gitasatsangha

Joined

• started 60 topics
• posted 1,890 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by gitasatsangha

• 
  3

  Did WTS have to pay back taxes after Swaggart ruling?

  by Bubbamar in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  an audit discovered that taxes were not paid on these purchases, so the state board of equalization informed the company that it must "register as a seller" and pay back taxes ($118,294.54, plus $65,043.55 in interest).

  i just read that swaggart had to pay back taxes.

  did the wts have to pay back taxes prior to their decision to "give" the literature?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  I dont think the IRS filed proceedings aginst the WTS. The WTS merely filed an amicus breif in th Swaggart case, iirc
• 
  55

  In the aftermath of our shattered faith, for those who also wonder.....

  by Frannie Banannie in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  it's been over 12 yrs since my df'ing.

  yes, i forced 'em to do it for what i know now were pointless reasons....but mainly, at the time, i thought it was because the heirarchy of the wts doesn't measure up to scriptural standards....i wasn't wrong for they are very judgmental hate-mongers, manipulative and overbearing....but i've come to learn so much more..... .

  after years of traumatic disillusionment, i've begun to wonder if there really is a god/goddess, etc....or is this a state of mind/belief system that mankind has created to explain the inexplicable, answer the unanswerable, to put a spiritual bandaid on the tortured in mind, body and/or spirit.....and yet, tho our bodies wear out eventually, we are wonderfully "made"....and so many things here on earth are sympatico with our human existence and temperament.....yet....at the same time, we have adverse reactions to many things, too, whether vegetable, animal, mineral or even spiritual.....is this all only a contrivance of our imaginings, the result of our teachings among ourselves?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  can't define day without knowing night
• 
  55

  In the aftermath of our shattered faith, for those who also wonder.....

  by Frannie Banannie in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  it's been over 12 yrs since my df'ing.

  yes, i forced 'em to do it for what i know now were pointless reasons....but mainly, at the time, i thought it was because the heirarchy of the wts doesn't measure up to scriptural standards....i wasn't wrong for they are very judgmental hate-mongers, manipulative and overbearing....but i've come to learn so much more..... .

  after years of traumatic disillusionment, i've begun to wonder if there really is a god/goddess, etc....or is this a state of mind/belief system that mankind has created to explain the inexplicable, answer the unanswerable, to put a spiritual bandaid on the tortured in mind, body and/or spirit.....and yet, tho our bodies wear out eventually, we are wonderfully "made"....and so many things here on earth are sympatico with our human existence and temperament.....yet....at the same time, we have adverse reactions to many things, too, whether vegetable, animal, mineral or even spiritual.....is this all only a contrivance of our imaginings, the result of our teachings among ourselves?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  Those questions do arise and you have to either face them or bury them or find some other solution. I went on something like a religious/spiritual rollercoaster after the Witnesses. I looked into all kinds of things, A reformed sort of Jehovahs-Witness practice, Bahai,Vaishnaivis, Advaita-Vedanta, Tao, Deism, atheism, gnosticism. In the end, or at least at this point, I seem to keep two current spiritual tradtions, primarilly Buddhism. Neither, in the strictest sence, is a religion. I don't know about the whole God question.

  I think in a nondual sort of way, we are all nonentities, that is individuality is more of an effect then a cause, and inasmuch as that may be true then we are all a part of whatever is worth being called, for want of a better word, God. But I don't worry all that much about God anymore, one way or another, because I got living to do, children to raise, and someone within myself to realize a bit more fully. So questions about the bible, about prophets, about armageddon, even about what happens to us after we die, become more and more just academic excercizes with little real import.

  Just my 2 ¢
• 
  49

  Were You Treated With Respect When Counseled By The Elders?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i knew a certain few elders that really got off by "talking down" to the "flock".

  many elders were pretty nice guys but a few could turn----just like that!

  what was your experience with "those taking the lead", the "loving shepherds"???

