some of you may remember my son's struggle with his beliefs about a year ago.
benjamin was brought up as a jw and was heavily involved, used extensively on the platform as a good jw role model.
however, about a year ago (when he was 13) he started to have doubts and went through a cycle of depression, even contemplating suicide.
Three cheers for Sister Doormouse!!!
I supose that she may be in there "Bad books" for a while but there is nothing they can do and the prior posters are quite right in saying that a parent should always be present in such discussions. I wonder why they would not go ahead with her involvement?
By the way, does she like to answer up at the meeting? She may find it harder to get her hand taken. You can get away with many minor things, but upset an elder and he remembers
if we take a look at the mental energy that must have been expended in contributing to threads on this board regarding various concepts of christianity it does not seen unlikely that, if it could have been "bottled" and kept, it could be used to power the next space shuttle.. is this what christianity is all about?
is it just one gigantic intellectual exercise that is only an option to those with the mental capacity to understand the never ending theorys put forward by all and sundry regarding its practice and bible understanding?
i believe that this would exclude at least two thirds of the worlds population from ever becoming, what many seem to believe are, true christians.
Faith vs knowledge ?
I always maintaintained that they were one and the same , and I would quote my trusty "Aid " book p.1619 where it discussed John 4.24 and said "Such worship could not be based on imagination but woud have to conform to what is in harmony with the actual state of things, consistant with what God has revealed about himself and his purposes."
The apostle Paul, for instance "Proved logically" that Jesus was the Christ, he did not rely on faith and emotion (Acts 9.22)
So "The truth " has to be proveable truth on matters that are factual.. Maybe that is why I was able to seriously question it when the net showed many things that are just not so.
But to the committed dub who will not ask questions of the leadership, all "Wordly knowlege" is suspect. Scientists are atheistic tools of Satan unless they make statements in favour of W T doctrines, and "God has hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones, and revealed them to babes" (Matt 11.25.) A useful verse to quote if things appear to be at odds with established science
So, Babylon captured Jerusalem in 607 bce, because the WT says it did The number of 144000 includes all the first century Christians and the remnant, because Brooklyn says so. The signs of the times are obviously here , despite an objective comparisom with history showing that terrible things happened in the past as well ... and so on
I guess if you want to believe it enough then it all makes sense
Edited by - BluesBrother on 26 September 2002 10:36:12
i'm not sure how to put this news gently to the community here, but regarding my post yesterday regarding chantelle.. thankyou for all of your kind messages and warmth displayed on your parts.. chantelle was only 16 when disfellowshipped.
only 18 years old with her whole life in front of her.
she took her own life this morning at 0400hrs.. i am so sorry not to have been in a better position to get your letters to her in time.. take care all of you & kindest regards.
The words of anger have been said, and rightly so.
I could not pass by this thread and fail to add my words of total support, and sincere condolances to Adele and to yourself ,Celtic, who made a great gesture on the girl's behalf a couple of days ago.
What kind of heartless bastards could treat their daughter that way ? Even if she had mis behaved, she was still a teenager, still there to be saved. She was but 16 when baptised, quite old by modern standards in the Borg but a chilling indictment of a policy of tying youngsters to dedication when they are still immature.
THERE WAS NO CALL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THE PARENTS TO BEHAVE LIKE THAT
May she rest in peace.
so....today i asked a few questions to my girlfriend.
one thing led to another and my plan of not overwelming her with too many questions kind of went down the toobs.
questions about birthdays, holidays, john 1:1, why is it so important to stress the word donation, ect, ect.
showme.
all Kingdom Hall's have libraries that should contain most of these publications. - If you can raise her curiosity just enough to have a look after the meeting
I also think it is a powerful tool to show that the Society has misquoted people in its publications . I have verified a couple of the misquotes from "Creation" that are on the net and it blows their credibility away.
here in the dallas area, we now have 50 stuffed lambs that will be distributed to k.h.
's on the afternoon of the 27th!
i can hardly wait!!!
How about The Who , Won't Get Fooled again
the imortal line
" I get on knees and pray... We Dont Get Fooled Again ".......
kerrrrrannnnnngg
PS . Have a geat day, Jessika.
after a person leaves the religion, they can say "why was i so dumb".
dumb implies a lack of intelligence.
however, there are many witnesses that are very intelligent.
Better news about Mrs Larc
Were we stupid or misled?
I heard a public speaker use a quote that he said came from an ancient Greek, "Demosthenes" to the effect that "It is very easy to convince people of something that they would like to believe ". The dumb so and so could not see that he was a prime example.
The New World sounds so appealing. World peace, no more war , nobody getting injustice , nobody being oppressed and of course health, everlasting youth and a paradise to live in . Who would not want that to happen ? The arguments can sound logical, "If you were God , is not that what you would do?"
Couple that with many of us growing up in an environment where every one that matters does believe it and you have a recipe for a faithful witness
It also, I believe, takes a certain courage to admit to yourself that you have been wrong for all these years. It is far safer to close your mind to anything else and stay with your Watchtower articles, keeping your social status.
I believe that these are some reasons why they stay with it.
it's 9.30 am in sunny wsm, and here i am sat in front of me computer instead of zooming up and down a ladder fitting soffits and guttering.. i'm injured!.
yup, fell of me ladder yesterday, and received a sprained ankle for my troubles.
(actually, it was the bottom rung that i slipped off, so it wasn't that bad.
hey everyone,.
i was moved by the sad news about ima and his poor son's kindness to follow his dad's last wishes.
(see thread entitled, "please read") anyway, it struck me as odd last night that i actually shed tears over this man.
DJ,
A nice wam posting. It is true that we feel drawn here, perhaps because we can understand each other in a way that no one else can
I was really encouraged by responses to a posting. Lets "Stick together", even if we disagree at times.
last night, my wife zazu, had a stroke.
she is in the hospital, and will be there for a least a week.
she can still think clearly and converse.
So sorry to hear of your sad news . Please pass on my very best wishes and I really hope that your wife makes a full recovery.
Take of yourself too during a difficult time
my sincere apologies if this has been shown before.
in the event that it hasn't, this is part of the "living will" that uk jw's are filing with the hospital liason committees.
much of the will deals with whether or not the will writer wishes to have his/her life prolonged artificially, however this first page deals with the blood issue.
I suppose it has been updated but there were such documents available when I was active in the later 90's . I had one. I withdrew it from my doctors records(where it has to be kept) after I stopped witnessing . The major points are mandatory but there is space for a lot of personal choice in the acceptance of fractions and life sustaining treatment
