Posts by OnTheWayOut

36

Repository for JW "experiences" with Hurricane Harvey

by sir82 in

jw
friends

it's only a matter of time of course..... jw rumor mills will start up soon, with stories of how jws were "first on the scene" as the flood waters receded..... how the red cross and/or us national guard and/or doctors without borders and/or [you name it] were marveling at just how "organized" the jws are..... how zealous jws were pulling their trolleys thru ankle-deep water to "offer comfort" to victims, by giving them - sandwiches?

bottled water?

to offer them comfort by giving them 16 page "magazines" to read in their spare time..... so as the stories start to come in, you can "deposit" those little nuggets of bs here.. once collected, we'll wrap them in a pretty bow and flush them away where other instances of pure manure go..

OnTheWayOut

Grreat Teacher: I can't imagine people just getting a patch, a lick and a promise, and then donating the entire check amount.

Please tell me people don't actually do that.

Yes. To be fair, for the most part, JW volunteers are organized by professionals when it comes to roof repair and the like. So the work is typically not just a "lick and a promise." But there is no guarantee that it is up to building code and the insurance money is supposed to be used to put it back up to the quality (or better than) it was before the damage. And again, you will have little choice in the style, color, quality of the building materials.

And sometimes, it will be just the lick and a promise. I saw JW's after Hurricane Hugo leaving tarps on their roof for a year because they said that was good enough to stop the rain. And they spent the insurance money on bills instead of the roof.

15

Update: My current situation

by Issa in

it's been about two months since i stopped attending meetings, came to the conclusion that the org is not the truth, and i'm currently dealing with some problems since leaving the org.

i want to discuss these problems and hopefully get helpful advice.. discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime's work, but it's worth the effort - fred rogers.

my current situation in this: i faded and hold off on writing a disassociation letter.

OnTheWayOut

I will join the chorus of saying "Don't meet with the elders." You showed so much to your dad and he would follow up to be sure you met with them to show them the same things. And a computer slide presentation is a sure ticket to a judicial committee or at least a forced disassociation. Just insist to Dad that you are okay just leaving it be.

Part of fading to keep family relations is to know where to stop. Your mom was receptive to at least allowing you your point of view, but Dad not so much. So you may have to tell him, "I don't want to see the elders, but I will stop trying to show you my point of view, and we can just be family without this between us." You can probably literally lay it out for him. "I don't want to get disfellowshipped, I just want to be a family."

Other than not meeting with them, don't worry that you might bump into them or they might try to trap you into a meeting. Refuse to say anything beyond "I am fine" and chit-chat stuff. The moment any JW tries to get you into talking about Jehovah and meetings and YADDA YADDA, just go back to "I am fine. Call you if I need to. How about that [weather/sports team]?" They only have power over you if you give it to them.

Edited to add: Probably need to do the same with siblings as with Dad. Try "We don't need to talk about this" and then don't talk about the religion. You might still lose some people over your fade, but it's on them, not you. At least by ceasing to talk religion, they may be receptive to you in years to come when family needs to reach out to each other over family deaths, illnesses, weddings, etc.

12

Anyone go on a cruise?

by NewYork44M in

jw
friends

just finished a 7-day cruise from nyc on norwegian cruise line (ncl- gem).

this is my first cruise in 30 years, so my past experience does not count.. overall, a great experience.

ncl does a great job.

OnTheWayOut

I enjoy cruises. I was in the Navy for 6 years and never thought I would cruise. The wife talked me into one from Galveston to Mexico and Belize with friends. That was Carnival. I loved it. Since then, we did Hawaii on Royal Caribbean, Alaska on Princess, and the Caribbean on Carnival out of San Juan. Princess had a great "British" atmosphere. I rather enjoyed the "fun" atmosphere of Carnival. Royal Caribbean has pretty much taken away discounts and I would have to be lured by some kind of deal, otherwise- their food was the best.

