i've not heard a great deal of df announcements to be fair, but i remember when i was about 9 or 10, i was visiting a friend during the summer vacation.
at the midweek meeting, his elder dad got up to give an announcement.
he began by mentioning a large plant, from the cities botanical gardens that had made the news, that flowered once every 50 years.
That's terrible! Not only was that cruel to the lady in question, but also to any friends and family in attendance. Nothing like stomping on a person when they're already down.
I don't think I've heard anything even close to that... just your usual- so and so has been disfellowshipped... before the change to what they announce now.
which biblical names do you like, and maybe you'd name your child that way?.
i like this one: bathsheba.
oh, here are a few to choose from .
Hadassah
I always thought it was a pretty name... and I believe it means "myrtle", which grew in the area I grew up.
at our special assembly day, there was a visiting speaker from bethel.
don't remember his name, but he was a humorless and austere gentleman who was very clearly a company man.
he said many questionable things, especially in the way he generalized about "the world" and "worldly ones.
It amuses me the way they presume to speak for what other churches teach and speak on. Unless they are a recent convert from another religion I have to think they wouldn't have the first clue. Or do they have some sort of espionage system where Bethelites sit in a back pew with sunglasses and a trenchcoat and a tape recorder? sheesh.
your going to the meetings whether you like it or not!
thousands of jehovah's witness children have heard those threatening words backed-up with spankings, whippings, or even severe beatings.
but what if they are too small to understand?
Ah... the good old, "if you were an Isrealite child they would stone you" routine... I remember that one quite vividly! My Dad had beating down to an art form. Quite a few times I can remember hiding bruises from my friends in gym class... although I don't remember why I did that. I think I was afraid he would get in trouble and then I would get worse because he'd be mad at me.
I thought this was interesting-
Some parents argue that they do not make their children attend because they do not wish to force them into the truth; they believe in waiting until the child is old enough to take its own stand. When the child reaches an age of responsibility it will take its own stand, but why not give it a good start during its formative years, a start along the right path that leads to life, instead of letting it alone for it to become a prey to childish folly and Satan? Protect the child from itself and others.?
I like the usage of the word "it". It served to show me how children are looked on as objects with no individuality.
i sent him off to school this morning and i didn't walk all the way down where i normally do because he's 8 and gets a tad embarrassed that his mom still walks down with him.
so for the most part, i sit on my steps at my appartment trying to listen if i hear him scream.
well, i just watched "without a trace" were a child missed her bus and she was kidnapped and at the end of the story they found her dead.
One thing we did before we moved out to the sticks and my older girls wanted to play with neighbor kids was buy them walkie talkies. They weren't allowed out of range anyways, so anytime I wanted to I could check in to see exactly where they were and with whom.
I hear ya though, its soooo hard to not coddle your babies forever!
so said an elder's wife who is considered the most respected sister in the congregation.
she said this at my mom's bookstudy where many elderly attend.
when my mother told me what the elder's wife has said, i said, "well, it's better to know now where you stand with jehovah than later, i guess".
I agree with Mary... I'd like to hear some scriptures to back THAT one up... sheesh, the least she could do is come up with an out-of-context-one!
What a butt-head.
i sent him off to school this morning and i didn't walk all the way down where i normally do because he's 8 and gets a tad embarrassed that his mom still walks down with him.
so for the most part, i sit on my steps at my appartment trying to listen if i hear him scream.
well, i just watched "without a trace" were a child missed her bus and she was kidnapped and at the end of the story they found her dead.
Ooops, was typing when you responded! Glad to hear he was ok!
i sent him off to school this morning and i didn't walk all the way down where i normally do because he's 8 and gets a tad embarrassed that his mom still walks down with him.
so for the most part, i sit on my steps at my appartment trying to listen if i hear him scream.
well, i just watched "without a trace" were a child missed her bus and she was kidnapped and at the end of the story they found her dead.
I'm assuming all is well now? Don't leave us hanging cause now *I'm* worried about him!!!
You're not alone in the worry wart department. If there is even a little tiny bit of wiggle room for panic to creep in my head it probably will. It's so bad that when my two year old sleeps in a little longer than usual in the morning, I have to keep checking on her to make sure she's still breathing.
Ok... so some of us Moms are a little neurotic!
man!
wtf is wrong with people in walmart?
did they leave their manners at home?!
I totally hear this one!
One of the only times in my life I've gotten into a screaming match with someone was at Wal-mart. (The other was a coke-head x-employer) Someone decided I was taking too long at the customer service counter and thought it would be a good idea to start talking very loudly about how rude *I* was to everyone in line behind her. She had no idea what was going on, and the delay was definatly no fault of mine, on top of the fact that another employee at the counter mysteriously disappeared while there was a line forming. I guess she was just pissed in general that day because someone dropped a house on her sister.
I got right up in her face and told her exactly what I thought of her and which orifice she could stick her ignorant opinions in. I don't think my husband's ever been prouder of me- lol!
The huge-group-standing-in-the-middle-of-the-aisle-talking thing is a huge pet peeve of mine. Friggin get out of the road already!
hello all who may read this, i am in the midst of writing a story, and a character who has appeared in the story is a jehovah's witness... i am attempting to gain a better understanding of the religion and its practitioners so as to present witnesses in a fair light... i am of no religious affiliation, but i assume that anything that a person believes is valid as long as they have put it through much consideration and thoughtfulness...
) of you are ex-witnesses, but i would like to know about what first attracted you to the religion to begin with... was it just passed down in your family, or did you make a conscious choice to become a witness?
if so, for what reasons?
it seems that you were all able to go through a complete rebirth after leaving the religion, and rebirth is a pretty valuable thing a lot of people do not ever achieve
Respectfully-
Personally speaking, the moment or process of clarity has been less a brilliant shining moment in my life, and more an emotionally crippling one. Many of us have experienced severe mental and emotional trauma by the hands of the only ones we were allowed to trust. The effects of this don't go away in a moment of rebirth. I continue to struggle with issues of self-worth, isolation and extreme sadness. Most of my family has deemed me unsuitable for even casual acquaintance based on my rejection of their faith. My children will never know their grandparents (who are alive and healthy) and are thought of as "as good as dead".
I would give up a whole lifetime of introspection and self-discovery for a childhood filled with love and security instead of manipulation, fear, brainwashing, insecurity, hate and lies.
As Warlock suggests, it's impossible to know the heart of the matter unless you've walked a mile in an X-JW's shoes....
I do see your point though. If there is anything my struggle has made me passionate about, it is that my children will never doubt my love for them, and will always be encouraged to be the brilliant individuals they are. I believe their journeys of self-discovery will be just as sweet because of their security in this knowledge.
