Banned from the second school!

by purrpurr 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  respectful_observer

  "They roped off the back rows at my hall for a while."

  ......................

  They did this in my hall years ago as well, however there was a legitimate intent behind it. The back rows/sections were always first to be claimed, so when the inevitable single moms with flocks of young kids arrived 5 minutes after the meeting started, they'd have to do the "walk of shame" up to the second row from the front. Then they'd spend the rest of the meeting marching back and forth to the back changing diapers, calming crying babies, etc.

  The elders decided to rope off the back two rows for "late arrivals and those with small children". Ruffled some feathers at first, but the young struggling moms really appreciated it.
• 

  LongHairGal

  Wow, the level of personal control in the Kingdom Halls is unbelievable as this very enjoyable and informative thread shows!

  They must be panicking that so many have left and are leaving the religion that they have to give an illusion of fullness to the half-empty halls all over the country and elsewhere. They also see their phone hookup is used by those who just don't want to be there (gee, I wonder why ?)

  I feel badly for those ex-teenagers who suffered indignities like the forced haircuts and being made to sit in the front and forced to comment, etc. (sounds like first-grade in grammar school). Yeah, the elders sound like gestapo.

  This was just a reminder that I'm SO glad not to be in the Witness religion anymore.

  Just to let them know: I'm home, in the FIFTH school, thank you very much!!!
• 

  kairos

  These restrictions on calling in to hear the meetings have been used in my area for many years.

  I've been out since 2013 and they were doing it for a few years prior to my exit. "Only for people that really need it".

  Funny thing, I have all three call in numbers for the Napa meetings with passwords. They got lazy and haven't "enforced" restrictions. ( or my wife is on the approve caller list )

  I bet the front gate code is still "1914", like every other KH I've attended...
  ( Maybe they changed it to "2034", who knows )

  I wonder if they used to be "1975" at an earlier time.

  ---

  Also at my old hall they decided to make a seat in the hall, "reserved for microphone attendant". ( actual sign attached to seat arm rest )

  I came in late one evening, couldn't sit in the back for some reason, and I sat in "the seat".The attendant just about came unhinged. Moved my books and was claiming I was "fighting against the elders and ultimately Jehovah himself".

  The meeting was a bit crowded and already underway, so it was causing a bit of a commotion. I sat directly next to him before ultimately leaving early. At one point I even suggested that I go sit with his wife in the empty seat that he had reserved for himself... He no like that one!

  But hey, that's Arvid Kron for you.
  Yes, the same one that was involved in the judicial mishandling of Ed Villagas, convicted JW child molester in Napa, Ca along with fellow elder David Becker.

  Their maniacal attempt at control and cover-up would damage nearly 20 young children, put WT in the national child abuse spotlight and end in a large legal settlement.

  I was there. in Napa since 1989.
  

  Things got real serious prior to the court case and they made big efforts to keep all of the details quiet and mislead the locals.

  Now it has been reduced to all but local urban legend status...
• 

  Irish Dame

  Thanks purrpurr for this interesting thread. When I attended kh sporadically for five years prior to finally waking up a year ago, I would often sit in one of the "school" rooms when I arrived late, sometimes 10 minutes before meeting was over so I could go out to lunch with my (now conditional) friends. I noticed the last few months before my last entering kh, for memorial, April 3, 2015, the rooms were often empty and darkened. I don't know if attendants were directing people away from those rooms, but there were a lot of empty seats in auditorium.
  As for the phone call-in lines, I currently have phone numbers and codes for several kh stored in my phone. Some in different time zones. In the past few years, there have been memorial services (watchtower infomercials) for friends in other congregations, so numbers were given to me by relatives and (now conditional) friends. In the past three years, I have been told they are no longer allowed to give these numbers and codes to anyone. This has to be approved by the elders. So, occasionally when I call in to mentally dissect the cult brainwashing to which my relatives are still subjecting themselves, I press *67 so as not to display my name and phone number on caller ID and lose my 'privilege'. Interestingly, in 2010, while the cobe was conducting wt study he called on his elderette wife and she took the opportunity to counsel the entire congregation, as one does, 😊 when she commented, "The faithful slave has made a loving provision by providing the meeting phone call-in arrangement. SOME brothers and sisters abuse this loving provision because they may be a little tired or just not feel like going to the meeting even though they aren't really sick. So, instead of going to meeting they sometimes call in and listen on phone. That provision is NOT for them! It's a provision for those who cannot attend meetings such as homebound elderly or those with severe illnesses. Some use it anyway, but they are not supposed to do that!" I guess she got the congregation told!!
  
• 

  Naoscillator

  Here's another take on this: I was personally involved in closing off the back school at our KH. Why? A "brother" who displayed all the tendencies of being a pedophile was grooming little girls back there all meeting long. Sometimes holding them on his lap, bouncing them up and down and just staring at their faces stroking their hair. Where were the parents? Right there. He has been warned and so have the parents. It's too bad others have to be inconvenienced because of this creep.