Posts by dubstepped

5

The Life of an Ex Jehovah's Witness: Kicked out at 16, a Telltale Atheist Video

by Wakanda in

tears welled up a couple times... telltale is amazing.

simply amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9yuwezmx0q.

dubstepped

A podcast is like internet talk radio that you can download and take with you on your phone or whatever and listen to on the go. Or you can just listen to it online if you want. If you get into listening to podcasts there is so much good content out there on just about any subject you want. You just need a podcast app like Apple Podcasts or Podbean or (the one I use) Podcast Republic. You search for the podcast, subscribe to the podcast, it is downloaded each time a new one comes out, and you can listen on the go or at home. You can also just download individual episodes to try them out. Some popular traditional radio shows also put out podcasts so that people can listen when they have time on their own.

I did one called This JW Life where I told my story as a JW and the process of leaving. Now I do one called Shunned (which I announce on here when I put out a new episode) where I help others to tell their stories of leaving the JWs (along with other cults). Apparently telltale does one called "telltale" (just look for his symbol that he uses on here to post). There are other exjw podcasts like Critical Thinker, JW Community, JW podcast, and occasionally another new one will pop up here or there.

I also like true crime shows, business and entrepreneurial podcasts, lots of story podcasts where people tell real life stories, financial podcasts, etc.

5

The Life of an Ex Jehovah's Witness: Kicked out at 16, a Telltale Atheist Video

by Wakanda in

tears welled up a couple times... telltale is amazing.

simply amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9yuwezmx0q.

dubstepped

How have I never heard of your podcast? I just looked it up and subscribed. I don't get into Youtube much other than my own channel where I upload my own podcasts to but I had no clue that you existed until recently and apparently you've had a podcast for some time. Podcasts are what I listen to all day every day at work and I love this stuff. Can't wait to start listening.

2

NEW "non-stamp collector" video!

by stuckinarut2 in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78bsm7rbk0a.

dubstepped

I love this stuff. I always thought that even if the rest of the Bible was mess, surely the Gospels weren't. I mean Jesus kind of loses me once he starts talking about the flood in Noah's day and that alone got me thinking, but the side by side comparison of the Gospels are messy too.

31

Something I had never thought about re: the Borg's nonprofit status

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

i am actually looking into the possibility of starting my own nonprofit for ex-jws with specific goals and i've learned more about the process.

i was interviewing someone for the podcast that is familiar with nonprofits and she told me something that i had never considered.

maybe everyone else has but i don't remember seeing anything about it here.

dubstepped

I haven't seen specifically where it doesn't count toward nonprofit status in any way, and it makes some sense, but I see where it does appear that merely being counted as a "church" and meeting that criteria may be enough for automatic nonprofit status.

I have always known that it was a measuring stick for dedication and "spirituality" (how gullible and obedient one is) but thought this was an interesting discussion based on information that I was given.

16

Reinstatement

by Pinky in

what questions do the elders ask you when you are in your meeting requesting to get reinstated ?.

dubstepped

May I ask why you want to go back? Or is this not about you?

31

Something I had never thought about re: the Borg's nonprofit status

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

i am actually looking into the possibility of starting my own nonprofit for ex-jws with specific goals and i've learned more about the process.

i was interviewing someone for the podcast that is familiar with nonprofits and she told me something that i had never considered.

maybe everyone else has but i don't remember seeing anything about it here.

dubstepped

I think the above is kind of why I tend to do my own thing. I've heard too many awful stories about people going in together on ex-JW projects. Dave Ramsey likes to say that the only ship that won't sail is a partnership. I'm sure that many also work, but I tend to be a lone ranger. Then I don't have to be responsible for anyone else, especially at first. I see a nonprofit that grows as needing help with specific tasks but I'd probably hire outside to get things done. It's just my style.

31

Something I had never thought about re: the Borg's nonprofit status

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

i am actually looking into the possibility of starting my own nonprofit for ex-jws with specific goals and i've learned more about the process.

i was interviewing someone for the podcast that is familiar with nonprofits and she told me something that i had never considered.

maybe everyone else has but i don't remember seeing anything about it here.

dubstepped

Oh, no worries Nathan, I knew you were just sharing quality stuff. I have no qualms saying that I'm a dummy in many areas of life. We all start out ignorant of many things and have to learn somewhere. The goal is not to stay a dummy when you come up against something where you need to learn.

31

Something I had never thought about re: the Borg's nonprofit status

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

i am actually looking into the possibility of starting my own nonprofit for ex-jws with specific goals and i've learned more about the process.

i was interviewing someone for the podcast that is familiar with nonprofits and she told me something that i had never considered.

maybe everyone else has but i don't remember seeing anything about it here.

dubstepped

You trying to say something with those last two book recommendations? Lol.

Nolo puts out quality stuff. I've used them before.

31

Something I had never thought about re: the Borg's nonprofit status

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

i am actually looking into the possibility of starting my own nonprofit for ex-jws with specific goals and i've learned more about the process.

i was interviewing someone for the podcast that is familiar with nonprofits and she told me something that i had never considered.

maybe everyone else has but i don't remember seeing anything about it here.

dubstepped

I am dealing with a local person that sets up nonprofits for children's hospitals and that does major fundraising. The original goal was to raise funds for things like deposits on housing for people thrown out on the streets (often due to domestic violence or young people that get shunned), for college scholarships, for job skills training, and for therapy.

Essentially setting up a nonprofit is starting a business. It is starting a corporation with a board and everything and almost a proof of concept, proving that you can raise funds. There is a lot of paperwork to do, we'll need a lawyer and an accountant, and to set up a board. Ultimately from a fundraising perspective this is sales and marketing. My contact thinks that the scholarship option is the best one. It needs to be focused on one thing. So it appears that will be my focus going forward but she is pitching the ideas to some local proven donors to get some qualified feedback. I should be meeting her again tomorrow to see where we stand on this.

Doing this made me look at this whole thing differently, and then when I interviewed this person and she linked the time slips to the nonprofit side of things it made sense to me if they aren't taking in money and spending it directly linked to charitable pursuits. It seems as though there needs to be something to use to quantify the results and that the time slips are it. It may simply be that qualifying as a church creates a nonprofit entity by default, but there is some ambiguity there and my adhd brain couldn't stand reading anymore tax rules for the moment.

31

Something I had never thought about re: the Borg's nonprofit status

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

i am actually looking into the possibility of starting my own nonprofit for ex-jws with specific goals and i've learned more about the process.

i was interviewing someone for the podcast that is familiar with nonprofits and she told me something that i had never considered.

maybe everyone else has but i don't remember seeing anything about it here.

dubstepped

Yes, they do claim to do charitable work as to disaster zones, though we have also heard that they send brothers in after the volunteers do all of the work and leave on their own dimes and then they ask for the insurance checks.

So yeah, they are definitely kings of obfuscation and weasel words. I'm reading the publication and form 1023 but my eyes are getting blurry at this point and I'm not sure how much I care to dig in. I just thought it was an interesting point that made a lot of sense in giving them something to report that would be the crux of their supposed charitable work of preaching which is the main work that they do.

Or maybe simply qualifying as a church gives one all they truly need. The form 1023 requests more specifics and then there are mentions of "other circumstances" that are unclear that are taken into consideration. I guess without talking directly to a governmental entity that makes such decisions it would be hard to know anything for sure. It's still interesting to me, all of it.