I Came to Bring a Sword

by rawe 3 Replies latest jw friends

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  rawe

  Hi Everyone,

  When I left JWs in 2007 I was fairly active in the Ex-JW community. I even hosted one of the meetup groups here in Chandler. When that wound down I joined a local Unitarian Universalist congregation. Those silly UUs don't mind having atheist members like me. On occasion they even allow me to give the sermon! This past Sunday I gave my third sermon. It was entitled "I Came to Bring a Sword." In the sermon I make several JW references, however, I don't think many would find it anti-JW.
  

  For those who watch (it is about 17 minutes) I hope you find it interesting.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CthJxyCM694&list=PLZzR7_SOiyAQpfpodZACYUrB9H_A8Db5R&index=9&t=0s

  Cheers, -Randy
  
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  Studyover

  Very well presented. I enjoyed watching this and did find it very interesting.
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  Reopened Mind

  Randy,

  Good for you! My husband and I joined the UU congregation in Jamestown, NY. Last Sunday I was the guest speaker at the Erie, PA, UU congregation. I spoke on Life in a Cult and included some of our experiences. They did not videotape me. O, and I am female. Imagine a woman giving the Sunday sermon in a kingdom hall!!!

  Barbara
  
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  rawe

  Hi Sudyover & Barbara,

  Thank you for the kind comments. The first sermon I gave covered our experience of leaving JWs and eventually joining the UUs. I've kidded Wendy (my wife) that she is now free to give sermons. Truth be told, Wendy hated going to door-to-door and the theocratic ministry school. I must of course give some credit to my JW experience for learning the basics of public speaking. However the UU experience is way better. Everything I say is from the heart. Yet it is still tuned to the audience, because we just want it to be something worthwhile for them.

  We're just so use it it -- but the degree of sexism in JWs (and many other conservative Christian faiths) is really deep. And yet this may not have been the case with very early Christians. New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman makes a compelling argument the directive that "women should remain silent" was a later addition to the text.

  Cheers, -Randy