Knew a guy who (an appointed MS) who went to college. He was treated pretty poorly. Eventually he was removed as a MS and get this, he had cancer at the time. He died not much later after that. Pretty terrible thing really, the family was very angry. I suppose he just wasn't making enough meetings to be considered for the "privlidge". Most everybody felt he was removed because of those who didn't like him.
drew sagan
JoinedPosts by drew sagan
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34
Attending college as an active JW
by CHILD inhas anyone on this board attended college or knows anyone who attends as an active jw?
how many remain in the organization after graduation?
i was baptized in 1988 and was encouraged to stop college after 2 years.
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MY DAD WANTS TO STUDY WITH THE KIDS
by thebigdebate ini am in good standing (of sorts) with the wts.
i have not gone out in service for 10 years - i have not been to a meeting in about 2 years - i skipped last years memorial.
my dad is a pioneer and elder.
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drew sagan
I agree that a balance should be struck, but that you should take into consideration motives.
JWs are very strong in their appraoch. If they notice that they are getting "bites" in terms of positive feedback from the kids this will be used as a way to justify pushing even harder.
Personally, I would advise against it. The goal of any good JW is to push for conversion and commitment. He may be thinking long term, but the goal is most likely still there. Better to not let something like this creep into your life and create division down the road.
Eventually he would be telling you things about what the "kids wanted" without connecting it to his own ambitions. I can just picture him sayting something like:
"but your kids really want to go to the meetings, don't you think you should let them worship Jehovah if they want to?"
Is that really something you want to be dealing with? He is trying to make in on your passive nature. You don't have to be mean to him when you shoot the idea down. Just casually say "maybe when they're older" and move onto another subject.
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Urgent Help Please
by Gladring ina friend is being hassled by a body of elders to go to a judicial committee.
i have advised against going but if they go ahead.... the question is are you entitled to have a representative of your own at a judicial committee?.
a second, not quite so urgent, question is: does anyone know where to get a copy of coc in spanish.. thanks.
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drew sagan
If he does not go eventually they will have the meeting without his presence. This will most likely lead to his being disfellowshipped.
There should be a difference made between a 'judicial committee' and just meeting with the Elders. If it is the former and not the latter than his options are limited. If however they just want to meet for 'encouragement', he could possibly ignore it without consequence. -
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Was "Purple Triangles" an attempt to put JWs on a level with the Jews?
by JimmyPage ini mean, i don't doubt that jws were persecuted in ww2 but no one can compete with the jews when it comes to this.
did it seem to you like a case of "no one gets more persecution than us jehovah's witnesses, and that includes you, jewish people"?
!.
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drew sagan
The Watchtower organization effectivly used the stories of persecution during WWII to stir up their followers emotinoally. It is nothing less that explotination at this point. The Watchtower produces stories each year in their magazines that speak of this time. Additinally, there are the stories given at assemblies, convenctions, ect.
It has become (at least in the U.S.) a way for the organization to paint a picture of the world as they would like to see it. The ultimate case of us verses them. When taken in part (and not as a whole) it is an example of their storyline, that the world is against them (and them alone).
Another example is the way they speak of religious persecution in Georgia (the country). They always fail to mention that other religious groups are persecuted just as heavily in the area and not just JWs.
To acknowldge that others are part of the persecution would a cut in to the story line, mainly that Satan is attacking the "true reilgion". If other "false" religious groups are being persecuted as well it dosen't have the same "bite".
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BIG NEWS! Leader of German Watchtower History Archives Resignes and Leaves Branch Office!
by GermanXJW injohannes wrobel, the founder of the watchtower history archives in germany, responsible for the stand firm-video and the stand-firm-exhibitions resigned in november 2008 and left the german branch office.
he was also the responsible person for many of the wt sponsored websites on jw in the 'third reich'!.
there are no further details known yet but this could be big news!.
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drew sagan
Being that you're our connection to all things "German" JW, why not contact him and get the details. An in depth story would most likely be a facinating read.
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Just stopping by...
by drew sagan ini've been rather distant from the board for quite some time and felt the need to post a hello to everybody out there.
any of my old friends still here?.
i'm currently in college, making the best of things.
