by TimothyT 44 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
In all my 15 years in I really can't say that the elders helped anyone with any problem..they always tell them to pray and study more and then when you don't change to suit them they blame it on your weak spirituality not their sheparding..they have all the bases covered!
They know all the tricks, that's why they are still around.
Snoozy
Cantleave: Agreed. Im relativly unconcerned either way. God is my judge. Ill answer to him in the end, and he will at least understand my actions. (1 Corinthians 4:3-6)
Rockygirl: Im going to ignore it all. Only my dad and my brother are in, and quite frankly neither of them care at all about the org any more. My dad is cool. Im still not looking forward to telling him however, but im not worrying. I will be posting on here regularly as things take place. Thanks for your support and encouragement.
Sir82: True. Im not hiding anything and im not scared of who i am. Im not going to agree to any meetings or anything with the elders, and if they do persist, i will hand them a letter of resignation. I like your points about saying im depressed, but, depressed is the last thing i am now! IM TOO HAPPY! :D Lol! Thanks for the nice words.
Serenitynow: Isnt it interesting that he is my oldest friend in my congregation and now i have the desire to no longer be around him. I dislike the way that he is caught in this concept, that he has to report on his best friends dealings, and then say to me, that its for my own good. Bullsh**!
Magwitch: I will refuse all of the above! And i will live my life! I look forward to it too! :D
Rabbit: Thanks. After contemplating my sexuality for so many difficult months, i came to understand that telling a gay to be straight is SUCH an IMPOSSIBLE thing. There isnt a cure because i am not ill. If there was a cure... i wouldnt want it anyway! My family is going to be cool! I have my dads assurance of that! As regards the org... i couldnt care less now what happens! :D
Jean Luc Picard: Totaly agree! God loves all people... or at least that what i read from the bible. Interesting isnt it that the JWs would rather shun THEIR OWN CHILDREN for the sake of a man made ideal. Is that true Christian love? Nope... its horse manure and THAT is wrong in my opinion.
Taliesin:
Billy the exbethelite: Good points. I think they will have a lot to answer for at judgement day! Anyway... thats between them and Jehovah! I best just worry about myself and try my best to be as good a Christian as i can. :D
Desirousofchange: Thanks. I have read the elder book. I think its full of organisational nonsense! The bible should be the elders handbook. Anyway... i understand what the book says on the issue but whatever! Im not interested in how this ends! Im interested in its end.
Nugget: Hello. How are you? I look forward to the time when i dont have to worry about all this kind of shizz! :D My friend can out me if he wants, but despite the fact that he told me he is doing it for my own good... all it will do is propel me right out of this highly odd belief system. Not such a bad thing. I must say... i agree with you when you say it is a hurtful religion. My mind has been screwed over in the past with feelings of guilt etc. What does my friend think he is going to acheieve by getting me spiritual readjustment? Yes... im going to agree to that because i want to go back into a religion where i constantly felt i wanted to kill myself because i could never measure up to their perfect standards. Lol! No idea! Thanks for your kind words! :D
JACKALS: Firslty, i want to thank you for your loving support in this. Im sure you see the lunacy of what I am a part of! If we ever have JWs calling on our house in the future... we are GOING TO invite them in and have a chat with them! Lol! :D Anyway... i know this is delicate and its premature! I will speak with the brother and tell him that if he wants to help me... he needs to leave me be for a while. I doubt it will make a difference, but i will try. Thanks for being so understanding! Kiss!
Mad Sweeney: Yeh... they ar eonly interested in themselves realy. Thanks for wishing us luck! We are off to a great start too... got a nice foundation of friendship beneath us. Love spending time together! :D Im not realy too bothered now about the friends that i will lose when i leave the organisation. Iv kind of compensated by finding my little Jackals! I shed those words 4 months ago too! To me the Watchtower lingo is meaningless and when some brothers use those expressions i generaly cringe. Its cool to think of everyone in thsi world being normal. There are some good people here arnt there? Thanks. :D
Jamiebowers: Exactly. I cant be tried for anything. But if im pestered... i will resign. Cool! :D
Chariklo: Yes... i agree with Billy too... its become quite detached from what Christianity is about. Men following men and usurping the power of the Christ and then coming out with judgements and silly rules which destroy and damage peoples lives. And they may have the nerve to call me apostate? Lol!
