Posts by truth_b

17

Interview with an Apostate : humbled : not-a-captive

by humbled in

tell us a little about yourself and your family.. born in 1952 second oldest of the family of nine children.

as you see, my family was thoroughly catholic.

dad was in the army.. were you a born in or a convert?.

truth_b_known

Thank you for sharing. I appreciate all you went through and I am happy for you for freeing yourself from the horrible religion known as Jehovah's Witnesses.

19

How do you feel about the elders?

by Lost in the fog in

oh dear, i recently made a comment about an elder being dogmatic.

and one of his best buddies sent me a wt article to help me realign my mind or something.

this is where reality separates from fantasy and fiction.

Some elders have been kind and truly cared about the people in the congregation. I have often found that they are the ones who eventually step down because the stress becomes too great. Those who want assistance from an elder tend to gravitate towards those elders. As such, they tend to bear the brunt of the work.

It's the ones who are company men, care for only organizational matters, enforcers of every little man-made policy that tend to serve forever.

9

Interview with an Apostate - Passwordprotected

by passwordprotected in

father was raised catholic and converted to the jws in the late '60s.

my dad's side of the family are still catholics and are very nice to me.

my mum's side are all jws and they shun me (boo hoo).. were you a born in or a convert?.

truth_b_known

I appreciate all who are doing this exercise. I am working on mine and find it refreshing.

34

5/6/18 cleveland ohio circuit assembly notes

by nowwhat? in

willoughby assembly hall.

1400+ attendance 5 baptised a robust 0.38 growth!.

$11k expenses however 1st.

truth_b_known

20 something brother gave up his own business to pioneer after seeing bunker video

This is one of the top issues I have with the cult. How many people end up in their old age, penniless, because the Watchtower applauds such actions. Then, when "the end" doesn't come they have the gall to say, "We never told you to do that."

My parents fell for this and it's infuriating. My father could have made millions at his business, but instead only worked at it part time so he could spend more time pimping magazines and books for the WBTS. He never saved for retirement. He's now in his 70s and still working part time at it. Only now my mother is having serious health issues.

If I had been sitting in the Assembly Hall it would have taken every ounce of self control not to stand up and yell "Stay alive 'til '75!"

13

David Splanes how to get everyone to agree when voting in elders meetings

by Kevin McFree in

https://youtu.be/j3htfvmgr50.

truth_b_known

I remember the first time I heard "Master of Puppets" by Metallica. I thought the lyrics were talking about religion until the line about taking your breakfast on a mirror. I still think it fits.

18

Common phrases which are disappearing during my lifetime

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

many common phrases i've used all my life have been made obsolete by technology advancements.

"roll up the window" (car windows don't roll up any longer with a hand crank.).

"hold your horses.

truth_b_known

I still say "Groovy like a record."

21

Don't be too Christian, you'll raise red flags

by neat blue dog in

for the past few years all my comments and talks have been a purely christian message.

i tiptoe around wt dogma and focus on the basics of love, life compassion, etc.

and i deliberately do not use jw terminology whenever i can.

truth_b_known

Want to see their heads explode? Slip this term in a comment sometime - Grace.

13

Does Your Family or Friends Call To Check to See How You Are Doing?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i ask this because i have noticed that many people in your life just don’t communicate like they could.. i realize i come from a different generation but does anybody ever use the phone and give someone a call?

i know of people who never answer their phone unless they listen to a message that would be left.

you are lucky if you get a text..

truth_b_known

Yes.

My younger brother who is no longer active calls from time to time.

My younger sister and her husband, who was my best friend, do not.

My mother hasn't spoken to me in about 9 years.

My dad likes to talk when I call him.

My friends who are former Witnesses and who have never been Witnesses do on a regular basis.

It is a great feeling to receive a phone call or a text from someone asking "How are you doing?"

20

Brothers with hearts. Where are they?

by stillin in

one poster here mentioned how, after he was appointed as an elder, things took on a more "corporate" feel.

i was an ms and as such went, dutifully, to the bi-annual meetings with the co. i was sorely disappointed.

i had imagined sort of a round-table discussion of trends and potential difficulties in the congregation, along with a coordinated effort to help people out.

truth_b_known

It's a business operating under the guise of religion for the purpose of a free labor force and tax exemption. It has been that way since Rutherford. - Lieu

This is the reality literally staring us all in the face and we never saw it. I was in from birth until my mid-thirties. It wasn't until I was out that I saw the religion known as Jehovah's Witnesses for what it really is - a business.

Case in point - Regardless of position in the congregation or the organization, what was the term used to refer to a member? Answer = "Publisher"

What religion refers to its members as a "publisher"? Only Jehovah's Witnesses. What is a publisher?

pub·lish·er

ˈpəbliSHər/Submit

noun

a person or company that prepares and issues books, journals, music, or other works for sale.

"the publishers of Vogue"

Up until the early 1990s, in the U.S. "publishers" in each congregation purchased magazines and books printed by free labor at Bethel. The monies paid went straight to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Then, we publishers presented these publications for sale in their public "ministry" they would sell the books and magazines to the public. The proceeds from those sales also went to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. So, literally, each book and magazine was sold twice will all proceeds going to the WBTS.

Then the mean old federal government must have been looking at the WTBS shiny coffers. Voluntary donations became the new business model as not to lose the religious tax exemption. The problems is that this lead to the bleeding of money. Publishers were not voluntarily contributing the suggested amount for books and magazines. Publishers were not asking the public to donate when offering the books and magazines.

As a result, hardcovers for books were replaced by paperback. Magazines were printed less frequently and eventually shrank in the number of pages. Even after these drastic changes the WTBS continued to bleed money.

A major changes in their business plan had to change and did it ever. Their new scheme - Real estate.

3

WTBTS aka WTPA

by neat blue dog in

we're all used to calling the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania by the abbreviations wtbts or wts, but in a recent jwdotorg article, they consistently refer to the original pennsylvania corporation as wtpa.. https://www.jw.org/en/news/releases/by-region/russia/jehovahs-witnesses-seizure-of-property-appeal-case/.

truth_b_known

There are two Watchtower corporations. The Pennsylvania based corporation is their headquarters for legal issues.

truth_b_known

Posts by truth_b_known