Posts by neverendingjourney

27

MTS & Gilead: Can we talk about how much of a FAILURE these 2 schools were/are?

by Black Man in

jw
friends

i know quite a few from both of these schools who basically crashed and burned once they got into their assignments.

graduates of these schools would be thrown into foreign territorities or remote areas without a good visible means of support and would get emotionally, mentally, financially burned out.

post your experiences or of those you know that went to these pitiful excuses for educational institutions..

neverendingjourney

There was a guy from my old hall who went off to MTS. He was an MS/Pioneer who had enormous self-esteem issues and was a bit of a wreck. He was a nobody in the real world. Nevertheless, he knew how to play the system. He applied to MTS and was accepted. When he returned he tried to use his influence to get back at elders who had passed him over for an elder slot. He made sure everybody knew he'd studied the top secret elders book while he was there.

He was sent off to an assignment in a rural part of the U.S. and didn't last very long. He was the type who wanted the title but didn't want to put in the work. I started fading around that time, but I heard there were one or two more assignments he found ways of getting out of. Eventually I lost touch with almost everyone I knew at the hall. I talked to an active Witness a year or two ago and he told me the MTS grad had eventually been disfellowshipped. Not sure what for, though.

19

Guns and Roses fans?

by nonjwspouse in

i'm not one, but just caught the biography on tv.

i happened to have met axel roses ( as he called himself by then) parents in a friend's neighborhood in indianna.

when axel would come home for a visit in the midto late 80's police cars would always end up at the house.

neverendingjourney

Your initial post came at a time when most in the U.S. were still asleep.

I was a huge GnR fan growing up. My JW parents found the tapes and threw them away.

Axl was out of control. I'm surprised he kept it together as long as he did to have left a mark on the history of rock and roll.

143

Letter to BOE: Adjustment in process for appointing elders and ministerial servants

by pixel in

hello, you read it here first!.

governing body of jehovah's witnesses.

to all congregations.

neverendingjourney

As long as WT policy continues to be that the elders are to call the Legal Department at the local branch office FIRST when they hear of any child abuse, WT will continue to be held responsible for protecting pedos.

Or its an effort to disclaim liability by showing that (a) they have a mandatory policy that elders contact the branch when a child abuse case arises and (b) showing that they always give the same advice: contact the authorities where required by applicable law. If pedophilia went unreported it was either because the elders didnt' contact the branch despite the mandatory policy being in place or because the elders failed to follow through on the branch's instructions.

43

New Atlanta Assembly Hall Has raised 3.4 million Dollars... GONE

by James Jackson in

jw
friends

they announced last week that the new atanta assembly hall has thus far raised 3.4 million dollars.

my local told that will become the society's come may 1. i wonder how that will go over with the ones who have been contributing to this fund..

neverendingjourney

There's a real simple fix, in my opinion. Instead of your volunteer workforce wasting its time in pointless "field service," convert them into a construction crew. Let publishers count their time for building projects. Train them to perform useful tasks. Then flip those properties a few years after they've been built. Leadership could simply give out lame excuses for the sales and the flock would either buy it or not ask questions.

The infrastructure is already in place. If the Watchtower ever moves in that the direction, it will signal to me that the men running the organization are more cynical than I imagined.

43

New Atlanta Assembly Hall Has raised 3.4 million Dollars... GONE

by James Jackson in

jw
friends

they announced last week that the new atanta assembly hall has thus far raised 3.4 million dollars.

my local told that will become the society's come may 1. i wonder how that will go over with the ones who have been contributing to this fund..

neverendingjourney

I agree with everything CommitteeChairman said.

What I will follow with interest is whether cash-flow troubles will necessitate a change in the religion's views on higher education. How can you expect to sustain your organization when your members aspire to be window washers, or in the parlance of today's political conservatives, "takers?"

38

Looking Back, Are You Embarrassed By Your Attitudes, Speech, Actions as a JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i think of how judgmental we were as witnesses.

"worldly ones" were almost as bad as disfellowshipped ones but not as bad as "apostates"..

neverendingjourney

I'd like to think a was one of the "good JWs" for the bulk of my association with them. I was on a high-horse for the first year or so, though. I was a teenager then and I relished the opportunity to argue points of doctrine with religious householders.

In hindsight, it was in extremely poor form. A 16 year old kid arguing with grown men and women about things I had very little knowledge of. Ignorance was bliss, however.

43

New Atlanta Assembly Hall Has raised 3.4 million Dollars... GONE

by James Jackson in

jw
friends

they announced last week that the new atanta assembly hall has thus far raised 3.4 million dollars.

my local told that will become the society's come may 1. i wonder how that will go over with the ones who have been contributing to this fund..

neverendingjourney

20

Meeting with an Elder and his wife

by Abe Ostate in

i'm a non-witness who is doing research on jehovah's witnesses (and has been for several years).

i just got out of a meeting with an elder and his wife.

i'm still somewhat stupefied.

neverendingjourney

They don't encounter people like you very often. I don't know if you were a return visit or if this was their first time there, but JWs are typically ill-prepared to speak to people who've done their research. I wouldn't expect them to return. They were probably caught off guard and resorted to reciting talking points they were comfortable with regardless of the topic.

It's good that they were forced to confront an inconsistency in their beliefs (the end-is-near stuff). It probably made them uncomfortable having to lie to you that way. It may not bear fruit immediately, but it was a series of these types of confrontations that led me to loose my zeal for field service. Years later I quit the religion altogether.

30

Memorial Musings

by undercover in

jw
friends

a few things noticed in last nights annual, jesus who?

gathering:.

1: only one scripture from the gospels was read or cited.

neverendingjourney

I think it's been four or five years since I've been to one. I didn't even get a call from my family this time until 5:30 the day of, which I didn't answer. Things have are turning out quite well for me on that front.

13

First year without Memorial

by sp74bb in

jw
friends

my first year after more than 20 years.... it seems strange.

happy fellings but at the same times feeling some loniness.. is your first one as well?.

veterans: how do you feel after some many years?.

neverendingjourney

I began waking up rouglhy during the summer of 2003, but I kept going to meetings for another two years or so. For a few years I was 99% out, but that last 1% exercises a huge influence over your life.

The last memorial I can remember going to voluntarily (without family begging me to go) was in 2007. I had already discovered this site and was completely out mentally but something about the indoctrination wouldn't allow me to stay at home. It's difficult and for some it's harder than others.