isn't it unbelievable that a jehovah's witness must accept whatever the organization says or they can be disfellowshipped??
unless they tell you that their understanding has changed, you cannot believe anything unless they say it's ok. .
many years ago i questioned them about their ridiculous view that whenever the word "heart" was mentioned, it was a literal blood filled organ.
Yes, it really is simple:
IF Jehovah directs the GB, and the GB get things wrong, then does that mean that Jehovah was having a bad day when he told them those things? Was he feeling unwell when he gave them that "truth"?
OR
Does it simply mean that Jehovah DELIBERATLY gives 'false truth'?
OR
Does it mean that there is NO direction of the GB from an almighty Jehovah at all?
i didn't recognise his number , cordial talk for 2 minutes then what can i say , the chook rose to the occasion.
i will relay main points but the order is not necessarily correct.
he wants to visit with an other elder ( i live in two states 2/3 of time in a new house in their territory, but they don't know address yet ).
Yes James! I have! I told them that "if my name and reputation is maligned in the local area, I will avail myself of the legal means at my disposal"
And they just ignored the threat, and said "Are you threatening us?"
I replied "I am just reminding you of appropriate boundaries"
So we were NOT DF. BUT they DID spread all number of stories far and wide about us....
Anyway Chook! Well done. It feels good to stand your ground!
But, sadly, all that elder heard will take from the conversation, is that you were "not humble" and that you were "proudly and defiantly standing up before the appointed one of Jehovah...and that Satan has influenced your heart"
so i'm pretty sure my fade is complete.
haven't stepped foot inside a kh in 9 years.
but the concept of fading still makes me wonder.
The concept of "sin" is just another form of control.
Once we let go of the FOG (Fear Obligation Guilt), life is much clearer, and happier. And NO, that doesn't mean we live a life of reckless abandon. It simply means we live according to a normal moral compass, rather than a prescribed, enforced one from high-control cult leaders!
so hadn't been to a clam meeting in quite a few months, but went last night.
so we learned that gog of magog is not satan as previously believed.
they used a few scriptures that made it clear that it couldn't be satan and that it would be a coalition of nations.
Wow...that sounds like extremist behaviour!
It also smacks of desperation. These fear tactics may be ok for adults, but what does it do to CHILDREN who are subjected to such garbage??
https://www.revealnews.org/article/california-court-guts-child-abuse-ruling-against-jehovahs-witnesses/?fref=gc.
warning - vent ahead....... so, my father (still very much in jw but who has at least had the decency to still keep in contact with me and hubby and to show interest in why we aren't attending and respect where we are at) is in intensive care at a local hospital and is intubated and sedated with some serious health issues.
i'm next of kin so i get all the phone calls from the hospital.. so, the rest of the "family" has cut me off because we are inactive and because the ever-active jw gossip grapevine has rumoured with a sibilant slithy hissy voice: "apossstassssy" is the cause of our inactivity.. whatever.. but now i've had to contact said "family" with the news about my father and what is going on....... so, dad's sisters answer my calls and manage to act and conduct themselves with a degree of decorum.. my sister on the other hand - well, she doesn't deign to answer my calls and texts for most of the day.
i push the issue tonight and insist on speaking to her when my brother-in-law answers the call.
Great points SummerAngel!
Yes, the use of the word "apostate" does play into the society's control. The actual dictionary definition is simply "one who has left their former faith". By that rule, even Jesus was an Apostate (or Judaism)
As for being present with the hospital and medical team, we are indeed doing that. We are the ones who have visited, and spoken with all the medical team.
The sister (who lives approx. 2000 kms away has not of course been able to visit)
Will keep you all updated!
warning - vent ahead....... so, my father (still very much in jw but who has at least had the decency to still keep in contact with me and hubby and to show interest in why we aren't attending and respect where we are at) is in intensive care at a local hospital and is intubated and sedated with some serious health issues.
i'm next of kin so i get all the phone calls from the hospital.. so, the rest of the "family" has cut me off because we are inactive and because the ever-active jw gossip grapevine has rumoured with a sibilant slithy hissy voice: "apossstassssy" is the cause of our inactivity.. whatever.. but now i've had to contact said "family" with the news about my father and what is going on....... so, dad's sisters answer my calls and manage to act and conduct themselves with a degree of decorum.. my sister on the other hand - well, she doesn't deign to answer my calls and texts for most of the day.
i push the issue tonight and insist on speaking to her when my brother-in-law answers the call.
Yes, as Unstuck's other half, I can add that it simply proves that we made the right decision in life to "become Apostates" if this kind of behaviour is the sort that is promoted by the society!
I mean, yes, we are "apostate" as you all know here on the forum. But it needs to be stated that NEVER at ANYTIME has ANY elder actually ever spoken with us, nor popped in to see us to verify the rumour started by one person who saw my computer years ago.
NOT ONE PERSON has ever even checked with Unstuck to see where she stands, or what her views are! All that witnesses know for sure is that we don't attend.
So, this proves the old expression "WHY LET FACTS GET IN THE WAY OF GOSSIP?"
ok, this is from 2006. but someone on reddit mentioned it and posted a link.
my word, the micro-management and unnecessary lengths they go to to control:.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0b2fynzabupqfsnvqtxjmyxjvmgm/view.
I can recall and MS and Elders meeting with the CO (around 2011 or so?) where the CO said that "viewing pornography - even if it was of just two women, would call qualifications into question"
I thought quietly at the time, "why the specific reference to 2 women?"
now they are really scraping the barrel.
check out this discussion on exjw reddit .... https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/6v85y9/pioneer_school_today/?st=j6nwx7ny&sh=136a59c9.
It certainly sounds in line with the ramped up and extreme rhetoric the society has been promoting of late.
Last year's convention clearly showed the "proper behaviour" witnesses should adopt toward DF or DA ones: Ignore their phone calls....
this is a fascinating study of how our modern apples evolved.
the study involved examining the genomes of the array of apple varieties, including related types of fruit.. from it we can learn that the fruit types we know today, may not have existed in ancient times.
from its origins in what we now call kazakhstan, it seems the original fruit changed as trees grew in many places along the great ancient network of trade routes we call the silk road, and as different varieties evolved in various ways.. a readable version of the story can be found in popular archaeology:.
I thought this was the evolutionary history of the apple?
https://thenextweb.com/apple/2014/01/24/visual-history-mac/#.tnw_jC14OILv
