Posts by Doubting Bro

31

The Thief of Always

by YinzerDad in

prologue... .

a brief precursor about myself.

i've been lurking around for almost 2 years.

Welcome!! Look forward to your contributions here. I think many can relate to what you are dealing with. The reality is we have had real passions and dreams taken from us and replaced with an imaginary panda petting paradise. The good news is that you are still young and you have not only a chance to make a great future for yourself and your wife but also an opportunity to give your kids the kind of upbringing you didn't have!!! It's ok not to know who you are or what you want to do. Hell, I'm still not sure and I'm in my mid-40s!!!

You are right, you can't get back that child like imagination about what you want to do. But that doesn't mean that you can't see the world through your kids eyes at least a little. To me, that's the coolest thing about having kids. You sometimes get to experience their imagination vicariously. My kids have tons of opportunities that I never got and I love to see them play sports and do other activities that I was never allowed to do.

Looking forward to hearing more from you. Love the opening story by the way!

45

Liquidation sale of RBC assets

by Darkknight757 in

got this very interesting email last night and i thought i'd share it.. this is from the local rbc.. "in harmony with our new ldc form we have been asked by the branch to liquidate all current assets of used tools and materials once owned by the rbc.

you are invited to visit the equipment trailers to acquire items being liquidated by the rbc asset team, these items will be offered on a first come bases with voluntary donation.

if you see any item you like please be in position to take it with you at that time, after you return to your congregation then you will make a donation of cash or check in the congregation contribution box designated for the support of the worldwide work.

Doubting Bro

Really strange. Why liquidate those assets? I guess they really aren't going to build anymore local halls.

All these money moves are really curious.

21

Is the Borg winding down printing altogether?

by slimboyfat in

the thread about magazines stopping distribution in india reminded me of a recent conversation.

a local brother said he asked for a copy of the new organisation book for publishers.

the elder told the brother to print it out if he wanted a physical copy.

Doubting Bro

We were asked maybe a month or two ago if we wanted a physical copy or if we would just use the digital. Of course, I requested a physical copy for which I will donate 0! Yes, its passive aggressive but it made me feel a little happy knowing that even if it only cost them $.10 to produce, its still a money drain.

63

Raining before the Flood?

by GrownMidget in

i remember at my teen years when i was studying with a brother that he said to me that there was no rain before the flood.

instead there was this mist that you have.

never before or after this have i heard something like this.

Doubting Bro

St. George - kicking it old school with the lyrics!!! When I read those, the melody immediately came to mind. Actually that was one of the better songs so I'm sure it was eliminated.

41

You contemptible worms aren't giving us enough! GIVE US MORE! Service meeting part December 21, 2015

by sir82 in

jw
friends

from the october 19 letter to the body of elders:.

to all bodies of eldersre: service meeting part for week of december 21, 2015dear brothers:the service meeting for the week of december 21, 2015, includes a ten-minute part entitledshow appreciation for jehovahs generosity.

this is to be a talk based on the november15, 2015, watchtower, pages 14-15. sometime during this part, the video a gift in hand to jehovahshould be played for the congregation.

Doubting Bro

Reminds me of this song by Hank Williams Jr.

Now there are some preachers on T.V. with a suit and a tie and a vest
They want you to send your money to the Lord but they give you
Their address 'cause all of your donations are completely tax free
God bless you all but most of all send your money

Read more: Hank Williams Jr. - American Dream Lyrics | MetroLyrics

56

Is it true? Heard a rumor WT postphones Disfellowshipping until further notice!!??

by Olivia Wilde in

i am not sure if it's true but i heard from a good source that wt has given instructions to elders to postponed disfellowshipping members from wrong doing/gross sin until further instructions given by headquarters.

i heard some jws were just reproved either privately or publically.

has anyone else heard anything like this recently?

Doubting Bro

Every dime I have ever made or will make is on NO WAY! If they did that, then they may as well shut the religion down.

While it would be nice to see them move in that direction, there's simply no way they would ever consider it. It's a high control religion and without DF'ing, there is no control.

26

Our assembly expenses were $16,900 for ONE DAY - Please share yours

by nmthinker in

~2300 in attendance.

one day cost of $16,900!.

this was at romeoville, which was built ground up in the 90's and was fully paid for by the illinois circuits!.

Doubting Bro

The one I recently attended had the $10 per assigned publisher charge. I heard a couple of folks gasp at the charge when read. LOL I think it was around 3.50 the last service year.

28

Assembly baptisms/attendance - keep 'em coming!

by freddo in

jw
friends

don't forget to post your reported assembly and convention attendance and baptisms and whether they are higher or lower than customary (if you know).. here's some detail passed to me of the last circuit assembly held at surrey (uk) assembly hall.. attendance 922 baptisms 3 (half circuit).

Doubting Bro

Recently attended one with 1800 people and 9 baptized.

12

Leah Remini - Scientology

by tresdecu in

jw
friends

last night on 20/20, they did an interview with leah remini (american actress know for king of queens tv show) she was raised in scientology since the age of 8, and recently left rather publicly.

she re-enforced what we all know, that they are bat shit crazy (like any cult) but also talked about how hard is it to leave something that's been a part of you for so long.. so many interesting parallels to our world (former world) of jw'dumb.

it's a great ep to watch with someone you are trying to awaken.

Doubting Bro

I watched with my wife as well. Her comments "it sounds just like our religion"! I almost didn't know what to say because I was stunned to hear those exact words. It prompted a nice discussion over disfellowshipping/disconnecting. Baby steps for sure but the parallels are obvious.

For the record, I think Scientology is much crazier than JWism and much more dangerous. I think LDS is a better comparison but all are high control religions that have dangerous elements.

Oh and I love the "knowledge report"! So not only do you tell on your fellow members, but you submit an affidavit detailing what happened. And they keep it on file forever!

I'm going to follow up on the discussion because I think she sees the high control elements and it make her uncomfortable. She knows that I don't believe anymore and I attend and submit time for show to avoid the chaos. She doesn't really believe either but thinks its just a normal religion and no better or worse than anything else. It's information like this that really shows people like her that this religion is worse than others because of the extreme shunning. If they dropped that one thing, it would make the religion a lot more tolerant. Blood and other stuff is so dangerous because it's reinforced by shunning. If you drop that, everything changes. However, that's the one thing they will never drop.

137

Something interesting!

by John Aquila in

i was invited to a small get-together by a long time friend.

we both served as elders for years.

he is in his late 70s.

Doubting Bro

This is really hard to believe but encouraging if true. Sorry, but practically speaking it would only take one person who has a change of heart to blow the whole thing up. That's why doubting JWs tend to keep it to themselves because they 1) don't know who to trust and 2) even if you trust someone today, they could rat you out tomorrow because of the cult mind control. In short, you can't trust any active JW with information that you don't want shared when it comes to disagreeing with the WTS. Those that do ultimately get discovered.