i was an elder until march 2012 until i resigned.
i then stopped going to meetings in october 2012 and have enjoyed 9 months of freedom that i have found to be jouful!
i loved learning ttatt and sites like this and jwfacts.com have been excellent.. i told the elders that i needed a break and that they should not contact me unless it was a social visit and true to their word they have done that.
notsurewheretogo , when it comes to defending the Watchtower Society THERE ARE NO SINCERE ELDERS.
I have known at least 100 elders and they all will defend the Watchtower Society even if it means sending both of their grandmothers down the river.
But hey, it's your life and if you really don't believe they will throw you into the trash can faster than Caleb threw Sparlock the Warrior Wizard then procced with your plans.
Just remember, we told you so.
hey guys.
don't really post here much, mostly just lurk around.
so here's just backstory: in 2012, after about half a year of research i decided to leave the organization.
Back in 2004 they actually announced if you had been disfellowshiped or had disassociated. Now, they announce that you are no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
I didn't send them a DA letter in 2004 when I decided that I wanted no more of their hypocritical behavior. I just told the 2 elders that were investigating me to see if I harbored any apostate ideas that by affiliating with the UN the Watchtower Society had turned apostate and I didn't associate with apostate religious organizations. I ended the telephone interrogation (I refused to meet with them in person so one of them called while he had the other one on conference call) by hanging up on them. 3 days later I received a phone call from another JW from another hall asking why I had DA'd.
The Watchtower elders will not read your DA letter other than to skim over it looking for the sentence where you tell them you quit. They don't give a rat's ass about truth or logic or honesty because they drink the WT koolaid by the gallon.
I suggest that you send your DA letter to the entire congregation and all your JW friends.
That will do more good than sending it to a group of men who care only about protecting the mother organization.
i was an elder until march 2012 until i resigned.
i then stopped going to meetings in october 2012 and have enjoyed 9 months of freedom that i have found to be jouful!
i loved learning ttatt and sites like this and jwfacts.com have been excellent.. i told the elders that i needed a break and that they should not contact me unless it was a social visit and true to their word they have done that.
I don't want to disassociate or be disfellowshipped for one reason. I have 3 kids and their grandparents, who are still in the truth, play an important role in their lives. My wife, who is still in but does not have great health relies on her parents to help out a lot. To lose this would be a nightmare, that is the only reason why I have not officially packed in this wacko religion.
But I do want to explain the situation to the elders.
Believe me...
If you try to explain anything doctrinal to the elders you will either be disfellowshiped or they will try to force you into disassociating yourself.
If you try to explain anything to them they will perceive you as a threat who is trying to destroy their faith in the organisation.
They will protect their faith in the organisation all the way to the day they stand before Jesus and answer to Him for their deeds.
They will probably try to justify their faith in the organisation instead of faith in Jesus to His face.
You are dealing with some seriously disturbed individuals who will think nothing of destroying your familial relationships if you
show them anything or say anything that puts their organisation in a bad light.
I have been there and done that.
I would have been disfellowshiped for apostasy if I had not have beat them to the punch and told them that I would never
trust the Watchtower Society as long as I live and I would never attend another meeting.
Prior to revealing what I know about this cult, the elders I served with were the nicest, most reasonable people one would ever want to meet.
That changed in a matter of minutes.
One elder even interrupted me just as soon as I asked them if they knew the WTBTS had registered with the UN as a NGO and said that he and I
USED TO BE FRIENDS but I had just BETRAYED Jehovah and in doing so had betrayed him.
You aren't going to get anywhere trying to explain anything to the elders.
If you are wise, you will ignore them and avoid their inquiries if you want to keep your grandchildren.
every so often, i will get invites to social gatherings from people from my old congregation (not the one i currently attend).
recently, it was for a high school graduation of the son of people i grew up with.. so, a curious thing happens (and happens every time i go to one of these things).. the old timers start quizzing me about my mom (who hasn't gone to meetings in years) and my brother (who has spotty attendance, apparently), and they assume that i am still attending regularly (i don't volunteer anything different).. .
i really resent being interrogated about my family members, it's like i am volunteering information to "big brother".
WHAT!!!!
NO KINGDOM MELODIES?????
hi all, came across this website, ran by steve searles.
i believe he comes from carlisle, england.. it contains all sorts of "goodies" - talks, dramas, district conventions, old watchtower publications, videos etc.
he charges a "membership fee" for folks to download ripped off youtube videos etc.
I didn't think anyone ever paid for that stuff when it was New Light.
i get too many callers in my neighborhood, and i need to invest in a no soliciting sign for the front door.
i do not appreciate uninvited callers, unless they are there to tell me there's an immediate need to evacuate.
i absolutely won't buy anything at the door.
What do you have to fear from Jehovah's Witnesses?
Allow them on your property and invite them in.
Make sure you tell them that the slave was off in its chronology a few years.
Abraham, David and Moses didn't return in 1925 but they returned last week and are enjoying your backyard swimming pool
and BBQ grill.
Invite them to stay for pork ribs, potato salad and some spiritual discussions with the resurrected Hebrew prophets.
ive just published on my website a commentary on daniel chapters 2, 3 and 4, concerning nebuchadnezzars dreams of the statue and the great tree.
its titled: the most high rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.
(click the title for link).
WHAT????
No connection with Jesus' INVISIBLE return??????
All 8 members of the 'slave' can't be wrong...
can they???
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last friday i got a message on my classmates account from alice, a jw girl i hadn't seen in over 40 years.
i checked her profile and in her current photo she is wearing a native american necklace and earrings with tribal or religious symbols.
She said: Have a nice life and contact me if and when you return to the Truth.
She doesn't have the truth so why should she demand that you have it?
since the anointed class used to be the faithful and discreet slave, i wondered if and how they can be disciplined through being disfellowshiped?
aren't they given a little more latitude in how they interpret scriptures and in what they say?
do people in kingdom halls who have anointed members defer to them in any way?
Get this:
Members of the 'great crowd' AKA elders have disfellowshiped members of the 'anointed' AKA Christ's brothers.
Is that totally WACKO or what????
i thought it was fitting for me to share my freedom from the witnesses story on independence day weekend.. i dont have any secret info, just experiences that happened to me and started to open my eyes.. i was a third generation, raised in the truth kid who was never supposed to be born, and then never supposed to graduate high school.
ive now been out of high school longer than i was in school.. the beginning of the end started a little less than a decade ago.
i was late 20s at the time.
Have a wonderful July 4th weekend.
