TMS

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Posts by TMS

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  74

  I'd appreciate some insight on what my mother claims was said at assembly

  by free2beme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, well my mother called this evening and was all emotional about her one day assembly.

  i was shocked she brought it up, as we just do not mention the religion anymore, but lately little things keep getting said at her conventions and assemblies that seem to be making this line something she wants to cross more these days.

  what she brought up, was something i had not heard mentioned on here and i wanted some insight from people who actually heard it or knew more about it.

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  TMS

  If Jehovah's Witnesses or JW elders were instructed to reach out to DF'd, DA'd and inactive ones, the program would be a miserable failure. Elders have been instructed for a number of years now to yearly contact such individuals not knowingly hostile and lovingly invite them "back to Jehovah". I've known very few elders willing to make such calls. Any elder willing to make these visits can easily find all of these assignments dumped in his lap.

  When circuit overseers check to see if the program was followed through on, they are told how difficult it is to contact these persons. They are simply "not at home."

  As an elder, I made dozens of these calls, never encountering any rudeness. Nor did I find any desiring to return. While we were instructed not to "rehash the case", I did listen to a few tell their story. My response was a collection of the typical Watchtower platitudes.

  Today's "inactive" have much more information. A concerted effort to reach out to them could very well backfire.

  tms
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  51

  Hello. Welcome me! Welcome me!

  by raylo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hiya folks.

  just joined on board and figured i'd say a quick hello to all.

  i'd get into more, but i'm soooo watching this ingrid bergman marathon on right now on turner classic movies...

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  TMS

  Raylo,

  How great that you figured everything out in less than a gazillion years. You won't be like us JW lifers dreaming about what might have been.

  For my wife and I, our departure from JWdom plunged us both into a deep depression and launched a number of physical ailments I suspect wouldn't normally have manifested themselves until years later. The antidote? Classic movies. We saw everything black, white & English. How many times I recall coming home from work to a home with all the blinds drawn, Spencer Tracy, Kathryn Hepburn et al working their living room magic. We caught up on a generation of American culture we had missed. I still sigh when thinking of how incredibly beautiful the very young Hepburn, Bacall & others were in their heyday.

  tms

  ps: You may have gotten some of your "independent spirit" from your mother. Based on what you've stated, she sounds like an extraordinarily levelheaded JW.
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  31

  All Those Creepy Files

  by choosing life in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have you ever thought of all those creepy files that the elders keep on wrongdoing?

  how strange to have your sins written down and kept in a file somewhere.

  do they ever dispose of them?

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  TMS

  As an 18 year old judicial committee member, I had access to the congregation files. Some oldtimers will recall a book "Kingdom Service Questions" detailing the appropriate handling of various sexual matters and other sins. My natural curiosity got the best of me and I read the entire file in an afternoon, The unsealed material contained judicial cases and other sensitive matters dating back to the early 40's.

  In about a dozen congregations as an elder, presiding overseer or whatever, I always read the entire file.

  In the late 70's there was an effort to seal, but not dispose of judicial papers. Many congregations ignored this direction and still left judicial matters in a file, unsealed. Sometimes, these were in the congregation library, unlocked. In the last few years, care of this material may be more secure, but I wonder how many elder's wives, children, visitors, etc. have perused these materials over the years.

  tms
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  3

  The Anal-Retentive Boss or How Do I Survive the Speak of the Control Freak?

  by TresHappy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i started at this job over a year ago and my boss never takes vacations, is there 7 days a week including holidays.

  he's 54 and never been married.

  he's not gay; he's just married to the job.

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  TMS

  If others are chafing under the micro-management, you can all start referring everything to the new boss. He may be overwhelmed a bit and start releasing some of the control.

  I recognize the type and know he will not change easily. The only hope may be that he fail miserably or succeed well enough for a promotion.

  Perhaps, you can be re-assigned to another department in the same company before this know-it-all undermines your reputation.

  tms
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  6

  Sharpening our skills to deal with superiors

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this past week i came back to work after being gone a week for my brothers funeral.. my human resource person comes drooping in where i am sorting though stuff to deliver for the day and says she needs to talk to me......i said ok.......how about now?.

  i go in her office and she sits and i sit......she says ......your job is going to change......and tells me the two things that are going to change.. she says nothing like good morning ......how are you today......glad you are back blah blah blah!

  she is the first person i see and speak with after being out a week for a funeral.. besides all that .....what was changing was based on misinformation from the person that does my job while i was gone.......who was fired yesterday btw......but that is another story.. i was talking to another person about how this all went down and i said ......we have to always sharpen our skills to deal with the inadequite way our superiors handle things.

