your opinion, please......the publications emphatically state that not only are we supposed to hate the wickedness of a sin---but actually hate the person!!!
does this not violate the law??
?
Disfellowshipping does not incite hatred. The person is just no longer part of the group, that's all.
I don't recall ever hating a disfellowshipped person. I only used to ignore their presence when I'd bump into them along the way.
No big deal, really.
DY
my exit from the jws, was roughly as follows-
our final letter to the congregation was in the form of a resignation.
we made at least 15 to 20 copies and sent the majority of them to so-called friends, 2 days later we sent the original to the body of elders.
'Friends' inside the WBTS are only under the condition that you stay faithful to such organization. Fail them, and all your 'friends' will fail you.
Result of the heavy indoctrination that goes on in there.
DY
i do have odd luck with the ladies.
not that i lack meeting them or being able to get a date but just seem to meet the wrong ones or ones that bore me or girls that live 1,000s of miles away.
i just broke off a relationship a few weeks back and have had mixed feelings about dating right now.
Sounds good!!!
Best of luck to you!!!
DY
after almost a year of living abroad, away from my parents and away from anything even remotely watchtower related, having allowed myself to not worry about these silly little things (yet convincing my parents that i was still going); now that i've been back for about 6 weeks, i feel that i have to put on a double effort to cover over things that i've said or done, and avoid using "suspect" words or phrases like "cheers" or "good luck".
its driving me crazy at the moment, and 10 times more than it was doing before i moved out.
today, i had a mini panic attack at having told a "worldly" friend of mine "good luck".
Dorayakii,
I know your pain. I feel your pain. I live through this kind of pain daily.
I too have tried 'fading' for the longest time now, but there's no fading for someone whose family is firm in this religion.
My family is filled with elders, pioneers, ministerial servants. I love them all very much and can't imagine life without them in it as they're the nicest, funniest bunch one could ever meet. Their strong affiliation to the WBTS keeps me locked in the system and I hate it.
Keep hanging in there. Make friends elsewhere for the time being.
DY
in one of the "new gb members" threads, i saw this comment regarding "young anointeds".
it triggered another thought in mind:
or.....you could be a young jw guy aiming to climb the watchtower corporate ladder, realizing that to go all the way to the top, there is one thing you absolutely need to have... .
Being a Circuit/District Overseer is the best career on earth!
It's a business. One hell of a profitable religious business!!!
DY
i'm not going to answer this email from my dad.
he didn't listen the umpteen times i responded to his questions before - i'm not putting myself through that again.
i too thought about these things.
Ingenuous,
Many years ago, when one my siblings decided it was enough and all they could take with the religion and decided to leave, my parents tried all kinds of tactics and emotional blackmail with this one sibling.
She in turn kept her distance as much as possible. Never directly answering to any of their attacks. I remember my parents complaining that whenever they tried to reason with her she'd just wish them well and find any silly excuse to end the conversation politely. They'd write long letter that would just go unanswered.
She moved away and only kept in touch with the siblings that would be reasonable. I happen to be one of them. Thank God!
Years went by, and when the parents softened up and gave up their WBTS cause with her, she then came around more often and now they have a very nice relationship in which they respect one another and, much to my dismay, my parents don't try any religion talk or tactics with her. I guess they learned the lesson that it would only get them shunned by her if they did.
Hang in there. Be polite and patient. Distance yourself for a while 'til they learn the lesson.
DY
i just came from what will probably be the last conversation i'll ever have with my father.
earlier in the day, i'd talked to my mom and she asked what i was up to - translated "what are you doing with yourself since you aren't going to meetings or out in service?
" i told her i'd been discussing the bible with an informal group of people and reading older wts literature.
I'm truly sorry your folks have decided to shun you. It'll be painful for them and for you too. Hang in there.
I wish you well.
DY
i just returned from ontario, where a family member died, i was reading the obit, and i know its been said millions of times, but this really blew me away.
"a private family burial at ______ cemetery.
a memorial service will be held at the kingdom hall of jehovah's witnesses on saturday august 13, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. as expressions of sympathy, please send donations to world wide work of jehovah's witnesses.".
Neither tacky, nor pathetic.
You might want read the obits a bit more often. People ask for donations to what whatever their cause is all the time. That a JW should ask for donations for their cause is nothing out of the ordinary.
DY
here is the basic approach i am going to use.
my wife is a newly dunked dub, and my kids have been hearing the propaganda for about 3 years now.
i figured out it was a cult about 6 months ago.
Okay, but does the Bible say that it has to be 5 farging meetings per week?
I'd probably go to every meeting if only it'd be 1 meeting weekly. Why need more than that?
DY
well, its been a while since i was made a unbaptized publisher.
now my hand is going to be forced and i will have to be baptized by the end of the year.
my gf wants my decision very soon, like the next couple of days.
Same feelings here Sassy.
DY
