Posts by Chaserious

51

JWs say it's my fault I didn't go to university ?!

by ekruks in

like many on here, as a jw trying hard to follow the direction of the gb, i listened to the advice to pioneer and trust in jehovah to provide (mat6.33) instead of going to university.

after struggling for ages in low-paid physically-demanding jobs, i decided to become a student (thanks for the encouragement on here guys!).

i tell a jw i wish i had been to university when i was a teenager, and put all that pioneer time into studying hard for a good grade, get a good job, and if i had wound up tired as i am now, at least i would have been paying into a mortgage on a home and pension.

Chaserious

I mean you did chose not to go to college. Their influence cannot be denied, but YOU made the choice not to go.

I tend to take this view of things in my own case as well. I think it's a shame that they hound people decade after decade about not trying to advance in this "dying system," but we all make our choices. I began pioneering when I was 19. I was a mentally competent adult, able to make my own choices in life. Although there is a lot of indoctrination, it was my choice. Sure, it was a waste of thousands of hours of my life that I'd love to have back, but I don't feel that the WTS owes me for my hours or anything like that.

There were a number of others kids in my area who started disappearing from the KH around the time they were 18. Some went to college, some did other things, and I regret not leaving at that age, but ultimately it was my choice, even if a poor one, and even if I was trying to please my parents and other people. I feel like in many cases, the parents are to blame as much as the WTS... maybe not on an issue like blood that is a DF offense, but on issues like education the parent has to have a role in motivating good career choices, since many teenagers aren't inclined to do it themselves. I knew other non-JW kids from my neighborhood who didn't pursue a worthwhile career, not because of being in a cult but because the parents just didn't do their job in encouraging it.

78

Publishers Need A Background Check Before Moving To My Kingdom Hall.

by AuntConnie in

.

background check first.. .

Chaserious

This person probably needs an extended period of intense therapy. Even if s/he is here to incite a reaction (which I doubt because if so why would she ninja-edit the list away before more people could read it), the level of nuance needed to create a character of this nature indicates to me that someone who would devote that much effort to it has some unresovled issues.

19

"We have truly seen Jehovah's hand" - the shocking side of Watchtower propaganda

by cedars in

as a special "thank you" gift to the watch tower society's team of lawyers for getting jwsurvey shut down yesterday, i have written a new article focussing on the experience of the nigeria plane crash from pages 29 and 30 of the 2013 yearbook.

the experience purports to be about the relief committee set up to assist a witness family whose home was destroyed by a deadly plane crash that claimed over 150 lives rather than the freak survival of the family because they obediently attended their meeting.. still, the reaction of witnesses on facebook unmistakably demonstrates that the real aim of the watchtower propaganda machine was mostly achieved in this article.

despite the fact that two witnesses were recently killed in a bus crash on their way to an assembly, apparently those who obey the bible's command to not forsake gathering together will experience "jehovah's hand" of protection.. here is the link.... http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/we-have-truly-seen-jehovahs-hand-the-shocking-side-of-watchtower-propaganda.

Chaserious

Interesting read, as usual. How did they get your site shut down?

78

Publishers Need A Background Check Before Moving To My Kingdom Hall.

by AuntConnie in

.

background check first.. .

Chaserious

surrender your life to christ

lol, yes that will solve everything. I knew you could pray the gay away... can you pray the crazy away too?

9

Candace Conti: WTS Appeal Info.

by DNCall in

jw
friends

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Chaserious

It's fairly common to get an extension on the initial deadline. Although I was hoping to see the paperwork on Monday.

To answer the earlier question, I don't think that the WTS appellate lawyers are JWs. Looking at the website bios of the two attorneys at the firm:

Boudreau "e njoys public service through volunteer assignments on the Board of Directors for Father Joe's Villages and Mater Dei Catholic High School."

So he's obviously not a witness

Nothing quite as obvious on Williams' profile. However it does say that he " enjoys spending time with his wife and two young sons, cycling, and surfing. He has also trained for and completed fifteen triathlons in the last six years." Somehow I doubt that someone would have time to be a JW, practice law, cycle, surf, and do 15 triathlons. After all, bodily training is only beneficial for a little... lol.

48

Bethel perfection bubble burst

by redvip2000 in

just got back from florida where i spent the holidays with family.

about half are jdubs.. this year the prevalent atmosphere of superiority from the jw side of the family was totally toned down.

one of my cousins, a bethelite in upstate ny bethel along with his wife, found out that the wife was having an affair with a young bethelite "brother".

Chaserious

Anyone who could refer to a young person commiting suicide as a "cleaning" is... to borrow a phrase... mentally diseased.

