Meta was working on "use of illustrations," and gets a "G."
willyloman
JoinedPosts by willyloman
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20
Answering the WTS: Why are So Many Angry at the Watchtower?
by metatron inas in a recent issue, the watchtower loves to portray its critics as "apostates" and further label them as bad people who simply.
want to draw away faithful witnesses because of their own irrational hatred of the "truth".. .
but just how true is this proposition?.
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willyloman
Based on my experience sitting on JC on a matter directly related to this topic, my two cents:
It's not gambling that is the specific offense, it's greed. The extent to which greed exists is related to the frequency of the behavior. A sister was seen putting quarters in a slot machine. Two elders "counseled" her and reported back to the body that she had merely been unclear that greed was connected to this behavior and promised not to do it again; case closed. A brother confessed he accompanied visiting worldly relatives to a casino, had a few drinks, and "without thinking" dropped some coins in a machine next to the one his relative was playing. A call to the society yielded the advice that this could be viewed as a momentary lapse in judgment, once we ascertained this was not a "practice."
The society has been very concerned about practice, but not about a single event. And elder once told us he had gone into a casino on more than one occasion, had a few drinks, and played some machines. He was removed as a elder but, since he had always gone to the casino alone and no one in the congo knew about his behavior, no announcement was made of his reproof. He just disappeared from the elder ranks and some weeks later an announcement was made that he had been "deleted." (Incidentally, despite some reports on this board that "deletion" was a more severe form of removing an elder, it is in fact the standard announcement).
In several other related cases (we live near casinos), the determination was first made as to whether a practice of gambling, and thus a pattern of greed, was established. Then and only then would there be a judicial case. We never df'd anyone for this, although we did publicly reprove a man who had stated to some others that he didn't think there was anything wrong with putting a few coins in a slot machine.
I recognize that other congos might have (and probably did) handle such cases differently. And it appears, from a link posted above, that a harder line has emerged more recently.
An elder who is related to an attorney told me once that if he were to buy a lottery ticket and win, he would have the lawyer create a blind trust with power of attorney and claim the prize on behalf of the trust, and his good "fortune" would remain forever anonymous. The lottery check would go to the attorney and be put in the trust and the proceeds wired the client, all protected by privilege. I don't know if this would work in every state, but it's what I would recommend you look into, if you are "in" and you win.
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In Other Words..............dead
by simplesally in.
rather than say someone is dead some people say funny little things likehe bought the farmhe's taking a dirt nap.
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willyloman
Took (taking) a dirt nap.
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104
Are You Going To The Memorial This Year?
by minimus ini think it's april 4th.
(i think).
are you going?
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willyloman
Society instructions are there is never any other meeting on the day of the memorial (except for field service, of course). If memory serves, last time there was a Sunday memorial the Kingdom Ministry suggested elders reschedule the WT study, and we held it on Saturday afternoon. Attendance was skimpy.
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40
The Drive Home Tonight,Crying.
by Blueblades inlet's see,where do i start?i decided to have a quiet drive home after work.it takes about one and half hours.no cd playing,no talk radio,no news, just a quiet drive listening to my own thoughts.i'm not concentrating on any one thing,just kind of letting my mind flow wherever it wants to.. then it starts,my mind goes back to when our children were small.as i'm driving i am having this flashback,i'm going to save my family from dying at armageddon,why the little ones are dependant on us for their future life happiness.. there will be no birthday parties,holiday celebrations,even though one of them was born on the 4th of july.no extra-curricular activities at school,and everyone will know that they don't salute the flag,nor sing the national anthem.and at the infirmary they know that they are not to take blood.. after school homework,the preparing for meetings,more studying comes next.no tv.
tonight,it's a meeting night.oh goody,the weekend is here,now we can go out and play.sorry,we have to go out in field service,mommy and daddy will show you how to have so much fun in the field service on saturday and sunday.. i start to cry,literally,there is real pain in my chest and a lump in my throat.as i have this flashback on the drive home tonight.i think of how i robbed my children of their childhood,i'm getting very emotional and angry,a picture flashes across my mind of all those years,30 plus,that i lost for my wife and children.the opportunities that we turned down,we are going to survive armageddon!.
