WATCHTOWER 15/10/09 RE. D/F'D FRIENDS (page 3)

sir82

That's pretty revolting.

Although you can view it as a positive sign. Stuff like this doesn't get into a WT unless there are numerous CO reports about "a problem" amongst the brotherhood.

Articles like this one give confirmation that more and more JWs are utterly ignoring the Society's mandate on shunning close friends & relatives who are "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses".

I'm sure the tone of these articles will get more shrill as it becomes evident that these "loving reminders" are not having their desired effect.

"The beatings will continue until morale improves."

So in p 13, if you decide that your friends aren't good enough for you, and you end the freindship, and then your ex-friends get upset about it, then they are the ones being disloyal to you??? That's rediculous!

Unfortunatly though, I wouldn't expect anything different from the WTS...

passwordprotected

This could have been written about my wife. She "stopped serving Jehovah" and it appeared on the outside that she was "firmly grounded in the truth".

The reality was she was following a false prophet and when she read Luke 21:8 she realised she needed to find the truth.

Like the "sister" in the article, all of her closest friends, some who were like sisters, were typically judgement in the way that only JWs know how.

IWillBeDubbedNoMore

The Society doesn't have a clue what true friendship is. In p. 13 they turn the caring concerns of a persons true friends into something vile. The friends are "speaking abusively" of the Society, not the friend. The Society slowly and cunningly turns the new recruit against his friends. Their protests of your new found faith is nothing more than Satan trying to stop you. I hate the fact that I was guilty of warping peoples minds about their friends.

The new recruit winds up removing true friends from their life and replaces them with superficial ones who turn their backs on you as soon as you stop towing the party line.

drew sagan

fwiw,

I actually think the most important line is in the paragraph following the one you outlined:

"We cannot expect to remain a friend of God if we side with those who choose to be friends of the world."

Here the Watchtower sets up two classes of people, those on the "outside" and those on the "inside". Local Watchtower Elders are given a very broad amount the authority to decide who falls into what class. The rules that govern their behavior are vague, and can lead to some pretty major discrepencies in fairness. Additionally, the official procedures for determining issues such as this include judicial committees, private hearings that are heavily biased. If the same kind of procedures were used in a federal or state court, the Watchtower would cry injustice.

Black Sheep

"I wondered if she had been serving Jehovah just to please her family."

How many JWs are going to read that and and think, "That's me!"?

On the other hand, How many JWs are going to look sideways at a friend that has expressed a doubt and think, "That's her!"?

Articles like this make the strong stronger and push the weak closer to the door.

WTWizard

The title is "Maintaining friendships", not "busting up friendships when the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger, Jehovah Baghead, or the hounders tell you to". It bashes worldly friendships as being shallow--what happens when you cannot meet anyone at the Kingdumb Hell beyond the most cursory greetings and working with them in field circus? Those "friendships(??)" are based solely on sharing the same flimsy and false belief, and anything that busts up the beliefs busts up the friendship. True friends would stick together regardless--they would take a look at the other side, but not necessarily agree.

dozy

...during these last days, people in general are disloyal and fail to show natural affection. The friendships they do form are often shallow and self serving.

Sounds like the congregations I've been associated with to me. But do the WTS seriously believe this blanket condemnation of everyone in "the world"? Some of my wordly relatives have had lovely friendships going back decades.

JustHuman14

Same old crap by the Old Fools at Brooklyn. The same sh*t reasoning over and over again:

Jehovah= Watchtower

Leaving WT= Leaving God

Same old sh*t...nothing change...specialy when they say that we are living in world without love...We have seen "WT's" love...Kicked out from my house after been disfellowshiped, no one of my "friends" and "relatives" give a sh*t if I'm dead or alive, or if I have something to eat.

My real friends are the so called "wordly"...they never stop loving for what I'm, and for them didn't matter if I was a JW, or Budhist. They accept me without any CONDITIONS...

Love is a Temple

Love the HIGHER Law

WT never shows love. JW's love you as long as you follow what the GB dictates without any questions. I don't need friends like that thank you. I had enough of you for 33 years.

GO TO HELL YOU AND YOUR F*CK*ING ORGANIZATION

designs

One of the great trajedies is that when a person needs their Church and friendships the most to get through a difficult period in life they get thrown under the bus in this religion.

When will they ever learn.

WATCHTOWER 15/10/09 RE. D/F'D FRIENDS