answer.... to answer YES would openly admit to the world in general that they are terribly haughty, self serving, and condescending.... when in fact, according to their own literature, that is in fact what they admit. According to the Glorious Seven, They are the ONLY TRUE spokesman of God.

If he were to reply NO, WE ARE NOT, he would admit openly that they were full of themselves, and had absolutely no backing from an almighty being, and everything they were spewing forth was absolute rubbish.

It reminds me of the counsel we all received, at some point I am sure. While in Field Service, or elsewhere...If someone asks us..."do you believe you have the only TRUE religion?" ...... You should have ZERO hesitation, if that's what you really believe! If you can't answer honestly, or you hesitate, or have to choose your words carefully, then a self examination is in order.

You, my friends, just got a Get-Out-Of-Jail-FREE card.. If someone, anyone, asks you that exact question... you know the one....

"Do you believe that the Faithful and Discreet Slave is God's channel here on earth today?"

You can say......

"UM..... That would be very presumptuous of me..."

22

Can disassociated ones get reinstated without proving repentance?

by maksutov in

one of the jw high-ups questioned by the australian royal commission (i think it was o'brien) stated that those who had disassociated (as opposed to being disfellowshipped) do not have to undergo a lengthy reinstatement procedure of proving repentance over many months, but can simply ask to be reinstated immediately.

is this true?

has anyone heard of this ever happening?.

Tech49

I know personally of someone, an immediate family member, that DA'd. She wrote an official letter and everything (I dont know what it said, but I know she wrote one). Went on to live it up, free reign to to most anything. (holidays, boyfriends, etc etc). A few years went by, had a few kids, finally married some schmo, and she wanted to get back in so that her mom and the grandkids could have a relationship.

She went back to the cong she grew up in, and went to weekday meetings (husband would not let her go to Sundays, nor take the kids to ANY meetings). She went for all of 6 weeks, yes 6 weeks, played the poor abused wife card (no spiritual support), and requested "reinstatement". APPROVED. She then promptly moved out of town, to another state.

Yes, 6 weeks, and I know this for a fact. She NEVER took the kids to a single meeting, and faded back out shortly after that.

So the answer is YES, it can be done the way Mr Obrien stated, its all in who you know and what kind of game you play.

11

LEFTOVERS and STOLEN LIGHT (An historical look at Watchtower laziness and misadventure)

by TerryWalstrom in

should the chosen mouthpiece (gb) be a voice or merely an imitative echo?.

is new light original (because it is coming direct from jehovah) or is it leftover from the minds of men?.

watchtower magazine failed to release new light first, before any other religious person or body.

Tech49

And lest you all forget, we could purchase the New American (Catholic) Bible right at the literature counter as well! (see list), along with the King James, and others......

49

WT Society Makes Light of Child Abuse Crimes by Portraying them as Cartoons

by flipper in

i commented on this on another thread- but i believe this has enough importance to create a thread about this situation in and of itself.

at the current district convention as you know the wt society released a " sophie & caleb " video allegedly warning parents about the dangers of child abuse.

they don't really use the words " child abuse " in the video - but just say if " someone tries to touch you in a manner you aren't comfortable with " and portray it as a cartoon !

Tech49

Interesting side note: I attended the first week of scheduled conventions on May 22, and this video was NOT in the program. Looks like WT is changing the program to fit its NEEDS, on the fly, as raging hot topics are forced upon them.

Tech49

50

Local Elders whip the Congregation into a frenzy about donating to the Organization

by James Jack in

because of the may broadcast about how funds are down, our elders have been in their talks "encouraging" or pressuring everyone to donate more to the world wide work.. it freaks me out how we already give them a set amount of $600 a month, plus what is contributed by the congregation(usually $400 to $500 a month).

heck, our local congregation bank account even got below $500 for the first time this past may since i have been doing the accounts(4 years now).

for june, we raised a whopping $2400 to send into the branch.. the most amazing part, is that only a select few contribute on a regular basis every month.

Tech49

Our congregation has had the same discussions, in the form of talks, for the last 4 weeks in a row. Yes, every meeting either mentions money, or has a blatant talk on the need to contribute more. Local needs talk? Yep, contribute more, Mother needs your money.

2 full weeks, both Sunday morning and Tuesday nights, were spent passing out pink "contribution" slips, to get "a feel" for what we were willing to contribute every month. Then 2 more full weeks of "reminders" to get your slips in.

Reasons were the same as mentioned by the OP, James. Our contribution amount that was used to set the monthly amount last year... has slowly been draining the congregation funds down to almost nothing.

Got to reaffirm those tithes!

45

Why a new "World Headquarters"?

by 4thgen in

i just dont get it.

the gb moved to patterson and are conducting business from there, right?

they are not printing as much literature as they once were and they are still operating walkill for the magazines...er a ....pamphlets.

Tech49

2 years ago I went on the "tour" of NY Bethel. I had an "insider" tour, seeing many things that most people dont get to see.

One of the things that shocked me, was walking through the old printery building...I dont know the exact name of it, but its the older original building that is connected with the skybridge.

It was almost entirely empty, some of if being used for storage. As we made our way down to the bottom floor, the emptiness of it all was pretty amazing. The history of the building itself was cool. Then, the 90's carpet in the rooms, the entry, empty reception area was a bit eery. The entire building was mostly vacant.

This was before Warwick of course. I asked "why is this building empty? Seems like a waste of good space, and in a building already owned by WT. Why do we need to build a new compound in upstate NY?"

Obviously, space was not an issue, because all the printing is done offsite, out of country anyway. If the brothers were truly in need of "space", this building would be overfull and cramped in anticipation of a new structure...right?

The answer I got....."Why, look! we're expanding!!!" I just looked around.... and said.....WHY? This is a perfectly good building?

I was more or less dumfounded. Seemed like a perfectly good waste.... until you thought about the money end of it.

So, no, they dont NEED a new building, and they dont NEED more space. They WANT IT. Keep your eye simple right?