has anyone else wondered why the witnesses hold a meeting in order to 'keep doing this in rememberance of me' ?
since i was old enough to think and reason (yes i know how terrible!
) i could never understand why our 'celebration', the one thing important to true christians in the year, was another meeting!
I only went out to dinner after the Memorial once, and I didn't feel quite right about it. After all, I'd just been to a memorial service and felt I should have maintained a more somber mood for the rest of the evening.
Given the Other Sheep's complete lack of involvement in the service, I wonder if there aren't overtones of idolatry in the attitude toward the "emblems."
i was contemplating how bad the news will have to be to get the jw's to quit the organization.
then i remembered hurricane katrina and all the people trapped in the superdome for days on end.
one guy acted on his own and stole a school bus to rescue a group and take them to houston.
Barbara found a great quote in the book Leaving the Saints:
Page 262. “One of the nifty paradoxes of dysfunction is that the crazier the system in which you grow up, the more afraid and less equipped you are to leave it and stand on your own.”
in a post by ingenous on another thread (scandal frenzy, i think) some quotes are posted about "sanctuary trauma.
" it hit me in kind of a big(-ish) way...being hurt by those who should be protecting or nurturing us is a betrayal of sanctuary.
the trauma experienced is called sanctuary trauma.
Some powerful thoughts, Merry.
I feel confident that awareness is a powerful tool in healing and learning. I have a great deal of faith and optimism when it comes to the emotional and psychological safety you'll be able to provide for your daughter.
every now and then i see a news article about a 600 pound man or woman who is so fat they are bedridden and cannot get out of bed.
they normally need a family member to clean them on a regular basis and feed them.
i once saw an article about a man whos skin had literally bonded with the fabric upholstery of his couch and needed to have to fabric surgically removed.. ive been sitting here wondering.
If they cannot feed themselves it means that SOMEONE is feeding them. You’d think the person doing the feeding would refuse to give the morbidly obese person more than X calories a day. Hell, what could the fat person possibly do force the feeder to feed them even more?
There is actually a type of fetish known as "feederism," though I don't know how common it is.
i sometimes felt guilty when i was a jw by taking advantage of the system and not putting anything back.
like schools- jw's want good schools for their kids but would never serve on the pta or other school committee.
doctors- oh how they want the best medical care, but they discourage their children from getting an advanced degree to become a doctor.
Will take blood components, but not donate their own blood.
I guess I should start donating - someone's gotta make up for all the blood JWs use!
it does little good to point a jw to changing doctrines, since they expect it.
they get all giddy when 'new light' shines on them and they get a clearer understanding of the bible.
even if it is actually a return to what was previously declared 'old light', they still suck it down and smile.. how do you defeat that?
BTW, I think Proverbs 4:18 has absolutely nothing to do with a progressive revelation of new doctrine from God. I think it has everything to do with the general beneficial nature of wisdom. (vss. 11,12)
it does little good to point a jw to changing doctrines, since they expect it.
they get all giddy when 'new light' shines on them and they get a clearer understanding of the bible.
even if it is actually a return to what was previously declared 'old light', they still suck it down and smile.. how do you defeat that?
Changing doctrines is not a reflection of New Light ™ being shown along a path. Changing doctrines is a reflection of changing paths completely in the hopes the light is better on the new one.
Think for a second how an honest person would deal with a situation where they were literally looking for something and the light was literally getting brighter.
An honest person would say:
(Little bit of light:) "Hey, I see something. I don't know what it is or how far away it is. I can't tell if it's safe or dangerous, but there's something there."
(Light a little brighter:) "OK, whatever it is is so tall by so wide. Still can't see it well, but it looks to be this many feet away."
(Light all the way on:) "Hey, I can see exactly what it is now and can give you all the details."
Someone once said a watchman on a tower wouldn't be very good if he wasn't extra cautious by sounding a false alarm when he wasn't sure what was coming, in the interests of protecting a town. But that isn't how a watchman (or, at least, a good one) does his job. (And how many false alarms is he supposed to sound before he gets fired?)
Watchman: "Hey, there's something out there. I can't tell what it is, but I can see something is going on."
A little while later: "OK, I still can't tell what it is, but it's headed this way and it's big."
Even later: "It's close enough to see it now. Call the army, it's a band of invaders!" or "Don't worry, it's just a stampede of elephants."
But that's not how it works with "new light" in the Org because the one on the path is neither "discreet" nor honest and humble. Additional knowledge doesn't contradict older knowledge unless what's passed off as "older knowledge" is really supposition, conjecture, or just plain fiction. If the path of the righteous gets lighter and lighter, there is only progressive and more detailed knowledge about what has been taught previously. Completely changing the teaching means you decided you were on the wrong path and didn't like what you saw.
a few quotes from the book: .
what pastor russell said questions and answers .
question (1916)--1-- what position should we take in respect to military duty, and so forth?.
The book is available online here:
http://www.ctrussell.us/ctrussell/ctrussell.nsf/All?OpenView&Start=1&Count=1000&Expand=8#8
Most of C. T. Russell's works - if not all of them - are available at the same site.
http://www.planetvids.com/html/dont-touch-my-bone.html
ROFL
Can you say "brain damage"?
I gotta share that one.
ive had a day off work today and have been reflecting on stuff like never before.. ive had the strong jw belief system from pretty much the word go.then in 1995 that all started to end with the change in generation.i couldnt believe what i was hearing!at the time i was an ms and reg pioneer and 100% in my beliefs.overtures were made to me about being an elder.. the doubts continued until about 3 years ago,i couldnt stands no more (in best popeye voice)and dropped out the religion with a bang!i had long relinquished the pioneering and the ms.. what came next?well for a year a completely hedonistic existance..boy,did i make up for lost time with the beer and the laydeez.i did it far away tho..still worried about the elders.then i became more blase..what right did those elders have over what i chose to do?
?i celebrated xmas..did birthdays,fell out spectacularly with parents,got a great gf,split up,got back together again..all in all a bit of a busy period!.
but now its hit me.. ive lost an entire belief system,one i adhered too before i saw the light.now im completely nihilistic,nearly 35 (half way thru 3 score years and 10)and am genuinely concerned about what the future holds!.
Familiar feelings, fleaman.
In a way, I started from scratch when my JW belief system fell apart. Why did I believe what I believe? Could I trust my primary textbook, the Bible? Where do I go from here?
I've held on to many beliefs and developed others as I continued searching and researching. I remain a Christian - moreso than I ever was before. I read up on JW history and read through C. T. Russell's works. While there is some stuff in his theology and a lot - a lot - in his chronology that I don't agree with, there were a few gems that got me thinking. I've found that to be the biggest advantage of spiritual exploration: even if you don't agree with a particular paradigm, examining it will - if you let it - get you thinking, allow you to sharpen your mental skills, and help you clarify what you want and what's important to you.
One of my projects when I was working on getting out was going to the Yahoo! or Google religion directory, picking a belief system, and clicking through the websites for each denomination or organization, examining their Statements of Belief and what they had to offer. It was such a relief to be able to do that without the paranoia and defensiveness of the mindset you pick up in a high-control group.
One of the greatest gifts of all this study and thinking is developing the ability to live with uncertainty. I don't have to know it all, I don't have to have all the answers, I don't have to understand every little thing. Learning how to live with not knowing everything but, instead, being happy with knowing enough is something I never thought I'd be able to accomplish.
I wish you the best on your journey.
