Posts by AK

36

Has anyone got anything positive from being a JW?

by diamondblue1974 in

jw
friends

.

i hear and read alot about peoples experiences and some are pretty horrendous....does anyone actually feel they have benefited from being a jw at least in one way or another...me personally i feel i benefited from the ministry school as public speaking is part of my job and has definately improved career prospects?.

g

AK - Jeff

I learned moral values that did deeply impact me as a person and still do.

I developed a deep seated appreciation for marriage and committment within marriage - now married for 30 years.

I learned to love the Bible - not because they had it all right - but because they did respect it [although misapplied severly].

I learned how to give unconditional love as a result of seeing conditional love in action and the damage it can create.

Good things can happen as a result of any experience - I think I am a better person for having been a witness. I only regret that I wasted so many of my productive years in the cult.

As a result of leaving - and thanx to this site - I have been enriched by learning from so many who have left also. If I had never been a witness I would not be aware of the diverse and wonderful population of JWD!

Jeff

34

ARE YOU STRANGE TOO ???

by vitty in

jw
friends

i knew i was a little odd, when i noticed it was only me who seemed to read magazines, starting at the back and working my way to the front.. but the other day, i realized when on this forum, that i always start at the bottom of the page of topics and work my way up to the top!!!!!!!!!.

i know strange but true.

have any of you got a strange foilble?.

AK - Jeff

I talk to myself in the car as i think out problems in life.

I am afraid of dropping my keys into a sewer drain - the kind that are like a manhole cover with a grate. So whenever I walk over one I hold my keys tightly.

I eat one food at a time on my plate, then go get another.

I love to smell things too - fresh mown grass is my favorite.

I love to create math problems and solve them just for fun.

I take a shower when waking in the morning and before going to bed.

I never touch door handles in restrooms - always use a towel or tissue that I throw out after exiting.

Jeff

26

Do you sense "a sense of urgency" in the congregations?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

now that we're in the 21st century, and all those pre-millenium worries that a few had about armaggedon seem to have gone, everyone seems to be getting on with their lives, buying homes, going on cruises and planning for their retirement.. not everyone does these things, but there is so little talk about the great tribulation, armaggedon and the new system, you can't help but wonder if they are just going through the motions.. i see young people at the hall - they couldn't care less about spiritual things, although they may comment and go out in service.. i see people in the 30s quietly getting on with life - a few are building their own homes from scratch, others are planning on moving and some have bought new cars.. nothing wrong with this, but each of these things show an investment in the future.

a car has to be paid for (if its a lease), a home needs a 15/25/30 year mortgage and this all takes time.. time with a capital "t".. let's face it - the urgency is gone.

no one thinks about the "time of the end" and everyone does their own thing.. families are still having children.. one of my college professors once asked me: "how do you know that people have confidence in the future?".

AK - Jeff

I think maybe the GB has hit a real 'catch 22' here!

The only way to really spark an urgent spirit is to continue to predict that the world is near it's end. The only real effective way that they have ever done that is to use dates or twisted scriptural references [i.e.; the 'generation that saw 1914'] that imply dates or short seasons that make the end imminent.

With such a backlog of failures in this regard they enter the 'catch 22'. If they do not predict with dates or seasons they loose lustre in the faithful. If they do predict with dates or seasons they are once again proven to be wrong and false prophets.

Unless the end is near witnesses have nothing to hold onto. Life is pretty worthless if we don't live it and just remain in a state of suspended animation, as witnesses. The message is fairly devoid of real meaning to both the witnesses and those to whom they preach if no imminent reason to join is present.

Afterall - according to witness lore, if u die before the Big 'A', you will get a resurrection whether a witness or not. The only reason to join is because the end is near!

Just my opinion

Jeff

36

OPEN LETTER TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

by Outaservice in

jw
friends

you may not remember, but i know you very well.

i met you a long time ago when you came to my house with your smiling faces, your neat clothes, and your soft voices, and a bible tucked neatly under your arm.

you told me beautiful stories of a "paradise earth," and a "righteous new system" which would be established shortly.

AK - Jeff

WOW! That moved me, Gaila.

I can relate to soooo much of your words here reproduced. A very wise former witness told me once that leaving the Watchtower was like grieving after the death of a loved one - all the same symptoms; denial, anger, ect. How right she was...

It really is a circle isn't it? One believes the lies then passes it on to one who believes the lies, who passes it on to one who believes the lies, ad infinatum.

I regret at times all those whom I helped into the organization - I feel guilty for that. I had a Bible tucked under my arm too for 32 years.

Jeff

19

JW Reaction to Pope's death

by Hondo in

i'm not sure how to ask this not being, never have been, a jw.

with millions, maybe billions, of people around the globe paying their respects to this great man, what is, or what would be, reaction from jw's (a gb member, a co, do, an elder, anyone?

) about the death of the pope and all the network(s) coverage surrounding his passing?

AK - Jeff

Jw's view Catholics as part of the harot of Revelation. They will most likely quietly rejoice about his death.

There will certainly be no special mention of it in the congregations unless it is mentioned in the Watchtower, which is doubtful. And no elder would ever dream of mentioning a specific individual in his prayers from the platform [unless he were perhaps a prominent witness]. They would never pray for a religious leader dead or alive. I rarely heard anyone pray for anyone at all specifically except at funerals, and they never pray for the dead person, sometimes in a generic way for the family still living.

Jeff

23

Hi There

by Quentin in

jw
friends

parents became jws 1953. i grew up under the old congregation regime, congregation overseer, assistant overseer and theocratic ministry school overseer, along with assorted ms. father df 1956 reinstated 1962. i was baptized ?63.

in 1972 was being groomed for ms position in new kh until i married a girl who was?gasp!!!

?only an ?interested person?, that is to say she was ?just studying?, divorced too (another gasp!!