I ate meat on Friday

by chester 24 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  chester

  I was raised as a Catholic. It used to be considered a sin to eat meat on Friday. Even for a little boy who was at the age of reason.

  I remember very well the time when I was in the second grade about the age of 7 that I did eat a hot dog on a Friday.

  I knew that it was a sin but I ate it anyway. I went to confession and confessed to the priest but I knew in my heart that I was not truly sorry for doing it. I was hungry.

  I believed for years that I would be going to hell for eating that meat.

  Well, The Catholic church changed that law and now they are allowed to eat meat on Friday except during lent or something like that.

  I knew at that point that something was wrong with this religion. How could it have been a sin and now all of a sudden it was no longer a sin. God just does not change his mind like that.
  Something was just wrong. I had dealt with believing that I was going to hell for many years.

  I quit going to mass shortly after that. I felt I could not deal with religion any more.

  For years I was not involved with any religion.

  I got involved with Jehovah's witnesses after my wife became a witness after our son was killed.

  That in itself is a long story so I won't go into it on this forum.

  The point I am trying to make is that Jehovah just does not change his mind about what is a sin and what is not. Man does that.

  The WTBTS claims to be the spokesman for Jehovah. They have changed many things. It has been brought out many times what those things are. I won't go into them here.

  I want to make a point here about why I finally come to "see" the truth about the "troof".

  I was at the district convention last summer. There was a part on there about "apostates" and how we should avoid them. "stay off the Internet" "Don't read anything negative about Jehovah's witnesses".

  The brother giving the talk said, "If you are happy with your life as it is now then don't read or listen to anything negative about Jehovah's witnesses. He said, "you don't know if it is true or not". He said curiosity killed the cat. We all know that the truth can stand up to ANY scrutiny.

  I decided to see what it is they don't want us to know. There must be something because they are going to great lengths to keep information from us. They don't want us anywhere near the Internet. We might find out something about them.

  I found out a lot! I found out about all of the changes that have been made over the years for one thing.

  I found out that Raymond Franz had written a book. In fact two books. Believe it or not I had been "in the truth" for 13 years and I did not even know he had written a book. Shows how sheltered I was from information. Stay away from "apostates" they said (and I did).

  I came to realize that I was indeed involved in a cult. Cults keep information away from their members. Forums like this have made me realize that I was not alone in my feelings. There are many others out there just like me I am sure. Stories have been told on here that I feel could have been written by me. They are so close to the experiences I have had.

  The lack of love in the congregations. The love that is shown is directly related to how much field service time a person has.

  After reading Franz's books I began to really pay attention to what was being said at the meetings. I mean really listen. The end is right around the corner! It is only five minutes away according to Jehovah's sense of time! CO's are still saying that stuff after the society came out with the 1995 watchtower about the generation teaching.....you know what I mean. I would get home from the meetings and ask my wife, "Did you hear what that brother said?" Hasn't he heard that they changed the generation teaching?".

  After a while I just felt I could no longer attend the Kingdom Hall.

  I had been devoting my life to a publishing company, a cult that wants to keep information from its members. It is disgusting to me that this "religion" really has nothing to do with Jehovah although it carries his name.

  I urge each and everyone who might be reading this to really look into what you are involved in.

  Don't be an idiot like I was. Don't be an idiot like the 35,000+ people who sat in the audience at the district assembly last summer and let the information go right over their heads. "Curiosity killed the cat."

  Really look into the information that the society so cleverly wants to keep from you. Check it out for yourself.
• 

  expatbrit

  Chester:

  I enjoyed your post.

  I seem to recall the WT making a big to-do about the meat on Fridays change. Along the lines of quoting a disturbed Catholic saying how she didn't know what to believe any more. If anyone has the quote, please refresh my memory of it; it's one of the daftest pieces of WT hypocrisy, imo.

  I enjoyed how the WT's attempts at informational control actually encouraged you to find out for yourself. "Methinks they do protest too much". Shows how they recognise that the internet with it's freedom of information is a huge threat to them.

  Question: did your wife leave the WT too, or are you now in a "divided household"? If so, how's it going? Does she try to pressure you into going to the meetings again? My wife makes an "invitation" to me to "escort her to the meetings" every so often.

  Expatbrit
• 

  ozziepost

  Nice post, Chester, you've said it all.

  You have illustrated perfectly one of the great values of this forum. It provides information for all to share. It provides support to those who have doubts. Let's all work to keep it that way.

  Thanks for posting, Chester, and God Bless.

  Ozzie
• 

  JW72

  Hi chester, I'm proud of u for going against their advice and actually checking out a site like this. I'm glad u have been able to see what they have been keeping from u, it truly is sick what they do, I hope more people make the move like u, well done

  Chris
• 

  chester

  Expat,

  To answer your question:
  Has my wife quit WT?
  *********************************************************
  My wife is still attending the meetings. Her reasoning is that she is going to serve Jehovah and not man.

  She sees the hypocrisy of the WT but believes that this is the true religion. Or as she says "it is the closest thing to the truth that she has seen."

  She also feels that if she does not keep going she will not be able to see our son in the resurrection.

  I tell her that an organization has nothing to do with that at all.

