Are JW unik ?

by happy man 42 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  KistByQpid

  Terafera,

  Your story got my attention. I volunteer once a week at a Christian non-profit food pantry. They are non denominational and help those regardless of their religious affiliation. It is NOT a "mission" where they feed the homeless IF the hungry sit and listen to the gospel first. Well, my JW mom asked me if I could refer her JW friend to the program. She knows that I can personally refer one family every four months IF there are openings (right now the waiting list is long due to high unemployment in the area). I asked her, "What's going on?" Well, her friend's husband left her, she has chronic health problems (lupus) and has to make ends meet on disability. I asked if she could get help from the KH, in the meantime as it could take a few weeks. She said the brothers and sisters don't have a food pantry at the hall...she said something about it being an act of "works" HUH??? She then turned around and said something totally contradictory. She said that whenever there is an "emergency" in another country (like earthquakes)...the brothers and sisters donate and the brothers take the money directly to the location and help? I'm not saying they don't BUT I've never heard of their humanitarian relief efforts? Why would the JW's feel taking care of their own is an act of "works"??? What about the care of widows and orphans? Isn't this a Christians responsibility? I just don't get it.
• 

  terafera

  Kist,
  I hear ya!! When I asked if we could look for help through those kinds of charities, I was told by the sister I studied with to look through the rotten food thrown out by the local grocery store.
  It seems some Witnesses would go through it....alot of it was nasty... some of the deli products had gone bad and the sister told me I should take that stuff instead of going to a shelter or religious-backed organization!!

  What you said was the truth!
• 

  JT

  Yadirf says:

  What people say HERE is only one side of the story.

  ##########
  Someone relates how they were sexually abused at 8 by the PO, he was dealth with by the congregation privately, no other family was told about the fact that his man is in the hall with this problem, he was not turned into the police despite the fact that the elders knew what he had done, the single sister was "Encouraged" to consider how this would make JAH Org look in the community IF SHE WENT TO THE POLICE.

  5 yrs later he is reappointed back to being an elder and all the friends feel comfortable with him around thier kids since he as been APPOINTED by HS , even though he has gotten no medical help or turned into the police

  in fact the advice that the elders gave him to deal with his problem

  well they tol him he needed

  1. more presonal study of wt books
  2, attend all sales meeting regularly
  3, and have a healthy share in the door to door book selling work

  AND AFTER ALL THAT

  the comments are made:

  "What people say HERE is only one side of the story."

  You got to love a person despite having access to information still tries to hold on to his baby's bottle
• 

  KistByQpid

  Terafera,

  I can not imagine people eating out of dumpsters RATHER than accept help. It is sad to know they have such a aversion to those outside the KH.
• 

  JT

  Yes, unfortunately people do die as the result of a misunderstanding of the Scriptures,

  ########

  this ius funny

  now let's illustrate why this post is wrong

  Jack's Elevator Company has been installing elevators for 23 years and Jack is making a ton of money by using the parts in repairing elevators and in fact a number of employees have brought this to his attention that it is wrong to use this stuff- he fires them aka "DF"

  then one day his elevator falls and folks lose thier lives

  now what will Jack be brought up on when it is revealed that Jack knew all the while that he policy and practice of installing elevators were unsafe-

  well the same with wt they have for years known that thier policy of blood was wrong

  does anyone recall this Gem:

  Disrespect for God's law is so rampant that whole blood, blood plasma and blood fractions are used freely in numerous products that are sold for food. For example, it is reported that some meat packers include blood as a part of their regular recipe for wieners, bologna and other cold-meat loaves. They may not all call it blood; but, regardless of what they call it, if it is blood or part of the blood it is wrong.

  -------
  "Whether whole or fractional, one's own or someone else's, transfused or injected, it is
  wrong."-Watchtower 9/15/61

  #######

  yes whole blood and fractions WERE SCRIPTUALLY WRONG AND JAH WAS AGAINST IT ACCORDING TO WT

  ######

  OF COURSE folks died due to not taking THE SAME BLOOD FRACTIONS THAT JW CAN TAKE TODAY

  and so for the employees who bought this matter to the attention they fired them, not interested in the truth , just in how it would make them look to

  and we can understand that can't we- just think for years Jack advertised that he was the BEST ELEVATOR COMPANY IN THE WORLD and for him to now have to go back and replace all those elevators, o well he would look mighty bad in the eyes of his competion, esp since he used to run those ads saying that they didn't know what they were doing

  same with wt it would make them look pretty bad to have to go back and admit WE DIDN;T KNOW WHAT THE HELL we were talking about the day we published this stuff

  but to do that - then they would look like a joke since they dogged all thier competetion over the years telling other churches they ain't got the right teachings

  so for wt to know that thier goofy policies are not supported by the bible and to df anyone who tries to point that out to them is a joke

  yes to think that the HLC would stand by someones bed encouraging them not to take a certain compondent of blood and during that very time the boys in writing are working with the legal desk on how to word this new change that one can NOW TAKE IT in the up coming wt so as to not be sued

  that is sad
• 

  expatbrit

  Hillary:

  Found the quote. It's from a speech attributed by Tacitus to Calgacus, king of the Caledonians, before the battle of Mons Graupius in 80AD.

