Posts by bennyk

38

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 7-17-05 WT Study (Complete/Sacred Service

by blondie in

i wonder what i am doing wrong posting this?

i will try later..

bennyk

Thanks, blondie!!!

re: paragraph 13 (and everywhere else, too): Matt. 6:1 springs to mind. Is it possible that the Holy Spirit could appoint the clergy without a written report of FS hours? The Holy Spirit anoints without the approval of ten Christ-denying imposters in Brooklyn....

re: paragraphs 10 & 16: although the WTS admits that no human can accurately judge another's motives, or even know them, it does appear that they will not let that deter them.

Nice to see Ray's work re: sacred service once again; the WT index for 1930-1985 seems to be missing the citation for those articles. An oversight, no doubt....

Love, ben

21

JW blackmailing

by greendawn in

can you recall instances where your jw family or friends tried to blackmail you in one way or other to stay in the witchtower after you decided to leave it?

bennyk

At a JW funeral at which a number of DF'd/DA'd individuals were present the speaker made the statement that "those of you who are not right with Jehovah will have to return to God's Organization -- or you'll NEVER see [name deleted] AGAIN!!!"

What the ruddy rot?!?! The WTS is now holding our dead loved ones HOSTAGE?!?!

15

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 6-26-05 WT Study (Exercise Restraint)

by blondie in

all, keeping himself restrained under evil.

''-2 timothy 2:24.

elders yell at each other, at the ms, at their wife and children, at the rank and file, and at the co at times.

bennyk

Dear blondie,

Thanks for the very kind response. What hurt are: 1) the wound is VERY fresh (they were to have announced it yesterday evening -- I hadn't bothered to appeal it), 2) the witnesses brought forward included TWO very old "friends" --both of whom agree, in principle, with the statements for which they denounced me, 3) their repeated insistence that I am an "evil slave" doesn't make it so, and 4) it is a wee bit disheartening to experience the fact that reason and knowledge of the Scriptures appear to be NO match for authority.

They did let me speak my piece (to everyone's credit, things remained calm); they did NOT refute my arguments, they simply did not address them. At the end of the day, all that mattered to anyone was my unwillingness to worship the WTS.

At least I did hold the moral high-ground, and did NOT denounce the traitorous former friends: it may very well be that they feel worse about this entire affair than do I. And who knows what seeds were planted? Thanks much for letting me vent. Good weekend, everybody!!!

Love, ben (of the things-look-a -whole-lot-brighter-today class )

15

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 6-26-05 WT Study (Exercise Restraint)

by blondie in

all, keeping himself restrained under evil.

''-2 timothy 2:24.

elders yell at each other, at the ms, at their wife and children, at the rank and file, and at the co at times.

bennyk

Great stuff, blondie!!

How I wish I had still been receiving the WT's ("pearls of wisdom")! If only I could have read paragraph 11 to my inquisitors! (And thereupon kept my mouth shut: I suffer chronic foot-IN-mouth disease!) Perhaps the Lads would not have found me "guilty of apostasy", despite those who came forward to denounce me.

Well, at least they didn't try me in absentia. At least I found out who my enemies are....

ben (of the still-feeling-somewhat-sorry-for-myself class)

17

Can disfellowshipping a person be harmful to their spirituality?

by JH in

jw
friends

the jw org wants us to be almost perfect.

the slightest fault that we do, we are treated as if we are entirely bad, then we get df'd.. it's an "all or nothing" way of thinking that can be spiritually dangerous.. example: if a jw is caught smoking, and becomes df'd because of this, that person may feel free to do even worse sins, because they can't be more df'd than they are right now.

so disfellowshipping a person for something as small as smoking or playing lotto, can be counter productive for the sinner.. it's like puting a person in jail for a petty crime.

bennyk

So far, my spirituality has not been harmed by my recent disfellowshiping.

But I do find it somewhat depressing that so many people with whom I worked so long could be such traitorous swine....

ben (of the I-feel-somewhat-sorry-for-me-today class)

27

Were the elders in your congregation good,bad or indifferent?

by badboy in

jw
friends

?

bennyk

Over the many years I've been in quite a number of congregations.

The majority of elders with whom I've worked have been indifferent and ineffectual ; a rather significant minority pompous, ruddy swine ; there have been a handful that were sincere, caring individuals : too bad none of the last catagory were in my JC lynching party .

I'm feeling a wee bit bitter tonight, perhaps I ought best take to bed. Good-night, all.

14

Do you have a bulls eye on your forehead

by skyman in

jw
friends

those of you not df'd do you feel like me that i have bulls eye painted on my forhead just waiting for when the borg gets you?

bennyk

I felt that way up to the moment of my recent DF'ing.

The bullseye then leaves and attaches itself to your friends and relatives; those people 'must be spiritually weak' to have had a friend or relative like you!!!!

49

What Were Your Experiences In Dating JWs?

by minimus in

jw
friends

were they all dates from hell?

any "immorality"?

did you ever "date" knowing the person was never "marriage material"?

bennyk

Dated my childhood sweetheart: no immorality and she dumped me (twice! ouch! ) but we remained friends. She married a fast-track Pioneer who slept his way around their cong and spawned several half-siblings ; the Holy Spirit did not approve and he never became a "spirit-appointed" adulterer.

Older and (perhaps) wiser, I came to the USA and met a somewhat younger JW-convert: we dated (still no immorality), fell in love, married, and lived happily-ever-after.

15

WT Armageddon Drawings Described as "Aluring"

by Gerard in

this guy is currently undergoing bible study and before his critical thinking capabilities were utterly destroyed, he seemed to do a bit of research on wtbts on the internet, where he contacted me regarding rand cam shares owned by the wt.

i was happy to answer his questions and gave him some bonus material on the united nation's deal.

some days latter, he wrote back asking me if i considered the jw doctrine to be a cult, so i indulged him and sent him well written documents i found on freeminds.org as well a link to quotes, where he seemed to have spent some time looking at the armageddon picture gallery.

bennyk

I cut my teeth on the "Paradise Lost" book: it was fascinating!!! When one is very young, terror holds the attention. It may be compared to the interest people show in auto accidents and "action" films...

47

While a JW, Did You Ever Let On That You Were "Going Apostate"?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i never did, although i did tell my former bible student/tennis partner that the bible does not condemn celebrating birthdays or recommend celebrating anniverseries.

he told his jw brother who told his elders who told my po.

when the po asked me about the conversation, i told him he asked me some questions and i truthfully answered., i said, "nothing i said was wrong or incorrect".

bennyk

Absolutely. But I tried to be discreet and only speak with one person at a time (two-Witness rule for JC lynching probably doesn't apply re: "apostates" [oh, well]) and only with close friends or relatives, who might see their way around a command to "commence shunning!!!!" (still risky, but so far, so good...).