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  TMS

  Purplesofa,

  Well done and said! There is nothing more satisfying that dealing with a workplace or congregation ambush successfully. Controlling anger/emotions can be so difficult facing condescension, injustice and boorishness without warning.

  With that being said, my experience was usually of winning the battle, but losing the war, so to speak. There is nothing that creates more stress in the workplace or congregation that knowing that you are powerless.

  tms
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  24

  The Man With the Big Nose

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no offense intended for the anointed ones on this board, but ive always compared such professed ones to martin jensen, who professed nothing for himself except that he wasnt good for much.. this iowa corn farmer became a jw in the 40s, was promptly divorced by his wife, and moved to the southern tip of texas, the end of the world.

  by default he became the presiding overseer of the english unit, although he never gave a public talk.

  there were many unsuccessful attempts over the years to replace him with a more suitable shepherd.

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  TMS

  JWdaughter, Natan:

  Yes, there are good people among Jehovah's Witnesses. They unwittingly become part of the mechanism that holds us in the religion. Their unvarnished love and belief quelches our doubts before they even develop.

  The death of purplesofa's brother got me to thinking about death, funerals. I have no words of comfort for anyone. I can't even say they "are in a better place".

  tms
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  12

  Out of the mouths of babes

  by mrsjones5 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this morning at the breakfast table my eight year old daugther asked if my mother went to church.

  i told her yes and they call it a kingdom hall.

  my oldest son (he's twelve) pipes in "yeah, it's a boring place.

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  TMS

  Mrs. Jones,

  Your babies are safe.

  tms
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  24

  The Man With the Big Nose

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no offense intended for the anointed ones on this board, but ive always compared such professed ones to martin jensen, who professed nothing for himself except that he wasnt good for much.. this iowa corn farmer became a jw in the 40s, was promptly divorced by his wife, and moved to the southern tip of texas, the end of the world.

  by default he became the presiding overseer of the english unit, although he never gave a public talk.

  there were many unsuccessful attempts over the years to replace him with a more suitable shepherd.

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  TMS

  
  My apologies for resurrecting a 5 year old thread, but like Ricky Ricardo may have implied: "I got some 'splainin' to do."

  I wrote this thread in anger. I had just attended my brother-in-laws' funeral and had been subjected to one of the most gawdawful witness funeral talks you could imagine. Nothing about the deceased, just a scripture-flipping, mind-numbing whirlwind through witness beliefs. What really grates at me is not the talk, but the fact that I actually gave a feeble congrats to the speaker afterwards. You always regret the things you did not say, did not do. Believe me, I have a lifetime of such regrets.

  tms

  ps: Martin, of course, was not my bro-in-law. I started thinking about witness funerals in general and my thought drifted to Martin's. Don't know if any of this makes sense.
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  5

  (PET FLUFF) ----May have my Doberman by next week

  by restrangled in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know most of you could care less, but for those of us who love dobes, this is a pretty big deal.. i am trying to adopt a 6 year old pure bread intact male who sounds like a gem..my boys are so excited.. the owner should be coming this weekend to drop her dogs and see how i do with them.

  i am beside myself with joy at this point.

  she has chosen me out of all who responded in florida.. please wish me luck!.

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  TMS

  I have a pretender: a min pin. I doubt seriously if he would back down from a doberman or an aircraft carrier if his master were threatened.

  tms
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  14

  Are There Any Worthy Non-Watchtower Charities?

  by TMS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jehovah's witnesses are subtly discouraged from contributing to any charities other that the watchtower society.

  while acknowledging that groups other that the wt may do "some good", jw's may feel that charitable groups are generally dishonest, wasteful or simply not doing things "jehovah's way.".

  now, as an ex-jw, have you found any charities worthy of your monetary support?

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  TMS

  Jehovah's Witnesses are subtly discouraged from contributing to any charities other that the Watchtower Society. While acknowledging that groups other that the WT may do "some good", JW's may feel that charitable groups are generally dishonest, wasteful or simply not doing things "Jehovah's way."

  Now, as an ex-JW, have you found any charities worthy of your monetary support?

  I will submit one, but I know there are many others.

  Innocence Project, Inc.100 Fifth Ave Third Floor New York,NY 10011 http://www.innocenceproject.org tms