I was in the truth for two years and an elder approached me and said I couldn't get anymore literature until he spoke to me about something so six weeks went by and then I confronted him aa to when that meeting would be for I had a study that was waiting for her BT book. He said he wasn't finished gathering his information but that it would be soon so I waited. And I waited. Eventually I drove to bethel to pick up what I needed. Then, one night after the meeting he took me aside and asked if I was making donations for he has never seen someone place the amount of literature that I did. It was really weird for he repeated what the km had stated that same evening and he kept me there at the hall while hubby was sitting out in the parking lot for THREE STINKIN HOURS. He was a real control freak. Just wondering if they have that right to withhold your literature from you and keep you at the hall for that long with just me and him and his busybody wife??????????????????????
Has anyone ever been asked by an elder if your putting donations in the boxes
by label licker 14 Replies latest jw friends
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00DAD
Control freakery is what the WTBTS is all about. I thought you knew.
An elder once asked me about me contributions.
I said it was none of his business. I wanted to say, "It's none of your fucking business!"
I'm sorry I didn't.
Let's review: It's a cult!
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AuntConnie
I am almost out of posts, so I will share with you how we were able to build the Circuit Overseers homes. The estimated cost of construction was close to $350,000 in materials alone, all labor is free time when your a Jehovah Witness with construction skills. The elder body wanted to demonstrate their love to Jehovah's Organization by enlisting the Congregation's finances during the most turbulent times.
The biggest lie there is, is a collection plate does not exist or passed around at the Kingdom Hall, you are harrassed every Monday, Tue, Wed, Thur, Friday to put money in the Donations Boxes made of wood. The brothers of my Kingdom Hall passed out slips asking every member to promise to pay, $48.5 a month to cover the materials costs. Some brothers and sisters had problems reconciling "don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing" and "Counting the cost before you build the Church" and "There is a Season for everything ( My brother is a loan officer, home loans were impossible to get after December of 2008) and friends voiced their opinion "this is a bad time to build", "the friends are hurting economically and nobody has a spare $48.50 to give each month". The lone wolf elder (I won't say who it was) pushed harder and harder every Meeting the public was unlikely to attend, and after four months of constant badgering and chasing down people who voiced their opinions publically and yelling at them, the Congregation agreed to build the multi-dwelling places for three retiring overseers.
Not all elders were demanding everyone sign up to give for the Circuit Overseers, others were still against it and the elders told the Circuit overseers who were against it (the circuit overseers were still in the field and the lone wolf elder made sure everyone above knew who was against taking on a huge loan. The society did their part by accepting a reduced interest rate on this loan, the Watchtower almost always carries this type of loan no reasonable lender is going to lend to a group of risky people without charging a higher interest rate.
Friends are still angry we signed them up for a loan they did not want and are angry about the lies that were preached over the period of four months of weekday meeting nights. Only three quarters of the congregation that night raised their hands in favor, other friends said "I am not paying one penny of this, I will send my donation by mail but I refuse to allow myself to be harrassed by strong-armed tactics those elders used!"
1. If we have seasoned bethel brothers living next door to the Kingdom Hall, they will provide extra spiritual support we need.
Facts: The only time those brothers interact is when they have needs, they need somebody to clean their house, clean their windows or mop or vacuum their floor, they need someone to work on their car or wash it. They are running short this month with funds because they never saved a penny and put their trust in the Watchtower Society. Who pays for them to attend the District Assembly, you can guess who. They are all sick and we are told it's our honor to take care of Christ's Brothers. How do you think it makes Witnesses who spent their whole life feel? Witnesses who are lost in the rest-home shuffle, never to be seen again once a worldy family member finds out their elderly relative is living in filth and poverty? The reproach this brings upon Jesus Christ because worldy people discover the Witnesses never checked up on their own? The Watchtower takes care of it's own, but not its own (do you get it?)* The friends are willing to extend themselves but are getting tired the only time these "spiritual assets" call is when they need something. The Watchtower cover's their pension, (congregations pay for their healthcare, insurance, utilities and other expenses.) or do they? Their pensions are based of donations "to the world wide work" so we pay for their pensions too.
Observation: Why are older Jehovah Witnesses struggling with their finances and living in dumps while men and women who preached and took "a vow of poverty" live better than 80 percent of the Jehovah Witnesses who followed the "Overseers" advice? Let the Watchtower take care of the circuit overseers the same way they take care of elderly witnesses who followed the Watchtower advice. Seventy year old men and women looking for work, living off less than $600 in California disability because the hucksters of Bethel promised them eternal life, if they just believe a little bit more.
The Lone Wolf Elder basically push the Kingdom Hall donation boxes in the faces of everyone, so yes we have been told to put donations in the box and we all had to sign a contract stating "We promise to pay for the next thirty years, $50 a month!"
I am almost out of posts for this week, I must conserve these valuable assets to keep you informed of what is going on. The badge request was really made by the wholesome sisterhood of the traveling book bags.
*Often the elderly who are found living in excrement or filth are picked up by the Social Services or their Worldy Family shocked the Church who took them away from their family, was no where to be found when the individual needed the group. To better explain our inhumane behaviour, people like myself do not want to be bothered when our sisters or brothers are no longer able to preach or perform a vital function of the Congregations or need our help. We don't like people who take, only those who can give and further the Witness work and preach "The Message Of the Watchtower Society"
I have field service early in the morning we hit the Crematorian and cemetary and laundry matts. I hope that Zorro Apostate has not been using his red sharpie marker or using Q code stickers.