  Here's a fuller quote:

  Brigands of the world, they [the Romans] have exhausted the land by their indiscriminate plunder, and now they ransack the sea. The wealth of an enemy excites their cupidity, his poverty their lust for power. East and West have failed to glut their maw. They are unique in being as violently tempted to attack the poor as the wealthy. Robbery, butchery and rapine they call Empire; and when they have created a desert they call it peace.

  It is true that Rome left many great accomplishments. It is also true that the Watchtower is not Rome, so the analogy can't really be stretched beyond my very narrow application.

  The only thing that brings peace to the world is structure, government and law. Without it we would all be at each other's throats. Yet humans are competitive animals, and we require some form of competition or conflict to advance and better our circumstances. The function of government is to place conflict within the limits of the collective self-interest, not to destroy conflict altogether. This usually means limiting conflicts to the areas of ideas and commerce. What the Watchtower tries to do is completely destroy any possibility of competing ideas and thoughts. Their followers become "sheep", mindless beasts rechewing the cuds of repetitive Watchtower magazines. This they call "peace". In fact it is stagnation, an intellectual desert.

  I think all religions tend to do this to one extent or another. The Watchtower is one of the greater offenders, often highlighted on this site because this is the "JW discussion" forum. Mentioning only the Watchtower here does not mean a turning of the head from the shortcomings of other religions.

  The fact is that we each have the capability within us of absolute good and absolute evil and every group reflects that potential.

  I don't really think there is such a thing as "absolute" good or evil. Whether we consider something good or evil depends upon the direction of our own self-interest. The reason Germans went along with Hitler was because they viewed his actions as in their own self-interest, and therefore morally good.

  For myself, I want none of the Watchtower's or any other fundamentalist religion's comatose "peace". I would rather experience the conflict of ideas than the peace of mental catalepsy. I would rather find my own way, even if it be sometimes frustrating or painful. Another line from Tacitus: "a death of honour is better than a life of shame."

  Expatbrit, rambling along with you.
• 

  Yadirf

  Lady Lee

  Yes and for some of us it is the only opportunity to be heard since the org gags people at every opportunity. The org maintains that it alone has a right to a voice. This is our way of being heard... finally

  I would bet that the other side to your story would indeed be an interesting one to hear, if only the other parties were here to tell their side of things.
• 

  refiners fire

  BUT SUDDENLY THIS INTERNET W AS ONLINE,
  and terribel acussions to JWs, and now i see that this can happend, see hez 38. 10-11.

  Youve made my day buddy. This website was predicted in scripture.
  Love it.
  

  but i dont find anyone who is inn almost evry country on this earth,

  But youre not. Youre organization only has large membership in Christian historical countries.
• 

  Lady Lee

  yardif
  <<I would bet that the other side to your story would indeed be an interesting one to hear, if only the other parties were here to tell their side of things.>>

  he admitted everything to the elders. I would more than welcome him here but I doubt he would be honest in front of others. I have been open and honest in decaring my "sins" what about you?... that is before you start casting stones

  Rejoice in the healing and not in the pain.
  Rejoice in the challenge overcome and not in the past hurts.
  Rejoice in the present - full of love and joy.
  Rejoice in the future for it is filled with new horizons yet to be explored. - Lee Marsh 2002
• 

  hillary_step

  Hi ExpatBrit,

  I was a little undecided as to whether to reply to your post, as in reading both our offerings in context, I think that we actually share a very similar viewpoint. I will attempt to clarify my take on this matter, just to see if we are on the same page.

  I see this issue as being not about *sympathy with*, but *objectivity about* the WTS. I am no sympathizer with the WTS, but I do try to be objective about it. It is also clear that objectivity requires a little emotional distance from the whole subject lest our conclusions be tainted *only* by personal experience, which can often lead to distorted conclusions.

  You know the way the conversation might go :

  XJW - "All the JW’s I knew were pustules growing under the armpit of society.
  HStep - "Well, I knew some like that but I have met many very good, sincere and kind JW’s"
  XJW - "You are a lying, brain-dead, blustering troll.

  HappyMan presented facts, perhaps to irritate the Board, but facts nevertheless. The JW's generally do not engage in wars, or civil strife and strive to be peaceful people. The adherents of many other religions, though not all, do not have a similar record. That is why I mentioned other religions in this situation, it was at the very basis of *his* post.

  How the WTS achieves the international peace its adherents enjoy is another matter, As I noted the good they do here, is *imho* outweighed by its more anti-social behavior, but this does not change the facts of the situation.

  As to absolute good and evil, it does exist, and like everything else it exists in our minds. For example, if I were to ask you what in your own view you felt was the most evil behavior you could imagine a person doing, well, that is your absolute evil. My argument is that you, and every person has the potential of being their own definition of absolute good and absolute evil.

  The WTS is capable, as is every other religion of good and evil acts. I would like to quote from a post that Ginny Tosken made some months ago that really struck me as spot on, Ginny if you are reading, hope you do not mind my quoting you :

  When I find myself reacting strongly and emotionally to something done by the Society, I ask myself, "Would I react as strongly if this had been done by Catholics, Mormons, or Pentecostals?" This usually helps me gauge how much of reaction comes from old wounds and how much is from moral indignation

  I think that these are very wise words.

  Best regards ExPatBrit - HS