freddo

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Posts by freddo

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  50

  How Much of an Impact is Being Made by Young JW' s Leaving the Cult ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we have read threads where statistics show that 2 out of every 3 people raised as jehovah's witnesses eventually leave once they get in their 20's to 30's and out on their own.

  my children and my nieces and nephews are between the ages of 21 to 35 .

  out of those 8 people - 4 of them have completely stopped attending meetings .

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  freddo

  As long as there is a growth in numbers shown (by manipulation of those numbers) I don't think there will be any tipping point.

  I remember the exodus of 76-79 and a few apostasy leavers in '81 - I was a mid teen and a lot of my peers left or didn't get baptised but around my then congo the numbers stayed steady afterwards. The numbers at our hall in the late 70's are little different than they are now - helped by higher than average longevity, especially in women and "low quality" mentally or emotionally challenged converts.

  We still have a steady turnover, a few die-hards, with numbers staying about the same.

  And in my extended family on both sides of my marriage I would say that many of the 17-35 age group have stuck with it, sadly. And that in some form of fulltime service (tm) or MS/Elder unless they have left to have kids. Even those that have got disfellowshipped have "gone back".

  This group study change has made quite a difference - less pressure - and I think that slowly this religion will dumb down and require less effort (beyond blind obedience in lip service and money giving) - in our hall two meetings a week and once in the min each week with a bit of padded "incidental witnessing" (tm) and a report of 7/8 hrs = min.serv! Four hours will keep you in "good standing" and let you run a microphone.
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  16

  On a scale of 1 to 10

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are you at peace with your beliefs?.

  1 = very anxious / confused / searching.

  10 = complete peace / totally confident in belief system.

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  freddo

  9.9 here too!

  When I was a serving elder taking a group and on a service committee? About a 1.0 towards the end! (And never more than about a 5 at anytime!)
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  21

  WHO polices the Circuit Overseers?

  by babygirl30 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is required to 'monitor' the elders...but who monitors the c.o.?

  i ask that because thinking back to all the c.o.

  's i've had seen, each had his own personality and style.

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  freddo

  Yes it is a combination of the service dept and the DO. If a body of elders wants to complain about the CO it goes to service.

  As alluded to above; unless the CO goes against the organisation he is pretty safe. So if it is a matter of judgement then the service dept always backs the man with the "higher" position.
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  19

  Hospitality experiences during public talk trips

  by tsar_robles in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a couple days ago i started having these flashbacks of back in the day when i was 17 or so and was a frequent outgoing public speaker.

  believe it or not back then i was so naive in the fullest sense of the word, and none of the signs that i encountered then kicked in until years later.. i obviously could go on and on about the impressions and demeanor that i received from the big shots (elders, ms's) from these halls.

  a couple that i remember were for ex., one time while visiting a congregation in southwest co i politely waited around to see if any of the elders or a head of a house hold would approach me and invite me for hospitality and tired of waiting around i decided to make that 5 hour solo trip back home.

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  freddo

  I can confirm that some of today's older bigshots who grew up as a jw in the fifties and sixties were given responsibilities way beyond their years due to a lack of brothers - and this in a city of half a million population and a few congregations even then.

  We certainly had a 16 year old give his first public talk, a 17 year old Assistant Ministerial Servant (as they were called in Qualified to be Ministers in 1967) taking a group study with a 50 year old doily wearing sister as his assistant - and even when the elder arrangement started in 1972 and there were plenty of brothers we had a 22/23 year old elder appointed.
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  28

  Watchtower says Millions Living in 1997 “Will Never Die”

  by LUKEWARM in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "in the early 1920's, a featured public talk presented by jehovah's witnesses was entitled 'millions now living will never die.

  ' this may have reflected over-optimism at that time.

  but today that statement can be made with full confidence.

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  freddo

  Nice catch, Lukewarm! And thanks to Nicolaou for the icing on the cake!
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  13

  How Broke Are They?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the october km announces that, starting this year, there will be no theocratic school schedules as an insert in the km.

  weekly tms parts will be printed as part of the monthly km.

  this follows the experiment of dumping a pile of magazines at the kingdom hall and catch-as-catch can.

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  freddo

  It could be a money saver; it could be as OTWO (changes to meetings) or Sir82 (internet-itis) suggest; I just feel the fist tightening it's grip on the $$$. Oh, And on the rank and file.
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  19

  Reference to not mentioning GB in reports

  by bibleresearcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i think my previous username was "tfjw" but i had to get a new account.. .

  anyway, i'm doing some research on judicial cases, how they are handled, the use of the secret "flock" book (pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock) and other related topics.

  i'm trying desperately to find the quote referring to the elders where they are not to mention the governing body or the society, as it may be, in certain reports.

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  freddo

  I have two PA books and both have exactly what Alltimejeff said on page 143 in different elders handwriting - except being UK ones it says "legal advisors" instead of "attorneys". I don't have my own surrendered copy but I remember writing exactly the same things in mine at an elders school.

  The WT leaders are sneaky self-serving bastards who will pull the carpet from under you in the blink of an eye to get themselves off the hook.
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  32

  JWs produce useless men

  by wouldacouldashoulda in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a non witness who had studied the jws commented that the religion produce unmanly men.

  do you agree with him?.

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  freddo

  Just reading metatron's post above re: 25% elders dominated by their smarter wives, 25% ill or incompetent, 25% uncaring cold hearted fanatics and 25% depressed.

  I thought I'd apply it fairly to the degree it is true to the elders in my congregation and it is chilling in it's accuracy although there is a bit of overlapping!

  Elder 1 (on service committee) Smarter wife but not domineering - Chronically ill and depressed; fanatical but does care.

  Elder 2 (on service committee) Smarter wife who doesn't dominate him but she is bossy to others. Actually OK if a little incompetant

  Elder 3 (on service committee) OK but if it's a matter of judgement then the next person up the food chain (CO or Branch) is always right.

  Elder 4 TMS or WT overseer - Dominated by wife, Fanatical.

  Elder 5 TMS or WT overseer - Uncaring and cold hearted

  Elder 6 - Dominated by wife, chronically ill, incompetent, depressed

  Elder 7 - Dominated by wife, chronically ill, depressed

  Elder 8 - Fanatic

  Min Servs

  1. Chronically ill, dominated by wife

  2. Incompetent, dominated by wife

  3. Depressed

  4. Single; Mentally challenged

  5. Wife way smarter but supports him

  6. OK

  7. OK

  8. Dominated by his mother.

  9. Uncaring
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  102

  Ever had some Witness storm out or turn off a Movie you were watching! Which one?

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was watching steve martin "leap of faith" pg rated mind you with some witnesses.

  he plays a fake faith healer.

  their were a couple swear words, and the brothers asked me to switch it off.. same thing happened with christine applegate movie {pg 13} "don't tell mom the babysiters dead.

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  freddo

  Life of Brian oops!
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  39

  Besty Unplugged - My Life Story Part VI

  by besty in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  << part v. .

  part vi the great apostasy sets in.

  if you ever leave the truth or get disfellowshipped thatll be that well be finished.

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  freddo

  "... even though the elephant in the room would be a permanent addition to the group photos."

  Glad I wasn't drinking coffee when I read that!

  Brilliant stuff about a serious subject - please continue.