Posts by cyber-sista

31

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 4-24-05 WT Study (Self-Sacrifice) 3-15-05

by blondie in

god or the wts?

is there anything we can give god or jesus to earn/buy everlasting life?

cyber-sista

Thanks again for another great review Blondie.

I wonder how my old JW friends in there can keep faring week after week with these batterings. How tiring and unrefreshing. What a burden the WT is loads upon the backs of its followers.

The message I hear in this article: Give us your time--give us your money and we will continue to treat you as slaves because this is all you deserve in life. How depressing is that?

I am grateful each day that I am no longer enslaved by the WT routine of life. Still working on learning to relax again. Love those lazy Sunday mornings spending time with my hubby in the garden.

cybs

19

Father told me about the elders school a couple years ago about this topic.

by Greyeyes in

because my now ex wife was molested by her dad back in the 60's (while he was an elder), my dad and i were talking when he got back about how the issue of molestation was heavily discussed.

he also tol dme that the society's stand on it had always been that of that it must be reported to the athorities.

that there had been a problem for too long of local elders being the ones to sweep it under the carpet, to protect a friend.

If there was something I could do I would. I live in another state and this was conveyed to me by my sister who knew the people involved. I wasn't there,nor did I know the people involved, so couldn't be much of a witness. The people who are there aren't talking to me anymore, so who in the heck knows what is going on. It is all very frustrating. My first hand evidence was what my sister told me the elders said to her--she didn't make that part up I know that much of her.

cybs

19

Father told me about the elders school a couple years ago about this topic.

by Greyeyes in

because my now ex wife was molested by her dad back in the 60's (while he was an elder), my dad and i were talking when he got back about how the issue of molestation was heavily discussed.

he also tol dme that the society's stand on it had always been that of that it must be reported to the athorities.

that there had been a problem for too long of local elders being the ones to sweep it under the carpet, to protect a friend.

cyber-sista

In the above letter to the elders in regard to child molesting it mentions in the first 3 sentences:

(1) immediately call legal dept

(2) Please call legal department

(3) Please call legal department

#4 sentence in part reads: Never suggest to anyone they should not report molesting. If asked make it clear that whether to report the matter to the authorities or not is a personal decision and there are no congregation sanctions for either decision.

Does it sound at all like they care about the child involved? Never a mention of them--pure cold hearted legalities. I have a suspicion that this is what they put in writing, but they will try to smoothe it over and cover it up if at all possible.

cybs

19

Father told me about the elders school a couple years ago about this topic.

by Greyeyes in

because my now ex wife was molested by her dad back in the 60's (while he was an elder), my dad and i were talking when he got back about how the issue of molestation was heavily discussed.

he also tol dme that the society's stand on it had always been that of that it must be reported to the athorities.

that there had been a problem for too long of local elders being the ones to sweep it under the carpet, to protect a friend.

cyber-sista

I know first hand of a case this past year in my own sister's congo where she and the sisters became aware of a young boy who was being molested in the congo--and she told me the elders had told them not to speak about it because they had contacted the society already and the society was making steps to take care of it..

The clencher is this--my sister was told along with the other sisters was told by the elders that is was against the law for a minister to report a case of child molesting in their state--I said in surprise "against the law?" She said "yeh., weird law, huh? (It was pointed out to them that they were ministers too, so against the law in that state for them to report it.)

I was on my way out of the Org at that point in time and began to do some research on it and looked up things on news reports and such and some of the state law books and eventually landed on the silent lambs site. Discreetly I tried to ask my sister about the situation again (At the time I did not want to raise her suspicions about my doubts) and what she had been told and she refused to respond to me any further about the situation. She does not communicate with me much anymore about anything (she knows I am out now), but she seemed very uncomfortable at the time with my questioning on what the elders had said to her and the others. Somehow they were told something to silence them.