NewChapter: Thanks for explaining this to Jack! Its crazy isnt it! MADNESS!!! I would NEVER do this to someone I knew especialy on such a delicate matter as this as Jack rightly brought out. Thanks for you honesty too! I explained before to Jack that i dont blame the brother for this! He has just been caught up in a whirlwind of odd ideas and crazy practices! I think personaly, i have ALWAYS been more liberal! I was always a rebel and i never realy did anything the JW way anyway. Thanks! :D
Snoozy: Yeh... shocking realy! Thing is though for me... the more and more i read the bible... the more i come to realise how flawed this org realy is and how detached from Christianity it has become. Anyway... the may all continue as they are! Ill be happy when im out of it all! :D
I don't see why your friend has any reason to give you an ultimatum about going to the elders. Is he aware of serious sin on your part? If not, why would he involve the elders. If its just an "I'm worried about TimothyT, just downplay it. Thanks for your concern, I'm okay."
Why cant they just leave you be as inactive? If you arent going to the meetings, you arent hurting the congregation. Dont meet with them. Dont give them the satisfaction of trying to change who you are.
A 'friend' of mine did this to me when I first started getting shaky in my meeting attendance. Told me that he let an elder know he was going to talk with me. I had until the next meeting or whatever to talk with the elder or he was going to the elder and see if I spoke with him.
Whaaaat ? Are you 30-something or in grade school and going to tell on me ?
I know a sister who put herself in a couples business and gave them a deadline. Then had the nerve to tell me how 'stressed' she was. What ?
Mind YOUR BUSINESS ! What she was stressed over is beyond me. Thinking about it makes me mad. Who the hell are these people to dictate anything to anybody ?
It's easy to say,but don't stress over it. I was so worried about the elders and what they would say. But when I sat and thought looong and hard about it and you began realize you're a GROWN MAN. You're not some kid,or their child. You're an independent individual.
Makes me hate that religion even more than I did.
The gall!
Bang on, Av8or!
I'm going to use your post in my own dealings.
I am a GROWN WOMAN, for cheeses sake!
Yes, very good one.
Anyway, he told me, as JW's are encouraged to do, that if I do not go and speak with the elders by Sunday, then he will speak with them on my behalf.
This is just the kind of thing that proves it is a cult. In any other sphere of life, intruding in this way on someone's private life would be seen as shocking or laughable, in equal measure. Yet it is what JW's are explicitly told to do..."tell" on their friends, like small children. Dob them in. Really!
It does confront you, because it's a crunch point for you, between being honest with yourself and living a life that is truly your own, or knuckling under and subscribing to their beliefs. It seems as though one way lies happiness and one way lies social acceptance in a very enclosed, self-satified environment.
Not much choice, is there? Just walk away, head held high.
Speak on Brutha! This is precisely the reason I haven't spoken to my parents, elders or any other JW about my sexuality. We all know what road that leads down. I wonder what it would be like to go to the meeting and talk to the "brothers and sisters" like they were your best friends and then have them read your name off from the platform. I would love to read peoples reactions after the meeting. lol. Hope you find what your looking for :)
Tell him that if he does, you will tell the Elders that he tried to feel you up and that you both have the same number of witnesses, so go right ahead.
Edit to add: If/when my time comes, I would inform them of my decision to disfellowship all of them for apostasy.
Well said billy . . . and Mad Sweeny, sir82 and others are spot on Tim
One thing we find hard to adjust to early in our exit is putting the WTS in it's proper context. They are nothing but a tin-pot little fundamentalist cult full of their own self-importance. They're a piss in the ocean . . . nothing more. Billy is right, they only have the power that WE are prepared to grant them. Ignore them completely . . . and put the whole sorry bunch behind you. They're simply not worth it.