  She has decided that it is best not to pressure me into attending the meetings because she can see that I am in a much better frame of mind now that I am not dealing with my feelings about religion.

  My blood pressure has returned to normal and my feelings of well being are back to normal as well.
• 

  JT

  chester

  excelllent post

  and welcome to the board- everyone here always welcomes a "newbie"

  keep posting and sharing your thoughts

  you will find that it makes leaving and dealing with wt easier to do each day

  james
• 

  teejay

  expatbrit,

  is this the quote you meant?
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  W 6/15/70 ppg 357-359 Should We Continue to Be What We Are?

  ARE THERE VALID REASONS FOR MAKING A CHANGE?

  MANY persons seem to think that they should continue to be what they are, at least
  as far as religion is concerned. They will tell you that their parents and grandparents
  belonged to a certain religion, and they see no reason for making a change. In the
  field of personality, too, some will say in effect, "Take me as you find me." They
  seem to proceed on the assumption that God made them as they are, and that there
  is therefore no need to change.

  Even in the field of religion there are reasons for at least considering a change in
  viewpoint. Many persons are the product of a religious organization that took them
  in hand at infancy, shielded them carefully from any teaching other than its own, and
  prescribed exactly what they must believe. They were indoctrinated, as were their
  parents and grandparents, in a set of age-old traditions.

  Church members took it for granted that such ideas as abstaining from meat on
  Fridays, praying to certain saints, and forbidding the clergy to marry were rooted
  and grounded in the Holy Scriptures. Now, however, they learn that they can eat
  meat on Fridays, that some of the saints have been exposed as frauds, and they
  hear a continuing agitation on the part of priests in favor of marriage of the clergy.

  Naturally, intelligent persons begin to wonder how many other religious teachings of
  their church can really stand up to a thorough examination with the help of the Bible.
  Would it be reasonable to shun any investigation of this kind, for fear that other
  awkward questions might arise, that one might discover more reasons for making a
  change in religious viewpoint? Surely such would not be the course of wisdom.

  SIMILAR SITUATION TODAY

  As did the Jews back there, the adherents of Christendom's religions today assume
  that they are God's own people. They consider themselves to be highly favored
  beyond the peoples of so-called heathendom. They seem to think that because the
  words "God" and "Christ" are used frequently in their rites of worship everything will
  work out all right.

  … is it not also true that when Jesus was on earth multitudes preferred to trust in
  professional religious leaders rather than to pay attention to the words of Jesus and
  his fishermen companions? With the lessons of history before you, there is no need
  for you to fall into the same error. You can at least pay attention and investigate.

  In order to have God's approval and blessing one must 'keep testing whether one is
  in the faith.' (2 Cor. 13:5) And that does not mean comparing one's conduct with
  what is required of one by some religious organization. It means comparing one's
  conduct with what the Bible clearly states to be the will of God.

  [end of excerpt]
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  very reasonable approach, as long as it's not applied to J-Dubs, eh?
• 

  emyrose

  Hi Chester,
  
  When I first picked up apostate literature, I remember thinking
  that the WTBTS was being unfairly labeled as a cult. It was not
  until four years after I left that I was able to admit that I
  had indeed been a member of a cult. Even when I say it now it
  hurts me tremendously. So reaching many of our brothers and sisters
  who are still trapped under mind control is a delicate and sophisticated process. Part of it is telling your personal story,
  and so I thank you for taking the time and having the courage to
  tell us your story on this forum.

  Emyrose
• 

  bluesapphire

  Hi Chester. I enjoyed your post and am very glad you have decided to think for yourself. One clarification though: I was brought up Catholic too and was NEVER told that to eat meat on Friday was a "mortal sin." I always understood it was a "discipline" or a "sacrifice" not to do it but not that it was a requirement. It was encouraged by my parents but not required. I went to Paroquial school and not even the nuns and priests ever demanded it.

  The same thing with clergy not being allowed to marry. The Church's official teaching is that it is a choice. If a man decides to be fully ordained as a priest, he makes the choice not to get married. It is a discipline. If he wants to get married, he can serve as a deacon. One day this may change but as a woman, I would hate to be married to a priest. It would be as bad as being married to an elder. I would always have to be competing for his attention and his time.

  Anyways, I'm not here to defend the Catholic Church. I just wanted to clarify these two things.
• 

  patio34

  Hi Chester,

  Pleased to make your asquaintance! My background is similar. I was raised Catholic in Indiana in the U.S. BlueSapphire, it was very much a terrible 'mortal' sin to eat meat on Fridays back then. Plus it was a command not an option for priests to marry.

  I read an interesting account about eating of fish on Friday:

  'In the remotest times the Norsemen ate fish on Friday the year round, not because of Christ but because of Frigga, their goddess to whom fish was sacred. Of curse Frigga didn't know that; fish was honored by the Norsemen becuse it was their mainstay in winter. From this Frigga comes our word Friday and also the custom.' (pg. 327 of Deceptions and Myths of the Bible)

  Of course, the WTBS has always educated JWs about the paganism of Christendom. But there are plentiful such myths that the WT doesn't inform their followers. Indeed many have said that Christianity itself is pagan. But that's another topic that gets covered regularly elsewhere.

  Nice to meetcha.

  Patio