just finished watching dateline.
i was very much impressed.. it didn't make the watchtower look good at all.
i bet.
That was a great line about who would be destroyed, wasn't it? Makes the reality of what they teach out in the open.
I thought it was a great show... brought out things from the WT closet. The WT didn't have nerve for any real interviews with Daateline.
BD
i'm a new member but have been a lurker for some time, even more so since witnet went down.. i have never been a jw, though i have a couple family members on my side who are, also my inlaws and my inactive jw husband.
right now i'm studying though it's more out of learning about them and finding out what makes them tick rather than joining.
also the jws are the only religion that my husband would allow me to get involved with.
outnfree, thanks for the advice and concern :). Nope, it's ot a relative that's studying with me, it's a pioneer from the local hall (we live on one side of the state and both sets of our parents live on the other). Oh, what I meant by
And about me studying... not to worry, I have no intention :).
I meant I had no intention of joining the JWs. I enjoy learning about other religons, but wanted to go into this first since it involves the family.
And I have been wondering where I would stop the study and how to do it. Maybe if we move to another part of the state would be the easiest way to end it. I am mainly doing it to have an understanding of their beliefs so that when I talk with my inlaws or members of my side of the family (I do it in the passive, non-arguing way) that they wouldn't be able to say "Well, you don't understand... If you studied you would clearly see it is the truth...", etc . I actually am getting more turned-off since I began studying.
And I wish my husband would let me go to another church especailly since he has little interest in going to even the hall. I didn't think he would have a problem since we only went to the hall once while we were dating. And since we had our daughter, I wanted her to grow up in some sort of church, though one that was more open. I would just take her and we go off by ourselves like my mom did when I was younger, but he doesn't want me to go to any other church with or without him :(.
I remember having a talk with him about how she should be brought up and we agreed that as long as she is exposed to a religion in the beginning, that when she's old enough she could freely make up her own mind whether she could stay or join another one, but I know that would be tough on her if she grew up as a JW. He seems to have forgotten that talk we had or he doesn't realize how tough it will be since he was spared because (I assume) he had less pressure since his dad wasn't baptized and no one else in the family were involved... he never mentioned being shuned or anything that I have heard from a number of you folks. I don't want my daugther to have to go through that mental torment.
I may do the equvilent of "Home-school" for her when it comes to freely practice a religion.
And about what to do about holidays, well, we have been doing that with little trouble, but recently he and his dad have been pushing me to be a JW. I would choose to practice them privately, I probably will with the way things are going... I'm not big on pushing my beliefs on anyone. Educate yes, pressure no. Though I would miss being with my family during Thanksgiving and Christmas if he really puts his foot down about it. My hubby and his dad have been trying to tell me that my family won't allow me to be a JW solely due to the nix on holidays. I've talked with mom about looking at churches and she's encouraged me to look at everything and then make up my mind. Although she doesn't agree with JW beleifs she would respect our wishes if I did decide to become one, as long as I was happy with whatever I decided. However my hubby and dad-in-law sees it as her trying to talk talk me out of becoming a JW and claims that she would have a problem and won't understand. I know that they are taught that by the WT Even the pioneer I study with has trouble with that since she asks almost every time. The thought of someone being accepting and loving of someone else with different beliefs sure is a foreign one to them, lol
Sorry for making another long post, lol
BD :)
i'm a new member but have been a lurker for some time, even more so since witnet went down.. i have never been a jw, though i have a couple family members on my side who are, also my inlaws and my inactive jw husband.
right now i'm studying though it's more out of learning about them and finding out what makes them tick rather than joining.
also the jws are the only religion that my husband would allow me to get involved with.
Thanks for the welcome. Sorry for not explaning more about my situation... I meant to write more but with it being late and also my husband coming into the room, I had to quickly end it.
To help you get an idea, my husband is in his mid 30s and his father first got involved about 25-30 years ago... sometime around the 1975 incident because I have heard him talk about that. My husband said he attended Baptist and Catholic churches since he was 6 but he said he didn't like any of them until he dad and family went to the hall. He only went to Sunday meetings and Theocratic Ministry School. And like you all, I was surprised that he had never attended the Memorial before. I had thought for sure he had and dropped my jaw when he told me the other night .
