If I were a JW, and they DF'd me.....I'd DO THE DANCE OF JOY!!!!! Unless, of course, I had family members that would shun me.
Lavendar
Non-JW mom wonders about meetings.....
by lavendar 17 Replies latest jw friends
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38 Years
It's great that you are checking this out to help your son. This is an international cult. The following are practices all over the world. Everyone here can verify that the following list is true. Some are disfellowhipping offenses the first time. Some, over time, will be used against you so you can be disfellowshipped:
Become a Jehovah's Witness and you can't...Celebrate Mother's Day
Celebrate Father's Day
Celebrate Grandparent's Day
Celebrate Birthdays
Celebrate Thanksgiving
Celebrate New Year's Eve or Day
Celebrate Christmas
Celebrate Halloween
Celebrate Easter
Celebrate Flag Day
Celebrate Independence Day (Fourth of July)
Celebrate Hanukkah
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day
Celebrate Valentine's Day
Celebrate "Any" Holiday
Sing any Holiday Songs
Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving
Create Holiday artwork in school
Join the Boy Scouts
Join the Girl Scouts
Buy Girl Scout Cookies
Become a Cheerleader
Attend class reunions (No "Worldly" association)
Go to the school prom
Play School Sports (No competition allowed)
Play Professional Sports
Join any organization that has ties to Christianity
Shop at the Salvation Army
Volunteer for the Salvation Army
Donate to Relief Organizations like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Charities and more
Shop at Church run thrift stores
Shop at Church Garage Sales
Shop at any Store that has Christian ties
Contribute to the Red Cross
Attend a Church School
Join the YMCA
Join the Military
Become a Police Officer
Attend Alcoholics Anonymous
Have any job with a gun
Strike against a Company
Salute the Flag
Can't Stand at Public Events while others are Standing to salute the Flag
Sing the National Anthem
Go to War
Wear Clothing Associated with War; e.g. Combats or Army Tops
Learn karate
Vote (Conscience matter now to please Governments, you will be ostracized if you do)
Run for any Public Office
Campaign for a Candidate
Contribute to the Presidential Campaign Fund on your tax return
Can join union, but not participate in its affairs
Run for class president
Join Sororities or Fraternities
Participate in holiday parties at school
Buy lottery tickets
Gamble
Play Bingo
Can't buy a raffle ticket
Date without supervision - young or old
Watch R rated movies
Cannot work on another Church if it's a regular customer
Own a religious picture or statue
Smoke cigarettes, pipes or a cigars
Sell cigarettes, pipes or a cigars
Accept Blood
Donate Blood
Store your own blood before an operation
Wear blue jeans or casual clothes to the Kingdom Hall
Wear pants to the Kingdom Hall if you are a female
Wear skirts or dresses that are above the knee at any time
Wear any type of long hair if you are a man
Wear a beard in some Kingdom Halls and areas (judged hard)
Pierce ears if male, other body parts if female
Have any tattoos
Say curse words
Can't be hypnotized
Get divorced unless scriptural (adultery or fornication is committed by one partner) if you do divorce cannot remarry unless ex fornicates first
Toast drinks (pagan origin)
Throw rice at a wedding (pagan origin)
Say "Bless You" when someone sneezes
Say "Good Luck!", "Wish me Luck", "I was Lucky" or "You were Lucky"
Tell ghost stories
Practice Yoga
Own a Smurf
Eat Lucky Charms Cereal (References to Magical)
Throw a penny into a wishing well
Read Horoscopes
Promote anything Superstitious
Have wind charms because they represent a pagan symbol for scaring away demons
Watch TV shows, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch", "Touched by an Angel", or "Bewitched"
Say "It was fate" or mention anything to do with "fate"
Engage in any risky acts such as: Sky Diving, Bungie Jumping & Hang Gliding
Have Jesus as your Mediator and Savior
Can't partake in the Memorial of Jesus' death, by eating the unleavened bread or drinking the
wine; only allowed if you are from the elite group of the 144,000 (which cannot be proved - or disproved)
A woman can't hold a position of responsibility in the congregation
Wear or own a Cross
Attend another Church (Spiritual Fornication)
Associate on a regular basis with nonbelievers
Associate with ex-members
Associate with disfellowshipped ones
Talk with disfellowshipped ones
Sue another Jehovah's Witness
Marry a nonbeliever (If you do, you are judged hard by the congregation)
Marry in another Church or attend a wedding in another Church
Have a funeral in another Church or attend a funeral in another Church
Pray, including holding your head down, when a nonbeliever prays
Study other religious articles not from the Society
Read negative information about the Society
Question the Watchtower Society on anything - even if you KNOW they are wrong!
