Well said everyone!
Personally, I am just glad that they are here with us.
Leslie
That is such a nice comment Leslie - warm and understated!
by winnie 66 Replies latest jw friends
Well said everyone!
Personally, I am just glad that they are here with us.
Leslie
That is such a nice comment Leslie - warm and understated!
if there is one important thing that I have learnt after many years as a JW is not to judge others and not to judge their motives and not to judge their ideas (which as JW we did/do all too frequently).
not long ago I read a very interesting post on another board http://www.channelc.org/cgi-bin/eboard30/index2.cgi?frames=yes&board=Main&mode=Current&message=23017
all of us had different experiences as JW or simply as bible students or relatives of JW. even facing the same situation we may come to different conclusions. Some may be happy remaining JW (for whatever reason) or just want the WTBTS to change, others prefer to remain because of family situations, others remain because they feel that is the best way to help their friends see the wrong within the organisation.
It is not up to me to judge. whatever the situation, I am glad I can freely exchange ideas and experiences with people that are still in and others that have left.
You converse with many on this forum who are disfellowshipped/dissasociated, yet if you knew who these ones were, face to face, you would not give them the time of day! You would openly 'shun' them as the wbts tells you to do.
I am an active witness and a former elder - I do not shun people openly or otherwise. On this board there are many great decent people who I have ben privileged to get to know. And I certainly do not do wha tthe WTBTS tells me to do - on the contrary I do what jesus tells us to do. Love peiople, turn the other cheekk and then do exactly as the Parable of the Prodigal Son - please read the account , it will do you a lot of good.
winnie----first, Welcome.
Second-----I have wished I could BE so brave! If I could attending meetings--and esepecially (ugh!) being active still, it would help restore my connection to my family [kids] who believe lies about me based on their JW dad's manipulations. Plus I could help do what these others have said--act as the French Resistance did during Nazi times. My hat is off to these people. I couldn't do it...wish I could.
I have no problem with active JW`s on this board..Most are still there to be with thier familys..Some have gone back,to get thier familys back..You do what you have to,to deal with a corrupt organization the WBT$...OUTLAW
Hi winnie, and welcome
You are right, there are quite a number of active jws
participating on this board.
For many of them, however, their prescence at meetings
is only a physical one. They are as aware as you or I that
it is not the truth, but are forced to pay lip service to the
wtbts because if they did not, they risk losing all their
friends and possibly their family.
It's a tough place to be in my mind, and I would never
regard such ones as hypocrites in any way. In fact, I
admire them for having the courage and fortitude to put
up with the weekly grind of meetings and/or field service
out of love for their families.
dedpoet
AK - Jeff's post said it all. I'm with ya Jeff
Dismembered
Jeff said:
When I was baptised at 17 years old, no one ever told me "Brother, when you finally find out we are lying to you, we misrepresent God in every possible way, we hide pedophiles, we involve ourselves with politics, we do and will change doctrine that may cost you or your family thier lives, when you find all that out, don't you dare just walk away and worship God as you see fit, for we will cause you to loose your family, shun you publicly, and slander name to all hearers! And if you think that is bad, just wait and see what we do to those who actually sin!"
If they had made such disclosures to me, I would have flipped 'em off and went off at that time instead of wasting 35 years in finding it out.
I doubt there is anyone doing what these 'faders' do here, within say the Baptist church. Reason: they don't try and ruin your life for leaving
Jeff
I'm down to one meeting per week.Yesterday,my wife picked me up from the hall(she's never been a witness) and I was fuming how I can't quit this stupid religion.It was an unbearable meeting yesterday.Any other religion they leave you alone.There's no way of quitting this one.
I was baptized when I was 14 years old.They told me only baptized people made it to the ''NEW SYSTEM".So, I took every step to try to get baptized.I wish they would take back my baptisim since I was so young.That contract should be null and void.
Now,there is only no way to get out of this contract.You can quit and never see your family(my whole family is in) again or go thru the least amount of motions and stay in.This site helps those that are still in more than you can imagine.
I am still active, but do also feel good to read the other side of our religion.
I think a lot of active JWs are in here just trying to work things out in their mind. They may be seeing things wrong with the organization and are having doubts but it can take them a long time to figure out what they believe and what direction they want to go. Remember in most cases they have a lot to lose if they leave. If I ran onto a JW that posted here and they ignored me I wouldn't hold it against them or take it personal. Would I really expect them buddy up to me in public knowing that the next day they may be getting a divorce and losing their family because they know me?