by Dogpatch 167 Replies latest jw friends
Scully wrote: "VM, all I see is the dreaded red X."
The site must prohibit direct linking to the photos.
The photo captioned "Don Emshoff Billings PreAssembly Overseer" is at this photo album webpage:
http://community.webshots.com/album/530083563YGDkKy/2
The picture apppears to have been taken in the year 1976.
--VM44
We knew Don and liked him. Sweet man. I'm talking in relative terms here.
Frank: We're kindred spirits. I spent some time sitting with those same thoughts. Maya Angelou's words helped me: "You did what you knew and when you knew better, you stopped doing it."
LDH wrote:
to my knowledge no former elder, CO, DO has ever come on one of these boards and said, "You know what? I was a dickhead for 40 years."That's because the dickheads aren't on this forum, they'e still in. Comng over to the light washes you clean of dickheaddom. At least that's my religious belief.
The younger one said that the older one was John Blaney who was retired and being looked after at Bethel. Blaney was , in his day, a tremendous charecter and a very well known C/O and D/O. I had previously heard that he had retired and gone into the Bethel.
I tend to think the Society provided special care for some former COs and DOs because of their popularity among the R&F. I remember a few COs in my day who were deeply hurt when they got transferred to an assignment far from headquarters or from a large city. They couldn't help but feel they were being demoted, especially if they happened to have been serving for many years. The transfer often meant that they'd be soon forgotten by most of the friends and admirers they had at headquarters. Sure enough, we hardly ever again heard much about them. But those who remained popular were often invited to Bethel for meals or to stay overnight or longer. When they were taken off the road due to old age or illness, they just might be placed on the headquarters staff or be cared for in the Bethel Infirmary until their dying day.
I could be wrong about the reason they were brought in and not others, but that's the way it seemed to me at the time.
The Watchtower couldn't care less about our present physical well being !!!
"You won't be missing anything in the new sytem" they will say.
i agree with lisa. many jw's and elders seem like nice people . and may not be so harsh on the flock. but i've had debates with 100's of these dopes. and lost very few on wt doctrine. when someone can promote wt propraganda . in the face that a new wt is lying about the wt hjistory. and or bible . i have no respect for such persons. because they are not honest and not willing to test , what mother tells them. i mean it only took me a few weeks in the public library and kingdom hall library. and reading the new testament. researching to figure out the wt is full of $hit. with out the help of the internet. i've been around jw's for close to 40 yrs. and even as a child it smelled to high heaven. i've seen my father (only jw in the family) get whipped dozens of times by christians, straight from the bible. and he's as blind as a bat. he can't be that stupid. iv'e been kicking the shit out of him on wt dogma for the last 8 years. and anyone he brings to try to out talk me. none of these people are good people. and i know many of them most of my life. it's at the point that my dad cleared out his wt library in the livingroom . just so i can't pull out a bound volume or truth book to show him the lies. to make a long story short. i know most any jw . finds other christians etc. in f/s that make thier heads spin. on wt doctrine. i'm sure to become an elder you have to do many mental gymnastics. and lie to your self. that includes long stints working at bethel. i feel no sorrow for this c.o. and only hope he reaps what he has sown . in his last few years. infact i would like to talk to him 5 times a week. tied to a chair. and help him repent... john
I have to agree with Lisa. No Nazi officer was a dickhead either; they were all "following orders," and after the war they were all washed clean in the blood of the Allied soldiers.
Boy, if you think that as a bottom-feeding rank and file Dub you had it hard, open your heart to the guys at the top: they were the REAL victims! Can I have an "amen!"?
Here's the picture of unfortunate watchtower victim Don whatshisname. . .
These are the guys who taught us to have such a compassionate and understanding view of the priest and ministers of Christendom. Oh wait, I got that wrong, didn't I? These are not holy men of the cloth - they are regional sales managers for a publishing company. I put them in the same category as the top guys in MLM pyramid operations - their chief skill is in getting others to bend to their will.
That's because the dickheads aren't on this forum, they'e still in. Comng over to the light washes you clean of dickheaddom. At least that's my religious belief.
While it may wash you clean of PRESENT dickheaddom, it doesn't negate all of your PDA's--Previous Dickhead Actions.
Toth,
I have also seen that geographic location had influence over this as well. Out here in California, where the congregations are physically separated from Bethel by 3,000 things are different than for those of us who were within hours of The Big House.
"You did what you knew and when you knew better, you stopped doing it."
I believe some of us didn't know any better because no one came along to define a better way. Going house-to-house for 50 years I never met anyone who offered a persuasive argument against WT teachings and practices. That includes members of the clergy. (There's an awesome amount of ignorance about the Bible in most churchgoers.) We never had the blood transfusion fiasco or any other WT flaw thrown in our faces. The internet hasn't always been here, and even today many have no idea what it's all about. We won just about every court case against the Society or our local congregation. We seemed to be winning on every count, so no wonder we hardly ever had doubts rise in our minds. The Society told us God was with us, and we seemed to have every reason to believe it. So I can't be too hard on anyone who someday wakes up to reality after all of this, comes to his senses, and engages in the almost unbearable struggle to break free. In the same way, I commend those who wake up after they're thrown out and who go through the process that leads them to determine never to go back.
i feel no sorrow for this c.o. and only hope he reaps what he has sown .
I must say you have all the characteristics of a very compassionate elder. I'm sure that if you had walked in his shoes, you would have been the very epitome of Christianity in all its glory.
In all seriousness, I think unkind and especially hateful speech toward persons who have been JWs for many years only tells those still in there that there's no point in leaving. They can only feel that they're going to be greeted with more unchristian attitudes than they ever found while in the organization.
Frank
"You did what you knew and when you knew better, you stopped doing it."
While a fan of Maya's, I'm not sure these words have a FULL application in the classical sense.
For instance, a drug addict KNOWS BETTER way before he/she gets clean and sober.
A pedophile KNOWS BETTER, and may never stop.
A child abuser KNOWS BETTER, and later on when the child is grown and scarred, that parent suddenly "sees the light."
So there are many instances of people who "KNOW BETTER" and yes this does not change their actions.
I believe some of us didn't know any better because no one came along to define a better way.
The difference is, I don't believe it's anyone else's job but mine to define my better way. Now I'm not coming down hard on you because remember I did this shit for years, and didn't wake up until I was 25 and the house of cards fell entirely apart. I'm just willing to admit that from the time of majority (16) when I KNEW BETTER that this religion was full of shit, I should have WALKED, paid the temporary price and moved on with my life. My wake up call should have been all of the elders who met with me to actively discourage my college application process. My other clue should have been the threats in my household (JW elder father) that I would NOT be allowed to attend college and if I spoke about it I would be thrown out of the house.
So you see, I too had warning shots fired over my head and directly into my ass. My heart was telling me that it wasn't cool to be coerced into pioneering when what I really wanted was to attend the University of Hawaii (for god knows what reason!)
Were external factors to blame partially? Of course. Were there warnings? Of course.
We never had the blood transfusion fiasco or any other WT flaw thrown in our faces. The internet hasn't always been here, and even today many have no idea what it's all about.
When I was a teenager -- I saw books at TOPS supermarket in Auburn New York on Grant Ave and Genesee St..... "30 years a WT slave" and such. The shit was out there. I ignored it and you did too.
Lisa
Live and learn, but you still gotta pay the piper Class
