Witnesses believe that all Witnesses can benefit from the baptism talk that is why they will give it regardless if there are any candidates. They just wouldn't do the questions.
Do you think the general public cares about former Jehovah's witnesses?
by Christian Gutierrez 66 Replies latest jw friends
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Christian Gutierrez
Yeah they still gave the baptism talk. The same Satan will tempt you and you are now in a very vulnerable spiritual state now story. And of course a vow is a vow.
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Darkknight757
I though big J protects us after baptism unlike before baptism when you can pray all day long and he could give a crap?
Last baptism talk I heard they basically told all in the audience that if you're not baptized then Jehovah won't protect you. (After the age of understanding, whatever that is. 8 years old?)
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Simon
Great topic. I don't think people care generally unless they know someone personally who has been impacted by the WTS.
Generally, when people notice JWs it's usually as some curiosity and little more. Maybe it's a comedy sketch or maybe it's a new article - something made the news on an otherwise slow news day. Same with Scientology but they have the "benefit" (ha) of being even more nutty and more celebrity engaged which is the reason for the media attention. JWs fall in the gap of boring between mainstream religion and outright cults.
So, although things can be big-news to us they are often of zero interest to others because they have little or no impact on them.
I think many see the angst of exJWs as self-inflicted - people chose to join and only complain when things don't go well. For born-ins it's slightly different and I think there is more sympathy but still there is the reality that it was someone who chose to join - this time the parents.
In some ways it's like investment (hey, you're investing your life and energy plus often money). If someone has been scammed or ripped off because of fraud when they didn't take risks then people are more sympathetic vs people who were promised crazy 500% returns and lost their money ... like, what did you expect?
"You'll live forever" ... and you believed it?
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LongHairGal
SIMON:
Good points. But, I don't know that I ever actually believed I was going to live forever.
I was more interested in seeing an end to evil on the earth.
In fact, their Paradise earth teaching was the first thing I rid my mind of when I "faded". I was drawn to the religion because they claimed to have knowledge about End-time prophecy and because they claimed they had no clergy class. (Of course, they lied.)
But, yes, people in the world cannot relate and will view it as a person making a bad choice.
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Vidiot
Gutierrez - "Do you think the general public cares about former Jehovah's Witnesses?"
Just the ones they happen to know personally, maybe.
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Iamallcool
I have not read all of your replies yet but if I was Never a JW and that I know VERY little about what ex-jws have been through, I would not give a flying fuck about what they have been through!
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Brokeback Watchtower
I remember a few times at our special day assembly they would still give the baptism talk even if nobody was getting baptized.
They should stop doing baptisms at assemblies too, much too embarrassing to see nobody there and a talk being given about a nonexistent/not going to happen baptism. The GB as usual are slow learners and these nobody getting baptized talks will probably keep happening until they finally go belly up or stop having these events.
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Nathan Natas
Here's the way it works:
The events of MY life are significant to ME because I only exist on MY TIME-LINE - no one else's.
It is thus for EVERY OTHER INDIVIDUAL on earth, although some of them will try to convince you that THEY are an exception to this reality.
Now, most of us here on this board share a common experience (but not an identical experience) - we were, for some portion of our lives, Jehovah's Witnesses.
These experiences are important to us because there are no other experiences that can drop into the time-slices occupied by our JW experiences.
The problem for us lies in the fact that the majority of the people we share this planet with did NOT have any JW experiences - they had their OWN experiences.
JW-ism, as a cult, is not dastardly enough to merit much attention from anyone. JW leadership is stupid and careless and clumsy and more than a bit effete and feminine and faggy*, but they aren't as bad as some of the other cults the world has known, in my opinion. That doesn't mean that GREAT EVIL has not occurred within JW congregation - I know that it has. But as XJWs we just don't have the numbers to garner great attention.
So, NO the general public does not care about former JWs. Them's the facts.
*make me laugh - tell me they aren't!
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Brokeback Watchtower
That doesn't mean that GREAT EVIL has not occurred within JW congregation - I know that it has. But as XJWs we just don't have the numbers to garner great attention.
True enough but if a Jonestown or Waco Tx, type of thing happened then that would make the news and the org would be toast. Just saying a what if scenario or something comparable.