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blondie
Never had that happen not that I doubt there are abusive elders. I take this was in relation to publications only. I was a jw longer during the pay for publications period (set price). Why would it be any different than donating to the WTS through the congregation donation box. This guy sounds like an especially sick bully. I wonder if the other elders supported his policy and applied it to others in the congregation?
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Satanus
'The badge request was really made by the wholesome sisterhood of the traveling book bags. '
Sounds like a scary group. It would behoove to cross the street, if wimpy publisher saw them coming.
S
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label licker
He was the same elder that had called a "special meeting" with another elder one evening. It also lasted three hours. Telling my husband and I that if we want to pioneer we'll be the first ones society will call to dig sewers up ect. We had called another elder to sit in on this meeting which he did and he was discusted, even rolling his eyes up to the ceiling shaking his head but we kept quiet and just kept saying yes yes yes so we could pioneer. Little did we know there was an elders wife and her son who had decided to pioneer that same time and the elders wanted them to be the lime light of the hall. That elders wife was the one I had stopped studying with due to her and her husbands drinking bouts.
It's funny when I look back for there was an elders daughter who wanted to pioneer and she went into a room with her daddy(elder) and his best friend (PO) and she was only in that room for FIVE MINUTES and came out laughing and all happy. She got to pioneer. I came out balling. Now I would have no problem telling that short baldheaded jerk off It's no wonder the CO told us we could leave that hall and to get out as soon as we could and that we could still pioneer, work at the bethel and still be literature servant but couldn't have a label because we now were living outside of the territory. We didn't want the label and we told them that. We didn't want to be known as one of these label lickers who think they are better than the underlings. (I think that's the uneducated word I read for publisher) As soon as we saw the class distinctions amongst the label lickers, that's when we took a step aside and were proud to be publishers and treated like crap. Sorry I went off key but needed to vent. Hate people who think they can treat people like dying dogs!
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AuntConnie
The Magazines will never present the policy of strong arming the publishers for money to cover the expenses belonging to the Watchtower Society Corp. This time in our Kingdom Hall was like Eastern Germany by Russian Occupation. The elders and the wives were told to spy on who is speaking ill of the proposed project and to report them immediantly. The elder room contained men and women who were speaking bad of the arrangement, there is still hard feelings from this "open hearted forced giving". In 2012 there were still people murmering and ended up in the elder room for "gossiping", you will never see this in any magazine article. This might be my 10 out of 10th post, there is some fun shit going on that will push members to think I am part of Ripley's belive it or not. stay safe Satanus.
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AuntConnie
Say A Prayer For Your Aunt Connie, I Love My New Friends Here!
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Defianttruth
I have an Idea why he asked. I read on here the other day that 146,000 people visited this site last month. Let's call it 150,000 for easy math. What if everyone ordered as much literature as he or she could get the WBTS to give to them. Lets say we could get the equivalent of 100 books ordered for each of the 150,000 that visit this site. If the books cost 5 dollars (no idea what it cost just googled book cost to produce publisher and subtraction for free labor) each to print it would cost the WTBS about 75,000,000 dollars. I had to check the math twice on that. I Could get at least 100 "worldly" people to do the same. Adding that multiplier it would cost 7.5 billion dollars. What to do with all the literature? Well I have a fire place. I could heat my house during the winter at the WTBS expense. We all said we contributed in the contribution box anonymously already and did not ever donate money. What's beautiful about this Idea is that it is 100 percent legal. They say "donation only" in the literature. If some one gives an individual something, he or she can do what ever they want with it. I would love to catch a BOE letter saying you had to contribute to get literature. I would forward that straight to The California Revenue Service. They tax that kind of thing and they need money right now.
How about this Idea? All 150,000 people file abuse suit claims against the WTBS individually. It would cost about 500 dollars to file. It is legal to ask for a judge to look at an individuals claim. Does any of these 150,000 have a right to claim abuse. In my eyes absolutely. Will a judge side with the WTBS or the individual? WTBS every time. So whats the point? It would cost 100s of millions to defend. People file lawsuits everyday with the knowledge they will not win. I have done it myself. Sometimes it is nice to be a pain in the A$. They could forget about poor Candice for a little while anyway.
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Scully
In the past week alone, I've seen 3 sets of WT & A!, unread, in local trash cans.
The WTS wants to be paid for something that nobody really wants. People still accept the "free" magazines and toss them in the trash. 20 years ago, when we had to pay for the literature up front, and ask for the Contribution™ up front when out In Service™, people were less likely to accept them if it meant parting with 50¢. So the Publishers™ kept a stack in their closets and cupboards, because we paid good money for them and didn't want our money to go to waste.
Now JWs give them away and they end up in the trash, and then they get harassed by the Elders™ and by letters from the WTS telling them that the Magazines™ aren't really "free". Although they have to say that they are available freely, and that all Donations™ are on a completely Voluntary™ basis so they don't get in trouble with government agencies.
I'd love to get my hands on a copy on one of those letters and send it to the IRS and Canada Revenue Agency.