Posts by Open mind

24

What did I miss? (Also, a brief Open Mind family update.)

by Open mind in

jw
friends

Are JW's allowed to be bartenders?

by stillstuckcruz in

my brother(ms) just got a job at a hotel and mentioned to my mother that they may train him to be a bartender.

she said that we(jw's) are not allowed to do so.

is this in any of the publications?

Open mind

Depends on where you live (more urban, liberal areas are more tolerant even for JWs) and what kind of bar.

I knew a Ministerial Servant/Regular Pioneer who lived in the SF Bay Area who was a bartender at a fancy hotel and it was not a problem.

OTOH, my uber-conservative parents probably think it's wrong.

om

36

What will you be having for Xmas dinner?

by Pams girl in

jw
friends

im getting rather excited!

its only 8 weeks away!

this year, for the 1st time in 6 years, we are having a proper xmas.

Open mind

Thought I'd post the world-view/belief-systems of those we're planning on sharing X-mas dinner with.

Me: Agnostic/Atheist/Wanna-be-Deist

Wife: Fundamentalist Atheist

Daughter: Free-spirited pagan(?)

Son: Hardcore fundamentalist atheist

My DFed, gay brother: Agnostic/atheist with a penchant for Hindu traditions

Friend of family: Taoist (sort of), raised in another high-control Christian religion so relates well to the ex-JW experience

"Worldly couple" wife met at gym: Both atheists

************************

So, the question is, should I invite my other brother? (Congregation Secretary and hardcore JW Company Man)

om

51

Uber Dub wants to have dinner....

by outsmartthesystem in

jw
friends

ok. the good news is that my wife has eased up on the whole "talking it out with the elders" thing.

she now insists that she is doing her"own independent research with unbiased materials" on some subjects.

unbiased?

Open mind

Since he was kind enough to generously invite your entire family over for dinner, the least you can do is offer to bring along a dish to share.

I suggest blood sausage casserole.

om

81

Have You Ever Feared Being Outed On This Site?

by minimus in

jw
friends

or do you not care at all?.

Open mind

james-woods: But just as a matter of interest, do we have a bona-fide case of anyone who WAS outted on this site?

Well, there was Richard Simmons.

edited to add: Exactly what undercover said. When I first signed up my hands were almost shaking because of fear of being outed and the inborn stigma attached to Apostasy.

om

8

currently, i am in barcelona for a two month project.. not sure if there are many residents of barcelona on this forum, but in case there are some or somebody is planning to visit this beautiful city, i propose to organize some gettogether for a drink or siteseeing.

if anyone is interested, please, pm me or leave message on this thread.. best wishes,.

Open mind

My wife and I would love to join you in Parc Guell to share a bottle of Cava.

http://behostels.com/wp-content/uploads/barcelona_parc_guell_sunset.jpeg

Unfortunately, we won't be able to get back there for quite a while.

Cheers!

om

16

My first bit of unsolicited Anti-Witnessing

by Open mind in

jw
friends

i recently crossed the line into hard-core......... a - p - o - s - t - a - s - y !

i approached a guy who was sitting alone at a table in a restaurant and discreetly, briefly gave him one example of why jws are a heartless, high-control religion.

ok, rewind the tape.

Open mind

Thanks for all the positive comments.

Also, kudos to blond-moment for not being intimidated by the CO. As much as I know it's all a crock, strong JW personalities can still have an unnerving effect on me at times.

Also, thanks to wobble for the JWfacts.org reminder. I've got burn that name into my subconscious. BTW, I just googled "Jehovah's Witnesses" and JWfacts.org now redirects to JWfacts.com. Looks like the same site, just a changed URL. Also, it's on the fourth page of the Google search I just did. If we click on there occasionally, hopefully it will help keep JWfacts.com towards the top of the Google pile.

om

16

My first bit of unsolicited Anti-Witnessing

by Open mind in

jw
friends

i recently crossed the line into hard-core......... a - p - o - s - t - a - s - y !

i approached a guy who was sitting alone at a table in a restaurant and discreetly, briefly gave him one example of why jws are a heartless, high-control religion.

ok, rewind the tape.

Open mind

I recently crossed the line into hard-core......... A - P - O - S - T - A - S - Y ! ! !

I approached a guy who was sitting alone at a table in a restaurant and discreetly, briefly gave him one example of why JWs are a heartless, high-control religion.

OK, rewind the tape. I haven't become an evangelical anti-JW proseletizer. Here's the back story leading up to it.

Recently I was on a business trip and while enjoying a dinner alone in an almost deserted restaurant, (6 pm on a Tuesday night), I overhead a snippet of conversation from three people sitting at a table across from me. Two guys, one gal, and the first thing that caught my JW radar was something like this: "What's so BAD about Halloween? How is a 5 year old dressed up as Superman somehow seen as Satanic?"

Now, I'm thinking, OK there's a good chance their discussing JWs, but there are also fundie groups who are anti-Halloween. Continue with the eavesdropping.

Next snippet: "Birthdays? Birthdays?!? Where in the Bible does it condemn birthdays?"

Bingo!! They were definitely discussing JWs. The best I could piece together was that one of the guys knew a JW who was trying to convert him and the other guy and gal were trying to make sure he didn't drink the JW Kool-Aid.

Now it was time for me to do some soul-searching. Do I get up from my seat, JW-style, politely interrupt their conversation and give them my $.02?

Uhhhhh.... No.

It's not my place to save the world from JWs. They're paying customer in a restaurant and certainly do not need to be interrupted by anyone, no matter how well intentioned.

Well, a couple minutes go by and the guy who knows the JW gets up and leaves because he's gotta get running. A couple more minutes go by and the gal goes to the bathroom. Now there's just one guy sitting there staring at the wall, killing time, not even pulling out his smart-phone to pass the time.

The old JW proseletyzing instincts get the best of me and I decide to take the plunge over the precipice into absolute apostasy. I apologetically approach him and let him know that I'm a former 3rd generation JW and that my JW radar couldn't help but zoom in on Halloween and Birthdays. I ask him: "Would you like to know just one question that your friend can pose to the JW who's trying to convert him?"

(The guy was COMPLETELY open to further conversation. If I got the slightest hint that he was perturbed, I would have immediately taken my leave.)

I said, "OK, have him ask this: 'Do JWs still approve of the irrevocable baptism of minors?' "

He gave me a bit of a blank stare. And then I gave the back story of how my older brother got baptized at 12 years of age and figured out at 12.5 years of age that he was gay. And that because of that he lost all his friends and family.

He was dumbfounded. I backed it up by letting him know I was an elder for over 10 years and that wasn't exaggerating the situation at all.

Midway through my spiel, his girlfriend came back from the bathroom and she was also all ears. They were VERY appreciative and know to Google "Jehovah's Witnesses".

All done.

om

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