i've been awake now for about 6 months i'd guess and a member here for a couple of weeks.
it's been eye opening to read other peoples experiences on here and i appreciate all of you.
i've noticed in many, seemingly most, of your comments that you were not treated well at your hall or you have had very negative experiences in the "org" so i thought i'd like to share mine.. in all my time as a jw i have to say for the most part i always loved the people.
I was raised in a multi-generational witness family and most witnesses I knew were friendly and kind. I think the difference could be that most congregations/circuits have cliques and if you are in the clique you are ok and if you are out of the clique it can be hell. Like an earlier poster said if they smell blood in the water it's all over.
Friendly or unfriendly people don't make the organization any more accurate in their teachings though - it's still a cult.
according to you tubers mike and kim and son of thunder, egyptian branch closing.
son of thunder is saying he has relatives that we're running bethel in egypt for years and they have been let go reassigned as special pioneers yet according to him this job no longer pays a wage.
he also states that 5000 total bethelites world wide are being let go.
okay, i'm about to engage in a major word vomit.
just giving you fair warning as your time may be better spent somewhere else.. so, i'm sitting on my lunch break, bawling my eyes out, and writing on this forum to people i don't know yet probably have a great deal in common with but at the same time, used to scare the daylights out of me.
for years, i would come across this forum and 'lurk' awhile if you will, or see things on youtube.
Hi Stephanie61092, welcome to the forum! You are so brave and I am so glad you posted here. This forum is full of people with similar circumstances and backgrounds. You can receive so much good advice by truly caring people. I'm sorry it took me so long to post my hello, somehow I missed the thread.
i'm not really sure where to post this.. i've been with my boyfriend for 4 months now and i've really never been happier.
i was brought up in the church of christ with an elder father and i really believe in my religion, although i will admit to being a lousy christian at times due to sheer laziness (not wanting to get out of bed on sunday).
my boyfriend essentially lives with me.
Welcome gypsyvine. Glad you decided to post and get some advice and comments. There are a lot of people on the forum that have been through something similar and from time to time new posters like yourself will come here to get advice.
My 2 cents; I believe that his mother, if she is a JW, is hoping that by treating you with kindness, love and respect you will eventually convert. They will treat you great as long as there is a chance that you will convert one day. I'm surprised that his mother has anything to do with her son since he's disfellowshipped, that's a no no.
If he gets reinstated, which isn't automatic, it takes time and effort and a good deal of humility in the face of disgusting shunning by everyone at his kingdom hall, he will then be a regular JW in good standing. Which means he must believe the teachings of the Watchtower Society (JW organization name). That means he believe that almost all non-JWs will die very soon at Armageddon and that a career or education in this system of things is meaningless and useless.
If you already know how he feels about these things now, that's good, if not try to find out to see if he is really in the JW mindset. If he is, then you are in for a rough ride emotionally.
Have you had him read items which disagree with his beliefs? Would he be willing to read something like JWFacts.com? That would be a sure way to gauge his attachment to the JW organization.
I wish you the best of luck and hope everything works out for you.
i heard from a "friend" that a letter was read aloud during the midweek meeting asking people to volunteer to do cleaning work in bethel.
lol.
i really can't think of anything else to say if this is true.. they get more free labor, and they still ask for more more more money!!
there was a recent thread on the "quality" of converts to jws in recent years.
it wasn't a pretty picture, based on the thread contents.. well, the lack of depth isn't restricted to new converts.. in our clam this week, one of the principal points for review was this:.
ne 1:1; 2:1—why can we conclude that “the 20thyear” mentioned at nehemiah 1:1 and 2:1 is countedfrom the same starting point?
court denies summary judgement for laurel jehovah's witnesses congregation.
a motion for summary judgement is denied in a case against the laurel congregation of jehovah's witnesses and some individuals over child abuse reporting issues.a lawyer for the congregation maintained that elders were exempted from reporting requirements under a state law because of clergy privilege and confidentiality.the case resulted from allegations that elders did not report an unlawful sexual relationship between a woman and a 14-year-old boy, both of whom were members of the jehovah's witnesses congregation.. download the court opinion here.
http://courts.delaware.gov/opinions/download.aspx?id=235880.
Why would the WTS hide behind a religious doctrine, the confessional, that they don't believe in?
Can you imagine if a publisher in the congregation asked an elder to sit down and listen to their confessions like a priest and then that elder wasn't to tell the body of elders and they weren't to institute judicial proceedings if they felt a sin of sufficient gravity was committed? Hah! Ridiculous!
warning of a long boring post ahead.
i feel like i need to vent my story out, as i feel quite helpless at the moment.. i'm 31 year old, married, father of toddler with another one on the way, due later this month.
i've been serving as elder for about 4 years now in a south florida congregation.
Stop the tangents MoC!! No one wants to see that here!
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MoK, all kidding aside I know exactly what you mean about discussions with your wife. When I would show my wife something she would tell me it was damaging her faith - I would ask 'faith in the bible or faith in the organization'? She wouldn't answer that which told me what I needed to know. Keep up the good work.
"the non-christian cross" by john denham parsons, is a work that is still used by the watchtower society as a "proof" that the greek word stauros does not mean cross.
here a portion of this work:.
now the greek word which in latin versions of the new testament is translated as crux, and in english versions is rendered as cross, i.e., the word stauros, seems to have, at the beginning of our era, no more meant a cross than the english word stick means a crutch.
i was always fascinated by it.
as a kid, i used to go to the local library and secretly read books by so called apostates.
later, i would sneak into christian book stores and quickly buy a book or two.
Yes. Once as a kid and I spent weeks justifying why it was wrong and stupid.
Then sick, sweaty, dizzy and freaked out as an adult who realized I may have been duped my entire adult life (up to that moment) I cautiously, so so nervous googled jehovah witness 607 and BOOM the floodgates opened and I didn't stop reading, studying and making notes until my life was changed forever.
I'm so glad to be free and have free kids.
