dear brothers and sisters in the worldwide brotherhood of jehovahs witnessestm,.
there has been much public interest in our beliefs lately, so we have prepared a very brief summary of our core beliefs in a new pamphlet which you may offer to interested persons.
hopefully, this pamphlet will generate enough interest with honest-hearted people and enable you to start many new bible studies.
Jehovah?s Witnesses believe that Satan the Devil has deceived all of Christendom. He has done this by tricking them into believing that the Bible actually means what it says. Jehovah?s Witnesses, on the other hand, have come to the understanding that the Bible does not mean what it says and that Jehovah God is directing them to understand what it really means when it says what it doesn?t mean.
this one is priceless....
FARKEL SPEAKS THE TRUTH!!! ALL HAIL FARKEL!!!
cybs
i noticed after being a jw for a while that many members of my congregation were having to take antedepressants.
(i counted at least 30 out of 100).
after a few years i too began to have bouts of depression and problems with anxiety.
Welcome good girl! One of the many reasons I left the JW org was because of what I saw happening with young people in there--so much tragedy! Many had become self destructive and depressed and ended up being Dfd which further separated them from their families, when what they needed most was help and understanding. Some of them died in accidents, some became drug addicts. Seems like the stronger ones left altogether and were never heard from again. Only a handful in my daughter's group remained as JWs. She is still in contact with a couple of them, but they seem sad--so restricted by their beliefs. Some of them were smart kids, but they have been stiffled. They live mundane lives, have mundane jobs and speak of mundane things. Of the two she is in contact with one is on anti anxiety meds--the other complains about everything and seems to be depressed. I'm so glad my daughter is out of there--she has really flown since she has been set free of all of that nonsense. It is sad to see how many have been stiffled in there--artists and musicians who were never allowed to develop their skills and others who have incredible gifts to share with the world but cannot do so..
Love to you, cybs
i noticed after being a jw for a while that many members of my congregation were having to take antedepressants.
(i counted at least 30 out of 100).
after a few years i too began to have bouts of depression and problems with anxiety.
Once you learn how to assert yourself in life, exercising your built-in self-autonomy, you will find yourself taking control of your life in ways that you never knew or thought possible before. Others who accuse you of being bad or guilty or wrong or deceived may believe they are right and have your best interests at heart. But you do not have to accept their pronouncements. You cannot control them, but you CAN control your reaction to them. Do not let them be the judge of you. You decide over your own life. This is part of Self-Responsibility. This is key to getting over a lot of those hang-ups and guilt complexes we have been carrying around with us all our lives, like albatrosses. Until we learn to love ourselves, we cannot effectively love others. Stop the guilt! Discover that you really are special, and that you are worthwhile and loveable. Build your own self-esteem. Tell yourself every day that you are worth it, and that "Every day I am getting better and better". And no, you don't have to tackle and solve this whole problem in a day, and become overwhelmed. "Inch by inch, it's a cinch. Yard by yard it's hard." A day at a time. A day at a time. A day at a time. Strive towards improvement and perfection, even though no-one is perfect.
Wow, rod P--welcome. Your story was compelling and yes, inspirational even! You spoke of the sadness and depression, but then the victory of taking control. thank you for sharing all that. And welcome!
love, cybs
someone informed me today that in two months time there will be a "special announcement" to all congregations.
everyone must be present at the kingdom hall for it.
my elders already know what it is, but won't tell me.
the annoucement will probably be another anouncement of an upcoming special talk and that talk will be an annoucenment of an upcoming speical annoucement and on and on and on and on and on........The organization keeps spinning it's members in circles--they get so dizzy they don't know which way is up after a while....
that's what she just told me.
2 elders plan on giving her a shepherding call and will outline exactly what and what not she can do with her granddaughter----now that she is marked.
So sorry for your mom, min. An 80 year old woman does not need this kind of stress! I hope your daughter is doing well. I forgot, has she separated herself from the Org? I hope so for sanities sake.
I think a lot of people know my story here BUT....when my non-believing unbaptized but very moral 21 year old daughter got married to a non-JW I was told BY THE ELDERS that once she left our home she would then be considered "worldly association" for me AND we all know what that MEANS! Somehow it was figured out that if I shunned my only daughter, did not attend her wedding and explained to my husband and everyone else in the family and community why this was so, that this would be a great witness to the community and to my family--a fine act that would draw them to Jehovah's Organization!!!
Her Dad is an unbeliever too, but I guess she was guilty by association (me) her mother being a JW and taking her to the meetings all those years. The elders told me that they had prayed and holy spirit had told them that she was a believer in her heart THUS she was guilty of turning against the TRUTH and therefore it was a SIN for her to marry. BUT, she was not qualified to marry a brother, because she was NOT baptised. Another WT catch 22 situation. Total insanity...
cybs
does anyone out there know the procedure to being reinstated?
i have been df'd for almost 5 years now and i'm considering... possibly getting reinstated.
however, i have been to a few meetings in the last few weeks and i am constantly ignored (i thought the elders were allowed to talk to me... there are at least 10 elders) also, i enquired about getting a bible study and was told that i could not have a bible study because df'd people do not get studied with.