Of course sleeping with someone else's spouse is a problem regardless of religion, but the sick thing is they probably rationalize the suicide by saying "Well, if we were in ancient Israel, they would have just taken him outside of the village and stoned him." I know of some particularly pompous elders who used to say things like that... disgusting.

92

Your earliest doubt?

by Apognophos in

this might be an unfair question for those who have been out of the organization for decades, but i'm wondering if any of you remember your earliest doubt -- maybe something odd that occurred to you as a kid (if you were a jw then).

please try to limit to two doubts at the most :-).

i think my first "doubt" was simply realizing that at the time of the flood, every animal that wasn't in the ark died (well, besides the fish, supposedly).

Chaserious

The first time I can recall thinking independently was when I was about 10 or 11 years old and I was hanging out in the coat room with some other kids after one of the meetings. This other boy, who was the same age as me said to the rest of us "What would you do if one meeting the Elders all got up on the stage and said 'Ha ha, it was all a joke! Everything we've been telling you all these years was a big joke.'" I think the kid meant it as a joke himself, but I remember thinking to myself that really there is no way to know if everything the elders taught us is true or not except that they say so and my parents and the literature say so.

I wouldn't say that was a real doubt, but I have always recalled it vividly since it made me think. My first solid doubts were when I was in high school and I learned hard science and I could see the proof myself that the human race was not 6,000 years old and there was not a worldwide flood 4,000 years ago that killed everyone except for 8 people and all of the animals in their floating box. I did extra research on my own outside of the school textbooks and read the Creation book and other literature on the subject and I was fairly sure at that point that a hoax had been somehow perpetrated on me, at least with respect to the WTS inventing its own "science". Unfortunately it took me until my mid 20's to realize the full scope of what was going on, but I definitely never argued the literal Genesis account or the flood with anyone out in service.

10

Obamacare and how it affects JWs

by Rattigan350 in

jw
friends

while i think that obamacare is bad for forcing people to get health insurance by penalizing them for not having it; it is going to hit jws hard.. so many brag on the assembly parts that they quit corporate jobs to pioneer, but they don't get insurance after that.. there are many that are pioneer couples or single pioneers that are just doing small jobs like cleaning that can't afford insurance, so they don't get it.

they will want to be obedient to caesar and have to get it next year, straining their budgets.

or if they don't get it, they will have to pay the penalty.. we will see how that plays out next year..

Chaserious

Sammielee - The hardship figure is about $19,000 a year for a married couple with no kids. Those earning more will have to pay the penalty. I imagine that even most pioneer couples make more than that combined. And I don't think pioneering is going to count as a religious objection.

10

Obamacare and how it affects JWs

by Rattigan350 in

jw
friends

while i think that obamacare is bad for forcing people to get health insurance by penalizing them for not having it; it is going to hit jws hard.. so many brag on the assembly parts that they quit corporate jobs to pioneer, but they don't get insurance after that.. there are many that are pioneer couples or single pioneers that are just doing small jobs like cleaning that can't afford insurance, so they don't get it.

they will want to be obedient to caesar and have to get it next year, straining their budgets.

or if they don't get it, they will have to pay the penalty.. we will see how that plays out next year..

Chaserious

The penalty was struck down as unconstitutional by the supreme court, last I heard.

This is not correct. The ACA was upheld in its entirety by the Supreme Court. "[T] he Supreme Court found that penalties the law places on people who don't buy health insurance count as a tax protected by the Constitution."

source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/05/politics/scotus-health-care-tax/index.html

Edit: Sorry, I didn't see your edit!

10

Obamacare and how it affects JWs

by Rattigan350 in

jw
friends

while i think that obamacare is bad for forcing people to get health insurance by penalizing them for not having it; it is going to hit jws hard.. so many brag on the assembly parts that they quit corporate jobs to pioneer, but they don't get insurance after that.. there are many that are pioneer couples or single pioneers that are just doing small jobs like cleaning that can't afford insurance, so they don't get it.

they will want to be obedient to caesar and have to get it next year, straining their budgets.

or if they don't get it, they will have to pay the penalty.. we will see how that plays out next year..

Chaserious

The penalty really isn't in full effect until 2016, so it won't have its full effect until many who are affected file their tax returns in spring 2017. So it should be a while until we can tell. It's an interesting point you raise, however. A married couple with no kids and no health insurance would pay about $1400, and about $2100 if they have kids. That would be a pretty hard sock to a lot of pioneers. (In 2014, the maximum penalty for a family will be under $300, which is why I say it will be a few years before we can tell). I suspect that an increasing number of pioneers of working age will begin working full-time jobs, now that you can "place" literature virtually. They can write a bunch of emails on their lunch hour and after work and count time that way. Or maybe they will reduce the pioneer hours again.