"Bearing Thorough Witness" p. 35, par. 20--Interesting...

by sd-7 4 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  sd-7

  Let's see what we have here:

  Bearing Thorough Witness About God's Kingdom, page 35, paragraph 20:

  "With a generous spirit like that of faithful disciples in first-century Jerusalem, millions of present-day Witnesses support the worldwide preaching work by making voluntary donations. No one is forced to give either his time or his money to support this work. Indeed, Jehovah does not want us to serve him grudgingly or under compulsion. (2 Cor. 9:7) When we do give, Jehovah is interested, not in the amount, but in the motive for our giving. (Mark 12:41-44)"

  With all due respect, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!! That is the biggest pile of monkey crap I have ever heard. No, they may not twist your arm--unless you're a minor, in which case your parents might--but oh, they force you. If you don't, you basically don't exist.

  Jehovah is not interested in the amount of our giving. If that's true, then that means when I go to my meeting tonight, the elders should not be asking me to turn in my field service time for last month. If they do, then that shows that...well, oh...let's see. Is it Jehovah who is interested in the amount, or is it men? And who am I seeking to please? God? Or men? I think Paul said something similar, didn't he?

  I mean, obviously we all know the deal, that's why we're here--apart from a few exceptions who, in my mind, are better off spending their time buried in an Insight book, since they believe in the GB regardless--but...do they actually read this stuff to themselves before they publish it? I guess it doesn't matter--as long as you're under their spell, you take it all in, right?

  (sigh) I'm going back. With 1 hour and 1 magazine to report. I have to go back, because there's someone still amongst them that I love more than freedom. I wish it were otherwise. But I'd give anything for this person. Even if she chooses the Borg over me, I'll still fight, because it's worth it. I'll have no regrets. Looking forward to your comments. Keep it clean, and come out fighting! Well, gotta get back to work-related stuff. Take care!

  SD-7
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  Heaven

  SD-7, thanks! I'm chuckling here. I especially liked your With all due respect, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!! part.

  It was these types of contradictions/hypocrisies that helped me decide this organization wasn't for me. That and the fact that there is no where in the Bible that says you have to count time when doing God's work and report it to someone else.
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  straightshooter

  If nobody is forced to give either this time or his money, just wait when a publisher stops turning in his/her time. A call from an elder asking for the time will come. If no time is given, then a visit from the elders will come. Time is very very important to the organization. It is a means for the organization to monitor you or as they say to determine your spiritual health.
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  WTWizard

  No one is forced to give one's time? What happens if I don't go out in field circus, I don't turn in a slip (or turn it in late), or put in only one or two hours of time because other matters are also taking my time? Now, compare the Salvation Army--you volunteer to ring the bell for a couple of hours, you sign up for a specific day or weekend, and they don't hound you to continually do ever more. Not to mention, what happens if you are consistently getting something like 30 or 40 hours a month in field circus but cannot do another 10 or 20? You will still be hounded to pio-sneer. If you pio-sneer one month and barely make it (and are exhausted, or it causes excessive hardship), you are now going to be hounded to do it all the time. If you refuse, they will view it as murdering people, you are responsible for their sins beyond that point, and you are not being submissive to the "theocraptic arrangement".

  Money? I would bet that, if they had another Kingdumb Hell build and I get a pledge form and put a big fat Zero on the monthly pledge, they would get p***ed. That happened when I "forgot" my pledge slip at home, and they just gave me another and wanted me to fill it out in front of the hounders. Same if I refuse to pay for rides to the boasting session, waste gas driving to boasting sessions or in field circus, or donating to the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund for littera-trash. You hear nagging talks about it when they are running short--even if it's their own fault. And they complain about Christmas giving being grudging.

  I have, however, done real giving once I became apostate. There was a co-worker that I felt bad for after they experienced some personal problems at the hands of other co-workers (caused by slander--notably the culprits were fundamentalist Christians. It took about 45 minutes of my time to find and write up a sympathy card, and I spent $2.79 on the card itself. I also wanted to make that co-worker's day--and, remembering how I felt when receiving birthday cards with money as a child, I put another $5 in it. The witlesses did not know about it. And yet, that $7.79 did more good than all the donations I ever made to the witlesses put together. My only regret toward that incident was that it wasn't even more--this is what happens when a person is sincere in giving.

  I have also given things to people in the congregation that I cared for, that were disadvantaged. (Usually it was money.) Once, at a Grand Boasting Session, I saw a family coming in late (driving about 90 miles each way to be there), and I noticed that the children had little to play with. They had a toy binoculars (from a Happy Meal), and were excited with even that (even though the optics were crap). I took that as a sign that they had little means--and I went out and got them a cheap calculator to play with. They had quite a bit of fun with that--again, no regret on doing that for children that had little else to play with (right in front of their parents, at that). The only thing: I didn't dare report that kind of giving to the hounders, because they would have rather I defend pedophiles that silence the victims (and use force to do their dirty work behind everyone else's back, too) and waste the time (it took about an hour of time to get the calculator) in field circus.

  Yes, they do force you to give--but they do not want you to give to people you feel sympathy for or that need these kinds of things. Give time and money to the organization--and report it--that is what they want. Give to children that have little or nothing (at that, right in front of their parents--no hanky panky there) or to worldly people that have had their lives ruined by other co-workers, and they will have a cow.
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  darkl1ght3r

  Good luck getting your friend out sd-7... thats a noble thing. And great comments on that paragraph.

  "We're not forcing you to go out in service, but you'll die in armageddon if you don't. And you'll be treated like a second-class witness. And we'll constantly harass you to start going. But we're not forcing you."

  Haha... gimmie a break.