it really hurt to hear brothers and sisters commenting about this at the meeting yesterday.. "as in solomon’s case, one of the greatest threats to spirituality is friendship with those who do not understand or respect jehovah’s standards.
some may be associated with the congregation but may be spiritually weak.
others could be relatives, neighbors, coworkers, or schoolmates who are not worshippers of jehovah.
Yes!
That study article last weekend has to be one of the most direct and disgusting forms of cult manipulation ever!
I am sure she will post a separate thread on it soon, but my wife and I had her father directly say that he "has to give careful and prayerful thought to cut association with us" based on coming home from that article!
I hope he does! After all, he is just a leach on our time and money anyway....
do you have examples of hymns you will never hear in kingdom halls in any country.. here are a few of my favorites:.
https://youtu.be/cjivdc-_njs.
https://youtu.be/7gfvl0ef-be .
Well, when they have amazing songs like those on JWBroadcasting instead....
my wife (uber) mentioned today an elderly man who comes to the kh and he suffers from a sever stomach complaint which needs surgery and that there is a 'waiting list' at the local hospital.. so i says, "why dont the elders put the $$ together to get his op done privately.
" (ie out of the govt system and 'waiting lists').
her answer was telling.
Great thread Zeb!
Many years back, there was a young teenager in the cong with a rare form of cancer. His family was doing it tough, and so I wanted to arrange a collection to help the family out towards all the expenses.
I asked why we couldnt make it an official Congregation activity to help them out.
What was the Elders response? I was also told "this is not what we do".
So I took up a private collection amongst any who felt inclined to help out. I was told "not to do it while at the KHall!"
Things like this make me so angry when the Society has "charitable tax-free status" in most countries, and yet they wouldnt know the meaning of the word "charity"!
i just wanted to share with you the thoughts that i've had lately.. my plan was to get a job, become independent and then leaving the org throughout this year 2018. i'm going to achieve the first step in a matter of weeks, the second one soon afterwards but maybe i will wait a little longer for the last one.. one year ago a friend of mine was reinstated.
we weren't very close friends back then, although we got along well.
but, since no many jws in my town want to hang out with him (because of his being a former disfellowshipped), we started to talk and go out more often and in a matter of half a year we've become very close friends, like brothers.
It is always your choice. Only you know your situation and circumstances.
But, I will say this: The longer you are IN, the harder it can be to extricate yourself out.
Also, dont think for a moment that those "edgy witnesses" who you hang out with and do fun activities together, will not take a sudden guilt-induced turn one day and rat you all out!. It happens.
Take care. It is more rewarding to live an honest life than a fringe life....
i had a family relative use this scripture found here to justify shunning.
the scripture reads as followed.
if, now, your right eye is making you stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you.+for it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be pitched into ge·henʹna.
Further to everyone's great comments above, it is clear by the context that the JWs are misapplying that scripture.
It says nothing about shunning family members.
Any group that interferes with family relationships and causes division is a cult. Pure and simple.
no really, its golden stuff.
i just listened to it and it contains an amazing interview with an australian activist who i only vaguely have heard of called steven unthank.
he is one of the best guests i've heard on that show, competing with the governing body helper they interviewed once.
Yes!
Really great podcast. He is an amazing guy!
Much respect to Steven!
https://jwglossary.blogspot.com/2018/09/to-all-bodies-of-elders-handling-cases.html.
to all bodies of elders "handling cases of drug abuse".
september 1, 2018. to all bodies of elders re: handling cases of drug abusedear brothers: as noted below, the procedure for handling the misuse of marijuana and the abuse of medi- cal, illicit, or addictive drugs has been adjusted to harmonize with the procedure for handling the misuse of tobacco.
What about a brother addicted to opioids!?
I know of one who had to do months in a rehab facility for misusing those. Is judicial discipline supposed to be enacted? He escaped any punishment.
the next time a jw brings up a natural disaster or severe weather event as proof of the last days, and they preface it by reciting a fact they heard on the news like, (just for the sake of example) 'it's the worst earthquake in 70 years' or 'the worst plague in 200' years', (you get the picture), then simply reply: "oh, so that means that ____ years ago there was one that was worse, right?".
i did this twice.
both times got the same response:.
We are living in the best time of human history in many ways.
Medical improvements abound. Would we prefer to live in the Middle Ages when people died at 25 from a head cold??
so i roll up to the job site and looky there, two uber pioneer dubs dragging themselves down the sidewalk.
both ladies are in there early 60's and born in.. my heart started pumping, but i had to act.i was directly across the street from them.
i walked right to the sidewalk and said in a very loud, but not mean voice: "you can't teach overlapping generations from the bible!!
Sometimes it is so frustrating to see them out peddling their nonsense....
the other day, we were discussing the similarities that a jw has to a drug addict.
(or any form of addiction really).
as jws, we constantly required "another hit" to keep the cravings at bay, or to keep the level of "high" as a "spiritual" person.. yet another jw related activity - ministry, meetings, publications, assemblies etc...just to keep the high level of euphoria.. but what happens when the "drug" supply is cut off?
Thanks Smiddy3!
It does strike me as interesting, that if the "drug supply" is cut off from a JW, (eg they go away on a long holiday and break the JW routine), they are less motivated or inclined to get back into JW activity!
So, just like weening someone off a controlling substance, they can break free - if the environment is right, and the supply is cut
