hello to all.
maybe this is a stupid question, since jw's don't celebrate christmas, but, as jw's, how did you spend your christmas?
what did you feel when everyone else was celebrating?
We always take a trip on or near xmas. In the past it was a ski trip, more recently it is a trip to the coast. This year (about a week ago) we volunteered at a shelter for battered women. We were not able to meet the family that we helped, but we did meet the case worker and she explained how our contributions were used in great detail. It was a blast to provide real help to a family instead of offering them the xmas issue of the WT.
z arco
on top of that one of my sons is bringing home a girl friend who is flying over from austria.. i'm thinking maybe lasagna.
i'm pretty good at that, but it doesn't seem real traditional.
the beef is so bad around these parts, i don't dare do a crown roast and besides that cost around $60.00.. what is your favorite dinner?.
Restrangled - if your family likes mexican food, they have wonderful traditions with tamales, chicken mole and other tasty reasonably priced dishes. You can buy tamales at Costco that are very good. Have a wonderful time with your family!
zarco
i can't think of one.
anyone .
.
Lloyd Barry is the only one. Albert Schroeder did not have an accredited degree. As noted above, "Bert" and Barry were largely responsible for the tolerant view of education. With Barry's death the writing vs service department war was lost by writing and the hardline policy returned. We had opportunity to spend sometime with "Bert" and Judah Ben. Judah seemed to be very open about the faults of the WTS as an organization (not its teachings). He had a lot of good ideas to change the structure and some of the organizational processes. I don't think he was taken that seriously. I think that was a factor in he and his wife leaving Bethel and pursuing a law degree. He wanted the credentials to be taken seriously at Bethel.
zarco
my family is in the process of reaching out to establish friendships outside the jw religion.
at some point we will likely be ready to fade into total jw inactivity.
when we do that there will inevitably be numerous well-intentioned attempts to snatch us from the jaws of satan.
OM -
I think relatives figure things out. We usually just say something like, we hope you are right, time will tell, I have been thinking about that and still can't get my head around it.
We had a family gathering recently and come to find out, none of the family were active (we all live in different parts of the country). We also invited a few friends from when we were young and they are not really active either. It was funny to find out that we were all in similar circumstances. We had a healthy discussion about how harmful it is to be isolated from educational, sporting and similar activities growing up. The two families that still have school age kids allow them to participate in sports and other activities. All of the kids have plans to go to college. We were all in agreement that none of the kids should consider baptism until they are finished with college.
It was a surreal experience.
Zarco
i live near sacramento, ca and earlier this week the local convention authority held a big deal press conference announcing a "deal" with jehovah's witnesses (see clip below).
based on comments to local news media on their websites, more than a few people are not too crazy about the idea..... i heard an interview on a local station where the head guy [of the convention authority] was defending (sounded very defensive) the city's deal with the dubs, by saying "well, they'll bring hotel dollars, food dollars, and they'll be visiting all of our local museums, evening life, and entertainment attractions.....so the monetary impact will be huge for us...".
specifically discouraged from doing any of those "extra" things..... hope those attractions aren't hiring more employees to handle the witness "crowds"........ also, during the interview, he said that the convention authority would be able to select the dates for the various conventions.
Open mind -
I stare at all the faces on the street for the flashing "666" and have not been able to spot you yet :)
zarco
another time & place.
20-25 years ago in a conservative "god's country" us state.
a look around the kingdom hall could easily identify the theocratic pecking order.. .
This might be the best thread of all time.
right... so i've hung around on jwn for a while now, but i simply can't figure out where an ministerial servant stands in the hierarchy scheme of the wts.. there's the r&f or rank & file.. then there seems to be the microphone handlers, sound checkers, donation bin watchers, index card for territory managers, person who is in charge of the books, etc.. then there are elders.
circuit overseers.
bethelites.
I have been both and being an MS is a lot harder than being an elder. It is really a strange organization.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education-news/2009/09/03/winning-a-scholarship-to-eton-91466-24595339/.
eton college is possibly the most famous public school in the world and they have recently accepted their first ever jehovah's witness.
the link above is a local news item.. i am reliably informed that the boy's father 'stepped down' from his 'position' of ministerial servant as some in the local congregation were not too happy with the example being set.. .
Gayle - the letter was read at the BOE meeting with the CO. It presented a couple of scenarios to determine if an appointed brother was setting a good or bad example. I don't have a copy of the letter. But as you would expect the good example had the young person auxiliary pioneering and attending school part time and the bad example had the young person not fully involved with the congregation and attending school full time, possibly living in the dorms. The appointed brother in the "bad" scenario would no longer qualify.
zarco
university of louisville graduate named rhodes scholarhttp://www.courier-journal.com/article/20091121/news01/911210361/university+of+louisville+graduate+named+school+s+first+rhodes+scholar.
monica marks grew up among fundamentalist jehovahs witnesses in eastern kentucky craving books and learning in a community where education wasnt valued.. today the university of louisville graduate is the state's latest rhodes scholar, the winner of one of the most coveted awards in academia.. growing up, the discussion wasnt about what college you would go to, it was whether or not you were even going to college, she said.
the idea of going to university and getting a degree, much less getting a rhodes, didnt even fall within our purview.. at 23 years of age, her studies in islamic law have already taken her around the globe to places like jordan, tanzania and tunisia.
A wonderful report. Thanks for posting it, Randy.
if a person is raised a witness, does it mean they are inferior to everyone else?
is it necessarily better to be raised a catholic, a jew, or even a non religious person, in the long run?
does one's morality and quality of life suffer because of having been a jehovah's witness?.
I know many well-adjusted adult witnesses, but I think they are in the minority. The “witness-way” of focusing short-term because god is going to fix everything soon is very damaging. It distorts the cost/benefit analyses that one uses to make long term decisions like buying a home, getting an education, working in a community and with environmental matters. Why make such investments if the end is just around the corner?
For similar reasons, witnesses are sometimes not the best business owners, as any successful business must think long term and cultivate customer relationships that last a lifetime. The teachings of the WTS do not encourage such a view, rather employment or a business is to make money in the fewest hours possible so that one can pursue spiritual goals.
I believe the consequences of short-term thinking are severe and harm the emotional and financial health of witnesses. Some are able to rise above it by deciding, some without not even realizing it, that they do not believe the end is coming and build - family, relationships, businesses - with a lifetime in view. The consequences of WTS teaching are probably unintended, but very real.
Zarco