Like I said I was struggling with separating from the Org then and this was a slap in the face to open my eyes to the true nature of the WT Org. It was not against the law in that state for a minister to report a case such as this--they lied. I don't trust them anymore about anything--ever.

cybs

49

My father will lose his privileges if he attends my sister's wedding

by Goldminer in

jw
friends

my sister is planning on getting married within the next few months.her jw husband committed adultery and left her when their son was 7 weeks old.after getting a scriptural divorce she began a friendship with a "worldly" man and now this friendship has grown to a soon-to-be marriage.

this man studied with the jw's for a while but could see right through them found too many of their teachings didn't make sense so he stopped studying.he's made his stand with my sister and told her she can still attend meetings if she wants to.he's also a good worker and seems to really love the kids.he's not perfect but no worse than many jw husbands.

anyways,the elders pulled my dad aside on tuesday night and told him he could(could????!@#*?

cyber-sista

Yes, it is true--it is a rule--an unwritten one. My non-JW daughter was marrying a non-JW man and all in the congo were told they would lose their privleges if they attended (because I had raised her around the "truth" even though my husband was not a witness.) The elders would not allow their wives to attend even though one of them protested, but she still didn't go. I talked to the C.O and he told me it was a rule and some elders in a nearby congo had lost their "privledges"because of attending such a wediding. I talked with other JWs out of state and they knew of this rule also--it is now being enforced far and wide. Even though i didn't have any "privledges in the congo I was told that it would be a good witness to the community if i did not attend (Yah, right--a witness to what a nut case I was) One elder told me that if I did attend it would only be as and "observer" and I should not show my approval in any way (He likened it to putting your hand on your heart during the flag salute.) Anyway, I just about had a breakdown over all of this, but the good thing was my eyes were opened wide to the truth about the WT Org. Still pisses me off to think of the torture they put my family through over the joyous occasion of my daughter's marriage. I did attend by the way--I wouldn't have missed it for the world (I even participated in the toast)

cybs

PS izz2cool

What can they possibly hope to accomplish by this? Will it stop the wedding from taking place? NO! The only other purpose it could possibly serve is to deliberately put a breech in the family.

I asked on elder was they were expecting to accomplish with all of this and he actually said to me point blank "This is the kind of sword that divides families."

36

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 4-17-05 WT Study

by blondie in

paragraph 5.

paragraph 6.

paragraph 7.

cyber-sista

11 What, though, if marriage mates have different religious views because one of them accepted Christian truth some time after they got married and the other did not? Can such a marriage succeed? The experience of many says yes. A husband and wife with different religious views can still have a successful marriage in the sense that it can be enduring and bring happiness to both. Besides, the marriage is still valid in Jehovah's eyes; they are still "one flesh." Therefore, Christian spouses are counseled to stay with the unbelieving partner if that partner is agreeable. If there are children, they benefit from the faithfulness of the Christian parent.?1 Corinthians 7: 12-14.

12 Peter addresses kindly words of counsel to Christian women living in religiously divided households. His words can also be applied in principle by Christian husbands in the same situation. Peter writes: "You wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, in order that, if any are not obedient to the word, they may be won without a word through the conduct of their wives, because of having been eyewitnesses of your chaste conduct together with deep respect."?1 Peter 3:1, 2.

OK, when I was a witness this was very disturbing to me because the problem with this is no matter what kind of a great example I tried to be as a wife to my unbelieving mate, how could I explain to my hubby why all the other bad things he saw in going on in the congo ? Over the years he had seen many bad JW marriages--some abusive. He had been ripped off by JWs (loaning them money) etc etc. I was always making excused to him for the bad conduct of the JWs.

At many times too he was unlovingly treated as an unbeliever . Even at times when the witnesses were nice to him he sensed it as being a phoney nice, which it was, because I know what was said behind his back. Later he saw what little respect the elders had for our family when they harrassed me when my non-JW daughter chose to marry a non-JW. I was told that being married to an unbeliever was like Satan being married to Jesus--refering to my daughter and myself.

How can a wife of an unbelieving mate show truly show love and respect for her husband under the WT arrangement? It is impossible. The main reason I ended up leaving the org was because I loved my family and did not want to hurt them as the WT was instructing me to do. If I had followed the directions from local elder body and C.O it would have destroyed my family.

13 If a wife can tactfully explain her faith to her husband, that is fine. What, though, if he does not want to listen? That is his choice.

NOT ALWAYS, I knew of sisters who harrassed their husbands for not being JWs using their association with the organization as a weapon against them--these were not happy marriages

Still, all is not lost, since Christian conduct also gives a powerful witness. Many husbands who at first were not interested in or who were even opposed to the faith of their wives became "rightly disposed for everlasting life" after seeing the fine conduct of their wives. (Acts 13:48) Even if a husband does not accept Christian truth, he may still be favorably impressed by the conduct of his wife, with good results for the marriage. One husband whose wife is one of Jehovah's Witnesses admitted that he could never live up to their high standards. Still, he called himself "the happy husband of a charming wife" and warmly praised his wife and her fellow Witnesses in a letter to a newspaper.