I like seeing different places in the daytime, going on one grand excursion and then getting back to the ship. We dined in the main dining room on just about all of our cruises and rarely did the cafeteria style.

I view itineraries on vacationstogoDOTcom to see how long they are in port, where they go, what the discounts are. I only booked thru them once as I typically found agents bids better after I found a cruise by going to cruisecompeteDOTcom. where they would send offers that included excursions of various types or cabin-upgrades.

19

Pioneers Living With Married Couple

by msecodo in

so ... situation:.

a baptized married couple, with no privileges that we know of, have opened their home to 2 unmarried regular pioneers because of the pioneers' financial issues (limited income).. - husband works from home.

- wife doesn't work and stays home or in service.

OnTheWayOut

Their long-standing rules are that unrelated JW's of the opposite sex simply cannot live in the same home.
It's not new, it's not necessarily that there is anything special or different in this situation.

The long-standing rule is there to prevent temptation and stumbling. That someone complaining represents the stumbling problem. The jerk.

36

Repository for JW "experiences" with Hurricane Harvey

by sir82 in

jw
friends

it's only a matter of time of course..... jw rumor mills will start up soon, with stories of how jws were "first on the scene" as the flood waters receded..... how the red cross and/or us national guard and/or doctors without borders and/or [you name it] were marveling at just how "organized" the jws are..... how zealous jws were pulling their trolleys thru ankle-deep water to "offer comfort" to victims, by giving them - sandwiches?

bottled water?

to offer them comfort by giving them 16 page "magazines" to read in their spare time..... so as the stories start to come in, you can "deposit" those little nuggets of bs here.. once collected, we'll wrap them in a pretty bow and flush them away where other instances of pure manure go..

OnTheWayOut

I don't get the problem with expecting that the person who does get their house repaired to give some of the insurance money. Insurance is to make a person whole not to be a windfall for the recipient.

Sure, if a bunch of volunteers happen to make you whole again. But often, they are not repairing things back to the original state and they are certainly not getting it inspected to be sure of their work quality.

I put shingles up after Hurricane Andrew. If the JW homeowner's insurance was for that, he can feel free to go ahead and donate it to WTS. But also keep in mind that it wasn't WTS that paid to get me there. We did not give the homeowner a choice of shingles. So WTS buys the same shingles for all homes in bulk, shells out a little money for YOUR home, and you are asked to donate the entire sum to them instead of having it inspected by a pro or saving the money to put the right shingles up there a few years from now.

And that's just shingles. Did we use the right roof boards below them? How about window replacements done by WTS volunteers? Wouldn't it be more likely those were not the right ones, might not be as durable as the original?

https://questionsforjehovahswitnesses.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/disaster-relief-fund.jpg

18

The true essence of the Bible—there is some problem with it?!

by venus in

in the famous aesop fable, we read about a fox who unsuccessfully tried to get some grapes, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “i am sure they are sour.”.

someone made a second part to this story.

fox did some rehearsal in the night and came on to the scene next day, and jumped with difference and got the grapes from the vine tree, and he began to eat to his full capacity.

OnTheWayOut

Sin is kept alive by religion, it was even invented by religion.

There are illegal and immoral things that people do. But for sin, you need religion.

36

Repository for JW "experiences" with Hurricane Harvey

by sir82 in

jw
friends

it's only a matter of time of course..... jw rumor mills will start up soon, with stories of how jws were "first on the scene" as the flood waters receded..... how the red cross and/or us national guard and/or doctors without borders and/or [you name it] were marveling at just how "organized" the jws are..... how zealous jws were pulling their trolleys thru ankle-deep water to "offer comfort" to victims, by giving them - sandwiches?

bottled water?

to offer them comfort by giving them 16 page "magazines" to read in their spare time..... so as the stories start to come in, you can "deposit" those little nuggets of bs here.. once collected, we'll wrap them in a pretty bow and flush them away where other instances of pure manure go..

OnTheWayOut

So far the report is that it's OK folks none of ours is dead. 4K plus displaced...

