Advantages of being a JW (page 3)

Xandit

Wow, who says you don't have to give the wife expensive gifts??? That must be from 1st Miser 6:1 a rather obscure text that I seem to have forgotten.

I ate my first Taco at an assembly, how bout that for a good memory.

Good topic
Advantages :
You get to associate with the people who for the most part are the cleanest most moral loving and warm hearted people in the world.
You learn tne truth about the bible and so much more.
If you develop the qualities they encourage, you are spared the sad bitterness expressed by so many on this board.
You can give presents as often ( or not ) as you want, not letting some tradition dictate. And the best part of that is that you dont really care about all that christmas / birthday stuff because you have so many more rewarding things to fill your time and attention.
You experience a warm feeling of brotherhood at meetings and assemblies.
You learn more about other religeons than any other religeons encourage its adherents to learn, why ?? because it serves to add to your convictions.
I could go on and on.
And before you throw your arms up and disagree becuase of personal experiance let me add :
Yes there are exceptions. Some people, ( like me lose appreciation for a while ) sometimes even congregations develop a character that is difficult for us to be drawn to. But in general we can thank our creator for a wonderful forum of organized assitance in our pursuit of pure worship and unity.

larc

DF,

How many gifts did you give last year, and to whom? I asked this on another forum to a JW, both on the forum and to his private x mail. He never did answer me. (Please exclude school supplies and other things that you had to buy anyway.)

DFshipped

Wow and some here say the WTBS is intrusive !!!! What a question.
I am never-the-less not unhappy to answer you.
I gave a number of gifts to my family members. I gave small gifts to work colleagues who were either depressed or became pregnant, or were promoted.
They included , perfume, flowers , wine, toys, cd's vouchers etc
I have regularly supported one charity I admire.
I have also given spiritual gifts to those I witness to. ( and yes they know my status being DF's )
And dont ask for names and addresses or reciepts you wil need to tak emy word for it.
Im tempted to ask you the same question as you asked me, but frankly I think it would be in bad taste and not my business. Giving should be a private, willing act. One should not have to answer to anyone on pvt email or other. I dont mean to offend you, but I'm not surprised you never recieved and answer.
PS Other questions which I would view as obtrusive :
Who I shower with .... You may get jealous
My weight ..... Unless you wanted to marry me
My toilet habits..... They may disgust you
My salary ......you would laugh

larc

DF,

I'm proud of you! The reason I asked is that I have known JWs who spouted the gifts all the time stuff, but who don't live anything to anybody, including, I think, the other person I posed the question to, who sent no reply.

I give lots of stuff to my three adult children, my wife, and my grand daughter. Every time my grand daughter visits I give her something, which is about once a month. When she walks in I say "Happy Birthday!" She reminds me that it is not her birhtday, and I tell every time she visists it's her birhtday. She kinda likes seeing me.

I won't tell you about my personal habits either, which my wife finds disgusting, but after 36 years of marriage, she puts up with me.

RedhorseWoman

DFshipped,

Oh, how I wish your examples were true. However, they seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

I used to think that my experiences in at least 6 or 7 different congregations over the years were not the norm. However, when I began comparing notes with others, I found that the "exceptions" you refer to were actually the rule; and the "wonderful experiences" you list were merely hype from the pages of the WT and Awake! They rarely exist in most congregations.

happytobefree

DF,

And one more thing, most things they teach about other religions is wrong or one-sided. They only report on the bad of the religion, I guess that is ok, if they would also report the good. But I find they report the bad points of other religions to smoke screen what is so bad in their house. Matt. 7:3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? (New KJV) I hate quoting scriptures (I'm not a Bible thumper), but that one does apply.

And one more question, why would they need to report on a religion. How about just reporting on God.

Happy to be Free (Me)

happytobefree

RHW,

I have attended 7 different congregations in 4 different states and you are right they are practically the same. I would experience de ja vu quite often. I quess that is an advantage of being a JW, you know what BS to expect.

Grunt

DF, as I read your statements above, I had to resist the desire to quickly counter them despite the title of this post. Instead I would like to share a really great quote from the Awake magazine of Feb. 22, 1999. It really meant a lot to me when I first read it and I have quoted from it many, many times since. First, I would like to give you a little feel for the situation I was in that made it seem so special to me. My daughter who had always been very close to me and whom I had always tried my best to help in any way I could, had written a month or so earlier and begun a bible discussion. She was a pioneer at the time or had just finished pioneering. Anyway, in the course of this discussion I told her the story of the congregation made up of mostly Special Pioneers that I had attended upon first becoming a Witness. I warned her of the price of thinking the time was "so close" and I told her of the sacrifices they had made to serve where the need was great, selling homes, giving up good jobs, moving to backwoods Alabama and trying to get as many people as possible in the "Ark" before the "Doors closed" as they liked to say. Sadly with the passing of '75 many became disillusioned and let it put their lives in a tail-spin. Over the next ten years almost all got divorced, and left the Organization. I then asked my daughter just what her understanding of the 7000 year creative days was, and just where she thought we were now, was it the time between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve when the animals were being named? I never got an answer to that. My daughter returned my car by slipping the keys under my door with a thank-you note while we were gone. In another note she left at the same time she told me she would have to make some "adjustments" in our relationship as I was destroying her faith. The adjustment was to try to cut me out of her life, in favor of "her most important relationship" which was with Jehovah. My true story about our congregation coupled with a question she couldn't answer well, threatened her faith. Hence the notes. This happened the night before her brother who was down from New England was having surgery. She hadn't seen him in a long time, but forfeited that as it would have put her in contact with me. He wound up having to have surgery in a hospital forty miles from her home, and she didn't come, as I was there. It hurt my wife, who was already so worried, more deeply than I can tell you. It was in the waiting room of the hospital while waiting for my son to see the Dr. that I found the five month old magazine. I read it and it was saying to do just the opposite of what my daughter had done with me. I found some of the quotes to be really great. The front page showed two men in a park on a bench having a discussion, and the bold print caption underneat says: SHOULD YOU DISCUSS RELIGION? Considering the circumstances it was ironic to say the least. Here is my favorite quote from the magazine, though there are many good ones:

Francis Bacon, a 17th century English philosopher, essayist, jurist, and statesman, advised searchers for truth "To weigh and consider." And an early U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson, said: "Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error.......they are the natural enemies of error." So if we are genuinely searching for truth, we will "weigh and consider" and pursue "reason and free inquiry."

Reason and Free Inquiry. The only effectual agents against error. The natural enemies or error. A great quote that I wish all Witnesses would listen to and follow.

If only they practiced what they preach.

eyes_opened

Hey! I just thought of one. How about the smug feeling you get when the brother from the platform asks everyone to *meet* him in Habakkuk, and you get to the right book and the right scripture within a matter of a few page turns, while everyone else is still flipping away for the next minute or two! <looking around to see if anyone has noticed your amazing talent> Of course no one ever does. or book LOL
Ah well, you have to have SOME fun during those particularly boring talks studies *grin*
Ah, then there's the amazing ability one acquires that allows you to draw amazing doodles in the skinny margins along the edges of the watchtower lesson!

"One Persons Heresy Is Anothers Truth"

Advantages of being a JW

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