i'm new here and i have perhaps an unusual question.
it's just something that i would like to know from ex's or formers rather than from other jehovah's witnesses.
but i would like to know what your experience and your struggle was for former jws who were gay when they were jws.
Well, I have always been straight, but growing up in the 60s, and 70s outside San Francisco, we always had a number of Gay JWs in our halls. Quite a few Bethelites were gay when I was there in the 70s. "NPGs" or non-practicing gays. The old timers called them "confirmed Bachelors".
It was hard for the Bethel gays to room together and not have sex. Quite a few were drummed out of Bethel, penniless and disfellowshipped.
forgive the insensitivity of this but does the wt imagine the "resurrected" bodies of the dead will have useless genitalia?
or will the humans 2.0 have the smooth appearance of a ken doll or the nipple-less breasts of a barbie.
any breasts at all?
Rutherford wrote some crazy stuff about the resurrected being raised without sex....or possibly as white men in the 30s "Golden Age".. lol
one aspect of the watchtower's history that has never been.
adequately explained is russell's fascination with the occult.. the end of the 19th century saw the prominence of many occult.
were obsessed with egyptian symbols and magick based on the.
The 124 Bethel "home" Library had quite a selection of books on witchcraft and the occult.......
Just read any of Russel's "Studies in the Scriptures". We had a set, some crazy stuff.
i would like to know if there are any ex's or formers who still appreciate good manners and respectfulness?
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I think ex-JWs have better manners.
Rutherford ranted about "worldly" manners and etiquette.
Few JWs send cards or flowers.
JWs tend to be judgemental and gossip.
are the governing body really in charge or are they just a figurehead with the real power being behind the curtain .
Having personally known and worked around half the GB in the 70s, having read the bios of GB 2.0, and having known a few Watchtower Attornies, I would say it is a combination.
GB 1.0 (except Franz and Knorr) were like your sincere average Elders. You could disagree with them(as long as you had a smile) and reason with them. They had "street cred" but no education and average IQs.
The Watchtower Attornies and Accountants have usually been well read experienced elders, WITH above-average IQs, and advanced College Degrees. They are experienced in INFLUENCEING others. They don't claim to have a special "calling"...they don't hear God talking to them. :)
GB 2.0-3.0 have unusual biographies. Long after the official heavenly calling cut-off date they "HEARD" a calling and started partaking. Personally, I think many suffer from psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or severe depression. IE: "TRUE BELIVERS".
I think the educated professionals have their hands full influencing these fanatical nut cases....therefore the flip flops.
hitchins razor - "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
which bible verse/s conclusively prove the following claims?.
w16 november p. 30 par.
Which Bible?
The "Bible" accepted by Rome in the 3rd century...."apostates" according to Watchtower?
The "Bible" in the 1700s by "Babylon the Great" according to Watchtower?
Why the Bible?
the magazine that they are studying in the congregation this month has an article at the back about how pornography in a marriage could damage the relationship.. there's one piece of advice that sounds rather scary, the wt suggests that the couple should "consider asking an elder with whom you are both comfortable to sit in and guide your discussions for a time.".
how many of you would want an elder present in your home while you and your partner discussed your personal sexual cravings and the type of porn videos being watched?.
what else has changed?.
during the many years i have been df'd the org has printed a new bible, new song book, doctrinal changes, so has anything changed re reinstating someone?.
i'm contemplating the leap for family reasons but due to my job and young family commitments there is no way i would be able to attend every meeting for months on end.
Welcome to the group.
I think you will regret going back to the cult....for any reason.
But, if you insist, write a dated letter outlining WHY you wish to return. Document you are no longer "living a life of sin". :) Document what you have done as to "Works befitting repentance" (I apologized, read the Bible, prayed, returned $$, sent cards, attended x number of meetings...in person..online, etc., talked to co-workers, yadda.. yadda, etc., etc.) Send a letter every month or two for 6 months.... if you can stomach it.
what happened to jehovah’s witness young men and why did it happen?______in the 1960s men of draft age were called upon to either serve in the military (during the vietnam war) or to comply with the alternate service option: serving in a hospital or community in need.. non-jehovah’s witnesses were faced with only one refusal: military service.jw boys and young men were instructed (in private) to refuse the alternate civilian service as well.
the superior authorities had made this exemption for people of conscience.the law was clear on this.
if we worked in a hospital community we would be free to go about our witnessing ministry - if we double-refused: we would languish in prison.a no-brainer to them.
I remember getting ready for graduation from high school during the war. I qualified for early graduation but put it off because of the draft. My older JW relatives and the local elders thought it was a real badge of honor to go to prison...I didn't. I had been quietly told about the common rapes of JW's in prison. It wasn't something I wanted to experience. I was glad to get a 1-H at the draft board pending the announced wind-down in Vietnam.
Watchtower has always been ready to sacrifice others as long as it wasn't them.
this article is behind a paywall: https://www.smh.com.au/national/punishment-and-control-the-secret-handbook-that-rules-a-religion-20231026-p5ef9z.html.
a herald investigation has uncovered disturbing practices within the jehovah’s witness church, including the systems for discipline, punishment and control in a secret rule book for church “elders”.. australian children in the jehovah’s witnesses religion are being trained to avoid life-saving blood transfusions and parents are being coached to thwart court processes that may prevent their children from dying, internal church documents reveal.. an investigation following an inquest into the death of jehovah’s witness heather winchester, who died in newcastle after refusing a blood transfusion, has uncovered disturbing practices within the australian church, including the systems for discipline, punishment and control contained in the secret rule book for church “elders”.. the church’s blood transfusion ban forces people to choose between risking death by refusing treatment or being “shunned” – cut off from family and friends under the church’s strict rules – according to 16 former and current members of the church interviewed and the testimony of many others.. .
some of them believe it has cost hundreds of lives in australia.. “i think it’s truly dangerous for children, who are not old enough to vote or drive, to be coached about how to convince a judge or doctors about a decision that is potentially life-threatening,” said fleur hawes, 32, a solicitor who escaped the religion and is speaking out for the first time.. in public, the jehovah’s witnesses’ leadership downplays the impacts of its ban on blood transfusions, which are based on interpretations of bible passages that say christians should not eat blood.. .
Thanks for the share Tahoe!
Quite the story. Well written and researched. It looks like Sydney has a population of well over 5 million. I imagine this paper is read throughout a much bigger area. It was the number one result today when I googled "Jehovah" this morning..in the USA. Watchtower is certainly "making Jehovah's name known........" and not in a good way.
