by Cygnus 29 Replies latest jw friends
Rachel:
They treat us like we are devil's spawn.Little Toe has been there. You tell them the rest.
You want me to tell folks how y'all are devil's spawn?
I can't speak about the practicalities of living beside any organisation that uses its offices on such a regular basis, but I personally don't have much time for that particular church, as I wrote here:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/82694/1356861/post.ashx#1356861
Well the church I'm speaking of is maybe 1/4 mile away and around the corner on a busy highway. I live on a mostly quiet suburban street, so I don't get any problems. :) And my neighbor cut my grass for me yesterday so I'm pretty much all smiles, this morning anyway. Well, except for this picture I took of myself this morning: http://members.aol.com/cygnus97/pics/me81705.jpg
Edited to add: And yes, I'm shaving half my dome and half my face. I'm out of work, disabled, why not look like a complete weirdo.
You want me to tell folks how y'all are devil's spawn?
Rude.
I can't speak about the practicalities of living beside any organisation that uses its offices on such a regular basis, but I personally don't have much time for that particular church, as I wrote here:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/82694/1356861/post.ashx#1356861
All you had to say was "yeah they are crap" or something like that. Geez...posts a link...how lazy can you get?
Blondie, we get the brunt of it due to the location. The next door neighbors feel the same but don't have to deal with the parking/lawn walking issues or the solicitation of the kids for bible camp. They do rant and yell when the parking lot is cleaned at 3am and the honking/general noise making problems.
Cyg, yeah I just wanted to point out the issues one has when you live BEHIND a church. If it were just NEAR, I could probably deal with it.
The closest one to me is about a mile away so I don't hear the bells unless I am working late and happen to drive by early on Sunday morning. There are several within a 7 mile radius, including two KH's. I live in a rural area and most of the people, except for the JW's all grew up around here. The few that go to church are mostly uneducated in the Bible and their pastors have to tailor their words to the general audience when they bring them the message. Of the the three pastors I know two are very well bible-educated but you wouldn't know it to hear them preach to the church they pastor. The members are, for the most part, friendly and considerate and I know a lot of them due to living in the area for over 10 years and talking with them while I was out in FS as a dub.
Ach, go boil yer heid
Growing up, there was a Pentocostal church a couple blocks away. Since our Sunday meeting was at 3pm, in summer I used to walk up and stand across the street and listen to the sermon, the Halelujah's, and the hymns. I loved it! It was so unlike our congregation.
I love to hear the bells of a church ringing. There is just something about that sound I like.
I agree. As a child in England I hated Sundays. We never went to church but Sundays wasn't like it is today. Everywhere was closed, it was boring and there was school to think of in the morning. Now, I just love the sound of those bells. I love the bells on Saturdays (usually a wedding) and there's a bell-ringing practice once a week. The church is a magnificent old building and I guess it is quintessentially English. It isn't a cult, either, and the new vicar (a woman) from all accounts is delightful. She has even offered to visit me, which is more than than any JW has done in spite of the 19 years I was in the org. I have accepted her invitation through a mutual friend who attends the church. One day I should like to attend a service. The older I get the more I look back on my C of E roots and think what might have been had I brought all the children up in my first baptised religion. Christmas, birthdays and other pagan holidays and festivals, coffee mornings and other church events, etc. I think there's a lot to be said for it. I'm sorry so many people have had problems with the congregations of churches in their area but that just couldn't happen here as the old church is some distance away on a main road. I can see the spier from my garden. It protrudes into the skyline but is by no means out of place. It is welcoming and portrays a message of hope. I guess we see what we want to see in churches. For myself, I agree that it really is cool to live near such a church as is located nearby me. I count my blessings. Ian
I love the sound of church bells too, I grew up in a village with a really old Welsh chapel, my house was on a hill above it and the bells could be heared clearly, every now and then in summer there would be a wedding, I used to love it although I never actually thought about it till now (8 years after I left home).
Ach, go boil yer heid
That's the skirt talkin'.
I'm sure it's lovely living near a church in Scotland, Wales or England. US churches (not ALL of them OK?) seem to be different. The people are smug, self righteous and entitled and it's annoying as hell to non-churchgoers.
I'm also quite sure if the baptists behind me had a bell, they'd have to deal with vandalism and/or a missing bell...A LOT.
I was raised with the sound of the bells, too (Esmeraldaaaa!!!).
Our meetings were held 30 mins before the church services began, so we'd often have to compete with the bells during the first song and prayer. The price you pay to get the best car parking spots on the street
Sometimes that "smug" look is a vain attempt to combat attack. In an increasingly secular world, some folks are disconcerted when their beliefs are challenged. You see it in all sorts of people, over all sorts of issues, not just religious ones.
I think that proselytisation (both ways, secular or religious) has a lot of negativity attached to it. If your beliefs don't speak through your life and walk, they are unlikely to make much impact through your words...
