If the JWs are so concerned about bringing reproach upon Jehovah's name, then perhaps they should change the name of their religion. Drop the name Jehovah's Witnesses and go back to being called Bible Students or some other innocuous title.
Athanasius
JoinedPosts by Athanasius
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15
"Reproach on Jehovah's name"
by Phizzy inthe longer i am away from the cult, the more very childish and downright silly it seems in many many ways.. just another example of the childlike way they do not think things through is their obsession with "not bringing reproach on jehovah's name", that concept was used to stop jw's doing all sorts of stuff, a lot of it quite normal.. but the worst aspect of this concept is that they cover up the evil within their org any way they can.. yet they only have to look back on all the cover-ups of the past, by other religions, by politicians etc etc to see that an open acknowledgement and an open dealing with the situation at the time is far better.. cover-ups get exposed in the end, and leave you looking far worse than if dealt with honestly..
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Athanasius
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What kind of person was Nathan H. Knorr?
by Hecce inwe have several examples in the forum showing that president knorr was not a loving and caring person; one that impressed me was the one about the elderly bethelite that was put out on the streets until his death due to a disagreement with knorr.
i bring to your attention an incident that happened in the country of honduras back in the 50s, it has to do with immoral conduct by a branch overseer and his subsequent disfellowshiping.
i am not critical of the end result of his conduct but rather the salacious and detailed report of this matter putting in the open the details for the whole world to see.
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Athanasius
Barbara Grizzuti Harrison mentions the Charles De Wilda episode at Bethel and the missionary's suicide in her book VISIONS OF GLORY--A History and Memory of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Barbara Harrison served at Bethel during the time that the incidents took place and has written an excellent memoir confirming Bill Cetnar's account.
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Funeral Memorial Service: Who was this mystery man?
by RULES & REGULATIONS inlast night,my wife and i went to my cousins funeral memorial service.it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be.they had two video screens with pictures of my cousin from a baby to the end of his life.they stopped playing as soon as the service started and the screens were raised out of the way.. the family and close relatives arrived one hour earlier to find seats near the front rows and have a little family time.. there was a mystery man that was seated near the front with a tablet,a jw.org pin on his suit jacket and just sat there writing on his tablet the whole time without greeting anyone or even speaking.. does anyone know who this man could be?
was he sent by the society to make sure everything went well?.
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Athanasius
Maybe the elder giving the funeral talk is suspected of being an "apostate" and his BOE sent someone, unknown to those in attendance, to monitor the talk to make sure it was orthodox JWism and not infiltrated with "apostate lies."
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Stupid Watchtower.
by Darkknight757 infebruary 8-14 asstower is titled " a living translation of god's word.
note paragraph 4:.
“4 despite the clear evidence that the personal name of god belongs in the bible, many translations completely omit the sacred name of god.
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Athanasius
“4 Despite the clear evidence that the personal name of God belongs in the Bible, many translations completely omit the sacred name of God. In fact, just two years after the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released in 1950, the Revised Standard Version was published."
In the above quote the Watchtower is up to their usual scholastic dishonesty. The Revised Standard New Testament was first published in 1946, four years ahead of the NW Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. In fact the NW Translation committee wasn't even formed until 1947. So Fred Franz had a copy of the RSV NT to consult as he put together the NWT.
While the RSV Old Testament wasn't published until 1952, the Watchtower doesn't make that clarification. So the Watchtower editors leave the reader with the impression that the NWT was published two years before the RSV. Moreover, the first volume of the NWT Hebrew Scriptures wasn't published until 1953, one year after the complete RSV NT and OT was published.
Therefore, Fred Franz had a good English version of the Bible to consult as he edited his Bible version to fit JW doctrine.
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Stephen Lett at our assembly today
by StarTrekAngel inhe delivered the most cultic piece of propaganda i've ever seen in an assembly.
wife typed up the whole thing.
i will be posting when i get a chance.
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Athanasius
Lett reminds me of the host of a children's show I used to watch on TV when I was six years old. His exaggerated expressions and tone of voice makes me think that Lett thinks his audience is made of kids ages 4 to 8 years old, or adults with the mental capacity of children in the 4 to 8 year old age group.
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First Born Syndrom? -
by elderINewton inis it just me or does it seem like a large portion of first born children leave the "truth" or find ttatt?
its weird for me, but of all the other people out i know (only about 20 ish) they are all first borns, and usually the wife is as well.
just looking at this from a different lens and curious if others see the same.
