Posts by JakeM2012

50

Satan must have directed me here

by Miss.Fit in

i was telling my jw friend about the condi law suit.

the first thing she asked was how did i even hear about it because it was news to her .

( i was 't expecting that reaction.

JakeM2012

Miss Fit, you commented, " But in order for Jeovah to protect me I need his spirit which is found at the meetings." You have the JW thinking down!

I sent a link to a sister and she replied that "one body of elders did not know that he was a pedophile and messed up,... don't give up on God's organization run by imperfect men."

I've wanted to respond (but need to continue under the radar,)about how it is consistent behavior on the organizations part to treat child abuse allegations in the congregation like they are simply "sins" with the scriptural two witnesses, as opposed to the "crime" that pedophilia is.

Dan Sidlick gave a talk years ago that said, "If you are sick, go see a doctor, if you have legal problems then contact a lawyer" etc, basically saying the congregation can't do everything. So why is it when an allegation of child abuse is brought before the congregation it is not standard proceedure regardless of whether the individual states require reporting or not, just report it and let the civil authorities take care of it? I cannot explain why they are so resistant to contacting police, other than the obvious.

57

40 years on - and still in Damage Control mode!

by Bungi Bill in

earlier this morning, i posted off to the the institute of engineers an application for membership as an "engineering associate":.

- today being just over 40 years since the congregation's retards elders made me abandon my apprenticeship.. (in this part of the world, the pre-1975 hype was taken to that level.

not being content to prevent young persons attending university, they went one step further and treated with hostility any youngster who would "tie up five years of their lives" by entering into an apprenticeship.

JakeM2012

Thanks for sharing Bill. Best wishes and thanks for the personal advice to younger ones to get an education. I'm also impressed that you did not give up when you hit a bump! Go for it.

I just finished my last class of a four year degree program, It was mostly online. My wife finished an associates degree and is now a RN. We are both around 50 years old. You will do just fine.

17

Publisher Attendance Records

by Lozza Aussie in

i was sitting at meeting the other night and happen to notice an elder with a sheet of paper with the title of the above post.

it appears to have been composed on a computer, not a form printed by the org.

on it were all the names of the people in this particular elders group and there were columns for the days of the week when we have our meetings.

JakeM2012

I've seen self-made spreadsheets like this before in my congregation. One elder showed me his spreadsheet and it had a year and half of meeting attendance and I had missed 3 meetings total and he told me that my attendance was "fair".

This is the type of "monitoring" of the congregation that drove me nuts. Brothers with their "dawm" computers who just discovered how to make a spreadsheet think they are doing Jesus a Favor "running" the congregation. Go figure. Small minds building fences.

100

Upcoming KM!! Why we are not False Prophets!

by DATA-DOG in

this subject is coming up this month in the tms.

i just thought i would start a post for newbies or lurkers.

if you have any scans of the awake inside cover that would be awesome.

JakeM2012

Marking

22

No Natural Affection...

by lostinnj83 in

my latest encounter with my mom has me furious and i needed a place to vent:.

i don't post alot but for anyone who has read any of my posts knows that while i have been struggling for some time, i am still an active jw working towards leaving.. anyway, i got into a car accident yesterday.

fortunately i am well enough to type this up so for that i am greatful.

JakeM2012

lostinnj83,

Thank you for sharing your experience and I hope that you recover soon from the accident. I am also sorry for the internal family turmoil from a supposed "christian family". Graciously, this experience helps me appreciate that I am not alone in the continued SAGA of a multitude of Jehovah's Witness's dysfunctional families. Your experience helps me appreciate that these are learned traits from the "mother" organization.

The reason I comment is that, similar to your situation, I had a motorcycle accident over two months ago (Recent) which I probably should be dead, but I lived, (Dammit). I was coming home from work out of state for the weekend. I spend five days in the hospital, 4 of them in ICU, (Intensive Care Unity).

Within a few days after exiting the Intenvsive Care Unite of the hospital with minimal recovery, I tried calling my Mom (only parent living), and left messages on her cell phone and her landline answering maching indicating I had someting important to tell her, and to please call me. (I did not want to unnecessary alarm her) That is a total of two messages She has not returned my calls to date.

The reason I post this is to substantiate and agree that many families of Jehovah's Witnesses are "dysfunctional" to say the least. I'm not "whinning" about Mother and am not an ungrateful son, I sincerely appreciate all of her sacrifices. However, because of the WTBTS organizations continued preaching of hate, I believe that many of Jehovah's Witnesses have lost the last shreds of what might be called "natural affection".