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  Got to be honest, the elder's I dealt with on the few counsellings I got were always very nice and polite, and they treated it more like a conversaion then some sort of berating session. I think it depends on the quality of elders you get.
• 
  44

  Elder Comes To My Mother's House To Inquire of Minimus & Family

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my mom told me yesterday that my friend (while growing up) who is an elder again, (after years of mental problems), came to her house and inquired as to how my family and i are doing.

  he said we have become a subject of conversation at a recent get together..... of course, my mother started crying, told him to ask me himself and told him she did not wish to talk about this subject since it severely depresses her.

  he backed off but shortly asked again.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  Minimus,

  Have you thought how you are going to have this go down? Are you goind to just let them DF you by proxy, actually meet with them when they get more insistant (as they will), or just write a letter?

  -genuinely curious.
• 
  31

  Your worst Watchtower Study ever?

  by Celtic in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what article was it when you were a witness that was the most complicated for you to understand?

  i remember that there were a right few beaut's, dad being the wt conductor, of course we had to go through the finer detail getting to the most indepth meaning and how it linked up.

  hmmmmmmm.. what was your worst watchtower study ever then?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  My sister's mother-in-law had a terrible hair-lip (something wrong with roof of her mouth, as I understand it) that caused her to talk out of her nose mostly. It was like listening to a someone trying to talk into a muffled kazoo. She gave the longest comments I have ever heard, always much logner then the paragraphs and full of emotion on even the driest subjects. And despite that, no one ever understood a word that she said. No one ever said "Same Thought" when called upon right after her.
• 
  36

  I Have Finally Sent My DA-Letter

  by GermanXJW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i finally did it!

  after 3-4 years of being inactive i wrote a da-letter and faxed it to the headquarters of the "christian congregation".

  i am planning to be more active in helping ex-jw and i have become a member of the newly founded "netzwerk sektenausstieg" (cult exit network) in germany.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  GermanJW,

  Best of luck,

  -A fellow DA'd guy.
• 
  54

  We need solid advice from former Elders

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  almost unbelievably after 4 years of staying away from the hall and the jws last week they called and said there were allegations of apostasy against us.

  we have been very quiet about our feelings and so were very surprised and angered.

  we were told that they were going to discuss the allegation and determine if we would be formally accused of apostasy.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  its just more proof that fading, lying low, doesn't work. The Watchtower Society is a control-mechanism and it hates anything that tries to escape beyond its control. My suggestion to you is follow your heart and mind and conscience, not letting the "What-If's" get in the way. Even if you win your appeal, they will only come after you again, and you will not really be free. Freedom is worth it.
• 
  31

  Your worst Watchtower Study ever?

  by Celtic in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what article was it when you were a witness that was the most complicated for you to understand?

  i remember that there were a right few beaut's, dad being the wt conductor, of course we had to go through the finer detail getting to the most indepth meaning and how it linked up.

  hmmmmmmm.. what was your worst watchtower study ever then?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  I confess I never understood any of the Watchtower studies. I don't think anyone really did. They were too full of logic-loops and sciptures usually taken out of contexts and third-party quotes with no source adequately quoted.

  I just liked to carry the microphone pole up the aisle and look at women's legs, and be joyful in Jehovah's creation of the female form and this one chick that never wore underwear.
• 
  27

  Armageddons a long way off yet....according to dub statistics!

  by gumby in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  well.....all you apostate bastards can relax now.........armageddons way the hell off!

  according to the below article.....jehovahs somehow going to get in a good witness about him and his organisation to all the muslims, and buddists, and all the eastern religions, and all the banned countries.....before armageddon can come.

  that's right.. if he can't get his dubs to do it door to door......he's going to perform some miracle finally, and get ye ol' watchtower and awake articles in their hands.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gitasatsangha

  Now I have to wait even longer so I can get through armageddon to marry and produce offspring with the resurrected Helen of Troy, Josephine Baker, and Anais Nin.

  Oh well, there's time to stop smoking. Thanks for the word up, Gumby.