i have had a talked with my family about my regrets over having put my family through this before and they don't blame me.they feel that i was doing what i thought was the best for them at the time.they forgive me,but i having yet forgiven myself.. the family says that they learned something about life,religion etc.that the experience has not made them bitter,and they have moved on.the children are happily married and doing fine.my wife and i are doing the best that we can with what time we have left.we are in our sixties,no retirement or pension fund.taking it day to day.. this is what happened on the quiet drive home tonight,it's been a year and a half of being inactive and still the flashbacks of the past 30 something years in the watchtower and all of what that has entail in raising my family still wells up inside me when i try to rest my mind and think of nothing.. i cried all the way home for one and a half hours,pain in my chest and heart,my head feeling like it would explode,angry at the society for the big chunk of life that they stole from us.. and i thought of so many others sharing the same feelings and experiences as my family,and those still stuck inside.soon as i arrived home,i collected myself together and said:"hi honey,i'm home!
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willyloman
Blue: I've driven that same road home. Everything I can think of to say to you has already been said, and really well, by the rest of the "family." One of the things that helps me is this quote from poet Maya Angelou:
"You did what you knew, until you knew better."
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JW Mom (Joyce Stewart) resists life-saving transfusion for little daughter
by Gopher inhere is the link to a sad story happening in omaha, nebraska, usa:.
http://www.theindependent.com/stories/090903/new_surgery09.shtml.
hospital sues to force tot's surgery.
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willyloman
Someone in my old congregation, for example, supposedly got her doctor to help her "miscarry" her child who was to be born with Down's Syndrome. That's awful on so many levels I always hoped the rumor wasn't true...
Gamaliel: What's "awful" about it? I wouldn't presume to judge the woman; that's a huge burden to bear and not everyone can do it.
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If You DO GO to Meetings, You Might Die!
by metatron inthe watchtower ( and recent kingdom ministry) love to threaten death.
if you don't attend meetings.. however, i have known about a number of witnesses who died while at the meetings.
or attending the assemblies.
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willyloman
To add to what Seattle said:
You're already dead if you go to meetings; there you will die a slow death, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. However, there's good news. Once you stop going, you rebound quickly and come alive again!
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7
USA - Service Report Nov 2003 (Feb KM)
by truthseeker inlooking at jan and feb's km, the field service reports for the months of oct and nov 2003 are surprising.. october 2003 november 2003. sp'l pios 186 sp'l pios 202. pubs 94,550 pubs 92,570. aux pios 24,600 aux pios 21,838. pubs 870,300 pubs 867,299. baptized 2,650 baptized 2,715. total 989,636 total 981,909. we are happy to report a new peak.
in regular pioneers!
the total of.
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willyloman
The only numbers that "count" are the annual totals, and you can be sure the WTS will put the pressure on in the spring, as they always do, to get the numbers up so the "average" and "peak" figures show some sort of increase over the previous year.
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7
``New Things Learned:" Cookie-Cutter Assembly Halls?
by Room 215 injust got a glance at wifey's latest two kingdom ministry letters she left lying around.
i see now that the boys in brooklyn/patterson have now decided ``one size fits all" is the best way to go when erecting future assembly halls; they've standardized the look.
a cost-saving ploy no doubt.
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willyloman
Oh, and in the February '04 KM, it's Jehovah 32 -Jesus 4 (frequency of mentions in the text).
Which means the odds are 8-1 they're wrong about that, too.
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Turning 41 and Moving ON- smile
by JT ineveryone can't be in the front row!.
well hell i thought i could read- .
or they were just the outcast of their congo- so when they come to the net they are mad as hell .
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willyloman
Just want to pile on with everyone else and say what an inspiration you (JT) have been over the last two years as I waded through this forum and began to find my own voice and place in the universe.
I will always remember and apply your "shopping cart" theory of dealing with still-in JW's, and I will never forget the vivid image you portrayed of the "cheese and cracker men" who run the congregations.
Having spent my share of time in the "Skybox" with its own bathroom (no lines for OUR wives) and the steady supply of off-the-menu snacks and food and gourmet coffee, I can relate to everything you posted about your past life. While I never did time at Bethel, I know many who did. You are so right when you relate that many on this board were shat on by the organization, but you were in the front row and on the platform, and you just up and left. That took great courage and moral strength, as many of us here are now discovering. We owe much to your leadership, example and "fine counsel" (sorry).
Best of luck, happy birthday (wow, two forbidden phrases in one sentence), and go with God, my friend.