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drew sagan
Nuns in the pickle patch, Drew.
Lol
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Just stopping by...
by drew sagan ini've been rather distant from the board for quite some time and felt the need to post a hello to everybody out there.
any of my old friends still here?.
i'm currently in college, making the best of things.
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drew sagan
I've been rather distant from the board for quite some time and felt the need to post a hello to everybody out there. Any of my old friends still here?
I'm currently in college, making the best of things. My son (born in September) is growing fast.
For those who have followed my personal story the relationship between my wife and her mother (active jw) is getting much better. With a first grandchild (and only) the in-laws have made it a custom to stop by and visit quite often. My wife had a rather long discussion with her dad a few days back where he discussed how distant the two of them have become from the kingdom hall. With us gone they really have no friends in the group. From what he told my wife (posts as Amber Rose on this board) her mother simply states that the reason they continue to go to the Kingdom Hall is because "the information is correct". She also admits that she has problems with the group and that as opposed to what she felt before, she nows see's disfellowshipping as a punishment and nothing more (as opposed to seeing it as something that helps a person). Nothing like a little personal experience to change your mind on things!
This is essentially the same attitude I had right before I began my exit. Essentially, you give up on the social aspects and focus mainly on the "facts" that you feel are relevant, namely that the biblical interpretation is better than anything you could find anywhere else. The facts of her daughters disfellowshipping I think have really changed her attitudes. Not that they wern't changing before any of this. I had my own personal assumptions that she was not happy with the group long before we left.
It was my guess that time would work on my in-laws better than any argument. It seems to be going that way. Pretty interesting stuff. The best is that I'm not to concerned either way. Now that membership in the JWs is far behind me and my wife we are living a pretty good life. If her family decides to finally give it up good for them, but it's a part of their lives we are not attached to and furthermore it is not affecting our relationship.
So, that's a bit of an update. Hope all is well with everybody here. I was very saddened to hear about Ian not to long ago, he was a great man.
I may be gone from time to time, but JWD is a home of sorts!
- Drew
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My wife rejects Jesus
by JimmyPage ini was leaving the dmv the other day when a man hands me a piece of paper.
my wife says, "i wouldn't have taken that.
she says, "i saw the word 'jesus' on it.
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drew sagan
She knows to reject the literature produced from other religions, a typical JW response. I wouldn't read into it as you have, I think it's an overstatement.
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Is it possible for a child to be exposed to JWism and not be damaged by it?
by Mickey mouse inwhat do you think?
were you raised as a jw and feel you suffered no ill effects?
or do you feel it had a negative impact on your life?.
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drew sagan
I was exposed to the JWS at 14, joined at 17. I'm doing fine. My wife grew up and she is fine as well. It was hell leaving but once we emptied our mind of their garbage we moved on and are doing great. I think that "damage" is relative. We all learn from tough experience.
OTOH, there are those that experience more than just the pains of being a JW. They have abusive parents, elders, friends, ect. They may have a more intense a and demanding experience.
The point is that even though you may think that being a JW is similar for everybody (which it is), it is by no means the same for everybody. Some make it though just fine, others can be devastated. It all depends. -
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First "Big Meeting" for our hall was tonight
by Iwonder17 inso we hadour first big meeting tonigh ( bookstudy, ministry school and service meeting ) here are my observations:.
1) even though it is the same amount of time, it seemed verrrrry long.
2) it seemed like a circus.....too many parts that did not relate to the others....seemed like a crossword puzzel with 6 different languages.
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drew sagan
Very interesting observations, thanks for sharing.
One of the things I didn't think of at all was the from the children perspective. The Watchtower essentially has nothing built into their "worship" structure that allows participation for children. Comments at the book study where basically the only thing they had going.
Making this change is an obvious indication that the Watchtower does not care about "comments". They could have actually taken a chance with a new meeting structure, possibly giving a bit more flexibility especially their youth. What they did instead was simply shift some things around. My guess is that if these meetings continue to go as you guys have described moral (what's left of it) will be heavily effected. Eventually the Watchtower will be forced to make a change with this arrangement. Going on my own intuition, i would guess that this arrangment lasts no where near as long as the previous. Possibly even a few years or even one.