Why do some here refer to themselves as "Apostates"?

by Netty 27 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Terry

  I break it all down in my mind differently. I slice it, dice it and shuffle the deck with a different set of values. Here is how I see it.

  1.If you are in a faith and have questions about doctrine you cannot resolve you are "troubled". Your desire is to understand. By the faith you are view as spiritually weak. But, you are honest. You desire harmony of action with belief and intellect.

  2.If you pretend to be true to your faith and yet live out of congruence with the tenets of that faith you are a hypocrite. Your secret life hurts only you.

  3.If you disagree with your religion and challenge their beliefs and refuse to accept attempts to explain the "true" understanding then you are rebellious and will be put outside the congregation.

  4.If you actively fight against the faith you once espoused you are an Apostate. Passivity cannot amount to being an apostate. You must be actively fighting against the religion you once believed in.

  I was difellowshipped in 1979 and no particular name was put on the reason other than I wouldn't follow advice about my personal life. We'll call it "rebellion". I never said or did anything to actively oppose the work or beliefs of the Society until this year.

  I am now a willing and eager apostate. I am the enemy of what the governing body stands for. I am not the enemy of the rank and file publishers. I view them as willing dupes. I forgive them for they know not what they do.
• 

  Xena

  When I was a dub and when I first exited the term "apostate" struck fear in my heart. They were the damned. I think I enjoy referring to myself as one now because it shows how far I have come from that time in my life. Their words no longer have any power over me.
• 

  Farkel

  An apostate is someone who renounces his faith for another. Period. This being the case, ALL JW converts who come from other faiths are apostates in the eyes of the other faiths.
  
  : So, I have this idea that it is an evil, wicked thing. Because of that I dont like to call myself an apostate.
  
  But that is exactly the opposite reason why most of us don't care when we are called apostates and we don't mind FLAUNTING ourselves as apostates. We know were are not evil and we know we are not wicked. Just because some two-bit bullshit religion thinks we are, doesn't make it so.
  
  Farkel
• 

  The Thinker

  IF you go to www.dictionary.com and type in "Apostate" you will see that it's a regular word in the english language. It means "someone who has abandoned one's religion, a political party or one's principals....etc.." So anyone who changes their mind about what they once believed is an Apostate, many JW's were not born as a JW, they were catholics or some other faith, they've abandoned their old faith and become JWs, so they are now apostate to the catholics since they're abandoned their former faith, if someones was a Republican and now is a Democrat then he is now an apsotate to the Republicans and so on.... So the word "Apostate' isn't in itself an evil word at all. So really many JW's were already Apostates when they become JW's because they had abandoned their former religion

  The watchtower applies certain scriptures to "apostates" that normally refer to the anti-christ. Since the WTS beleive they come from God anyone who leaves them is leaving God, so they feel it proper to apply these anti-christ verses to them so as to make them look evil.

  I've noticed that its not easy to find exactly how the WTS defines an Apostate, the articules in the WTS just keep on applying anti-christ scriptures to them so as to make the reader come up with his/her own concluesion but I've never noticed where the WTS simples state "An apostate is a .... " I think its because they know that by continuously applying anti-christ scriptures to them, they allow the reader to basically change the true meaning of the word "Apostate"

  I hope this has helped a bit and not confused you more.

  regards
• 

  Pole

  I know it will sound like an advertisement of a thread I've just started, but anyway...

  Talking about the meaning of the word apostate. In semantics the distinction is between the

  denotational meaning - strict, traditional dictionary definition

  connotational meaning - all the associations that the word/expression triggers when it's used

  Example: "An annoying person" may denote exactly the same entity as "a mean bastard". However the emotional connotations and the social impact of the two phrases are very different.

  Here is how the WTS has recently attempted to coin a new connotational meaning of the term "apostate". They've put "apostates"in the same category as child molesters. Remember, they can obviously alwas get away with it by saying, "but we didn't technically say that".

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/76815/1.ashx

  Pole the Thread Hijacker
• 

  LittleToe

  By the dictionary it's appropriate.
  By the WTS it is just as appropriate, since I AM involved in encouraging folks to have nothing to do with them.

  I may not be as "in-your-face" as Danny, but my existance is still an affront to them
  They scowl, dodge and generally avoid me, in my area.
  My friends are astounded, but personally I enjoy the noteriety, in a perverse kinda way
• 

  ohiobigboy

  You know the apostate gland. ROFL

  Sorry just in a funny mood today
• 

  jgnat

  By definition, I am NOT an apostate, though my JW hubby has accused me of "apostate thinking." I think in the JW mind, apostate=dangerous.
• 

  Bubbamar

  I think for me it is just a way of claiming power over something that is intended to be hurtful. Like someone else said with the n-word--Gay people also can refer to themselves as dyke, fag or queer in a fun and powerful sense. If I own that I am a dyke - then how can you name-call me? You'll have to move on and find something else...something meaner to say.

  So I'm an apostate. Big F'in deal. At least I don't call people names!
• 

  seattleniceguy

  So I'm an apostate. Big F'in deal. At least I don't call people names!

  LOL.

  Exactly. Years of ad hominem attacks and conditioning have made Witnesses believe that "apostate" is by far the most evil word, the most evil type of person around. It's precisely that reason that I find the term empowering. Using "apostafest" is just hillarious. It's like showing straight out that their word has no control over us: "I'm a good person, and I don't care if you call me names. In fact, I kind of like that name."

  SNG