by BorgHater 310 Replies latest jw friends
sorry,
the above should read
how could we say what the WT did, when it was teaching falsehood, and telling people to work hard, like hamsters on a wheel, always feeling guilty for not being good enough, trying harder and harder, so trapped in a terrible cycle - when that wasn't part of the bible message?!
Paulapollos: Since you ask us to just ask questions :-). How did you get 'on their radar'? Was it a coincidense there was so many elders who had doubt over this doctrine in your area, or did something trigger it?
Hi Bohm
the answer is - public talks, talks in the congregation, preaching to bethelites who needed help, and of course in our confidential work which often included explaining to other witnesses in bethel the meaning of bible verses - it all contributed to the detection of our wicked idea that we were all subject to the bible
It's nice to have you hear Paulapollos. I've sent you a PM (click on the envelope in the top right corner^).
Welcome PP!
All 4 were disfellowshipped for believing that the entirety of the ransom, including the new covenant, and the mediatorship and everything else in the bible, applied to everyone. I can tell you that none of them wanted to be disfellowshipped, but there was no choice really.
And there it is, simple.
As for the courage - I really don't think it was that as such. Really, they asked, and kept the inquistion up aginst all of us, interviewing all our friends and associates, monitoring us etc, for a period of months (they recorded one of my public talks and made constant reference to it in my JC - i have it somewhere, will try to dig it out) - what can you do? Deny what you know to be true just so you can talk to your friends and family? I know others have made that choice, and that is absolutely fine and right for them, because of their circumstances - but for me and the others at the time......well, it just got to the point where you have to decide - lie and deny your beliefs, or just tell the truth. I suppose we just did what we had to. There was no courage, believe me!
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Welcome to life, it starts right away :)
Blessings,
Stephen
Hi PaulApollos - sorry to hear of your predicament. Are any of your family supportive to you?
I've known very close family to be on the receiving end of the UK service department's haughty attitude. I remember them closing ranks over the paedophile Michael Porter episode covering themselves rather than support the victims. They supported their buddies (bosses?) in Mill Hill congregation when the idiots chose to reprove him rather than DF him.
Down in the south-west they sent that stuffy Michael Pottage (do you know him?) who looked down his nose like a pharisee at their assembly and all he did was talk down to the brothers.
Hi Freddo,
I do know Mike Pottage (if I'm right, he was a missonary in french-speaking africa, and made constant reference to it in his talks) and he used to be nice to me - but I know what you mean about the stuffiness and pharisee thing. To be honest, a lot of the outlines.......I mean, it is pretty hard to NOT sound like a Pharisee when you are reading or following them. I think, knowing him, he probably didn't mean to - then again, I wasn't there, so maybe I should just remain silent on that.
The michael porter thing - that was just......bad. really bad. I don't even know how to talk about the shockwaves in bethel, but also the sort of denial of reality in bethel about it. very very bad episode. I can only say how sorry I personally am for the victims of that.
You have another PM, paulapollos.
Bohm, sorry I didn;t answer yoyour question fully
we didnt have doubts
its just the work we did meant we had to look at the meaning of scriptures in original context and that led to, shall we say, some interesting differences of understanding
of course, the fact we all started, quite independently, to preach it to others meant that it became......noticed
Paulapollos,
I have enjoyed reading of your experiences in the London Bethel particularly this bit:
its just the work we did meant we had to look at the meaning of scriptures in original context and that led to, shall we say, some interesting differences of understanding of course, the fact we all started, quite independently, to preach it to others meant that it became......noticed
It sounds very much like what Ray Franz recorded as happening in Brooklyn in the late 70's.
Have you read "Crisis of Conscience"? If yes, can you see a similarity?
y