So that's an even greater opportunity to fleece the flock members who want to help. WT can say "Please donate money only, not food or clothing or stuff." They can organize to collect that money, then send "approved" volunteers AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE to spend a wee bit of that money buying lumber from "approved" brothers and then asking the victims to donate any insurance money they collect because the brothers spent so much on them.

That will be the typical- "Not only did we screw over victims again, but they said 'Thank you.'"

8

Ex-JWs In The Dating Scene - It's A Whole New Game

by pale.emperor in

since leaving watchtower it still strikes me as odd how little i knew the real world and how it works.

i thought i knew how it worked but it turns out i didnt.

as jws we were always "courting with a view to marriage".you go on one date with a girl and everyone's expecting you're gonna marry her?

OnTheWayOut

She replied "oh, i just wanted to have sex with you. Why? What did you thing this was?"

How about replying, "Well, could I call you once in a while and do it again?"

21

Cart witnessing in the quietest in my suburb.

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

i walked to the station yesterday to meet a friend, and on the way, in what must be the quietest street in the entire suburb, were two j.witnesses and their little cart, all set with a literature display.

i wondered what point there may have been to choose that location.

i felt like grabbing one of their bibles and reading matthew 5:15 to them:.

OnTheWayOut

Yeah, I saw two lady JW's with their bookbags standing on a corner behind the brick wall that formed the sign for the public school. The wall was at 45 degrees to the corner of two streets and the place they chose to stand was on the school property- so probably why they didn't have a cart- and they were on the side of the wall that hid them from any foot traffic on the busier street, being seen only from the quiet side street.

It was clearly a waste of time.

All this b.s. that people will "see" the JW's and go to jw-dot-org is ridiculous. I suppose it's also a way of ramping up a changed way to do things because "we are almost done preaching and gathering and ready to switch to saying 'We told you so.'"

35

Is The Watchtower Corporation Facing A Meltdown Of Confidence Among Its Members?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

looking at all the narcissistic bull shit the watchtower corporation has been spewing out for the world to see about suffering of its members to as nothing worth being very concerned about and as jehovah magnificent be vindicated is much more important.

have they really gone off their rocker enough for a very sizable portion of membership to see their insanity and jump ship?.

i think definitely they are losing all respect from their internet savy members as their madness becomes obvious.

OnTheWayOut

It's 3 years past 100 years for the vast majority of JW's "in the last days." The strain of operating in panic mode for so long is getting to the elderly and near-retirement age ones who saved nothing and passed on lucrative careers because the end was going to arrive any minute now. Watchtower took their money, their opportunities, some never had children because of Watchtower, many found their JW mate no better (and maybe worse) than a worldly person.

I read that Jehovah's Witnesses is a ten-to-twenty year cult for many people. People would either wake up or be too tired of it to stay beyond that. That's wrong, but maybe it wasn't ENTIRELY wrong. Maybe it takes more than time passing with the same old bullshit. Maybe if the bullshit gets too radical, the statement comes back to play. But not in just 20 years for everyone. Serious JW growth took place in the 1970's. Those adults from then are older than 60 now.

Younger ones are not staying so much- especially those that learn things on the internet. Now, Watchtower takes members to the internet. Older ones are sick of shunning their children and ignoring their grandchildren. The Watchtower before Ray Franz didn't have them doing that. So that started in the 1980's.

I was never thrown out. I resigned as an elder in good standing. I faded out in good standing (except for being "inactive). I say that I am one of those 20-years cult members and I was fed up with the bullshit. But I saw how it got even worse after I left. I declared that the 1995 change in "generation" was the start of my road to freedom. I further declared that, had I not woken up before, the overlapping generation teaching would have had me stand up during that Watchtower study and laugh out loud at the teaching saying "OVERLAPPING GENERATION, NOW I REALLY HAVE HEARD IT ALL!" as I was heading out toward the door, never to return.

Who is to say if they are in meltdown? We will probably see after the fact.