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i understand from another thread that there were instances of this.. know any?
It gives me no satisfaction to recall that I knew of numerous instances in which this was actually encouraged - so that a young person would / could "develop a taste for the stuff."
I "developed a taste" for the booze all-right; well before my 18th birthday.
Jack.
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without attacking anyone for their beliefs, feel free to state what you believe in right now.. personally, i still believe in a higher power, a creator, call him jehovah if you wish, a god that will put things back right eventually.
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I keep an open mind on this matter - but so far, since breaking with the dubs 12 years ago, I have been non-religious.
Jack.
i declined appointment to become an elder in two different congregations.
boy, was the elder body and co not happy about that!.
have any of you done so for any appointments (elder, ms, special pioneer)?
Things must now be quite different to what was the case 20 - 25 years ago!
Then, the congregations had a huge mob of Wanabees, climbing over each other for appointment.
i've noticed several people on this board mention they have fms and similar type afflictions.
fms is known to be brought about by physical/emotional stress.
i have suffered from it for many years.
I know that I have said this before on another post, but I think it is relevant to this discussion, also.
When I was with the JWs, it was known that 5% of the circuit suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. (Incidently, this went through a succession of different names; starting with the total misnomer "Tapanui Flu", then "ME" or "Myalgic Encephalitis", followed by "CFS / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" - and for all I know they may now have yet another name for the illness!)
The interesting point that I find is that, in the 12 years since I broke with the JWs, I have yet to meet one person who suffers from this illness.
5% of the JW population versus 0% of everybody else that I know - what does that tell you?
Jack.
it is understandable that individuals who read this thread will more.
than likely become offended and to those who feel as such i will .
apologize.
The only benefit I took away was learning how to speak in public. But even that proved to be a bloody expensive course in public speaking!
lets see now.......... monday night: prepare for the tuesday night book study i will conduct.
also, have the family monday night watchtower study preparation.. tues night: drive over to an almost inactive brother's house to conduct the book study.
prepared questions for the children ahead of time.
All that was "Choosing the Best Way of Life" - so we were told in a book the WTS put out in the late 1970s, anyway!
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for those of you who are over 50, what advice regarding living a meaningful life would you give to the younger crowd?
do you wish you took a different path earlier in life?
Expanding a little on the excellent post by Garybuss:
"Get the best education possible" and "Learn your trade before age 30"
They say that it is never to late to get an education. No doubt that is true - as far as it goes.
I learned the hard way, though, that the time for learning things is when you are straight out of High School. It is often difficult to pick up the tread later on. So, as far as learning a trade or getting further education - rip into it as soon as you complete High School. There will never be a more suitable time for either.
Jack.
i used to feel it was the catholic religion because of all its rituals.
then i felt it was the latter day saints with all thier "personal testimony" and "prophet" doctrines.
finally, after reading about the watchtower's history i've settled on the view that they are all equal.. how did you feel about it when you were a witnoid?.
The consensus while I was in the borg was that all those who claimed to be "talking in tongues" were "demonised." I knew of many (including myself) who were terrified of anyone who attended a church group where this type event took place. The (polite!) collective term used to describe any such group was - I seem to remember - "charismatic." In our district, that included groups such as the Assembly of God, the New Life Centre, and the Church of Christ.
Anyway, as far as we were concerned, they were all definitely "demonised" - and therefore to be given a wide berth.
(My apologies to any here who may now attend such a church!)
do you think the holy spirit directs the writing of the awake?
They say that the first response that comes to mind is usually the correct one.
In this instance, the first thing that comes to mind is that if God is directing the writing of the Awake magazine, then he (or she / they / it / or whatever) is not much of a god.
Jack
when i was a jw, i don't remember having read in the watchtower literature a rule explicitely forbidding to be bearded.
the pictures depicting "faithful witnesses" of the past (abraham, job,, moses, the apostles, etc.
) always show bearded men.
Does anyone here remember a certain story that once seemed to be repeated everytime the subject of beards came up:
Allegedly, one "brother" used to sport a well-groomed beard. At least, he did - until one day while engaged in Field Service / Hawking Watchtower Products, a woman was insistent that she "did not want to be part of a Student Rebellion."
This supposed incident was (apparently!) proof that beards could "stumble" members of the public.
Whether this incident ever happened or not, the story was repeated on the program of at least one District Assembly.
I can remember when, in some congregations at least, the no-beard rule was relaxed for a few years in the mid-1970s. As the end was just that close now, it was thought that JWs must be trained to use their conscience. After all, once "persecution" hit - they would be cut off from the WTS, and unable to expect direction on every last thing!
It followed from this that such matters as dress and grooming were matters of conscience - not matters for the WTS to legislate.
Did the WTS soon do an about-face on that one, once they realised that this would give the R&F some control back in their lives! (Can't have that, can we?)
Jack
