please read and i will tell you now this was it was like for me !.
kingdom halls are a hellish memory for me.
i grew up as a jehovah's witness from the age of 9 until i fought my way to freedom at age 18. i recall children as young as a year old being beaten repeatedly for not sitting still during services...some sessions, called assemblies, were 6 hours long and lasted for 3-5 days in succession.. my nephew was one of many who felt the literal sting of the watchtower's stance of "spare the rod, spoil the child.
Hey,
2 meetings each week of 1:45 mins long, give me a break, children in time learn to behave and pay attention. Parents just need to be smart about it; and, yes, for the most difficult ones, a good swat in the tush won't kill them and it's NOT child abuse!
DY
please read and i will tell you now this was it was like for me !.
kingdom halls are a hellish memory for me.
i grew up as a jehovah's witness from the age of 9 until i fought my way to freedom at age 18. i recall children as young as a year old being beaten repeatedly for not sitting still during services...some sessions, called assemblies, were 6 hours long and lasted for 3-5 days in succession.. my nephew was one of many who felt the literal sting of the watchtower's stance of "spare the rod, spoil the child.
Listen all, can you all come down and face the reality of things?!
A good swat in the butt for misbehaving is NOT child abuse; such form of discipline never killed anyone. It teaches respect, discipline and self-control.
And if the parents are smart about it, they don't even need to give said swat in the tush, they figure out a way to keep the child paying attention some other way. There's this examplary family in the KH that plays games with the kids by asking them to count the # of times certain word is said during the parts given from the platform and by preparing comments for them to offer during certain sessions.
Now compare to the children that are left to do whatever they want in the name of being 'children'; it's atrocious how many religions have to hold separate gatherings for the children, just because the parents won't be bothered to teach them to sit still and pay attention. And to see how those same undiscipline children behave towards their parents and authority in general while in public is horrendous!
Children sure pay attention for hours to cartoons or Disney movies; they can sure stand to behave properly at our meetings.
Stop the silly drama already!
DY
so, this summer i have a family reunion to attend.
we have not had one in a few years and am looking forward to getting together with my cousins.
the problem is on my dad's side there are as many non-witnesses as there are witnesses.
Go and enjoy your family reunion! I'm sure the JW relatives will be polite to you; concentrate in the non-JW and have a good time.
DY
these are good comments to consider enjoy!.
jehovah's witnesses who leave their religion, do so for many different reasons.
here are seven.. watchtower prophecies and dates for armageddon have failed repeatedly.
Many leave also because their ex-bad habits (excessive drinking, drug use, fornication, etc.) become stronger than their faith. Then, they'll find any excuse to leave and go back to their prior lifestyle. Too bad for them, really.
DY
i read something that indicates the wts believes that all those who lived & died after 1914 will not be resurrected.
supposedly they believe everyone has had an opportunity to hear the wt message.
is this really a wt belief?
The Bible teaches that only Jehovah, the reader of hearts and minds, the benevolent God, knows who will be resurrected. However, Armageddon is an act of God and those killed during it will remain so. Makes perfect sense.
One must not worry about that, but rather try to live in a way that grants us God's approval.
DY
i don't usually post regarding my personal relationship, but i need some help.. i've been married for 20+ years (married young, both of us raised as witnesses), and my wife and i have kids.
my wife feels like i've disappointed her, made a fool of her, and betrayed her when i stopped being a witness.
other than the witness-thing we seem to have a pretty good marriage, but she can't get over the fact that i'm never going to be a witness again.
If my husband stopped being a JW, we'd have very little in common; then there's the fact that with so much free time that was occupied in Org stuff and with JW friends and family will now be occupied most likely in worldly things and worldly friends, where he'll most likely pick up those awful wordly manners, bad habits, expressions, celebrations, etc., the whole non-JW way of life. Nope! Definitely it'd be a deal breaker for me.
Hopefully that'll never happen. He seems very strong and secure in it. It's our whole world and we're so very happy in it.
DY
i've been thinking about this for a while now.
it seems to me that the wtbts is taking steps towards phasing out public editions of the watchtower.. here are a couple of points of evidence to see there is a real possibilty for a move in this direction:.
1. the monthly "start bible studies on the initial call service day" is evidence of a more direct drive to recruit new members.
Since we are instructed to leave the mags in the hands of really interested individuals, people that will really read it, I don't see why we should have 2 editions of the same mag.
Absolutely great idea to do away with the 'Public' edition of the Watchtower mag!
DY
for the most part this "persecution" is confined to countries where political balance can change on the drop of a dime.
watchtower witnesses who go door to door will speak of their religious views which include not voting or supporting the political parties.
where the watchtower control a percentage of the population through their kingdom halls and they turn people off from voting they have in effect formed their own type of independant political organization.
JWs also get persecuted because we expose wide open Biblical teachings which contradict the ways in which prevalent religions operate in those countries.
In Mexico it was quite the uphill battle for many years because we exposed the lies of the Catholic church there. Then it was war against the JWs! As an Organization, though, we don't back down. Now in Mexico we sit as the #2 religious establishment. What a terrific victory!
Country after country, with the favor of God, we shall prevail.
DY
a jw friend of mine sent me this email today:.
assembly day points...... .
brother morris, (member of the governing body).
Reopened Mind,
I'm so very happy that you've posted this extremely important message for all in this board to read.
Infinite thanks,
DY
i always thought they were the most boring things i'd ever seen.
a picture of someone preaching in a different land every month.. i always ended up hanging something far more entertaining, like an nfl calendar..
I've always like them. They carry the themes of our Organization. What else did you expect?!
It's not mandatory to get them. So, don't.
DY
