if it’s looking like someone may be disfellowshiped or announced they are no longer a jw and they don’t want to be shunned they just want to fade without being shunned - just say that would make me suicidal .
simple.
in the new shepherding book it says if they say that then don’t go ahead with it.
In my case the slow fade worked well. Here in UK the elders have not bothered with me. When I initially resigned and stopped reporting I expected them to reach out to me, but in the end my wife actuality had to beg them to talk to me. I had an hour of their time in the KH and then no more . The cong. where we live now have ignored me completely although they know me from association .
I have remembered to be diplomatic around dubs so they don’t care. That suits me fine.
no subtlety here, it's going to be obvious where i'm going with this.
please consider the following scenario.. you're seated on a railway platform bench waiting for your train.
a high speed intercity is about to hurtle through without stopping when you see a small child running to the platforms edge!
“Why does God allow it?” was a frequent objection when we used to do house to house ministry . I can remember it as far back as the Aberfan disaster when I was still a youngster.
The stock Witness answer is to say that God expects mankind to look after himself and he is not there to protect us from ur own mistakes and ignorance since man chose a course of rebellion against him. If he protected us from the consequences we would have no reason to be careful. It would also help maintain the rotten sinful life we have today.Rather , his purpose provides a permanent solution to sin and death.
Nowadays I can see the holes in that argument and I know why nobody believed me. Truth is I cannot answer the question…
Mind you that answer is better than saying, as some vicars do, that God must have wanted another angel in heaven and took the child !
dear brothers!.
we have gathered here because, according to your claims, i have apostatized, and as elders, it is your duty to maintain the purity of the flock.
it seems now that someone has contaminated it, apparently.
Nothing wrong with the sentiment behind the post but if it were delivered to a committee they would be 🥱 then 😴 before halfway.
putting this under "friends" because i couldn't figure out where to put it.
it is very often on here and in ex jw videos, ect that people like to undermine some of those who once we would have called friends.
there seems to be a view that window washers, plumbers, cleaners, construction workers are somehow less intelligent than those who may be college educated.
I agree a lot with the original post. Some of the smartest people I knew have been builders, cleaners etc... not because that was all they could do but because they chose that, to spend their time as Elders, Pioneers etc. When I worked for a large company I often thought that the management there was inferior to that of the congregations....That was some time ago of course, I have not been impressed with the elders I see around now,
Of course they don’t know what an expert knows but we are talking of faith , not expertise. I only know that the Apostles were “ unlettered and ordinary men”.
and then, for two years…..nothing happened.until they pretended everything was normal and sent everyone back to the hamster wheel.
back to meetings, back to d2d, back to assemblies & conventions.
everyone, get back on the hamster wheel, and don’t you dare complain or try to get out of it by using zoom.. https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/14fhe4y/exercise_patience_classic_gaslighting_from_wt/ .
Anyone who believed that our pandemic was a sign has to be crackers…..
I never saw that in the JW official teaching although I am sure some jumpy dubs went for it . Frankly, if my family’s group leader had said that, he would have been laughed at.
today, i received a call from my oncologist nurse.
she informed me that i will need to sign a consent form for a blood transfusion.
the doctor will see me next wednesday to go through the consent form with me.
I do understand the dilemma. I have considered this question a a lot . I was offerer blood while in hospital but it was not at all urgent so I had no problem declining it. It is so hard when your close family are believing Witnesses. You think of the problem that you would be causing them . How would home life be afterwards? Is it worth it?
At my time of life , living with a wife who would be drawn into the consequences, who is also my carer for disability….. I seriously wonder if it would be worth sacrificing my happy home life for a few more years of living? Those extra years are going downhill anyway…..
Of course the situation would be totally different for other people and I would never tell anyone what to do. I am just pointing out that although the actual taking of blood would be a no-brainer , the consequences are more complicated.
i believe this list which many of us worked on needs to see the light of day again...and added to if possible.. you know you are in the wrong religion:1. when the all important question is not: "do you believe in the lord jesus christ?"....but....
"do you believe in the "faithful and discreet slave" appointed in brooklyn in 1919?"2.
when you will be refused baptism if: a. you don't believe jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bc (whereas all non-jw scholars, all encyclopedias and all history books say this event took place in 587 bc.)b.
You know you are in the wrong religion when ……. Your inward bullshit monitor screams loudly enough to make you stop and really think…
from https://avoidjw.org/world/ecuador-jw-woman-locked-between-silence-murder-baby/.
and https://www.extra.ec/noticia/judicial/mujer-encerrada-silencio-asesinato-bebe-70076.html.
lett and his 'enemies of god' video has something to do with it or added to post partum?
I quite agree with the above post Diogenesister, but Lett still strikes me as dumb rather than evil. I would ask, Has this woman actually said that it was Lett’s comments that led her to see her baby as the Devil ?
If so, then case proved.
from https://avoidjw.org/world/ecuador-jw-woman-locked-between-silence-murder-baby/.
and https://www.extra.ec/noticia/judicial/mujer-encerrada-silencio-asesinato-bebe-70076.html.
lett and his 'enemies of god' video has something to do with it or added to post partum?
A tragedy happened here, we would all agree. It is a big stretch to relate it to Steven Lett’s comments , stupid though they were .
a good question is would you be more happy not knowing what you now know?.
were you more happy pimi?
are all the pimis more happy than the the pimos or the pomos?.
Ignorance can indeed be bliss. I know some dubs who happily trot along, believing everything they are told, not concerned about life because of their certainty of The Kingdom.
I was never quite like that . I had faith certainly but that brought its own problems. Congregation responsibilities weighed heavy, I had friction with the other elders . I was glad to leave all that. Today I could never be an elder , having to feign enthusiasm for their stupid videos and electric church practices.
So personally I am happier and more content since leaving. I don’t know the answers to mankind’s greatest problems but I’m not going to worry over it.