37

Great News!

by haboob48 in

well i do not post here very much and usually what i have to say........well...isn't that important!

but......i am the proud grandmother of twin girls as of august 10!

i am so proud of my daughter, who is 25, just gave birth to twin girls.........no painkillers........nothing!

JakeM2012

Congratulations Haboob48, this is VERY exciting. Enjoy your grandchildren! Wow, just WOW!!!.

26

Off to tell the family...

by Gypsy Sam in

jw
friends

the day i've been waiting for is here.

i'm flying home to see family and some old friends, most of whom are jw.

since learning ttatt a few months back, i came to the decision i would have to tell my parents that we are no longer active and don't have any plans to return.

JakeM2012

Gypsy Sam, interesting update, thank you. I wouldn't rock the boat, sometimes family will just bury in the sand as they might be having doubts also. With some witnesses, just the fact that we are 4 months away from 2014 is too much to talk about.

27

Integrity over living a lie....

by Happier in

jw
friends

hey to everyone here... so i have never been one for writing much of my feelings down for other people to see.

this however has become so important to me and i may be able to help someone who dares go looking for answers some place other than the jw.org website.

first of all i would like to thank anybody and everybody who had the courage enough to write their experience in the organisation.

JakeM2012

Happier,

Thank you so much for telling your story. I am so sorry to hear of your situation. Please, do not think that you experience is insignificant. You have been treated horribly. Many are abused mentally and some are abused physically. I wish the best for you and your family, and your welcome to contact any of us personally via email for more support or collectively here. Many of us have struggled with healing, you will find others here with similar experience.

16

Advertising the District Assembly on the Radio

by RubaDub in

is this just a local practice to south florida or is it done in other areas too?.

i'm driving to work last week and on one of the most popular radio stations (primarily talk and politics) they were advertising the district assembly in west palm beach florida for next week.. it was about a 30 second spot and was the typical "everyone is invited ... no collections taken" .... etc.

etc.. is this common in other areas ???.

JakeM2012

Desireous of change, That is the ticket... One elder in our hall was in charge of "news service" (I believe it was called), the local elder handling it would send a short message to radio and TV stations and sometimes as a service to the community they would make the announcement. No guarantee of home many times, etc, generally it was a one-time deal. But as pointed out by RO it did more advertising than all the invitations cramed in the door. Most radio stations will handle community service announcements. You can be sure that WTBTS isn't paying a dime.

9

Charitable Planning/Brochure is here

by stephenw20 in

jw
friends

namaste........ i recieved my brochure the other day from the legal department of the wtbts in patterson ny.. i have not had devoted time to look at all 32 pages with the most critcal eye, but will share my most immediate observations.... first, we are not talking about some newspaper type document.

in my opinion, it is the finest layout and printing job done by the society to date.

JakeM2012

Thanks Julia, After briefly reviewing the brochure, Probably good tax friendly advice at the time of printing advice in 2000, 14 years ago. WTBTS is using their tax free status as a charity to intercept funds that the government would receive, uhmmm, make the most out of your giving. Interesting that the brochure hasn't been updated since 2000 because U.S. Tax laws have changed alot since 2000. For instance, this is an excerpt from an article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2013/01/02/after-the-fiscal-cliff-deal-estate-and-gift-tax-explained/

"Who has to pay federal estate tax? Once you’re worth more than a certain amount, taxes shrink your estate. Under the 2010 tax law, we can each transfer up to $5 million tax-free during life or at death. That figure is called the basic exclusion amount , and it is adjusted for inflation. In 2012 it was raised to $5.12 million per person. The new tax law does not change how much you can pass tax-free. On Jan. 11 the IRS announced that, with the inflation adjustment, the estate tax exclusion amount for deaths in 2013 would be $5.25 million."

"How does this relate to lifetime gifts? The lifetime gift tax exclusion and the estate tax exclusion are expressed as a total amount – currently $5.25 million per person – and it is possible to use this exclusion (sometimes called the “unified credit”) to transfer assets at either stage or a combination of the two. If you exceed the limit, you (or your heirs) will owe tax of up to 40%."

"The IRS expects you to keep a running tally and report these gifts so it will know how much has already been used up when you die. For example, if you have used $1 million of the exclusion to make taxable lifetime gifts, the unused exclusion if you die in 2013 will be $4.25 million, rather than $5.25 million."

"Here too, couples get a special break: they can share the basic exclusion during life (this process is called gift-splitting) and give more to the kids now, tax-free. But of course this also reduces how much of the tax-free amount will be available when they die, either for their own use or to be carried over by the survivor." (Bold/italics added)