how long did it take for you to revert back to your old ways of thinking, reasoning and attitudes from before you were a witnes .
eg i lived with my husband before we got married, then learned it was wrong.
now i see so many witness getting married too young (cos they want sex) that i dont think its such a bad idea.
My gosh, Stephanie!! Your comment about being uncomfortable saying Bless You to somebody has really brought back a memory for me from my Dub Days. I was taught that saying "God Bless You" to someone who sneezed was "displeasing to Jehovah." Nonetheless, I was in the habit of saying it, and one night at the Kingdom Hall this Sister sneezed really hard and I quickly said, God bless you. And people looked at me like I had just unleashed a bevy of demons!!! How silly !!
Love,
Jaypeeto
is it realy the worst thing one can go through?
are you afraid of it??
has being disfellowshipped actually turned into a "blessing"?
When I was first disfellowshiped in 1983, I was utterly devastated. And angry. I was suffering from severe depression at the time, and I was trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to "repent". The elders didn't care. They told me bluntly, "the congregation is more important than one person." And they told me, if you want to come back, fine, and if you don't want to come back, it's up to you. What a bunch of jerks. They knew my situation, they were just as callous as callous can be. On the whole, however, disfellowshiping was the best thing that ever happened to me. It led ultimately to a restoration of my faith in Christ and, eventually, to the peace of mind I have today over spiritual things. I am a happy, contented Catholic.
Love,
Jaypeeto
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if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out
what does this mean to jws ?
I was taught that it was just a hyperbolic way of saying avoid sin at all costs, and avoid promixate occasions of sin. I still agree with that interpretation.
i always wanted to re-read the bible after i left the org; to be able to read it without having to feel like i had to apply something, or to have to read it out of obedience, etc.... well, i have always liked the new world translation, i know it isn't perfect, but i think it is better than some.
but i have always wanted to get a different modern english translation, and read that.
well, i finally picked up a new international version at wal-mart the other day...under $6, what a bargain.. started last night, and finished genesis today, and am just starting into exodous.
I've read the bible repeatedly since deciding the organization was a fraud. I've also read books which attack the bible and/or question it's validity just to be fair to the nonbelieving viewpoint. When all is said and done, I still believe the Bible to be the word of God, and moreover, reading it prayerfully and without Watchtower "study aids," I find that it upholds the doctrines of Traditional Christianity and not Watchtowerism.
as a kid i felt that jehovah would bring his big hand down from the sky and slap the hell out of the ground, and if i was under it then it would be real bad.
the fact is i found it hard to camp outside and enjoy looking at the night sky with all of its stars, fearing the big old hand was going to slap the area around me at that very moment and ruin trees shrubs the fish we had caught our tent my dads truck, and us oh man everthing else too.
shane
I as a child had a copy of FROM PARADISE LOST TO PARADISE REGAINED, which contained a two page spread depicting the battle of Armageddon. So that image stuck with me: fire raining from the sky, falling buildings, floods, people beating the daylights out of each other, people (and a dog and a bike) falling into a huge opening in the earth. That image scared the daylights out of me, even though I didn't get baptized until I was 21.
Love, Jaypeeto
my personal favorite, popular in my area in 1982, was the story that little plastic "smurf" dolls were biting the ankles of hapless witness moms who had bought the demonic toys for their little children.
does everyone have a favorite laugh-out-loud jw urban legend?
please share!.
I'm in the greater Miami area. North Miami Beach, actually, though I work in downtown Miami.
Jaypeeto
i was brought up in the 'truth' for many years until i was 20 or thereabouts and now being on the outside looking in i see not only jw's for what they really are but i believe i see religion for what it really is too.. consider this point, and this reminds me of a song written by alanis morrisette entitled, forgiven which is a pretty cool stab at religion itself if you read the lyrics closely...one part of the lyrics is 'we all had our reasons to be there'.
if you came into the truth, consider the reasons why, what were the circumstances of your life...were you searching for something.
even if they were brought up in it...consider the reasons why their parents started to believe.
Though I was raised around the WT's teachings, I only got baptized after having a powerful religious experience in my early 20s. Since the WTS doctrines were the only thing I knew, I naturally assumed that I was being "called" to be a JW. I had, and had very vigorously, the "heavenly hope." Well, the congregation elders would have NONE of THAT, since I was born way after 1935. So they told me that my powerful religious/spiritual experience was not from God, and after that I had a nervous breakdown, lost my faith, fell back into sinful ways, eventually got DF'd.
Love, Jaypeeto
i was born in 1964, a convenient 50 years after 1914. even in my early teens i was doing the sums.
i had a worse case scenario figured out - if the 1914 generation could apply to babies and even if they lived to be a 120, i would still only be about 70 years old after they'd all died!
i figured that i was part of the first wave of 'jehovah's people' that really would live to see the new order - guaranteed!!
I absolutely took it seriously, as I did all WTS teachings until about 5 years after I was DF'd. Then I began reading "apostate" (yeah, right) literature, and the Bible by itself, etc., and learned of the Society's continuous flip-flops, and around 1988 I realized the Society was a complete fraud.
Love, Jaypeeto
my personal favorite, popular in my area in 1982, was the story that little plastic "smurf" dolls were biting the ankles of hapless witness moms who had bought the demonic toys for their little children.
does everyone have a favorite laugh-out-loud jw urban legend?
please share!.
My personal favorite, popular in my area in 1982, was the story that little plastic "SMURF" dolls were biting the ankles of hapless Witness moms who had bought the demonic toys for their little children. Does everyone have a favorite laugh-out-loud JW urban legend? Please share!
Love, Jaypeeto
the entire premise of the debate of christ's "presence" as discussed in matt24:3 to me makes no sense.
here's why: we have to assume by the question asked by the apostles, that they understood the whole "presence" concept, which they didn't.
they were merely asking him when "the end" would come, i'm not even sure if they know what "the end" really meant.
No, upside/down, you're not "out there."
The disciples had no concept whatsoever of the Governing Body's nonsensical 19th century notion of an invisible parousia. This fantasy occured to Russell and the JWs have stuck with it ever since.
Love, Jaypeeto
