the last assembly i attended was over 10 years ago.
the monotone speakers, boring talks, uncomfortable seats, long prayers and nodding off after the lunch break did me in.
i survived the morning sessions, but the afternoon sessions were brutal.
I have fond memories of Twickenham, London in the old days … sessions that lasted into the dark evening, there were speakers that could make your hair stand on end ….. and it all seemed so exciting ! ( ok , I was a total believer in those days )
Now it is all bland , like a plate of cold porridge.
Now older age has stopped us attending and thankfully, my wife feels the same and could not go anyway .. She is thankful for Zoom.
i started doubting the organization when i was 15. i spent the next 12 years doing in-depth research involving numerous emails with bible scholars and scientists.
i finally left the organisation 3 years ago.
technically i was never actually a jw as i was never baptised, so i’m not being shunned.
No … it is the numerology that is “mad”.
Franky , trying to make sense of something that has no sense is a waste of time. The Witnesses hardly ever talk about this kind of stuff anymore and it is only old timers like us that are aware of it ..
i was asking why jws won't sing any church hymns even if they were doctrinally correct.
jws asked me in response if i would sing any of their songs.. dan watkins wrote .
its a hilarious misunderstanding, if it does not come from the watchtower bible and tract society, then it is effectively considered as coming from satan.
How would I rate them?
Musical dross . !
both political and religious true believers often distinguish themselves by their limitless arrogance towards people who dare hold different opinions from them.
every thing has to be done on their terms; people who think differently cant expect to have the same rights as those who consider themselves true believers.
in this way a elite is created a kind of spiritual master race.
I think we need to be a little balanced here.. That quote that spoke of execution and disfellowshiping was over 70 years ago. Those who wrote it must be dead by now.
Today there is a different mindset and the organisation has changed no end . Check out the recent writings on the subject and the attitude is one of trying to show mercy . I don’t say this in support of them but neither should we be unfair in our criticism.
Sea Breeze’s comment about being careful when choosing leaders is very true . All those who vote , wherever they may be, should remember that.
do you have quotations from watchtower literature regarding how to handle those contributing to disunity in the congregation?.
In the latest softening of attitudes and reluctance to d/f I am pretty sure that Elders are told to “ lovingly try to restore such a person “ before jumping quickly to a committee. However, if you persist in such views and especially if you are speaking to others about it , that WT of 1986 still applies. ( see Konagirl’s comment above)
Nb, I have got away with asking questions and expressing doubts before now but I have been careful how I said it and not gone around the congregation saying it. I guess they see me as harmless.
do you recall any?.
i was told that john denver hated jw's with a vengeance - any truth in that?.
also, annie lennox - i was told before a concert she asked any jw's present to leave?.
It is all utter rubbish, otherwise known as the stuff that falls out of a bovine’s rear end !
NB .. the dubs used to love repeating it though. It feeds their persecution complex
any fond memories or funny stories relating to the old book study arrangement?.
i remember a time when a new sister turned up with very smart jacket and shirt.
yet she was wearing trousers and when questioned by everyone she said "blimey, i think geoff (her husband) is wearing my skirt!".
I too have fond memories of the Tuesday night Group meetings.
we would study those old books about prophecies… total bullshit but it was fascinating at the time . Then we would have tea and biscuits.. everyone chipped in with something we stayed for ages .
Yes we had a few nutters too . I remember poor old John. He was really mentally challenged and his mother had to bring him , he couldn’t be left alone . Trouble was he used to mutter to himself using obscenities. So I sat him between his mum and a big brother who worked all day on the dust cart and was well used to it…
Happy days ….
become a circuit overseer in your mid to late 20's.
you would have had to qualify as an elder previously.
this would mean the male would have had to have been an elder in his early 20's.
Well , since the c/o is merely a company man these days , repeating the lines of the Org , I suppose that a younger man could.
I would have fears though about their stability and resistance to temptations . When the young c.o .is a target for the single sisters , will he have the experience to avoid traps?
i remember sitting through public talks where the speaker spent the hour discussing in great detail anal sex, masturbation (of yourself and others), sex during menstruation and so on.
.
i was a child, looking back now, i realise that they systematically stripped away our childhood innocence, we knew and heard things no 'worldly' child would have heard.. the child abuse and grooming happened to every single one of us, the feelings of guilt and shame was in all of us even if we didn't actually do anything bad, the mental images caused by these filthy men hung around in our innocent minds till there was no room for that innocence.. it has taken me 44 years to realise that what was done to us, even those of us not physically abused, is a crime.. do they still have talks like that nowadays i wonder?
No , they don’t do talks or write WT articles like that anymore. I think you are right that anything dubious these days would be on the net in no time.
I agree that it was all very much “ in your face” and basic . You could not be a JW kid and not know the facts of life… it was too much , too public .
awake 1976 - should a pocket calculator be in your pocket?.
somehow this totally zany 'bible based' article passed me by first time around!.
anyone remember it?.
That article well and truly belongs in the past. It was the sort of thing we giggled at and ignored at the time. Mind you it does make a fair point about the loss of one’s mental arithmetic ability. As a young man I could add up a list of figures in my head quite happily. Now ? …… no chance.