(((((((Pebbles))))))))
Cute name....by the way. Since most of the people who frequent this board have left the JW organization for one reason or another, the vast majority of us would beg you to do some research on the religion before you join back up again. I have left in the past couple of years. I noticed that the doctrines were changing constantly and the attitude of the Organization was stricter and the atmosphere in the congos were less loving and the JWs in general were getting stranger and stranger. There are thousands of here who have left and would never step foot into a KH--ever.
I wish you all the best in your search. Listen to your gut. Don't ignore your instincts on this.
Love, cybs
comments you will not hear at the 1-23-05 wt study (december 15, 2004)
help through holy spirit.
in bible times, how did jehovah provide help through fellow believers?.
Imagine how you would feel knowing that an angel helped you to come in contact with a rightly disposed person (buzz phrase)!
Then why do JWs end up going to the doors of those who aren?t interested? Why don?t the angels just direct them to "rightly disposed persons"?
I always wondered this myself. Why did the angels make us waste our time going from door to door of people who were not there or not interested. To keep us humble, right?? I know we were always told that even if peoople didn't respond (or were not at home) going in service was a great witness to the community, seeing us out there wallking about in our uncomfortable dress clothes. (Yeh, right)
Oh my goodness, the WT sure has a lot to say about nothing.
So, what is the deep message this article is trying to convey here? It's OK to help somebody when you can, but you can only do so much, so don't try to hard if it is inconvient for you. Jehovah will provide sometimes--if he's up to it at the moment.
Thanks Blondie
cybs
my mother is 61 yoa and has always lived on the brink of poverty.
a little over a year ago she said that there had been an annoucement of an "international assembly" in australia.
she applied.
So sorry for mom. Many JWs are put under a lot of pressure to attend the assemblies.
Hawaii had an international assembly 2 years ago. It was on Oahu and all the other islands were expected to attend--that was their district convention for the year--it was held there and no where else. So all the JWs from 3 other major islands had to fly to Oahu (Honolulu area). The elders were handing out the information on the package deals on how to book the air fares and hotels. To make matters worth it was sceduled during the Christmas holiday season--the busiest time of year here in Hawaii! The room rates are at the highest. Plus many people work at the resorts here (JWs included) and to request to take a vacation at that time of year would be insane (and could cost you your job), as the resorts are running at full capacity. The air fares run between $150.00-225 round trip and even higher than that if you don't book ahead of time. The hotel rooms were at least 100 per night..Plus most would need to rent a car because the hotels are not close to the assembly (try renting a car over the x-mas in Hawaii). Of course you can't cook in the fancy hotel rooms, so that would mean meals out every night. They requested that no one leave the assembly hall and outside food was not allowed--you had to eat what was provided at the convention hall...The meals were the same every day. You had the choice between hot dogs and chili (guess you couldn't eat if you were a vegetarian.) I was very discouraged and on my way out of JW land by then and didn't go, but still felt very guilty about it. I'm sure some of the brothers were not able to attend this assembly because of the cost. For a family of 4 to attend would run in the thousands. I remember the elders annouced a couple of times that many had not signed up yet to attend and they seemed to be putting the pressure on over that. Of course there was mention of those in other lands who have it way harder than us (swimming the crocodile infested waters and all). Guilt, guilt, guilt.
This was the first assembly I recall where they were requesting that you had to book a package deal to get there. I wonder if the Org is now making money off of this deal.
cybs
this is the story of my last bout as a witness.
nothing extraordinary.
probably not interesting to most, but it amounts to the biggest change to my life i've ever made.
Thank you! Great story Penny! I could totally relate to your process. When I finally opened my eyes and did my research with out the WT blinders on---what a shock to find out the truth about the "truth." Glad we finally figured it.
Take care,
cybs
i am absolutely hopping mad angry!!!!.
to those of you who know me, you are aware that i have been fading for over a year now.
i have a daughter who is 5 and a son who is 2 y. in brief iast year i separated from my husband, left the organisation, met someone else and am now expecting with my new partner.. well i have had the usual ups and downs with my jw family.
Worse still ...when individuals try to work towards re-instatement, they are treated like spiritual lepers and the humiliation they have to endure before being welcomed back into the org is a disgrace...it reflects the attitude of the brother in the parable of the prodigal son and not the compassion of the father who ran out to meet his son , while still along way off...
Raphael--good points in your writing
Pintail--Your story about your little daughter really choked me up. So sorry you had such a rough go of it. the WT and it's condtional love program (we will only love you if you are working for the WT Org) really stinks.
Chok....To shun a pregnant women and a little child should be against the law. I have come to the conclusion over the past months that JW-ism breeds mental and social retardation in its member. We were told that shunning members who went astray was a loving thing and the best thing for them, as it would make them see the errors of their ways. Seeing the other side of it now--the shunning accomplishes nothing, but pushing a person further away from the Organization who promote this hateful act.
Hugs to all...
cybs