Exercise your own conscience if it goes against the religion
Have Christian freedom
If you are a woman you can't pray aloud in the presence of men, without a covering on your head
If you are sick and need alternative medical help you can't get illegal medicines from another country
Become a Jehovah's Witness and you shouldn't....
.... if you do you will be looked down upon and won't be able to "advance" spiritually
Discuss politics
Surf too much on the Internet
Attend social functions organized by your place of work
Associate with worldly neighbors
Attend College (The Society has lightened up on this somewhat, but if you attend you are not putting Kingdom interests first, and will be judged.)
Play Chess
Go to Nightclubs
Own a Gun
Read philosophy, sociology, psychology; these are discouraged as non spiritual food
JWs are discouraged from seeking psychological help from psychiatrists, psycho-therapists, and psychologists because they give "worldly" advice according to the WTBTS.
Become a Jehovah's Witness and you ABSOLUTELY have to....(to avoid ostracism)
Must be baptized into the organization
Attend several regular meetings each week
Go out in field service regularly to recruit new members
Report your field service activity to the congregation each month
Attend regular scheduled conventions
Give talks at the congregation (whether young or old, male or female)
Read and fully understand their teachings
Prepare for each meeting
Participate in the meetings
Study with family
Use Theocratic Warfare (War Strategy) - To lie or to hide the truth to a non-JW for protection of the Organization
Fully accept the Watchtower's authority and rules (no exceptions)
Dress according to their rules at the Kingdom Halls, Service and conventions (no exceptions)
Women and small girls must wear dresses
Men must wear dress pants with dress shirts and ties
Associate only with fellow members
Report on fellow members including your family, if they are caught doing something against Society's rules
You have to sing at the meetings (even if you have a bad voice) - or you are looked down upon
Women must be in full submission to their husbandsFrom: http://www.jwfiles.com/jw-cant.htm
Btw, no one was more surprised than me to find out that The Smurfs are linked to demons in Kingdom Halls all over the world. I thought it was just a crazy couple in my congregation that had demonized Smurfs! They said one flew around their daughter's room and attacked the husband. And yes, when I was growing up, my Mom would not let us eat Lucky Charms cereal!
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greendawn
Yes they expect their members to attend regularly all those meetings and if they don't they won't get expelled but they will be considered as spiritually weak substandard JWs. They will never get privileges in their congo and will be marginalised. The same applies if they don't preach for the org.
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Honesty
Ask your son a few of the following:
If Jesus was resurrected as an invisible spirit, like the Watchtower teaches, why did Jesus say he was going to raise his physical body from the dead (John 2:19-22)?
If Jesus, the man, ceased to exist at his death and was raised from the dead as Michael the Archangel, why did Michael deceive the apostles into believing that they were witnessing Jesus in a resurrected physical body (Luke 24:39)?
If Jesus is now living in heaven as an invisible spirit creature, like the Watchtower teaches, why did Paul write many years after the ascension of Christ that he is dwelling in heaven in a physical body (Colossians 2:9)? Note: The Greek word, somatikos, means physical, tangible body.
If Jesus is now Michael the Archangel, why does 1 Timothy 2:5 say that the mediator between God and men is the man, Christ Jesus, and not the spirit, Michael the Archangel?
Can you show me a verse in the bible that clearly says Jesus is the Archangel Michael? How can Jesus be Michael since Hebrews chapter 1 stresses the superiority of Jesus over the angels and that all the angels worship him? Why would Jehovah command that the entire angelic realm worship another angel? Note: The Watchtower bible changes the word worship, in Hebrews 1:6, to "do obeisance to". However, see section below on the New World Translation.
Since the Watchtower was wrong in the past about many of its teachings and the light continues to get brighter (Proverbs 4:18), how do you know that the current teachings are correct and won’t change?
Why did the Watchtower magazine (Nov 15, 1981, p. 21) say to "come to Jehovah’s organization for salvation" when Jesus never directed us to an organization for salvation but to him?
When you joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses, did you read information for and against the Watchtower so you could make an educated and well rounded decision based on both points of view?
Has anyone become a Jehovah’s Witness after reading the bible alone without the aid of Watchtower material?
If I were to join the Jehovah’s Witnesses, would it be okay for me to do research into the Watchtower’s past by reading non-Watchtower material?
Since the Watchtower was in error many times in the past, are you obligated to believe that all the current teachings are God’s truth?
