i began my exit from the jehovah’s witness organization about 5 years.
i was a 4th generation born-in, with all the baggage that comes with having the “spiritual heritage” attached to the group.
i was an elder/bethelite/pioneer/whatever other useless privilege there was, i had no family or friends outside of the organization… my entire life was that org.
WOW!!
Best post ever! Well done Paul!
I also was told by a wise person when I left "stay dignified, because you never know what effect your actions will have on many, many others...and you may never know of it!"
I guess that is why the society tries to demonise any who fade or disassociate by painting us as wicked or sinful! To try and stop the ripples from spreading! Cult behaviour 101!
putting it simply, kingdom halls are no longer the property of a local group of the folks that paid for and constructed it.
the lender, the watchtower society, now says that once a mortgage is satisfied, that congregation must then declare a resolution which says it will continue to make payments, usually equal to the amount they were paying on the mortgage.
and they must do so indefinitely.
Yes, this was yet another of those "what the hell?" moments for me?
The premise used by the society that "an equalising would take place" and that other halls would be paid for is just the fancy way to sell the idea to the flock.
The opening post summed it up very well.
have attendance figures at this year's memorial been released yet, including number of partakers?
sometimes the kingdom ministry (now called christian life and ministry) provided local figures say for the country.. for two to three years the worldwide figure has hovered around the 19 plus million, with a drop off in attendance last year.. just wondered if there has been any change this year or if the downward trend has continued?
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very interesting!
yes, I have not seen any figures as yet either!
i'm at home and hear knock on door , i sneak and look i see two men and recognise one voice and go back into lonunge and ask wife ( who is inactive believer) does she want to speak to elders ,she says no ,then literally 3 minutes has pasted another knock the 3 minutes seemed like an eternity.
so brave heart me think fuck it i'll answer ,i invite them in for coffee, i recognise one older man he is a unique elder who i genuinely was fond of when i was in his name is andrew ,the other guy i didn't recognise we will call harry ( not real name australia doesn't have that many cos with his same name).
so i think to myself i will tread lightly and not cause to much of a fuss for the wife's sake, but my personality is very the opposite of treading lightly ,as you read my threads you will realise i'm not timid.
Wow!
Well done for not cowering in fear before them.
They are after all just men.
The ONLY power they have over you, is that which you allow.
By the way, Im deeply sorry to read about your friend who's son hung himself. That must be a devastating experience.! Was that family in Perth when that happened?
lets imagine you're a jehovah's witness elder.
you have zero theological training aside from what you've read in the watchtower and the currently still approved watchtower publications, you have zero counseling skills, and no medical training.
a recently bereaved sister approaches you in tears and tells you she just wants to die.. what do you do?.
This is one of the most disturbing pieces of film the society has ever produced!
The glaring lack of "duty of care" they have employed is bordering on reprehensible and is potentially "bloodguilty"!
By failing to assist that sister to get PROFFESIONAL help, they have facilitated her suffering and subsequent actions! By all means give "spiritual comfort" , but then help ensure that she also gets professional help!
Sick, negligent and callous is just a small way to describe this.
Also the arrogance of thinking that they as elders have the skills to assist someone in this state is deplorable!
And they make her feel even more guilty by getting her to repeat sayings like "it would be sinful to carry out such an act"!!?? What?? A person in this state does NOT need to be made to feel even more guilt.
could the religion have survived?.
i know it was never forbidden, but i remember growing up, how we were encouraged to put it off until the new system, and instead focus on a career in the full time service.. can you imagine if every young jw had chosen to follow that counsel?
it's difficult to imagine the religion being sustainable without the next generation of born-ins..
YES! Great topic.
Many times throughout the organizations history, they have implied that "spiritually strong" ones would devote themselves to the ministry and would "forgo having a family in this doomed system".
It was only the "weaker or less spiritual ones" that had families!
The irony is that without the growth from born-ins, the society would have suffered in numbers greatly!
i think this may be a bigger issue for the society than we realise.. when you consider that witnesses have now had well over a year of regularly seeing their 'channel to god' with their own eyes, what do you think they're thinking?.
i'm going to put this as respectfully as i can; these men are clearly a bunch of utter clowns who are laughably inadequate to present a tv show, but also, they are now ridiculously discredited due to the absolute shite that they've spoken in these laughable productions.. consider things from a jw's perspective; tony morris, stephen lett & geoffrey jackson are 'the channel' that makes their religion 'special'.
these men are the channel god is using to lead his people in the modern day.
Yep, I am sure that many witnesses are secretly having "what the heck?" moments when they see these "glorious ones" on the broadcasts....
i wrote the following in relation to the mother in quebec who died for refusing a blood transfusion.
enjoy.
i personally grew up within the jehovah's witnesses and was a member in good standing until 2013 (aged 35), date at which i became inactive.
well written!
Any group that TELLS its people what choices they should make, is stepping beyond appropriate boundaries. They are in fact acting like the scribes and pharasees who "made the word of god invalid by their traditions"
Any group that tells its members "what they should think" is displaying 'cult-like' tendencies. Pure and simple.
i was at my assembly when this was discussed last week.
of course i hadn't prepared and i heard "no rules about limits", or at least i thought i did.. here's the direct quote from the watchtower study article.. "although the bible does not provide specific rules about the kinds and limits of love play that might be associated with natural sexual intimacy, it mentions displays of affection.
the watchtower (study edition) august 2016 : making christian marriage a success, paragraph 8.. what say you?.
Once again here is example of how the GB oversteps the boundaries of appropriate behaviour, while interfering in the lives of people they don't even know....
Yes!
The caption reads:
"How did we not see things for what they really were earlier?!"
