Is everyone on this Web Board a Jehovah's Witness Basher?

by sandy 56 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  joannadandy

  nope
• 

  animal

  I would be one of those "bashers", altho I only do it in person, not on this site.

  You still havent brought up what the need is from us... why you need an "understanding heart". So far, we know you walked away from the religion/truth/cult/etc, yet you fully believe in it.

  Gotta give us more if you want some nibbles. Welcome, by the way.

  Animal
• 

  Nathan Natas

  See SAndy? You're doing FINE! We said "BOO!" and you didn't flinch. Don't worry, you can handle it.

  Think about this, if you will -

  "When persons are in great danger from a source that they do not suspect or are being misled by those they consider their friends, is it an unkindness to warn them? They may prefer not to believe the warning. They may even resent it. But does that free one from the moral responsibility to give that warning?"

  - THE WATCHTOWER January 15,1974

  Don't be too frightened by the term "apostate" - it has changed in meaning A LOT since the days you went to meetings. Back then, we were scared to death of the "evil slave" apostates who had the temerity to - gasp! - stick with C.T. Russell's teachings instead of Rutherford's booze-induced delusions.

  Yeah, so they picketed assemblies. Once people have have their lives destroyed in the name of "christian" shunning, they might get a little annoyed, y'know? Can you think of a single instance in which any of those "evil slave" apostates caused any physical harm to a Dub? (We often call JWs "Dubs" as an abbreviation.)

  In the past year, people have been disfellowshipped from the WTS as "APOSTATES" because they spoke out against child sexual abuse in the Watchtower Society.

  Is it immoral to report a CRIME? You tell me.
• 

  Soledad

  Hi Sandy

  I hope you decide to do some research on the Jehovah's Witnesses. I did that back in my early 20s after several years of doubting what I had been taught to believe since I was born. I know its difficult when that is all you have ever known about religion, but I think that it is your responsibility to learn about the history of your religion--from sources other than that offered by the WTS. Good luck to you.
• 

  PurpleV

  Here is the key:

  This board can be educational if you have an open mind, and you will learn a lot that you may not have known.

  We're sure glad you are here. No one here really bashes Jehovah's Witnesses. On the contrary we love them, we almost ALL of us have family that are witnesses, we WERE witnesses once, and feel they are wonderful people if perhaps a little misled by some "new light," "tacking into the wind," "waiting on Jehovah," among other things. Many of us who lived through the "Millions now living will never die" era are understandably upset.

  I was born and raised a JW and am in my 40's now. Did you know, my mother ( a witness, now deceased, she never thought she'd die in this system) she told me once that in the 1940's young witnesses were counseled not to get married nor raise children in this wicked system, since it was so soon to be destroyed? She told me of an assembly where men were advised to wait until the new system to get married, because women in the new system would be so beautiful whereas women in this old system were nothing but "bags of bones and hanks of hair."

  Most of us have problems with the concept of a "faithful and discreet slave class." We see fundamental flaws in their claim to be God's sole channel, and therefore everything they say is subject to intense scrutiny, as the Bible says we should scrutinize those who would speak for Him.

  Welcome, stick around, and kudos to you for trying to figure this out before you have children.

  Hugs, V
• 

  onacruse

  Welcome Sandy!

  As Simon says:

  I don't think everyone is a JW basher but I think there are a lot of WTS bashers and there is an important destinction.

  As one raised in the WTS, all my family and friends were in the org. They are still my family and, for the most part, I still consider them my friends. The only very few exceptions are those who personally betrayed me and deliberately did me harm.

  I don't hate any of them. But I DO abhor that religion that perverts most of them into mere automatons that can and do abandon the fundamental human relationships of love and mutual respect that are our common bond.

  I've pondered my frustration for 3 decades, and didn't make this decision lightly.

  I won't even consider changing my mind unless I see LOVE in the borganization.

  Craig
• 

  Francois

  Well, was that soon enough?

  What are these things that 'weigh' on your mind? I haven't read the threat yet. But I will in the morning.

  Hope you hang out with us for awhile.

  Francois
• 

  crownboy

  Hey Sandy, welcome to the board.

  I hope you will stick around and read with an open mind all the things that are written and said on this board.

  You mentioned in your last post that you were hurt in some ways by (I assume the JW) religion. Well, in my case I was not in anyway hurt by my experiences with the JW religion (at least not in a direct and immediate way), and can in fact recall alot of very positive times, as no doubt you can, too. However, you have to also keep in mind many of the things that were taught to you as a JW; namely the infallibilty of the religion, and the importance of certain theological concepts (e.g. :1914), and do some objective research on the truth of falsity of those claims. The results of such a search might help you to better understand were alot of the people on this board are coming from (i.e.: they aren't being arbitrarily bitter, as per the standard Watchtower answer; an answer possibly you may still to some extent hold).

  While people like you and I may carry mostly positive memories of the people and experiences that we had during our JW days, that certainly doesn't mean that others did not have extremely harrowing experiences, or that despite having mostly pleasant experiences, there isn't still ample reason to see objective wrong in the JW religion (e.g.: the blood doctrine, which could have killed anyone of us despite having no real scriptural support). I know you said you weren't interested in hearing criticisms of the JW religion, and I respect your choice, but if you have a change of heart, I would whole heartedly recommend you read the book [u]Crisis of Conscience[/u], by former Governing Body member Raymond Franz, for a dispassionate and more importantly, well documented perspective of some of the not too good aspects of the JW religion (that is, in addition to the great sites recommended on this thread so far).

  So once again, welcome. [:)]
• 

  freedom96

  Sounds to me that you have some deep soul searching to do. You need to give some serious thought about why you believe what you do, and go from there.

  Research is vital. Don't take one persons viewpoint and run with it. And certainly don't just take the organizations word for it either.

  Once you have all the facts, then you can make an informed decision.

  Best wishes!
• 

  Farkel

  Sandy,

  You said:

  : I do not disagree with the organization entirely; in fact I am not even sure if I disagree with it at all.

  Then you need to learn a LOT more about that same organization. There is MUCH to learn about them and most of it ain't pretty.

  Farkel