He isn't baptised, and neither is the rest of his family. In fact his dad, step mom, brother and step sister are going to be baptized at this coming District convention. For a long time his dad couldn't be because he worked at a place that made weapons for the military and a couple years ago he was let go from that job.
My husband liked going to the meetings and to this day agrees with a number of things that the WT teaches. But when he was working someplace around in his 20s (I think... not too sure) when he had co-workers who were JWs were behaved in the hall and at work but on the weekends they were getting drunk and swearing and having wild parties. And that made him open his eyes (well, somewhat) and he saw the contradictions in the WT, and he stopped going to the meetings.
He still considers himself a JW though, and as I said earlier, he agrees with some of what they teach. But he either forgot or never really knew some of what they do, like the other night when he said he puzzled as to why his dad wasn't home and I said that he probably was at one of their 5 meetings, and he dropped his jaw... he didn't know about that. And a couple of the teachings that I have talked about from my studies he didn't know about. I don't know if he even had a person study with him.
He doesn't like going to any of the meetings however... the Sunday meetings he calls the "Sunday Social Club"... he says that about every church. I was surprised when he said he wanted to go to the memorial.
Since he wasn't active, I thought that I might be able to go to the church I wanted... either the one I had grown up in or the Unitarian Universalist church. My parents are from different denominations (Catholic and Protestant) and they got along fine (30+ year marriage :)). Since my dad was not acitve, my mom brought us kids up in a Protestant church. And so I thought that'll work for us... ok so I was wrong.
I don't hate the JWs though... I don't fall into that trap that they try and set up against other religions to apply to theirs as well. And like you said myMichelle, that makes me nauseous. I really feel sorry for them. Whenever I read the personal stories in the Awakes or WTs I sigh and pray for them.
And about me studying... not to worry, I have no intention :). With such great resources like Free Minds, the Watchtower Observer, this board and a few other great sites, it keeps my head level. And also the Bible which I always compare with what their NWT says and what the KJV says (For years I had thought there was little difference, but never really paid attention). I never read the Bible so much until I got involved with my husband's family and then the recent studying... mostly to find out what it really says than what the WT interpretations are. I have to show my hubby John 1:1... I think that might make a good start point about their faulty teachings. I'm also a history buff so I have real problems with their claim that Jesus was put on a stake. I never heard anything outside the WT about a stake being used then.
Whew! I hope that clears up most of the confusion about my situation :). If not just ask :).
BD
i'm a new member but have been a lurker for some time, even more so since witnet went down.. i have never been a jw, though i have a couple family members on my side who are, also my inlaws and my inactive jw husband.
right now i'm studying though it's more out of learning about them and finding out what makes them tick rather than joining.
also the jws are the only religion that my husband would allow me to get involved with.
Hi everyone :). I'm a new member but have been a lurker for some time, even more so since WitNet went down.
I have never been a JW, though I have a couple family members on my side who are, also my inlaws and my inactive JW husband. Right now I'm studying though it's more out of learning about them and finding out what makes them tick rather than joining. Also the JWs are the only religion that my husband would allow me to get involved with. I grew up in a liberal church (my husband says my church was "too Catholic" which is hysterical if you ever been to my church ;) ) where we didn't put down any other religion so I had no real problems with JWs until I read their literature and went to sites.
I had never been to a Memorial before last night... I was curious to see what the hype was about. To my surprise my husband had never been to one either. I have attended all of my churches Easter services up to the time I dated my husband and was expecting something as joyous as those. I knew about the emblems and how only the "annointed" could part take of those. I don't agree with that since I see everyone in a Christian congregation as one under Christ and should all be treated equally... the bread and "wine" should be open to all to participate in.
Well, I guess I don't have to go into much detail since many of you have already gone through that. Anyway there isn't much to say either... The brother read the bible along with some extra words, we passed the bread and drink, and that was it. I was wondering if there was something I missed when it ended.
The highlight though was when my 2 year old daughter would make noises as she drew in her notebook. Not crying or anything, it sounds more like meditation humming. And it was loud enough for the whole place to hear. Both my husband and I would bend over to gently tell her "shhh" but both of us would try hard and not laugh :). And she would do it again and again... someone had courage to say something during the meeting :). I had a urge to start singing "Put a little love in your heart" (I've been having the Annie Lennox/Al Green version going through my head the last couple days) but I wasn't as brave as my daughter, lol.
Anyway glad to be here and a part of the group :)
BD
