one thing this site has made me reflect on the baptism practice in jw land.. many of us were raised in the religion, thus you were given the pressure early on to shoot for baptism as a goal.. i remember feeling bad because i waited until the ripe old age of 14 to take the plunge.. looking back, i realize that when i was 14, i didnt even know what my favorite color was, let alone have enough knowledge to make a life altering decision.
yet, growing up in that climate, i would say anyone who waited past their early teens to get baptised was viewed with great suspicion and was likely to be viewed as "bad association".
kids who took the dip at 8-9 years of age were viewed as "wise beyond their years" and the like.. how old were some of you when you were baptised, and what are your feelings on the matter?.
HI all, I was 14. I was soooo sick that day, the nerves had got the better of me and I was in the toilet vomitting for at least half the talk. I had searched the assembly grounds the find the p/o and tell him I had changed my mind.... but darn! I couldn't find him anywhere.
My dad had an affair and my mother was reeling. So I thought that if I got baptized it would help her and give her some stability...... So I did it for her. It was a struggle too... as someone said earlier, twice the guilt!
these people just love instiling guilt on these poor souls.. .
at a recent circuit assembly a circuit overseer gave an awesome talk during the portion, 'giving attention to the needs of the circuit.
and with such a high pricetag, please don't let it be empty.
villabolo: I thought the blood of Jesus was reserved, by Watchtower dictate, for the Anointed. Let them fill up the seats.
Hey V,
This is a good point! He is afterall their mediator and not "ours"!!!!!!!!!!
i could write a good bit on this topic, but thought i would simply open this up for discussion.
here are a few things to think about:.
- the watchtower has no fundamental writing that it turns to as its foundational text.
Different CO's have their own ideas and they encourage bodies of elders in certain directions. We had one who had a definition of loose conduct. So we noted it, did some "research" and found the wt articles that backed his definition. We then set about using his definition and followed "the steps" closely and d/fed a guy. The branch questioned the decision. We supplied the articles and the action stood.
Interestingly, not long after they came out and said that bodeis of elders have no rights in determining if a couple has the right to seperate or not, that elders weren't to get involved in saying that they had/didn't have grounds to split.
Thereby preventing the kind of action that was taken.
CO's are a big influence, and their particular "bent" determines the application of some of these fluid rules.
some of you may remember me posting a few days ago that my shop had become some jw's magazine route.
well today the staff who was supposed to man the shop has called in sick, which meant that i had to go in and open up.
who should i find waiting for me on the door step with a big beaming self righteous grin on his face but a jw!
Interesting.... good on you for giving it to him... both barrels.
So what does he mean about 607 and 1914? Has it changed so much in the last 5 years?
--that's a question i keep coming back to.
it's probably a "human nature" question more than anything else, but perhaps someone who was a full-fledged jw (unlike myself) can explain it.
virtually the entire jw belief system, even their name, revolves around their public ministry and this ministry is based on certain ideas and premises:.
I think that going out in the f/s was a way of showing ones "faith" regardless of whether you made a convert or not. I generally hoped that in all reality I did NOT meet someone who wanted to take it any further and study the beliefs. It was more convienient to just do my time from door to door and leave it at that. I had too much else to do, let alone study with someone.
I had an episode where I studied up on THE DRAGNET and what it meant in a parable of jesus. I then studied through all the wt stuff and none of the former applications made any sense in relation to the change of the generation stuff. I ran it past a c/o and others and they agreed that it made no sense, but didn't want to think about it lest it spoil their faith. I had to trust in jah, wait upom him, stay loyal to christ's brothers.... I bet if i got the latest wt cd and looked it all up again, it would NOT have changed even now.
Thin end of the wedge!!!!!
i know some people who swear by it.
and i know that according to the jw's its meant to be one of the ultimate wicked things to do but now that i've debunked most of what they taught me i''m starting to wonder.. .
so does anyone have experiance with this?
I have spent two years studying to be a Clinical Hypnotherapist. I haven't started practicing it yet.
All JW's should acknowlege that they have been under the influence of Hypnosis the whole time they have been IN.....
Hypnosis is:
1] Bypassing the critical factor of the conscious mind
2] The giving and accepting of suggestions.
That is hypnosis in a nut shell. We all go through stages of hypnosis every day. The ad comes on tv, next thing we are looking for a chocolate bar.
WOW! is that public talk over already! The time just flew! Prayer is the same as a group hypnotherapy session. Consider that with your eyes closed, one of your senses is disabled your concentration is all the more focussed. The critical factor bypassed, the suggestions go straight in!
I could go on. Also in hypnosis, you are NOT comatose. In fact your senses are heightened.
my wife told me that at the last meeting, the elders announced that youngsters going to the skateboarding park were no longer to have any privileges in the congregation.
this is to prevent jw youngs to be rounded up if a drug raid was made at the skateboarding park.. also because of individuals requesting that they be friends on facebook that contain bad pictures, that anyone with a facebook account will automatically have their privileges removed.. sounds like the pharasees protecting the people by adding additional traditions upon them.. .
This is also why elders had some special instructions dictated to them and recorded on page 143 of their elders book. No official letter from the "mother" but dictated and written in by hand. Allows them to duck for cover and deny everything if they want.
It only makes the kids do more things in the darkness and privacy of their own bedrooms. Push the kids underground. The younger dubs aren't stupid as far as the internet is concerned. New account, new user names, inform your friends by text message, and it is business as usual. Parents wouldn't have a clue.
http://www.theopenpress.com/?a=articles&code=01&id=469.
I would like to bring this article back to the attention of all forum members.
What a great resource this web site has been for all victims, both of JW pedophiles and rank and file members who dare to question and seek answers.
The question is "Can we help them to continue?"
Please Help...........................
ray franz saw it.
but the normal rank and file jehovah's witness doesn't have a clue as to how many times the predictions of dates allegedly marking the " end of the world " have come and gone without realization or fulfillment.
here is a short summation from ray franz's book " crisis of conscience " for those who were not aware.. on pg.
HI, just out of interest, I read that in 1799 Napoleon kidnapped the Pope!..... something did happen in 1799, the start of the last days. Even the early WT fathers believed that was the year. How wrong they were/are....
jehovahs day comes at this moment and u realize u were in the right place but because of leaving you are now doomed.
would everything gained (temporary) enjoyment worth it?.
All we can now hear are crickets chirping in the moonlight..................
My feeling is, that upon leaving the borg, it is worth it. As far as it being god's organization.... he left a long time ago too, if indeed he was ever there in the first place.
Imagine the heart beat that this guy had when he decided to post? The reading the follow ups and thinking he was real clever! I hope that he has the COURAGE to stay a while, read, and LEARN........