BALONY!

thanks blondie,

cybs

79

Six Billion Hearts Will Soon Stop Beating. . .

by ACEofCAD in

jw
friends

announced our circuit overseer last night in his talk about the urgency to preach because of the times.

followed by a silence that was broken with ohhhs and ahhhs.

he said that a couple of times throughout his part, simulating a beating heart with his fist.

cyber-sista

I think of my little niece and nephew sitting there listening to this garbage and all the other little kids subject to this WT hate propaganda. Kids are very impressionable--you can get them to believe in Santa claus and the tooth faery after all. Are they sitting there thinking about their non JW parents or grandparents and relatives and all their little friends at school being wiped out? I'm sure this is the stuff their nightmares are made of. The only way this will not sadden them is if you teach them to emotionally shut down and hate people outside of the organization--very sad.

Daunt I appreciate your comments--you are proof that not everyone (even at an early age) buys into the WT programming. You give me some hope in the human race.

cybs

144

An Elder Told Me.... Many To Be Disfellowshipped Soon...

by Doubtfully Yours in

an elder told me the book is jehovah's latest provision to cleanse his organization.. he said soon all people that have drifted, inactives, and others baptized and not complying with the biblical mandates for a jw, will be visited and given an option to shape up or ship out.. he said that if the person refuses the help offered by the congregation they'll be notified of the date of disfellowshipping and given time to appeal the decision.. he was so happy stating that this way jehovah's organization was preparing for the final clean-up before armageddon.

he sounded so convincing that it almost made perfect sense what he was saying.

i got goose bumps listening to his reasoning.. dy

cyber-sista

Now I am hoping they do something over the top like this to make themselves look more obviously idiot than they already do. I think that it will wake up some who are on the fringe and that would be a worthwhile thing. Too many depressed souls in limbo hanging out in JW land.

cybs

144

An Elder Told Me.... Many To Be Disfellowshipped Soon...

by Doubtfully Yours in

an elder told me the book is jehovah's latest provision to cleanse his organization.. he said soon all people that have drifted, inactives, and others baptized and not complying with the biblical mandates for a jw, will be visited and given an option to shape up or ship out.. he said that if the person refuses the help offered by the congregation they'll be notified of the date of disfellowshipping and given time to appeal the decision.. he was so happy stating that this way jehovah's organization was preparing for the final clean-up before armageddon.

he sounded so convincing that it almost made perfect sense what he was saying.

i got goose bumps listening to his reasoning.. dy

cyber-sista

I believe the state of God's people during Jesus time is being repeated today! Matthew 9: 35 and 36 also Matthew Chapter 2

Interesting point flash. Even though I don't know exactly what I believe as far as the bible is concerned I had flashed on this one before thinking about the prophetic patterns that the Organization was always talking about. If it does fall in line with the rest the chosen people of God would eventually become corrupt and their leaders would become like the pharisees in Jesus' day.

You know a few years ago I may have thought that this paranoia about inactive ones being Dfd or DAd was a bit over the top, but the things I experienced with elders and others in the Org in the past couple of years had lead me to believe that they are going to take any opportunities they can to lay their power trips on people. I think as one of the posters mentioned above that things are just so dull in the Organization that they are looking for any sort of drama to spice things up. JW land has become unbearably boring that a little witch hunt would definitely add a little spice to their lives!

cybs

21

The Best Response To Memorial Invites?

by dawn27 in

jw
friends

they will not give up!!

i live a ways away from my old congregation and i work with a couple of active witnesses who know i'm inactive.

so, i've been bombarded with phone calls and asked by my co-workers to go to the memorial.

cyber-sista

I am doing the fade thing too, which probably won't last much longer, but...I have had a couple of word of mouth invites given through my non-JW hubby until finally someone caught me at the door. A sister came by and wanted to make sure I knew it was the memorial on Thurs and I said yes, and she told me the time and then said she wanted to give me a personal invitation and started to reach into her bag for one. I didn't want to take it and just said "to tell the truth I won't be going." With that she gave me a pained expression and let out a sigh. She had a questioning look on her face, so I just said "we all haven't the same experiences." That seemed to be a conversation stopper, because she didn't say anything to argue that point. I am sure she didn't want to ask me what my experiences were that had such an effect on my faith in the WT Org, because she herself didn't want to hear anything negative. She said a cordial goodbye and left. Her hubby is an elder, so I am sure she will bring this up to him. I wonder if they will start to DA people for refusing to go to the memorial? We shall see.

cybs