If Jesus’ invisible presence began in 1914, like the Watchtower teaches, why was the Watchtower teaching in 1929 that Jesus’ invisible presence began in 1874? How did they finally figure out that that teaching was false? Reference: Prophecy, 1929, p. 65.
Since the Watchtower claims to be God’s prophet (The Watchtower, April 1, 1972, p. 197) and have falsely predicted Armageddon to occur in 1914, 1918, 1925 and 1975, do you think they meet the criteria of Deuteronomy 18:20-22?
Can you show me in the bible where it says to give false prophets a second or third chance to get it right?
If the Watchtower really is Jehovah’s prophet, like they claim, can you show me anything they predicted that came to pass?
Why did Hebrews 1:6 in the 1970 version of the New World Translation say, "Let all God’s angels worship him" and not "do obeisance to him" like the new versions say?
Why does the New World Translation insert the word "other" four times into Colossians chapter 1 when it isn’t in the Greek manuscripts at all? Doesn’t this change the meaning of the text?
Why does the New World Translation place the comma in Luke 23:43 in a different location than it does every other time when Jesus says, "Truly I tell you"?
Can you show me a list of Greek scholars who approve of the New World Translation’s New Testament translation?
Can you show me a list of the people who were on the New World Translation Committee along with their credentials in the ancient Biblical languages?
If the Watchtower’s teaching that the 144,000 were filled in 1935 is correct, can you explain how Jesus, his apostles and their immediate followers couldn’t get 144,000 converts in 1800 years, but the Watchtower got 6 million converts in 125 years?
Why does the Watchtower teach that only 144,000 people are born-again when 1 John 5:1 says that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God?
Why is there only one judgment period from God to test the endurance and worthiness of the 144,000 before they are guaranteed of eternal life, but the other sheep have to endure through this life, the 1000 year millennium plus pass an unknown final test before they are counted worthy of eternal life? Why is salvation so much easier for the 144,000?
If Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are not part of the 144,000 with a heavenly hope, why does Jesus say in Matthew 8:11 that they will be in the kingdom of heaven?
According to Jesus in John 17:3, how many true Gods are there? Would you say that whatever is not true is false? Doesn’t the New World Translation call Jesus "a god" in John 1:1? Since there is only one true God and all others must be false, is Jesus a true God or a false god?
If Jesus was God’s Master Worker in creation, why does Jehovah say, in Isaiah 44:24, that He created all things by Himself?
If Jesus is a created being, why does he get twice as much worship, in Revelation 5:12, as Jehovah gets in Revelation 4:11?
If Jehovah created Jesus, why does John 1:3 say that all things came into existence through Jesus and apart from him not even one thing was made? Doesn’t this place Jesus outside the realm of created things?
If everlasting life comes by taking in knowledge (John 17:3), how long do I have to study with the Jehovah’s Witnesses to be assured that I have enough knowledge to live forever? 1 year? 5 years?
If we pay for our personal sins when we die, like the Watchtower teaches, how will the great crowd who survive Armageddon pay for their sins since they will never die but go right on living into the millennium?
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lavendar
Thank you. You guys are great!
38 Year: Smurfs and Lucky Charms!? LOL! Unbelieveable!
Greendawn: What kind of priviledges??
Honesty: Great questions! I'll study each one when I have the time tonight.
Lavendar
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38 Years
Oh, and my Mom wouldn't let us watch Bewitched either!
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amfree
I have not been to meetings in about seven years. What's up with not doing yoga?
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flipper
Lavander- Mr. Flipper here. I was raised in this cult, been out 4 years. Your son does'nt realize what a dangerous mind controlling cult he's getting into. They will tell him what to believe through their meetings, publications, and elders counseling, I mean snooping in on every little detail of his life. Another dangerous thing, if the time comes for him to get baptized as a witness, they make you and others who are getting baptized stand up amidst the audience at the assembly and say out loud that you recognize yourself as a sinner in need of the ransom sacrifice of christ, then the biggie, that you recognize Jehovah's Witnesses organization as being the only organization representing God on earth and that you acknowledge that before all onlookers that day. Pretty scary, huh? Perhaps you should ask your son to ask the elders or others in his congregation about the child molestation coverup also. Why they paid off 16 victims who were not allowed to speak publicly about their crimes committed against them. The witness organization won't want him to know this damaging information because it will prevent further prospective converts from coming in to the fold. For your son's sake , have him ask somebody about this!! And yes like others have told you, he will be considered inferior and weak if he misses meetings. You essentially have to give up your life for this cult. Good luck to you, Peace to you and your son, Mr. Flipper