Posts by Spiral

68

Cart work faces headwinds.

by lastmanstanding in

my little bethel bird has whispered in my ear some encouraging news.

it has been reported to the canadian branch that some witnesses doing cart work had police stop them from carting in public parks.

the direction sent to the southern ontario congregations is to cease carting until further notice.. this is no joke.. have a jw-free day..

Spiral

@sparrow and last man; I agree as well. Something was needed to create a bit of excitement, and the feeling of forward motion.

Pretty pathetic that you have to be one of the "special ones" to man a cart, but it sure created five minutes of excitement in the beginning. Now it appears almost anyone can do it (although I'm sure you still have to be "approved") because the shine is sure off that new toy.

Back when I was still in, if you had to be approved for a new "privilege" and only the "special, spiritual sisters need apply" I would immediately lose interest. I quit trying to be special long before I quit altogether.

I'm guessing they are just transitioning to be the one thing they used to swear they would never be: a ridiculous, money grabbing mega church you can watch on TV.

53

What is the current pulse in the organization with the reductions?

by SouthCentral in

jw
friends

i have not seen jehovah’s witnesses in my neighborhood for several years now.

it appears that the cart witnessing has taken over.

congregations are being consolidated and witnesses are being forced to travel a greater distance than before.the burdens/privileges of elders seem to be ever increasing!.

Spiral

As I just mentioned on another thread, I haven't seen the carts around at all this summer. I have never had a JW at the door (we are in town), just a visiting couple once. (That was weird, not sure where they were from.)

There's been some mention of service, but it was also admitted that they like to drive around in fringe areas and waste time. No one mentions any studies.

I'd say energy seems pretty low here. BUT I don't ask because I don't want to appear too interested, I just listen to the chatter.

68

Cart work faces headwinds.

by lastmanstanding in

my little bethel bird has whispered in my ear some encouraging news.

it has been reported to the canadian branch that some witnesses doing cart work had police stop them from carting in public parks.

the direction sent to the southern ontario congregations is to cease carting until further notice.. this is no joke.. have a jw-free day..

Spiral

Vidiot: Interesting.

Back in the day, they'd have fought tooth and nail for their right to do it.

As far as I'm concerned, showing their throat on this now just confirms my theory that the Org is worried about losing their tax exemption, because their business model is too dependent on it.

I agree something like that must be going on.

Didn't we all grow up hearing (over and over again) about all the court cases the "society" had fought to protect the preaching work. So, now, they say nothing, just comply? Funny indeed.

Last summer, especially, I would see the cart or carts all around town, in a couple of shopping squares, by the grocery store, by the drug store.... not sure if it was one cart or several, but you would see the cart. They also tried to be in the parking lot at the local farmer's market, but were asked to leave when they wouldn't pay the vendor fee.

THIS summer I have not seen them at all. I'm thinking they got chased out of all those locations, and there's nowhere else to go.

40

No new releases? How are the r&f taking this?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

is it true that there's been no new releases at this summer's convention?

if so it will be the first convention in decades perhaps ever to not produce at least a new tract.. how are the r&f explaining this to eachother?

surely they must have noticed the absence?

Spiral

@SEARRIL I agree with you. I don't know how much $ the WTBS has in the (offshore) bank, but I'm sure they are trying to keep what they have under control. They could care less about whether the rank and file want a "new release" because none of them have the "smarts" to write anything that would be new and fresh any more. They are recycling the drivel because that's all there is, but by using videos they are trying to distract the membership into thinking it's something shiny and new.

Retreads, indeed.

40

No new releases? How are the r&f taking this?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

is it true that there's been no new releases at this summer's convention?

if so it will be the first convention in decades perhaps ever to not produce at least a new tract.. how are the r&f explaining this to eachother?

surely they must have noticed the absence?

Spiral

OMG! This is a first. I didn't even realize that there wasn't anything new. No one has even mentioned this new Jonah video to me. (Nor did I think to ask.)

Sometimes I don't think I'm the fader, it's the old time JW WT that has faded..... away!

10

How could I get a copy of the elders secret book?

by purrpurr in

the shepherding the flock one?

i'd love to read it and get the inside track of how the elders are meant to work.

anyone got a pdf?