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Athanasius
I'm the first born, and I was the first of my immediate family to leave the Watchtower. My sister and her husband left the JWs six years later. My brother-in-law was the first born of his family and the first to leave, but his younger sister is still in. My cousin, who was also the first born, left the JWs, but his younger siblings are still in.
My ex-wife's older sister, also the first born, left the JWs, but to my knowledge my ex-wife is still in.
However, I also know of several families where the younger sibling left first and the first born is still in. Yet in my experience it seems that it's more common for the first born to be the first to leave.
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Athanasius
Since Sister Morris seems to be focused on the householder's crotch, perhaps he isn't even wearing pants.
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"If I wasn't born a JW, I would never have become one."
by OneEyedJoe ini've seen it mentioned by a few on the forum that at some point there was a realization that had they not been born a jw, they never would've converted no matter how many times the jws tried to study with them.
this was my experience too, and i'm wondering how universal it is for those that were born-in but eventually left.
i think i started having this thought (more specifically that if i were not born a jw, i would surely have become an atheist by now) in my late teens.
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Athanasius
JWism never really appealed to me. So had the JWs come to my door, I'd have politely said "no thank you."
Unfortunately my mom had converted four years before I was born and was very devout and raised my sister and me in the religion. My dad wasn't religious, so JWism never appealed to him. But having a non-JW father gave more freedom than my JW friends who had both parents in the cult. I could watch TV shows, see movies, and read books that were forbidden other JWs. I even attended college, something denied to my JW friends.
Perhaps because I had it so easy, I didn't leave the JWs at 21 like many other born ins. I didn't walk away from the cult until I was 37. Unfortunately it did cost me my marriage.
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How do I handle this situation?
by BarelyThere inhey everyone.
i'm sorry that this isn't a very thought provoking post but i could really use some advice on how to handle this.
there isn't anyone else in my life i can ask right now because, being dfed, all of my friends are "worldly" and don't know how witnesses function.
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Athanasius
Hi Barely There,
Unfortunately it's always a sticky situation when dealing with anything JW. But as a former elder, I'll give you my views based on experiences while serving on JCs.
While one's sense of justice would say print the emails and expose your ex and his MS pal, don't do it. If you want to get reinstated, don't mention the emails. In most cases the elders will ignore the information, or even worse turn it against you, even though the messages were posted on your email account. In retaliation for exposing one of their own, they could add months to your sentence. As others have advised, don't reveal your hand just yet. Besides your ex may later reveal something really scandalous in the conversations that he posts to your account. This could be valuable once you are reinstated and begin your fade.
Regarding a change of congregations. If your present congregation is too toxic for your spiritual health, it's best that you change to one that is less so. But changing congregations won't necessarily speed or hinder your reinstatement. It all depends on the elders in both congregations.
The elders in your new congregation will need time to evaluate you, which can add more time before reinstatement. Also they can only recommend that you be reinstated, the final decision rests with the JC in your original congregation.
In most cases it will be the same elders who DFd you, who will reinstate you. If you are on good terms with them, there shouldn't be a problem.
Again these are my observations based on my experiences as a former elder. Other ex elders may have better advice. Moreover, the members of this forum have posted a lot of information for you . So don't make any hasty decisions, but take your time and carefully read the posts and see what you are most comfortable with.
Take care,
Athanasius
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How do you feel about the expression "The Truth"?
by stuckinarut2 init's amazing how the expression "the truth" has become such an ingrained term used by witnesses.. "we have 'the truth'".
"is he 'in the truth'?".
most here have found out so many facts about the organisation, and felt the effects of being "gut-punched" as we realised these facts.. so how do you feel about the expression "the truth" now?.
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Athanasius
I was also born into the JW religion. But even as a believer I disliked using the term "the truth" to refer to JWism. There were so many changes and adjustments made to the JW belief structure that I felt "present truth, past truth, and future truth," would be more appropriate. So it was never a problem for me. However, I still cringe when people call JWism "the truth."
Interestingly the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, a Russellite Bible Student group, call their monthly magazine "The Present Truth."
The term "the truth" in JWism may be a carryover from Freemasonary. Though with the Masons it is the pursuit of truth, not that they are in "the truth" as the JWs define their religion.