last night i ran into a former elder friend, he is in his late 70s.
he asked how i was doing and i asked how he was doing.
then out of the blue he tells me; .
Problemaddict hit nail on head.
Doctrine and spiritual 'meat' is not too important to the stay-in/ born-ins....
A younger born in friend who by her life choices obviously doesn't live as if we're in the end times - a lifetime of heavy duty career moves, accumulating property and never pioneering, ever...suddenly out of the blue got all excited last year at the international conv - sending me pics and exclaiming 'the best, best conv ever!!!!!!' - she loved it, the new hip style of vids ( the interior room shots looked pretty cool) the Mexican waves ......I texted back 'so good you enjoyed, what was the main spiritual encouragement/ scripture that you took away' - I haven't been to meetings for 3 years and she knows it - and I got silence. Couldn't be bothered to sort out exactly what scriptural element made it the 'best ever' - she's not alone - pretty, smart and a worldwide network of family - the WTBTS had some clever branding consultants helping to gloss up the self image of the JWS.
well it seems for many on this board the time came to leave the w.t and cross the bridge in to a real world.
speaking for myself l feel i did not enter the cold and lonely world i was lead to believe i was entering.
rather i have discovered it was no great loss leaving a world that had protected me with false, dreams, fantazy and false promises.. but what have i really achieved by my leaving that i value?.
Alive! - "...I dared to say it felt like giving 'a witness' was like handing the majority of the population a death sentence..."
"I suspect that back then, that possibility actually motivated more than a few WT loyalists."
You know, I hate to say this - but the 'relish' in the tone of voice amongst certain JWs was disturbing.
I heard a crazy mix between ecstatic delight that someone was 'interested' to sad, down-mouthed head shaking when a 'study' couldn't go past a certain point...to downright disdain.
Given the appalling 'witness' we have given over the years through decades of poorly scripted 'studies of truths' where the 'study' had to believe this or else - every witness alive today should take pause.
As several prominent elders have said to me in the past as they wiped their lips and enjoyed another glass of wine ' even if it wasn't the truth, it's the best way to live'....
For some maybe.
For some.
primum non nocere is a latin phrase that means "first, do no harm.
" the phrase is sometimes recorded as primum nil nocere.some businesses have adopted this aphorism into their day to day psyche, one such example being the airline industry.
this is so deeply ingrained that here in the uk, many observers opine that the uk's national health service ought to adopt the same psyche as the airline industry and incorporate the "first, do no harm" into day to day practice as a priority.but what about non-medical and non-airline organisations?
that was the question to me tonight.
because of their beliefs they have a moral compass, a net work of friends and a support group.
they have what they believe is a loving god.
The witnesses (under instructions) have irresponsibly left tracts at the doors of people - depicting frightening scenes of humans dying ( including children) terrifying illustrations of monster like dragons, lions and all sorts....
Without pausing to consider the mental and emotional health and age of whoever may pick up the publication.... And off the JW trots, for an afternoon drive around and coffees...
I remember speaking to a woman who said that at a very fragile time in her life, the witnesses had frightened her and left her feeling anxious and miserable, due to their clumsy and ridiculous way of picking out just one scripture and following that theme at a time when she simply needed warm human care and gentleness. And... They kept coming back...flip flopping between warm fuzzies and frightening warnings.
UNQUALIFIED.
I have watched needy people being brought to the meetings, being 'made a friend of' only to be dumped, absolutely dumped when they back off.
I wonder what damage has been done over the years to those we 'met' on the doors...
i was supposed to attend the meeting today, one of my once a month duties for the sake of my family and my fade.
i read the wt and i just can't stomach going.... what this wt does is again and again reiterate that only jws will survive the coming destruction and that they should be happy about this and raise ourselves erect...eg:.
we cannot expect that many people will suddenly convert to true christianity.
Re derogatory remarks when people declined our mags etc - let's not forget the global tradition of having dibs on outstanding properties!!!
Used to make my blood boil - they chortled away when someone said they'd leave their songbook in the letterbox - such Christian hearts!!!
i was supposed to attend the meeting today, one of my once a month duties for the sake of my family and my fade.
i read the wt and i just can't stomach going.... what this wt does is again and again reiterate that only jws will survive the coming destruction and that they should be happy about this and raise ourselves erect...eg:.
we cannot expect that many people will suddenly convert to true christianity.
Yes, I think that may have been the tract DOTT.
Thank you!
i think inside or overleaf it made some daft comments by a Jewish POWW2 .. Anyway, it was badly worded.
You know, like others here I put faith in that ultimately everyone who wasn't truly wicked at the time of Armageddon would turn to Jehovah. My poor mind was tortured with the flip flopping between 'Jehovah will judge the hearts' - spoken in a positive and hopeful way - through to 'it will be too late, the doors of the ark will be shut'.
i was supposed to attend the meeting today, one of my once a month duties for the sake of my family and my fade.
i read the wt and i just can't stomach going.... what this wt does is again and again reiterate that only jws will survive the coming destruction and that they should be happy about this and raise ourselves erect...eg:.
we cannot expect that many people will suddenly convert to true christianity.
I remember in the mid 2000s being overseas and visiting family.
One Saturday afternoon, I arrived at a relative's home - I was to stay for the weekend.
They were visibly upset - and after an hour or so, I found out why.
They showed me a tract that had been delivered that morning - one of those 'bold and hard hitting' messages that the FDS had cobbled together, damning all false religion, depicted by macabre illustrations. My relative, a very peaceful athiest, was shaking.
I remember my gut turning as I saw the tract through their eyes - and with hot internal prayers I had to quickly go into damage control after this tract had seriously alienated my relative.
Meanwhile, the FDS were nowhere to be seen as this small, non consequential 'publisher' shed tears over the damage caused by this tract, after all my careful work to show that witness's are a loving 'family' of believers.
hi, my uncle made the first move by taking my mom, dad, grandma and grandpa(all in good jws in standing and non have put out anti-jw fliers or speech), that's who he is taking to court.
i have left the organization but than again, i was only a unbaptized publisher.
my grandma (whom i love so dearly was shocked to learn "i am not going to marry a pioneer and i don't want anything to do with any pro-jw females, i feel this religion is one of the most hateful religions mankind has seen).
You sound distressed beyond words with so much toxic stuff happening in your family.
Hope letting it all out here is helping you in someway.
well it seems for many on this board the time came to leave the w.t and cross the bridge in to a real world.
speaking for myself l feel i did not enter the cold and lonely world i was lead to believe i was entering.
rather i have discovered it was no great loss leaving a world that had protected me with false, dreams, fantazy and false promises.. but what have i really achieved by my leaving that i value?.
By the way - I'm not claiming I had special spiritual insight re the sheep and goats thing - a close friend who like me was a newly converted witness argued the same thing with me - the elders shut us down.
But it just didn't make sense!!!
I remember us both looking at eachother somewhat shocked - so much for being truth seekers - we should have ran!