Spiral

Google search and you've got it.

18

The Repression and Expression of Anger Among Jehovah's Witnesses

by john.prestor in

something which i always found surprising when i attended the kingdom halls i studied was how angry, even vicious, many jehovah's witnesses could become when a watchtower study featured some persons and/or institutions the organization disapproved of, say, higher education and educators, christendom and its clergy, apostates, etc.

many seemed to sadistically enjoy denigrating these persons or institutions when the watchtower study conductor called on them and they were handed a microphone.

i wondered for a long time where this anger came from, and i've developed a hypothesis for explaining this.. according to a book i'm reading by alice miller called "for your own good: hidden cruelty in child-rearing and the roots of violence," children who are strictly controlled and abused (whether emotionally or physically) typically go on to unleash the anger they inevitably felt at their parents, but were never allowed to express, at their children or those around them.

Spiral

john.prestor, no sadly, she could see the effect on her relatives (parents and grandparents) BUT she never could see how it applied to her current life. She started out as being an "independently minded" [and she was!] sister, but as she gets older she's become a very compliant drone. Sad, really. We are still good friends and she is not in good health, so I don't get to discuss things like this with her any more.

18

The Repression and Expression of Anger Among Jehovah's Witnesses

by john.prestor in

something which i always found surprising when i attended the kingdom halls i studied was how angry, even vicious, many jehovah's witnesses could become when a watchtower study featured some persons and/or institutions the organization disapproved of, say, higher education and educators, christendom and its clergy, apostates, etc.

many seemed to sadistically enjoy denigrating these persons or institutions when the watchtower study conductor called on them and they were handed a microphone.

i wondered for a long time where this anger came from, and i've developed a hypothesis for explaining this.. according to a book i'm reading by alice miller called "for your own good: hidden cruelty in child-rearing and the roots of violence," children who are strictly controlled and abused (whether emotionally or physically) typically go on to unleash the anger they inevitably felt at their parents, but were never allowed to express, at their children or those around them.

Spiral

john.prestor, I actually have that book.... it was given to me by a sister! She thought it applied to her relatives in Nazi Germany. She never saw the bigger picture of how that could apply within the "organization".

Your observations are spot on. So many JWs are brimming with repressed hatred for anything "worldly" they can barely function.

56

The Latest Thing Waking People Up...

by pale.emperor in

since i woke up and left i've been contacted by others i knew from my youth who've also left the cult.

also people around the world on facebook adding me out of the blue because we have mutual friends and they occasionally ask me stuff or share their story.. what i've noticed in the vast majority of cases, is that people are waking up not because of the arc or doctrine but apathy.

active jws are becoming less and less interested, less and less bothered.

Spiral

Pale, you are so correct. I was asked recently (by a non-JW) why I left the religion. It all comes down to feeling suffocated and bored to tears. Anything you want to do is wrong, you just have to keep on the hamster wheel until they give you permission to stop or die. I too came to the conclusion that if I had to live like that forever, I would rather opt out. I can't even contemplate stepping in a KH now.

22

Cotton wool jws

by purrpurr in

there was a talk i heard recently given by a top bethel bro, he was complaining that the type of young jws that have been joining bethel in recent years has been totally unfit for work or even life.

he called them "cotton wool jws" as he says that the parents of these young ones have kept them so sheltered from life that by the time they are of age to strike out on their own they are completely unable to cope socially, emotionally, mentally and that they have no practical life's skills or instincts of common sense or responsibility.

he said that the brothers at bethel have to work at peeling off the layers of cotton wool these ones have come wrapped in and that often when exposed to the reality of life away from mummy they quite literally go running back home.. for once i actually agree with a brother on the platform, i've met many a young teen or young adult whose life has been one long warm bath as it were.

Spiral

I know many people are complaining about how the younger generation can't/won't work. This is true for the JWs as well, but with the added layer of ignorance and fear of the real world. If you keep your child living at home after school so they can pioneer, and keep them away from anyone who isn't a JW, and keep them away from any sort of higher education, how can you expect anything different? Why should the GB expect anything else from the drone population?

This applies to a lot of JWs I see, and NOT just the young ones.