Things that made me go hmmm

by TweetieBird 3 Replies latest jw friends

  • TweetieBird
    TweetieBird

    Another thread asked what made you first have doubts. For some, I guess there was one particular instance that made them start questioning, i.e. generation change in 1995, UN scandal, child abuse being brought out into the open, but for me it was little things. Here is a partial list.

    1) Being in several different congregations and all elder bodies having the same harsh, unloving, judgemental attitude which rubbed off onto most of the publishers.

    2) The constant references the society made to themselves about events in the bible that they applied solely to them, specifically the imprisonment of the 8 or 9 men in 1918 and how that was somehow fulfilling bible prophecy, the locusts of revelation being the stinging message they were putting forth to the world, nonsensical stuff like that

    3) How submitting to the WTS was like submitting to the scribes and pharisees and Jesus condemned the scribes and pharisees for their hypocrisy, their burdening of the people with all of their rules. This was the big eye-opener for me studying the Greatest Man book and realizing that JW's were no different from the Jews of Jesus day

    4) For my husband, it was sitting before a JC with my oldest, unbaptized son who wanted to clear his conscience for having sex with his former girlfriend. No one would have ever known about it, they had broken up and moved on, but my son felt like he should let the brothers know. Instead of commending my son for coming forward, the JC chewed both my son and my husband new hind-ends. It didn't end with the JC meeting, it continued after that if either one missed a meeting, the one brother would chase them down in the parking lot and yell at them even more, my son for giving in to fleshly desires and my husband for not being a better family head. My son wants nothing to do with the witnesses.

    5) and finally, I guess it would have to be the so-called "holy spirit appointments" of elders. It was spirit appointed alright, but definitely not holy-spirit.

  • iiz2cool
    iiz2cool
    all elder bodies having the same harsh, unloving, judgemental attitude which rubbed off onto most of the publishers.

    As they always reminded us, "Bad associations spoil useful habits". I bet it never occured to them that elders are bad association.

    The constant references the society made to themselves about events in the bible that they applied solely to them, specifically the imprisonment of the 8 or 9 men in 1918 and how that was somehow fulfilling bible prophecy

    That was one of the first things that made me think there was something wrong with it all. I should have questioned them more about that and done some research. I probably wouldn't have become a JW if I had.

    their burdening of the people with all of their rules.

    And most of those rules have nothing to do with the bible or christian living.

    the so-called "holy spirit appointments" of elders

    I guess the holy spirit didn't know that 2 of its appointments sexually molested my ex wife when she was a child.

    Walter

  • startingover
    startingover

    I just remembered something I heard at a CA, that I had completely forgotten about but was really one of the first things to hit me. The DO made the comment from the stage about holy spirit's involvement with appointments in the cong. He made the statement that if a recommendation was sent from a local cong. there wasn't holy spirit back in NY that would kick it out for things not known to the local cong. That was the first thing that got me to thinking, and it didn't take much thought to realize it reached much deeper that just appointments.

  • bem
    bem

    At a Dist. assem. an eld. from our cong. shook hands with one of the gov.board mem. and he was so excited about it he said he would never wash that hand again. to say I was stunned would put it lightly....... Then once a C.O. told the P.O. he needed to be encouraging people that were in better economical conditions than most in that cong. were in.......same co also said his wife was used to a certain life style and it was difficult to keep staying with the same family when they were visiting that cong. Then an apartment was built at the kh where he based from. Those were some of first things that made me shake my head.

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